Millie Harvey

MISUNDERSTOOD MILLIE (9.4.2020)

Paula tells us all about her “Millie had her second birthday with us on 4th April 2020 and has now been in her forever home now for 19 months.

She is such a character with a huge personality, everyone who meets her falls for her, young and old. She is a fabulous ambassador for IRR even though I say so myself!

Golden Retrievers as was the case with all our others have a stubborn streak and she can be a real challenge at times, especially if she doesn’t want to get in the car after a long walk after chasing wildlife in the fields! She has deaf ears at times on recall, however, she knows when she has pushed the boundaries on her return by her demeanour, even though she is, obviously, praised when she eventually returns!

We think she had a very difficult start. The poor baby wasn’t even toilet trained at 5 months so, thank goodness, she was a quick learner!

We took her to training where she thrived. She used to snatch treats, we think because she was hungry, but, over time, she became gentle. Initially, food times were a challenge as she would jump to get the food and gulp it down in seconds, an indication to us that she was extremely hungry. We even bought a slow feeder bowl which made little difference.

She has a daily routine, a walk in the mornings, home for breakfast another walk in the afternoon or evening and then her dinner. We wonder if the reason she was surrendered, allegedly for biting the owner, was mistaking her simply snatching food considering puppy teeth are very sharp. Of course, we will never really know but Pauline has told us, from her past experiences, that Millie was typical of a puppy scolded for “wrong doing” and not praised enough for being a good girl”.

Paula continued “We also wonder if she was kept in a cage for long periods of time as she didn’t seem to have any spacial awareness.

When we went downstairs, early one morning after first having her, we thought we saw her eating her own faeces and there was a residue on the mat. On sharing with IRR mentors, it was thought that she had probably been scolded for messing and had learnt, very quickly, to dispose of the evidence. This had been an early testament to how clever she is.

After a few days we allowed her to have freedom of the house and her special place is on one of the Stress Less chairs or our bed even though she has several comfortable beds of her own!

We think Millie would like to say that she is very sorry that she was misunderstood using these words “I was a lively pup who needed stimulation, social interaction, kindness, cuddles, boundaries and rewards for my my good behaviour”

We are reassured by knowing, if anything were to happen to us, several friends have offered to look after her. We believe this is a testament to her being a very special girl who has been making an impact on all those she meets, both human and canine, in her daily life.

However, to us, she is Princess Millie Pops, our scrumptious first little girl!”

A NEW SISTER FOR SHAMROCK  (8.9.2018)

It’s Shamrock reporting. “I have a shiny bright new sister to play with. We collected her last weekend and it was love at first sight. My folks have decided to call her Millie.

Mum, Dad and I have all been feeling very sad and lonely since our lovely Barney had to go to Rainbow Bridge and, we are sure, he has used his angel paws to help bring us Millie. For sure, he taught me well from when I was even younger than her and now it is my turn to be the wise and gentle older brother.

I call her Silly Millie but she is actually very smart. Mum is going to take her to training classes so she can learn even more. The people at the big pet store love her to bits (even when she sneakily pinches things) and, of course, all the veterinary people think she is adorable too.

We play and play all day until Millie is totally tuckered out.

One day soon, I will take her to Gizzie’s field to meet my doggy Mum, Lily, and my litter sisters Honey, Daisy and Poppy so we can all play and play together.

Thank you so much to all at IRR for trusting us with my wonderful sister”.

A BRILLIANT LIFE TOGETHER

From day one, Shamrock and Millie became joined at the hip and went everywhere and did everything together. From walks on Salisbury Plain (with Millie eyeing up the soldiers) to lovely holidays in Dorset and Cornwall, life was always fun, no more so than when Shamrock introduced her to his “pucker job family” at Gizmo’s field.

They even enjoyed cuddling up together to watch telly!!!!!

THE MOST DEVASTATING NEWS(15.5.2019)

Shamrock went to Heaven to be with his best friend Barney.

Despite trying everything, his cancer was out of control, he was crying  and Paula and Julian knew what they had to do. Shamrock slipped peacefully away with his head in Paula’s lap, in the beautiful garden at Macqueen’s vets. 

He was a beautiful boy inside and out and they felt priviledged to know him and share their lives with him even though it was not for long enough but, in his not quite 4yrs, Shamrock packed in a lifetime of memories.

LIFE AFTER SHAMROCK

As the anniversary of Shamrock’s passing approaches, Paula reflects on life after Shamrock. She does know that never a day passes when she doesn’t think about her beautiful boy but he has never really gone away and he still sends her reassurances …. pure white feathers and beautiful rainbows.

We miss him terribly and just want him back including wistful Millie

HISTORY

Originally called Sydney, this beautiful female Golden Retriever puppy aged about 5 months, arrived in IRR care. Her name is of French origin and means “wide meadow”. She was dropped at the kennels by her upset owners as, at just 16 weeks old, for biting. They were happy to surrender her to IRR.

She was vet checked and received her rabies vaccinations so she could obtain her Pet Passport before travelling to the UK. After her vaccination, she had to spend the required 3 weeks in the kennels before being put on the transport.

On arrival in the UK, she went into foster in the Midlands with Liz and her two boys, Ted and George.

FOSTERER REPORT

Liz said of her, Sydney is in excellent health as would be expected for a young puppy.

