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Our Collie x Spaniel 'Megan' & GSD 'Lady' |
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I live in Herefordshire with my husband and it is with pleasure that I introduce the two canine friends that share our life.
Megan is a Border Collie X Spaniel that joined us almost four years ago when she was just a little ball of fluff.
She came via a rescue as mum was in a terrible state and the pups were not so
good either.
Megan was chock full of worms and had a chest infection so at 6 weeks old I became her nurse and adopted mum. She rallied and soon was showing all the Spaniel traits in her attitude and energy level.
If there was water she could find it and get in it...and if there was long grass, hedges or forest she was (and still is) in her absolute element “hunting”. I have a horse and with a friend we rent some land so when I am not at my part time paid job, most times you can find us “up at the yard”. There Megan runs free as she and the horses are used to each other and co-exist in peace.
We have just been joined by Lady, a five year old German Shepherd who came to us via a rescue centre.
She had belonged to an elderly lady and did not have much socialisation as she did not go out of the house or garden much.
After the owner went into residential care Lady was on her own for three months before coming into the sanctuary. She was traumatised and hated kennel life, self mutilating in her distress. She then had two foster carers before I found out about her and fell in love! She has some issues because of her lack of socialisation...she is fearful at times and does not like sudden movements or some men.
She does however think my husband is wonderful and they love their walks together. We hope that we will all see her progress over the coming months and that lovely soft and gentle Lady will blossom in her confidence, learning to behave appropriately and without fear. Maybe she will even learn to play and have some fun. I would love to see her run around with Megan, fetching balls and scrabbling in the hay.
I am a great believer in positive reinforcement to enhance life skills for all creatures (even humans!) and use clicker training with my horse as well as Megan. Lady is getting the hang of it despite me being told she did not like treats. She responds to praise and a little rub, and although she did turn her nose up at kibble, doggy chocs and cheese, we found Lady's food motivator...dried liver and liver cake! |
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