Bertie came over for a walk last week. Well, what a star he is! We went into the netball court to practise recall - the first few times he barely registered us (too busy sniffing) but by the end of 10 mins he was definitely getting the message - if he came over to us when we called he got a nice treat. A little bit of work and this lad is smart enough to pick up just about anything.
We met lots of dogs, of all shapes and sizes, and Bertie was a dream. Just a little bit of video below showing him calmly mixing with a bunch of all sorts.
Thanks for the video Philippa. It really does show how easy he is with other dogs. He learns very quickly so I'm hoping to try him off the lead soon. If he's with my dogs then I think he'll be happy to run with them and come back to me when they come back. He's certainly responding well to the emergency recall whistle when I use it at home as a booster for the other dogs.
Here's a couple of short videos to show how nicely Bertie walks on the lead, even when there are lots of distractions at the park. He's interested in the other dogs but there's no pulling, nor lunging nor barking. He's the same on the long lead... he doesn't wander far from me. Getting similar behaviour when he's off the lead is a work in progress, but he'll get there.
Life is of course filled with "if onlys" - the one applying in this case is "if only I possessed the ideal environment to offer Bertie his forever home. 'Tis lovely, though, to see him continuing to do so well with you Christine.
Má tá grá agat dom, tabhair grá do mo mhadra. ~ Love me, love my dog.
Life is of course filled with "if onlys" - the one applying in this case is "if only I possessed the ideal environment to offer Bertie his forever home. 'Tis lovely, though, to see him continuing to do so well with you Christine.
I know it was hard for you to let Bertie go, and I can understand this completely as he is such a lovely boy. I'm also going to find it hard to let him go but at least we can say we had a lovely time with him while it lasted, and hopefully it won't be long before he finds his forever home.
Looks like Bertie might have found his forever home. We met a lovely couple and their grown up son today and it went well. They've been home-checked and were very keen to meet Bertie after having lost their big Lurcher back in April. I'm going to take Bertie over to them on Saturday morning (they live not far from me here in Reading) and if that goes OK then he'll stay with them.... photos to follow. Please keep your fingers crossed for this adorable little man. He's going to break my heart when I have to say goodbye but I'll only let him go to someone I know will love him as much as Barney and I do.
Oh Bertie I really hope you have found your forever home, you are such a lovely boy and seem to charm everyone who meets you. Fingers crossed everything goes well at the weekend xxx