Its been over a week now

Well Roscoe has now been with us 9 days and what a fun 9 days it has been.
He is a smart dog and definitely knows his name now and is being walked off lead - we started by taking him to the tennis courts so it was a fully enclosed area and let him off but we did this for 3 days and each time his recall was 100% so he now gets off lead in the park, This is when he is happiest he runs with his ears forward and his tail wagging He truly looks happy, when o lead and even around the house he isn't a really waggy tail dog but he loves the park

We are still having slight issues with him being left alone when we go to work Wednesday was the 1st day he had been left for any great length of time and as I parked the car after finishing work this is the scene I was met with!

 

 

I guess he wanted to see out, but on a serious note it did not even occur to us that vertical blinds could be dangerous! He could easily have got caught or injured. So we removed the bottom chain and cut the pull cords in 2 so he couldn't hang himself and the next day we left the blinds open so he could see out without having to launch himself at the blinds! And that seemed to work as since the Wednesday we have not come back to blinds and curtains everywhere.

 

We are leaving without any fuss and when we come back in we do not pay him any attention until he is settled and he seems to be getting the idea :-)

Friday saw a trip  to the vets to have his neutering scar checked out, the vet nurse was very happy with it and removed 1 of the 2 stitches, it appears Roscoe removed the other himself!!

 

We mentioned that he had had an upset tummy as on Friday morning he had very bad diarrhoea and the foamy diarrhoea and then he vomited white foam as well, the vet said not to worry it was probably just all the stress and changes he had been through.

As I write this on Saturday he was a bit better this morning and we are feeding him chicken and rice for a few days in the hope it will settle but we will keep a close eye on him.

 

As this is Easter weekend and Roscoe can't have chocolate we will take him to the beach at some point and see what he makes of the sea (though it is a bit chilly)

We also treated him to a new collar and lead and his name tag arrived (we have put our name not his on the tag a good tip so if he is found or stolen then no one knows his name)

 

Here he is looking beautiful and you can just about see his new collar

 



Fabulous opportunity to win an original painting of your dog by Pat Elliott

Pat Elliott: A chance to win: Today (22nd Mar 2013) I've made an offer of a painting as a prize to Any Staffie'll Do dog rescue. This is a dog rescue who save S...

Official adoption and our 1st mistake

Today was a big day Kirsty from the rescue was coming over to see how things were and to bring a home trial or adopter form.

But before we start on our exciting day I will tell you about our mistake on Sat night/Sun Morning. Entirely our fault but as this blog is the good and the bad and clearly here the stupid I will share with you all.

After my Friday night not sleeping I was shattered and went through to bed Roscoe came too and jumped up, when told to get OFF he did no bother and trotted through to living room. So later when I was asleep he trotted back to see me (presumably to check I hadn't fled the house!) and decided it was fair game to get up on the bed, Stuart assumed he was fine and carried on watching TV. At just after midnight Stuart came to get him for last pee to find him on the bed, he told him off and straight away Roscoe jumped off the bed. He went out for a widdle came back in and jumped back up on the bed. Stuart did his teeth put lights out etc and came through (very different to the routine of the 1st 2 nights) as he came into the bedroom in the dark fumbling his way around in the dark In the dark Stuart must have touched Roscoe's back or shoulder whilst looking for his collar (he didn't want to say off for fear of waking me - again a break to routine) Poor Roscoe got a fright and barked at Stuart poor Stuart got a fright and poor me who was sound asleep got a huge fright!!

I woke up shouting off which Roscoe did straight away no bother and came through to the living room Stuart followed him through and they were very quickly pals again, but a lesson we learned and and it was entirely our fault. So then Stuart sat through put the TV back on sat for another good while and repeated the going to bed routine we had practised the 1st 2 nights.

So anyway back to Sunday up in the morning and a wander round the block and all was well after another quiet night.

A day trying to set up a blog!! (this blog) and activate twitter, then Stuart headed to a family birthday, it would have been too much excitement for Roscoe and too long to leave him so I stayed with him. We went for a wander in the park, in the snow and hail

 

 



When we got home we had a short wait and Kirsty arrived from the rescue, she had only brought the adoption papers as was pretty sure he wasn't going anywhere which was true!

 

We had a chat and I told her I was a wee bit worried as roscoe hadn't eaten his breakfast but that when I had taken him to the park he had been right and active. She put my mind at rest and said it would be down to everything he had been through in the last few days and weeks and yet again another change in his food. She said if he didn't improve or if I was still worried in a day or 2 we could sort out a vets visit.

