Written by Stephanie Courtnage
Photography by Stephanie Courtnage and Jaden Grobbelaar
Last year when level 5 lockdown was imposed, our Weimaraner pup, Sika, looked so sad and lonely. Suddenly she could no longer go on walks or visit her friends at daycare, so we decided to foster a dog for the duration of the strict lockdown.
Paulette Bousfield of PlumPets Animal Shelter warned us that Dexter was quite a handful and reactive towards other dogs. But it seems like our family likes making things difficult for ourselves, so we decided to go ahead and bring Dexie into our home and see how he’d do. It’s definitely been a very challenging experience.
Sika and Dexter bonded within a very short space of time – they were like fur soulmates! Sika was the best possible thing for Dexter. She was the first dog in a long time that he’d successfully been able to play with and be around. She’s taught him so much about how to be around other dogs and how to have self-control. The two of them are very cute together; they play all the time and often snuggle together with Sika lying on top of Dexter.
Not long after we started fostering Dexter, we decided that there was no way we could separate him from Sika, and he’d also crept into our hearts. And so this sensitive, loving boy became a permanent part of our little family.
Even after getting used to Sika, we still struggled with Dexter’s leash reactivity towards other dogs. He’d go absolutely crazy when he saw another dog. On our first walk, we got 200m from the house and ended up carrying him home (and he’s not a small dog). Since that first disastrous walk, we’ve had many very embarrassing outings, very judgemental looks from people, and lots of tears. But we were determined to keep taking him out and decided that the best thing we could do for Dexter was to expose him to as many dogs as possible.
After a few months, we decided to try to get him into Sika’s daycare. Canine Creche is the most wonderful doggy daycare and we were so lucky that they were willing to work with Dexter. We’re very happy to note that he seems to be thriving at daycare.
Over a year later, we’re finally seeing some improvement on our walks. We still walk at odd times and try to avoid other dogs, but Dexter’s reactivity is definitely improving!
Our boy doesn’t have a bad bone in his body. All he needed was for someone to give him a chance. We’re thankful to Plumpets Animal Shelter for bringing Dexie into our lives!
Dexter’s history as written by Julia Travis, Social Media Manager – PlumPets Animal Shelter
Dexter came to the shelter as a puppy. He thrived and grew big with no apparent medical issues, apart from his bad teeth (it was believed that he’d previously had, but recovered, from distemper). However, Dexter’s big issue was his fear of other dogs and his major reactivity with other dogs when on lead. Beneath that reactivity was an extremely anxious boy. Dexter struggled during loadshedding with the generator noise from the shop next door – when it ran, he was petrified and difficult to calm. And because of his size and bad teeth, he looked quite scary – making it a big challenge to home him.
When lockdown started, Stephanie Courtnage and her partner, Renier, approached the shelter to offer a shelter dog a temporary home and to be a companion to their dog, Sika. Paulette explained that the only dogs still needing fostering were the ones with the more challenging behaviour. But this didn’t deter them; they wanted to try.
So they made a few trips to the shelter for Dexter to get to know them and Sika. Initially, they introduced Sika and Dexter on lead in the garden, slowly getting them used to each other. They gradually progressed to meeting and playing off lead. Stephanie and Renier then wanted to try taking Dexter home, but first, they came through to the shelter a few times to take him for a car ride before taking him to their home. Dexter had never been in a home, so there were many unknowns.
Things went well and soon progressed to a sleepover and then a weekend, and finally, Dexter began his foster time with the family. Stephanie and Renier were committed to making it work – they worked through Dexter’s issues and did everything in their power to give him the best chance at success. They consulted a behaviourist, looked at his diet, bought educational toys for him, educated themselves and accepted that Dexter was a rescue with some challenges.
It didn’t take too long before Dexter and Sika bonded and became inseparable. It was clear from the photos that Dexter had crept into their hearts. What was initially going to be a lockdown foster became our favourite kind of foster – foster fail!
We’re so grateful to Stephanie and Renier for going the distance for Dexter and accepting him with his challenges. We know that Dexter couldn’t have asked for a better family.
