Just Some Photos Of Gijs

[BlueWolf]

I think I should just keep a single topic for all the photos I accumulate of Gijs while he's still at the shelter 

 

Today I sat next to him in is kennel for about half an hour. After the initial tornado of love that he becomes when I'm nearby he finally calmed down a bit. Enough apparently to just lie down next to me. Now that's a new thing, a calm Gijs!   In fact, he nearly fell asleep next to me, he was so chilled out! We just sat there for 15 minutes before someone walked in and woke him up again, lol. After that he wouldn't settle again so I took some photos 

 

 

I went out with a walk with him in the afternoon. Took a new route. Apparently it was quite a big one because my feet are currently hurt. I did found a new access point to a part of the abandoned train track I never been to before. It's in the middle of the city but there is absolutely no one around here. Very neat!

 

 

Gijs showing of his new harness. He used to pull a lot with his collar on but with his harness he is as good as gold! People always told me dogs will pull more with a harness on but apparently it doesn't apply for him. I think it looks very good on him 

 

 

He was so easy to walk. Both in and out of the shelter. Unlike normally, he had actually interest in other people around me and myself as well (as opposed to his normal tunnel vision). He actually stopped in front of me and only wanted to continue after I gave him a fuss. Normally all he wants is to walk but today he was really at ease   He definitely got rid of his excess energy so job well done!

 

[Emma]

He looks very happy, I wonder what's sparked this sudden interest in people when out walking? Whatever it is, it sounds like it's agreeing well with him. [emoji2]

[Sarah]

ahhhh he looks so happy

[goingsolo]

Such a handsome boy x

[Andy]

He's your best mate Jos.

[robke]

Jos sorry to say it but in all fairness he is your dog....

[BlueWolf]

Jos sorry to say it but in all fairness he is your dog....

 

Yeah, it's pretty much that case for me in the shelter now. The staff allows me to do everything with him, can come by to give him a cuddle or take him out for a walk whenever I want. When we're feeding the dogs, giving them treats or when bringing them to their outside area the staff always leave Gijs to me so I can do it. I can sit in his kennel for hours if I want, I can take him to the play field if I feel like. The only thing I cannot do is bringing him home  Both the staff and the volunteers (even those who only seen us once (keep commenting on how good of a match we are and I should totally take him home... How do I even respond to that?

 

I so wish I already had a place in Norway right now. A place for my own, some money and the ability to make my own decisions. That's all I want right now... That's all I want.

[robke]

not easy...

[BIGBY]

I thought Gijs was adopted? What happened?

[BlueWolf]

I thought Gijs was adopted? What happened?

 

It's the same story all over again every time. This time he was away for 2.5 weeks. He almost had it. He had a few biting incidents but they forgave him as he still has to get used to the change. Then he full on attacked their dad (which has been familiar with him as he already walked with him often). Or at least, that's the story I heard. I have really no idea to be honest what caused it as I have never seen it myself. I wish I saw it myself! They brought him back but were considering getting a behaviourist. That was one and a half week ago so I'm not entirely convinced they'll still be coming back for him.

 

He is a dog that's easily scared and reacts very strongly to stimuli. My phone went off earlier today when I was with him and he went on full alert and was really confused what was going on. I suppose in moments like these people try to calm him and pet him and that's when something clicks in him and (accidentally) bites back? Although I heard that he became like proper aggressive and everything...

I know what makes him scared (sudden unknown sounds - big vans - certain people) and have tried petting him in these moments when he was truly scared. He never even attempted to do anything with me. In fact, he seems to just be happy to have me nearby and is much more braver when I touch him. He is now seeking reassurance with me when he's not sure of something   Even with random people on the street he's very happy about.

[Removed #5]

Jos, I'm glad you're there for him.  Everyone needs a touchstone for when things are rough and you're apparently his.  Like you, I wish you could get your own place so he'd have a safe, loving forever home.

