[twissle]

good luck bet you can;t wait

[rainie]

Well, he's here. Harry. Looks like he's staying.
I will need to find a bit of a different morning and evening routine for  a while as he is scared horses and sheep.
He's adorable, overweight but adorable. Apparently likes sausages and crisps. No particular flavour! Sausages and Crisps are definately not on his menu here.
Lead work is quite good really, and recall isnt too bad, I think hes got so much happening and to look at at the moment, once he has got used to his surroundings, he'll be fine.
He has some nice manners. Bendog likes him.
Harrys fascinated by the chickens but maybe its because he likes chasing birds.
The lawn may have a nice big circle round it shortly.
He has had the run of the house previously, so at the moment he is complaining about the stairgate bless him.
He'll come right though, soon be a fit slim chilled (yes chilled  ) springer.
I'm pleased we have found him and him us.

[arugula]

Rainie, I'm very pleased to hear this. I think it sounds as though we should be seeing some pictures in Pets Gallery soon?

 

[twissle]

Oh that's great news  . I'm so pleased for you both. What colour is he? and how old

[rainie]

He's liver and white, and hes five but looks older, probably because of the weight he's carrying. His coat is a bit dull, and he drinks little and often (each time he walks past a water bowl). I think it will be a good idea to get his bloods checked for any liver probs etc,but I suspect as he enjoyed sausage and crisps, he may have excess salts and toxins in  his body, and with short and often exercise and better feeding, his health will improve.

Pictures in the gallery? Its on my list of jobs to do. Taking them is ok, its getting them onto the pc and then on here. Will try my best (i aim for a quiet working week this week as I cant shake off the fluey and cold germs).

I offered him half a carrot to chew on yesterday and he looked away from it in disgust. 'eugh, i dont do carrots!'

[twissle]

AWW bless him he sound's like Jamie my foster boy, He was 8month;s when i got him but was so fat and had no mussle he looked like 8yr;s, his fur had no shine what so ever I gave him a tin of pilchard's once aweek his got a lovely shine now.And a lot of playing with my dog's shifted the weightand a lot of gentle hill work brought the mussle's back, His now my pridw and joy .
As for the carrot what i did was sat down with him and ate some of the carrot myself and just broke a small bit off for him. Hehe he soon got the hang of it and loves's me now. I wouldn't be too worried about the water it some dog's are just like that, But still a good idea to let the vet give him the once over. Lol i'd love to show my dog's off but i can't get the hang of it still

[Thrift]

That's great rainie!! It sounds as though he's had too much of a very poor diet. You'll soon have a lovely sleek, fit dog. Best of luck with him. 

[rainie]

Springer Harry update. He gave me a real proper cuddle last night. You know the one, the one that says 'i like it here, its actually okay'.

Havent had any problems with him disliking people with glasses, but baseball caps - now thats a lot different. He does a big bark but scared with it, lots of noise and standing his ground but it the person removes the cap then squats to his level, he calms down. Stil not relaxed though, but gently gently does it. 

He wittles a bit when in the kitchen with the other dog and people are in the adjoining room, but again this is improving tremendously. (he had run of house in last home).
A single piece of gravel in a plastic bottle with the smallest of a shake (just enough to slide the gravel from one side of the bottlebase to the other, so really gentle), is enough to let him know the whittling isnt necessary. This again is getting less and less as time goes on.

Oh and he has learned to use a dog flap on the outside kennel , he was so excited when he first came from the inside to the outside bless him, he scooted round the lawn and bushes like a, well like a happy springer!

Introduction to horses, oh my god, one came up to him and he ran back to me and hid behind me as if the horse was a dinasour going to eat him. Again with gentle introduction he is fine, in fact a bit too comfy for my liking, so will carefully assess him all the while so he doesnt get trodden on when he leans into their legs as if the horse was a human.

Sheep? Well theres 4 old ones in the field,quite secure in their fat sheepy life. He was interested whilst he was on the extendable lead and I aired on theside of caution big time. The sheep owner insisted I let him off to assess him, and relucatantly i did.  He rounded them up, kept them tight, lost his recall and hearing, ran a very tight circle round them. I dived to catch him, much to my freinds amusement and held him, he was fine, he just stood, and so did the sheep. Back on the lead he was fine, didnt misbehave.
That was yesterday. This morning, sheep lesson 2...friend said to let him off. I didnt. Let him have full length of lead, sheep moved to the stables and stood between the two horses. Sheep turned to face him and stamped their feet.Harry thought twice about moving towards them and did so eventually a cautious step at a time and when he was head to head with the bossy one it butted him, but not too harshly, which is what i was hoping for. Harry now has respect for the sheep. I will use this exercise again tomorrow morning and feel confident there will be improvement.

Electric fence? It didnt zap him so he pops under it and sniffs inside the hedge then comes straight back to me. Recall isnt immediate though. But after about 5 or 6 calls hes back. Other dog Ben and his Lab friend Nelly dont follow him, they stand andwatch as they know the rules and greet him nicely, then run off to play together. Phew.

If theres not many fullstops here, its because there arent many during these real life adventures 

[twissle]

So glad his doing soo well hehe sound's like his been there forever . I know a lot of people won't agree about the sheep but i think it's a great idea, As long as it's controlled like you did it's the best way

[rainie]

Meet Harry

[arugula]

He's lovely!

[rainie]

Harrys got two hot dates!  One with the dog trainer and me, (to train me  how to control Harry) with sheep. And the second date is with the vet for a health check.

He has chewed on a carrot as a treat, yey.

Also when he is in the kitchen I can sometimes leave the stairgate open and he doesnt come into the lounge, so positive news there too.

He and Ben (my other 5yo rehomed springer) love playing tug of war with a scraggy rope, oh and then theres the plastic flowerpots, theyre fun too.  The lawn is looking like a springers lawn, but it is wet here at the moment and mud is sticking to them like glue. Have washed them both off with a bucket of warm soapy water (Harry loved it), and then washed off the slab path and concrete hardstanding. Garden looks a bit loved now.

[arugula]

It sounds as though he is picking things up very quickly, which is great. Really enjoying the updates!

[rainie]

Mucky paws again ha ha. Anyone any suggestions what to plant in them. They've been recently filled with soil and horsemuck.

[arugula]

Do you mean in beds and/or containers? I've always trained mine not to "walk on the flowers". Of course, Springers might speak a different language.