I was watching the saluki puppies video on the Flossie thread and the only dog to pay attention was Rosie. She actually reared up to be able to put her nose on the screen and watched and listened to the pups right till the end. It made me feel really sorry for her wondering what happened to her puppies?
Rosie has just had a busy few days. On saturday morning, we went to the fenced field at Manor Farm where the dogs had some very muddy races. Unfortunately nobody else braved the rain while we were there, so no strange dogs to mix with. Click on the video to watch, Rosie is wearing a black harness.
On Sunday, we took the dogs to Old Sarum where dogs can be off lead in a large circular meadow around the ruins. There are sheep, but they are behind sturdy fencing. Rosie was a star, meeting and greeting lots of dogs politely and coming back when called, not always straightaway but good enough considering all the distractions.
She is generally a lot more relaxed than when she arrived now. She did not react to any of the dogs we met when on the lead this morning and was very willing to focus on me providing there were a few yards between them and us. She also had a visitor this afternoon. One of my neighbours has volunteered to help desensitise Rosie to visitors. (I am feeling my way with the desensitisation as I have never done this before and would appreciate input from anybody who has done this successfully). Rosie was only allowed to meet my neighbour when he was already indoors sitting down and she was eventually happy to go up to him and take treats from his hand. She ended up relaxed enough to allow him to move around and when he left she followed him quietly to the door and let him give her a stroke and a scratch. I am keeping her muzzled throughout to be on the safe side but I am very pleased with the way she is responding so far.
All your patience and hard work is obviously working wonders with Rosie, Annette, well done. She looks really happy with you. Is manor farm top fields totally secure? Molly will find the tiniest gap and she can jump pretty high for a 3 legger!
The fencing is good but is only normal stock fence height topped with barbed wire. The five bar gates are not netted so a small one might squeeze out. It is also very muddy now in the top half as we found out last week-end. The only field I can think of for Molly would be the agility field at West Wellow if you block the pipes at both ends of the ditch. Pm me if you are interested. It is not free though.
Rosie had three visitors this week, two men and one woman, all very well behaved and obedient! Rosie does find new people quite unnerving at first but is beginning to realise they are going to produce treats on demand and nerves are no match for greed it would seem. She prefers quiet non-gesturing individuals and became a bit growly when one of my neighbours we met in the street was telling me about his holidays while making enthusiastic hand movements. When he realised and threw a few treats in her direction she decided he was not all bad after all. When we get her over her fearfulness, this very bright little girl is going to be a fantastic companion.
At home, Rosie is delightful and downright cuddly (even if her elbows are a bit sharp at times!).
We all went on the SLR walk with another 39 hounds and their people today. A lovely relaxed walk and Rosie soon got over her initial shyness and strode out confidently after introducing herself to a few dogs and people. She particularly liked the ones who handed her treats of course. Here she is on arrival with her tail tightly tucked under her tummy (you can just see the white tip).
A few minutes later, marching ahead, happy tail.
And obviously at home in the pub. She was the only one of our three to lie down in front of the fire.
A very good day. She did not shy away from people or dogs and did not look stressed after the first five minutes. I am really pleased and planning to take her to lots more places to make sure she becomes really confident.
You're doing a brilliant job... she's coming along really. There's a happy, friendly little girl in there which is gradually coming out. Great photos too!