Bonnie Nicholls

Bonnie, once called Mandy, was a 19 month old, spayed, pure bred Labrador when she was surrendered to us. When she was 16mths old, her owner had an accident and could no longer manage her. She was clearly very much loved.

We re-homed Bonnie but, sadly, she blotted her copybook and had to come back into our care again. Although her adopters loved her very much, she proved to be too rough for their male Labrador to the point that he was becoming very withdrawn. Unfortunately, although she looks like an angel, she is very boisterous and fun loving and into everything and enjoys nothing more than a rough and tumble with another dog. She is now in foster in Devon with a very experienced Labrador trainer who we hope will be able to bring out the sweeter, gentler side of her nature. She does need someone who will be prepared to continue her training and will be firm but fair.

 LATEST UPDATE ON BONNIE FROM TAMMY 24.9.07

Bonnie came to me 7 weeks ago, she is a large labrador, but has the temperament to die for. She is great with kids, dogs, cats, horses and cows.

Since she has been here, I have been working hard on her training, as she had received little prior to coming here. She can now walk nicely on the lead, recall is 90%, she waits, stays, sits, downs, and knows the off command well. I have been so pleased with her training that I decided to enter her into two obedience classes at the IRR reunion this week, and much to everyones astonishment she was placed 3rd (89/100) and 5th (96/100), she also won the special rosette for being the happiest dog in the class.

She has come such a long way in her training, and many people do not recognise her for it. Don’t get me wrong she still needs to be in the hands of the right family, who must continue with her training, and be firm but fair with her. Give her half the chance she will try and take advantage of any situation that you do not have full control of. Saying that she no longer tries things on with me as she knows that she will not get anywhere, so she has given up. 

With regards to her playfullness, she plays like any normal labrador does, which she is just excited about, but no worse than my own dogs.

She did not like cats when she first came here, and would bark at them outside, but she is now used to them and ignores them, to the extent that when I was training her outside for the obedience competition she was doing a down stay, and my cat came upto her, sniffed her and he then walked off, Bonnie stayed exactly where I left her. She is great with cows and horses too and completely ignores them all.

Overall, Bonnie is a fantastic lady as long as you have the experience to handle her.

EARLIER UPDATES AND PICS OF BONNIE

INITIAL THOUGHTS from Maria (who met her from Ireland)

After her long trip from Ireland we were greeted by an exuberant and pretty young lady who happily jumped into our car in the middle of the night and sat with Martin, she looked as fresh as a daisy. This is the first time I realised she was a flirt.

When she met Jasper (our 12 month old golden) she then began to flirt outrageously with him too, and she soon had him tied around her little paw. Boy did they love to play together.

Like most young ladies, Bonnie loves shoes, closely followed by handbags, especially if they are left lying around, her nose will be inside a bag before you can bat an eyelid and the way she collects shoes would give Imelda Marcos a run for her money.

Not one to eat quickly, we found it best to feed her separately from Jasper as he would steal any food in her dish and she did not seem to mind, as she is clearly conscious about her figure.

Bonnie pulls a little on the lead initially but soon settles down, and she does jump, but a firm NO is all it takes and a SIT to make her sit like the good girl she is. She does love the odd treat and will sit very patiently to wait for one. She learns very quickly and is an intelligent young lady, who will, I am sure, enjoy training.

She is very inquisitive, loves to swim and loves people, she loves everyone, and assumes everyone loves her and everyone she has met so far does.

Bonnie will make a wonderful family addition for someone who is looking for a loyal, affectionate and active companion. Another dog in the family would be a bonus.

Bonnie has a lot of love to give and needs love and affection back, she constantly looks for reassurance. She does not like being left alone and we have noticed, when anyone leaves the house she will cry until she realises that she is not alone, although, when she is with another dog, she is fine for a couple of hours.

She does not to appear to know her name very well and is a very bonny looking dog. She seems to respond well to the word bonny so the name Bonnie seemed appropriate for her instead.

BONNIE is one in a million, a very special girl.

BONNIE: FROM JACKIE, WHO FOSTERED HER A FEW MONTHS AGO 

Hi I am Jackie I have taken over from Maria fostering Mandy, now known as Bonnie.

Bonnie has certainly settled in well here and got her paws right under the table so to speak, lol.

She is a very affectionate girl and loves to give kisses a lot . I would call her a lick lick dog lol.

She gets on very well with Bridie my GR they play A LOT.

