New home finally found for Derbyshire rescue dog that self-harmed

Stanley's new owner said he is "the biggest, loveable, gentle giant"

A new home has finally been found for a "gentle giant" rescue dog that spent almost a year at an RSCPA centre in Derbyshire.

Stanley is settling into his new home in Wiltshire - 180 miles away from the rehoming centre where he had been living.

When he was rescued in May 2023 he had infected ears, fur loss, and wounds caused by self-trauma.

He has now been adopted by Nikki Farbrother and her husband Crispin.

"As soon as I saw the picture of Stanley I fell in love with him because he's just so gorgeous," said Mrs Farbrother.

"It said on the website that he had been there for almost a year, and that broke my heart a little bit because no dog deserves to be in kennels for that long."

Stanley's new owners, shown here with a volunteer walker, travelled 360 miles to adopt him

Stanley's new owners had previously looked after dogs as volunteers for Guide Dogs for the Blind but decided to get their own "forever dog".

Their son had also been looking to adopt his own dog. He sent his mum a link to an Akita called Snow who was being rehomed by RSPCA Chesterfield and North Derbyshire, which is near where he lives.

Mrs Farbrother then started looking at the other dogs who needed homes, which was when she spotted Stanley, who is a crossbreed.

She emailed the centre, filled in some forms, then she and her husband travelled up to see Stanley and brought him home the same day.

"They don't normally do that but we were travelling from such a long way," said Mrs Farbrother.

"He's the biggest, loveable, gentle giant. He just wants to sit on your lap.

"Wherever you are he will come and sit on your lap and get as close to you as he can."

Their son has also reserved Snow, meaning two dogs at the rehoming centre have hopefully found their forever homes.

Stanley still has some small scars from the wounds he had on his body

Stanley had spent a total of 341 days at the rehoming centre.

He had previously lived outside in what the RSPCA described as "unsuitable conditions", before his previous owner agreed to sign him over to the charity.

Stanley had scars on his body from self-injury, which can be a sign of separation anxiety in dogs, when they become distressed from being left alone.

Staff at the centre had tears of happiness when they saw Stanley go to his new home.

A spokesperson said: "We never gave up looking for a home for Stanley, we knew the right family was out there waiting to find him and they were.

"No one deserves this more and we wish Stanley and his new family lots of happy and fun-filled adventures."