15months to debt free - I hope

Flying_By

We also use "lawr" with a handsignal - arm extended, palm down, downwards movement of palm - this is to ask him to lie down.

jwil

Hope you enjoyed the panto

ladyholly

jwil said:

Hope you enjoyed the panto

Not going until after Christmas as oldest dgd isnt off work until then and youngest one works shifts.

enthusiasticsaver

Glad your new addition is settling down.  I did the rounds of our parks/green spaces  this morning with my DDs 18 month old border collie and I wear her out by chucking a tennis ball with one of those ball thrower arms from one side of the fields to the other as well as giving her a decent walk.  She is amazing how focused on it she is and does not bother with other dogs unless they approach her. Without the ball though she is constantly  wanting to say hello to people and other dogs.  I have realised if I lower my voice an octave  she obeys immediately with recall/getting her to sit and wait while reactive dogs walk past us. She is great with the down command and has just got the leave it when dropping the ball.  Never tried welsh on her.  Lovely natured dogs though and very easy to train so hopefully you will soon get there with him. 

ladyholly

Flying_By said:

We also use "lawr" with a handsignal - arm extended, palm down, downwards movement of palm - this is to ask him to lie down.

We will try that thank you  although he is learning very quickly Idont think he a trained sheepdog as he is far too scatty when he is out. Its possible he was intended to be one but failed. When he is allowed off lead we will have to see if he tries to herd the local children which will be another challenge if he does.

C has done little better with his walking and we have only had a few episodes of barking at the birds and I have largely been able to restrict him to one or two barks.  He barks at the ones flying as well as the ones on the ground so it is quite hard to stop before he reacts. From the way he is when he is outside we think that either he has never walked on a lead ( a farm dog with fields to run in) or has not been walked as he is all over the place. He is constantly changing sides and just wants to investigates everything. He is also very alert to any movement or sound. I think we may have already seen a tiny bit of progress with him him as he didnt seem quite so bad today. I have warned the dog owners in our area that we see regularly that if we see them with their mutts we will be walking in the opposite direction and not to be offended. The trouble is many of the dogs will run to us as we always have treats in our pockets. He is a quick learner and has already learned to wait a second or two at the door to give me chance to hold on so I dont get pulled down the step - pretty good for 48hours with us. I have had my first licks from him. H does craves attention and physical contact although as yet he will only stay on the sofa for a few minutes. He seems to prefer his bed which is positioned between us. He chose that place as originally I had put it where he could see us both clearly but he picked lying on the floor so his bed was moved.

IWe dont think he has been ill treated as such but possibly largely ignored and he is very thin. He also had an upset tummy when he arrived but that appears to be resolving with regular meals of reasonable quality.

Mr LH has been complaining of being cold all day but has only just decided to use his blanket whereas I use it most of the time when I am sitting down which occurs far too much  but I simply dont have the energy to do more. I did give the oven a bit of a clean this morning which must have surprised it and di a load of washing.

Dinner was a cottage pie from the freezer whiccch Mr LH made a reasonable attempt at. If his apetite doesnt improve Christmas dinner will be a waste. We are having roats beef so I might just cut the joint in half.

There is an interetsing programme about the lost tombs of Egypt so I am going to watch that now. Have a good weekend.

Flying_By

He seems as though he is a very fast learner, maybe he had some basic training and he is starting to remember.  I love that he is waiting at the door for you to negotiate the step, so important for your safety - I broke my hip recently - it's easily done, unfortunately. I hasten to add my trip wasn't dog related, just my own clumsiness! I think chasing and rounding up behaviour is hard-wired into a lot of collies, whether 'proper' sheep dogs or not; ours have had great fun with our cats and our grandchildren - non of who have minded too much!  Your boy sounds as though he is making himself at home, ours hid under the dining table for weeks before he would come near us.  Good luck and keep us updated.  Hope you enjoyed the Egyptian tombs programme last night xx

ladyholly

Very dispirited by C today. He has been a total nightmare when out today. He has reacted to everything except people. I am not sure if mr LH will keep him as he is physically such hard work. I will try to work with him but he has no patience to work with him.

Flying_By

It could take a while, sadly.  He's doing lots of things so well. He probably has some sensory overload going on, new places/people/smells/creatures. Have you tried asking for advice from the rescue he came from regarding his reactions to other animals/birds?  Quite a lot of these places will offer follow up advice, indeed I think they all should!  I will be thinking of you all and hoping Mr LH will start to feel more positive about C.  xx

Sun_Addict

It’s early days yet, I hope he’ll start improving 🤞

Blackcats

I hope your experience will help C to settle down.  Sounds like Mr LH isn't feeling too good at the moment - I think you said he's not eating much.  Perhaps both C and Mr LH are reacting to a turbulent few weeks?  Which means a lot of work for you.
perhaps when C has had his op he will be a bit calmer too.  

Fingers crossed for a better day tomorrow.