A Better English Setter Rescue

Tess is a beautiful, 2-year-old, petite female setter. She came from a very good field hunting setter line; however, Tess suffers from some sort of visual impairment and cannot hunt. She has been to an ophthalmologist who said that her vision is fine, and referred her to a neurologist. The neurologist reported that little Tess’s brain does not process depth perception correctly and she does not see much of the world correctly. Different procedures were discussed such as an MRI and a spinal tap to determine genetic causes of hydrocephalus, but the Neurologist indicated that the tests and treatment were potentially dangerous and expensive, and the treatment would likely have minimal or no effect on her functioning. The majority of the time, you would not even know that this friendly, extremely active little girl has a disability.

Familiarity may be part of the key to Tess’s success as she does much better in the comfort and routine of her own home. “New things,” such as a pile of leaves in the fall, snow on the ground, slippery floors or even certain rooms in the house can cause her to have an “episode.” An “episode” can consist of her freezing in place; stopping what she is doing and being less responsive. At the Ophthalmologist appointment, Tess was placed on the floor to complete an obstacle course. With the light on, Tess was hesitant, slow and bumped into some objects. However, when Tess was given the same obstacle course in the dark, she froze and did not move. We do know that once Tess knows the area she is in, she has no issues running around, walking or going in and out of the house.

Tess is very good with other dogs and enjoys playing with them. At first, Tess needed a cat free home, but now she is much less curious with the kitties she lives with. Tess does not walk well on a leash, and she probably never will so a physical, hard fence is necessary for this girl to be able to run around. (Tess is usually carried to different locations and she is fine with that.) Because of a prior incident with her original owner and a bark collar, no invisible fencing will be considered due to the tone/vibration collar used in training. Tess is very active outside and enjoys spending a lot of time bird watching. Tess recently made a move with her foster family to a more country like setting and she has really thrived, running thru the back yard chasing her soccer balls! She is also active inside the home but enjoys playing with her nylabones and other toys. Her house manners are fairly good; she is housebroken and crate trained, but she does still jump up on people.

Tess is very protective of her food, and she can display crate aggression with or without food so for those reasons, we are looking for an adopter/household with no young children.

Despite her disability, her food and crate issues, and any other hiccups that life has handed her, Tess remains a very sweet, friendly, outgoing, energetic, fun-loving little girl that embraces life and enjoys a good snooze next to her person. We feel that Tess needs an adopter that is going to love her the way she is and not try to “fix” all of these issues. Medically, there is nothing more that can be done for her. As for the crate issues, she is not destructive when she is out of the crate for extended periods of time.

We think a meet & greet would be a good thing, Tess is located in PA.

If you are patient, loving, and willing to work with Tess as she is, please complete an application.