Re: Tomorrow So looking forward to hearing more, they do look good together. My rescue GSP had only lived in kennels so he marked in the house, but if you train them as if they are puppies and can get rid of the smell where they have marked, all will be well.
Re: Tomorrow After an extremely long day, they have finally crashed (good job I've got a large corner sofa). Harley has been getting distressed in the last few hours as every time she comes near me or my hubby Spero blocks her way and tries to barge her away . She has been panting, pacing then ended up barking at him quite a few times. She has been so placid and tried to teach him to play, brought tears to my eyes several times today . I will admit I am a bit worried about her at the minute and how she is finding all of this. Spero did end up playing with a small ball, knocking it around with his nose, then went on to a fluffy toy, rolling around with it . Managed to get a crate, gave Spero his tea in there and he then curled up and went to sleep for 10 mins whilst we all ate our tea . Hubby is home with them for next 2 days, then I'm home Wednesday - Monday . I'm hoping they find a way to calm down together and not get so stressed.
Re: Tomorrow [quote author=Naya link=topic=10716.msg159529#msg159529 date=1430077600] Harley has been getting distressed in the last few hours as every time she comes near me or my hubby Spero blocks her way and tries to barge her away . She has been panting, pacing then ended up barking at him quite a few times. /quote] Naya, this is something else Charlie did and sometimes still does to Hattie, but we gently say "enough" and he stops Rescue dogs are often very needy and want all of the attention. I would say don't give him too much attention, ignore him when you come downstairs in the morning, when you arrive home etc. so that he doesn't expect lots of fuss. It's very difficult I know. I hope Harley will be OK this is such a big change for her too, Hattie did find having Charlie around quite hard for a while, she would take refuge on the landing, used to make me feel really awful, now they are the best of friends It's a massive journey and lots of things will crop up but we are all here to help, especially those of us with rescue dogs xx
Re: Tomorrow [quote author=Naya link=topic=10716.msg159529#msg159529 date=1430077600] After an extremely long day, they have finally crashed (good job I've got a large corner sofa). Harley has been getting distressed in the last few hours as every time she comes near me or my hubby Spero blocks her way and tries to barge her away . She has been panting, pacing then ended up barking at him quite a few times. She has been so placid and tried to teach him to play, brought tears to my eyes several times today . I will admit I am a bit worried about her at the minute and how she is finding all of this. Spero did end up playing with a small ball, knocking it around with his nose, then went on to a fluffy toy, rolling around with it . Managed to get a crate, gave Spero his tea in there and he then curled up and went to sleep for 10 mins whilst we all ate our tea . Hubby is home with them for next 2 days, then I'm home Wednesday - Monday . I'm hoping they find a way to calm down together and not get so stressed. [/quote] Don't worry too much at this stage, it really is a roller coaster fostering a dog, and that is all you are doing right now by giving Spero a break and some peace and quiet. Take it day by day. Casper marked everywhere at first, that settled quickly. Has Spero been castrated fairly recently? I only ask as Casper was just a few weeks before coming over, and I do wonder if that had any bearing on his early behaviour. Casper has also always been more people orientated than Benson appears to be.The crate though was the life saver in this respect as poor Benson was getting pushed to one side as Caspers appeasement behaviour in the early days was quite intense!, darn it we have a spare lab sized crate here here I should have mentioned it! If you still need one we can pop it over or Dan can pick it up. Just got back from hols so sorry if this post is a bit jumbled! Around middle of week and off early next week..so yell if you need a hand/space/a bit of break...
Re: Tomorrow Hi Kate, Think he was castrated a few weeks ago....going to my vets on Wednesday to get him checked over so will ask them. Might need to take you up on the offer of borrowing the crate, the only one I managed to get is ok, but a bit small. Will be in touch this week if you are around x
Re: Tomorrow Sorry to hear about the teething troubles, Naya, I don't have any relevant experience - but just to say I think Kate's approach sounds very sensible. A balance, with a bit (obviously not too much) of crate time for Spero to give everyone a few breaks while things settle, and Harley some more usual cuddles, sounds like a good thing.
Re: Tomorrow Hope you had a good night - I imagine you're very tired. Harley sounds as if she was very welcoming and hope you found a way to give her her normal cuddles. I suppose it's bound to be an intense few days at first.
Re: Tomorrow This is what we did when we had Fifi and needed to separate them for times. They took it in turns to be in the side we were in. It worked really well. The divider is an Ellie-Bo puppy pen, from Amazon, opened out. If you decide you need one they do next day delivery
Re: Tomorrow Harley and spero do look really good together Naya they are a matching pair. I think it's a good idea to have an area or crate where spero can go so Harley can have some attention. I should imagine it's difficult as I bet you want to give spero the attention he craves but not upset Harley. I'm sure they will work it out its all still very new for them and you. Lovely that Harley wants to show him how to play.
