Alfie

Pinki is a mid golden coloured, castrated, 7yr old, Golden Retriever Cross.

UPDATE ON PINKI’S PROGRESS (20.7.2018)

 To continue Pinki’s learning and for us to obtain an even fuller assessment of him with other dogs, after being with Val and her older boys (15yr old Guido and 10yr old Honour) for 4 weeks, Pinki has moved into a new foster home with Wendy and her two much younger Goldie girls, Freya aged 4yrs and 2yr old Pearl.

PERSONALITY

Wendy tells us “Pinki is happy dog, who loves people, is very affectionate and is always overjoyed to see you.  

In the main, he is a happy, confident dog, who loves to be with people and loves a fuss and a ball.  However, if he wants to do something (play, go out for a walk etc) then he will let you know in no uncertain terms that he wants to do this, barking at you to tell you.  I think this is probably just because he had a routine in his previous home in Spain and is taking time to adapt.

He is equally very good and will settle and lay down to wait once he has resigned himself to the fact that it’s not going to happen”. 

SOCIAL LEARNING

TRAVEL:  Pinki adores the car and would happily ride in it all day! He travels superbly, lays down and goes to sleep on the back seat or the boot compartment (estate or hatchback).

He loves going in the car so much he is over eager to get in so he is undergoing positive training for this.  

HOUSETRAINING: He is fully house trained

BASIC TRAINING: Pinki still has quite a lot of social learning to do and is a work in progress but he learns well.    He needs to learn impulse control eg not barging though doors to go out, not chasing cats and not snatching food from your hand.

He eats well and loves food but he has not been trained to be fed from the hand and so he snatches treats. I am teaching him to take them gently but he is slow to learn this one.  He will also grab food if it’s within his reach.

He likes going out and, at the first sound of car keys, he will run for the door.  He will try and barge through and jump up but I’m teaching him to sit and wait. He does understand this and is responding well.  He does the same with getting in and out of the car.

Training is working though.  He has gone in rivers and the sea where he was initially tentative so he has not swum yet.

LEADWALKING and RECALL: He walks `loose lead’ with a body harness and a long leash.  He is very responsive to the whistle and to his name. His recall on the long line is excellent.

RESOURCE GUARDING:  Pinki s not toy possessive  and will let other dogs play with toys, without wanting the toys they have. However, he does love a tennis ball Unfortunately, he also loves to destroy them and will not let you take it from him.

ADULTS: He is very friendly towards people

CHILDREN: Not tested with children

DOGS:  Pinki is  good with other dogs when out on walks and isn’t really interested in them although he will sniff and say hello.

If a dog is over fussy, he will reprimand them with a low growl but that’s all he does. There is no other dominant behaviour.  He has been fine with my two Goldie girls but is more respectful of Freya, the 4yr old one.  Pearl stepped on his feet a few times in the boot of the car and he barked at her (unsurprisingly!) so  I now travel him on the back seat, which he prefers.    CATS: He  chases cats outside and barks excitedly but he lives in my house with two cats and is leaving them alone

PINKI’S DREAM HOME

Pinki will need an experienced forever home, preferably with people at home all day, because he really deserves to be able to continue to learn how to conduct himself in all situations.

He learns really quickly and doesn’t forget what he has been taught. In return I am sure he will be a very faithful trusting addition to the family and will make someone a lovely loyal companion.

HISTORY

Very little is known of his background except that Pinki was handed in to a rescue in Spain. There he received all the necessary vet checks, inoculations etc to obtain his Pet Passport.

After the long journey from Spain, he went into foster with Val and Barry and their IRR boy.

ON ARRIVAL

Val told us “Pinky arrived with us on Friday 22nd June 2018 after travelling 48hrs from Spain.

The first thing we noticed was that he is extremely strong on the lead, so much so that I had to hand him over to Barry because I literally couldn’t hold him. He had been travelling for a long time and so we assumed he was just pleased to be out of the vehicle although the transport guys had walked and fed all the dogs regularly throughout the journey.

When we got into the house we gave him a few minutes to look around the kitchen then we took him out into the garden. We introduced our dogs to him one at a time in the garden but he really didn’t interact with them at all in any way. We brought them back indoors and gave them the total run of the house.

