Arnie

Arnie is a very nearly two year old Golden Retriever, originally called Andre, surrendered to IRR as his family had no time for him anymore.

Placed with a fosterer who struggled to cope with his amorous antics and general mischief, he needed to be moved to a more experienced fosterer quite quickly. As the nearest to the fluffy little chap I set off on a cold December night to collect him for a temporary stay with me. Unfortunately our own Noah’s Ark was bursting at the seams and our resident little old man, who is not keen on entire males at the best of times let alone rather amorous ones, meant that Arnie had to find temporary lodgings elsewhere.

This is where the t’other half Tony stepped in and agreed to have him for a few days till a fosterer could be found. Very generous I thought as he had never seen eye to eye with my ‘haughty’ Goldie Guide Dogs (I had explained to him previously that you have to ask and provide flattery before they would consider complying with commands!). Having lost his German Shepherd earlier in the year his house was dogless unless I was there to fill it with my own hairy beasties.

I got Arnie out of the van – it had taken two of us to put him in the cage (one to note on his list of problems). I shouldn’t have worried about the two of them getting on as it was like watching an old French film (cue romantic music) as their eyes met across the room. I couldn’t give Tony too much information about him as I didn’t know much myself and I left them to it….sometimes three’s a crowd!!!

The first night went very well and Arnie settled very quickly with none of the displays of the horror story behaviours that had been passed on.

In the meantime being so near Christmas it was proving difficult for little orphan Arnie to find somewhere to stay, so Tony agreed to have him over Christmas……not that by this point anyone in any part of the country actually thought he would be going anywhere after Christmas or indeed at anytime. Bets were placed.

Whilst the humans were rallying round after the orphan, the orphan was beginning to show us one or two of the many tricks he had up his furry little sleeves.

• Manners non existent. Pushing past people at speed a speciality.
• Walking nicely on the lead. Not a hope.
• Pinching stuff of any surface…..lots of variety, speed and blatant grin whilst doing it.
• The ability to open the washing machine and remove stuff.
• Car travelling skills – none.
• Ability to get in the car – nil.
• Chewing other people belongings, very skilled, but also choosy.
• Humping bed till near exhaustion.
• Understanding of subtle dog body language – nil.
• It became clear early on that this was one (very bright) dog that had been allowed to think up his own amusement and entertain himself to a great standard.

Work started on general manners from entering the house. The car problems would have to wait till after castration, which happened within a few days with a few tears….not from Arnie however, as the owner of his two veg he couldn’t have cared less. Tony on the other hand was more concerned (It must be a man thing). However, after a few days of removing the bed from Arnie’s loving grasp and Arnie from the bed I think the thought of castration was made slightly more acceptable. There needn’t have been any concern as on arrival to pick up the little monster from the vets ( a two man job to get him in the car) he dragged the nurse through and bounced up and down with a look of demented glee…operation, what operation?!

Introduction to my two hairies followed shortly. Within a very short space of time Teal was able to control Arnie from across the room with one eye shut. If Arnie had been able to converse with other dogs they would have told him that you don’t any amorous moves with Teal. Luckily for both him and Teal he was beginning to lose the majority of any thoughts in that department.

‘Little Drake’ on the other hand, normally very good with other dogs was quite distraught at having another dog on ‘his’ bed and with ‘his’ toys and more importantly ‘his’ dad. Some may say that Drake is a bit spoilt…..well in fact it more like most rather than some! The tantrum that followed could put any toddler to shame! It was the dog version of throwing yourself on the floor with arms and legs flailing about.

Arnie on the other hand just wanted to dive in and play. Bright as Arnie is….he is.…well…..just a bit blonde. He also arrived with a slight lack of understanding of the subtleties of dog language. The equivalent of someone annoys you and you asking them to stop and go away, politely, then a little more forcefully and then gradually escalating into GO AWAY!!!!

Then the play fighting to sort out pack position started. It started on a Friday night…..through Saturday and into Sunday. Even by Sunday no secure agreement was reached. This eventually happened about three weeks later with Arnie happily taking the lower position, quite happy as long as he has someone to play with. Throughout all the grief Drake gave the little lad there was not even a thought of malice. Amongst all his problems he is a very happy accepting boy.

It was a while before they could both run together as work had to be done on a bond between us and Arnie and Drake was also nursing a bad foot. The time came in January when Drake could run without his boot and Arnie was signed over to Tony and we could take all three to the beach. A nice wide open space with no danger for Arnie to run into……(recall mostly tested on a long line) and soft underfoot for Drake. The photos of them together were taken there.

So, what of the progress with Arnie? Tony has worked very hard on his domestic routines and training and also developed the patience of a saint. I have started to stretch his brain and channel it, so between us we are beginning to see the beginnings of what could be a fully functioning member of canine society.

Progress is slowly being made…

He now walks extremely well on the lead (very exciting new situations, still need work, but its early days).
There is no barging through doors.
Travel in the car is much improved and he will now wait in the back with the door open without throwing himself out in a panic. Occasionally there is a bit of travel sickness but this seems to be tailing off.
He has not yet mastered getting in the car on his own and has to be lifted; luckily he is quite pocket sized and light.
He and Drake adore each other (sometimes a bit too much and have to be separated for time out!).

The hunting and gathering round the house still continues. We tried booby traps but he dragged that AND the chair it got caught on through the house!!! Whereas Drake was frightened by traps Arnie sees them as part of a fun game. There will be no short fix for this. He occasionally pinches and chews things, mostly books. New doors will be arriving for the bookshelves and other things are being moved out of the way. We are learning to be very tidy! The stairgate to upstairs will be a permanent feature.

There are now few protests about being brushed.
He is very used to getting washed down after muddy walks.
Recall is coming along very well, still a way to go but already worlds away from what it was.
There is a long way to go with his self-rewarding behaviour and I still don’t think he has relaxed enough for us to see the true Arnie; this is not to say that his furry feet are not securely under the table!!

Last week he took part in his first heelwork to music training class and did extremely well and managed to concentrate with a lot going on around him. This did tire him out and his mental concentration skills will need building up. Hopefully he won’t be using this new brain stamina for anything naughty!!!

And last but not least what does Teal think of this situation?……well very little. She now takes herself off upstairs early to bed for a bit of peace and quiet…..however, there are no complaints about going on lots of nice walks with them though and there is always sport to be had with trying to bite bottoms as the boys run!

All in all Arnie is a lovely chap who we all believe must possess magical powers as he has turned the man who doesn’t really like retrievers much. It’s a good job they are growing on him as there is now one and a half retrievers in the house and three very big characters, all of them spoilt rotten….and don’t they know it!!!