Margey knows how to choose them!! Winnie has learnt to jump!!! Went off on a jolly to the field next door and came back gunged in dyke water! Hmmm. No mention of returning her, but at this rate we will have to name Mrs. Dootlittle. Saint Doolittle!!!
A dog is a gift in life. Love and protect it. _________________
So sorry for the delay in updating about the lovely Winnie - all down rural broadband and the fuller explanation is given in Bella's update. I have a few photos on Photobucket now but hope to send some more to Jenny for posting - fingers crossed.
Winnie is staying! Adoption papers sent to Jenny and Winnie has her own collars and name tag, although Bella is trying her hardest to destroy the martingale collar. Winnie is very surprising - she is very playful, very confident and fiesty with the other dogs. I think that she may become pack leader. She has Rudi sussed and Rudi has deferred to her and they play a lot, especially zoomies around the garden (her knee and leg are getting stronger all the time). Whereas Rudi has been king pin for 4 years, she has come in and ignored all of that. She can often be seen dominating Rudi from behind . She loves to be in a group play 'bundle' with Rudi, Brucie and Bella and often the daxies join in from a distance. She has been accepted by all the dogs and has fitted like a glove. She plays with Brucie boy and can hold her own. She is very cheeky - she steals shoes but does not tend to chew them. She will take anything from anywhere if she fancies it so there have been wholesale removal of items to higher or hidden places. She counter surfs and anything is fair game like the mini hot cross bun which was only left (in a packet) for a few minutes when I was grooming the dogs. She LOVES her food and treats. She is fine at meal times but a little bit difficult at treat time as she thinks every treat is hers! She loves a cuddle and a snuggle up to me. She has really bonded with me and shakes throughout her body as if her whole body is wagging when I appear. She adores being outside and would spend all day in the gardens. She loves a walk and is excellent on lead. She is brilliant at night but can be too playful with Bella if they wake up before me. The others like their beds too much to play in the early morning. She doesn't care who she sits on to get on a chair or bed and seems to always win. Testament to how the other dogs have accepted her. She, Bruce and Rudi do zoomies around the big garden and get on really well.
We had a scare a few days ago when we thought that she had begun to jump. On one garden excursion she was gone a bit too long but suddenly appeared, very happy to see me but very dirty on her legs and underbelly. I could not work out where she had been. The next day, I was in panic when I could not find her in the garden after her usual excursion after her evening meal. We have 1.5 acres of garden so all the dogs go out for 10 minutes or so at a time, or longer, but she had been gone a long while. We are totally secure here, having done 99% of it ourselves, down to the bottom of the fences to protect the little dogs and normally I can be very calm about the dogs going out. I came back to the house to get boots and a big torch and my husband started for the garage to get the car out and there she was in the courtyard, but she was not in any of the garden when I was searching. I was mystified. The 3rd day, she disappeared again even though we were checking on her and after calling for a few minutes, we could see her light coloured body heading towards us along the next door dairy farm's field. She came to me at the fence and I held her whilst John took the long trek round to put her on lead. OMG we thought - she is a jumper. There are only a couple of small areas on the plot which are not blocked by trees, thorny plants and undergrowth behind the fences so we had to test during the next 2 days if she showed a preference for these small areas of fencing, but she did not show the slightest interest in even looking over any of the fences, just through them. I tried her in the small paddock to see if she would jump to get back to me, but nothing, so I was becoming resigned to not being able to let her mooch around the garden off lead - then last night I obviously went with her around the garden and when we got back to the house, she disappeared into a undergrowth just outside our courtyard. Luckily I waited and within seconds she was outside the main plot and heading down the track that is our driveway. I called her and she came straight back and I let her back in the gate - she was not trying to get away, just inquisitive. The next day we got down on our hands and knees in the undergrowth expecting to find an undiscovered escape route but all we found was a small square that had been cut out of the wire fencing to get round some big heavy branches - I don't think that Bruce would have got his bull head in it but Winnie being slim and svelte had manouvered herself through and clearly got it down to a fine art - even coming back in on the first 2 occasions. We were so relieved. Fence is now strengthened, and before she showed Bella what to do! I am happy to have an Houdini, counter surfer, but a jumper would have been a nightmare especially as the farmer puts his pregnant cows in the field in front of us each spring.
Some photos, and hopefully more to follow as these are 2 weeks old now. Love Margey xxx
Wonderful update Margey. I'm so very pleased that Winnie is a forever member of your pack, and that the rest of the gang are happy for her to assume the top spot.
She is obviously a very smart girl....helping you to find the hole in the fence....
In those pics she looks like butter wouldn't melt......hard to believe she has a norty side.
She has fit in with your pack beautifully Margey and so pleased she is staying. What a sneaky little girl though! All that garden and she wants more!!! Glad you found the hole.
Glad to see she was intent on coming back after escaping, that's a really positive sign. But it must have been an anxious time while she was gone. So pleased that you are keeping her. It sounds like your pack have accepted her.
Winnie will remain a sponsored dog for the forseeable future as she is still having trouble with the joint in her knee. She will start treatment and some hydro to see if this helps. Margey is staying hopeful. xx
A dog is a gift in life. Love and protect it. _________________
It is an incredible 4 months since I picked Winnie up and brought her here to the mad house! I was looking a earlier photos today and she is really blooming - her coat is long and fluffy and she has a distinctive stripe down the top of the back - even the hydrotherapist commented on it. And, I got a photo of her smiling! Winnie is an outdoor girlie. Loves to be out and about exploring or playing chase with the others. Usually Winnie and Bella wear each other out, but Winnie is rather wary of Bella at the moment as Bella's buster collar keeps wacking her! Winnie is generally very good, but can display jealousy and some food aggression - particularly towards the little Daxies. She bit Joey on the ear a few weeks ago and the other day saw off Rosie by pinning her to the ground by the throat (not biting I hasten to add). As I see the incidents, she is told straight away that this is unacceptable and she does seem to get it and has improved. I walk her with the Daxies, and that is fine. She is so funny when we walk - she loves to sniff out the field mice or rabbits and so will stick her nose right into a hole for just ages. I get fed up and tell her to come on and she doesn't, so I pull on the lead and she just lets her legs collapse and lays like a sack, still sniffing the prey and almost saying - now move me if you can! The situation with her knee is a catch 22. She is a Lurcher ad will run and chase, all day if given the chance, so the knee gets a lot of strain. As a result of her initial injury and the owners not acting quickly, her muscles have wasted and she has early onset arthritis and is not producing enough lubrication around the knee joint. She has undergone a course of injections for the lubrication and is on Loxicom for the pain and arthritis and part way through a course of hydrotherapy to strengthen the muscles, particularly at the top of her leg. The therapists are very pleased with her progress. but building them up will take a little time - it is worth it at her age and of course if that leg and knee remain weak, she will put too much strain on the good back leg and possibly injure that. We need some more time for a full assessment. She sees the vet again on 14th June to see how the lubrication is going. She never minds the vet pulling and pushing her leg and knee about, so we are cautiously optimistic. She is a wagger and we are totally in love with each other Some photos follow - please enjoy! Love Margey
She is doing so well with you. Hydrotherapy is brilliant. Our Eddie had lots of muscle wastage after a cruciate repair and hydrotherapy really helped him.