He would sit on you if you sat down & want attention all the time. If Rchi was left at home when we went out, we very often came home to a half-eaten sofa, chair, coffee table etc.
A walk down the street would be fine until Rchi saw a person, then it became a struggle to hold him – he wanted to race up, jump up, lick & have his belly stroked. I began to dread a walk.
We had been asked to leave a dog training club because he wanted to play with the dogs & jump up the people & I left one when as soon as we walked in as they gave me a choke chain to use!
But WE LOVED HIM & I knew in my heart that there was a way forward to enable Rchi to have a good quality of life & us to live with him!
We already had an aged greyhound, Charlie, who had accepted Rchi into the house. We had had Charlie for nearly 7yrs. For most of the time he has been on varying doses of steroids, monitored by my vet, for a skin complaint. We also had 3 aged cats & a rescued African Grey parrot in the house & 2 rabbits in the garden.
I heard about Rosie & her work, whilst putting out the newly arrived “Warwickshire Life” magazine at work. I knew Rosie was what I had been looking for! Rosie’s first visit introduced a wonderful calm to our home. As we talked she was very empathic. We discussed both of the dogs & Rosie helped me & the family to come up with changes to work with Rchi & Charlie! With this new understanding of the dogs my confidence began to grow, enabling me & my family to support Rchi & Charlie. We love enriched environment “things”. It is a challenge for the family now to find something that both my dogs will love.
Rosie returned my initial call very quickly. From that moment on I did not feel I was a dog owner “out of control”, but somebody who cared about my dogs. She filled me with confidence with each visit & with each visit my worries about Rchi & how he would live happily in our home disappeared!
The space between sessions was useful to develop new ways of working with Rchi, but knowing Rosie was only ever a phone call away. I have found all of the information she has given us to be very practical and very useful.
Rosie’s work with us is finished, for now! Rchi no longer eats furniture, we have been able to reduce his stress at home. He walks very well on a long lead – in a built up area we still try to avoid human contact, however in an open space Rchi makes the decision to continue on his way. There is still work in progress; we are working with Rchi as he still licks us a lot & we are working with him with boundaries, he would still sooner sit on our knees rather than beside us when it’s cold!
The other positives:
The work with Rosie has enabled us to work with Charlie & finally he has been steroid free for 6 months and no sign of the skin complaint returning.
My daughter & 4yr old grandson have a staffie/English bull terrier cross. They have used some of the “tools” Rosie gave us & adapted them for her. She too has responded really well.
I have also schooled my young pony using the same principles of the long lead & his confidence has grown so much. He is a forward moving young fella who is going to make a great driving pony this year.
I thank you Rosie, on behalf of all of us, 2legged & 4legged for a calmer, more equal, way forward & look forward to continue working with you as & when new challenges arrive.