My latest guest star: Toby the Bodeguero

I've become a one-woman rescue dog walker and hostel. Wednesday and Friday it was Martina the Spanish mastiff. For two Saturdays it's been Tigre the Lab/mastiff. Sunday I thought, "Great, a day that I can actually spend contacting Lab breeders online for my own puppy." But no...Sunday morning Hurricane Toby hit these Spanish shores. He is a Bodeguero, which is a breed accurately described as a "Jack Russell on speed and steroids". He will be here a week until he goes to his more permanent foster home.

So Toby arrived yesterday and here's what I've discovered so far.
(1) he's a counter surfer and can quite easily access ANYTHING left out - though he brings it to me as soon as he does, so that's pretty adorable
(2) he's so wired that he literally will not lay down, even to sleep. He falls asleep standing up, then falls over and wakes himself up and then the whole cycle starts over again. It is very entertaining, but I am a bit concerned about his capacity to rest.
(3) a one hour jog this morning just kind of woke him up more rather than making a dent in his energy - he apparently needs about six hours hard running.
(4) if you flip him on his back and scratch his belly, he goes into an immediate coma.
(5) he likes to hump my pillow.
(6) he is incredibly smart and we've already been able to extinguish some of his worst behaviours just because he's smart and sensitive, so telling him "good boy" when he's good and ignoring him when he's not is working wonders. He pretty much lives to be held and fussed over.

Tonight after work, we're off to buy him a new harness and collar that fit and start working on walking on lead. Now he just chokes himself nearly to death. And we're going to do a VERY long walk before bed in the hopes that he will actually attempt to lay down BEFORE falling asleep. Honestly, I've never seen anything so weird dog-wise as this little guy falling asleep standing with his knees locked. It's like he's the world's smallest cow.

 

It never happened unless there's photographic evidence. You need to prove you do, indeed, have a new house buddy.

 

Awwww....

Well done!

I'm with Fiona on the video evidence - I am too intrigued by the name Bodeguero to let that go

 

Wow - what a job you've got on!

I'm looking forward to many stories!

 

@snowbunny - geez, you're a tough one. OK, it took like 25 pictures to get a couple non-blurry ones. He won't stop moving!!! You'll just have to trust me that this is my house in Spain.

Toby:




Martina in the Jazz dog-mobile:



Tigre on our first visit:



And even Críos (shelter visit from two weeks back)

 

It comes from "Bodega" (winery) - they were the ratters that kept the bodegas vermin free. Very much working farm dogs these days.

 

He's lovely! Is mile-a-minute dog part of the breed specific behaviours or just this dog?

I'm glad he has a tail. When I googled the tail-less ones looked odd.


Nnn

 

Oh Emily I don't know how you do it. I wouldn't be able to hand them back.

They're all so lovely! I'm sure they love being with you. What a kind and generous thing to do

 

Mile-a-minute is definitely just the breed. He's no crazier than any of the others I've seen. Most I've seen have tails, but maybe in different parts of Spain they dock them?

He's currently outside taking care of the rat problem I have in my garden - just scaring them away, not eating them or anything. He's doing a great job - I've not been brave enough to go out there for weeks and he's got the situation HANDLED.

 

I've only had two now at my house for a longer stay, the others I've picked up and brought back in the same day - just outings for fun and socialisation. Martina and Tigre are going to be tough to say good-bye to. Right now it's not so sad because I know I can keep seeing them as long as I'm here. Not sure how I'll deal with it...one step at a time.

 

What a fascinating breed, I just had to google them to find out more. Apparently they are related to fox terriers, brought over to Spain by the British, and bred with the local dogs. They look fun to have around and very intelligent. Bet they would be fab at flyball or agility! Give those little collies a run for their money!

 

I think he's found a rat nest in the corner of the garden and is now going bonkers trying to dig it up. Ugh!!! I can't deal with him killing rat babies on my patio!

Poor thing, he was doing such an excellent job of being the rat police and now I've brought him in and he's crying and bouncing off the walls.

Between this and Tom the cat's murder of the bunny, I don't think I'm cut out for nature.

 

Good luck with that one.
Is your helpful neighbour around?

 

Saying goodbye is a skill.

Expect and accept the heartbreak is my humble advice, don't fight it. Give yourself weeping time and tell them you'll always remember them (you will).

lol

 

Yes...and trust me, I'm running over there if I see any blood.

Although...bless Toby's little industrious heart, he's just now jumped up on the sofa and voluntarily laid down...first time since he arrived yesterday. Maybe he's finally relaxing. I don't think he'll forget the rats, but at least for the moment he's stopped moving.

 

Yes, good advice. I've been trying to adopt the attitude of "Even if I can't help all of them, I can help THIS one in THIS moment." Not so sure how that will go over when it is time to say good-bye, but that's what I'm hanging my hat on right now.

 

I'm interested to follow your fostering journey to see how it goes for you. It's something I'd like to do at some point. I don't know how I'd manage giving fosters back to the rescue when I have to return to Andorra, though - they do what they can, but they're pretty rudimentary (understatement of the year) compared to British rescues.

 

I am exhausted just reading about him! All the photos are adorable. Every single one.

 

He's adorable

 

There are a lot of rescues around here and just as in the US, I'm finding that some I fit with better than others. I would not want to do a long term foster like I did in the US, though.

The problem for me would be finding a permanent home that I really felt good about. I'm finding more and more that the attitudes towards of the locals who aren't in rescue are completely alien to me and my ideas are completely alien to them. It's very strange how many otherwise normal-seeming people think that training means hitting or choking and that dogs should be kept outside at night...even with the high risk of leishmaniosis. A good example of is yesterday I took Toby to my language exchange walking group and one of the ladies kept wanting to grab his leash and hang him to teach him not to bark at other walkers. I mean, how do you reply to that?

In the US I did both long term fosters and would also happily keep others' fosters when they were on holiday. I think here the holiday fill-in is better for me. And to be honest, I still think I'm getting to the point of not being able to deal. I DO want to take them all home! We'll just see how it goes.