My dog ....

[Tringa]

... is just about the same colour as the grass, unfortunately. We really do need some rain here in the south east. Just hoping the few small grass fires we have had so far are going to be the only ones.

Dave

DinoG by Dave Marley, on Flickr

 

[woof woof]

That got an instant smile Dave. Well done

 

[Lepus]

Bless , looks a character .

 

[Tringa]

Bless , looks a character .

'Character' is a word for it.

It seems he was never socialised as a young dog(he is 11+ now) and it appears he doesn't understand that when most dogs approach him they mean no harm, so he sometimes has a go at them.
He doesn't like sudden noises - motorbikes, doors that bang, especially fireworks plus many more and would just run from them if given the chance.
He can't be off the lead because his prey drive is high. If started to chase a fox I doubt I could stop him.
He doesn't bark at people outside but everything he sees or hears from home has to be seen off. This includes anything that looks vaguely like an animal on TV.
Being from the Patterdale end of the terrier spectrum he employs 'selective hearing' a lot.
However, for us, he is an absolute delight .

Dave

 

[Lepus]

I am glad he landed with you , and not someone less understanding . Laws of got silly around Dogs now , I am glad you look out for him so well , and betting you get lots of love and fun in return .

 

[Tringa]

I am glad he landed with you , and not someone less understanding . Laws of got silly around Dogs now , I am glad you look out for him so well , and betting you get lots of love and fun in return .

Thanks Lepus. I'm sure we could have done more, but he seems relaxed and happy most of the time. The greatest difficulty we have is other dogs off the lead coming up to him.

I wish everyone who exercises their dog off the lead(and having had dogs who were almost always off the lead in the past, I am not against it at all) would, when they see a dog on the lead, consider there will be a reason for it being on a lead which might not be helped by their dog approaching it.

Dave

 

[Tringa]

Was he a rescue by any chance?

I had a GSD rescue who exhibited almost all of those characteristics (and worse), except she loved children.

Yes, though not directly from a rescue centre.

His previous owners were concerned that he would not cope well in a centre so wanted to keep him at home until new owners could be found.
The rescue centre set up visits to their home from prospective owners, for them to meet the owners and the dog and for the owners to meet the possible new owners. There had been a few potential owners before us and we were lucky enough that his owners were happy for us to have him.

At least your rescue GSD liked children. Ours takes a few visits for him to accept anyone new in the house and even then he is not always completely happy and views them with suspicion.

However, even though he still has 'issues' he is a delight and much better than he was. When we first got him we had to coax him to go out the front door.

Dave