week 7 - monday 30th june

I am so tired today, i have only just come home after spending the night away from home.

First of all i must tell you that i am now fully lead free when i am out on my walks across the fields now and i absolutely love it, because i know that i am not going to go back on the lead i don't run off, i stay close to Toni and just wander................ I am sooooooooooooo lucky.

Anyway, yesterday i got taken out in the dreaded car, Toni sat in the back with me which was better as i didn't feel so nervous and whilst i drippled alot i was a good boy and didn't panic. We drove to this place that had kennels in and i thought oh no please don't send me away again, it seemed very nice though, very clean.

I was picked up today and i must say i really enjoyed myself, i heard them talking and Toni being told that i played with the other dogs (that is my favourite bit) i was very skittish in the kennel. It wasn't bad though and if i had to go back again i wouldn't mind.

I very nearly got into the car all by myself but chickened out at the last minute, so had to be helped in and i did dripple but not too much this time.
I'm really pleased to be home as i know that i am safe, but i am really tired, i think it is because i didn't sleep very well last night.
Once home we went for a long walk and i had loads of treats, I think Toni and Brian really missed me.

Editors note: I am so proud of my boy. In the last 5 days or so George and myself have really bonded, it took a while but we got there. What a lot of people thought would take months to get him relaxed, lead free, taking treats etc, i have managed it in this time. He seems to be responding to what i say to him, which i really have to be careful with as i don't want to get him to rely totally on me, it needs to be half and half with me and Brian, but if he becomes a one owner dog then i wouldn't want it any other way it has to be me :-)
To think of how he was 7 weeks ago the change is amazing and i hope that he continues to grow in confidence.
Whilst Bonnie is thought of and missed every day i hope she is in approval of what is going on here.

Doggie Walks

Yesterday i had my first full day of lead free walking, in total i had 3 walks, i have never been given so many treats but i really enjoyed it. I always kept Toni in my sights and as soon as i couldn't see her i came running back to her, it is so nice to be able to really run free and stretch my legs.............. I feel so lucky

Thursday 26th June

I wont forget this day in a hurry....................... Why? Because it was the day that i was let off my lead for the first time. It was great to be able to run. I didn't go very far, cos i found a tempting bit of dog poo to smell, she called me back and i came bounding over to her, she was so pleased. She let me go again and off i went, she then turned her back to me and started walking off so i thought i had better go after her, i went running up to her and she put me back on my lead. I really hope that i can do that again sometime.

week 6

This is my new friend Gael, she came to stay with us for a couple of weeks, i was very unsure at first as i didn't know what to expect but over the course of her being her she became my friend. We slept and eat together and because she is confident i copied her in doing lots of things, but now she has gone i feel a bit lost. In the morning we use to run upstairs together and wait until Toni was ready to get up and get our breakfast, but now i wont go and if i do go it is after a lot of coaching, i have become very jittery again, but maybe in a couple of days i will settle down. But then next Monday she comes back for a couple of weeks yippee, so maybe i will pick up a bit more and learn a few naughty tricks.

So what's been happening, well not much really. I had a visit from a very strange person dressed in green, she knew me by name and had this funny thing around her neck i have since found out it is called a stethoscope, i think i have seen her before some where, she tried to get close to me but i was very unsure, however after a bit of time i did let her touch me and she gave me a clean bill of health, i am very fit apparently, i have a cracked tooth but it is not causing me any problems so that is OK and i also have a lump at the bottom of one of my ribs, it may have been caused by having my rib cracked, i don't know how i did it, but again it is nothing to worry about now. I am also sure that i have put some weight on, not very much but any is good right now. This lady as given me this herbal stuff that goes into my food and helps me chill out abit, I'll let you know how it goes.

I have now learnt how to ask to go out for a wee now, so i am getting lots of lovely treats for being a good boy

This is all for now but i will keep you posted

Night night

George x

Week 5

Can't believe i have been here for 5 weeks it seems much longer as i have achieved so much.

