[rainie]

Thank you foghorn leghorn. You are right about Rome and time out. Now the major assessment has been completed, its time to sit back and enjoy whilst our mad springy relationship develops with steady training and muddy ponds. (goodness knows what my other half will think with me writing that! )


Twissle, yes they are still buddies, seem to have their mad half hours in the kitchen though, not in the garden  . Ben is learning that its ok to play and bounce, his mum always kept him in check and i felt he needed a buddy to help him do this. I found it hard work dropping to my shoulder and roughing him up lke his mum did.    But now Ben is gradually learning and oh my gosh is there going to be a fun riot whan it happens.

Harrys diet is going well, he has lost 2cm from his girth, 1cm from his neck behind his ears and 4.5cm from his neck where is joins his shoulders. I will aim to get him on mates bathroom scales over the next few days. It sounds a drastic amount  for him to lose in a short time, but he is nearly always on the go, exploring his new surroundings in a happy way. He is getting plenty of the correct food but not too much. (the measurements are approx as he wriggles a lot )

[twissle]

AWW sound's like my house. yeah what is it about playing inside my lot are the same :nowink:Then it's the mad dash outside and whip back in to see who can leave the biggest paw print's everywhere. . I agree with how you've done it the intence first I'm shaw there was time for fun as well, But yeah now's the getting to no each other time isn't it . That old weight soon drop's off with the right food and a good old run around doesn't it, Jamie look's like a different dog within a couple of week's took a bit longer building his mussle's though. I when back to my horsey day's and slowly built him up on the hill's lol it nearly killed me though

[rainie]

(thank you Argyllie)

Harry has a nose which just has to sniff and he cant stop sniffing, one day he will trip over his nose.

[rainie]

At least whilst he is sniffing, hes on the go and losing the obesity which came with him.

Will try and get him weighed today and take a couple of pics of him as he is today. His weight is improving for the better as is his fitness level.

[jamima]

Three Counties Rescue at Bourne often have springers for re-home,hope you get sorted 

[rainie]

Thankyou Jamima, We have Harry now as Bens new friend. Its good to know about Three Counties Rescue at Bourne though. 

[arugula]

Looking good rainie!

[rainie]

oo blimey, nothing major to report. Lots of slow but positive progression
And took the boys for a social visit to the vet today, Ben to get him over puking in the boot, and Harry to get him happy to be visiting the vet for whenever we need to.
Ben only puked once in the boot.   Harry is by now hanging over the back seat trying not to puke himself!  Pulled over, found calm again, and carried on. Vets was good, Harry not as bad as last time, he sat on the scales like he'd done it before (well he has once), and he took it in his stride and was a good boy. He's 16.4 now, so well down from the 18 and 17.6 he was. His skin slides nicely over his body now. He has a face too and can open his jaw in a free-er sort of way. The vet nurse made a fuss of them both and offered Harry a tiny piece of something nice, to which Harry responded with doggy language ooo no thank you i am on a diet.So vet nurse offered a bit to Ben who graciously accepted like a gentleman springer would. And Harrys piece too. After explaining to the vet nurse that Ben would bring it up again in the car on the way home, she was really good, and we carried on chatting about the progress Harry has made. The journey home was good apart from a little blip from Ben. On returning home, Harry was a star and i am hoping he is beginning to understand he wil always be coming back here to 'home'. I will make more of an effort and take more responsiblilty to ensure he settles in here by taking him for a few more rides in the car and ending back at home. 

[ManicMum]

Have you tried letting Ben sit &/or eat his dinner in car when it's not going anywhere? Then just start engine but not move car during eating, then really short journeys (down the drive!) so you build up "this is a safe place to be"?

[rainie]

Manicmum, thats interesting. No, not tried feeding him in the car. We do sit and have cuddles in the boot though. Never thought about the engine running, will try that. He went as a passenger the footwell once and seemed to travel happier.
Gosh, what a time to start travel training a dog with the price of petrol.
Thanks for the advice. 

Harrys time on his extendable lead is more pleasurable and he and i dont get whiplash anymore.  He seems to know his boundaries better, both on the extendable lead in the field and off the lead. He still looks to chase sheep if they run though but i am happy with how things are progressing. My routine has had to change, and i have struggled with this, as i was so busy when he arrived with me, but its now getting easier, heaven knows where i have found the extra time from, but i have.

In the garden he has a bit of a racetrack now and the grass track is a bit shorter than the rest of the lawn. New adventure is a hole in the fence leading to the veg plot and chickens (who are well fenced). Ben looks at Harry and then at me, he's a good boy he knows when Harry is being cheeky and pushing the boundaries (literally). 

Harrys teeth and gums are looking much healthier.

[rainie]

Harrys update...

Slowly slowly catchee the monkey, and he has cheeky monkey written all over his face when he pinched Bens toy from him.

His recall is improving little by little. He has chased the sheep again but came back to me quicker so I am taking that as a positive.The 3 of us have been on some long walks where i can safely let Harry off his lead, and we do a fair bit of recall and keeping attention span alive.Its hard but productive. It takes him about 10mins before he really clocks onto me and then i am sooo proud of Harry.

Harry has stopped crying in the house now, and doesnt do it so often outside either. When we opened the door to let hi out for a wee in the garden, he used to run so fast i though he would explode, and he would hollar like a foxhound after a fox all the time he was out. The way we got him out of this habit was to hold his collar, let Ben out, tell Harry 'quiet!' and release his collar when his feet were on the outside of the house, he would crash into Ben (rightly or wrongly) as Ben would almost be helping us, Ben would grumble at him in a nice kind of dog way and Harry would be a lot quieter. Harry still goes flat out for the fist 5 minutes but is quieter now from releasing his collar from inside the house.

Retrieving is mad! He is so quick. He shakes his raggy duck toy so this gives me the impression he wouldnt be too succesful on a shoot as he would shake the bird too much. Anyway, hes not going to be a working dog as he is so scared of gunshot and similar noises.

Harrys weight is getting better but I havent weighed him recently. (Funds for petrol are too low to warrant a social visit to the vets at the moment, so i will make an effort to get him on my friends bathroom scales).

He does slow down after about 2omins fast exercise in the field, he needs to run off excess energy before settling, and i think he needs maybe more fast exercise than Ben, who is happy to trot along steadily after a while before going off again.This is where i find i have a recall problem. Harry needs to run off excess but he still needs to listen to me. So this is our next job and it will be hard for me as i feel i have no control over him when this happens in the field with the pony. He is better on strange land where he isnt so confident and he watches Ben more then too. They are so very different.

[twissle]

Sound's like your doing a great job with him . Apart from my lab none of my dog's do any training for the first twenty minute's also (springer's + cocker). I cheap and try not to even have to use recall at first . Ben my springer i lost, was a * for recall until i realised it was best to call him and start walking away

[rainie]

Thanks Twizzle, re;the calling and walking away I  find it very scary between the dog going somewhere i dont want him to, until he responds to returning to me. I panic he may get too engrossed in the neighbours chickens (a hole in their fence) or similar. I know i need to trust him more but the 'what if' to me is very stressful. This is because i am not in control of my dog and bad things can happen, then i would be devastated, even though am doing my best.

[twissle]

Thanks Twizzle, re;the calling and walking away I  find it very scary between the dog going somewhere i dont want him to, until he responds to returning to me. I panic he may get too engrossed in the neighbours chickens (a hole in their fence) or similar. I know i need to trust him more but the 'what if' to me is very stressful. This is because i am not in control of my dog and bad things can happen, then i would be devastated, even though am doing my best.

Yeah i agree it's very scarey, I'd had my boy long enough that i almost knew what he was thinking and it was alway's away from live stock. Have you tried him on a lounge line? I use them on my foster dog's just incase they do a runner on me, My cocker has to go on it now and again just to remind her to come back

[rainie]

Yes, hes fine on the long lead, he is happy on that, knowing his limitations. I dont want him to be restricted though so when the surroundings are suitable, i let him off. Occasionally he goes awall. I know its early days for him and us, maybe i am putting too much pressure on myself to get him right before he is ready?