Millie

MAY is approximately 12 months old and was rescued from Inistioge Puppy Rescue 6 months ago. She used to escape over her family’s 2 ft wall which is why she was surrendered to Sandie who said, “She’s a lovely girl, very affectionate and extremely pretty. She is great with children and loves to sleep with the cat. She pulls on the lead initially but soon settles into her stride. I love her to bits and, if she stays here much longer, I won’t want her to go at all”

UPDATES FROM HER FOSTERER (IN SUSSEX)

Julie said, “I have pleasure in confirming that May is a little darling but I think, as with all Irish charmers, she can be a tinker given half a chance!

The journey home went without a problem. She just settled down and was quiet all the way. When I got home I took her out for about 20 mins with Layla (my dog) so they could get acquainted and they were both fine. She is taking absolutely no notice of the cats although one did run away from her and so she went after it to play. A sharp “No” stopped that but that was all.

She was hungry and thirsty so I gave her a scoop of Burns Fish & Brown Rice which she liked. There is, of course, water available all the time so she had a good drink.

We played sit and give paw for a biscuit. She watched Layla do it a couple of times and I showed her how to do it and she never looked back. I thought she may have forgotten about this morning but, no, I sat down to eat my breakfast and next thing I know she is sitting looking at me and when she got nowhere, the paw came up on to my knee!”

DAY 2

I took her out with Layla and Monty for about an hour this morning. It was not a particularly long walk but I let her sniff about and meet the other local dogs so we took our time. May has met a number of people out on her walk and also a number of dogs. She is absolutely no problem with any of them.

She has eaten lamb mince and mixer this morning but is not sure about apples. That is fine as far as Layla is concerned as she is happy to eat May’s share.

I have given her a brush and she was quite happy about that and laid on her back so I could do her tummy.

She is an attention seeker and will push Layla out of the way to get to me. She is following me everywhere but hey with the upheaval she has had in the last week, what can you expect.

DAY 3

Been for lead walks – about two hours in total. All bodily functions working – input & output! Met very big dog today – oh no, that was a horse. Far too big for her to cope with so she had to hide behind our legs.

No good as a guard dog. A man came and knocked on the door but not a peep from her. However, Layla made up for both of them!

Does not take easily to housework – other than making the mess. Ran (with Layla) away from the Dyson.

Discovered the toy box this evening. All toys now over living room floor. She seemed absolutely taken with all the squeaky ones and spent a long time “killing” the big furry frog. Loves to play.

Being “dog sat” by Marcus and Monty (her new lab boyfriend) tonight

DAY 6

May continues to do well and is getting more confident by the day. She is currently having a puppy chewing phase and the cats have lost two of their toys. The doggy toys in the toy box are so far unscathed.

She likes chewing on knuckle bones and piggys ears from the farm shop.

She needs to be kept entertained or she goes off and amuses herself and heaven knows what will end up happening.

DAY 8

She may be an escape artist as I have had to stop her digging the garden a couple of times. I don’t mind if she grabs the spade and does it properly but I’m not looking for holes in the garden. She has not (yet) tried climbing out but there is still time. She is pretty quick at getting under fences as she has demonstrated to me when out on our walks.

Whilst beautifully behaved the majority of the time, we must remember that she is still really a big puppy and has accidents when she gets excited. “Excited” includes being teased by E – the cat and then running after it around the house.

On the cat front, she is fine but being just a big puppy, she has tried to play with them. One is restricting their visits to the house to feeding time, one just runs and then there’s “E”. E is half burmese and has attitude. She teases May but if May gets out of hand she has no problem in bopping her on the nose.

May can walk beautifully to heel for about 5 mins and then wants to pull, especially on the start of the walk. Coming home from the woods she is fine. In the field and woods, she is on a long lead with a harness and this appears to be the best for her at the moment. I’ve only had the slip lead two days so I will continue to work with her on walking nicely with the lead. Layla can do this perfectly being a fully trained sniffer dog (failed) and is providing a very good example.

She has not been left on her own at all yet. A man was doing the garden this morning and the two of them (Layla and May) were in the house alone(ish) and he said there was no noise. I left the two of them for about half an hour today and all was fine on my return.

FINAL ASSESSMENT

May has been with me for the past two weeks and has been a charming house guest. It has taken me a while to work out her toilet habits. She is particular about where she does her business so at first we had some puddles but I now make sure that she has access to the garden every couple of hours. As she is settling in she is peeing and pooing on her walks but she would only do this initially in the garden. I would say that she is house trained – it’s just a case of getting with the program! There are not normally any nocturnal accidents.

She is full of beans and loves going out. I initially walked her with a harness and I found that she did not pull so much. I have since used a slip lead and she is fine. She walks happily to heel for a few minutes and then gets bored with that but on the whole she is OK. She has about two to three hours walking a day, mostly on the lead. She walks with at least two other dogs and loves playing chase. She loves water and will happily splash about. In the woods/fields near me she is on a long stretchy lead which is about 15 feet long. If she does not get enough exercise she is a nightmare. She has met lots of new doggy friends and is fine with them.

I have brushed her for about half an hour most days. When she first arrived, she was shedding loads of hair but this seems to have decreased over the past two weeks. She is more than happy to be groomed and will lay down for me so I can do her tummy just as well as it’s muddy in the woods at the moment.

