Olly, gorgeous but pushing the boundaries!

[SallyWarton]

Hi folks,
Well I'm losing some pounds since this young fellow came to stay, Olly has two speeds at the moment full steam or crashed out. He had great fun this morning putting up a family of hares which all ran in different directions, was that fun or what? Yesterday it was deer and he's found the very muddy pond in the bottom of the field, he ran very happily towards me smothered in mud and green slime.

Ky, your noble Julius has settled down to be a very joyful, lively, loveable, somewhat wilful chap who appears to be secure enough in his surroundings to stretch my dog training abilities to the full! We ended up in a heap on the gravel track yesterday, I'm not sure which one of us was more surprised, Olly was fine, I left some of my wrist on the ground, ouch!! He's still a dream in the house, oh apart from pinching my dinner off the work surface the other day, he was obviously telling me his was boring and mine smelt a great deal better. But even so I have no problems getting him to sleep downstairs, he was clean from day 1 which I reckon is good considering how long he's been in kennels, and at the moment he is lying in my office asleep by my feet.

Well it's time for us to see what is out in the countryside this afternoon.

Great wishes to you all from Sally and Olly

[Bold Barney]

Great news about Olly ( Julius). He sounds just like our Bessy ( was Baileys). Sheer perfection indoors BUT chases anything that moves outdoors and is a bit of a madam with some other dogs. BUT we love her and so does Barney

[Lins]

Great update It made me laugh He's only acting like a proper lab i.e. nicking food and getting muddy. Don't most of them do that? You go boy

[jumbly]

This all sounds very familiar! We adopted Newton just over 3 months ago. He was as good as gold for the first 2 weeks then started testing just how far he could push it. He wouldn't come back when called, especially when heading towards a river or swampy puddle, he had a few attempts at climbing on the bed, had a few incidents with other local dogs, went mental the first time he saw a cow etc. Glyn and I decided on what we were prepared to allow, decided on a uniform set of commands and actions to avoid confusion, and got quite firm. We can't always stop him when he decides he's heading off for a swamp dive and he does a bit of random barking when he wants to get his own way. But, we're getting there, everyday he gets a little bit better at knowing exactly what is expected. Newt's background is no where near as traumatic as Olly's so we probably have a lot less to deal with but I'm sure it will all work out with your boy. It sounds to me like you've got patience and love, and I reckon that's more than half way there with giving a dog a second a second chance.

Good luck with him.

Vikki

[Ann Mee]

He sounds adorable Sally even though he did nick your dinner

Ann x

[jackiem]

It sounds as though Bob has trained them all well! Did he leave notes in the kennels I wonder?

It sounds as though you are having a lovely time with your adoptees and don't they make life interesting!

[Ablineth]

So pleased to read the update on Olly.
Last week at Nantwich show there was a trainee guide dog that was a flatcoated retriever x lab, it was the double of Olly.
He really sounds to be getting you trained well!!
Give him a big cuddle from me.
Ky, Mij and Grayse

[Diesel Kate]

DON'T WE JUST LOVE THEM. WHAT EVER

[Mad Maisie]

Sounds fun!!!!! Maisie on the first day she arrived from rescue stole John's lunch off the work top - Meg looked totally shocked as did we It took a while to stop her worktop surfing but once I think she knew she got regular food she was fine

She was a nightmare on the lead - don't think she knew what it was - but again after a while all calmed down. I would say all in all it was a good 12 months before Maisie was completely settled and it was only after that when she began to fill out and we no longer called her "tin ribs" - lovingly off course -- because up until then you could see her ribs - Bless Her!!!!! That was nearly 3 years ago. Blimey how time flies!!!!!. She is now 10 and is lovingly called Princess Pushy or Stumpy because of her stumpy tail. Mind you she is still a whirling dervish

Enjoy!!!!

Gill, Meg and Maisie

[warrengl]

Would we have them any other way... at least life is never dull with a lab around!