I would suggest that she goes to a home with another dog who is very tolerant as she likes to hump. She is very vocal when she plays with another dog.

As usual, Gizmo, our 12.5yr old Shih Tzu, is his grumpy old self. He tells her off if she gets to near him as he likes the quiet life. She just barks back at him as though to tell him to shut up, lol

She has learnt to sit, which I think Maria taught her with a treat, and now she knows down. She pulled me on the lead but is getting better with a half check collar I find.

Bonnie has still got a few puppy traits like chewing everything that she can. She has a very strong jaw so needs sturdy toys not the thin type of squeaky ones as I found out she chews them up within seconds. I am trying to work on this chewing but it is going to take time so her new owners will need a lot of patience. She gets bored very easily, so needs plenty of stimulation. I would suggest taking her to training classes.

She loves to play fetch with anything you throw for her and will leave after a while of telling her she is then ready for you to throw again.

She will still bark and whine if left but, with time, she will, hopefully, get better. Bonnie follows me everywhere as she loves human company and cannot get enough of it.

I have not managed to test her with small children yet as I have no young ones myself but she would make a very nice pet for a family with older children .

My neighbour has 4 cats but Bonnie does not appear to have seen them yet (maybe they are hiding from her after all she is a BIG lab girl).

Overall, I would say that Bonnie is a lovely, attentive and very affectionate young girl who needs firm handling and lots of love and a boy or girlfriend to play with.

UPDATE ON BONNIE FROM HER FOREVER HOME

Linda says ” Well we’ve had Bonnie for 5 weeks now… She’s unpacked all her bags and well and truly settled into the family.

And tonight at the obedience club they asked us to move up to intermediates as she has done soooo well with her training! I’m soooo proud of her.

She still loves her bunnying and goes a bit deaf when she’s on a trail, but the rest of the time the recall is good, and she is finding it much easier to settle down and sleep when nothing exciting is happening. She rarely nicks anything from tables or bins now and doesn’t even bother us when we eat off our laps. She loves the car as much as the other two and feels safe enough to choose to climb in and sleep there when we’re out and about.

She coped brilliantly when my sister came for the day with her 6 month old – Bons was really gentle with him and kept sniffing his feet.

She really is quite a lady and we consider ourselves very lucky to have her.

I’d also like to say a HUGE thank you to Tammy for all her support through the first couple of weeks, and to Lynne Jones for her help and advice and her flower remedies!!”

Bonnie was certainly a handful when I first got her – very frantic about life and never able to relax at all. She is still lively and loves everyone, but she is not so out of control, and will just lie around all day if need be.
We are lucky in having 6 acres here, that is all fenced, so she can explore to her hearts content and go bunnying and play with my other two labs, and let off steam. I also train with her 3 or 4 times a week as well as taking her to obedience and agility classes. This has paid off as she was awarded her Silver Good Citizen in April 2008.
I cannot believe how much calmer she is around other dogs and people after going to agility!  She is a really intelligent dog and as long as you keep her mind engaged she is fine, she only gets destructive if she is bored. She hasn’t trashed her bed or stolen for ages now (although she will still sometimes pick up the tv remote and take it to her bed. She never chews it though. She is fantastic with our other animals. She doesn’t go near the chickens and she lets the cockatiel fly around and land near her without even looking up. Bless her.

We all love her so much – she really is a very loving dog!”

BRILLIANT NEWS (EIGHT WEEKS ON)

 Well Bonnie has been living with us for 8 weeks now, and last night she won 2 prizes at obedience!!

It was just for fun as it was the last Dog training of the year apart for the christmas party, so they made everything we did a little competition.

We’re in intermediates now and we do it all off lead, though some people stay on lead. First was a heelwork and stay exercise. Basically walk across the hall, about turn, round a cone, dog in sit, wait, walk away, back past dog, then about turn pick up dog to heel to other end of hall and sit, then the whole thing again but the dog waits in down instead of sit. Bonnie started well and didn’t get distracted and WON!! A packet of chicken treats.

A few more exercises and we got to the recall. SO dog sit wait, walk off call to heel, continue down hall dog in sit wait, then recall and finish. Again a WIN!!!

We finished with some stays, and then did a musical dog play (play with your dog when the music stops dog in sit (or down)) and then they all got a little toy as a christmas pressie.

I was SOOOO proud of my Bonnie dog – she’s come SUCH a long way in 8 weeks. She’s really settled now, and very good most of the time. We do still have a few Kevin moments after she has been fed in the evening, but she usually settles within about 20 mins, and the rest of the time she is good as gold!

