Oh my giddy god......

[HangingOver]

I can't actually believe I'm finally typing this... I think I'm getting a dog!

I've wanted one of my own my entire life. I had one growing up and look after friends and neighbours at every available opportunity as I adore dogs so much. A rescue came up locally and I thought he looked lovely, he was snapped up immediately, but came up again yesterday! Me and DP are meeting him this afternoon.

Any tips for meeting a rescue for the first time? Other than being gentle and calm? He's 8 months so a bouncy chap.

ARGGGH! So excited. 😁

You should start another thread if this one gets to 40 pages @HangingOver lots of people are finding it a nice thread. I admire you sticking with Pod when he is not the easiest boy but seems to be getting a bit easier now you know each other better.

I don't even own a dog and check in every day to see how Pod is doing. You must start a new thread when this one is full. If not I will start a new thread on AIBU moaning about you 🤣

Oh congratulations OP. He is gorgeous! Such a lovely thread.

I also waited at least 15 years to get my first dog. He's currently snoozing in front of me as I type, so I understand the many emotions well.

I wish you all the best with him. xx

Haha AIBU insisting on regular updates on Pod's Progress?

99% of the vote says YANBU (there's always that 1% of weirdos)

@Twiglets1 Exactly! 🤣
That should put the fear of God up @HangingOver

Oh we need the Continued Chronicles of Pod!

"Pod walked really well this morning until we got to the bit with the the recycling all left out for for collection where he stole a dominoes box in what I can only described as a fit of moaning ecstasy."

He'd get on with my Daisy - Monday nights are officially known as bin-sniffing nights in our house and we rarely get far because every single recycling bag has to be examined in forensic detail. She knows the phrase 'Shall we go and sniff some bins?'

Same here 😂 it's become my daily read and chill ha x

Also quietly loving this thread while dogless
Would love to adopt an oldie but have a cat, and would want a lurcher type, so don't think we would ever get away with it ..so I look at rescue pages s d read dog threads instead.

Another invested reader, I love hearing Pod stories.

My rescue girl was 18 months when she came home, we have now had her 18 months, longest she has been in a home. Spent the first few months under the table but she is now a happy, almost confident girl who brings us joy every day.

Pod is lucky to have found you and you him, it just gets better.

And another Pod fan. I am a cat person but Pod is just a darling. I also send my bestie updates on him cause she has a land shark named Martha (a lurcher) so is well aware of some of the trials!

MontyDonsBlueScarf
Thank you!

Oh I love my PodSquad ☺️

Pod had a busy day. Generally well behaved. Behaviour trainer came to visit us tonight and was very positive so we're going into this week's classes feeling good. He also sold me a bunch of their magic dog training pate at trade.

Pod got told off by another dog on our walk today (thoroughly deserved) and he actually piped the heck down for once and walked nicely alongside the other dog after that. There wasn't an actual fight or anything but a very vocal "leave me alone" and chasing off from the other one.

He's really going tooth and nail at the sofa again so I've ordered something I think will help...some thin flexy plastic I can make little corner covers out of and staple or sew them to the cushion corners because it would be lovely to sit on something other than a bare sofa frame. I'll let you know if it works.

Trainer said we need to buy more dead animal parts (bork) to chew on when witching hour approaches to satisfy his chewy needs.

If I don't post tomorrow wish us luck for the classes tomorrow and Wednesday! There are only two other doggies on this course. They are absolutely gorgeous and have been with their owners since they were tiny so poor Pod might be the class clown.

Here he is looking adorable and making horrendous smells. At some point I'll have to isolate which of the 8000 variety of treats he's having are causing the terrible toots.

Ahhh, dried dead animal parts, I highly recommend - the nastier and gorier the better usually. Honestly i should have shares in J R Pet products!

I once made some heavy suede corner covers for a couple of sofas (they gripped the fabric quite well), not too hard with some heavy duty shears and some hammer in rivets. The plastic option may work too... definitely report back!

