How Conchita became Juniper - adventures in fostering

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She is so funny! My sister is completely in love, which is great because she was a bit ambivalent about their last dog - basically because Jem was permanently shut down so didn't demonstrate a lot of personality. Conchita has personality in spades!

Rachel called me earlier because they've been having problems getting her into the car. She will happily get in (hops into the footwell then onto the seat) if R gets in first, but she couldn't get her to jump in otherwise. From talking to her, it didn't sound like Chi was afraid, just didn't understand what she was being asked to do. So I suggested doing a little training with a mat, rewarding her for getting onto it and then transition that into the car. Tada, worked like a charm - and a lot faster than I'd thought it might! She's a bright little thing

 

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She's she best

She's getting there. She's still struggling a bit with lead walking, people bending over her and not giving her enough space. She doesn't do anything, just won't move... so it's a bit of a learning curve for Mum, who is used to bending over and just saying "come, come, come" in a sweet voice and eventually the dog comes! Not Chi - she's very sensitive to body language (so bending over her, or not giving her space doesn't work) and she won't be coerced if she's feeling uncertain. But my sister has taken a lot of stuff on board and is helping out where she can. To be honest, it doesn't really matter if Mum can't get her head around it, as long as R can teach her the behaviours that are needed (like getting in and out of the car, walking on a lead - because she just freezes most of the time) then the end result is the same. So, yes, it's all very positive

 

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Conchita fans, I thought it was high time I posted an update for you all. ChiChi is going from strength to strength in her new home. She is adored by everyone, including "cousin Bo", who is my sister's funny little cocker spaniel who she spends time with most days. She struggled to start with walking on lead (she wouldn't!) and getting in and out of the car; not surprising as these would be completely new skills for her, but she is growing in confidence all the time.
She had a surprise season recently - a surprise since she's clearly had abdominal surgery at some point, so everyone naturally assumed she had been spayed! Despite Bo being completely love-sick and having to be kept at home, it passed relatively uneventfully and she will now be booked in to be spayed in a couple of months.

She's also gaining in confidence with other people petting her, which is great because she gets a LOT of attention when on walks! It's not every day the good people of Surrey come across a bat-eared tripawd

 

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My sister and Dad went to the snooker finals yesterday (yawn). They were late back when R dropped Dad off and picked up her dog Bo. Apparently, Chi was so comfy and snoozy on the sofa that she didn't get off or even uncurl from the ball she was in. She still somehow managed to give a full body-wag and demented smile from the comfort of the sofa, though. Hehe, she's such a character!

 

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Conchita has moved homes and has gone to live with my sister. She bonded with her from the start and has been struggling a bit to get the same relationship with my parents, so she's moved a couple of kilometres down the road. Last night was her first night there and she spent the whole night on my sister's pillow, just like she did when she was with us in Spain.

Chi will still be going to my parents' when R is at uni (only a couple more days of that, though!) and when she's at work - she works shifts (ambulances) so it's not a regular 9-5. The big issue is that Mum and Dad can't walk her without R because she won't walk on lead with them as she's nervous of the proximity, won't get in or out of a car for the same reason etc. So now she's living with R, she can go out on daily walks with no problems. This is still very much a "suck it and see" option. It may still not work out in which case, she'll be coming back to us and we'll work out the logistics here somehow.

R is going away for a week in late March and can't take the dogs so we're sorting a solution for that week that hopefully will keep everyone happy - most importantly, Lady Conchita!

Rachel had pork chops for dinner, supervised by this face - and those ears!

 

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Who wants more photos? OK, go on then

Conchita on Chertsey Meads - recognise this, @YellowMellow?

 

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I was listening to a Cog Dog Radio podcast earlier while I was exercising and Sarah Stremming said in there that when she gets a new puppy, she is making a promise: "I will care for you until you die". That's how I feel about Chi. I will do whatever is best for her. Legally, she is still my dog, but more than that, she is in my heart and will always be my responsibility. Whether caring for her takes the form of her living somewhere else or whether she eventually comes back to me, it doesn't matter. I will always be looking out for her best interests.

She's great off lead for the most part, although she has very little training and, because she's a hound, can become fixated on scents. She found a dead bird on this afternoon's walk and R is careful around roads because she knows she wouldn't stop if she caught a scent. I've given her a copy of Total Recall to start working through
She's fine walking on lead with R, though. It's something I did a bit of work on before she left us but she was comfortable around me, like she is comfortable with R. If she's uncertain of you though, she won't budge

 

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Chi's first trip to the pub for lunch.



Gifts for Chi...

 

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Apparently, the first person she met in the pub was a man with one leg! They struck up an immediate friendship

Moar foods pleez.

