Hello everyone,
Thought I would introduce myself. I came on the board as a visitor about a month ago regarding our rescue springer spaniel, Archie. I don't know if any of you remember but we were having trouble with him grumbling at our children and therefore sent him back to the rescue centre. However, we missed him so much we decided to give him more of a chance and brought him home the following day hoping that he would settle in and start trusting the kids.
Well, we've had him a month now, he's adorable. He still grumbles a bit at our eldest boy in particular (he's 14). However, he does let our boy stroke him now and only really has a grumble when Stephen has been away from the home for a while e.g. at school for the day etc. I have read Jan Fennells books cover to cover and would love to think we can sort him out "kindly" rather than at obedience classes. The vet has told us to have him castrated a.s.a.p. ( he's booked in for later this month), and yet we wonder if we're doing the right thing here.
Archie is near enough 2 years old (according to the vet).

I have scoured these boards most days for the past month in the hope that someone else has a similar problem, but so far it appears he's a one off.

Can I also say that I have found everyones comments so positive and helpful.
I really enjoy "looking in" .

Can someone tell me though, how on earth do you get those funny little faces that appear on the screen throughout your replies?? I think they're great !

Thanks
Andrea

Hi Andrea,
I remember you posting about Archie. I'm glad things are settling down. Sorry I can't really help about castration. I really don't have experience there. I know people say it's supposed to calm dogs but I don't know if that's true or not. I'm sure somebody experienced will come along and help.

I can help about the icons (funny faces) though. If you click on help at the top right of the page and scroll down you'll see how to do all the fancy stuff and I just learned the other night (from John, I think) that if you print it off you can keep it beside the pc to refer to.:) :)
Saves keeping going to help and messing up your post if you're like me :) :D

Dot

Thank you Dot,
:) much appreciated.

Andrea

Andrea,
Don't rule out obedience classes and don't assume that you will not be encouraged to treat Archie kindly at one. Speak to people you meet on walks, ask your vet you may find a whole new social life, but do go to classes without Archie to have a look see to see if you like the look of them before you commit yourself. A good class/instructor shouldn't mind this at all. Hope it all works out for you
Anne

Andrea

Castration may or may not help the situation - to be honest - from what you have said - I doubt it. It seems your boy has some issues with children which need to be trained and encouraged out. What you can do is try in injection called Tardak which mimics castration so that you can see before hand if it will make any difference. I have recently used it on my older boy who has some minor problems - but to no effect. Consequently, castration will not help so he gets to keep his bits:D

Don't let a vet push you into something that might not work and is irreversable. Castration can have very dramatic effects on many aspects of a dog and you might find that afterwards he was so very different from what you thought. The Tardak allows you to see what would happen to your dog as they are often very different.

Does your son feed him etc? If not - it could be a good idea for him to do more of the primary care for Archie so that he sees your son as a provider.

hth

Pam n the boys

Thanks Pam and Anne

I have decided to have another word with the vet, given the information you've provided.

Our eldest has fed him, and we let him give him dog treats when he sits for him etc. without grumbling.

Have had a word with other dog owners and they do recommend a certain instructor nearby, so I've decided to give him a go. Thanks for that. I think I was a bit confused having read The dog listener - Jan Fennel says you shouldn't mix obedience classes with her method as one is making the dog understand your language and the other is you understanding the dogs language. However, I'll try anything because we really want to keep him and make it all work out.

Thanks again
Andrea