Stanley’s Diary
Stanley has gone through a lot in his short life. He was badly treated, neglected and left to roam around Mt Currie as he wished. It was a mission to catch Stan and get him into the care of WAG, where we could look after him and show him love. Stanley received no training and had never walked on a leash before. It has taken us months to be able to walk him without pulling and 4 months for him to learn how to sit.
Due to his past Stan had developed a fear of strangers, in particular men. We are working everyday on his personal training plan to help him overcome these fears and meet new people as well as make doggy friends. Stan is the most affectionate and adorable boy. He loves nothing more than a good cuddle and to be smothered in kisses on his head. He has his favorite blue bowling pin toy that he will do anything for and loves to play “catch me if you can” around the backyard.
We have faith that Stan’s special forever home is out there. Someone that is looking to change and save a dogs life. Stan is such an incredible boy, even though he has been through so much at the hands of people he still has so much love to give.
This is Stan’s story.
March 24th, 2016
A few days ago all my WAG mom’s turned up to the shelter and told me we were having a party! A party for me, to celebrate my soon to be adoption!!! The date is on the calendar and we are all so excited. They had pizza and cake and I even got some garlic bread crusts! I had fun ripping around the backyard with my party hat on.
Tonight I am going for my first sleep over at Cait and Cam’s house! This will be the first time I have spent the night in a house. They have left me alone in the house before and videoed me to check I wasn’t getting up to mischief. I was very well behaved and just waited at the door for their return. I think I will do great tonight and can’t wait to test out my new bed and maybe even watch a movie on the couch.
March 17th, 2016
Cait and Cam picked me up from the shelter and took me on a huge adventure. I was out for the whole day! They took me on a long car ride, past my future home to Joffre Lakes. There was so much snow!!! I loved burying my head in it and bulldozing it along. They brought the long line which was great as I could have a bit more freedom to run and play but was still safely on leash. Cam and I had another break through whilst on our adventure. We are becoming quiet the pair. He hand fed me my dinner without my muzzle on! I am so proud that I am beginning to feel so comfortable and safe around them that I don’t have to wear my muzzle all the time. Plus they get to see how truly handsome I am. Everyone wins!
March 8th, 2016
Cait and Cam have been stopping by a lot more often lately which is awesome! Whenever I see them I know their going to give me so much love and treats. I got to go on another adventure today, they kept telling me this was my new backyard, and boy am I excited to explore it! We went to mosquito lake, there was so many smells to smell! I am excited to keep going on adventures with them!
March 5th, 2016
March 3rd, 2016
My WAG Mom’s have been moving forward with my training to help prepare me for my adoption. I have now been going on outings without them! I feel very grown up, I haven’t been on walks without one of them in a long time. Cait and Cam have now reached the stage where they can take me out for a walk by themselves and the other day I even went on an adventure with just Cam!!! How cool it that? We had some boy bonding time. I have never had a boy best friend before so I was pretty excited to have some boy time without the girls. He has been so cool with me, giving me lots of treats, high-fives and surprising me with the best squeaky toys. Occasionally I will get a little nervous as I remember the boys that have been mean to me in the past, but I know Cam is a good guy and I get excited when I see him because I know we are about to go on an adventure. I think we are forming a bit of a bromance.
February 29th, 2016
Today Renee came to WAG to see me, she is my teacher from Bravo Dog Training. She comes to WAG once a month to teach me some new methods to help conquer my fears. She sets goals with me for our next training session and leaves me homework that I have been acing every time. When I first met Renee I was very frightened (since she was a new person) and I yelled at her, I feel bad for being so rude but I was very scared. I am now realizing that she is trying to help me reach my goal of getting adopted. I am much more interested in what she has to say now and will listen politely without interrupting her with one of my rude yelling outbursts. I had a lesson with her the other day and Cait an Cam came along to learn some techniques. Cait and Cam are hopefully going to be my new family so they are learning from the best on how to make me comfortable and responsive. I felt very lucky to have had all these people together that care about me, they are all working towards a better future for me.
February 14th, 2016
Yesterday Jess took me on an adventure to see Cait and Cam. I went and visited them at their house! I have never been in a house before so it was all new to me. I was a bit shaky with nerves walking down their stairs to the front door. Those nerves soon went away when I discovered they had hidden hot dogs and cheese all over the house for me like an Easter egg hunt! I was very curious of everything and took my time to explore and sniff my surroundings. I was pretty stoked when I saw they had a couch, I jumped straight onto it.
