An Irish Water Spaniel and his Sticky!

AnotherNewbie

AnotherNewbie

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Sorry...this is a bored sunday evening post, but Murphy really made me laugh earlier so felt I had to share!

Murph loves sticks. BIG sticks. He just loves to carry them, chew them and occasionally chase them into rivers (don't worry, we don't throw sticks on land!). So about a week ago, whilst out for a walk alongside a stream, he disappeared and returned with this...

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It took a lot of snorkelling and pulling to get out, and it weighed a tonne as it was waterlogged!

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(not sure if video has worked? Am only just working out photobucket and things!)

Anyways, at the end of this walk, we carefully went and hid Sticky safely in the hedge ready for next time. Today we went back to the same place, and Murph was straight back to find where he'd left Sticky. No if's but's or maybe's, straight to it! As we walked along the drive, he dropped it to eat a biscuit (he'd actually stopped and waited when I told him to), and catastrophe! Sticky broke in half! Poor Murph didn't know which bit to pick up and which bit to leave behind! Anyway, finally persuaded him that half was perfectly good enough so we pottered on to the stream. He shot off ahead of me again, and by the time I caught him up he was standing like a statue very expectantly...

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So we played in the water for a while...(hope this video works, he can keep going like this for hours!)



Then there was another disaster....he pounced on Sticky in the shallow fast flowing bit and Sticky SANK!! He must have wedged it in the stones because it didn't move, it was just about 4 inches underwater! Cue manic dog charging around searching for Sticky...so much for keeping his back dry and just letting him paddle...he was up and down the river like something possessed. All he needed to do was stand on it to dislodge it but no, missed every time. I ended up finding a twig and making him chase that and stand on it. One happy IWS reunited with Sticky. Unfortunately I was laughing too much to take a picture of the happy pooch! He didn't let it go...and is now safely in the boot of my car!

Here are some more pictures, purely cos he's a handsome boy!

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Sorry for the long post!
 
Bestdogdash said:
Beautiful boy ! My own dog love playing 'stickies' you just have to say the word and she goes mad.

I would LOVE an Irish WS - and am on the look out for an adult.

Am jealous !
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He's all yours..!! He is a 'rescue', well we got him from a 'breeder' that had dogs ranging from tiny yucky things to great danes. God help any of his offspring, (assuming he was being used to cross breed instead of a poodle?) because his back legs are awful, massive cow hocks! He was badly beaten and kept in a kennel from what we can gather, took us ages to be able to stroke him without him cowering, and if you went near him when he was lying down he would growl or snap at you, we used to have a house lead on him so we could move him from a distance! There is a very thin line between his fearful aggression and his trying to be dominant aggression. We've had him over three years now, he nearly didn't make it to three months after we all found out how sharp his teeth are, very nearly went on a one way trip to the vets! He is sooo much better now than he used to be, we can all read him like a book and always avoid any situations that would upset him. He loves his walks and is a completely different dog when out, especially if he has a ball or stick in his mouth!
 
anothernewbie said:
He's all yours..!! He is a 'rescue', well we got him from a 'breeder' that had dogs ranging from tiny yucky things to great danes. God help any of his offspring, (assuming he was being used to cross breed instead of a poodle?) because his back legs are awful, massive cow hocks! He was badly beaten and kept in a kennel from what we can gather, took us ages to be able to stroke him without him cowering, and if you went near him when he was lying down he would growl or snap at you, we used to have a house lead on him so we could move him from a distance! There is a very thin line between his fearful aggression and his trying to be dominant aggression. We've had him over three years now, he nearly didn't make it to three months after we all found out how sharp his teeth are, very nearly went on a one way trip to the vets! He is sooo much better now than he used to be, we can all read him like a book and always avoid any situations that would upset him. He loves his walks and is a completely different dog when out, especially if he has a ball or stick in his mouth!
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Well done you - both for the rescue and also for sticking at it. Sounds like Murphy landed on his feet (paws) this time. If you hear of another one that needs help let me know!
 
Good luck finding one, there really aren't many about are there?! We had our first one from a puppy, and thought it was fate that we found Murph a few months after we lost him. Would definitely rather gone through the puppy stages than what we have with Murph! We have no idea where he's from, assume he is from Ireland (def not UK as he couldn't be traced to a litter anywhere and such small numbers everyone knows where their offspring are!) but somebody from the IWS Association thinks he may be American because of his moustache! He won't let us clip it off and it's just not worth the agro!
 
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