Tia English Bull Terrier x Lurcher DofB 03.05.13 Fetcham Surrey

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anne
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Re: Tia English Bull Terrier x Lurcher DofB 07.12 Gatwick Kenns

Post by anne »

Tia just loves walking in the company of another dog. Here she is enjoying being out and about with Marge.
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anne
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Re: Tia English Bull Terrier x Lurcher DofB 07.12 Gatwick Kenns

Post by anne »

Tia was happy to share her walk with Felix yesterday.
DSCF5415.jpgtia Felix.jpg
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natdugdale
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Re: Tia English Bull Terrier x Lurcher DofB 07.12 Liverpool temp foster

Post by natdugdale »

Sweet little Tia love4.gif

This fab girl came with me yesterday to Liverpool (a very long drive in which she was absolutely golden!) for some time in foster. She is loving, playful and very smart. As people have said previously, she is a lot more comfortable indoors but seems to be coping a little better on walks since I first met her and hopefully her confidence will continue to improve.
Tia has a real streak of English Bull Terrier in her personality and does some incredible zoomies around the house! As I said, she is very playful, too - loves to bounce after a ball in the yard and will occasionally settle down to destroy a toy, but mostly she just wants to interact and play and jump around with me (toys are less interesting when humans are not involved!). Tia also looooves cuddles - she will grumble and let out a little woof if you suddenly stop stroking her!! Rolling around like a mad dog is another favourite activity 0002.gif] (she did this a lot on the car journey!!)
To try and keep her active mind occupied, I have taken to clicker training her as she is very food-motivated. She has picked up on it very quickly and has perfected her "sit" and her "look at me" already.

Will have a video of Tia in the next few days for you all thumbs.gif

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Expert snoozer! <3
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natdugdale
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Re: Tia English Bull Terrier x Lurcher DofB 07.12 Liverpool temp foster

Post by natdugdale »

Well Tia has amazed me today with her bravery - I took her to see some friends and brought some chicken to feed her (to give her some good experiences with strangers) and not only did she eat the chicken given but also jumped up on one of them afterwards! Not ideal behaviour I'll admit, but shows she felt comfortable enough to get close to them after just a few minutes.
On the way home we passed my local pub which is incredibly dog friendly and she poked her head in, so I figured I'd see how she coped in there (I had not planned to expose her to the pub so early on). She was not at all bothered by the acoustic group which was playing folk music in the corner - the clapping got her attention but she otherwise ignored it. We then had a woman who was not knowledgeable with dog behaviour who came up behind me and immediately started petting her on the head without even letting Tia smell her and Tia happily took the petting in her stride! She then took treats from the bartender (who was far more knowledgeable!) and even gave a few tail wags which is rare when out of the house! She then sat down and eventually laid down next to me quite content, with tail down but not clamped between her legs as she often has it on a walk.
She has shown me, however that she is more fearful of men than women as she was far more nervous being stroked by a friendly man as she would not look at him or take food from him and at one point bounced towards him in a defensive manner. All in all, though, very proud of her and can't believe how well she took it all in her stride today! Good girl, Tia!! Oh - and we have also now learned the command "up" to be invited onto furniture and "lie down" :D
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Pub Cuddles
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Sitting down at my feet
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And then lying down!!
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natdugdale
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Re: Tia English Bull Terrier x Lurcher DofB 07.12 Liverpool temp foster

Post by natdugdale »

I'm glad I can foster finally and help one of the dogs decompress and gain a little confidence :D

Was again pleased with Tia as she had been a little offended that I wouldn't let her sleep on my bed (in the same room as her designated sofa) but last night she didn't make any trouble when I asked her to leave my bed and go to hers - just curled up and went to sleep and didn't make a peep until breakfast time. Such a good girl as I haven't made it easy for her to understand by allowing her on the bed during the day but not at night, however she is a smart girl and has quickly worked it out.
Also wanted to mention that she is really great being left for a few hours while I work during early afternoon (2-3 hrs) - she messes up all her bedding (from rolling around I assume) and sometimes chews up a toy or two but hasn't once touched the furniture thumbs.gif She was a little less all over the place on our walk today and spent more time just walking along in a straight line rather than pressing up to me and stopping all the time, so some progress beginning with her nerves there too I think woo.gif]