 

She had a look at his neutering scar which I had also been a bit concerned about, but said it was looking fine, yes it was a bit red but there was no yellowing or signs of pus so she was not concerned. I was happy to report that Roscoe had learnt his name and that we had ordered a name tag which should be with us on Monday (we were using a key ring tag we could write on till it arrived) and that we were walking him on a long line but he was very responsive and eager to come back. So a continued chat where we ended up speaking about weddings and then some paperwork and Roscoe was adopted!

 

So as a special treat, later in the evening we worked on close encounters of the cat kind again with the trusty cooked chicken we fed both Roscoe and Toot bits of chicken edging them closer and closer together and always making sure Toots got the 1st and last bit, and the end result was

 

 

Success!

 

And at bedtime we revered back to our original tried and tested routine to avoid unnecessary frights for everyone!

Have decided for practical reasons to do 2 updates a week on the blog so there will be 1 midweek and 1 at the weekend from now on hope that will make it easier to follow

Saturday

Well luckily today Stuart was off work, I on the other hand had to go to work! So I was up t the back of 6am and I got up switched on the hall light and Roscoe was curled up on the sofa, he lifted his head and started to make little happy yippy noises I just ignored him (hard as it was!) I didn't make eye contact didn't talk I went straight to the bathroom and showered and dressed then came through opened the baby gate and walked in again trying very hard not to make any fuss at all!

Once Roscoe was calm, after bringing me every toy he could find I calmly spoke to him by calling his name and gently stroking him when he was settled we headed out the back so he could "go widdle"

Then we came back in and Roscoe decided to try with every toy once more! After my breakfast We had an exercise in sitting to get his lead on and then a longer exercise in learning the front door does not open until he stops Yipping excitedly!!!  This did take several attempts as even when quiet every time I went to the handle the yipping would start so I just stopped and stood still till quiet and then tried again.

Eventually we headed off round the block for a walk. Then it was time to  go to work the only good thing was I would get a coffee break at home so would get to see him later so I calmly shut baby gate and went out without saying anything at all leaving Stuart sleeping and Roscoe pacing and whimpering.

Soon it was time for my break and I headed home to find a locked door assuming Stuart must be out walking him I let myself in to find both baby gates open the house in darkness and Roscoe on the bed with Stuart!!! I was beginning to wonder if I could use cooked chicken to train Stuart as easily as Roscoe. When I woke Stuart and asked why the open baby gates and dog on bed the reply was straightforward - "He wanted to be with me"! The makings of a Daddy's boy then ...

All to soon it was back to work but 5 O clock came round and I went home to see him with a new toy. Stuart had been practising going in and out of the house all day to try and get him used to the fact we would come back so about an hour after I came home he was rewarded with his new toy



I have to say he loved it and had fabulous fun with it but it did only last about 10 minutes before it ended up in the bin as he had chewed through the links!

The 1st Night and Day

Bring a new dog into  our home with an existing cat was always going to be a little unnerving and we had the added issue that Roscoe did not know his name so we had a hard time catching his attention but the introduction went as smoothly as could be expected. After we had installed some baby gates (DIY is not our strong point) we let Roscoe explore the living room whilst Toots (our cat sniffed and snorted from behind the safety of 2 baby gates!

He charged about like a bull in a china shop ad immediately took up residence on our sofa and in particular in MY seat!! We decided this was the perfect opportunity to teach "off" as although we wanted to share our home and indeed our sofa and we are by no means into the whole dominance theory we do want to have a dog which will obey our desire to get them off the sofa when required!

This involved chicken, and as we said Off we threw some cooked chicken on the floor Roscoe soon got the hang of it and was happy to leave the sofa when told "off"

The chicken also brought Toots into the living room thus killing two birds with 1 stone and within an hour of being in the house we had harmony - all be it at a distance but Toot and Roscoe were in the same room. Far more than we could have hoped for, and all due to Toots having an escape route and Roscoe having the Baby gate as  barrier and of course Cooked Chicken

 

 

The 1st night Stuart stayed with Roscoe until well after 1am just playing with him and continuing with the "off" command and also teaching him his name by speaking it in a really happy happy voice and when he responded the trusty chicken was administered! At bed time no fuss was made Stuart just put the tv off shut the baby gate switched the lights off and came to bed, and not a peep came from Roscoe the whole night Fabulous...except for the fact that I lay awake worrying as there was not a sound!!

Roscoe comes home

It was Thursday - Roscoe's new home day and we started the day with  visit to Pets at Home. What would we need for our new arrival.

We were not new dog owners but still we made a list! Food, bed, treats, toys (he was coming with  collar and lead and his favourite tennis ball) more tennis balls, of course I wanted to buy everything cuddly toys car seatbelt and jacket for the cold, Hubby however was slightly more reserved in spending a whole months wages in 1 trip!

So we left with food, bed, tennis balls, treats and toys.

