Author Topic: Boudicca Diary  (Read 8561 times)

0 Members and 1 Guest are viewing this topic.

Offline Groover

  • Newbie
  • *
  • Posts: 18
Boudicca Diary
« on: October 02, 2017, 12:33:41 PM »
We adopted an ex-breeding female from Many Tears a few days ago. What we got was a scared little dog that refused to come out of her crate, but is already blossoming into a family pet with many of the behaviors we saw in our previous Cocker. I thought I would keep a little diary of her progress as a record. I don't know how often I will update it, probably daily at first as the progress is more rapid.

We have two other dogs both male, middle-aged and mutts.

Day 1

When we picked her up it was a 5.5 hour drive back. At every stop she refused to come out of her crate in the back of the car and didn't want to be touched, so we left her in there. We carried the crate into the house and then opened the door. She quickly left and started exploring in a state of high nervous energy, but cautious at the same time. Initial observations:

  - refuses to eat
  - refuses to go outside, if carried outside immediately wants to come back inside
  - won't come
  - doesn't like to be touched or any raised hand above her
  - doesn't like the leash
  - doesn't know what stairs are
  - doesn't like to be picked up. Goes into a "rag doll" state when put back down - just collapses on the floor
  - doesn't know what doors or glass are
  - doesn't understand pointing - this one surprised me as I thought pointing was understood by dogs automatically from birth thanks to the long evolution of dogs alongside humans
  - no interest in dog toys
  - can't understand the upstairs of the house - doesn't understand where everyone has gone or where the voices are coming from

For the first night we put her in a crate in the bedroom. No problems there.

Day 2

We have to carry her everywhere as she has decided her safe spot is between the coffee table and sofa.

Anything happens and she is straight there. Ignores the nearby crate with open door. She is following our other two dogs around everywhere. She ate a very small amount but nothing near what she should be eating.

Went potty a couple of times in the house and a couple of times in the garden.

Tried to steal the TV remote, a shoe, some paper - good start on her career of thievery!

Walks into the glass of the conservatory trying to get into the house. When I open the door for her she tried to walk through the hinge side, hitting the glass...

We can cautiously stroke her.

We put her in the crate at bedtime and she turned into this shrieking monster, she pulled the sheet off the top of the crate, banged on the door, dumped the water bowl. We tried to calm her down but her will was stronger than ours so we put a dog bed on the floor next to our bed. She then went potty (both kinds) in the bedroom and stood in it, then left poo prints all over the room. Note - she had just been outside for a while with the other dogs but didn't do anything of course. While we were cleaning up the mess she proceeded to steal anything not nailed down in the bedroom and take it to the dog bed.

Day 3

Now she look at us when we call her name, but won't come. Now eating normally. She will go up a short flight of stairs but not down them. No mess in the house today. Shows an interest in a tennis ball and a dog toy. When we open doors she walks through them with the other dogs and we were able to call her to  come outside.

She figured out how to jump on the sofa, so now she is always on there.

Stealing shoes. Now carrying things around in her mouth.

We can easily stroke her, but she is still nervous. When we go to pick her up she runs away from us.

At bedtime she was desperate to get on the bed where the other dogs are. She finds a way to scramble up and she sleeps on our bed for the first time.

Offline ips

  • Hero Member
  • *****
  • Posts: 1226
  • Gender: Male
Re: Boudicca Diary
« Reply #1 on: October 02, 2017, 01:06:50 PM »
We adopted an ex-breeding female from Many Tears a few days ago. What we got was a scared little dog that refused to come out of her crate, but is already blossoming into a family pet with many of the behaviors we saw in our previous Cocker. I thought I would keep a little diary of her progress as a record. I don't know how often I will update it, probably daily at first as the progress is more rapid.

We have two other dogs both male, middle-aged and mutts.

Day 1

When we picked her up it was a 5.5 hour drive back. At every stop she refused to come out of her crate in the back of the car and didn't want to be touched, so we left her in there. We carried the crate into the house and then opened the door. She quickly left and started exploring in a state of high nervous energy, but cautious at the same time. Initial observations:

  - refuses to eat
  - refuses to go outside, if carried outside immediately wants to come back inside
  - won't come
  - doesn't like to be touched or any raised hand above her
  - doesn't like the leash
  - doesn't know what stairs are
  - doesn't like to be picked up. Goes into a "rag doll" state when put back down - just collapses on the floor
  - doesn't know what doors or glass are
  - doesn't understand pointing - this one surprised me as I thought pointing was understood by dogs automatically from birth thanks to the long evolution of dogs alongside humans
  - no interest in dog toys
  - can't understand the upstairs of the house - doesn't understand where everyone has gone or where the voices are coming from

For the first night we put her in a crate in the bedroom. No problems there.

Day 2

We have to carry her everywhere as she has decided her safe spot is between the coffee table and sofa.

Anything happens and she is straight there. Ignores the nearby crate with open door. She is following our other two dogs around everywhere. She ate a very small amount but nothing near what she should be eating.

Went potty a couple of times in the house and a couple of times in the garden.

