Shane – Born December 2018
Sophie has done a great video of Shane.
Shane here!
I want to tell you all about my three nights away from kennels over Christmas, staying in a quiet house with just me and my foster mum. I was a bit worried at first and tried to give lots of cuddles to her by putting my paws on her shoulders. I nearly knocked her over, but she gently lifted me off. I soon learned that I didn’t need to keep asking for cuddles, although sometimes I forgot and asked for them anyway. If I came to live with you, you might need to remind me from time to time that, if I am nice and calm, tickles and cuddles will come my way.
I love FOOD and it was amazing to have it prepared IN FRONT OF ME!! Once or twice I put my front paws on the kitchen worktop to get a closer look, but mostly I stood next to the chef and waited for her to serve a delectable feast. Actually, she could have given me more or less anything and I would have enjoyed it, so it would probably be good for my digestion if you could find ways to encourage me to eat more slowly. That said, once I get used to everything at your place, I might take it all in my stride. My foster mum ate her dinner at a table. This was of course of considerable interest to me, but she made clear by gently nudging me out of the way that it was her dinner time, not mine, so I went back to my bed and just kept an eye on proceedings.
There was a mountain in the house, which I now know is a STAIRCASE. She kept climbing this mountain and I didn’t like not being able to see her, so I did a little nip at her trousers to try to keep her with me. I only did that once, though, and it didn’t take me long to pluck up the courage to go up there after her. To begin with, she said I looked like a big black octopus scrambling up those stairs, but I was able to do it with some style by the time I went home to kennels. Coming down the stairs was hard, but I could see a nice piece of cold turkey in her hand at the bottom and this was all the incentive I needed to get down there. She says that, because I love FOOD and CUDDLES, I could be a dog who would enjoy being trained. I was grabbing my treats at first, but she started to teach me that I am more likely to get the treat if I am patient. She also used treats to help me learn to jump in the car, so I think she might be right about this.
I had lots of chances to go in the garden, so we didn’t find out whether I am any good at remembering to ask to go out if I need to do my business. I did make a couple of puddles in the house on my first day, but the routine we had after that meant I didn’t need to do that again. One of those puddles was up against a tree that had lots of decorations on it. Seems to me that, if you are going to put a tree in the house, it’s only reasonable to expect your hound to mark it in the customary way.
I slept well at night in my foster mum’s bedroom. It was better when she moved my bed to a place where I could keep an eye on her, but I didn’t try to get on her bed.
We didn’t attempt major walkies, as she could tell I wasn’t totally confident about all the cars whizzing past. I was much more comfortable when there weren’t so many of them. We had a couple of nice walks on the common, where I met a few other dogs. We did some polite bottom-sniffing and the only ones that worried me a bit were a couple of small ones that were running around my ankles off-lead. I didn’t bark or anything, but was keen to get away from them.
All in all, I had a lovely time and it was perfect for me to be in a quiet* place and introduced to new things a little bit at a time. My foster mum thinks I can learn quickly, will settle very nicely with a gently guiding hand and could form a close bond with my human. I would be thrilled to meet you if that sounds right for you.
Lots of love
Shane x
*..it was usually quiet, but I did enjoy lying next to her while she was bashing away on the piano, despite all the wrong notes!
