A New Responsibility

Taking on a pre-loved dog is quite a responsibility. Unlike a puppy, they do not come as a more or less blank slate – they have their own personalities, moulded by their previous owners. They also have their own ways of doing things and know certain commands in certain ways. However, Sienna** has settled in well and seems to be happy with us.

Walks

The first three days were lovely. We had dry weather with plenty of sunshine, albeit cold -  but then what do you expect in January? After that, things deteriorated – a lot! First ice and a sprinkling of snow made going to the fields an impossibility. We managed the first couple of days, then after that, abandoned the idea due to the high risk of falling flat on my nose on the roads to the field. So instead, we went to the rec, which is practically next door. Sienna has been off-lead in safe places since we got her and her recall is great. We are working on the ‘pulling like a steam train’ thing and at last, nearly three weeks on, she seems to be getting the plan – if you don’t pull, we walk briskly to the field; if you pull, we stop and don’t go anywhere; if you pull hard, we turn around and go back the way we came. Treats are useful, but she does get a bit over-excited with them.

Yesterday, I took her to the woods across the road. It is a landscaped area that used to be an open-cast coal mine, so you can imagine the mud is a wonderful shade of black! The area was very wet and muddy, but she really enjoyed it, running off and coming back to check in. Her previous owners used to take her to a wooded area near their home, so she must have felt in her element. The only downside was when we returned, she was completely black! From the nice clean streets of the south coast to the industrial mud of the north east means we no longer have a shiny pristine dog to look at! And there’s not a lot of point bathing her right now, as she’ll just get as black again tomorrow, or later today. So brushing will have to suffice for now.

Unfortunately, we have had some vehicle issues since we returned and so a trip to the Dales had yet to occur – but the car is back to normal now, so we’ll be able to go just as soon as it stops raining. Currently it is raining quite heavily and there is quite a strong breeze, making it feel colder than ever. It has been raining steadily off and on (mostly on) for the last week – and we have heavy snow forecast for next week too, so not sure when our first trip will be, but hopefully not too far off.

Obedience

It was suggested she was trained in ‘advanced obedience’. Not sure that phrase had the same meaning to them as it has to me! For one thing, she pulls on the lead as mentioned before, and she doesn’t seem to have heard the word ‘heel’. But for all that, she’s pretty good and we are working on some additional obedience skills. On the other hand, she has a very good ‘off-switch’. Storm was always on her feet the moment you took a breath, or closed a computer, or crossed your legs the other way; Sienna stays lying down even when we walk across the room. Plus when she’s in the car, she doesn’t scream and howl when we stop. Is this dog broken??

Fun and Toys

She doesn’t really play with toys. We gave her a squeaky duck (actually, it’s more of a honking pheasant, but she doesn’t care what it's called), which she plays with from time to time. We also gave her a treat dispenser. We had to show her how to play with it, but after a couple of rolls, she lost interest and it sat there, complete with treats in it, for a couple of days before she bothered with it again.

Yesterday, she actually took the duck to R and gave it to him, so she engaged for a while (maybe three minutes?) before going off to do something else – like lie down and sleep.

We have contacted a dog club and hopefully will soon get into a class to determine what kind of ‘fun’ she will be suited to. She has done agility in the past, but not more recently. This club does some agility, man-tracking, scent work and obedience. So there should be something she will enjoy, to keep her active and mentally engaged. Meanwhile, I’m building an agility course/dog park in part of my garden...watch this space.

The dog who doesn't like toys

People and other dogs

We said ‘no visitors’ for the first three days and our offspring kindly obliged. She did meet one of our next door neighbours when we were passing for a walk. Having met Storm before, he (jokingly, I hasten to say) pulled his sleeves down over his hands and folded his arms. But then they met and she was absolutely fine. He said he would tell his wife we had a new dog – and that ‘she’s worse than the last one’. It was a few days later when she met the wife, who came armed with treats, so she’s definitely in favour.

Our daughter came to see her about a week after we brought her home. She had the idea that she wanted to take her running, but we wouldn’t let her. The last time Sienna was taken for a walk by people unknown, she was then expected to get in a car and never saw her family again. We didn’t want to confuse her, so we asked S to wait.

Our son came home the second weekend to meet her. I never thought he was a dog person really, but maybe that was just Storm. Anyway, they got on really well and she curled up in the evening by his feet.

She has only met one other dog face to face – and that didn’t go too well. Maggie has cataracts so maybe doesn’t see too well. Or maybe it’s just the way she always greets other dogs. But she came to Sienna face to face and Sienna objected. First a growl, then a snap. The second time we met, Maggie’s dad put her on a lead and we stood and chatted about 2-3 feet apart, which was far better.

We also met Mara and her friend; again, we stood a couple of feet apart to chat and that was fine too.

She does meet other dogs now and again in the street as we are walking and we are trying to modify her reaction to them – ie we feed her treats one after the other as we pass. So far, that seems to be working fine.

She is not fazed when meeting people without dogs, unless there are lots of them. I took her to parkrun on Saturday. I was tail-walking so that Sienna could see the route and not be overwhelmed by being in the middle of all those people. She was fine, but was a little nervous when the front runners came pounding through. I think she’ll get used to it okay.

We have only met one person without a dog when Sienna was off lead. I called her to walk with me, which she did; I fed her treats as we passed and she was great, totally ignoring the person, after an initial glance to see who it might be.

Health

A week after we brought her home, we paid a visit to the vet – mainly for a titer test but also to have her checked over. She’s a little overweight (as we suspected) but otherwise seems to be in good health. She is getting extra walks and going further, which should help with the weight control, and we have changed her diet (slowly) over the last three weeks. Instead of kibble, she is now eating ‘real’ food. I remember reading an article about a yoga teacher who decided to do an experiment (on himself) whereby he would eat those ‘balanced nutrition’ bars for three months – after all, they are supposed to be a perfect balance of all the necessary nutrients the body requires, so it shouldn’t be a problem, right? Wrong! He had to give up after three weeks because he felt so ill! There is no substitute for ‘real food’. We don’t eat ‘fake food’ ourselves and consequently  we don’t feed our dogs ‘fake food’ either.

We had, once again, considered breeding. However, she will be 5 in the summer and has never had a litter. So we took lots of advice and have decided not to breed from her, as the risks are quite high for a first litter at this age.

Conclusion

Sienna is beginning to come out of her shell a bit. At first, she didn’t seem to have a great personality, but she is getting more lively, now that she’s been with us three weeks. She seems happy and there have been no issues, apart from the snap at Maggie. She is enjoying her training sessions and will hopefully soon be doing something more stimulating soon. I haven’t taken her for a hike, or running with me yet (apart from parkrun, which we walked anyway)... 

Which reminds me, raining or not, I have a training session to do!

** Not her original name