Doobie's Story--Update

Dooby is a sweet old soul who has had a hard time. He lived most of his life on the streets of Phuket, Thailand, fending for himself, and faced more challenges than we can imagine.

He was rescued by a wonderful organization called Soi Dogs, located in Phuket. When he was rescued he had no fur at all because he had such severe mange. He originally came to Canada to live with a family in Vancouver and was sent to Canmore to a dog trainer who relinquished him to the Bow Valley SPCA on Christmas Eve 2015.

She was leaving town and had no one to look after him so she was going to send him back to Thailand. We agreed to accept him into our care rather than put him through the trauma of a 30 hour flight.

Dooby was with us for over 900 days before he found a home with a foster family. During that time, many volunteers and all of the staff fell in love with him and his peculiar quirks: he hated the cold, loved the sun, and would nip unexpectedly and then want to cuddle, and had little use for other dogs but always had a friendly greeting towards people.

Niki, one of our staff decided that Dooby needed a dog friend and began walking him with her dog, Blake. In time, Blake and Dooby became friends and Dooby even had frequent sleep-overs.

Jean, one of our most dedicated volunteers, fell in love with Dooby and agreed to foster him. She also decided that the spelling of his name was not appropriate. He is now known as Doobie (esquire).

She reports, “Doobie has been with us since the end of June as our foster boy. He’s gone through a lot of changes. At first he was excited to be with us, then he needed to “cocoon” for quite a few weeks, not wanting to go far from home (except for car rides, of course — his favourite!).

Now he is fully comfortable living with us and has adjusted to the routines of living in a home. It is a joy to see him becoming a happy, healthy dog. His coat is growing in furry and soft. He has favourite walks, and quite a few favourite places at home to snooze.

He is funny, quirky, very smart, and a loving and sweet companion. Despite his background, he has quickly developed good house manners. He likes to sit in the kitchen and watch us cook, but is pretty good about not begging. He is even getting braver in the dark!

His PTSD-like fear of strangers and other dogs means he will always have to be carefully managed, but he has also shown us that he is able to make new friends and adjust to changes. He is also a bit of a celebrity — on our walks we frequently run into people who recognize him from the SPCA website and ask how he is doing. The answer — “just great!”

Jean also reports that Doobie has changed their lives. “For one thing, there are the early morning and late evening pee walks—I don’t always feel like going out at that time (neither does he) but once we’re out we get to enjoy the early morning light, and the stars at night. There is a at least one long walk at some point during the day (he keeps me company while I work at my desk). And of course there are paw prints and tiny white hairs over all the floors. He also gives us the best doggie hugs and a lot of love, and we’ve discovered how much we were missing that!”

Niki reports, “Doobie has been over for visits the last couple of days while Jean has been out of town. I have also been looking after my 84 year old mother in law. Doobie is very comfortable being around my mother in law and has spent lots of time with her in the past. Today we were walking and my mother in law tripped and fell to the ground (she is ok). Doobie was very concerned about her wellbeing and licked her face. It really helped cheer her up.”

Talk about a ripple effect for changing lives!