Post by janwilky on Feb 24, 2014 21:16:01 GMT 1
Meg arrived on Saturday, but I've been having a spot of bother getting far enough away from her to take some photos 
This was the first attempt:
But eventually, with a bit of wriggling, I managed to get this:
She's a 9 year old working sprocker (3/4 cocker, 1/4 springer) who belonged to a gamekeeper, whose partner is the daughter of the lady who used to take in Scamp when we went away. She's worked all her life and had a couple of litters of pups, and now needs a quieter life. Poor girl has been clipped as her coat was a bit matted at the end of the shooting season, so she looks very naked at the moment but it'll grow back. She's a very long dog, and with her sad eyes I think she looks a bit like one of those giant river otters at the moment.
She's very, very sweet and extremely well behaved but she's a bit bewildered to be transported to a new life, having lived in her previous home since she was born. She's never been house trained (lived in kennels) but that hasn't been a problem - she just "got" it straight away and hasn't messed once.
Teaching her that her indoor world needs to be horizontal and not vertical is a bit more of a challenge though
. We never taught Scamp to jump, deliberately, but having been a working dog Meg is used to jumping - over stiles, gates, into the backs of trucks and onto quad bikes. The first time we sat down on the sofa she hopped up on the coffee table and sat on it. The big chair that we used to pull across the archway leading from the dining room to the sitting room to keep Scamp off the chairs doesn't work at all for her - she just hops straight over. The first night she pulled stuff off the table, the kitchen worktops and the windowsills. I thought we might have to go out and get a crate for her (someone "borrowed" the one we had for Scamp as a puppy and never returned it), but we've both had a bad fluey cold so haven't been out anywhere. And last night she was much better, slept through most of the night much more quietly, so perhaps it won't be necessary. She's bright, and a very quick learner. And she hasn't minded me spending most of the last couple of days groaning on the sofa while Ru sweats it off in bed, yeuch!
She isn't interested in pheasants, or birds in general - been there, done that, bought the tee shirt! which is fab, as she can trot along with me off lead. I was planning to keep her on the lead for a week or so but it felt a bit superfluous as she never leaves my side with or without it. Biggest challenge is not falling over her as she's nearly always just behind my heel, just out of my peripheral vision.
I've had her on the yard with the horses: she ignores them completely, as though they're not even there. The horses know she's not Scamp though: Lucas is fine with her, but didn't like Scamp, and Bambi pulls faces at her but was fine with Scamp. I suspect it's because she's very submissive, so we have a new base to the pecking order and Bambi thinks it would be nice to have a chance to bully someone else
I think there's probably a bit of "coming out of her shell" to be done, but so far it's working out very well . It's a bit weird though, as she looks quite like Scamp but not like him in other ways - she has darker eyes, a few white bits, and huge nipples! - so it's revived feeling sad about losing him but I guess that was inevitable and I'm sure she'll worm her way into our affections quickly enough.
This was her in her "working" days - she's on the right of the quad, and the other four dogs are some of her children and grand-children.
We've got our name down for a possible Sprocker puppy from the under-keeper in May, Meg will be the perfect nanny.
This was the first attempt:
But eventually, with a bit of wriggling, I managed to get this:
She's a 9 year old working sprocker (3/4 cocker, 1/4 springer) who belonged to a gamekeeper, whose partner is the daughter of the lady who used to take in Scamp when we went away. She's worked all her life and had a couple of litters of pups, and now needs a quieter life. Poor girl has been clipped as her coat was a bit matted at the end of the shooting season, so she looks very naked at the moment but it'll grow back. She's a very long dog, and with her sad eyes I think she looks a bit like one of those giant river otters at the moment.
She's very, very sweet and extremely well behaved but she's a bit bewildered to be transported to a new life, having lived in her previous home since she was born. She's never been house trained (lived in kennels) but that hasn't been a problem - she just "got" it straight away and hasn't messed once.
Teaching her that her indoor world needs to be horizontal and not vertical is a bit more of a challenge though
. We never taught Scamp to jump, deliberately, but having been a working dog Meg is used to jumping - over stiles, gates, into the backs of trucks and onto quad bikes. The first time we sat down on the sofa she hopped up on the coffee table and sat on it. The big chair that we used to pull across the archway leading from the dining room to the sitting room to keep Scamp off the chairs doesn't work at all for her - she just hops straight over. The first night she pulled stuff off the table, the kitchen worktops and the windowsills. I thought we might have to go out and get a crate for her (someone "borrowed" the one we had for Scamp as a puppy and never returned it), but we've both had a bad fluey cold so haven't been out anywhere. And last night she was much better, slept through most of the night much more quietly, so perhaps it won't be necessary. She's bright, and a very quick learner. And she hasn't minded me spending most of the last couple of days groaning on the sofa while Ru sweats it off in bed, yeuch!She isn't interested in pheasants, or birds in general - been there, done that, bought the tee shirt! which is fab, as she can trot along with me off lead. I was planning to keep her on the lead for a week or so but it felt a bit superfluous as she never leaves my side with or without it. Biggest challenge is not falling over her as she's nearly always just behind my heel, just out of my peripheral vision.
I've had her on the yard with the horses: she ignores them completely, as though they're not even there. The horses know she's not Scamp though: Lucas is fine with her, but didn't like Scamp, and Bambi pulls faces at her but was fine with Scamp. I suspect it's because she's very submissive, so we have a new base to the pecking order and Bambi thinks it would be nice to have a chance to bully someone else
I think there's probably a bit of "coming out of her shell" to be done, but so far it's working out very well
. It's a bit weird though, as she looks quite like Scamp but not like him in other ways - she has darker eyes, a few white bits, and huge nipples! - so it's revived feeling sad about losing him but I guess that was inevitable and I'm sure she'll worm her way into our affections quickly enough.This was her in her "working" days - she's on the right of the quad, and the other four dogs are some of her children and grand-children.
We've got our name down for a possible Sprocker puppy from the under-keeper in May, Meg will be the perfect nanny.
I'm sure she will enjoy the luxury of indoor living and that you will have a lot of fun with her.
