New in NE WA

Liz

Liz

New Member
Owned by
2 cockers
I'm the new owner of two 5 6 1/2 year-old (neutered) buff Cocker boys.

What started as a walk-by "Hey cuties!" turned into an on-the-spot rescue. They were being given away, out of the back of a pickup, in the Walmart parking lot - offered to virtually everyone who walked by. (The makings of a good Country song?) Calls were made to every local rescue person we had contact info for and we agreed to take them while we waited for responses. The alternative was to keep walking and wish the dogs well - and that was not going to happen.

Their 'guardian' told us that they were 5 (vet records say 6 1/2), the vet clinic they use, that they are great at the groomers, good with other dogs, good with "their" cats, being fed 'Ol Roy (not anymore!), and that he and his wife were unable to care for them (they belonged to his grandsons and they will be "unavailable" for the foreseeable future).

They were sent off with good leashes (1 red, 1 blue), an over-sized red collar on one and a scrap of chain clipped into a loop on the other. Needless to say, they went cold turkey onto new food (Kirkland) and have new collars.

They were freshly shaved already, so their grooming is really basic at this point. This gives a little time to get properly equipped and watch as many grooming videos as I can. I'm feeling pretty confident, though I'm not holding clippers yet ;).

They definitely need new names - for now, we're calling them 'Redd' and 'Blu' while we learn to tell them apart - but that's for another post...

Over the last few years we'd talked about getting another dog - either as a companion to our now 13 year-old French Bulldog - or in a few years - and we knew what qualities we were looking for. Neither of us considered a coated dog - let alone two coated dogs - but these guys are otherwise just what we wanted. ...so they're staying :smiling:.

Liz
~ not new to dogs - just to Cockers - will be getting into contact with the area Cocker Club, getting PAL/ILP #'s, and helping these boys find activities that light them up. If they like water, they can try their paws at DockDogs. So many options.
 
Thank you Liz for saving them. We love pictures! You will find a wealth on information on cocker care and grooming on the forum.
Welcome again!
 
Welcome,,I am susan and have 2 5yr ACS's and we live in NC. you found a great site to learn about Cockers.
 
The CockerBoys have real names now! As a bonus, they sound similar to the temporary names - that they picked up in just a few days.

Redd and Blu are now... Rhett and Jude. Over a week and a half of searching for names that 'fit' them.
 
We think they're pretty cute, too (as does everybody who sees them). Introductions with Portia (13 year old (nearly deaf) French Bulldog - also quite the looker, in my completely unbiased opinion) were rocky for awhile, but we seem to have arrived at calm acceptance. For now, at the very least, Rhett and Jude will be in their crate anytime they're not supervised, or when food is involved.

Both of them have substantially softer temperaments than we're used to, but "soft" doesn't even begin to describe Rhett. He yelps at the smallest things - bumping his head, Jude stepping on him, pinching his own ear (as he picks up a bone). He freezes up when you move him - not 'tension' so much as 'dead weight'. He also screams when he's excited - which, for the first week, was every time we took them outside and he saw a goat, sheep, or chicken. That has gotten much better, but oh my gosh, can that boy hit a high note :eek:. On the brighter side, Rhett so far seems to be unflappable in the grooming department, whereas Jude is a bit uneasy about his ears. Both of them are great about having something taken out of their mouths (as they learn "drop it")

For a bit over the 2-week mark, I think we're off to a good start. Less screaming (Rhett), better leash manners, learning to not put feet up/"off" (Jude), "wait", "back up", "inside", "outside", "car ride", "here" (from their reactions, it looks like they have an association to being in trouble, but we're working on it), "leave it", "drop it", "get it"... oh, and their names. Not bad at all :smiling:.

I would appreciate any pointers on working with a super-soft dog.
 
I have always wished that I knew the history of my rescues. Some have been wonderful dogs from day one. I can remember the day I went to the shelter to pick up my Patrick. He had given up all hope and was at the back of his cage cowering and shaking. His time was up and he was set to get the needle the next morning. When I had them bring him out to meet me he was so hopeful. He had mange and was matted to the skin. When we picked him up from the vets after his neutering he sat in my lap all the way home. He was a wonderful dog all of his life... until we were ready to move to our present home. When I was packing,, he started to pee on all the boxes and got so depressed. I realized that more than likely his other family put him in the pound when they moved. The day the movers came and I got the dogs leashes and he got in the car with me he was fine and back to being his happy self. Another rescue we had was a fear biter, growler. It took time and love and learning his limits and he adjusted and was a nice member of our family.
You will do fine.

My brown boy is my very first dog that I raised from a puppy.
 
We "know" very few facts about them - they're littermates that were gifts to two boys. The 'guardian/grandfather' said that the dogs were 5, and it turns out they are 6.5 (vet records). He didn't say anything to suggest that they had been mis-treated, and I wouldn't expect him to even if they had. People don't tend to volunteer information that makes them look bad (or complicit).

It turns out that Rhett will take a few steps forward, even when he's being touched, if Jude or Portia move forward next to him. Jackpot! As a bonus, they are both starting to pick up some of Portia's signs (she's practically deaf) and we're getting better at using words with the signs. I think they're going to be a lot of fun to work with!

I do understand why some people would want to know as much of a dog's background and history as possible. The caveat is that background stories given about re-homed dogs are far too subjective and biased to be treated as reliable information. Compound that with people's tendencies to concoct and weave their own stories... But that's a whole 'nother subject ;) Personally, all I want is the medical history and to otherwise leave their past where it belongs. The one exception being a dog that has bitten - I would want to know the circumstances, though that brings us back to the inherent unreliability of background information. People are funny - that's why I generally prefer dogs ;)
 
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