Meeting a rescue dog tonight!

[ArklePig]

Thanks @SilverLinings that's so nice! She's definitely part of the family it's like she's always been here. All legs is right, I used to worry about her so much when we first got her as she was so clumsy on those long legs and would regularly crash into things and tumble about, but she's really grown into herself now and is less clumsy, a relief given her recent diagnosis of HD!

She's had a big day of a run about, watching the rugby, and a deer leg, so she is aforementioned all legs pose as I type you will note the empty dog bed!

 

[ArklePig]

Some from our 6 month anniversary on Sunday

We hide the ball and ask her to find it, rather than flinging it, before anyone calls me negligent! It's her favourite thing in the world.

She has obviously always been the cutest dog on the planet but she's really 'grown up' over the last couple of months and I think she is just so beautiful now. Possible I'm biased.

 

[Clodagh]

She’s wearing a onesie! She’s a gundog

 

[ArklePig]

She's the only dog I ever met who wore a onesie on a walk and still needed a wash when she came home!

I'm actually on the fence about getting her a summer suit to protect her from thorns and me from muck when the weather gets a bit warmer. It's a good thing dogs have no sense of shame

 

[Pearlsacarolsinger]

Some from our 6 month anniversary on Sunday


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The more photos that I see of Fodhla, this one particularly, the more convinced I am that our brown one has some pointer genes. Fodhla is fabulous!

 

[ArklePig]

I'm tempted to have a dna test done to see if there's anything else knocking about in there, the springer is a guess, but a guess that's been made by every trainer, vet and person who knows anything about dogs we've met! Even though we know mum was a pointer I think it's pretty evident in her! As she settles more into the dog she will be she is definitely mostly pointer like but emotionally a spaniel.

I actually did a fun experiment using Google lens the other day to see what artificial intelligence thinks she is, you could try it with the brown one? I did a number of searches, for completeness, and the last one I think she looks very spanielly but Google says pointer!

 

[ArklePig]

We are going away today and poor Fodhla is going to the dog sitters. We've had a bit of a drama sorting care. She has spent one night away from us thus far at her lovely doggy daycare family but they were booked up this weekend as they only take a small number of dogs. So, I booked another lady ages ago, met her a couple of times, Fodhla loved her and her dog, when I asked she assured me she has max 4 dogs in her home at any given time all seemed good. Luckily I have been following her social media and she has rapidly expanded and is now doing doggy daycare every day, having up to ten dogs a day in her modest sized home, but more importantly with just her. I was getting absolutely distracted at the thought and there was no way Fodhla was going there, I was even going to have Mr AP stay home if necessary.

Luckily we found an absolutely lovely lady who had a cancellation this weekend of a family of dogs, can take Fodhla on her own with her two dogs and comes highly recommended by someone I trust. We have met her and her home and fields and her two dogs are lovely.

I am so so nervous and I think i might experience separation anxiety. Please tell me it'll be okay, Mr AP thinks I'm nuts and Fodhla will have the time of her life.

 

[Clodagh]

We are going away today and poor Fodhla is going to the dog sitters. We've had a bit of a drama sorting care. She has spent one night away from us thus far at her lovely doggy daycare family but they were booked up this weekend as they only take a small number of dogs. So, I booked another lady ages ago, met her a couple of times, Fodhla loved her and her dog, when I asked she assured me she has max 4 dogs in her home at any given time all seemed good. Luckily I have been following her social media and she has rapidly expanded and is now doing doggy daycare every day, having up to ten dogs a day in her modest sized home, but more importantly with just her. I was getting absolutely distracted at the thought and there was no way Fodhla was going there, I was even going to have Mr AP stay home if necessary.

Luckily we found an absolutely lovely lady who had a cancellation this weekend of a family of dogs, can take Fodhla on her own with her two dogs and comes highly recommended by someone I trust. We have met her and her home and fields and her two dogs are lovely.

I am so so nervous and I think i might experience separation anxiety. Please tell me it'll be okay, Mr AP thinks I'm nuts and Fodhla will have the time of her life.

I understand your anxiety, I worry if I’m away and OH is looking after them. But she’ll be fine, you’re turning her into a lovely straightforward dog.
And as I have to remind myself, they are dogs and a bit of inconvenience occasionally for them is not the end of the world.
The sitter sounds great, enjoy your weekend away.

