So I seem to have aquired a dog :)

[Aru]

Meet Savi.

This little lassie was found scavenging for food but wouldnt be caught for around a week in the local town. She seems to be quite young one and a half to 2 and has had pups in the last 2 months There has been no sign of the pups.Or of anyone recognising or looking for her. She ended up in the vets I work for as none of the rescues have space at the minute. I brought her for a walk down to the beach one evening as she was going mad being cooper up and she has been with me ever since The name comes from her being a Savvy, street smart lil girl.

So far shes been good as gold.Loves coming to work with me and is getting better at occasionally being kennelled. Loves the car and going out on calls. House training is getting there..thank god for crates! and is a bit of a pet.
She is however living up to her name and has figured out how to remove her harness and collar if confined/tied to anything by these,oh and has chewed off her extendable lead when it was holding her back on a walk as well(thank god for having an extra lead on when she did that and then buggered off) Recall is only existant when theres food to be had and even then she can chose to ignore...
any ideas on difficult to remove gear?


Just thought Id share

Also any ideas on breeds are appreciated. She is mini schnauzer sized,11kg but underweight at that. and while the terrier i obvious Im wondering about the rest of the mix in the pot

 

[Honey08]

Ooh I like her! Very unusual but striking looks. And hasn't she landed on her feet.

As for guess the breed, I will throw a strange one in and say I can see a touch of my (lightweight type) yellow lab in those lower legs and the area around her eyes.

 

[MurphysMinder]

What a sweet looking girl. You lasted a long time without taking on a homeless waif, it seems to come with the job description. Murphy88 had 10 stray cats at one point although didn't keep any permanently . I can only sympathise with the harness and lead eating, her dog (who is currently with me) has chewed his way through no end of collars, lead and harnesses.

 

[Dobiegirl]

What a lovely little girl and well done for taking her in, will be the first of many Im sure lol, as for breeds I thought there might be a hint of an ACD in there but whatever she is she is unique.

 

[Aru]

MM I've been lucky so far because we have fantastic rescues in the area so the strays rarely hit us unless there are serious issues with foster space...and usually the ones we hold are fostered out the next day so I don't get to much of a chance to get attached...otherwise I'd have a hoarding problem

Breed wise so far I've had comments from Lurcher/sighthoundx terrier to GSD( i think its the coat colour gets that comment) to lab or staffy....shes a genuine mutty mix

Shes such a distinctive looking mix and such a sweetie I am surprised no one was looking for her....guess her pups must have been cuter

 

[Elsiecat]

Awwwww bless her! Landed on her feet!
What a gorgeous girl.
I'd have thought perhaps a collie x staffy.. I'm not sure why or where in specific but that was my first thought!

 

[Bestdogdash]

Firstly what a smart little dog ! She looks like a huge character too!

In answer to your question, I have an English pointer who can escape from any collar/lead/harness combo know to man. I must have bought 7 harnesses for her and she managed to get out of all of them UNTIL I bought her one from Ruffwear (the webmaster model) - they are fantastic and v comfortable too. She simply can't get it off, so maybe give that a go ?

 

[FinnishLapphund]

She looks really cute, but it isn't easy with a dog that knows/believes that they can take care of themselves, so only listens when they feel for it/thinks your treats is more tempting than whatever else that is tempting them.

First of all, how tasty is your treats? If you buy treats, maybe try another brand and see if she thinks those are more irresistible. If you use homemade treats, maybe make some dried liver treats, and see if she thinks they're irresistible.

For the recall problem, I recommend that you at least try long line training, to try and teach her that she has to listen even when she's not close to you. The training might take a little bit longer time before it works/be a little less likely to succeed, due to her "street smart-ness", but I would still think that it is worth a try. If you're interested in giving it a try, remember to always use a harness on her when you train with the long line, and if you're not using a coated line which prevents rope burns, always use gloves. Maybe begin with having a look at these two links:
http://www.veterinarypartner.com/Content.plx?A=1599
http://www.legacycanine.com/terrys-tips/the-use-of-safety-lines-long-lines.html


About her escape artist talents, I presume that possible solutions depends on whether she mainly frees herself by wriggling, gnawing and/or have figured out how to open the hooks.
If she mainly wriggles free, I presume that it is a matter about keep trying to find a harness or collar that sits so that she can't wriggle herself out of it.

If she mainly gnaws herself free, maybe buy a half choke collar all in metal, there is wider ones which aren't sharper than half chokes in leather or fabric. I found this picture on Google image search, showing the type of half choke that I'm thinking of

The only not gnawable leashes that I know of, is the metal chain leashes. Even though I personally thinks a lot of them is a little short, I've seen that there is those that at least is around 120 centimetres long. Or if you want a longer leash, buy two and attach to each other. Another alternative that I maybe would consider if I felt really desperate and had a bitch that gnawed herself free, would perhaps be to put an Elizabethan collar or similar on her.