 

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That is Bo (Mr Bojangles) the grumpy little man who pretty much hates all other dogs. He has been besotted with Chi since the start. He licks her face and snuggles up with her. So in love!

Who wants a bonus video? Chi in the snow...

Another one?

Chi vs the bush...

 

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I am pleased to report that Chi is doing amazingly well in her new home. I get Skype video a few times a week and almost daily updates about the little things she does to make everyone smile. Most of her food is being used for enrichment and she just loves her walks.

This is a photo from this morning. It looks like she's saying "I have the sun on my face and the wind in my ears. Life is good!"

 

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Some time passed....

 

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I got back from Canada today and went on a lovely evening walk with my four dogs.

 

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So I have to say a HUGE thank you to Kate and Marcus @Beanwood for looking after the little lady for a couple of weeks before my trip and then driving her halfway through France so I didn't have to go back all the way to the UK to collect her the same weekend I was flying to Canada! A sixteen-hour round trip was long enough the day before I flew, but it would have been more than twice that without their amazing kindness. Total superstars, the pair of them!

It's so lovely to have her back where she belongs - she adores it here and we feel the same about having her here. It's not always going to be easy, but it's definitely the best thing for her. We have a special bond, this funny girl and me.

Now, we need a new name for her. We don't like "Conchita", so we're after suggestions. We've not found the right one yet! Submit your suggestions here

 

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Nothing terribly exciting happened; we just decided that it was in her best interests to be back with me. I think Kate probably agrees, considering Chi’s little face when she recognised me in France
I got another great welcome when I got back from my travels yesterday. A little tail flick, “Is it really you?”, followed by leaping onto my lap and loads of kisses: “It is! It really is!!”

 

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We're currently toying with "Juniper"

Could be shortened to "Ginny" (juniper in Catalan is ginebre), which also ties in with the Harry Potter theme.

Still undecided, though. We keep coming up with names and then we look at her and they don't seem to fit.

 

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She-who-has-no-name is settling back in so well, it's like she never left. The biggest difference so far is that I've changed the dogs over to fresh food since she was last with us. Well, it's like chalk and cheese with her at mealtimes now. She really wasn't interested in kibble (and we tried a few brands), but I knew she was always very keen on any raw meat I gave her. It's not really an option to feed entirely raw, but when I got back on Tuesday, I made up a pan of fresh cooked food for them - they've been on a mix of kibble and raw while I've been away. Well, she is like a thing possessed at meal times. Whereas before I'd have to put her bowl of kibble on the sofa in front of her and coax her to eat it, now she eagerly jumps down and pricks her ears in anticipation. I feed her inside whilst the other three are outside, as she's always the last to finish so I need to keep an eye on her otherwise Luna will steal the last of it. Previously, she'd lose interest well before that happened. Now, she gets a bit frantic if the others come in, desperate to snarfle down every last green bean before she lifts her head and the vultures descend. She will then jump up on the sofa and rub her face over the throw, like she's wiping her mouth. The ferrets used to do this, too, after they had eaten something particularly enjoyable, so that's really poignant.

She's loving walks and is always keen to go out with a happy smile on her face, but I'm resolved to taking it easy with her so that she doesn't have undue pressure on her remaining legs, as obviously any damage to them will be life limiting. She's been investigating the local rabbit holes but generally keeping very close.

I've started some rudimentary training with her, and her "magic hand" and "middle" skills are coming along nicely. She seems to slowly be cottoning on to the fact that she can earn rewards by offering behaviours, but I think that will take a good while to finally sink in. I'll be starting recall training this weekend. Plenty of videos and photos will follow

 

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She's learning to love green beans. Cabbage was a big fat "no" to start off with, but now it gets gobbled up with the rest. Any green beans that are left in the bowl can take a few attempts but she will give them a thoughtful suck-spit-suck-chew-spit-chew before swallowing. Apple this morning did NOT meet with HRH's approval.

 

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We have a new name! And some photos I must get off my camera! She is now Juniper, Ginny for short. She responds very keenly to it - although, I'm pretty sure I could call "tomato" and she'd come running

 

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She struggled to settle with my mum and dad, as I explained before. She remained very nervous of them, unwilling to walk through doorways etc and it was nearly impossible for them to get her out for walks. So when that wasn't working, my sister took her on, but she developed a persistent barking problem which she felt she couldn't cope with. So she's back here with me, and definitely happy for it!

I downloaded some video from my GoPro earlier, including the video I took when I went to pick her up from Kate and Marcus in the middle of France. I quickly whipped this together - very poorly edited, but hey ho! I wasn't sure how she'd react to me, if at all. She's so funny; she seems happy enough to see me, but takes a little while before she realises "It's really you!!!". She had the same reaction when my sister came to visit here last weekend - a slow greeting followed by a rush of "WOW!"