Labrador Rescue

Well our little girl has been with us for a week now and we're all getting to know eachother's foibles and quirks!

I think on the whole we've been really lucky with how she's settled in and any mistakes we've had have been down to us not understanding her rather than the little lass's fault.

Saturday night and Sunday went like a dream...she played with Kips incessantly and he was every inch the smitten kitten with her. It was just exactly what we'd hoped for when wanting to adopt. With Max she's gentle and not tried to get him to play or to bug him at all...overall she's been really respectful. She cuddled up to him when they were sleepy. Just great!!

We'd had a couple of toilet accidents but had put that down to the moves, the confusion and possibly the change in her food - thankfully that's sorted now.

When we went to work everyone got on great and seemed really settled.

She loves her walks and is overjoyed to meet other dogs and get to play...we do need to find a way to stop her excited sqeaking that builds to a bark when she's meeting other dogs, but we're working on it.

Our first hiccough was on Wednesday when we took her to the vets for her first check up and jabs. She was very very nervous and she snapped at the vet...I was mortified!! Thankfully Jane - our vet - took it in her stride and we put a muzzle on her and she really settled with that. The next thing was that from the look of her teats Jane thinks she's having a phantom pregnancy - something that might explain some of her skittishness. So that meant me immediately needing to make a mental notes to read up on phantoms when I got home!

That evening we had our 2nd hiccough - our fault. We put her bowl and Kips' very close and she started to growl while they were eating. Dom went to move the bowls and she growled at him - so he tapped her nose and she snapped at his hand and made contact. She did seem to be in a panic rather than wanting to attack and Dom just held her down til she calmed and then gave her some quiet time.

Since then we have found out with some advice from Abi and her friend Jackie (??) that food aggression can be a part of the phantom pregnancy. We have started feeding her away from Max and Kips and will continue to do so until the phantomis over and we're sure of her with food.

So overall, even with the couple of rocky patches we have to say our little girl is now well and truly part of the family!!

Gemma xx

Great update Gemma

We are all on a steep learning curve when we first adopt. We were the same with Molly, and now Scooby. We learn something new nearly every day, but fortunately, never had any aggression shown from either dog.

Scooby also barks when he gets excited, and certainly barks to try and get his own way. He is now learning that when he barks for attention (he only does it outdoors), we put him on his lead......................he's is starting to cotton on.

I'm sure you'll get there in the end, and as we all know, it's well worth it.

Good luck.

Lovely update on Daisy

Its really hard when you first adopt as you don't always know how the dog has been treated in the past. Coco had food aggression when she came to us so now we feed her and leave her to it, I'm sure she will learn as time goes on that we're not going to take it away.

Good luck and keep the updates coming.

Lovely update on Daisy. I didn't know that you had adopted her. I must have missed that one. It takes a few weeks for them to settle down completely I always think.

I have never had food aggression with any of my dogs with their meals, Only Balee if he has a bone.

but

When we adopted Megan I gave them both a tin of Sardines. Megan ate hers in 2 seconds then thought she would go and "help" Balee, well he really told her off and then couple of weeks later after having bought them special bowls to stop them eating their food so fast. Balee mastered his bowl a lot faster then Megan, so he decided he would "help" her out. Well all I can say is they NO LONGER help each as she really told him off.

Pleased on the whole that things are going ok with Daisy. I suppose it takes time for some dogs to settle into their new routine and environment so hopefully this is just a blip.
Jackie x

Well we had a lovely day today...we took our gang to the beach for Daisy's first visit.

The beach near us is lovely and open and we thought that that it'd be the ideal chance to let us test her recall off lead for the first time!

The weather was quite cloudy so we knew it'd be quiet except for other dog walkers.

As soon as they hit the sand they wanted to charge...

Maxy decided to be a bit more sedate about the whole thing...happy as long as he could carry his ball

Smiles all round...



Look...I can sit still!

Afterwards we went back to my mum's house and everyone enjoyed a well deserved chew in the garden


And Kips posed showing what a handsome fella he is...



It was definitely a good day, enjoyed by all!!
Gemma xx

Lovely photos... you have 3 lovely doggies!

Gemma

Lovely Photo's of three beautiful dogs.

lovely photos of all 3 on the beach. Daisy and Kips remind me a lot of Purdey and Buster - little and large - absolutely gorgeous.

If it's any consolation, we still have to feed B&P in separate rooms, as he would steal her food at every opportunity and she just lets him get away with it

Arlyn x

Great update Gemma and beautiful pics too

Love Michelle X

Such a pretty little girl, Kips is so handsome and what a darling face Max has got, a lovely old gentleman! x