Margo's new pup

Jul 7, 2014 20:36:36 GMT tommo III said:

Our quest for a pooch took us to Godstone Animal Rescue today (nothing suitable, unfortunately)

The above quote is representative of an enormous amount of red tape we have had to wade through, involving multiple visits to animal sanctuaries in Godstone, Shoreham, Holbrook, Patcham, Edenbridge and finally Fulking stretching over several months. Quite often our selection has been met with refusals on the following basis:
1. Needs another dog already in the household to live with;
2. Not good with cats;
3. Reserved for someone else.

Anyway, Margo finally got her pup today !

With Margo's slipper - looks big doesn't he ?
Attachment Deleted
The scale model !

Day one has gone quite well, barring a couple of little accidents. He walks to heel and understands 'fetch' and has had his first-ever 'walkies' on a lead (an hour-long one round the perimeter of the playing fields). He's settled down nicely now which is a relief as he was so full of energy earlier!

Day two.
Had had to stay downstairs with him overnight and sleep in a chair with a dimmed light on. Went really well with no messing as he had had a quick visit to the garden beforehand. Quick early morning walk with him before my welcome shower. He was calm when we met lady with her greyhound.
Angie (daughter) and Melissa (granddaughter) came round and brought him a little bone doggie treat.

Curiosity finally got the better of our cat (we have skilfully partitioned the house so that they couldn't have an encounter): He suddenly announced his presence in dramatic style by appearing noisily half way along the garden fence, and they had a staring contest while I held Duke on the collar.

Did the Friday night supermarket run and he joined us in the car, and while Margo went round with the trolley I took him into the park which backs on to Sainsburys rather conveniently. More training with 'sit !' and 'wait !' with motorists giving us leeway. Met three lots of people who made a fuss of him, and one passer-by totally ignored him, which made him baulk a bit on the lead....not every one likes dogs (I'm only a recent convert).

The cat was very late coming in but seems okay with the upstairs being his. I decided to sleep downstairs in the chair again with the dimmed light. More eventful this time but more of that tomorrow...

Day three.
Slept downstairs in the chair again with the dimmed light: 2.30am a nasty accident, fortunately all caught on the bits of newspaper we had put down. Gathered/folded up the offending sheets and put in a bag by the back door. We both settled down and all was tranquil until around 4am when I was woken up by what sounded like squealing or whining. Then I realised that the sound was coming from a toy (Mister Carrott) which he was shaking around. I wouldn't have minded but this seemed to go on for about half an hour ! So I decided to let him use up his energy and went back to sleep. Daylight followed by what seemed very soon after.....

Another visit from Angie, this time with our son-in-law. Drinks in the garden with the pup giving full entertainment. He's not good all the time, as he has a fondness for a) eating mud and b) hunting for snails. And he chased off Lulu (the cat from over the back) when she advanced too far on him.

Later in the afternoon we took him in the car to the pet shop in Langley Green and bought him a proper bed. The proprietors allowed him inside the shop for a "measure up" and we took some advice on the most suitable food for puppies (free of additives). The lady made a fuss of him and he loved it. But while we were choosing I had to keep an eye on him as his nose was going 19 to the dozen with all the tasty treats on display on the shelves.

Took him for a late night walk round the block. He was a good boy by ignoring a ginger cat resting by a tree, and on the home run we literally had a run and although he's quite fast he stayed nicely in control. Owners need training too, and part of mine will have to be to discourage him from getting too excited when meeting strangers as he definitely has an eye for young ladies - and they for him !

That was me done for the day, the plan was for me to get a good night's sleep and for Margo to encourage him to take to his new bed.

Day Four.
Lovely sleep for me upstairs, had a furry visitor around 4am.
Margo obliged to relinquish the settee and sleep on the floor (= far too soft, she should make him use the new bed we bought for him. We're swapping back tonight.)

Signs of mischievous behaviour, hunting snails and brought me Margo's phone and the remote control.
Played 'fetch' with the ball. He did it once, received plenty of praise, and the second time headed in the opposite direction and disappeared into the house with it.

