recovering from a flea infestation, underweight and non doubt totally confused frightened and alone we met Jade.
After a few seconds discussio consisting of "she's lovely - shall we" and "oh yes!" we loaded her into the car to take her home..
Here she is shortly after she arrived -
![Image](http://www.retrieverrescue.net/images/dogs/amber1.jpg)
We had an interesting evening - Jade was stressed out, snappy, groweled at anything that came near her and shreaded all of tobys toys.
The following day, I took her to work with me rather than risk leaving her with the other dogs.. she was fine in the car and behaved beautifully until i took her into my office later in the morning and she helped herself to my colleagues sandwiches
![Rolling Eyes :roll:](./images/smilies/icon_rolleyes.gif)
Anyway - we discussed things with a trainer we know who advised that all toys be removed and reintroduced later.. we changed her name from jade which we didnt like to amber - to remove any reference to her past and any trauma she may have encountered and made a few other changes.
Every day now things improve and on day 4, well i dont think we will get much better - the pack has reformed itself with Amber as an integral part - she is learning that there will be food morning, evening and night so there is no need to defend it and fight for it, and also that the other dogs are not a threat or have any intention of harming her..
Even now she has turned into a wonderful girl and if this is as good as it gets then thats fantastic - she is loving, loyal and is showing signs of a particularly cute nature..
All the dogs have now de-stressed and relax together, play together and we now have a need for a larger sofa!
![Image](http://www.retrieverrescue.net/images/dogs/amber2.jpg)
![Image](http://www.retrieverrescue.net/images/dogs/amber3.jpg)
The moral of the story - well we dont always know what these dogs have been through if there is no proper history. Give them time to settle in, stand back and look at the bigger picture and try and work out what has caused the problem you may be facing - it will help you to deal with it and insted of it being a mountain, it will become a manageable hickup... and you will find a wonderful companion!