Benson

Benson’s History

Benson is approximately 18 months old and had lived outside all his life (tied to a tree). He was rehomed in Ireland to Yvonne and Eugene, whose help to IRR and Sandie is invaluable.

December 2012: Yvonne wrote:

I went to collect Benson last Sunday from Sandie’s home. The idea was for me to foster him over the Christmas until a home could be arranged for him in the UK. I brought my GR Rosie with me to gauge how he greets another dog and all went well, basically ignoring one another after the initial sniff. The journey home was uneventful and when we landed home he was met by my other two Goldies, Cody (rehomed from IRR in 2010) & Xena. Cody, being the only other male dog in the household, took to Benson quite well all things considering. He did take to chasing after Benson upon arrival, which initially looked to be quite alarming, but once Benson realised that he was faster than Cody and could outrun him, the games began!

Benson was quite enamoured with Xena, my 10 year old Goldie who in turn was delighted with the attention and took quite a shine to Benson which was most unusual for her, but then he IS very handsome!

It took a bit of encouragement to get him to come into the kitchen but once in he quickly settled. The combination of the steroids he was on as a result of picking up an infection after neutering, which made him drink copious amounts of water, and the total lack of housetraining, led to an interesting couple of days ahead to say the least! Between a constant vigil during the day and our setting off the alarm clock every two hours during night time to let him out to the toilet, there were only two times we weren’t quick enough to prevent him having a little accident in the house.

Benson is mad about his food and I have never seen a dog to eat so fast in all my lifetime. He has robbed off the table, the worktops and also the front seat of the car, where I was foolish to leave a bag of groceries unattended while I went on ahead into the house with other bags. I came back out to see Benson scoffing what turned out to be his 2nd bread bun from a bag of four buns. Lesson learned!

His lead training was non-existent but is improving day by day, pulling like a train at the onset but quickly settling down to enjoy his outing. He wants to be friends with everyone, dogs and humans alike, so his social skills will need a little attention. He is inclined to take flight if he gets scared of something unfamiliar, like the Xmas lights at the cafe in the neighbouring forest, or horses and their riders passing by the front of the house, but once we now know about this we are ready to reassure him and he is a lot easier to manage. He studied the ducks on the pond but showed no inclination to chase them, the same with the stray cat we feed in our yard.

Today he finally accepted Rosie’s invitation to play and do battle with the tug rope, (which he had no hope of winning!) and it is good to see his confidence growing on a daily basis. He had no idea what toys or tennis balls were but he is now piling them up in his bed at a steady rate! The same goes for any shoes left lying about but so far none have been demolished. Watch this space!

Benson has also proven to me that Golden Retrievers have Springer(!) Spaniel blood in them. He came in from the garden last night and walked around to the far side of the kitchen table. The next instant from a standstill he landed clean onto the table on all fours as if he had pressed a button! He stood there laughing at me while I got over the shock! What’s his next trick I wonder! I think we’ll be having our Xmas dinner on the roof!