When she arrived she still had her stitches in so had to go to the vets and have them removed. We had a muzzle standing by, just in case, but it was not needed. On command (and with the help of some frankfurter) she laid on her back and let the nurse take the stitches out. She did not make a sound and was as good as gold. I know the vet nurse so we looked at her ears and teeth and she ran her hands all over her but May did not bat an eyelid. She will let you look at her and does not worry. She seems to pant a lot but I think that’s just because she finds the house too hot. She soon stops if taken outside.

The dogs are rarely allowed in the kitchen because there is not enough room but on the odd occasion that she has gone in there she has never stolen anything off the work surfaces. The only thing she has stolen is the cat food but that seems to have stopped now.

Dog savvy cats are no problem ie provided they don’t run they are safe. If they run – game on! She has been here with three cats and there has been no problem. Having done work with Cats Protection, I would say that she needs to be carefully introduced to cats, not because she has a problem, but because she has no fear and will go up and stand nose to nose with them. Some cats may not like it and will attack. If a cat runs from her, she sees it as a play opportunity and will chase but will stop if you say “No”.

She loves to chase but has not quite got the hang of retrieving. Layla (my Lab) will chase the ball and May will follow Layla. She does not appear to have got the hang of trying to get the ball herself. We have a big doggy toy box and she likes playing “kill the frog” which entails shaking the furry frog until she is sure it is “dead”. With the exception of when she is “killing” the furry toys I have not heard one growl from her. I have even taken away her food and bones without a sound from her. (I give them back to her once I have taken them away). She likes the squeaky toys and given the opportunity will play “tug”, She has not been allowed to do that here because of her stitches. We have a big ball with two holes in it into which we put treats (or her food). The idea is that she pushes it around and gets the food/treats out. This is proving to be rather a challenge to her but then she is blond!

The first night she was here I put her in the dining room on her own. She objected a couple of times by making a strange howling (?) sort of a sound but soon settled down and went to sleep. After the first night, she has had (almost) free run of the house and has been sleeping on the floor of my bedroom or in the office with Layla (office is off my bedroom). I have not been aware of her getting on the bed at night and have certainly not woken up to find her on the bed. She seems to like laying on the tiles or the carpet. She does not get on the furniture. Her favourite place is in right in front of the front door where she makes a wonderful draught excluder!

Well, like everyone, she is not perfect and has one downside. If you are stroking her and stop she mouths for you to carry on and if you ignore her she nips. It is just like a pinch but makes you jump. I’ve had to tell her off a couple of times and she seems to have stopped doing it to me. I had friends over last weekend and she tried it on with them but she appears to learn quickly that this is not acceptable. She also sometimes mouths when you are grooming her especially around her tail area but I just tell her “No” and carry on grooming her.

She had definitely skipped finishing school but appears biddable. Since arriving, her manners have improved:

If you want her to sit say “sit”. She will do it but it sometimes takes a while for the penny to drop. She has even tumbled that if she wants something she must sit so don’t be surprised if you are eating a banana (or something she thinks she likes) that she comes and sits by you.

She has learnt “Paw” and will give you a paw. If no banana is forthcoming (see above) then you are liable to get a paw very forcefully. (What idiot taught her that!) “Other Paw” not yet mastered.

“Heel” – yeah for a couple of minutes but not for long

“Down” – she will lay down for you (but probably won’t stay there long)

“Wait” – Used with “Sit” when breakfast or supper is about to be served (ie sit, wait). The dogs are not allowed to start their meal until they are told. “Eat it” gives her permission to start her breakfast. She normally hesitates as if she is not sure so just push the bowl towards her and repeat “Eat it” (She eats very slowly and will often get half way through, leave it and then go back to it almost straight away.)

“Stop/Wait” when out on long lead 9/10 times gets her to stop and wait for you. Not 100% on this yet but used quite frequently when she is trying to run and play with Monty (male Lab friend).

She is still young and likes to chew on things. In two weeks I have lost a shoe and mobile phone charger but that is all (she chewed both these the morning after the earthquake so I am blaming that). She has had chews, piggys ears and bones to try and direct her chewing in a non-destructive direction.

She is no problem in a car. She just gets in and settles down. The longest I have travelled with her without her having a break is one and a half hours.

Although she has “previous” on escaping, she has not attempted to escape from my garden. Having said that I have not left her unattended out there so she has not really had the opportunity. I used to have an Afghan hound who was truly an escape artist and you had to be careful opening the front door because she would run. May comes to the front door when people come but has not made any attempt to get away (not saying she would not try it but she did not do it with me).

May is absolutely useless as a guard dog. She does not bark at visitors or the postman although she does bark when she gets excited and wants to play but generally she is very quiet.

She has now gone to live with her new forever home in Staffordshire.

UPDATE ON MILLIE FROM HER FOREVER MUM

Millie (was May) arrived with us on Saturday 1st March after an extremely long journey and being passed from pillar to post (with 2 different overnight stops) to get to us in The Midlands from Southern England, so we initially expected a bumpy ride but not so.

Fortunately, Millie has become our little star and has settled into a lovely routine. We have had a few blips (chewing and digging) but on the whole she is very good and the hiccups are usually when our backs our turned and she it bored. She never barks (unless you are throwing a toy for her) or cries or messes in the house and she is very patient when waiting for her walks. Millie walks fine with or without a lead until she sees another dog and then it’s playtime but this is just the puppy in her! She has become the best of friends with our two small boys and also with our friends’ retriever and she just wants everyone to love her.

One month into having Millie, I can only say I wish we had done it sooner and wish we knew more of her history. She is still very much a puppy and we are just about to embark with training so we both know where we stand!

We are learning more and more about her each week and are so happy that we have been able to give a loving home to such a loyal and giving little dog.