After experiencing an influx of challenging dogs with extensive needs, Forest Dog Rescue, decided to seek advice and signed up to the Battersea Academy. Forest Dog Rescue have been supporting dogs in Worcestershire for over 40 years.
After attending an Academy course, the charity’s staff returned armed with new tools to enrich the care of their dogs. The kennels were reorganised to control admission numbers and create calmer spaces. Staff introduced games and agility courses to boost the dogs’ mental stimulation. Other measures included updated behaviour and rehoming evaluations, and specialised trainers were brought on board to provide targeted support to the animals.
These changes directly benefited dogs like Wednesday, a high-energy stray who arrived with challenging behaviours and no training in place. She was destructive in kennels and pulled relentlessly on walks, injuring herself trying to access the stimuli she required. Despite months of struggling to manage Wednesday’s behaviour, time constraints had previously meant she had been receiving little customised training.
However, with intake controlled and staff training now enhanced, Forest Rescue was finally able to dedicate resources to understand and meet Wednesday’s needs. More walks, trick training and off-lead playdates revealed her intelligence. She rapidly improved, learning impulse control and social skills and her kennel destruction ceased, with her energy now being channelled constructively.
In fact, Wednesday became a staff favourite for enriched one-on-one outings. This special time and attention from staff, a direct result of knowledge gained via Battersea, revealed the sweet companion within the destructive stray. From stressed and understimulated to carefully supervised and fulfilled, Wednesday flourished. Within weeks, her new training and personality led to her finding a loving new home.
