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Lu's Thread

Dear BB,

Thanks for such a story. Happy endings are always good to hear.

When I had Fred the Welsh Collie, he was so excessively friendly that one day he got stolen. I searched for days. Went to the Police Station in Ross-on-Wye ... phoned the dog pounds. No joy, and three days later he came home, having been shampoo'd, groomed and looking like a new pin. He then became very cautious of people walking by after that. Changed in nature completely, though no less safe or loving, but very cautious. He must have spied a chance to escape and come back home. He was literally my shadow for several months after that. They are good at learning lessons.

Lu is quite similar, and there is no risk of her approaching or going with anyone she does not know well, but she is extremely kind to people she has known awhile. For those she likes she will roll over and ask for tummy tickle!

Best wishes from George
 
George -your story about Lu's encounter with toddlers is something that worries me. Here's why: Every few years I give a few 20 kG bags of rice to the animal shelter (useful for dogs with digestive problems). So my GF goes in with me and want's to look at dogs _I go back to the car to wait for her. She comes back and I just HAVE to look at this dog. So we go in and there's a Lab/Golden Retriever mix -healthy 70 pound neutered male -looks more Lab than golden. Check with a friend of mine who spends his Sundays walking dogs at this shelter -says it's a turn in from a local family. Can not get enough of tennis ball retrieving. Two days later Titan comes home with us. I get him out morning and evening for tennis ball therapy -have one of those arm extensions that allows you to get a tennis ball a good hundred feel out with each launch (The neighbor lets us run our dogs in the fallow farm field behind our house.) 20 tosses morning and evening -he's always ready for more. He's a aloof in terms of temperament -spends time just watching what we are doing. One evening I've got a half dozen of the neighborhood kids taking turns throwing tennis balls for him-I notice he makes a wide berth of the kids when he brings the balls back to me. I'd worked with other retrievers who were picky who they gave birds to -so didn't think much of this. Two mornings later I've got him out on a leash for the morning constitutional when two little girls come running up to us and at the very last second I realize his hackles are up and his tail is bushed out-grab a better hold on his leash and he goes for Abby the six year old and bites her -he would have done worse except I was able to snatch him off her. Let me be clear -this wasn't a nip-leave me alone -the dog was snarling beast in a split second. I still get a little sick thinking about what would of happened if she had approached us from the slack side where I would have had little short term control. She and her friend went screaming off to seek aid and I dragged Titan into the house and then ran for the neighbors to see how badly hurt Abby was -he had gotten her with one canine -her parents were remarkably understanding about this. I typed up a two page letter to the animal shelter -and with both Sandy and I in tears coming and going -returned him to the shelter (He was put down two weeks later.) Lu's given you clear indication that's she afraid of toddlers -pay attention.
 
Dear Audiophile,

Of course every dog owner must remain vigilant for the safety of others. I agree completely.

I am extremely cautious with Lu [only 13 lbs.], and other people. I don't let her off the lead at all if people are about [and never on the garden and service areas associated with 1836 built old hospital building which forms the block where my flat is], up until the point where the other people approach me or I approach them, and we have a discussion about letting Lu run off lead ... In the garden of our flats there are many ball games with children, ands Lu is never given the chance to join in. One of the cast iron rules.

This is so even given that her nature entirely lacks biting or running towards people she is not acquainted with and really likes. Neither has she ever raised her hackles, except when he hears someone about outside my flat. Once someone is let in she is ultra-friendly, positively revelling in the chance to make a new friend.

I am also totally careful about crossing the lane between my building and the Common land. Always on the lead. I never even cross the A44 with her. It is absolutely banned to go within a hundred yards of that road! She no longer has to be corrected on that or require to be called in before crossing the lane. She waits for the lead!

The toddlers in question now know not to run towards dogs they do not know well. Their mother was quite firm with the kids about not doing it again. After all there are dogs who have the fight or flight response heavily biased towards fight. And not everyone keeps their dogs on lead on the flats communal areas.

Thank you for your reply. It is too easy to forget the responsibilities of being the guardian for a dog, and sadly not everyone takes these responsibilities as seriously as they should.

