As some of you may already know we decided to foster Zak after the awareness day last Tuesday...well Jim and the girls wore me down on the way home in the car as I was trying to be Mrs Sensible!

We picked him up on Wednesday and took him home for the introductions. All seemed to go well and after he'd had a good sniff about the house we all went out for a walk. Gambol seemed delighted to have a youngster for some carry-on! They all settled down for a sleep on our return although Zak was naturally unsure of all the goings on..with 4 girls there's always noise and activity! Keera accepted him immediately - she's a real lady and was very welcoming and Gambol too was fine. Jamie,however, constantly stalked him. He followed him everywhere and pushed him out of the way when he came for a cuddle..thankfully there are enough of us that someone was always available for the job! We had a few piddly accidents..all on the laminate floor and not the rug God love him..but that was to be expected.He was naturally a little unsettled the first night so Jim slept on the couch and the good boy never had a single accident all night.

Thursday we were up bright and early and Jamie was still Zaks shadow. There were a few growly moments but nothing serious.Zak seemed a little more settled and relaxed and didn't feel the need to get up and follow you every time you moved! The piddly accidents also stopped so he was really being a very good boy. We even found he would actually sit for you if you asked him too and his table manners were very good! We went out for our usual fairly long walk in the afternoon and he behaved very well again even if he does pull on the lead a little (a bit like Gambol Zak likes to be out in front!). At night  Jim slept on the couch again as Jamie still seemed a bit stressed.

Friday came and Zak seemed much more relaxed but Jamie seemed more on edge again. I went to work in the afternoon and when I came home found that Jamie had gone for Zak and had actually caught his side. No skin was broken but Zak apparently howled for ages and was becoming quite nervous of Jamie. While I was being told about this Jamie had another go at Zak,completely unprovoked and of course much barking etc ensued from the others.We had to make the very sad decision then that this was not working and was certainly not fair on either Jamie or Zak.

Saturday morning came and amidst floods of tears Zak went back to Rachel and Eddies. I'm tearful as I write this as I can still see those gorgeous eyes of his looking up at me.He is an absolutely gorgeous dog with a really loving nature and I know he will find a forever home very soon.At the end of the day we had to put our 3 dogs first and Jamie was just not going to accept him. We didn't want to come home one day and find something serious had happened.Saturday afternoon and Gambol Keera and especially Jamie were far more chilled and Jamie slept practically the whole day! I think he was wrecked after all the attention he gave to Zak.

We feel like we've failed Zak in some way and I know deep down we haven't as at least we tried. But it doesn't make it any easier to watch him go.If things had worked out differently we would probably have kept him for good.  

Shirley