Re: Tomorrow Just popping by ternaya to see how you are doing ? How was he getting to/ and at the vets? How's he doing ? Is Harley ok? You all ok? Sorry , lots of questions , I know you will be busy xxxxxx
Re: Tomorrow Hi Angela, thank you for asking. The vets went well. A few days ago we found a few ticks on Spero so removed them with the tool. Yesterday at the vets they found more. In total he had 14 ticks on him . He has now been treated and harley has too. He was really good allowing the vet to examine him, but was very reactive to other dogs in the waiting room. Everyone was really good even though he barked a lot - several owners came over to say hi once I explained he was a rescue and we were working on his greeting people Spero is now sleeping from about 10.30pm til around 7am . At the minute someone has to sleep downstairs with him our he will howl and howl. He had his first Kong yesterday in his crate and he loved it. He keeps checking for treats that magically appear in there . On a long lead he is brilliant in the park. We are going to quiet places at the minute to help him get used to being out. He loves being outside We now feed all of Spero's meals in his crate and this is working well Harley has been really good. She has taught him to play . They have had a few games of tug which is brilliant to watch . Yesterday he retrieved a Kong rugby ball.....I had tears in my eyes as he doesn't know how to play and harley is helping teach him. We have tried to ensure we give Harley attention by herself which works well. Harley has been really good. There are still a few issues with Spero pushing Harley away if she comes near me or hubby, but we are working on this. They follow each other around a lot and if one is inside the other comes in to check in with the other. I will post some photos in a bit. I did start another thread on his first week, but it has disappeared.
Re: Tomorrow Oh, this is all so lovely to hear, Ternaya 14 ticks! Poor boy! And poor you, finding them, eugh! [quote author=Naya link=topic=10716.msg159986#msg159986 date=1430378463] He loves being outside [/quote] This is fabulous but so sad that it's new to him. It sounds like Harley is being a complete star with him. I'll sure you'll make good progress with the few niggles you're having given time. I'm so happy that he seems to be settling in so well. Well done to all of you
Re: Tomorrow This is lovely to read Ternaya, you are doing a great job and so is Harley I know exactly what you mean about playing, Charlie didn't have a clue how to play with Hattie or toys so when he and Hattie started tug games and Charlie discovered squeeky toys it made me cry :'( With regard to his reactivity to other dogs, you could use BAT which has been invaluable to us with Charlie, Jen has a great thread on how to use it and lots of us do with great success Do you mind me asking how are you dealing with Spero pushing Harley away? Clicker training might be a good way to reward Spero's good behaviour, no pressure, lots of treats, he could learn some obedience or tricks to give him confidence and build a bond between you, again I do this with Charlie and we both enjoy it Brilliant, I love reading about your journey xxx
Re: Tomorrow Poor boy he must've been so uncomfortable with all those ticks! Horrible... We struggle a bit at the vets with Casper, I can't manage both of them so take them in one by one. The reactivity does get better, it takes a long time to sort though. If you want we can use Widgets technique and use the poles in the paddock, and gradually introduce Spero to Benson and Casper that way. We found it quite emotional at first watching Casper play with Benson, he still isn't a playful dog with humans, although we have a fab rabbit skin tuggy from tug toys and he has just started playing tuggy with me which is fantastic! I get a glimpse of the puppy he would've have been when he plays... I love this video we took in the early days with Benson and Casper playing..watching it again I can see how much he has changed! You don't see it day by day Also one of best bits of advice we had from the BRX is that the dog you get on the first day is very different from the one you will see in 2 weeks, especially considering they have had a bit of a rough ride. So much happens in that initial phase to a rescue. The "shutdown" phase is also one to watch for, Casper was very shutdown, we didn't realise and when he started to trust us, more of his personalty evolved, but also a few niggles...if I had known what I know now I would've done a few things differently. Widgets might be able to help, and if you want to organise a session and combine it with Benson and Casper as stooges that might help, she will probably pick up clues that aren't as obvious to us maybe. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zIYCDuPFHi0
Re: Tomorrow Ah that's brilliant that you can help out Kate,that's a really great opportunity.Im having tears for these rescue pups reading both of your posts Ternaya and Kate x I'm so pleased Harley is dealing with it so well.Great progress on the crate ...he sounds like it's a nice place for him already .....like a properly nice place this time round not somewhere he has been caged and cramped. Thanks for the update,I think about you a lot,especially this week when I've had 2 dogs to manage x
Re: Tomorrow Today I'm going out to meet with a friend for an hour. So far I have built it up to half hour being left. Spero goes in his crate and Harley in the same room. They hate being in different rooms when no one is in. They will both have a Kong and I will be watching them in my webcam . I'm hoping they will be ok. Im still off work til next Tuesday so am trying to build up how long they are left. I had some bad news earlier - my dog walker has broken her ankle and is having surgery today . She has already met Spero and was really good with him. Now got to rearrange things for next week - her husband also works with her as a dog walker so he is coming to meet Spero tomorrow to see how we are going to work around all if this.
Re: Tomorrow Hope all goes well with your dog walkers husband, and your trip out, sounds like you are doing very well Ternaya , lovely to read
Re: Tomorrow That's so brill! I just love hearing about how he is settling in - and so glad you seem to be coping with the challenges so well. Good girl Harley!