She is a beautiful puppy with a very engaging personality and wow!! Is she a quick learner !! The transformation in her in less than 2 week has been amazing.

She is affectionate, confident, alert and inquisitive, boisterous and energetic, playful and happy. All the things to be expected of a youngster. She loves her toys and has destroyed a couple playing tug of war with Ted. She worked out the Kong first time and loves it though it’s a bit heavy for her.

On arrival, when she feared she was trapped or in trouble, she was aggressive and snapped and snarled and lunged and she, sometimes, became aggressive and barky when she was overexcited but, now she has learned to trust and has developed her social skills so she is like a different dog altogether.

The other dogs will have, no doubt, helped her to understand people a bit more. All in all, my two have been absolute stars with her, and very patient.

She is still a mad puppy, as she should be, but she is a delight and she is going to be so easy to train. She, now, needs her new home as soon as possible before she gets too settled here and people can train her their own way. I believe she will absolutely thrive on training and, maybe, agility.

Another dog or dogs is a must so they can continue her complete education.

SOCIAL LEARNING

She learns very quickly. She is feisty , stubborn and very much a typical puppy but all the fear aggression has gone. Sydney is not as fearful now of being in trouble or being disciplined when she has done something wrong. It seems being firm but fair is the way to go for her.

We divert her or encourage her to come or go out with food or a toy if she has stolen something or done something wrong. Swapping works well as if diffuses the situation without the dog being the boss. Liz can go up to her now in this situation and she accepts that Liz is the one in charge.

TRAVEL: She is happy and content travelling in a vehicle

HOUSETRAINING: She is not fully house trained but has gone from a   2/5  to a 4/5 in just two weeks. She hasn’t had a toilet accident in the house for a week.

BASIC TRAINING:  It seems she was never set any behavioural  boundaries  but has been put in fear situations when she has done something ‘wrong’. Fortunately, she is a quick learner.She is obsessed with food which will actually help with training. She will sit and nudge a fist for a treat and also knows lay down.

She does respond to her name but also to ‘Diddy’, ‘Georgie’ and ‘Teddy’. She will do sit (mostly) now for a treat and take it nicely 60% of the time.    

LEADWALKING and RECALL: She, now, walks very well on a harness. She sometimes goes wild with the lead, fighting with it when walking over grass. She is wary of water.

She will recall in the garden but I haven’t had her off a lead while out

RESOURCE GUARDING:  She does play with toys and she will share them but she is manic with food. She inhales it so am using a slow feeder bowl.

She will still attempt to steal food from work surfaces, plates, the fruit bowl and even out of your hand.

I feed her separately and I am training her to make her sit in the right places when her food is ready and to wait for the food to be put on the floor. Already we have had some success, she now sits for her food and doesn’t wolf it down quite as fast.

She playfights a lot with Teddy who has certainly taught her some boundaries. I t can get a bit wild culminating in zoomies around the garden. She plays tug a war a lot with Ted but there are no resource guarding issues at all.

She did attempt to steal a treat from George who told her off and she hasn’t tried since.

SEPARATION ANXIETY: She has a big crate downstairs with the door open. She will go in there but George has tended to take it over as I think he feels safer in there. They swap beds all the time in the kitchen.

At night, she sleeps in a small crate in my bedroom. Last week, she woke in middle of night, for a wee, but went back to bed afterwards.She is ready for breakfast about 6am.

I have left her loose in the kitchen/living room with Ted and George for short periods with no issues (apart from one wee). I have left her shut in the downstairs crate for 2 hours with no issues but will move to leave it open

Now, there are absolutely no signs of separation anxiety She amuses herself with George and Ted or toys. She has been left for 4 hours maximum. She does yap when excited but not for any useful reason.

ADULTS: She is very friendly but will jump up so she needs to be ignored when she does this and have everyone turn their backs on her.

CHILDREN: She is not fully tested but I wouldn’t really want her to be around little kids especially with her jumping up.  

DOGS: She is very friendly but is not used to being one of 3 dogs.Ted was somewhat taken aback by her behaviour at first but, now, he will play with her and, it seems, more often every day.

He is ‘managing’  her play fighting  and has been a saint . George is always tolerant so there have been no issues there.

CATS: She has not been properly cat tested but she has ignored cats seen at our neighbours

SYDNEY’S DREAM HOME

Sydney is a lovely, extremely intelligent puppy who is still learning so she needs people who are committed to continuing her positive training. She needs plenty of gentle exercise and the opportunity to have loads of fun. Living with a slightly older dog would be perfect for her as she would have a playmate and, hopefully, a sensible mentor.

Once she fully understands the necessities and niceties of living with humans, she is going to be a fabulous companion and a loyal friend to very lucky adopters.

LUCKY, LUCKY GIRL (8.9.2018)

Well, Sidney, fell on all four paws when she was adopted by Paula and Julian, parents to IRR Shamrock. They fitted the bill exactly and we knew Millie (as she became to avoid any confusion with their names) was going to have a wonderfully exciting and happy life with them.

They had a lot of experience of male dogs, mostly Golden Retrievers or in Shamrock’s case, a Golden Retriever x Husky and Sidney was to be their first female so they wondered how different things might be with her but, at the end of the day, a puppy is just a puppy and, with positive training, you mould them into what you would like them to become.