Dh said yes! We're adopting our foster!

[steppemum]

So excited (and nervous, are we MAD!)

fostering a gorgeous spaniel, we've all fallen in love, especially teenage son, and he (dog) is just LOVELY, LOVELY, LOVELY. (ok son is lovely too, but he is already mine )

we've never owned a dog before, always thought it was too much work, too expensive.
But started fostering as I like getting out for a walk. really enjoyed it, decided that I want a dog for me, as I love waling them. Every time a dog left the kids said - when is the next one coming?

Spaniel arrived last week. 12 hours and we were all in love. I think we all felt he was ours.
Not without issues (see my thread on weeing dog) but dh came in from his run this morning and said - let's do it.

Just texted rescue and asked to adopt him. They said yes!

I REALLY wanted to surprise kids as a present, but dh rightly said no, we all have to be on board before we make the decision, family meeting tonight. Kids need to commit to training, playing with him, coming out at weekends for the occasional walk etc.

So many things I don't know about dogs eeeek!

I need a thread of questions, trouble is, I don't know what some of the questions are, let alone the answers!

So - top 2 things you think every new dog owner should know?

Just make sure whatever name you choose you are happy to shout it loudly across a field

And it goes with "no" or "FFS COME BACK!"

Why oh why do I have to keep saying the same thing over and over again.... PICTURE OP! PICTURE PICTURE PHOTO.

please.

hold your horses twitter I am on laptop, no photos yet, need to upload them. Can't use the ones I have as they are identifying. (previous owner)

Wolfie - I have no problem with names morphing according to my mood, - longer nn or shorter nn. It is dh laying down the law here.

So, over dinner the suggestions were (OK, there were MANY suggestions, but the ones we actually considered)

Barney (2 yes, 3 no, still MY favourite)
Max (5 yes, then I backed out as I am the one going to shout it, and decided I need 2 syllable name)
Einstein (love this, but dd1 has now decided that he should remain Buddy)

2 million very good names ending in y. Dh now decides he doesn't like names ending in y

Toby - dh wants to go for Tobias to get rid of the y ending told him I wasn't shouting Tobias across any field anywhere. (quite like it for a child though, but for a dog? just No.)

Watson - dh and I love this, he sort of has the look of a Sherlock Holmes assistant, dd1 is now insisting he should be Buddy, ds has zoned out of discussion and won't give and opinion,

I don't remember dh being this difficult when we named the children!
(and one of our kids has a name ending in y

I think getting 5 people to agree might be our problem.

WARNING highly manipulative post...

But I love cockers OP, and my beloved Lucky had to be pts in January of this year, just when I needed her most.

I got another one but because of ill health had to pass my new pup to my sister, who has now adopted her.

I am DOGLESS and this is very hard. The ONLY thing that makes me feel better is to see photos of dogs - especially cockers.

Do you feel guilty yet?

You will love having him OP. The walking is absolutely the best part. Winter or summer - doesn't matter. Just being outside in all weathers is very refreshing mentally and physically. I miss that very much - along with all my dog-walking friends.

A two-syllable name is recommended and yes, bear in mind you'll be yelling this in front of others.

One of the joys of being divorced with grown up children is that I GET TO NAME MY DOGS NOW!

In the past we had the system that any name that was totally HATED by anyone was not considered. Everyone could put one name into the hat, then we literally picked a name out of the hat.

In your case, If three people love the same name then they can all put that name into the hat and it’s got three times as many chances of being picked.

well, Watson having been rejected, Sherlock was apparently Ok ??

But dh said Sherlock as a joke, so I don't think that is a winner.

Ok twitter, I have taken this one from the website, think it is OK

he looks quite regal there, much more soppy and disorganised looking in real life

and he is a springer, not a cocker, but still a spaniel x

He's beautiful !!! Springers are the best but then I am biased. I have a 10 month old springer.

Aww...what a cutie. He looks like a Rufus to me!

This is just for TwitterQueen

(Enjoy your dog steppemum)

Oh my! Gorgeous!!

Oh thank you Steppemum he is lovely - and as you say, very regal. I'm now thinking that he's a Bertie.

Chasing double thank you. He is just gorgeous. You are going to have so much fun with this one. You won't get very far with your first walks as everyone will want a cuddle.

It sfunny, we usually take loads of pics of the foster dogs for the rescue to upload on the website, but as soon as we started to think we might keep this one, we haven't taken any! Dh was joking about it last night.

So, dd took loads this morning, and they are all well, rubbish!
I'll try for more later.

Love Bertie. Last night I also suggested Archie. Both have fallen under the no names ending in y sound rule, which is driving me mad. So I told dh he was going to remain Buddy, and dh has now decided he should be Watson. Trouble is kids don't like watson

sigh

Very cute chasing, how old is he?

Bertie is ideal - work on DH !

He is 6.5 weeks in that photo (yesterday), we haven't got him yet obviously - just went for a visit.

Beautiful, well done!

Digby?

Or the classic, Jerry?

Lovely dog OP, congrats!

Going back to your question...

• love Bertie or Digby for him
• food wise look up that allaboutdogfood.co.uk. I feed my cockerpoo a mixture of Eden (high protein kibble) & forthglade (high meat wet food) the forthglade in different flavours & get compliments on his coat & he bounds for his food. Eden expensive but small amounts, firm poos once they get used to it, forthglade great quality but less expensive in bulk
• decide as a family on commands & how to tell off so everyone knows eg sit, stay/wait, leave, out/outside, no, telling off by a water spray for instance
• in positive reinforcement their name should always be used in a positive way your negative choice a firm “no” maybe should be used instead of “their name expletive”
• decide on house rules eg sofa or not? & stick to them
• never feed cooked bones to a dog (they can have raw bones which are good for cleaning teeth)
• hide your bin!
• buy antlers not rawhide chews

I’ll stop now!! Have fun!! 😁🐶

oh thanks minster, was going to ask about bones, as I remember as a child we always asked the butcher for a bone for the dog. Do butchers still do that??

Quite reassured that we are doing most of that already. Although the house rule is that he sleeps downstairs, but he can jump the stairgate and ends up creepingupstairs and sleeping outsde our bedroom door!

Went on a walk with my friend this morning, we have dog sat their lovely lab many times, and she offered to have ours in return. That now makes 3 people who might have him for holidays!

loving the names
I could live with

Bertie (think this has now overtaken Barney as my fav)
Alfie
Archie
Watson
Digby
Barney

and many more.

But they all end with y sound

Have just found Samson, and I'm loving that, Ok, 4 people to persuade now....

The 'no y' rule is a strange one.... How about Albert?!

Practice saying it out loud - you can get a really good emphasis on both syllables...

You have to imagine yourself on one side of a field and the dog on the other, and then see which name you're happiest yelling!

he doesn't like the eee sound Twitter.
he think that calling across the field .....eeeee sounds rubbish

hmm. I like it.

He loves Samson. so, 2 down, 3 to go.

dd just texted from school
no to samson, but she has suggested scout and bruno. Both good, both likely to pass the dh test....