Today i meet some new people i think they are the family of my new owner, I understand now that my new owners name is Toni, i like spending time with her and i respond to her better than i do to anyone else, i don't know if that is a good thing or not as it will mean that i will become to attached to her but what the heck, she fusses me, gives me my food and walks me. I am becoming very friendly when going out for a walk now, i love meeting new people and dogs, i tug on the lead cos all i want to do it run up to them and say " Hi, I'm George, lets be friends" i pull so hard on the lead sometimes that i hear Toni shouting at me to slow down, if i am not careful she is going to end up with one arm longer than the other, oh well at least she doesn't have to go down the gym and lift all those weights now, she's got me!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
I love going for a walk now, as soon as i see the harness i start to wag my tail cos i know what is coming, my owner has now stated to tap me on the leg and say paw, I've got no idea what that is about, but when she says it, she lifts my leg and put it through the loop of the harness, i think i understand what she is trying to say but I'll just play dumb and let her get on with it. When we are out we go over the fields, i wish i could be let off the lead so that i could run free, i love to run through the long grass and sometimes when i hear my name being called i run through the grass back to my owner. I am very good at sniffing, i love to sniff, i have also got a bad habit of eating other dogs poo and i keep being told off, she doesn't understand that it is tasty, she should try it sometime, i am sure that she would like it.
This evening i played with my toy for the first time, i really lost myself in the moment for a short time and my owner was loving it, i hope that she encourages me to play more.
I'm really tired now so will finish this off later............... night night

Tuesday, I am so proud of myself as today was the first time i went outside on my own and done a wee, nobody told me go i just went. Toni was so pleased with me she made a big fuss and gave me a treat, something i have never had before................cheese, boy i like that but i have been told i can only have this in small amounts so I'd better make sure i am a good boy and then i can have plenty. :-)

What is going on

WHAT IS GOING ON HERE???????????????????? There are funny things all over my sofa, great big wooden things each of them have 4 legs attached and they are on MY sofa, i cant get on and where are my training pads they are gone to.......... I don't like this, it is not comfortable any more what do i do? If i cant get on the sofa then i shall lie on the floor and get as close as i can to the back of the sofa at least then i can still feel safe. I keep being up out side now every couple of hours and keep hearing the words " go and do a wee wee and poo poo" what is all that about? All i do is pace up and down the garden and go round in circles. A funny thing happens sometimes if i cock my leg i see these funny people making a noise with there their hands and grinning from ear to ear, does this mean i have done something right? Does this mean WEE WEE, this is strange! oh well, if it makes them happy then i guess i can leave with that.

There is a swing seat in the garden i have taken to jumping up on it much to the amazement of my new owners, i can now get up there on my own, so if i don't want to do this thing called Wee or Poo i just get up there and lie down, do you think i look pretty? I look pretty scared but believe me i got up here all on my own

I have been in my new home now for around 4 weeks and I am finding it very strange and frightening. I jump and everything and can not settle. I don't really understand what is being said to me, what i must do, so i just stay in the corner and hope that no one bothers me.

A strange man came to the house, i think he is a behaviourist and he told my owner that i am very with drawn and he hasn't seen a dog like me in a long long while, i don't want to go near him as i don't know him, he put a lead on me and lead me outside where he just sat on the floor, he tried to give me some tasty treats but i didn't want them, in the end i just laid on the ground and hoped that he wouldn't bother me.

When i was allowed back in i just dived straight on the the sofa and back into my safe zone.

I have started to soil the house even when i have been outside for a walk, i don't do my business whilst out walking i don't want to stop i just want to get back and on to the sofa. My new owners have put these white pad things down for me, i guess then i am allowed to use them and my toilet, they don't even tell me off when i do anything.

One day we went out for a walk, didn't do anything, we came back and we stayed in the garden for a long time and it was raining hard and my owner would not let me back in until i did my business but i didn't, in the end we came in, she went upstairs, she came back down and found a puddle on the training mats, i don't think that she was very happy with me but she didn't shout or hit me, so i guess it must be OK..................... I've done that a couple of times.

