Summer Staffiex DofB 06.06.2015 Gatwick Area

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Rjackson

Re: Summer Staffiex DofB 06.06.2015 Gatwick Kenns

Post by Rjackson »

Another lovely walk with busy Summer. She managed some loose lead walking, sit, and look at me. Main focus on our walks are for Summer to relax away from kennels, connect with her walker, build her confidence around other dogs and of course have cuddles.

She’s starting to enjoy a paddle in the stream too. We had fun in the paddock, she loves collecting tennis balls and will come back to you to drop them by your feet.

Summer needs a loving, experienced home where she will be mentally stimulated with scent work, agility for example and also with lots of exercise , she’s been going running with James recently and really enjoying this. ❤️
ektaylor

Re: Summer Staffiex DofB 06.06.2015 Gatwick Kenns

Post by ektaylor »

Summer has been a joy to walk with recently. I have passed people with her without a problem and, although aware of other dogs around her, she has been able to pass other dogs without any issue. I ensure I give her plenty of space though when passing dogs. Although she can be strong on the lead, I let her take the walk at her pace as she LOVES using her nose. I call it her 'snuffle mode' and genuinely wonder how she breathes when taking in all the good smells when in this mode haha.

She is a gorgeous staffy girlie who needs an experienced home that can keep her occupied. She needs to learn how to be calm and relaxed, which will come once she is settled.

She was very happy playing with the football by herself and also allowing me to sit next to her and stroke her whilst she chewed her toy.
Summer opt 1.jpg
Summer opt 2.jpg
Summer opt 3.jpg
LindaS

Re: Summer Staffiex DofB 06.06.2015 Gatwick Kenns

Post by LindaS »

Summer walked with Buster today, they meet up in the lane ... Summer was eating the grass and Buster just came along and joined in. Summer just looked up and then carried on.... she definitely likes Buster.
Summer and Buster - we can hear chickens, where are they.
Summer and Buster - we can hear chickens, where are they.
Out on the paths near roads Summer did her power walk and then when it became more woody she had lots of smells to smell. We passed all people and dogs on leads with distance between very well. Then once back spent a bit of time in the paddock playing fetch, find it and a bit of back scratches love4.gif
Summer’s smile
Summer’s smile
LindaS

Re: Summer Staffiex DofB 06.06.2015 Gatwick Kenns

Post by LindaS »

Couple more walks with Summer this week. With Buster one day and then one on one another day. Both walks were around the woods. With Buster following she more of less flew down the slope into the stream and got a lovely playful bounce going on. I got the camera out, but once I became a totem pole with Summer twirling around me I thought it safer for my phone to be in a pocket. With Buster following, Summer was a good proportion of the walk on a loose lead and she passed everyone well.
Summer 2.jpg
When it came to me walking her today she was already in the paddock as her pen was being cleaned, she was in cheeky mood and we played ball for a bit then a few 'you can have the ball, but then again you can't'. She was my first solo walk out round Gatwick and probably not my best choice as she was at a fast pace walking today, and we ended up doing a few loops inadvertently. 0002.gif]
Stevesmj

Re: Summer Staffiex DofB 06.06.2015 Gatwick Kenns

Post by Stevesmj »

Bunked off work and went for a stroll with Summer.
LindaS

Re: Summer Staffiex DofB 06.06.2015 Gatwick Kenns

Post by LindaS »

Summer had another lovely walk with Buster today. She gave him a bit of a bark when he appeared outside the kennel, but this was just a bit of bluster and then it was .... love4.gif Summer walked with a slack lead, came back when called and sat when asked straight away! I couldn’t praise Summer enough as she was such a very easy walk on the first half of the walk. The pace only changed at the quiet track when there were a few more people. Summer is keen to say hello to strangers, no jumping, just a slight pull and if she sees someone ahead she can get a pace on, and once they are close you tell her she is a good girl and she’s happy to stay put or even keep going depending on space. It’s lovely seeing her enjoy her time out exploring and her enthusiasm. An active family / couple and Summer will continue to blossom.
FB289DC1-F3A5-4D38-BCA7-B70B46002C28.jpeg
FJB

Re: Summer Staffiex DofB 06.06.2015 Gatwick Kenns

Post by FJB »

Summer's Peak District foster break - day 1

Jason and I met Summer for the first time this morning. She's even prettier in real life! She spent some time in the paddock burning off some energy before we popped her in the car and started to make our way to the Peak District. She paced a bit on the back seat for a while but by the time we got to Watford Gap (from Gatwick) she started to settle - and even had the odd snooze with her head on the lap of whoever was on the back seat with her during the remainder of the journey. She did so well given she was with strange people in a strange car.