Then we headed to pick Roscoe up. He said goodbye to his foster mum and dad and we promised to stay in touch via Facebook and they had agreed to continue fostering so we look forward to swapping stories.

We took Roscoe for a walk in the hail and snow with bitter wind blowing a hoolie (as we say in Scotland) and returned to the car. Roscoe jumped in no problem, but he was not so keen when we started moving! Little whimpers and squeals and he tried to get in the front, we stopped and I sat in the back but he was not a happy pup pacing as much as he could and panting I tried to reassure him but only when he was quiet or briefly settled. I can see we will need to work on this but that is ok, as it may be that Roscoe's only experience of a car was his journey North from the pound which started at 8am and finished at 2am the following morning. My guess is in his wee Staffy head a car = stress and change, and once again it was going to be change for him.

The journey home was very short and we arrived home.

Welcome home Roscoe

Finding Roscoe

After filling in the potential adopter form for Any Staffie'll Do we were contacted by them and a home visit was arranged. We chatted about our expectations and what we were looking for in our potential new dog and then had a quick look round our house and garden.

Later that same day I received a message from the rescue suggesting dogs that may be suitable we arranged to go see a 1 year old at the weekend, it was a 70 odd mile journey so we decided to make it a day out. We met Eddie and he was lovely but a little cautious of Stuart (who can blame him who knows what he has been through in his short life) but he did come round quickly, we took him for a walk and for a young dog he behaved fabulously. We spent some time with his foster mum and chatted and said we would be in touch.

The drive home was strange we started to talk about having Eddie as part of our family and the enormity of losing Ben hit us both hard were we doing the right thing? Of course we were but it was like a delayed shock and we decided the best remedy for shock was to stop for a nice lunch at a country pub.

During lunch we both agreed Eddie would be a fabulous dog and had so much potential but would also need a lot of work as he was just a pup and as mentioned who knows what he has experienced so far in his life.

We decided we would like to meet another dog or 2 before making any decisions.

We contacted the rescue to ask about Harry who had 1st caught my eye on the initial visit to the website - but at 7 he was slightly older than we were looking for. But we decided we would go and visit him, so we arranged to go and see him.

We went to meet him and were greeted by a large red Staffy with a tennis ball in his mouth, he was very excited to see us and it was clear he loved cuddles and had bonded well with his foster mum and dad and there was also a cat in the house however Harrys over exuberance to play with the cat resulted in the cat running and Harry chasing, but always with his ball in his mouth!

It was also clear that Harry did not know his name so there was the potential to change it!

We spent a couple of hours with Harry and left saying we would think about things, the car journey home this time was very different somehow we quickly found ourselves discussing dog names and what new name would suit Harry. By the time we got home the 1st thing  we did was log on to look up name meanings and by the end of the night we had decided on Sandy or Brodie!

WE contacted the rescue and said we were interested and then sat discussing things and the name Roscoe came in to my head, we had wanted a Scottish name but I could justify that Ros was a derivative of Ross - a very Scottish name and of course Roscoe a character in the Dukes of Hazzard a programme we grew up with....and so the name Roscoe was chosen!

Choosing a rescue

As Staffordshire Rescue Scotland did not have any suitable dogs we started to search for other rescues and there were many, sadly most in England, and as we live North of the border I knew  would struggle persuading my hubby to travel South of the border! My good friend @Pat Elliot spent many hours searching the internet for our new family member and sending me links. Also jokingly (I think) sending links to Battersea (where she got her lovely rescue Missy from) and suggesting we could visit Battersea and her in a rescue roadtrip!!

However we found, with Pat's help the website for Any Staffie'll Do Rescue which takes dogs from all over the UK who are to be put to sleep as there time is up - which in some cases is only 7 days after they have been handed in to the pound. They have links to many local authority pounds and link up with various charitable organisations in England not only to source dogs but to transport them and even help keep them in kennels or emergency kennelling until transport can be organised.

We decided this was a worthy charity and who knows our new family member may even eventually be from Battersea if we used them!

The decision to rescue a dog

After losing our 8 year old Staffordshire cross very suddenly to cancer the house was empty and only those who have experienced owning a dog can truly understand the huge hole that is left.

We quickly decided we needed a new dog not to replace Ben as that would never be possible but to allow us to share our home again.

We also knew we wanted another Staffy or Staffy cross as they are such  wonderful breed with such a bad press and so many in Rescues up and down the country

And so our search began.

I volunteer with +Staffordshire Rescue Scotland however they didn't have any cat friendly dogs available and we needed a dog that would be happy to share it's new home with Toots our now elderly rescue cat.

I will end this 1st post in Roscoe's Blog with a photo of Ben our first Staffy cross who is now  Ben the staffy Star who shines brightly every night watching over us