The Last Few Weeks

The day that I was brought home was really scary for me. The only time I had been in a car was when I was brought to the centre.



My background is, is that I am a stray from Scotland, I was emicated with alopeca and scars, it is very evident that I have never had any real interaction with humans and I have never been in a house before.



I was ok in the car althou jumpy, but I managed the 1 1/2 hr drive ok. When I was let out of the car I didn't know what to do except run around like a headless chicken, even when they opened the house doors I would not go in. After about 30 mins I decided to ventre inside, I did a couple of 360 degree turns in the kitchen/diner/snug before flying on to the sofa right in the corner. Right now that I have found my space and bagged the best seat I wasn't going to give this corner up easily and as I am new to the house I am sure that they wont turf me off. In the snug on the sofa they were watching telly and then this noise was really loud it made me sit up and watch......WOW what was this, all I could see was these things going round and round in circles making a load of noise, I couldn't take my eyes of it, I was told it was Formula 1 whatever that is.

They also have a telly in the kitchen and it was on in there as well, I dont get this!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!



The first couple of weeks have been really hard, we are all tying to find our feet and I have been trying really hard to relax, but with all these

Introduction

As I am sure you know by now my name is George, on this page I am very quickly going to bring you up to date with what is happening and then after that I shall post my thoughts here as often as I can. If it is not me, i am sure it will be my owner who chips in with her comments.



So how did i get here?



I was in the West London Branch of Dogs Trust for around 6 months, I spent nearly all my time behind the scenes as I was far too nervous to let people look at me let alone the thought of anyone wanting to take me home.



The first weekend I was up for viewing for re homing was the scariest, there was a notice put up to warn people of how nervous I was and asking them politely not to crowd or tap on the glass screen. I was so nervous all I could do was pace up and down the small enclosure.



I could see these two people looking at me and for 1 minute I would not believe that they were interested in me, but they were and the next thing I know I am being lead out but one of the carers to meet these strange new people. When I arrived outside there was this person sitting on the floor, why she was doing that I have no idea, but I was so nervous I wouldn't go anywhere near her and all I could do was to keep alert and keep moving back and fourth. She tried to give me a treat but I wasn't taking a treat from anyone, it smelt rather good but for all I know she could have been trying to poison me. At that meeting I meet her another 5 times, I still didn't get use to the visits but she kept on coming, sometimes she brought a man with her, I guess they must be together.

After 3 weeks of visits, walks they took me home. Whilst in the centre waiting to come out and go I knew something was going on and I felt very uneasy. As one of the carers lead me out I could see all these people with alot of friends of mine, I hope they have all found good homes to. I was treated like a V.I.P with people coming to say goodbye to me, I think that they were glad that someone was finally willing to give me a chance, but I am sure that they will miss me.

Let's start

Hi,

March 14th 2008 @ around 10.15am was the saddest day that my husband and myself had encounter for a long long time. This was the day and time that we sadly lost our most adorable, loving collie Bonnie. Bonnie came from an abusive home, we had a few hurdles to deal with when we first got her but over time her real personality came through and whilst she was a terror in a cheeky way, you couldn't have asked for a more perfect dog in all aspects. She suffered from back problems over a period of time she was having acupuncture and that seemed to be proving successful and i even brought her a cart to get around. But on this fateful day she was in pain and could no longer stand and the last act of kindness that we could do for her was to allow her to be pain free. This dog touched everyone who knew her and there have been and still are tears being shed for this wonderful dog and not just from her owners.

After about 6 weeks i could not stand it any longer, the house was quiet and still and nothing going on, i found myself, waiting around to do things, like going to work, gym etc. We then decided that we needed to get another dog, at the time i felt guilty as i thought it was far too soon and i didn't want people to think that i was trying to replace Bonnie, but the truth of it was she had left such a massive void in our lives that we needed another dog to fill it.

Bonnie will never ever be forgotten and never replaced and she will always hold a special place in my heart, and i am sure that if she was here she would understand and approve us trying to re home another dog who was in the same situation as her.

Please let me introduce you to George.