Let’s reintroduce you to our special girl Helga, one of our longest staying residents here at the Hotel. Helga has been with us for nearly a year and was significantly struggling to adapt to kennel life, after she was sadly brought in as a “fake stray”.
Thankfully, one of our fantastic volunteers stepped in to welcome Helga into her home as a foster, and she has been there ever since. Even though Helga has settled well into life on foster, she is still looking for her forever home and so, we asked her foster mum some questions that any potential adopters might want to know!
1. What does Helga’s daily routine look like?
She wakes up like a bottle of pop, but only when you’re ready to get up! She’ll do endless spins by her food bowl until breakfast appears. She has one tablet for her joints (her hind legs) but eats it like it’s a treat!
After food she has a cucumber snuffle mat and runs to it like an excited child, even pawing at doors to open them. Then, she goes straight back to sleep, all tucked in, while I work. She has a 30–40-minute walk at lunchtime, followed by a lick mat, then sleeps again for a few hours. Later, we go for another walk and she has her tea in enrichment puzzles because she loves working for her food.
She’s always up for toys, chewing her nylon bone or a game of tug but once it hits 8pm, she takes herself to bed on the sofa and doesn’t move again until a quick wee break before bed, then sleeps right through until morning.
2. What makes her a good house guest?
Helga is the perfect house guest. She listens first time to everything, has never had an accident inside, she has shown no signs of separation anxiety- she’s one of the best behaved foster dogs I’ve had the pleasure of looking after.
3. What is your favourite “quirk” about her?
You’ll sometimes find Helga sleeping in the wardrobe like a cat!
4. Is there anything about her behaviour that has changed for the better since she has been on foster?
Helga is dog reactive- she is not reactive to people, bikes, or cyclists. She has good manners on walks but does like to get vocal when she spots a dog. When I first took her on foster 7 months ago, she would see one dog and get worked up for the whole walk. Though, fast forward to now and Helga will still bark when she sees a dog, but she can now snap out of it 10x faster and carry on enjoying her walk like nothing happened. Helga picks things up very quickly, she may only weigh 10kg but she has a very big brain that wants to learn!
5. What’s one “small victory” Helga’s had recently that made you really proud?
Helga constantly makes me proud; she has come so far. Helga used to find just being outside overwhelming, she didn’t like to stop even for a second. We’ve been working on showing Helga that it’s okay to stop when out and take a break. Now, Helga is finally slowing down and learning not to get frustrated. We like to go and sit on a bench daily and we can now relax a lot better without being alert.
A huge thank you to Helga’s foster mum for sharing that with us.
We know Helga’s forever home is out there somewhere and if you think that might be you, take a look at Helga’s full rehoming requirements here.
Please note, Helga is looking for an adult-only home with no other dogs.