 

[ArklePig]

Thanks Clodagh you're right she'll be fine! We are going to London for my nephew's s first birthday and as the only childless couple going to the party we've had to have a stern word with ourselves about not chatting about Fodhla when the others talk about their kids

 

[ArklePig]

This week in Fodhla....

She's been in great form, bit tricky on Wednesday, I'm nearly praying for the binmen to go on strike. Other than that she's my perfect angel.

Not sure how it started, but now when you call her she'll run to me sit, and give the paw. It's very cute.

She had a great time at the dog sitters last week but I think we're both looking forward to a quiet weekend together.

 

[SilverLinings]

That is incredibly polite of her AP, to shake hands so nicely when she greets you

 

[ArklePig]

When I first posted about meeting Fodhla the very wise @Clodagh said she wouldn't recommend a pointer x as a first dog as they're bonkers and hard to train. Please consider this a public apology for not heeding your warning.

I give you Fodhla, who now is sure she can't eat on the sofa, but has been chancing her luck on the coffee table. So somehow, we haven't trained her to eat on her bed, we now have to train her not to eat everywhere else.

Give me strength

 

[Clodagh]

Just to think left field…. And allowing for her being both a pointer and a spaniel. Why doesn’t she want to eat at floor level? Does she eat her main meal ok?

 

[ArklePig]

Yeah she eats fine out of her bowl, will sometimes lie on the carpet upstairs chewing on something, which I allow but probably shouldn't, and will eat on her bed a lot. The success just seems to depend on how much what she's chewing holds her attention, if it's something really good or novel she'll get into her bed and stay there with it.

This might sound primitive but I genuinely think she does it for attention/out of boredom sometimes because when I tell her get down she tries to turn it into a game - which I don't engage with, I leave the room and come back in, and then tell her to get to bed, which does have success 95 percent of the time. Sometimes she'll start playing with whatever she's chewing and then next thing I know she's ended up on the couch/table. She's exhausting and head strong like her owner.

I don't think there's anything wrong with her I think she's just a melter, but happy to consider any input!

 

[SilverLinings]

I think that the mistake you're making is the belief that you are training her to do anything: she is training you, you just haven't figured out what for yet

 

[ArklePig]

I think that the mistake you're making is the belief that you are training her to do anything: she is training you, you just haven't figured out what for yet

Definitely feels like that sometimes! She's turned my whole life upside down, everything I do I do it for her, and I wouldn't be without her. She still prefers Mr AP though, absolutely sickening she loves me, but she'd die for him.

 

[SilverLinings]

Definitely feels like that sometimes! She's turned my whole life upside down, everything I do I do it for her, and I wouldn't be without her. She still prefers Mr AP though, absolutely sickening she loves me, but she'd die for him.

She's done an excellent job, you both seem to have been trained to be the best dog owners possible, with Fodhla at the centre of your world

 

[ArklePig]

Fodhla's pals Jura (collie) Dougal (anyone's guess) and Precious (tiniest Yorkie I have ever met in my life) are coming over today with their humans to watch the rugby with OH. A very odd mix but the lot of them do get on, though Precious will probably spend a lot of time on her mum's lap, judging. It'll be interesting to see how my house copes with multiple dogs and hopefully not put Mr AP off as he is getting more enthusiastic about a possible second dog.

Pigs are safely relocated upstairs as though she is the same size, Precious reckons she can take them.

 

[SilverLinings]

I hope Fodhla enjoys her playdate (and Precious behaves )!

 

[ArklePig]

Dougal walked in the front door weeing as he did so, much to his owners mortification but these things happen. Other than that so far so good. Dunno how people who run doggy day care do it but this crowd are mostly self sufficient and at one point they even all took a little sleep together.

 

[SilverLinings]

Is precious trying to sniff out the GPs trail in that pic?

Looks like it's going well though OP

 

[ArklePig]

I think she might be

Isn't she tiny? She was rescued, in the proper sense of the word, smuggled out of a halting site in a handbag by one of the women who lived there, because she had been used to breed when very young. She's a good girl, she can't help her interest in rodents

ETA- Just realised they're all rescues, Fodhla and Dougal from different rehoming centres and Jura from the council pound. So nice to see them all happy together

 

[ArklePig]

I forgot to take pics but we went mantrailing again today! We let it slide after doing the intro with my exams, winter, and focusing on other life skills such as recall and not dragging me into traffic when going for a walk.

