Rhodesian Ridgeback
Edie - Almost 2yo Female Rhodesian Ridgeback 🐕🐾♥️ Sometimes a dog comes into rescue with a story already written about who they are. And then, given a different environment, they quietly start showing us there might be a whole lot more to their story. ❤️ Meet beautiful Edie. An urgent call came through to us when Edie’s family needed to relocate, and within just a few days she was surrendered into our care. We picked her up early Thursday morning, knowing we were taking on a girl described as extremely anxious, particularly when left alone. Edie has a heart of gold and absolutely adores her humans, but separation has been incredibly difficult for her. Her family had tried a run, medication and crating when they needed to leave her, but nothing seemed to really resolve her distress. We were also told she wasn’t particularly food motivated, wasn’t interested in treats and responded much better to affection and praise. So we prepared ourselves for a very anxious little girl. And then Edie jumped into our car. She relaxed. She happily ate lots of treats and enjoyed her food during the drive. And we thought… Well hello, Edie. Who are YOU? ❤️ We stopped at a local park before taking her to foster and watched her begin taking in a whole new world. She was initially unsure meeting unfamiliar dogs, which is completely understandable, but with time and space she relaxed — even around a rather noisy one! She was curious, gentle and clearly loved simply being out exploring. There was already a difference. Then came the next question. Could Edie live successfully with another dog — particularly another female? We deliberately chose a wonderful, Ridgeback-experienced foster home with Amahle, a beautiful, friendly, stable and balanced 2-year-old female Ridgeback. The initial introduction went well. And each day since, things have just kept getting better. ❤️ Edie slept happily in her crate that first night, went for a walk the following morning and had no accidents. She is eating enthusiastically — including very respectable Ridgeback-sized meals 😂 — and currently weighs 27.5kg. She and Amahle are now walking together, have been comfortable enough to share one lead, and Edie is learning a great deal from having a calm, socially balanced dog beside her. There has been some humping of Amahle, something we commonly see in rescue dogs as displaced energy or over-arousal rather than simply labelling it “dominance.” Thankfully, Amahle speaks Ridgie beautifully and has been calmly helping Edie regulate without escalating things. Then came the beach. 🏖️ Edie LOVED it. On her 10-metre long line she ran, explored and happily played with another dog. Her recall is actually pretty good… …unless, of course, Edie has determined that whatever she has found is substantially more interesting than you. 😂 Very Ridgeback. Interestingly, toys appear to be another whole new language for her. Amahle loves a good game of chase with a toy, while Edie seems genuinely unsure what she is supposed to do with one. Perhaps nobody ever taught her. For now, she seems much more interested in people, exploring and simply running around. She was also beautifully behaved while her foster humans stopped for coffee. ☕️ And then came something particularly encouraging. Her foster family have begun leaving Edie and Amahle home together for short periods. So far? All has been fine. They suspect the girls have simply gone to sleep. For a dog who came to us with significant concerns around being left, that is a very encouraging beginning — although it is still very early days and we won’t pretend her separation anxiety has magically disappeared. What we are seeing is a girl who may cope very differently when her physical, social and emotional needs are being met. Edie definitely likes her people close. She follows her foster mum around and prefers to at least be in the same room as a human. She’s also sensitive to loud noises and can be jumpy. Her foster noticed that when food preparation began on one occasion, Edie retreated to the front door and needed some gentle coaxing back to eat. We don’t know exactly what was behind that response, so for now we’re simply listening to what Edie is showing us and allowing her to build confidence at her own pace. ❤️ WHO IS EDIE? She is an almost 2-year-old Ridgeback girl who has grown up with children and a cat. She is affectionate, people-focused, energetic, curious and incredibly responsive to love and praise. She knows sit, responds well to training and is comfortable being handled. She generally walks well on lead, although if she hasn’t had regular exercise she can become excited and pull a little. And yes, she has plenty of Ridgeback VROOM when the opportunity arises. 😂 But here’s the funny part… Give her a good walk and adventure and she’s ready to go. Don’t walk her? Apparently she’ll quite happily decide that today is cancelled and sleep instead. 😂 She has been described as good with children and curious/good with cats, and what we have personally seen so far with dogs has been very encouraging. She can initially be unsure or anxious around unfamiliar dogs, but with appropriate introductions she has relaxed, played and interacted beautifully. Most importantly, we’re beginning to see that underneath the anxiety is a very sweet, gentle girl who wants connection and security. Edie hasn’t been in rescue long enough for us to claim we’ve figured her all out. We haven’t. But that’s actually the beautiful part. In only a few days, she’s already challenged some of what we expected. She’s eating treats. She’s enjoying her food. She’s exploring. She’s playing with dogs. She’s sleeping in her crate. She’s sharing life with another female Ridgeback. And she’s already managed short periods at home without her humans while having Amahle beside her. Maybe Edie doesn’t need someone to “fix” her. Maybe she needs someone willing to understand her, keep showing her the world, give her consistency and security, and help her discover that she can cope with more than she ever realised. And judging by her first few days with us… We think there’s a pretty wonderful little girl waiting to emerge. 🐕🐾♥️
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