A closer encounter today with the cat....while I held Duke on the lead, the cat advanced to within a couple of yards whilst Duke remained calm (under caution !) before the cat backed away again.

Both of us accompanied him for walkies about an hour before sundown. Ignored the ginger cat and remained calm when passing other dog walkers. And he recognised which was our house despite our pretending to miss it and walk by !

He doesn't pull on the lead like other dogs we've known, but there's more work still to do with him on 'sit' and 'stay'.

Well we've had him for 2 weeks and 2 days now and here's how we're getting on:

Bad Dog: wants attention all the time, makes off with things, got head stuck in cat-flap, hungry all the time, sometimes gets fed up with walkies and wants to turn back for home, digs holes in the garden.

Good Dog: training going ok (will eventually sit, be calm, fetch ball or toy), house training going well, loads up for car journey okay, learning to ignore cats, sleeps well overnight.

I've trained him to make a fuss of me by whimpering at him - I then have to fight him off !

Weekly update after the third week:

Bad dog: 1) hungry all the time (before you ask, yes we do feed him enough) - started to mooch round us for scraps while we're eating. He doesn't get any, of course ! (well, I slipped him a bit of my croissant while Margo wasn't looking, but don't tell her !)
2) gets overexcited when young ladies bill and coo over him when out walking. I have to say careful, he'll pee on your shoes! I've yet to train him how to cock his leg against a lamppost (ideas welcome !)as he saves it for the garden on our return !
3) still can't be left alone for more than half an hour, he chewed through the wire on the record player, fortunately near the plug and it wasn't plugged in at the time ! So no real harm done there.
4) a show of disobedience last night: would not go to his bed when commanded. Barked at me so I barked back which shocked him a bit He doesn't like it either when I do my Elvis impression and sing "you ain't nothing but a hound dog" at him (well he has to know who is the pack leader !)


Good dog: 1) Walks are going well, he now recognises 'sit' 'stay' and 'walk on' and now actually seems to enjoy the experience: I have taken to keeping a bag of chopped up chicken and pollock strips in my pocket for dipping into when he's a good boy.
2) upon our return yesterday the cat was sitting facing us on the garden path. Duke was calm and approached gingerly while the cat stood his ground. Then the front door opened suddenly and the cat shot sideways into the hedge (felt he was being surrounded I suppose)
3) showing good sporting tendencies: running, retrieving, picking up a huge stick in the park. Reckon he'll be good with catching a ball or frisbee.

Had him exactly a month now, so here's the latest bulletin:

Good dog: 1)Exemplary now when out walking, responds to any type of treat (chicken lumps, mixer or even chopped carrot). Had an hour-long walk today, and he met three other dogs being walked (Jasper, Border Collie; Dexter, Fox Terrier and Ludo, Black Labrador) and walked along and interacted like a pack. He's now settled down for the evening.
2)House-trained and quite calm overnight.

Bad dog: 1)Still going through mischievous phase, digs the garden and eats bits of earth and has a pot plant fetish, seeking out snails which are dangerous for him although he has had the anti-lugworm treatment. Got hold of a compost ball out of a pot last night while I wasn't looking and shook it to pieces creating an almighty mess in the garden.
2)Getting taller by the day, he can now rear up and look over a bar billiards table - or a dining table !

The jury is out on whether he can be trusted with pussycats, although encounters are becoming more regular and closer.

Had him six weeks now and Duke is still a mixture of good and bad, and I suppose with a pooch you have to learn to take the rough with the smooth.......
Had his monthly checkup/injection on Friday and he has put on some weight - he now weighs 11 kilos as opposed to 8 kilos before, and he looks visibly bigger.
I have never seen an animal eat like it: it's like watching a vacuum cleaner in operation. And he's always hungry !

Certain things make him over-excited: brooms, hoovers, lawnmowers all send him into a barking fit. Franksey forewarned me about this: "whenever you have a broom there's usually a collie attached to it !"


Obedience training is going well up to a point, I was going to buy a sheepdog whistle but he responds now to simple whistles and the commands 'come by' (= from the left) and "away" (= from the right) and 'walk on' when crossing the road. But he's a bit destructive indoors, has ripped his soft duck-billed platypus apart, bitten the leg of his rubber sheep and pulled the squeakers out of his new dolphin. And most of our empty flowerpots in the garden have been pulled to bits.

But he's a happy dog, and so he should be as he gets an hour's walk each morning and each afternoon. Which is good for me too as I have been long overdue a bit of exercise. We have an excellent playing field within 5 minutes' walking distance and have it more or less completely to ourselves and the occasional other dog walkers:


Am gradually getting to know each blade of grass !

We've had him two whole months now and Duke's zany personality is shining through.

Give him a bone and he buries it in the garden and digs it up again later when he's hungry.
He has good playfights in the local park with Bruce, a huge gentle giant of a Rhodesian Ridgeback, and Izzy, a crossed whippet/staffie/collie bitch and they race round and round and rough and tumble like wrestlers.
Back home, I can get him to howl like a wolf and play guess which hand the treat's in and we high-five.

On the downside, he suffers from SRS (= sudden rage syndrome) prevalent in Spaniels apparently whereby his eyes glaze over and he has a barking/growling/snapping fit but it only lasts for about a minute and then he's perfectly normal again. And he's always on the scavenge, he's stolen mushy peas, the butter dish, Margo's Ryvita, and last Friday my Cherry Bakewell (is nothing sacred ?)

Here's firm evidence of a recent attempt to gain illegal entry to the house !

He's hard work at the moment, yes he's a handsome beast and everyone stops and makes a fuss of him when we're out walking, and he made me laugh when I put some music on (Tons of Sobs album by Free) and he barked at Paul Rodgers and the frequency of his bark kept making the music pause. Also when he tried to hump a fleecy cushion. He will also reliably 'fetch'.

However, he is the "Three D's": Destructive, Disobedient and Disgusting. I accept that all dogs roll in shite, and sometimes it takes three or four attempts to order him to 'get down'. But in the last few days he's seen off most of his toys, especially the squeaky ones made of rubber. He's got through two fluffy geese, Mr Carrot, a flamingo, a puffer fish, a hippo and a wellington boot. There are also strands of rope littered about the place.

Worse crime happened earlier today when I was merrily tapping away and suddenly lost my internet connection. The little ba$tard had only bitten through the red wire ! The new one I had to buy has a much thicker flex and we've made a barrier, so no repeats hopefully....but he's sealed his own fate now, those nuts are definitely coming off at Christmas!

Well, he held on to them for a couple more months, but they're gone as of today !

The new head of the household.............


Where's my dinner ?

We've now had Duke a year (which has shot by really quickly).
He really does have a gentle nature and all the local ladies love him !

He can be a bit of a rascal though, like when he interrupted a picnic and made off with a Costa Coffee and on the second circuit had a girl's "onesey" trailing behind him. By the time I'd got it off him there was a slight rip and I had to compensate her. He also interrupts games of football if I'm slow getting him back on the lead and has been known make off with the ball.

Apart from the local playing field (= only a five minute walk away) I have twelve separate itineraries to take him on, and this is about to be augmented by the opening of a nature reserve adjacent to the pub we used to play bar billiards for:

www.crawleynews.co.uk/pictures/PHOTOS-Ifield-Pond-reopened-6-5-million-work/pictures-27544166-detail/pictures.html

Tommo's first attempt at being a film producer:

I must say the last 4 years have shot by !

two more just to ensure I've got the hang of it..............

Talking dog:

[barbelman]

Oct 29, 2019 15:41:52 GMT tommo III said:

Talking dog:

Blimey..he's a chatterbox but you were winding him up! 

The voyeur .........

Duke watching cats at play from the safety of the front room window.