Pinki inspected every room but made no attempt to scent mark anywhere. Our dogs laid down but Pinky kept pacing for quite some time.

He interacted with me and appeared to be of a very loving nature.

He was a little reluctant to eat his tea but with a bit of persuasion he ate about two thirds of it.

He went into the garden at bedtime on a long training lead, watched the other two have a wee and followed suit. He was happy to have a small amount of goat’s milk before we went to bed. 

We took an extra bed into our bedroom for him but he wondered around the kitchen and bedroom for a while and then decided to sit on the floor near the bed I had put down for him. Eventually he laid in the bedroom doorway where he went to sleep and didn’t move until 6.30am when I got up the next morning.

He was a bit more enthusiastic about his breakfast and, as long as he could see me, he didn’t pace but, if I went out of view, he cried.

We got them all ready for their walk I used a front loading harness on Pinky  (Walk your dog with love) along with an extra lead on his collar. It was obvious he had no lead training at all but he is a quick learner and soon realised pulling didn’t work and then started to walk happily by my side.

As time has gone on, we can see that Pinki really has not had any basic training at all. Bless him, he tries to barge his way through everything and he uses his strength to get what he wants but once he understands what we are asking of him he tries his best to cooperate.

He has shown no aggression towards me or our 2 boys and just ignores them.

He has a very loving nature and just needs a forever home with experienced people who will continue to teach him all about good natural behaviour”.                                                         

HEALTH

Pinki’s general health is really good and he seems to be a strong healthy dog especially now he is having a good diet.

His coat is beginning to look much better now he understands what daily brushing is all about.  

PERSONALITY

He is a very loving dog. He wants to sit close and is happy to lick my hand when I am stroking him, however he does become very anxious when he can’t actually see me. Once he knows how to behave in all situations he will be fantastic I’m sure.

I do feel there is a very excited little chap inside who is just longing to run and play and I’m sure, given time and once he has learnt how to conduct himself, he will develop into a fun loving little guy who loves life.                                           

SOCIAL LEARNING

Pinki is progressing well with both his settling down into a good routine and his basic training.

TRAVEL: He seemed happy and content travelling in a vehicle on arrival.

HOUSETRAINING: He is fully house trained

BASIC TRAINING: Pinki has a lot of social learning to do because, quite obviously, no one has ever trained him. He does learn quickly and although he doesn’t interact with our other dogs he does take a lead from them. He seems to be understanding the language quite well and we do try to keep any commands simple and just one word.

He goes into the garden without a lead now, he understand “sit, wait, no and come” and we are working on “steady and close” for his walks. he knows to sit and wait quietly for his food so he is learning really quickly. He comes in from the garden when I call him so I’m sure, given time, he will understand how to behave well.

SEPARATION ANXIETY:  Pinki is a very loving dog and, now, understands that cuddles are good but he does get very anxious if he can’t follow me around the house.

I am keeping them in the kitchen occasionally where they can see me through the kiddigate but he finds it difficult to accept and cries a bit.

We have now left Pinki a few times for short periods. Watching him on my phone camera, he paces around the kitchen for a while and cries a bit but, after about 10mins, he does lay down in between our boys. He is extremely pleased when we get back and, as time goes on, he is getting better.

LEADWALKING: I am continuing to walk him on the front loading harness and he is getting much better.

His lead work is improving but it still has a long way to go, I am continuing to walk him on a “walk your dog with love” front loading harness along with an extra lead on his collar. There are short times when I can ease off the pressure with the front loading harness and let his normal collar and lead control him but not for very long. He is beginning to understand “steady and close” when we are walking.

ADULTS and CHILDREN: He is friendly with adults but has not been tested with children here

DOGS: He just ignores my other dogs, but we haven’t met very many out and about yet.

He was good with my daughter’s calm older bitch but wasn’t so keen on the young one who is bouncy and very much in your face, albeit she does it in the nicest way possible.   

CATS: He has not been tested with cats here.

SEPTEMBER 2018

Alfie has gone to his Forever Home.