Forgot to post this earlier. Pod was having a party at 3am

Foolish young chap! He is adorable!
Just came on to say that collie X we got at 18m was initially terrified of cars going past, the sound of children (even on TV) the smell of cooking onions or meat, leads, not housetrained and food obsessed is now an 11 year old lump of love in a house with two mad children 9 and 4, a bossy cockerpoo and two cats. He still barks at cars but only parked ones if HE is in a moving one (???) and he waits to be told to eat. And honestly, he sort of did it all himself. We just tired him out and were kind to him. I'd always have rescues from here on (but have to wait until children are older now).
Keep it up OP. So nice to see him flumped out on your lap.

My Whippet began catching her own!
It started out with ''Dried rabbit ears'' as a youngster, but then it became an obsession to stalk and despatch the real thing. edit: In an area where wild rabbits are common and farmer gives permission}

Here, she is saying ''Bruh....are you suicidal or what?''....she let him go.

I still have squirrel related trauma after a previous pointy dog (ex working lurcher) dived out of her 'working dog heel' position (this isn't at heel beside you like a normal dog, it is 'nose parked up your bum behind you', stealth mode)... straight into the undergrowth and proudly presented me a squirrel.

No one on this earth wants a squirrel 'live to hand'. They are angry and bitey and made of teeth. I pleaded with her to let it go but 9 years of working life kicked in and she deaded it for me and then made me take it... and carry it home (each attempt to forget it in a bush for the foxes saw it represented with a 'Silly Mummy, you forgot this!' face..)

Current pointy, Saluki frilly ears... only kills rats. And then (if we are not around) will lie down with it next to her or in front of her and wait patiently for us to reappear and give her a gravy bone for her efforts. She won't get up until the praise reaches the correct level of effusiveness! Then of course we can bin the nasty rat she wants nothing to do with it once her prowess has been remarked upon.

Squirrels definitely can bite hard- A friend years ago had a pet one called ''Justin'' - that she found when he fall out of a tree as a weasely looking baby.

He was vicious {Probably when his balls dropped} and bit all her friends hard when he became a ''teenager''- and she released him.

Of course this is release is illegal now- Greys are an ''invasive alien species''.

Years ago my old Lurcher and Whippet both caught the same squirrel -one after the other- I was able to set it free {Unharmed} each time, it was young, and didn't bite me {Or them} but it didn't have the sense it was born with.

I had to shoo him up a tree and told him not to come down again til we had gone away.

Red squirrels have been driven to almost extinction by Greys - Squirrel Pox.

I've not seen Squirrel pox in person, but a Scotsman told me of it and how he helps protect woodlands where Reds live - It looks an horrendous condition.

https://scottishsquirrels.org.uk/tag/squirrelpox/

@WiddlinDiddlin damn right about JR pet products
Found out about their ostrich bones (thanks Mumsnet 🙄)
....all my salary later - at least DDog is happy (for half an hour!)
Joking aside, great products- healthy long lasting chews, my boy has something every night - kind of like his version of tea and biscuits
@HangingOver loving the Pod updates (please keep em going) Am a little over a year into rescue dog ownership too (after wanting a dog my whole 40odd years) .... boy it's been a learning curve! Thank God they make you laugh (at times that's what's made it worthwhile) - that and cuddles 🥰

Alright hit me with your best JR Pets recommendations I'm doing an order this morning.

Bonus points for longevity and if they don't come off on soft things (his "bed" is disgusting enough as it is and I'm pretty sure washing it would break the washing machine).

A piece of advice (from someone who's dog seems to discover one new thing to have an allergic reaction to per month): don't try all the proteins under the sun. A little variety is fine, but stick to 3 or 4 meat sources at max. Leave a protein source or two "unused", ideally something that's not too exotic and broadly available (horse is usually a good idea, as is goat). If you ever need to do an elimination diet, it will make it much easier, because you'd need to feed your dog one type of protein for 8 weeks that he's never had before (not even as a tiny snack).

As for JRPets, my dog would leave me in a nanosecond for one of those whole sprats (but they do not last long and they smell). Beef tails and skin are a favourite with Bert, and the Awful Teenage Menace (who is allergic to beef) loves LOVES himself a buffalo horn (and it's very long lasting and non-smelly).

Buffalo horns are a bloody saviour!

Ahh i read that too late. I got the ostrich straw and bulls pizzles (boak).

I supposed I'm not a vegan anymore because I own a dog but I've been totally plantbased myself for 6 years so handling all this stuff is very new to me haha. Happy that Pod loves it though.

How do you know what your dogs are allergic to?