Hi Elaine

In about a month we have had Simon for 2 years, unbelievable don't you think. I have got a TERRIBLE memory, but here is what I can recall about how he settled in. Hope it will be of some use, but if you need anything more just let me know.

When Simon first arrived, he was, understandably, a bit in shock, Instead of joining us and my other 3 dogs in the living room, he preferred to sit in the hall and view us all from a safe distance, we just let him take his own time to settle in and didn't make him do anything he wasn't comfortable with, which I think worked. Also at first, going out for walks was a strange experience for him, don't know whether he knew what the point of them was. I'd say though, that within a week or so, it was like he had always lived here. It didn't take long to house train him, quicker than a puppy. There was still little accidents now and again for a few months, but that is to be expected for a dog of four and half and that has always lived in a kennel so was not house trained. I would recommend anybody to re-home an older dog, Simon has been and still is a pleasure to own, he has such a lovely nature and enjoys every minute of his new life with us. I would definitely do it again,
I've attached some photos. The first one is Simon completing his first hill in the lakes 2 months after joining us, if you use the hill one, can you not show Keith, he would go mad. !! The next one is a much more recent one of him on top of Skiddaw, which is nearly 3000 feet high and the last one is of them this morning after doing about twenty five miles over the weekend and the lucky things are all laying down now, but they have had to have a bath, now that they don't enjoy. I've got loads more photos if you need anymore. but just sent these for starters, take ages looking through them all, I bet there are a couple of thousand and only had the camera 2 years. 

See you soon, Lesley xx  
 

Look at me now, on top of the World..

Hard work climbing mountains !!

"Simon is now 7 years old and still climbing mountains.."

TEDDY (Vegas) is now 2years 3months old and we have had him since he was ten and a half months old.. It has not all been easy going but well rewarding to watch his progress and see what a contented and loving little boy he has become. He has a super laid back nature although he can stick up for himself when playing with Sam our daughters cocker spaniel also our nephews Labrador of the same age. My husband and I are both retired and had the time to spend training, grooming him and most of all reassuring him. When we collected Vegas from the kennels and brought him home we decided he looked so much like a Teddy Bear we would change his name to TEDDY.  With in a couple of hours he responded to the name and with a clap of hands came running to us. We kept him around the house and garden for the first three day as recommended by ET, And this worked well, he loved exploring and carried a Teddy Bear we had for him every where. Balls he was not to sure of and it has taken about a year for him to fetch them back to us. When we ventured out with him we went on small walks as he was very unsure and scared of everything that made a noise. People were the worst to over come, as they could not understand why he did not like being made a fuss of. I then started picking him up to their level and they were then able to fuss him a little.
Cars and other objects we faced with him bit by bit and now he accepts with ease. Toilet training was good although he would not ask to go out we knew the signs with in a couple of days. Teddy was very good from the start at nights he had a basket by our bed and slept through until about 5am and then went out for wee and then back to bed. Teddy had a problem with food, finding the right one that suited him. At first we found he liked bread and butter sandwiches which we gave him in the middle of the day as he only seemed to eat small amounts at a time. He now eats Royal Canine and Prize frozen tripe. He does like Cesar small tins now and then. Training was good in the garden although Teddy was a little stubborn. We only did a little at a time as he loved to play and jump we have never seen a dog jump so much. I decided to take him to training classes, thought it would do me and him good. "NO" Teddy hated it so did I. Only four dogs which he so wanted to play with but when it came to training he would do nothing, but a couple of days later at home he did it all. Six weeks later I think we had learnt something. Teddy does things in his time, now walks on a loose lead but can not get him to walk to heel? It will come one day. Would we do it again YES YES YES All you need is a lot of love and an awful lot of patience.

I love my new mum and she loves me..
and my dad  of course, he gives me treats
when mum's not looking..

Barry and Joan Dawson
 

Teddy has been with his adored new mum and dad several years..

ANNIE'S STORY..

