Saturday 30 June 2012

Mark and Sally




OWNER  NAME  Joan, Mark and Paul
LIVES  Barrow
DOG NAME BREED AGE Sally Jack Russell 9months
DID YOU HAVE DOGS WHILST GROWING UP? Yes
Suzie, was a Jack Russell, Maltese cross.  We got her when I was 9 or 10.  Until I was 24 (Mark) when she died.  She always had a bit of a weak heart, she was the litter runt.  She would have fits which got worse as she got older.
WHY DID YOU GET A DOG?
We have cats for over twenty years.  Now my mam gets very worried, about Blackie a 19 yr cat, where the cats were, like If they were getting run over.  So with a dog we know where it is, plus it is company and we can take for a walk.
DID EVERYBODY IN THE FAMILY WANT A DOG? Yes
HOW LONG HAVE YOU HAD YOUR DOG? 9 months
WHERE DID HE/SHE COME FROM WAS YOUR DOG A RESCUE?
A farm in Stainton. 
TELL ME ABOUT IT
Saw an advert in the Northwest Evening Mail with puppies for sale.
WHAT DO YOU THINK ABOUT SPECIFIC BREEDS THAT ARE TARGETED AS DANGEROUS?
I don’t know if there is such a thing as dangerous dogs.  I think it is when they are owned by someone who wants to be dangerous.  Like want a macho image.  There are dogs that are working dogs like security dogs that need to be but are under control.
IS HAVING A DOG HOW YOU IMAGINED IT TO BE?
Pretty much.  She is much more boisterous than our old dog Suzie.  Although that was a long time ago.  She is very good.  Lots of positive points.


WHAT ISSUES (IF ANY) HAVE YOU HAD WITH YOUR DOG?
Not many issues.  She is different from our other dog.  As she is younger she was mouthing and biting a lot but not so much now.  She has more sense of not to go to far.  She can be a bit destructive with furniture.  She was at the vets last week because her mouth was bleeding.  She had bit a big hole in the skirting in the kitchen.  She had a splinter in her mouth.
HOW DID YOU CORRECT THEM?
Going to obedience classes with Elite K9’s Farah.  We have learnt the off command which is really helpful.  Sally came to expect a treat everytime though.
DO YOU HAVE ANY OTHER PETS?
We have a tortoise, we have had Tommy had for fifty years! He may have been 10 then!  We still don’t know if he is a boy or girl.  Sally was ok with him before hibernation but he is waking up now so don’t know how she will be now.
HOW DOES THE DOG SPEND HER DAY?
She often goes out for a walk in the morning when we get up.  I may take her round the block.  My brother will often take her up to the Abbey.  She will then have her breakfast.  She will then play with her toys and go in the garden and wander round.  Have a bit of a sleep.
In the afternoon take her out for another walk or a drive in the car if we go out.  When we are watching tv she will play with her toys from her cardboard box.  She will have her tea about 6pm and then go to bed about 9pm in her box with a blanket in the living room.  She would yelp if she needs anything but usually sleeps through.
WHO GENERALLY WALKS THE DOG?
We take it in turns.  It depends on who is at work or available.  My mum can’t walk really far so that is limiting. 


WHAT IS HER FAVOURITE ACTIVITY?
I think it is playing with rope tug toys.  Running up and down with it. 
WHERE DOES SHE SLEEP?
In the living room.                                                                
WHO IS THE DOG MOSTLY FRIENDLY WITH  IN THE HOUSE?
She is friendly with everybody.  She probably is more so with me (Mark).
 TELL ME A FUNNY INCIDENT INVOLVING YOUR DOG
She loves going under the bed clothes and peeps her head out.  Plus she is always in the flower pots digging up the crocuses which drives Mam mad!


WHAT ADVICE WOULD YOU GIVE TO A NEW DOG OWNER/OR PEOPLE THINKING OF HAVING A DOG?
I would advise them to get one.  You have to be patient with them.  They are very rewarding.  Think of the breed and where you live and what you can cope with.



Sunday 24 June 2012

Val and Jeff




OWNER  Val and Jeff
LIVES  Dolphinholme

FAMILY NAMES AND AGES Just me and husband Jeff

DOGS NAME BREED AGE
Beau – Border Collie x (poss with whippet?) – age 7 and Flash – Border Collie – age ... n/k – approx 6?



DID YOU HAVE DOGS WHILST GROWING UP?