If she e.g. has learned to open the leash hook, maybe try a leash with another type of hook. If she can open most types of hooks, I know that there is a metal thing that you can buy in hardware stores, sadly I have no idea what it is called, but it sort of looks like a 0 (with a little imagination, and it is a zero, which is more elongated than the letter o, which is more round) that you can open on one side. Where you can open it, there is a ferrule that you screw on/off a nut. Whatever it is, it could be used instead of a normal hook, to attach a leash to a harness. But it might be too heavy to use on e.g. a half choke collar.

Those are the things I could think of now, hopefully there is something that can give you some ideas about things to try.

 

[Spudlet]

What a sweet face, she's lovely

For the lead chewing, you can try diluting some English mustard and applying liberally to the lead - it makes a bit of a mess but generally they're not keen. Or get a chain lead extension (like this http://www.thepetexpress.co.uk/dog-leads/chain-leads/chain-couple-24cm), not so nice to chew, but a lot easier on your hands than a chain lead would be! You could also try a martingale collar, which would be a similar principle to FL's pictures but not all metal, and I would advise using a double ended lead, with one clip on the harness and one on the collar. Belt and braces!

If she's not that foody, how does she feel about toys, like a ball on a rope? Although do make sure your treats are extra squidgey and smelly, and only give her a teeny tiny bit at a time so she doesn't get full up.

 

[NellRosk]

She is gorgeous

 

[Spudlet]

Firstly what a smart little dog ! She looks like a huge character too!

In answer to your question, I have an English pointer who can escape from any collar/lead/harness combo know to man. I must have bought 7 harnesses for her and she managed to get out of all of them UNTIL I bought her one from Ruffwear (the webmaster model) - they are fantastic and v comfortable too. She simply can't get it off, so maybe give that a go ?

I want one of the webmaster harnesses for next time we take Henry scrambling, they are designed so you can hoist them up over any hard bits without losing them. So yes, I guess they are going to be pretty escape-proof!

 

[FlaxenPony05]

Aww, she's lovely! There must be some Staffy in there!

 

[CorvusCorax]

Looks like a very smart girly!!

 

[NellRosk]

I want one of the webmaster harnesses for next time we take Henry scrambling, they are designed so you can hoist them up over any hard bits without losing them. So yes, I guess they are going to be pretty escape-proof!

Just looked them up, they look awesome! Complete with handle to lift them up. Could do with one for my pesky little dog and then just yank her out of tricky situations

http://www.scoutshouse.com/store/images/RuffWear Webmaster Harness.jpg

 

[Spring Feather]

Aw she's sweet. I love the malamute-type facial markings on her. No idea as to which many breeds are probably there but she's lovely.

 

[SusieT]

Collie, Jack russel and lab in there I'd say!

 

[Cinnamontoast]

Malamute X GSD to demonstrate the widow's peak:

No idea on breed, but looks like a mini GSD!

 

[Slightlyconfused]

Awwwww bless her! Landed on her feet!
What a gorgeous girl.
I'd have thought perhaps a collie x staffy.. I'm not sure why or where in specific but that was my first thought!

this was my guess too as that last picture is the pose of my collie!!

she is beautifull

 

[Aru]

Thanks all for all yer nice posts.

So far so good with training..recall is improving constantly....mainly as she's become a bit of a velcro dog and happy to be stuck to me or near me at all times...which is good and bad. Bad as she is not at all happy when she has to be left alone.Don't really want to create separation anxiety but the recall is important so..I have been using her crate and trying to give her more time to herself in the evening to encourage a little less dependece but Im worried shes already stressing. At the minute shes getting things to keep her occupied when she has to be kenneled in work(pigs ears or a bone to chew) but she is getting a bit barky once she cops I have left so currently trying to teach the quiet command..and failing miserably!any tips?

Also now need a new seatbelt for the van as the little sod must have gotton herself tangled in it,how i have no idea as shes secured via harness in the van, and her solution when wiggling is not an option is a good old knaw...in this case a sucessful one and I am down a passanger seatbelt...sigh. Cribboff or mustard is beginning to look more appealing right now.
She is still a gorgeous girlie though

anyhow heres a token pic of her trying to convince me she is just to pitiful to be asked off the couch..

and one of her being baffled by the noise coming from the laptop

 

[GinaB]

Cute!

 

[E13]

I LOVE the laptop pic!!!