It was the day to collect a new member to join our family, we were apprehensive but excited at the same time.
Annie was exactly like the photo's we had received of her& it was love at first sight for us, she was a "beautiful" girl. I'm not sure she felt the same! Annie was leaving the only home she'd ever known for two  & a half years and she had to be coaxed with treats. The journey home wasn't the easiest one with Annie crying off & on as we left her "mummy" Elaine, but we gave her lots of cuddles & reassuring strokes. Once home she had a good snoop around & found a lovely place to hide under the bed. I had arranged leave from work for a couple of weeks to help us both build up a good relationship & to help her adjust to living in our home [as she'd always lived in a kennel] I soon realised I had a little shadow! Annie was right behind me wherever I went, almost as if we were joined by an invisible thread-all the time. I think she'd accepted me as her new "mummy".
The house training was much better than I had imagined, once she'd had a good investigation around our large garden she soon caught on & she was telling us she needed to go out& we only had a few puddles- we needed training just as much as she did really to recognise the signs.
Things went well and we made a conscious effort to continue to keep things as close as possible to what she was used to -same food, same bed including her blanket from home, we soon built up a good routine but if Annie was unsure of anything we knew exactly where to find her- under the bed! When we left her we found leaving an item of "old" clothing [ mummy's] seemed quite comforting to her. We introduced her to friends dogs and she soon realised this meant lots of fields to discover, squirrels to chase[ sheep if we let her have her own way] & of course lots of very interesting new smells- to roll in! not such a "beautiful" girl then. Annie has joined us on many holidays[ all though she would rather not do the travelling bit] she is so well behaved we can take her anywhere and any walk is not complete without a paddle, or full- dip, in fact the wetter-the better as far as she is concerned. Annie is such a joy to have, even though i can only ever find one slipper & socks just disappear ! She is such a lovable girl & good companion, we are so tuned in to each other it is amazing. She's always pleased to greet us and wants to be involved in anything we do & especially likes to " help" if food happens to be involved. If Annie had her own way every evening would be spent right next to her new mummy on the settee with her head on my lap.
My family are always telling me we didn't get a new family pet when Annie came to live with us but a new child !! my " beautiful" Annie..

Hilary Hook & Annie of course..
 

   Russel

As you can see is very happy, he took a while to house train but now he is just an adored friend.. 

DEBBIE

Here is our lovely girl settling into her new home,
She loves feet, as you can see, her favourite
place is sleeping on her "new dads" feet..
Thank you so much for letting us have "Brandy" [her new name which she seems to like], she is very quick to learn and brings us great pleasure as she gains  confidence in her new life with us..she is a pleasure to live with..
Jo Chadwick

We were so excited and could not wait to bring our new girl home...The day arrived and we travelled up to collect Faith. We finally had our beautiful girl, When we first reached home Faith was understandably rather scared in her new surroundings, from kennel to house was a big change and so many different things to get used to and experience, we just left her  to explore as she wanted and to check every inch of the house and garden. It was like a new World to her.. but it was not long, just a couple of days before she gained trust in us and was settling into her new home and our lifestyle really well. From then on she went from strength to strength, as we introduced her to so many new things and people over the coming weeks. We found the toilet training a little difficult to start as she was an older dog and it was a big transition for her to go through, but we got there in the end after trying different techniques. Over all the experience is just amazing and we soon could not imagine our lives without her, she is such a loving dog and wants to be by your side all the time, she has such an wonderful temperament and is so loving, a real little character, all her little traits are so funny and she gives you such amusement and pleasure  every day, we would definitely re-home another older dog from Elaine.
Thank you .. Karen..and Faith xx

This is great fun, all the toys and attention
just for me...
Faith is now 6 years old
 

*****         Lex with Darcy xxx

ALFIE

 

MOLLY'S STORY
We have rescued dogs for over 20 years and when our beloved Chloe died we were distraught and immediately realised we needed another gentle bitch in our home. Dillon our other dog was rescued at 6 months and was four when Chloe died. He is extremely gentle natured and we knew that we could not bring a dog into the home that would dominate or upset him therefore another bitch was essential. We went to rescue centres all over the county and searched the internet for a suitable bitch but unfortunately nowadays rescue centres are inundated with dogs of the same breed and bitches are rare.
We did have a couple of disasters looking on the internet therefore we did become wary and then whilst out walking Dillon in our local  woods my husband came across a couple who he had not seen since Chloe died and he noticed that they had another dog alongside their usual spaniels. He was then told of Elaine and her cocker spaniels and as soon as he got home he e-mailed her.
At first we were very sceptical as we could not understand why she would let one of her beloved dogs go to her new home but after various communications as she was very cautious about us she told us that she was willing to let Maike who was three years old (we re-named her Molly) go to a new home.
We went to see Molly with Dillon and we all fell in love with her straight away so Elaine let us have her.
She immediately settled in and although she had always lived in a kennel she soon got used to the stairs and after a lot of investigating got used to the furniture and household appliances. The toilet training did take a lot longer as although she knew to go outside, at times she forgot or when she got excited she would wee in the house but nothing else. We have now had her 6 months and she is running off the lead with Dillon and is thoroughly enjoying herself although Elaine did state that she loves her food and you have never seen a dog get so excited when its dinner time. Molly and Dillon sleep side by side and absolutely adore each other and we feel that we have been blessed to have Molly as she has transformed our home with her personality, her wonderful nature and most of all her love.
Elaine has done a wonderful job with her dogs and to be able to own one of her older dogs is a privilege.

Dave and Elaine Cheetham