Yes – always.  We mostly had Boxers, but also had a Pekingese at one time, who came to us because he was a ‘biter’ and was going to be put down. 

WHY DID YOU GET A DOG

Couldn’t live in a house without a dog!

DID EVERYBODY IN THE FAMILY WANT A DOG? Yes

HOW LONG HAVE YOU HAD YOUR DOG/S?

Beau came to us Jan 2005, Flash joined us Jan 2009

WHERE DID THEY COME FROM WAS YOUR DOG A RESCUE?

Both are rescues.  We got Beau, aged about 6 months, from Animal Care, Lancaster.  He had gone into rescue just a few days before Christmas – we were told that his previous ‘mum and dad’ had separated and neither could take him.  He had really only ever known love and cuddles and not had a tough time at all.  Was very scared in kennels though.

Flash was a very different kettle of fish.  Got him from Wolfwood rehoming centre – which is basically the pound – or, rather, the charity which runs the ‘pound’ – any dogs not reclaimed after their 7 days are up are signed over to the Wolfwood charity and they then look after them.  He had originally gone in there as a stray and was with them for nearly a year before they homed him on a local smallholding.  Flash was always a fearful dog – and very ‘worky’.  He started to do training to be a working sheepdog, but couldn’t cope with being shouted at, so his owners just chained him up and left him to his own devices.  One day, a chicken came too close and a bored, frustrated Flash killed it.  After several good hidings he was returned to Wolfwood, a broken dog – much more fearful than before and prepared to defend himself if he felt threatened.  Nearly a year later he was still there.  I had started to visit the centre to help exercise the dogs and saw how much Flash was like Beau in looks.  No-one else was showing any interest in him – he was severely underweight due to kennel stress.  I started to walk him and asking him to do very basic things like ‘sit’ and ‘paw’.  And I saw a little light go on in his head, as he realised someone was actually communicating with him.  The rest, as they say, is history.  He’s still very fearful and will only allow Jeff and myself to touch him really, but he’s a very different dog to the one who came to live with us.    



WHAT DO YOU THINK ABOUT SPECIFIC BREEDS THAT ARE TARGETED AS DANGEROUS?
To be perfectly honest, I’m not sure I’ve ever met any of the breeds which are actually banned in the UK.  I know that the Pit Bull is considered a dog of excellent temperament by many people in the USA. 
What I find upsetting and annoying is when people see other, perfectly legal breeds, and call them by the name of one of the banned breeds – eg people think that Staffordshire Bull Terriers and English Bull Terriers are Pit Bull Terriers and get hysterical, saying they are banned / should be muzzled etc.  All the Staffies and EBTs that I have met have been absolute cuddle monsters and I was brought up in a houseful of Boxers, so I love slobbery dogs!
I find the victimisation of certain breeds by the media disgraceful – it is the Staffy which seems to be getting it at the moment – a few years ago it was the Dobermann and i wonder which will be next – suspect the Husky or Malamute as these seem to be the next ‘status’ type dog.  
Equally disgraceful is the way in which the DDA is implemented – whereby a dog which has never harmed anyone and is not a threat, can be seized – and, it does not necessarily have to BE a banned breed – it just has to be that ‘type’!  It is ludicrous and cruel.

IS HAVING A DOG HOW YOU IMAGINED IT TO BE? Yes
HAVE YOU HAD DOGS BEFORE?
All my life – have never been without a dog for more than about 10 days at any time.



TELL ME ABOUT THEM 
The dogs in the family when I was a child were usually Boxers, but we also had a Pekingese who we took in because he would have been put to sleep. 
First dog I remember was Ricky – a Boxer.  I just remember that he looked like Winston Churchill.   Then we got Butch – another Boxer boy.  He was beautiful but, sadly, he was killed on the road outside the house when he was only about 2. 

Another Boxer, Kim, came to us because his ‘mum and dad’ were having a baby and wanted rid of him.  I used to dress him up in my nurses uniform!  The Pekingese came along while we still had Kim and these two were best buddies.  The Peke lost an eye (in a fight with a Great Dane – the Peke started it!) and then lost his sight in the other eye, so was blind.  Totally undaunted though, he used to walk along with his head between the boxer’s back legs – using him as a guide dog!

