Max Staffie DofB 06.11 Orpington

Dogs that have found their forever home
lonewolf
Posts: 49
Joined: Wed 04 Jun 2014 08:55

Re: Max Staffie DofB 06.11 Gatwick Kenns / Orpington Foster

Post by lonewolf »

We welcomed Max back into temporary foster with us on Saturday and he will be with us for about 10 days. We're trying to provide support and understanding to help him deal with the situation he has found himself in through no fault of his own. He's such a loving dog that he finds being separated from his carers quite overwhelming - so we are going to try and help him deal with that through some targeted work. He's also a determined little character who I don't suspect has had many boundaries so we are going to try and work on that too. He's a dog that really picks up on the energy of a situation and the people in it. We're learning about him all the time.

Hopefully we can step up for him, help him develop his skills and let him learn to relax and be a little less anxious. As you can see from the pictures he certainly knows how to chill out when the situation is right!

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It's only water
It's only water
Yes Emma is here....don't worry!
Yes Emma is here....don't worry!
He's not as big as he looks
He's not as big as he looks
Luella
Posts: 512
Joined: Wed 20 May 2015 19:00

Re: Max Staffie DofB 06.11 Gatwick Kenns / Orpington Foster

Post by Luella »

What a great shame for such a gorgeous dog. Hopefully he’ll get over his fears soon & find a home which will help his confidence. How great that you’re fostering him again - thank you
lonewolf
Posts: 49
Joined: Wed 04 Jun 2014 08:55

Re: Max Staffie DofB 06.11 Gatwick Kenns / Orpington Foster

Post by lonewolf »

Funny little fella!!



And a walk near some sheep this afternoon....

lonewolf
Posts: 49
Joined: Wed 04 Jun 2014 08:55

Re: Max Staffie DofB 06.11 Gatwick Kenns / Orpington Foster

Post by lonewolf »

Had a lovely day with Max yesterday. We caught some early morning sunshine in the garden, had lunch outside a cafe, then took a trip to Knole Park for a decent walk.

It's difficult to see from the picture but at the cafe a nice calm labrador arrived at the table next to ours and both dogs were no more than 8 feet apart. Max was relaxed enough to lay down the whole time. At Knole Park Max loved taking in the sights and sounds and we sat on my favourite hillside where I used to sit with Alfie. Max even got to see how not to play golf!!

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Good boy Max!
Good boy Max!
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lonewolf
Posts: 49
Joined: Wed 04 Jun 2014 08:55

Re: Max Staffie DofB 06.11 Gatwick Kenns / Orpington Foster

Post by lonewolf »

I had to post this. Max has some personality folks - he's cheeky, he's vocal, he sometimes doesn't listen, he wants to have fun.

In short, he has character!

lonewolf
Posts: 49
Joined: Wed 04 Jun 2014 08:55

Re: Max Staffie DofB 06.11 Gatwick Kenns / Orpington Foster

Post by lonewolf »

Round 2....the sprinkler fights back!

Last edited by lonewolf on Tue 24 Jul 2018 08:19, edited 1 time in total.
lonewolf
Posts: 49
Joined: Wed 04 Jun 2014 08:55

Re: Max Staffie DofB 06.11 Gatwick Kenns / Orpington Foster

Post by lonewolf »

As you can see from the last two videos Max loves to play. He's full of mischief if he can get away with it but so endearing with it.

He's being going back into kennels for the odd day or two but each time we pick him up he slots back into his routine with us. He's adapting well because his foster with us isn't conventional - he splits his time between our house and Vicky's mum's house. His routine when he's with us is very srtaightforward and we've learned what he likes.

He's not an early riser and likes to get up around 7.30am. Hopefully this isn't too much information but he has a No.2 when he gets up, we take him for a 20-minute walk, and without fail he has another No.2 on that walk. In short, give Max the opportunity to have two No. 2's early on in the day! Max is fine on walks when passing other dogs in the street. He picks up on the energy of other dogs - when they are calm he is calm, if they are rude or too energetic he behaves similarly. We find it easy to walk him in places where we know we aren't likely to encounter off lead dogs and are lucky to live quite close to Knole Park where dogs have to be kept on leads the whole time because of the deer.

Once Max has had his morning walk and his breakfast he will happily settle down and sleep if I am working from home. Max is still noise sensitive and will make himself heard if he hears noises he doesn't like but he has improved massively with getting used to different noises. When he's at Vicky's mum's the set-up is a bit different and Max has access to a larger garden which he loves. He loves sunbathing, playing with his toys, asking you to go and play with him (!), and sleeping when he can. If you are relaxing watching telly Max will sleep, but if you are doing things (which Vicky and Emma always are) he will join in....not always in the most helpful way! As I said, he can be mischievous.