She has settled into the cottage really well. Super excited for the first hour - bouncing on the sofas, chasing a ball down the length of the living space and exploring every nook and cranny (including what's behind each kitchen cupboard door (we were peering into them together)) and playing with her new toys. It turns out that the large rectangular shaped stuffed toy is the choice of the day. She soon curled up on the sofa next to Jason though and is there again this evening as I type this update. It turns out she snuffles - which is adorable.

Summer after she'd stopped running zoomies around the cottage:
summer with head on lap_opt.jpg
We've had dinner and she didn't beg for food while we were eating (or when I was cooking). In fact, she spent most of the time amusing herself trying to recover a ball from under the arm chair (we gave in and helped her).

We've also been out for a short walk and have negotiated several stiles - it wasn't dignified but we both managed to get over them in one piece!

All in all a successful first day. More later in the week as we get to know Summer better.
Last edited by FJB on Tue 28 Jul 2020 18:34, edited 4 times in total.
FJB

Re: Summer Staffiex DofB 06.06.2015 Gatwick Kenns

Post by FJB »

Summer's Peak District foster - day 3

Over the last couple of days Summer has shown us how good she is in a home environment. So far (3 days in) she has been a very easy dog to live with and I thought it worth sharing the following:

She is house trained. We've been taking her out regularly in case she needed a pee or a poo but between one of these times she 'talked' to us and went and sat by the door to show us she needed to go out. We now listen to her to let us know when she wants to go out;

She sleeps through the night (10pm to around 7am) without any issue at all;

She is quiet in the cottage (she is spending a lot of time snoozing but we think that's her decompressing from kennels). She comes over for a head scratch and a cuddle every now and then and also indulges in play time too - and shares toys with you to encourage you to play with her;

Photo of summer on sofa_opt 2.jpg

She clearly knows her name and responds to voice commands well. This includes when she is outside and is not feeling stressed - for example, when on a long lead (in a secure field with no-one other than us around) she always came running back to us if one of us called her;

If asked she will sit and wait to be told she can have her food - and that's with a bowl of what Summer considers to be high value food (chicken, carrot, egg & rice) right in front of her and me around 3 feet behind her. Even if you don't ask her to do that (which I didn't the first day) she is well mannered and doesn't barge into you or the bowl;

I've tried scent training with her - just the basics to see what she can do - and she is a pro at 'which hand?' and can find treats a short distance away in a field with ease. We are going to a more secure field tomorrow for a play and we'll try scent training at a slightly greater distance then;

With time, she will relax on car journeys but she does seem to find them a bit stressful/overwhelming at the outset (particularly if she can see a dog nearby) and will pace back and forth on the back seat (within the parameters her seat belt will allow);

She may have been trained at some stage not to go upstairs or doesn't like stairs - we're not sure which. There's a 2nd bedroom upstairs we're using to store stuff and when we go up there she'll put her paws on the bottom stair but no more. [Edited on day 7: Summer is fine on stairs. Maybe she just needs a really good reason to go up them? In this case it was trying to find Jason, who had gone out to buy her a new harness (the ring on her existing one was rubbing her chest). I think she thought I'd hidden him up there ;0) ]

That's it for now - I'm off for a game of ball.
Last edited by FJB on Fri 31 Jul 2020 20:45, edited 5 times in total.
Julieh
Posts: 837
Joined: Mon 02 Jun 2014 19:08

Re: Summer Staffiex DofB 06.06.2015 Gatwick Kenns

Post by Julieh »

Such a lovely girl , bet she’s loving her holiday 💕
LindaS

Re: Summer Staffiex DofB 06.06.2015 Gatwick Kenns

Post by LindaS »

Lovely updates on Summer and her holibobs. love4.gif
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