She absolutely nailed it, I couldn't believe she remembered the game so well. It was really interesting watching her work, and watching her figure it out. Our Fodhla is a nose to the ground kinda gal, until she wasn't sure she would air sniff to double check. Have booked to go again next month

 

[ArklePig]

We all long to find someone who looks at us like Mr AP looks at Fodhla

 

[ArklePig]

7 months of being a dog owner, having hair all over my house, no longer being able to go out all day/night at the drop of a hat, being regularly covered in mud and I wouldn't change a thing.

Mostly sleeping pics as it's when she's still enough, and also featuring the best day of her life when she found a football in the park. She booped it about for a while, thought it was Christmas. Also featured a picture I took not a half an hour after saying to my friend that she doesn't really lick faces thankfully

She is definitely the best decision we've ever made. There are still some aspects of her training that are a work in progress but she's turned into a brilliant dog, even if she was a somewhat rough intro to dog ownership in the early days.,

 

[Escapade]

What a sweetheart

 

[ArklePig]

Here we have the lesser spotted Irish Hippo.

This time I managed to get her washed before she touched anything

 

[ArklePig]

8 months of Fodhla!

Positives-the humping and mouthing has stopped completely, hopefully never to return . She now only barks at the bin man and post woman and I mean fair enough really they are noisy and always arrive during her morning snooze. She no longer howls when someone walks up the stairs, leaves the room, drops the remote and all that stuff she did when she first arrived. She is growing in confidence all the time, she's great with other (polite) dogs, has brilliant recall and is always up for a game/adventure and settles lovely in the house after. She is very very clever and loves to learn new tricks. She goes to the 'gym' (our garage) with Mr AP most evenings and it's the highlight of her day every day. She hangs out near him and waits for instruction and does retrieves etc in between his reps. It's very adorable and her focus is unbelievable. She has been mantrailing a few times now and we're going to make it a regular feature as it's nice for just me and her to have something together. She is 99 percent great in the car, only kicks off sometimes when we pull in somewhere very exciting. She is also a complete cuddle bug, loves everyone. Loves to hop into bed in the morning for cuddles and stays there snoozing while I take a shower. Wasn't that long ago I couldn't even go for a wee in peace. She no longer jumps on people, counters, kitchen table. She is a joy and while she has separation anxiety, we are able to leave her with other people she doesn't care at all once she's got someone (preferable if they also have a dog). She never makes a peep at night. Her other favourite thing to do is a low arousal off lead walk through the hills where we usually come across one or two other dogs but she generally ignores them in that setting. She's really good at checking in with us etc.

Negatives-we've gone back to basics with the lead walking-started again with the desensitising to her walking harness (have another one for fun times). This is working thus far and she is now started to be calmer when we're leaving the house in general. We've been playing lots of focus games etc in the house and garden in preparation for nailing this once and for all. We had got to the point where she would get over threshold quite quickly so she wouldn't be treated /take food but as she is now getting less wound up with the excitement of going for a walk she's in a better place mentally for heel work.
Other negative-still not great at being left on her own but she is getting better as her confidence/independence grows. We're taking this one really slow as we don't want to push her over threshold and end up back at 0 minutes. Those are honestly the only two things I consider to be wrong with her.

She is very easy to train to do tricks but less easy to train behaviours. She knows what she prefers and if you want to instill a behaviour you have to make it extremely worth her while. She knows well though, because if I leave her chewing something on her bed there's a good chance she'll bring it on to the couch and then back down to the bed before I come back into the room. I guess that's the breeding!

I feel she would benefit enormously from another dog, but this is on the back burner til we crack the lead walking once and for all and the separation anxiety has decreased to a point we're all comfortable with.

Any way, apologies for the essay, I just like documenting how she is doing. Here are some pics that I may have posted else where in the forum!

 

[stangs]

Sounds like you're doing brilliantly with her. Do you think you'll try search and rescue with her if the mantrailing keeps going well?

I love those photos of her - she looks like she knows exactly how loved she is.

 

[ArklePig]

Sounds like you're doing brilliantly with her. Do you think you'll try search and rescue with her if the mantrailing keeps going well?

I love those photos of her - she looks like she knows exactly how loved she is.

I don't think so, even though she'd be well able for it. I'm not sure that I'd be up for it on the mental health side of things. I'm also just about to start my solicitor training contract so I'm trying to get over my tendency to over commit myself. Never say never though!

I'm planning on doing some scent work training with her over the summer, we do play some scent games but I need more inspo / pointers on what else I can do with her. I know she's a dog and all dogs love to sniff but if I do say so she's really good at it