Dear all,

We are Hans and Helga de Wilde, the new owners of Trope and we are very glad that Belinda and Wietse asked us to update you on his situation

We had already searched on the internet for the mailadress of the veterinary clinic where Trope was brought in, and although the clinic is mentioned, the e-mail adress was not available. So finally we are able to thank you for all you have done for him and we want to thank you very much for the opportunity to have him!

Belinda is our neighbour and she suggested that Trope, living with her at the time, and ourselves could be a perfect match. And it is! When we saw him for the first time (this was the end of August) our harts broke a little bit. Not only because his history that we received from Belinda. He was so beautiful and very sweet but very shy and very scared. He was really victimised. He has a very good character and without doubt has a bad past, which he didn't deserve. He peeed from fear when putting on the lead for a walk (bandog?), seeing big men or fire and someone has beated him since he was scared from high hands. When you forced him to do something - for him- scary, like entering a new room, he walked very low and had flat ears. And he wanted to cuddle the whole day, licking your hands, like a little baby. All those things you recognise, I think.

Now, he is a very strong, healthy, social, loving, sweet and sparkling, sometimes even naughty (yes!) dog. We think he is very happy and hopefully end good, all good for Trope. Who we called Buddy, because Trope is a little difficult for us. And he is really a "Buddy" to us: we work at home, have no children and he is almost the whole day with one of us. 

We have made a report up to now and we are sorry that it is a little bit long. We are so proud of him!

First his health. He is totally healthy. After the care he got in Spain (thank you all!), Belinda or the organisation had him tested for his hips/back and on virusses etc and our own vetenarian has done this again as an intake. She took new photo's, also because the test was a few months ago, translated the letter that you made and consulted the Dutch vet who initially tested him. So it seems sure that he has recovered completely from the accident. Apart from being too thin and having an innocent lumb on his back he was declared in optimal health.

He eats like a woolf, likes snacks (always begging!) and bones. Now, he has gained a lot of weight (+ 7 = 37 kgs). He is on special german sheperd biscuits, containing special vitamins for the nerve system, but since eating is his first hobby, he eats a little bit too much which was not a problem at first since he was too skinny when we got him. But he reaches a healthy limit now. His coat is shiney and his even his teeth are almost clean. That was quite a job since we did'nt want to do the vetenarian to do that. He is on this dog-biscuits now and gets a teeth-cleaning chewing stick every day. The lumb will be removed within a few months because it is too invasive and stressy for him to do it shortly. And then how he is really doing. 

First we have let him come to rest. Although we were confident that he would manage with a lot of love we consulted a therapist - yes they exist! - from the Tinley organisation. We got some tips, on how to handle the peeing, which was not a medical thing, and especially to make him more self confident. The fact that he was castrated before was in this case not helpfull since he was extremely servile and afraid. He gained a lot of self confidence already. He doesn't pee in the house anymore, he likes the lead, he walks proudly, and he even raises his leg up to every tree. It will never be a dominant dog of course but he is more balanced now and can cope with normal situations and other dogs. Of course, we are only a few months working with him so there are still occasions that he seeks protection and sometimes something new that we can't foresee can unbalance him. It seems that we gained his trust and and every day is a step forward. We avoid stressy situations and we let him choose his own tempo which works very well. He still needs a lot of love and attention and it will take some more time to get stronger.

It is a happy dog and you would think that he would be younger than 3 yrs; it is almost a puppy. Every morning he falls over his own feet from joy. He is boosting from energy and we take a long walk or bike with him in the woods, by which we live nearby. He doesn't need a lead, he listens very well, so he can walk freely. He is really strong and can run very fast. He matches the bike. When he meets other dogs in the forest he plays with them, is not scared anymore and sometimes he even shows his teeth when they do something he doesn't like. Of which we are very proud since his history, as you can understand. Then he is tired, takes breakfast and a nap, preferably in the office on your feet but sometimes he is already confident enough to retreat on his own spot. In the afternoon and the evening the same ritual.

Playing is a separate chapter. He can play now!  Not only cuddling or with your hands but really playing. He had to learn that from scratch. First by throwing little sticks but since he can run so fast now, we bought a kind of tennisball-thrower. He plays also by himself with his toys and challenges you to do that with him. He is rearranging and collecting his toys from time to time during the day, a very strange habit. He has a big collection but his favorite is next to the tennisball thrower for outdoors, a circle of rope that beeps. It was the first one he got and if he goes to sleep at night he takes it with him to the bedroom

It takes only a few hours to eat a chewing bone of which he has leftovers through the house or buried in the garden. Sometimes a new toy is a little bit too scary and then he is so mixed up, not knowing where to store it, that we have to take it away for some time. Probably we spoil him a little but we like to see him playing since he really couldn't when we got him. It is a strange idea that a young dog never learned to play. 

Yes, he sleeps next to the bed in the bedroom! The first night he slept close to the frontdoor and he didn't want to go in any room. But on the other hand he wants to be close to you so the second night we heard him quietly enter the bedroom and he slept next to our bed, which he does up to now. He doesn't want to have his own spot. We have tried baskets and plaids but he only wants to be close. Or preferably on your lap.

He can be alone and is extremely happy when he sees you again, now wagging his tail, which he couldn't or wouldn't at first. Probably this was painfull.

But he also likes to join you going out. He likes driving in the car and if we take him into the village he waits outside the shops. He gets a lot of attention then beacuse he is so sweet and beautiful. He is humoristic and knows when he is the queen of the ball.

We never have to raise our voices because he has really never done something bad. He is very sweet, wants to learn and is very clever. He is attentive and listens well and is sometimes even obstinate, like a young dog, which makes us laughing since we see it as a step forward.

A perfect example is when we were in the woods and it was raining heavily. We try to learn him not to roll into the mud since it is quite a job to clean him. He wanted to go into a huge pool, we said no and walked further with him. After some yards he suddenly turned around and took a jump into the middle of the pool, up to his shoulders, looking up to us challenging and in triumph.

Buddy is an advertisement for your organisation. Everyone falls in love with him. He is beautiful and has a good character. We realise how lucky we are.

Of course, we don't know anything of his past before the accident but we assume that the only things left from his past are begging for/stealing food and an extreme fear for fire (the fireplace and candles which is difficult now since these are the dark days). And he seldom barks, only one or two times since we got him (probably no bandog after all)

You also asked for photo's. We don't have recent digital photo's. These photo's were taken by a friend in the last week of August when he was a few days with us. Now he is happier, more fierce and proud and also his back is stronger. We will take some photo's in the next weeks to give you a better impression.

We can't thank you enough for saving him and caring for him. He is the love of our life and we will care for him the best we can. Also speaking for Buddy, we hope that you wil continue the good work that you do and that a lot of dogs will be saved. If there is anything we can do for you don't hesitate to ask.

Happy new year and of course a big hug from Buddy!

Best regards,

Hans & Helga de Wilde