Sally Buck

Sally was just a young Labrador puppy when she was fostered by Simon and his family in 2009.

First Assessment

Simon said. “Sally arrived this morning and, as you would expect from a six month-old puppy, she was full of the joys of spring, ready for anything and into everything. We’ve had plums stolen out of the fruit bowl and potatoes swiped from the pantry…. lol

She’s a lively little thing and has spent most of the day investigating the house and getting to know my other two dogs. Bruno the elder statesman and the leader of the pack has accepted her with his normal casual manner of initial curiosity followed by complete disinterest. However, on the other hand Candy, our three year old Shih Tzu, has found a new play mate and is desperately trying to work out how she can get the upper hand during their bouts of play fighting.

Sally has been fantastic with my children and my son Christopher has really taken to her, this is probably due to the fact that the first thing she did upon entering the house was to jump on the sofa where he was lying and furiously lick his face. Around all the children she has been full of smiles and eager to play with them.

The only slight blot in her copy book is that she doesn’t appear to be house trained so unfortunately we’ve had a few accidents. Hopefully this will improve once she’s settled in but I’m not going to take any chances and will start toilet training immediately.

Out on the lead she’s pretty good but she does pull, although I’m sure most of this is just youthful enthusiasm. We’ve got some work to do on training her with the basic commands of Sit and Stay. To sum up she’s been great and much better than I expected.

Second Assessment

Sally has been with us now for three weeks and has settled into our hectic family life. She’s a joy to have around and we all enjoy her company and watching her puppy antics.

She gets on famously with our Shih Tzu, Candy and they love to play rough ‘n tumble together, although Sally has an unfair advantage being three times the size of Candy. Candy’s tactic to this size advantage is to stand directly beneath Sally which has her running around in circles in attempt to get the upper hand during their frequent wrestling bouts. Bruno on the other hand is content to sit on the sidelines and watch them and maybe give a warning woof should they come too close, after all he is the boss and would not stoop to such silliness.

Sally is a very social dog and is happy to meet and play with Dogs and Humans alike. Whilst out on our regular walks she has met numerous other dogs of all shapes and sizes and has been happy to play with them all. I have yet to see any signs of aggression, although, she does occasionally try to be the dominant dog!!!

On the lead she is a bit of a handful and is very easily distracted so we have lots of pulling and tugging but fortunately it’s not too bad and she’s quite easy to keep under control. Once Sally is off the lead then she’s pretty good and does not wander too far. However, if she sees another dog in the distance then she’ll zoom off to go and play with them and there’s no persuading her to return but when there’s no distractions then a couple of calls or whistles will bring her hurtling back to my side. She’s also found that she likes paddling in water so most of walks end up with her becoming two-tone, the lower half being covered in mud. Also, I have to keep a watch on her to make sure she doesn’t roll in any fox pooh which is becoming a favourite past time.

Sally has been superb with all my children and has been particularly good around our two year old, Thomas. The older children are happy to play with Sally and she loves to race after them playing chase. Sally has welcomed all their friends with lots of wags and kisses, but she does jump up when greeting people.

Sally is also a very playful dog and loves her hide chews and rope tug toys but has not really shown interest in playing fetch. She also loves to steal things whether that’s one of my walking boots, one of Thomas’s toys or even a dirty sock out of the washing machine. I think the stealing habit is her way of getting our attention when she’s bored so all we do is offer Sally one of her toys in exchange for the item that she’s stolen.

SALLY HAS GONE TO HER FOREVER HOME

Simon said. “It’s been a wonderful experience looking after Sally and it was especially enjoyable to share our Christmas with her. So it was with a heavy heart that Julie and I waved goodbye to her on Sunday, as she left us to start her new life in her forever home with Karen.

I hope that Karen and her family enjoy Sally’s company as much as we have and that they have many, many years of fun and frolics.”

FIRST REPORT FROM HER NEW HOME

Sally is settling in fantastically. She has been so good and has already made herself at home. She is my son’s best friend, she realises he is different and is much more patient with him and seems to understand Downs. Sally has really changed his life already and he loves going out for walks with her and the rest of the family.

Thank you IRR for finding her for us. Love from the Buck family.