Max loves his bed when it comes to night time. He also likes our bed so generally starts off in his but at about 5am he will jump on ours. When he's asleep at night it's the only time his hearing is properly turned off....he sleeps right through without stirring. Here's some pictures of lovely Max:
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Enjoying Knole Park
Enjoying Knole Park
He always lays like this!
He always lays like this!
You gotta start somewhere......
You gotta start somewhere......
Helping with some paperwork
Helping with some paperwork
He even makes a good desk!
He even makes a good desk!
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Sun God!
Sun God!
lonewolf
Posts: 49
Joined: Wed 04 Jun 2014 08:55

Re: Max Staffie DofB 06.11 Gatwick Kenns / Orpington Foster

Post by lonewolf »

Just a little example to show what Max is like around other dogs. I'm going to try and get more videos to show how we manage him around them. In this video we were just sitting outside a cafe on a busy high street. When other dogs keep their distance and are well behaved Max is happy to stay out of their way. This terrier walked past and Max wasn't bothered at all but then the terrier noticed Max and barked at him as he was going past. You can see that Max reacted and did go towards the other dog.

When Max walks past other dogs in the street his reaction depends purely on the behaviour / body language / proximity of the other dog. If the other dog is at a safe distance and calm Max won't react. If the other dog is either playful or rude Max will react. We have started taking Max to some training classes just to get him more used to other dogs walking on lead in closer proximity to him. He is learning to sit and stay while other dogs walk past him at a distance of about 4 metres at the moment.

The biggest message I would give anyone interested in Max is that he is not a dog to take over the park where other dogs are running around off lead. This is not because Max wants to go near them but purely because many owners have very little control of their own dogs and assume that all other dogs are comfortable with other dogs running up to them. Max is not comfortable with that so for that reason we walk him in areas where we know other dogs aren't going to be rushing up to him. This was the same situation with our previous dog and it's actually really easy to find plenty of places to exercise in this way.

lonewolf
Posts: 49
Joined: Wed 04 Jun 2014 08:55

Re: Max Staffie DofB 06.11 Gatwick Kenns / Orpington Foster

Post by lonewolf »

Max has been on an extended stay with us for the last few weeks as Vicky has been on a summer break from work (lucky her)! We were talking the other day about how far Max has progressed since we first brought him home. His reaction to outside sounds continues to be his biggest cause of anxiety but it has improved massively. We think he will always be reactive to them in some way, and it seems to be very much the terrier side of his personality. Max's stay with us has been a learning curve for us too. We were used to all the usual staffie traits from our previous dog which Max has too, but not used to the guarding, vocal, and sometimes headstrong terrier traits that Max brings. It's been interesting, challenging and fun. However, the overriding traits with Max are sweetness and affection. He's an absolute diamond.

A good example of how Max has improved with training and patience is in the car. At first he wouldn't settle at all, he'd jump all over the place, clamber over the seats and get out of the driver's side when you get out of the car. We decided to spend out on dog bars in the back of our main car and when we put him in for the first time I thought we had wasted our money. We had a 45 minute journey to Max's training class and he barked non-stop and LOUDLY for the whole journey. I'll be honest....he wasn't my favourite dog when we finally arrived! But after two or three journeys he got better and better. Now he jumps in, never barks, and travels very well. Apart from the occasional whimper when he wakes up he travels like a dream. Last weekend we drove up to see my daughter in Peterborough and he was in the car for three hours there and three hours back and he was brilliant.

Max is also much better when it comes to trying to grab the lead. He used to do it a lot but now he has to sit and be calm every time his lead goes on. He never tries to grab the lead indoors now. He occasionally tries to grab it when he jumps in the boot of the car but it's more like a game to him - I often forget and he still occasionally catches me out but if he's the boot I just let the lead go and he drops it.

For sleeping arrangements, for anyone interested in Max, I would say that he wouldn't like to be separated from his people in another room or downstairs. He loves to be on the bed with you and to be with his family. His routine is that he lays on the bed with us in the evening before we go to sleep but once we are ready to sleep he goes into his own bed in our room (with a little nudge and some coaxing). If he wakes up early in the night and tries to jump on the bed I make him go back in his, but once it's past 4am we allow him to stay on. Let's just say his internal clock now knows when it's 4am!

The last few weeks have been so hot so Max has only been going on short walks but today when it was cooler we went on two decent 2.5 mile walks in the sun and a stop at the pub. Before the ultra hot weather broke we decided to take a chance and take Max to a dog friendly beach about an hour away from us. We say take a chance because we wouldn't take him to a dog friendly beach if it was teeming with dogs. But it was a work day and it was super hot and our gamble paid off....the beach was deserted. We thought we'd see how Max liked the water. And as you can see he loved it. He went straight in up to his chest, learned that seaweed was fun to shake (!) and showed no fear. We decided to give him his first swimming lesson and aided by his harness he managed a bit of doggy paddle. I've never been in UK waters that felt so warm and we spent an hour or so splashing around with Max. The only cafe on the beach even served doggie ice cream so all-in-all it was a pretty perfect day.

So enough rambling. Here's a couple of beach videos and some pictures from the last couple of weeks.



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Luvvly jubbly!
Luvvly jubbly!
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I'm ready to go please....
I'm ready to go please....
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lonewolf
Posts: 49
Joined: Wed 04 Jun 2014 08:55

Re: Max Staffie DofB 06.11 Gatwick Kenns / Orpington Foster

Post by lonewolf »

Do you like having fun? Max does!

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