In the meantime, here are a few better quality photos from this afternoon of Tia snoozing and enjoying a tasty tennis ball love4.gif
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PS. A little behind on making a Tia video at the moment as I've lost my video camera :( Hopefully will find it soon!
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natdugdale
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Re: Tia English Bull Terrier x Lurcher DofB 07.12 Liverpool temp foster

Post by natdugdale »

Tia has continued to do really well in foster. She's such a sweet, loving girl who is blossoming in a home environment - she just wants a human who will cuddle her, play with her and walk her (and give her treats, of course...). I have found in the week I've had her in my care that she is fearful specifically of men and although with friendly female strangers she will eventually relax, settle into their company and even lean on them to be stroked, this has not been the case yet with any male strangers. She will now take food from men and accept a stroke so this is a great starting point from which I will continue socialise her and hopefully her courage will grow in time as she realises she has nothing to fear from men in this new life of hers. A little persistence and I'm sure she will get there!

I also wanted to say what a star she is with other dogs of all breeds. We have met a mastiff cross, yorkies, shih tzus, a french bulldog and more, then today just as I was wondering how she would cope with meeting a large breed dog, we happened to meet a scottish deerhound on our walk! She was a little hesitant at first but gentle and polite with him as per usual. She has proven her dog skills are fantastic and mostly she is happy to greet them, have a sniff then move on. She also is content to sit or walk in the company of other dogs and tends to just ignore them apart from a sniff here and there. When she is feeling more nervous, she allows dogs to sniff her but totally blanks them - such as with a very yappy JRT we walked past yesterday.

In training we have now perfected sit, lie down and up and so we are practising paw, beg and wait! (She'll know all the tricks in the book in no time!!) I'll have more photos and videos of beautiful Tia soon love4.gif In the meantime as I couldn't find any friends with a cat to "cat test" her, here is a video of her "bird test" in the yard 0002.gif] As you can see, she doesn't have a strong prey instinct and is more interested in the baby seagull than anything else. She would be a good candidate for a cat test in future!

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natdugdale
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Re: Tia English Bull Terrier x Lurcher DofB 07.12 Liverpool temp foster

Post by natdugdale »

Finally finished making a video for the goodest good girl Tia :) It's in two parts as, for now due to her nervousness, she is quite different in the house and out in public.
Please excuse the vastly incorrect time stamps on some videos - I had not realised they were turned on on my new camera.
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natdugdale
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Re: Tia English Bull Terrier x Lurcher DofB 07.12 Liverpool temp foster

Post by natdugdale »

Some more photos of my gorgeous foster girl love4.gif
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natdugdale
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Re: Tia English Bull Terrier x Lurcher DofB 07.12 Liverpool temp foster

Post by natdugdale »

So for the first time since I've had her, Tia played with another dog! We have bumped into the owner a few times who walks two on-lead Ambull/Mastiff/Bulldog mixes and two off-lead French Bulldogs who are very friendly - and walking across the field with him talking about dogs, Tia decided to play with one of the Frenchies! Bounding around, chasing each other (as much as her lead would allow them to at least), lots of play-bows and tail wagging - it was really lovely to see! I had been curious if she would be playful with other dogs given the opportunity as she is so playful with me and the answer is obviously "yes!" (when they are trying to play with her)

Also wanted to say that my cousin came to visit - due to horrendous weather we had to introduce them to one another in the hallway rather than go for a walk first but with some food and strokes Tia was quickly climbing all over Jonia trying to kiss her and play. She stayed for a few days with no issues whatsoever. Jonia is dog-savvy having been around dogs all her life and I think Tia picked up on this right away as they got along like a house on fire :D Jonia also thought I should say that Tia has the softest belly she's ever stroked !!

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Moments after they first met!

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Leaning in for reassurance as a man went past

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Morning cuddles

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Loving having a friend either side of her in the pub

In the next few days I'll do another short video of her to show all the tricks she has learned (she's so clever!!!) love4.gif
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anne
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Re: Tia English Bull Terrier x Lurcher DofB 07.12 Liverpool temp foster

Post by anne »

I had a lovely walk with Tia this morning. Mostly I let Tia choose where to go and it was great to see her striding out confidently in front making decisions as to where to go. Her growing confidence has allowed me to see a little stubbornness too. A couple of times I had to ask Tia to go a different way to one she chose and while she did communicate her protest, with a little encouragement she was soon following me again. She passed several men moving wheelie bins and kids on bikes with no problem at all. She was also happy to accept some fuss from a male admirer back at the kennels. Good girl Tia. xx
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