We then all went on a long walk together and they showed us some great trails that will hopefully soon be my new stomping ground. We are taking it slow and I still have to wear my muzzle when Cam is around but I was pretty excited! They even showed me my bed for when we have sleep overs in the future. I am going to start visiting them at home every week so I feel comfortable and safe.
February 7th, 2016
The girls have been so impressed with how my training has been going that they decided to step things up a little bit. Zeljka took me into the village and BLEW MY MIND. I was so excited as there were so many new things to look at and more people than I have ever seen before. I didn’t yell at anyone, not even once! It makes me so happy when I can enjoy a walk and not feel stressed or scared. I even walked through the Nesters parking lot the other day with Cait and Cam. They were so happy for me and gave me lots of treats for being so awesome.
January 28th, 2016
Upstairs at WAG is my favorite place to hang out, I love just lazing on the couches and cuddling. It feels like a real home, where I can relax and nap. This was the first time I invited Cam to my special spot. It was the first time any guy has hung out with me upstairs. I didn’t even mind, we high-fived at how awesome I am and then I was fed delicious hot dogs. When training, I am fed high value treats like hot dogs, these help keep me food motivated and listen to commands because I really really want that piece of hot dog.
January 21st 2016
Cait came and visited me again and brought Cam. Cam and I haven’t hung out as much but he seems like a good guy so I let him hold the leash and even give me some pets! The girls take it extra slow with Cam and I as I have never had a human male friend before. I love jumping into Cait’s car, I know she is taking me on an adventure. She opens the back door and I jump straight in, sometimes I am cheeky and jump in her seat upfront.
January 15th 2016
This is my new friend Cait. She comes into WAG every week to take me on adventures and snuggle, with the hopes that one day I feel confident enough to go home with her. It has taken me a while to trust her but we are getting closer every time she visits. She always feeds me lots of treats and even bought me presents for Christmas. We are slowly going on bigger adventures and now when she comes to WAG we go for a drive in her car together to new trails.
January 2nd 2016
The New Year has me trying some new things. Katie has been teaching me to run beside her on the bike. I used to be so scared and would bark and lunge at any bike that would ride past. Now I am actually running beside one, the girls are very impressed. They try to mix things up for me so I don’t get bored and kennel stressed. It is so important that I am exercised and have my brain stimulated everyday. Shelter life can be stressful, they try to make my day the best possible.
December 27th 2015
A lot of people stare at me as they drive by when I am on my walks. I am a big dog with a muzzle, I get it. But I am not a bad dog. I am a good dog with insecurities, that I deal with the only way I know how. Even though sometimes the muzzle annoys me, the girls try to make it as pleasant for me as possible. They even cover it in peanut butter! They bought me a basket muzzle so they can easily feed me treats through it. This is great as I can continue my training on our walks, which I have been working really hard at. When I am wearing the muzzle, we can both relax more as no harm can come to me .
December 22nd 2015
There has been these 2 new people I’ve been going on walks with. They’re both really nice and they usually bring me treats. They came to walk me and I had so much fun in the snow on the long line! They let me stick my head right into the deep snow, I don’t know why they didn’t want to, it’s so much fun!
December 21st 2015
The girls have been putting this weird shirt/vest thing on me; I think they call it a Thundershirt. I don’t mind wearing it; it gives me a snug hug. It’s supposed to help keep me calm when I’m in an anxious situation, when I’m meeting new people, or when fireworks are going, off those things are too loud!
December 20th, 2015
I took one of the girls on the best walk the other day! We went in the deepest snow and I was on a long line! I was so excited she didn’t make me stay on the trail, she seemed a little concerned like she was lost, I knew where we were, I just didn’t feel like letting her know!
December 13th, 2015
The girls have been going crazy and dressing me up in all strange things this past week. I don’t mind it, I like posing for their photos, Iv’e learnt if I pose looking adorable I get lots of treats!
November 19th 2015
I am so happy to be able to call another dog my friend. This is Sweetie, she is only new to the shelter and I love playing with her. I got a bit too excited to begin with and scared her but now we are good. She understands that when I am excited I bark a lot and bounce around, I was never taught proper social etiquette in the doggy world you see. Making new friends makes me so happy and I can’t wait to make some more.
November 4th 2015
Zeljka has been taking me upstairs to our lounge room to lay and cuddle on the couches. I had never done this before in my previous life and I wasn’t too sure at the beginning. Now I love having quiet cuddle time and can’t wait to do it in a real home.
