Second Time Lucky for Underdog Rhubarb

Rhubarb was born at our Leeds rehoming centre during the first lockdown in 2020. She was happily rehomed, along with all her siblings, at 8 weeks old but after two years in her home she was sadly returned due to a severe decline in her behaviour.

She was incredibly nervous of being handled and the anxieties that had taken root during lockdown left her with very little confidence generally. This had resulted in bite incidents and other problematic behaviours coming out. She was the very definition of the term 'lockdown pup'.

Our Training and Behaviour team got straight to work by devising a special training plan for her so that she could slowly learn better ways of expressing herself when she's worried, but also gradually build her confidence with the world. It took many months to get Rhubarb to where we needed her to be, but eventually she was ready to meet potential adopters.

Then along came Karen and David, who immediately understood Rhubarb's background and were happy to work with us to slowly build their relationship and transition her back into a home life.

They visited Rhubarb four times a week for over eight weeks and their bond grew stronger with each visit. They even had to travel over an hour each way, but they knew that the effort would be worth it.

Rhubarb's main handler Amy was able to transfer all the useful training skills over to them during these visits. On New Year's Day, Rhubarb was officially signed out and left for her forever home!

The updates we've received from Karen and David have been wonderful. She has settled in well and by them continuing to take things slowly, Rhubarb has been smashing all her goals.

She's now enjoying walks in her local area and passing other dogs without any reaction. She settles perfectly in the house and spends most of her time snuggled up on the sofa with them, snoring her head off!