I thought that as big Zola had been in the kennels for such a while I’d take him out for the day and then do a wee write up for his kennel to see if it helps him find a home. Celia and Jimmy kindly trusted me with him for the day so we headed off from the kennels to sunny Perth.

First good point about Zola (apart from his obvious handsomeness)! He loves the car and travels no problem at all.

First stop was my house where he met my own hound, Finn. We kept both dogs muzzled as a precaution but there was no problem at all, in fact Zola followed Finn everywhere and Finn loved the attention!

Zola would definitely bond quickly to his people as having spent only a short time with him he was looking for me when I disappeared. He’s an awfully affectionate boy and revelled in the fuss and cuddles (he didn’t say ‘no’ to any treats that were going either)!

I had intended to walk Zola with Jess and her spaniel to gauge his reaction to other breeds, however, he was slightly stressed at the strange environment so we decided it would be unfair to test him.

Regardless, Jess and I set off with Zola in tow for a nice walk and he walked like an angel. No bother on the lead, he’s happy to follow you anywhere and you wouldn’t even know he was there.

First test came when we met 3 other dog owners with their dogs all standing around having a chat. Jess hung back with Zola while I went on ahead and explained we weren’t sure how he’d react to their dogs in view of the fact he had only ever seen fellow hounds before. Poor Zola, it was a baptism of fire with 3 of them to contend with at once! The other owners were great and stood back whilst we passed. Their dogs ignored Zola, who was actually not too bad!! He won’t be writing them love letters any time soon, however, he contented himself with one lunge and bark and that was it! We also discovered that Zola has a particular penchant for boiled ham and I’m sure would strip off his fur and do a fan dance if he thought he might get a bit. This, along with the fact he is desperate to please you, makes him very trainable and I would think that with a bit of practice and a dozen packs of boiled ham you could sort this out fairly quickly. He certainly didn’t react as badly as Finn used to, and Finn is pretty much fine now.

Next test was a lady with a spaniel, who was very kind and offered to let Zola get up close and personal with her dog to see how it would go. We politely declined, not wanting to push our luck, as Zola at this point was I think too exhausted to react much and stood ignoring it whilst we chatted. However, we obviously chatted too long and he did eventually give it a bit of a ‘wuff’! Again, it was close to him before he reacted, it’s not like he sees them from yards away and starts carrying on, it’s only when they’re very close to him he reacts.

We arrived home and I had planned to let Zola enjoy the freedom of the garden, however, he was desperate to get inside!

Of course, we gave in and he came into the house where he was a good boy and didn’t pee once (thank goodness)!

All too soon it was time to head back to Baltree, although I think Zola was pleased to see his bed!

I really couldn’t say enough good things about Zola. He’s exceptionally affectionate, very eager to please, a dream to walk and would do anything for boiled ham which should make housetraining etc easier as he’ll quickly cotton on to anything that earns him this treat of all treats! I really can’t understand why he hasn’t been snapped up by now. I think perhaps people find his size a little off putting and coupled with his prey drive feel he’d be difficult to handle. This is not the case. Neither Jess or I are bigger than 5 feet 3 (with our hands in the air haha) and we managed him just fine. His prey drive was not as high as I expected and he was very easy to control using Finn’s lead, which has a shock absorber in it. Basically, if the dog lunges, the lead itself pulls him back, minimising the effect on your arm socket!

If you’re looking for a dog that draws admiring glances from passers by (and Zola did), who is patient and kind, affectionate and easy to walk with then Zola’s your man!! Obviously his reaction to other breeds needs some work but I don’t foresee it being a great problem as he’s really not too bad at all in this area already. I plan to take him out more to practice this, but would really love not to have to because he has found someone willing to love him forever. He’s not perfect, but with a little training and patience he’ll be pretty close!

I did take lots of photo's of our day out but can't figure out how to download them! However if you come to visit him you'll be able to see them on his kennel wall.

Karen

What a great idea and a treat for Zola. Well done you, at least potential owners can now have some extra information about the lovely boy before taking him home.

he is such a handsome boy its a ashme my boy dont get on with other lads as i would have snapped him up last year

I have posted these pictures for Karen Smith to go along with the text article above, To try and help Zola Find his forever home.
Thanks karen for giving Zola a chance to show off his qualities around Perth, He looked like he loved his big day out.



Here’s the man himself eyeing up the blooms!



Enjoying the view



Homeward Bound!



If I stare at the back door long enough, they might let me in!



Loving the kitchen - and the smell of food!

Good luck Zola on finding your forever home very soon!!!
Billy and Lassie have their paws crossed for you that you dont have to much longer to wait!!

That's great George, thanks for putting the pics on.

So glad to hear that Zola got on so well on his day trip!

He is such a lovely big boy and I give him a cuddle every week when I see him...he really deserves his forever home!!