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My English Springer Spaniel: 'Mollie' |
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Our rescued English Springer Spaniel:
Mollie!
A few months after hearing of my last dog Brandy's death (he was 16 and lived in Newcastle with my mum, not a bad age for a Bedlington Terrier) I decided that I missed that constant and loving companion, things a dog provides in abundance.
I discussed the idea of a dog with my fiancee, Gemma, and we set to work with long discussions over breed, I liked larger Terriers and Greyhounds and Gem was a Spaniel/Setter/Retriever girl. We had settled on the name of our dog, Mollie.
We decided to visit the local RSPCA kennels in the hope of giving a dog another chance, and as fate would have it we met Mollie, my bonnie lass, an English Springer Spaniel. It was love at first sight for all three of us, I hope I'm right in saying that for Mo'. I had begun to be swayed by the ESS her parents had although the hair was an issue for me.
A year and a bit after taking her from the kennel we had to put her back in each day for 2 weeks (hated every time), we are now in our second home together and can't remember the life before.
She reminds me a lot of my previous two dogs because she is very loving and affectionate, like Misty was and as stubborn and single-minded as Brandy when she wants to be.
There were a couple of issues when we took her home, the main one was other dogs. From what we can gather she was locked in a garden most of the time and taken to quiet places to play, so wasn't socialised very well and was a bit possesive of toys. This led to her becoming very stressed in public to begin with and aggressive.
A year on and we're working through it together, not without the help of Richard Wells and Kodi the Dobe. He has really brought her out of her shell and is a great influence on her (she scratches the ground now).
She had the sit command already, now we've got a decent recall, down and we're working on a chase recall too. None of this works, however when she gets into water, Spaniels I suppose!
I'm so happy that Gem and I met (or were led) to our Bonnie Lass.
David Freeman |
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