After the Boxers, came ‘my’ first dog of my own – although I was still living at home.  This was Kai – a dog from a local farm.  His mum was a Springer Spaniel and dad was the Border Collie from the farm next door.  I got him on my 16th birthday (1977) and he was with me until November 1990.  Stunning dog and incredibly dignified – but a dreadful thief!  He’d steal stuff – not only from worksurfaces etc – but also from other people’s kitchens if he could get in!  (This was in a rural street, in the days when dogs were allowed a bit more freedom than today!).  He never got caught either – or, at least, no-one ever complained about him.  And he’d bring his ‘spoils’ home – once he stole a pack of smoked salmon and we could not figure out who, in our street, could afford such luxuries!

WHAT ISSUES (IF ANY) HAVE YOU HAD WITH YOUR DOG/S?
Flash is the one with issues – he’s very defensive and very suspicious of people’s motives until he gets to know them very well. 



HOW DID YOU CORRECT THEM?
We have used only positive, reward based methods to try and counter condition him to situations – and a happy confident Beau has also done wonders for Flashie’s confidence, as he has seen how much Beau loves people and playing

DO YOU HAVE ANY OTHER PETS? No

HOW DOES THE DOGS SPEND THEIR DAY?
Mostly with me – I work part time.  We spend a lot of time walking around the countryside here, or down on the estuary

WHO GENERALLY WALKS THE DOG?
Hubby does the first, short (early) walk about 6.30am on weekdays.  I do the 2 longer walks during the week.  At weekends we both go out for long walks – often taking a picnic, when the weather’s ok!


WHAT IS THEIR FAVOURITE ACTIVITY?  

Beau is ball-obsessed!  Flash loves to run and leap over things!  He also LOVES to learn things – tricks etc – and we often do little sessions in the garden.  They both love activity toys too – things which work their collie brains




WHERE DOES THEY SLEEP
Wherever they want!  Beau sometimes takes himself off to the spare bedroom and sleeps in there.  Flash prefers to be in our room.            

WHO IS THE DOGS MOSTLY FRIENDLY WITH  IN THE HOUSE?
Beau is a daddy’s boy – Flash tends to stay close to me

WHAT TIME DO THEY SPEND IN THE HOME WITH FAMILY MEMBERS?
I spend a lot of time with the dogs – during the week it’s just me and them for most of the time.  Evenings and weekends, it’s both me and hubby who play / walk them.  Beau travels really badly, so if we go away for weekends or on holidays, he tends to stay behind with friends on their farm – but Flashie comes with us to our holiday cottages.  It’s also very good for him to have a bit of time away from Beau, as it helps him to gain confidence to do stuff on his own and not just hide behind or get pushed out by Beau. 

TELL ME A FUNNY INCIDENT INVOLVING YOUR DOG
Jeff works at Myerscough College and, when we just had Beau, he used to go to work with Jeff and spend his days in the Animal Care offices, being spoiled by the students – and, occasionally, used as a ‘tool’ in classes / assessments.  One day, there was a student being assessed on basic dog handling.  Her assessor was also being assessed by another assessor.  All the student had to do was open a crate, put a leash on the dog in the crate, bring the dog out and take it for a short walk.  They decided to use Beau as he is so people orientated. 

The student opened the crate, put a leash on Beau ... but Beau took one look at the assessor with her clipboard – and the assessor’s assessor with HER clipboard ... and refused to come out of the crate!
The student tugged and tugged to no avail.  She failed her assessment.  But the assessor also failed HER assessment too, for not stepping in and helping the student before Beau got more upset! 

Very embarrassing but also very funny!




WHAT ADVICE WOULD YOU GIVE TO A NEW DOG OWNER/OR PEOPLE THINKING OF HAVING A DOG?
Be very sure that you want a dog.  A dog is not a toy and not a disposable item.  He/she will live (hopefully) for at least 12 years.  You must be prepared to commit to him or her and to understand that he / she will impact heavily on your family lives.  He is an animal who is trying to make sense of living in a world built by us, for us.  You have invited him into your home, therefore it is right and proper that you make him welcome.  He will be a devoted friend but - He will make a degree of mess.  He will probably cause some damage.  He needs to learn what you want him to do – he’s not born ‘knowing’ what ‘Sit’ or ‘Stay’ means.  Shouting will frighten him – he’s not out to dominate the world, just to understand what you want.  Make learning fun for him.  He will need exercising every day.  As well as that, he needs company and mental stimulation.  His food costs money and he will, over the course of his life have accidents and illnesses which will cost more money.  He may have behavioural problems – most of which can be helped – but they take time and expert knowledge – and patience. He must be kept safe from harm and not allowed to stray.