PS – she still likes mud baths though

FURTHER UPDATE SEPT 2008

Linda says “Bonnie was a big, bouncy, girl who had never had any boundaries or training, and so was very undisciplined. She is also a somewhat sensitive soul, and all the moving about made her very insecure and somewhat manic!  She loved “acquiring” objects, shoes, handbags, knives etc… as well as trashing her bed, cushions etc!

Tammy fostered Bonnie for a couple of months, and started her off on the right route, and we followed on with that when we brought Bonnie home. It has taken a year of hard work, but she is now much more relaxed and chilled about life, and is very much enjoying agility and her life with our other lab Poppy. In the last year she has acquired her KC Bronze and Silver Good Citizen awards, won a prize at Obedience Club, proved to be a star at agility with her first competition in a months time, camped, been to Norfolk and Scotland, been to kite festivals and off road events.

When people meet her now they cannot believe it is the same dog.  She is very intelligent and a stable home environment with lots of mental challenges and a job to do has made a world of difference to Bonnie.
We love her to bits!”

UPDATE JULY 2009

Linda said. “Bonnie is doing just great. We have been out competing at agility this year (pic attached) and she just loves it. She has gained her 1st points and her best placing so far was 4th out of 56! Unfortunately she landed awkwardly over a jump back in May and injured her back. After 8 weeks of chiro she is now back training and we hope to be back competing in September having missed most of the summer shows!

She is a lovely chilled house dog these days, although she can still get a bit over excited when new friends come to visit but she soon settles down and is more than happy to flake out all evening curled up with Poppy. She comes camping at all the weekend kite, horse and dog shows and is very laid back out and about now – I was even asked if she was a trainee guide dog on one occasion!! No-one ever believes me when I say what she was like when I got her :)”

UPDATE JUNE 2010

Linda said. “Bonnie recovered well from her back injury last summer, and although she still visits her chiro every 5-6 months for a check up there has been no reoccurrence. She has been out competing at agility this year and has quite a haul of rosettes to show for it. She is really focussed now, loves her jumping, and especially the Aframe and Dog walk. It’s lovely to see her enjoying herself so much.

Bonnie came with me to the World Agility Championships in May (no she wasn’t on the team lol) and just took all the hustle bustle, and hundreds of other dogs in her stride. She loved camping with me in our little caravan too! She also took part in a doggy photo shoot last summer – Bonnie is REALLY good in front of the camera, I think she knows just how beautiful she is!

In August we are off on a camping holiday, and planning to meet up with Tammy who fostered Bonnie before she came to live with me.

I thought you might like this picture of Bonnie and Poppy. It was taken at Dunnet Beach in Northern Scotland and I just love the way they look so free and happy.

I always feel so honoured and grateful to have been allowed to share my life with my lovely Bonnie xx ”

UPDATE JAN 2011

Linda said. “Bonnie has had a successful year in her agility competitions, gaining many clear rounds and generally having a lot of fun. She even won some prizes and is showing off her haul here.

She is 5 years old now and much more relaxed than she was at 1 months when she came to live with us. She loves cuddling up and snoozing in the evenings but is still very active during the day which suits us just fine. She loves her agility, and it has helped her so much as she has a focus for her energy and something she is successful at. She still worries when normal routine changes but as long as we are with her he soon settles again. She is a very loving dog and I would hate to be without her xx”

UPDATE MARCH 2012

Bonnie is 6 years old now and still a slim, athletic lady, currently curled up on the sofa next to me. Bonnie retired from agility competitions at Christmas 2011 as we discovered that she hasn’t really got very good hips! Fortunately there is very little arthritis, and the fact that she has always been so slim and fit has helped here. She is in no discomfort, and isn’t lame, and most certainly isn’t ready to take life easily, but as a bigger girly I decided the strain of agility wouldn’t be the best thing for her. So she has her own “modified” course of tiny jumps and tunnels and that keeps her happy.

Bonnie swims twice a week which she loves, and still enjoys longs walks in the country with my other Labrador Poppy, and my Collie Pip.  She is still a cuddle monster and loves her mummy cuddles, and cuddles with everyone else she meets. She is also an excellent hunter and regularly stalks, chases and catches rabbits in our fields, which she is quite happy to give up to me. We love her to bits and can’t imagine life without her. I just can’t believe she is 6 and has been living with us since 2007!