[BlueWolf]

After the work in the shelter was done in the morning I didn't really felt like not doing much during the afternoon. Looked a bit around on the map, found a forest nearby and just took Gijs with me to explore. I purposefully got myself lost in the woods and then used my gps to get back. Ended up being a nice  2 hour long walk while discovering lots of new places 

 

 

Watching ducks go by. As much as he loves going into the water, when I'm telling him no, he really does listen very good to me.

 

 

 

Mister happy face 

 

 

So many other people and other dogs, so many distractions! But he did very well today. I think it's good for him to get to these places more often and getting him more used to all the distractions (and learning to ignore them).

 

[Bambi92]

He's beautiful it's looks like you have done an amazing job with him he looks so happy now compared to some of the previous pics you have shared of him. I think he's found his hooman if only you could take him home with you

[BlueWolf]

Yesterday we had a rainy day so I had him out in the big area outside (3 connected kennels) for a play since all the others were inside.

 

That one single thing he always responds to: "Treat?"

 

 

He's such a photogenic dog with the ability to always makes you laugh 

 

 

 

I was throwing a ball for him, he loved it. The terrain is elevated so he kept running up and down, up and down. It's good for him to get rid of some excess energy

 

 

Bat ears!

 

 

Showing more of his GSD side.

 

 

Always ready for a cuddle when I sit down.

 

 

 

And after he was done he found a hole to lie in with his collection of balls 

 

[BlueWolf]

That day I also played with some other dogs. This is Jaros, a GSD that's been here for a while. Normally quite loud and a bit destructive, but give him a ball and he's the best dog you've ever seen

 

PLus he has always such a cute face 

 

 

 

 

 

Also yesterday we got Pleum back. A dog we have temporarily fostered at an age of ~4-5 weeks. Someone sold him at that age Her mother was found and was taken from the owner together with the other puppies. Now she's finally old enough to find a home for her own so she's back here now, the little bundle of chaos that she is!

 

 

 

 

Chewing on my watch. I much prefer this than her chewing on my hand. I still have marks of her puppy teeth on my hand 

 

 

 

 

I have no doubt she'll find a home quickly.

[robke]

I must say I do like the look of Jaros...

[BlueWolf]

Happy and feisty Gijs today   This was before I took him out for a 2 hour long walk. He was incredible well behaved today, even with all the stimuli around him.

 

 

 

I have accepted that it's near impossible to take even a single bad photo of him 

[BlueWolf]

I must say I do like the look of Jaros...

 

I haven't seen a GSD with these wild colouring before. I love it. In some of my photos it makes him look like a wolf, lol. But I think it's also the same reason why people are a bit scared of him (despite him having such a cute face).

[robke]

I haven't seen a GSD with these wild colouring before. I love it. In some of my photos it makes him look like a wolf, lol. But I think it's also the same reason why people are a bit scared of him (despite him having such a cute face).

there is something about his face and colouring that just appeals to me...

[Andy]

My Echo is exactly the same as Jaros.

Will have you backed up into a corner show her a ball and she's your best freind for life

Awesome Pics Jos

[Rusty]

Aww lovely pics, even if you can't take him home at least you can both make each other happy for now

[BlueWolf]

I was finally at the shelter again. Let him out on the field and he was so incredible happy

 

First he had to relief some stress.

 

 

But after he finished he became very cuddly again.

 

But like any GSD he LOVES balls. We have a corner were we keep the footballs that we got donated. Gijs often wanders around there but doesn't grab any of the balls without my permission. Well, at the end of the day I wanted to clean up the area and threw some balls back into the corner. Gijs immediately jumped after it to rescue his ball 

 

 

Bless him, he looks so happy in his box of balls!!

[BlueWolf]

I'm in a good position right now. In the morning I go to college to finish my overdue work and in the afternoon I drive to the shelter to relieve some stress with Gijs!