Tried to steal the TV remote, a shoe, some paper - good start on her career of thievery!

Walks into the glass of the conservatory trying to get into the house. When I open the door for her she tried to walk through the hinge side, hitting the glass...

We can cautiously stroke her.

We put her in the crate at bedtime and she turned into this shrieking monster, she pulled the sheet off the top of the crate, banged on the door, dumped the water bowl. We tried to calm her down but her will was stronger than ours so we put a dog bed on the floor next to our bed. She then went potty (both kinds) in the bedroom and stood in it, then left poo prints all over the room. Note - she had just been outside for a while with the other dogs but didn't do anything of course. While we were cleaning up the mess she proceeded to steal anything not nailed down in the bedroom and take it to the dog bed.

Day 3

Now she look at us when we call her name, but won't come. Now eating normally. She will go up a short flight of stairs but not down them. No mess in the house today. Shows an interest in a tennis ball and a dog toy. When we open doors she walks through them with the other dogs and we were able to call her to  come outside.

She figured out how to jump on the sofa, so now she is always on there.

Stealing shoes. Now carrying things around in her mouth.

We can easily stroke her, but she is still nervous. When we go to pick her up she runs away from us.

At bedtime she was desperate to get on the bed where the other dogs are. She finds a way to scramble up and she sleeps on our bed for the first time.

The poor thing 😢

Well done you, she is so lucky to have you.
Muddling along in the hope that one day it all makes sense.

Offline sodpot2000

  • Hero Member
  • *****
  • Posts: 698
  • Gender: Male
Re: Boudicca Diary
« Reply #2 on: October 02, 2017, 02:01:10 PM »
Well done for taking her on. You will find that her best teachers will be the other two dogs and she will learn to take her cue from them. With dogs who are hand-shy, I find the best approach is to always offer your hand palm-up from below their head level rather than coming over the top, where blows may have previously come from.

Hand feeding also helps them to associate hands with good things.

Good to see that she will steal things. Clearly, she still has some spirit and character. As time goes on you may be able to develop that in training.

When you are eventually able to take her out, can I recommend the Ruffwear Webmaster harness. It is well nigh impossible to wriggle out of and has saved Annie's life when she suddenly freaked out and would otherwise have run into heavy traffic.

Good luck. In a few months you will have an unrecognizably different dog. We got Annie in similar circumstances just over a year ago and good food, lots of love and patience and lots of walks have fairly transformed her.

Offline MIN

  • Hero Member
  • *****
  • Posts: 4619
  • Gender: Female
  • GEMMA
Re: Boudicca Diary
« Reply #3 on: October 02, 2017, 03:08:18 PM »
a great read, and improvements are starting to show.
 has to laugh at "potty". At first I thought you meant the "zoomies".  But you still have them to look forward too 
Run free and fly high my beautiful Gemma
2011 - 2023 

                            ----

Offline Jaysmumagain

  • Donator
  • Hero Member
  • *
  • Posts: 2450
  • Gender: Female
Re: Boudicca Diary
« Reply #4 on: October 02, 2017, 03:08:45 PM »
Oh bless her....so horrible the fear she must feel.....tlc is a wonderful healer.
Cocker kisses and cuddles just make my day!


You are always with me darlings Jaypup and my precious Oliver you are so missed

Offline bmthmark

  • Sr. Member
  • ****
  • Posts: 384
  • Gender: Male
Re: Boudicca Diary
« Reply #5 on: October 02, 2017, 03:40:13 PM »
Really sad to read as its clear she has had a tough life.
However she is now very lucky to be with you.

Hope all goes well and things get easier.


Offline lescef

  • Hero Member
  • *****
  • Posts: 1113
  • Gender: Female
Re: Boudicca Diary
« Reply #6 on: October 02, 2017, 04:41:43 PM »
It's just lovely to see how quickly they can progress in a short time. I hope she settles and continues to make good progress.  ;)
Lesley, Maddie and Bramble

Offline ejp

  • Donator
  • Hero Member
  • *
  • Posts: 6891
  • Gender: Female
Re: Boudicca Diary
« Reply #7 on: October 02, 2017, 08:52:08 PM »
Congratulations on your new family member and thank you for giving this wee one a new life.  Boudicca sounds very much like the ex breeder we adopted a few years ago, the door problem is quite common as they have probably not been through a door until they left the puppy farm.  Your own dogs will teach her, and you will look back in a month and be amazed at the change in her.  Loving the idea of the diary. 

Offline Poppypuppy09

  • Donator
  • Hero Member
  • *
  • Posts: 3381
  • Gender: Female
Re: Boudicca Diary
« Reply #8 on: October 03, 2017, 08:47:17 AM »
Well Boudicca has landed on all four paws with you that’s for sure  :luv:

I have an ex breeder from MT, she has been with us 6 years now and whilst I thought I was reasonably dog savvy she has taught me so much about dogs but also about life.