Best wishes from George

Edit. PS: I took Lu on on the basis that if she demonstrated any vices [such as aggression] I would have her put down. This was agreed. In stead I am am having her spayed in the first week of April, a month after her second anniversary. I would not spend that kind of money on her if I had any doubts about the kindness of her nature. After nine months with me, I think she has long passed the test of probation.

Second edit. PPS: Lu giving me that look that says it all:

IMG_1656 by George Johnson, on Flickr

... earlier this week.

And Lu in the snow last week with my neighbour and her three delightful canines, who Lu absolutely adores.


Anther edit. A vid from nine months ago where she was so lacking in confidence to go more than say sixty feet away, just a week after she adopted me her guardian.
 
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Good to hear George. We are both dogmen who understand Life is just better with a dog. I know my experience with a rescue dog was a outlier -it turned out on his first visit to our vet -one of her techs mentioned they knew Titan-she had been owned by a family with 12 kids -pretty clearly some part of that experience had been traumatic for this dog. The variability of dogs is definitely part of the joy: For instance -Mac my golden retriever years ago. He was helping me pre-wire a large home out in the country with a big man made pond next to the house.About a year old at the time he was out sniffing the world (60 acre farm to enjoy) when i hear the high pitched puppy bark and growl from him. Obviously he's in trouble . Run out the back of the house and he's having a fit about a 3 foot tall scarecrow on the edge of the pond -this is REAL scary. Call him in and we go into the house. And I'm laughing my ass off. Next weekend we are both at the same house -he gets out of the truck runs over to the scarecrow-sniffs -lifts a leg and pees on it.Not a problem anymore.
 
Dear Audiophile,

I have been a dog person - literally - for longer than I can remember. I have more heart churning pain when I see a dog being harmed than anything except a human in similar circumstances.

But - like humans - dogs are never completely reliable. The best dog can go off the rails. If you are responsible for a dog, you have to remember that. I never had kids, but I expect that parents will have had similar stress over their offspring when they do something terrible that has nothing necessarily to do with the way they were brought up. The vigilance never disappears.

Getting Lu has been the best thing for me since I lost my old Welsh Collie in 1997, and it is a measure of the seriousness I take in being a dog guardian that I have refrained from having a dog for twenty-five years. I did not feel that I could give an adequate home to one, having to work full time.

The additional problems is that a rescue dog may easily have permanent psychological scars. That is why I was prepared to have Lu put down if she proved to have a dangerous character flaw. A little phobia does not amount to a character flaw in my book, though it must never be be ignored or not taken into account for the rest of her life. I am not perfect either.

I am so grateful for your replies on this thread. I hope that this thread is a happy and uncontroversial report of a happy new life for a sweet little dog, but your posts are a salutary reminder of the serious side of caring for canines. Even among the joy there is always a serious subtext.

Best wishes from George
 
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My two rescue dogs (pic of them below at the beach yesterday, celebrating 4 years to the day since we got the older one) are both very friendly and like children however as both are over 25kg's they are likely to flatten smaller children (and the older one has done so on occasion) so we are very careful. The younger one (the darker one in the photo) is still a puppy (he's 10 months old) and is still very exuberant when he meets anyone so extra care is needed.

173472628.3S2vIaf8.gd404.jpg
 
I found a few minutes ago that it is Lu's second birthday, because the dog chip company sent me an email to update any changes in address and so on. So as I have a day off, it is time for a birthday stroll. Exactly the same as every other day!

Dear Steve,

Your two look super!

Best wishes from George
 
We picked up our latest rescue cocker a couple of months ago, We were expecting a similar story to the previous one. Ex breeder, shy, scared of everything, hiding and shivering in a corner. But blow me although an ex breeder, she is like a little whirlwind, She is very needy and overwhelmed by everything at the moment. She likes to pick anything up off the floor and build a nest. Slippers, pants, phones, wallets. Nothing is safe. Presumably a throw back from her breeding days.

On the downside, she was so badly fed/cared for that the rescue centre needed to removed all bar 8 of her teeth. Being a cocker, that doesn't stop her eating/hoovering.

From picking her up we'd noticed that she was gnawing away at her underneaths. I was hopeful she had a mite so we treated that but the problem remained. So, we did an allergy test and discovered that she appears to be highly allergic to every animal protein there is.

She is currently on Bug Bakes which weirdly is made from insect protein. She is hugely better from the moment she went on it. However, she is still very thin and needs to put on a bit of condition. She is getting an extra meal of boiled egg and peanut butter!

She is the hardest work of any of the 4 dogs I've owned.
 
We got our first rescue Ludo, who was also our first dog, when he was nearly 5 (and who we've now had for 4 years) and he was really easy - perfectly house trained, great recall, non-destructive and could be left alone in the house for several hours with no issue. He did pull a bit on the lead and also a bit reactive with other dogs (although noisy rather than aggressive) but he was even easy to introduce to the cat and they get along fine.

The 2nd rescue dog Obi we got when he was 6 months old (and is 10 months now) and it's quite a different story. We're not sure of his background (although he is chipped) as he was a stray but when we got him he doesn't seem to have had any training at all - not even toilet training. He liked to chew on stuff (including the furniture), had no recall, pulled like a train when on the lead and was very reactive (although because he wanted to play, not because he's aggressive) to any other dog we meet. On the other hand he doesn't appear to have been abused in any way as he's friendly and fearless, he's very affectionate and him and Ludo get on great (to the extent that he can get upset when he's away from Ludo). That's meant a lot of training time has been (and still is!) needed - we've had a couple of 1:1 training sessions and he's currently going to reactive dog classes. We have made a fair bit of progress though - the toilet training is fixed, he's ok in the crate now for up to a couple of hours (as long as Ludo is in the same room), we're managing the pulling using a head collar while still working on loose lead walking, we've got various coping strategies in place for the chewing etc. and have several stair gates in both houses to help with control etc. (and especially to allow the cat its own safe spaces). It's a lot of work though and probably will be until he's through the adolescent phase - maybe until he's 18-24 months perhaps. Most of it is normal stuff for a puppy but because the start of his training was delayed until he came to us we're having to do it with a dog who's now something like 26kg and is somewhat harder to control than when he was small! He's a lovely dog though, and being a border collie/labrador cross he's also very smart (although I'm yet to be convinced that's actually a good thing!). I can see how taking on a rescue like Obi (and lots of rescues will have bigger problems) isn't for everyone though as it's pretty disruptive and even stuff like going away for holidays isn't going to be easy for a while yet (as there is no way my dogs are ever going into kennels, considering their backgrounds). We're planning to have a go soon to see how we get on with the two dogs in the motorhome but realistically we expect that all our holidays this year are going to be spent at our Cairngorms place as there is no way we could take Obi to a self-catering place (which is how we mostly holiday if not using the motorhome) yet.
 
Lu is learning that her Sunday morning walk with Karen [who gave me Lu for her former foster daughter], and her two dogs called Pie and Wody, is the highlight of her week. Karen rings me on the phone a few minutes before arriving, and till she gets here, Lu simply shakes with excitement!

Karen has one of those arm extension ball throwers, so we can have loads of fun whilst chatting. Lu's discovered that if she can get hold of the ball she can have great fun being chased by both of the others! She is no natural retriever, but eventually gives the ball back! Then one of the other two manage to get it, bring it back and it gets thrown again. What is amazing is both now are about as likely to chuck it in the air for Lu as bring it back. All part of the game the three of them joyously play!

Yesterday I had a moment of literal blind panic. Coming in across the lane. I noticed how the buds are growing on the Chestnut trees, and suddenly realised Lu was nowhere to be seen. I immediately feared she had crossed the road solo, and if I called her she might come back across it. I saw a car coming rather fast, so what to do. Fortunately the driver noticed and stopped dead. I called Lu and she was still on the Common and emerged from behind a tree full tilt towards me. "SIT!" she stopped on a sixpence and sat. She knows when it is serious. I put her on the lead for the road crossing. But it was an adrenaline moment for sure. The driver watched the whole incident, waved and smiled. I wish all drivers were that considerate. There is risk in getting out of bed in the morning. Life is never entirely without risk, but it was a horrible moment.

In reality the way Lu responded to an imperative command was impressive.

Best wishes from George

PS: Dear Space is the Place, it's a Soway sheepskin. Really warm in the winter, and Lu often hoiks it down and makes a nest of it!
 
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Good to hear George. We are both dogmen who understand Life is just better with a dog. I know my experience with a rescue dog was a outlier -it turned out on his first visit to our vet -one of her techs mentioned they knew Titan-she had been owned by a family with 12 kids -pretty clearly some part of that experience had been traumatic for this dog. The variability of dogs is definitely part of the joy: For instance -Mac my golden retriever years ago. He was helping me pre-wire a large home out in the country with a big man made pond next to the house.About a year old at the time he was out sniffing the world (60 acre farm to enjoy) when i hear the high pitched puppy bark and growl from him. Obviously he's in trouble . Run out the back of the house and he's having a fit about a 3 foot tall scarecrow on the edge of the pond -this is REAL scary. Call him in and we go into the house. And I'm laughing my ass off. Next weekend we are both at the same house -he gets out of the truck runs over to the scarecrow-sniffs -lifts a leg and pees on it.Not a problem anymore.
That made me laugh. Our Greyhound is great at that. A stuffed cat in an Antique shop window and one of the boys rocking horses have both been major targets for growling and barking.
 
I've been quietly acquiring more dogs...

After hearing from our local dog charity about a Dachshund / Papillion I spoke to madam and said the offer was tempting but I'll say no.


She said to go ahead
Percy the alleged Dachshund / Papillion has been with us for about 6 weeks now. More like a Corgi something but a fabulous personality - with toilet training needs
Agree to take another pack mate, Judy, picking up Wed.
In between times we were asked to foster Buttons who I can see is a Dachs / Pappillion - toilet training of a different kind

The pack of 5 will be a pack of 8 shortly
All 3 came from a pack of 19
 
Rio, our whippet cross iggy, is fairly reactive with other dogs, and barks and barks. My wife took Rio to dog-training last week, expecting it to be a real struggle. Instead, Rio had a total personality change, and was quiet and friendly, and really pleased to see all the other dogs in her class! The only explanation we can think of is that she has good memories of her puppy class, which was held in the same room before she was so reactive.

Still barks like anything if she sees another dog she doesn't know when out walking.

Jet, our other dog, went to Crufts, and was third in a class of four. The judge said he was in very good condition, but "ears could be neater". His brother was first in the class, and his aunt was best bitch. He loves meeting his friends and relatives at shows.
 
Our latest rescue is going to reactive dog classes as while he's not aggressive with other dogs but gets really upset if he's not allowed to go and meet them and can be a bit over-the-top for some dogs, especially smaller ones (at 10 months he's already something like 26kg). One downside we are finding though is that he's a lot better behaved in the classroom situation that he is out in the real world!
 
YesterdayI took Lu to be neutered. She had the classic [non-keyhole] operation, and for added safety I payed quite a bit extra for a continuous intravenous drip, which was left on her for several hours after the surgery was complete.

Obviously she was pretty out of sorts till about two o'clock this morning when she let me know she had to have a pee-break! She is not allowed to climb stairs, or be off-lead for ten days, when the stitches come out. I am taking her into the vet on Easter Saturday for a first veterinary inspection of how she healing. So far it all looks nice and dry, so fingers crossed.

She did eat a little food at two this morning, but has declined her normal breakfast at dawn.

Three pictures, the first from last Sunday at my Polish friend's house ...

20230402_154325 by George Johnson, on Flickr

Just after getting home yesterday afternoon.

IMG_1713 by George Johnson, on Flickr

And a few minutes ago looking a bit weary.

IMG_1732 by George Johnson, on Flickr

I am on full time nursing duty so that she does not lick the stitches. She still manages that flicker of excitement for a few seconds, but fortunately is being sensibly quiet.

Best wishes from George
 
Ah, bless her George. They bounce back really quickly at that age, I'd not be surprised to find that your biggest headache is keeping her quiet enough not to do herself a mischief!
 


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