Rosie - a year on and dehydration question

Ravenwood

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Can you believe that we have had Rosie for a year now! Its shocking how time passes!

And what a fab little dog she has turned out to be :) She is so full of charcter that simply her entertainment value is second to none! ;)

She is so biddable and has been a doddle to train. I can honestly say that her recall to whistle and voice is 100%, she can sit, down, heel (on and off the lead) and all the other million and one daily commands that a dog understands such as............Arghhhh, don't roll in that, Oi, leave it, Get down the stairs, Off the bed, Leave poor Flyn's ears alone (spaniel's ears are a design fault ;) ! LOL :)

She is incredibly affectionate, loves people and is a pleasure to have around :)

She regularly comes riding with me, follows within eye/ear shot at all times, will come to heel and sit on the verge if we go up the lane and a car comes.

That single harsh lesson was enough to ensure that she doesn't chase sheep or the wild ponies on the moor, she sleeps with the cat and gives the chickens a wide berth now ;)

I am convinced though that she is not just a border collie - she is crossed with a greyhound, spaniel and foxhound ;) She is a very lean, mean running machine, my God she is so fast! She has brought me pheasants over the winter and the foxhound bit I will explain in a minute (if you are still awake!).

The only problem I have with her is that she is an absolute menace to strange dogs - she really does do her best to seek out trouble! Fortunately (due to where we live) we rarely encounter other dogs but as the tourist season is building so are the holiday makers and meeting another dog is becoming more probable. She goes in, you know that collie slink, goes up to them and will snap :( This is completely my own fault as I haven't spent the time socialising her. Fortunately the other day we met a Gordon Setter who was brave enough to hold his ground and growl back whilst his owner and I were chatting - it soon took her down a peg or two and she ended up licking his mouth with submission!

Anyway - going back to the dehydration question and being crossed with a foxhound (not really, obviously!!)

This evening was just so fabulous that I decided to tack up and take Flyn and Rosie with me up on the moors (poor Toby is not up to it anymore :( ) As we were riding over Ashway Side, Rosie put up a fox and chased it hell for leather, she was literally inches away from it and I was just waiting with bated breath for the yelps :( Anyway, the fox got away and Rosie came back but she had run herself almost to exhaustion considering how hot and dry it is at the moment. She seems to catch her tongue when she is panting and makes a horrible rasping noise. I was actually quite worried about her as she was plodding along behind me, laying down at every gorse bush shadow. Fortunately we were not too far from the river so we plodded on down until she could get into the river to cool off.

However I am not going to stop taking her with me - early this morning I walked the dogs and we came across the biggest Adder sunning itself - life is fraught with dangers, you can't wrap them up in cotton wool! Just be a bit cautious.

Anyway - pointless post, no need to reply unless you want to enter it into the longest post on HHO ever ;)
 
So what was the question?:p
Rosie sounds as if she has turned into a great little dog, collies really are so trainable aren't they.
Evie will run herself to the point of exhaustion in this hot weather, I will shut her in the house for a break if I am doing something outside as she is constantly charging around and doesn't seem to know when to stop.
 
Crikey that's gone quickly! Remember you first posting about baby Rosie :)

I wouldn't be too concerned with the overheating, if, as you say there is a water source nearby for her to not only drink but cool off in too - it's amazing how quickly their heart rate and temp can recover once cool.

She sounds great fun! Mine have had a few near misses with foxes too :D You could always have a lead on you and pop it on for a short while to slow her down if she's had a particularly mad hoon and it's hot.

It sounds like dog heaven where you live :)
 
MM - LOL, I completely forgot what the question was once I started rambling, but I know I started off with one in mind :o

MC: I find that young dogs often have trouble controlling their body temp in this weather, or at least the black ones ;)

We are lucky that there is always a bog or a stream nearby to wherever we are and yes, it is lovely for dogs here :)

I am impressed that you both read the whole post! ;)
 
My dogs both black dobes get very hot walking/running and when we get back they just flake out on my flagstones and soon cool down. I walk early morn and late afternoon but it is still pretty hot.

Luckily we dont get adders here just grass snakes so I would imagine you are always on the look out for them.

She certainly sounds like she is a very well adjusted dog and you have done a good job training her.
 
I am sure she will be fine and just overexerted herself, like yourself there are plenty of streams around here for self cooling! I do most of my work/walks in the early morning and evening when it is hot and that certainly helps.

Glad she has settled in so well, a year has flown! And like yourself, I am out in the sticks which does not help with socialisation but we do have to work at it!
 
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