Bella wouldn’t eat from a bowl either, as soon as I put her food directly on the floor it disappeared, she just didn’t know what the bowl was for  :'( Bella took quite a while to come round but she has the added complication of being blind, if you met her now there are no clues to her past though. :luv:

I look forward to your updates, watching their true characters develop is just amazing, good luck x

Offline Groover

  • Newbie
  • *
  • Posts: 18
Re: Boudicca Diary
« Reply #9 on: October 03, 2017, 12:17:22 PM »
Thanks for the kind words, support and recommendation of the Ruffwear Webmaster harness!

Now we are going backwards a bit. She doesn't want to go outside every two hours, only when she wants, so it is a battle of wills. One accident in the house in the last two days.

She understands the glass doors now but has started barking at her reflection. Then one of my other dogs joins in! She did this at 6am today.

She has eaten very little in the last few days and seems to becoming picky again. Not sure how to teach her the leash when she turns her nose up at treats and doesn't want to come to me. Also found out she doesn't like clapping.  :D

But we didn't expect constant progress every day, things will take time.

Offline sodpot2000

  • Hero Member
  • *****
  • Posts: 698
  • Gender: Male
Re: Boudicca Diary
« Reply #10 on: October 04, 2017, 01:34:59 PM »
The barking at her reflection may be a good sign. If she wants to defend her patch then perhaps she is starting to feel like she belongs.

I don't know how dogs are fed in a puppy farm. Big trough? We had the same issue with Annie that she didn't know what a bowl was and so her default was to be scared of it. If Boudicca isn't eating then you may need to try different things to get her to tuck in. Some cheap supermarket chicken pieces boiled and chopped up? It will be trial and error.

What you have to remember is that she has learned a series of behaviours which keep her safe. With Annie, it was - if you see a man, run!. Out of that original situation the behaviour still worked because if she ran she still didn't get kicked. That took time and patience for her to learn that she wasn't going to get kicked anyway. It was wonderful the first time she came and jumped up at me!

Good luck. The rewards are well worth all the stress.

Offline bizzylizzy

  • Donator
  • Hero Member
  • *
  • Posts: 4504
  • Gender: Female
  • 🙂 Jayne
Re: Boudicca Diary
« Reply #11 on: October 04, 2017, 01:56:15 PM »
Both a sad and a heartwarming thread! What a life the poor little mite must have had so far, and to think that there must be thousands like her. Its makes you stop and think what we take for granted from our own dogs that have been allowed to grow up "normally" e.g. doors, stairs, even eating bowls! Well done to you for giving this little girl a chance, I'm sure its going to take a lot of patience and understanding but you're being rewarded by seeing her flourish and learn to live a happy life. All the best to you and Boudicca, would be interested to hear how she progresses!

Offline ejp

  • Donator
  • Hero Member
  • *
  • Posts: 6891
  • Gender: Female
Re: Boudicca Diary
« Reply #12 on: October 04, 2017, 07:48:13 PM »
Things will be a bit up and down , she must be overwhelmed just now. So much to learn and experience.  What about a light weight house line so she gets used to having a lead on.  Food wise, she will come round, possibly not used to having regular and decent sized meals.

Offline Poppypuppy09

  • Donator
  • Hero Member
  • *
  • Posts: 3381
  • Gender: Female
Re: Boudicca Diary
« Reply #13 on: October 05, 2017, 08:59:14 AM »
It is a two steps forward, one step back kind of progression with an ex breeding girlie. It takes time for them to settle in but also time for you to understand them too. Quite honestly the first six months of having Bella were challenging and the first six weeks dreadful. We had non-stop howling and crying all night no matter what sleeping arrangements she had, human contact could offer her no comfort at all, in the end my Springer Spaniel had had enough and whilst generally she liked to sleep on the sofa, she squeezed under the table into Bella’s domain and we had peace  :luv:

But the point of my story is it’s all trial and error, what works for one won’t work for another but you will get there. I have had several dogs over the years but nothing prepared me for Bella but, nothing else comes even close to how rewarding it is to see them blossom into beautiful dogs who yes, may always have some issues but still have excellent lives.

Looking forward to updates and of course pics  :luv: :luv:

Offline Groover

  • Newbie
  • *
  • Posts: 18
Re: Boudicca Diary
« Reply #14 on: October 06, 2017, 10:45:05 AM »
Thanks for the replies and encouragement!

She is somewhat wary of my wife and very wary of me. She will come to both of us willingly, but we can't come to her without her running away. I am now praising her every time she voluntarily comes to me.

She barked at a visitor to the house for the first time yesterday. No potty mess in the house for a couple of days now but I think she is getting cheesed off with being taken outside every two hours.  :D

Our previous Cocker spun around in circles when excited - I saw from another thread that lots of Cockers do this. She doesn't. She hops on the spot with all four legs!  :005:

She has done a couple of strange things that made us question her vision. She walked straight into a large cardboard box on the floor and my wife put a treat in front of her but she tried to nibble on my wife's finger instead. However I figured that if she can see reflections in the glass then her eyesight is probably fine and this was just odd behavior. Will double-check with the vet tomorrow.

Last night she slept with her head on my wife's head, snoring away...  :005: