A new Member of the Family

[Oma]

Storm is silent , doesn’t bark at all he will occasionally chatter when he is hungry or if the squirrels and cats are outside , then it’s a full on chatter ,
I can get him to howl if I sing in a certain pitch ( says a lot for my singing )
What he can do is make himself understood with his eyes , and expressions ,

I have full conversations with him and ask him what he thinks 😂😂😂 he understands too 🤪

[Gemini]

I had to laugh at Eva keeping you both quiet so she could sleep Daisy

Strangely our cat never uttered a sound apart for purrs until he was the only cat!
He was always one of 3, 4 and in the end 2. Now he 'talks' to us a lot when he wants anything!! It's strange to hear him.

[Daisy]

Oma - I had to smile at Storm howling in harmony with your singing. I used to have a dog who howled when I played the piano. They have ways of making us feel inadequate, don't they!

Gem - perhaps your cat felt he couldn't get a word in edgeways when he was part of a bigger feline family. Now he knows he's got your undivided attention.

Eva was spooked by something at training today - possibly the wind, but it wasn't that bad. But it took her nearly an hour to settle down again and enjoy herself.

[Daisy]

Eva continues to surprise me.

Our quick walk round the block is mostly in our road, which has cattle grids at either end, but one leg of the walk is in open Forest, meaning the ponies, cattle etc can roam there, snacking on the grass verges and people's gardens if they forget to close their gates.

Today we were just approaching this unfenced road and coming towards up was a herd of 8 mares and one new-born foal. We all turned into this road together and two of the mares were kicking and bucking (the stallions are out and about and love is in the air!). Eva took no notice of them at all. We walked alongside them and she did her usual sniffing round ignoring the goings-on all around her! We turned the corner to go through the gate by the cattle grid and there was a lady with her dog coming towards us. Eva went on full alert - pulling, wagging her tail, desperate to go and say hello to the other dog. I had to drag her away!

[Gemini]

What a good girl! As you say Daisy, Eva continues to surprise you

And feeling very sociable with the other dog!

[WeeGranny]

Dogs are funny old animals! I used to take doggo for long walks and we'd pass all different dogs and he wouldn't even look up from his sniffing....but if a little similar coloured dog cam ei sight, that was it, all fierce and barking and trying to get at it! Most embarrassing, then he'd just trot on looking for a treat because he'd protected me!

[Daisy]

WeeGranny - it's funny how they react to different dogs, isn't it!

I told Pam, our trainer about the ponies and the other dog, and she did a session with 'strange' dogs. The idea was that you approached the strangers with your dog close to you. If they pulled, you backed up and started again. They had to make eye contact with you before either of you moved. When you got within a lead's length of the strangers you had to give them both a treat and if your dog was waiting quietly, giving eye contact etc you'd throw a treat away from the strangers for your own dog to get. If your dog didn't wait quietly you went back to the other end of the hall and started again!

The 'strangers' were, in fact very realistic stuffed dogs, but all the dogs reacted as though they were real.

[Daisy]

On Saturday we had visitors - the niece I did the hare picture for - and her family. Her 17 year old son is very scared of dogs, and is generally an anxious young man with special needs.

Several people tried to reassure him that Eva is a gentle dog and won't harm him, but he wasn't totally convinced. Eva went off playing with a ball which someone had thrown for her. Eventually she lay down with the ball in her mouth. I said to the young man, come and stroke her tummy - she can't bite you with a ball in her mouth. (She wouldn't anyway, I was just trying to reassure him). He let me put my hand on top of his and we stroked Eva's tummy very gently. Gradually I moved my hand so it was besides his and we carried on stroking until eventually he was stroking her all on his own. He was so pleased and had a great big smile on his face. Eva lay there totally relaxed and oblivious to how brave our great nephew was to touch her at all!

[Daisy]

Generally, Eva is quite relaxed in training these days. We have a stable contingent of dogs - anything from 4 to 8 or 9, and she knows them all. But today there was a new girl on the block! She has just come up from the beginners' class and is very timid. Eva didn't seem to notice her coming in, until she and her owner had walked past us and sat down, out of view for Eva. Suddenly her nose went up in the air and she was alarmed - we'd been invaded and none of the silly humans seemed to notice!

We did the very basic routine of heel work and Eva was quite agitated, but when the new dog was lead past us she didn't bother, and didn't bother when one of the other dogs gave the new girl a good barking at. But generally she wasn't her usual relaxed self and was jumpy all afternoon. The weather didn't help - blowing a gale and blowing bits off nearby trees which were banging against the walls of the village hall.

It seems the calmness is just a veneer which is lost when things aren't as Eva expects them to be.

I suppose this is why we still do training after all these years.

[Gemini]

I wonder if Eva will be more relaxed next time she sees the new girl Daisy?

[Plantaholic]

Strange, Eva accepts other animals like your neighbours dog moving in.

[Daisy]

Gem, I hope she will be more relaxed. Two of the other dogs were just the same though. There is one dog in the class (absent yesterday) who needs to be the last one into the room, otherwise she thinks all the other dogs coming in after her are 'invaders' and barks at them!

Plant, our neighbour and I spent a lot of time introducing our two dogs to each other. First a 3 second sniff, then a slightly longer "sniff both ends" greeting. We walked them together, stood chatting with them on leads outside, and spent time with them in each other's garden before letting them into the house.

[Daisy]

They say you can't teach an old dog new tricks. It's not true. Ever since we've had her, Eva has point blank refused to go through a door unless it was fully open. Leaving the back door wide open for her in this freezing weather isn't an option, so I've been working on persuading her to nudge it open with her nose.

Yesterday, she finally did it. The door is glass so she could see me the other side and I opened the door a tiny bit and encouraged her with a treat. She's got brave enough to push it open so she can get through. Her reward is a treat and lots of praise and fuss. It's such a simple thing most dogs would do automatically, but it's taken her years to be brave enough to do it.

[Plantaholic]

Well done Eva. Daisy, did you see the programme about unscrupulous people breeding American bully Bulldogs and altering their looks, they even clip their ears. they sell them for thousands of pounds and one person was even running a. set up from prison. The men breeding them were so horrible, previously dealing in drugs.

[Oma]

Daisy
Storm has no trouble opening a closed door but no matter how we try he can’t get the hang of closing it again ,
He will jump up on the handle to pull it down then nudge it open and just waltzes in leaving the door wide to the elements 🙄😁

Well done Eva , a treat work’s miracles 😁