Vote for your top rescue dog (From The Wiltshire Gazette and Herald)

Vote for your top rescue dog

3:02pm Friday 19th September 2008 in Swindon By Gazette Reporter

Rescued and rehomed dogs - of all ages, shapes and sizes, and from every corner of England and Wales - are preparing to compete for the public's vote in the annual RSPCA Dog of the Year competition and win a place in the grand final.

Dog of the Year is the largest national show exclusively for pedigree and crossbred rescue dogs from all backgrounds - not just RSPCA centres - each with a heart-warming story to tell of how they triumphed over adversity.

From September 8th, everyone is invited to vote online for their favourite four-legged heat winner in six geographical regions, simply by logging onto www.rspca.org.uk/doty. Voting runs until the end of September - so don't miss your chance to help select this year's finalists.

In the south and south-west, characterful canines from Fareham, Swindon, Plymouth, Bath, Farnborough, Falmouth, Bristol, Dorchester, Silverton and the Isle-of-Wight have all successfully qualified as heat winners.

You can view photos of all the heat winners - there are over 50 - on the website from September 8th. You can read their often-fascinating stories about how they came to be rescued and rehomed with their current owners, and decide which six dogs you think most deserve to go through to the final. You can vote for one dog in each region.

The six dogs with the most votes will battle it out in a grand final which will run exclusively in the Sunday Express newspaper (date to be confirmed). Readers will be able to vote for the dog they want to be crowned RSPCA Dog of the Year.

The overall winner will be announced by the Sunday Express in November and will receive a whole host of prizes including: An engraved cut-glass trophy RSPCA pet insurance cover for a year* a photo session with glossy magazine Dogs Today and the chance to star on the front cover Their pet portrait by animal artist RSPCA chief executive Mark Watts said: "Over seventeen thousand dogs were rehomed by the RSPCA last year alone. This annual RSPCA competition is a well-deserved chance for dogs who were once unwanted to steal the limelight and show just what fun-loving pets rescue dogs can make."

among those taking part is Jazz from Swindon who started his life in a loving home, but soon he got in the way. Another baby, moving house and building work going on - they had no time for a year-old puppy. He was then shut away on his own, shouted at and even hit, just not loved anymore and this broke his heart. All that time on his own and he started to get naughty; he became aggressive towards people and just didn't trust his owners anymore. He was taken back to his breeder who then took him to the rescue home, but he wasn't happy and tried to bite the breeder - he was totally confused and very frightened.

When I went to see him at the rescue home I was shocked that such a young dog was so scared of people, considering his background with a young family. He hid most of the time behind the sofa, and when he did appear he was scared and I couldn't touch him. Even with all of this I could see there was something special in him and I was sure that with some love and one-to-one affection we could be a great team. The breed rescue were supportive and gave me tips on how to start, saying that if he was too much I could take him back, and I went home to prepare for my new arrival.

My sister and I returned to collect Jazz the next day wearing padded clothing expecting him to try to bite us on the journey home! It took over an hour to get near him to put on his lead, but once we achieved this he seemed a little better and we got him in the car. We both got home without being bitten! We gave him lots of patience, love and attention. He did tried to bite me a few times to begin with because he was frightened - he didn't like to be cornered and would lash out. I soon learned to change the way I touched him so he didn't think I was going to hit him.

Once Jazz started to trust me we went to dog training classes, socialising with humans and other dogs, which he loved. We did basic obedience, which he picked up quickly - didn't always do it, but soon people warmed to his show-off personality and he made a lot of people laugh. He has now passed his Bronze Good Citizen award and is training for his Silver; has just started agility classes and is in the top four fastest dogs. The classes have really helped build a fantastic relationship between us.

Jazz is a wonderful loving dog. It has been ten months of really hard work and we still have lots to do, but he is the best dog in the world to me and I am so glad I came along to rescue him.