Pepper
Posted: 23 Mar 2009, 00:31
We took 3 year old Pepper home from MKF with trepidation on 12/02/08 having lasted 12 days following the untimely and sudden death of our previous rescue Lab Lucy. She was very insecure when Kathryn introduced us to her and wouldn't have anything to do with us. She spent the first 4 days facing inwards in a cupboard under the stairs and would not socialise. She would only come out for food (nothing out of the ordinary there then!) After a couple of weeks she began to respond to Nina, but was very wary of me. She soon loved her walks, although she struggled to walk at first, as her right back leg kept going into spasm. We wondered if she had HD, but this soon rectified itself with increasing exercise. Fortunately we were able to train her using treats. She also lost a lot of weight as she began to exercise. We did a lot of lead work with her, but it was the free running that she absolutely adored.
We worked patiently to gain her confidence but it was a slow process. We tried her with toys but she didn't know what to do with them. She slowly learned all the commands any self respecting labrador should know, but she would never retreive. She would go mad in shallow puddles, but would test the depth with her front paw and go into reverse if she couldnt touch the bottom! She once plopped in out of her depth at Urswick Tarn, abut instead of swimming she just sank her claws into my leg and hung on as she sank under the surface with terror on her face!! So shes now had professional swimming lessons in a hydrotherapy pool, complete with swiming cap and water wings. She now goes in like a true lab.
She is a still a big girl even though she has lost a lot her mane and also quite a bit of weight, and most people mistake her for a boy, which is not helped by her blue Ruffwear collar.
But our patience has been rewarded although we did wonder if she would ever be part of the family. She is a most affectionate girl, and goes everywhere with us. She is still wary of strangers, but will even go up to others now and greet them. She also is much better with other dogs. She now has her toys which she takes everywhere with her. Here are some pictures. This is her on Aldingham beach, one for her favourite places.
We worked patiently to gain her confidence but it was a slow process. We tried her with toys but she didn't know what to do with them. She slowly learned all the commands any self respecting labrador should know, but she would never retreive. She would go mad in shallow puddles, but would test the depth with her front paw and go into reverse if she couldnt touch the bottom! She once plopped in out of her depth at Urswick Tarn, abut instead of swimming she just sank her claws into my leg and hung on as she sank under the surface with terror on her face!! So shes now had professional swimming lessons in a hydrotherapy pool, complete with swiming cap and water wings. She now goes in like a true lab.
She is a still a big girl even though she has lost a lot her mane and also quite a bit of weight, and most people mistake her for a boy, which is not helped by her blue Ruffwear collar.
But our patience has been rewarded although we did wonder if she would ever be part of the family. She is a most affectionate girl, and goes everywhere with us. She is still wary of strangers, but will even go up to others now and greet them. She also is much better with other dogs. She now has her toys which she takes everywhere with her. Here are some pictures. This is her on Aldingham beach, one for her favourite places.
