“It’s been almost 2 years since Potter joined our family. Initially during our 2 week trial, Potter was finding it difficult to come near us, he was whining in the night and would only come about a foot from us to smell us and only if we sat down. Eventually if we sat down long enough, he would come and sniff us closer. After two weeks, we doubted our capabilities to take care of him as potentially first-time dog owners, but we also felt 2 weeks was too short a time to make a decision of this lifelong commitment, so we spoke to Lynette, our SOSD coordinator for an extension. We decided to hire a trainer to help us connect with Potter better. Eventually the crying in the night stopped. He started coming to me a lot more to allow me to pet him. He was still wary of my husband and helper but lockdown helped changed that all around. But our moment of making this momentous decision happened in those 2 weeks extension of the trial home stay…
Our daughter was 18 months old at the time, and we noticed from Day 1, Potter preferred being in front of her door at night or anytime she was asleep, he wanted to be at her door.
When she came out of the room he would follow where ever she was and stayed close by, almost protecting her from day 1.
And the 2 weeks extension, we saw that when it came to our toddler he would calmly stay there while she came over to pet or hug him.
It’s been 2 years now and Potter is still a little shy with guests that come over, but has made leaps and bounds in his interactions with us and even guests that come over. He even lets them pet him, which a year ago, I know it was probably impossible.
There are small humps along the way, making sure he doesn’t get allergies to grass, changing his diet and helping him better on his walks but honestly in the grand scheme of things, we can’t imagine our life before him.
We are so appreciative to SOSD and Lynette for their time and care and helping to bring Potter into our lives.”
We’re thankful to Shubrah and family for taking such great care of Potter! If you are keen to adopt a dog, please visit http://sosd.org.sg/adopt-a-dog.