 

Today I needed a cuddle so took him out on the field again

 

 

I love how in almost every photo of him looking at the camera, he has the same overly exited expression. It's contagious, I tell you 

 

 

After a lot of ball throwing he took a quick drink...

 

 

And lied down next to me for a few minutes. Absolute bliss!

 

 

But throw a ball and he's all up and ready for it again.

 

 

 

As I said previously, he has found the ball pit. I knew this was going to be a problem and sure enough, when I wasn't throwing a ball he was 'shopping' for more balls to play with.

 

 

Found it!

 

 

"My ball!"

 

 

"Still my ball!"

 

 

Whenever I moved away from he he wanted to follow me but kept insisting in bring his ball with him 

 

 

This is after I told Gijs a bad joke 

 

 

Looking all innocent in his ball heaven. He knows I don't want him in there, but honestly, how would you be able to tell him off when he looks this way?? 

 

 

 

And this is currently my favourite photo of Gijs 

 

 

As rough as he is with his balls (he destroys all of them, it's like a husky - but worse!) he has no problem me sitting next to him and petting him during that. I can even take his balls from him, no aggression whatsoever! Although he keeps playing with all the toys, at the same time he wants to stay near me. He watches everything I do and follows me when I move too far away from him. Other than being a toy destroyer, he's pretty much the best dog you could think of.

[Emma]

He does look so truly happy there, bless him.

Must confess I've been thinking long and hard about Gijs and am wondering if he's not showing any of the behaviours mentioned with you because after all the time you've spent together he's bonded to you so in his eyes you are his owner and as such have earnt his respect and trust.

It might go someways to explaining why he's not responding to new owners. He's been in the shelter for quite some time and probably equates that as being his 'home' and the people there his carers.

Of course even if that was the case then all that would be needed to overcome it would be time, and patience from the right family. Unfortunately not something many people seem to have been able to offer him so far. That fact won't be helping him either, poor fella.

Really admire what you're trying to do for Gijs, fingers crossed that one day he'll get the happy ending he deserves. [emoji3]

[BlueWolf]

He does look so truly happy there, bless him.

Must confess I've been thinking long and hard about Gijs and am wondering if he's not showing any of the behaviours mentioned with you because after all the time you've spent together he's bonded to you so in his eyes you are his owner and as such have earnt his respect and trust.

It might go someways to explaining why he's not responding to new owners. He's been in the shelter for quite some time and probably equates that as being his 'home' and the people there his carers.

Of course even if that was the case then all that would be needed to overcome it would be time, and patience from the right family. Unfortunately not something many people seem to have been able to offer him so far. That fact won't be helping him either, poor fella.

Really admire what you're trying to do for Gijs, fingers crossed that one day he'll get the happy ending he deserves. [emoji3]

 

Other than the last time he never really had to time to learn that 'home' means something good. He came here due to being neglected, got rehomed three times and brought back three times due to biting. Originally he didn't even knew how to cope with people around him and to this day he is still confused how to behave with other dogs around him (he doesn't take any hints from other dogs when he becomes obnoxious). He's come a long way from that, seeing as he now follows me everywhere these days, but there's still a lot of ground to cover. I think bringing him to a new environment will set him back for a little bit. But seeing how he is right now I can only assume it will be temporarily. He's obviously relaxed with me around and I trust him with other people when I'm nearby. The shelter is a noisy place and it's obvious to me it's stressing him out. He's not always showing it but it's definitely affecting him. He may currently be more comfortable in the shelter than in a home environment, but this isn't the best situation for him right now. Although we feed him extra, he's not gaining any weight.

 

Interestingly Gijs accidentally bit me the other day. He was a bit too excited when I gave him a treat and suddenly I had my whole hand in his mouth. It left nothing but a small scratch but what was interesting was that he immediately ran away. Looking very shocked, if not a little bit scared. I didn't reply and just sat down. As he saw I didn't do anything he immediately came running back again for a cuddle. It's obvious that his past is still with him.