Obi
How did you hear about Obi?
I took early retirement following a bout of renal cancer and moved back to north Wales to enjoy the beautiful mountains and beaches with my dog. I’ve always had dogs including three rescues; a lovely Staffie from the RSPCA, a border collie from Battersea Dogs Home, and another border collie I found myself as a pup following a large escaped pig (!) along a single track road when I was a student here in north Wales.
I was looking for a companion for my very active working cocker spaniel, Gruff, as he loves playing with other dogs but wanted to adopt a rescue again rather than buy a puppy. I looked on several charity sites and stumbled across Toby (as he was called then) on the BDRUK site – a sighted dog, he looked lovely with his profile giving him a weight of 10kg back in May aged around 9 months, so I figured he’d probably grow to a similar size to Gruff.
How did you prepare for your Obi’s arrival?
I had everything I needed ready – several fabric crates and a larger metal crate which I set up downstairs. If needed I have a small drying room off my kitchen I used to house Gruff in safely when he was a pup. I also have a collection of leads and several harnesses.
Initial impression of Obi?
Obi was due to arrive late on a Wednesday evening directly from Romania but that was changed to the afternoon of the following day. Shortly after the ETA the transport van pulled up outside my house. I’d dropped Gruff off with my neighbour, Pru, whom he adores so he was good for a couple of hours or so there. After greeting the driver he opened the rear of the van and opened Obi’s crate. He was instantly recognizable but a lot bigger than I was expecting – more like 25kg! No matter, once safely in the garden of my house the driver gave me the paperwork, I filled his flask with coffee, and he was on his way as there were still other dogs in the transport.
My friend Emi arrived at this point and we sat down at my garden table to let Obi explore at his own pace. He was very wary of both of us, and any sudden or dominating movements such as standing up scared him and he would retreat back under my car which became his favourite place to be for the next two days. By just chatting and leaving a hand down Obi would sniff us both and quickly searched for strokes although he seemed to prefer Emi to me. Any positive move towards him though, to give him a stroke, would have him chuntering and backing off. It was some hours later before I was able to get near enough to remove the lead he had been trailing around.
He was happy to eat some food in the early evening without bolting it and then made himself comfortable on the sofa in the lounge (it is a very comfortable sofa!). A short while later there was a lot of lupine howling but he didn’t seem unduly perturbed; just making a noise. At this point I retrieved Gruff, had a play with him in the garden, then gave him his evening meal. I then let Gruff through the lounge to exit to the garden via the patio doors. He spotted Obi and there was a very amusing stand-off. Both dogs stock still for 30 seconds. Gruff then gave a happy bark and started wagging his tail before both dogs trotted into the garden together, and those two have been great friends since.
How was Obi’s first night?
That first night I put Obi in the crate downstairs (he had already been in it a few times with no problem) and went to bed. Not long after he started howling, barking, and whining and was desperately scratching at the sides of the crate. After an hour and several attempts to reassure him, I decided to leave the crate door open which solved the immediate issue of noise and distress. I hadn’t seen him wee or poo up to this point, but he hosed a substantial quantity of urine in the lounge before I could open the patio door which needed cleaning up immediately and required the better part of a roll of kitchen towel such was the quantity! He went outside for a sniff around then settled back on the sofa so I returned to my bed.
More bouts of barking and howling followed each accompanied by a large pile on the lounge floor and the night passed in a succession of cleaning episodes including mopping up another huge puddle of urine. When I got up the next morning, somewhat sleep-deprived and trepidatious, I was greeted by yet another large pile and the chewed contents of a cushion and the remains of several houseplants and their chewed pots scattered around the lounge. Even my printer had been assaulted! The immediate future was looking challenging, but I kept calm and had a coffee!
How were the next few days?
Through the day Obi would come closer and was happy to be stroked as long as I didn’t move quickly, but I could not get a house lead on him at all easily and when I did manage it, he chewed through it in seconds. He would let me put a harness on him when he was lying down but would back off frantically if I tried to attach a lead. It was obviously going to be small steps before walking on a lead would be possible. The largest harness I had was also way too small so another was ordered! He ate his two meals quietly that day with no aggression towards me or Gruff (although there was a scrap a couple of days later when Gruff passed too close to Obi’s emptied bowl).
The dogs took to chasing each other around the garden and the gradual degradation of the lawn began and the two wildlife areas I’d spent this summer establishing became favourite rolling spots – I’ve only seen one of the scores of frogs that were there since! He also took to using one of those areas as his latrine.
That evening Obi was happy to settle against me on the sofa while I watched some TV. Then came time for bed. I showed Obi the downstairs crate, but he followed me upstairs and surprisingly went straight into the fabric crate I’d set up outside my bedroom and settled down for the night without me zipping him in. There he stayed for the whole night until I got up, no noise, no accidents. And it’s been like that ever since. He’s very happy in the upstairs crate and is completely house-trained. He even waits while I have a shower first thing before getting up himself at which point he is always very affectionate with me and playful with Gruff.
Having cleared my diary for the following two weeks I set about slowly introducing him to the lead and trying to train some very basic commands. Neither were successful and Obi remained very reactive and wary when visitors first came through the gates, not helped by Gruff always being very excited and barking when demanding to have a ball or fallen apple thrown for him by the visitor! The trick was always to just sit down and not look at Obi and he will quickly seek attention and a stroke and over time he has become much less reactive.
Emi or Pru would Obi-sit for me at first so I could walk Gruff and fairly early on I was able to leave both dogs alone together if I went to the shops or popped out for a quick pint in my local where Gruff’s absence would be queried! Any mischief occurred when I was present with Obi showing a strong liking for footwear and cushions if I was not paying attention (I’ve just been hunting for a trainer as I’m writing this).
Another quirk was his fear of going through doorways. He will get almost completely past the threshold and then stop when coming in needing further enticement to enable me to close the door and he was very wary when going out except for the first outing of the morning.
How is Obi doing now?
We are now in his fifth week with me and in the past few days he has made significant progress after three weeks of him generally just become less scared. He now understands and obeys “sit”, “down”, and “stay” and he waits for his food bowl to be placed on the floor without bouncing up and down. He has also shown interest in life beyond the front gates and has gone through several times now, allowing me to put a slip lead on him to do so, another gain. We haven’t gone far, just 100 metres or so, but he is curious and has shown no reactivity or fear to passers-by or vehicles. He remains reactive to and wary of visitors coming through the gates though – lots of barking and backing off - but is slowly calming down helped by a very understanding postman and his delivery colleagues who have all taken time with him. I suspect that this guarding is as much his nature as any real fear.
The frustrations in terms of lack of any real progress of the first two or three weeks have given way to optimism that we will be able to go for full walks fairly soon. He clearly needed time to decompress and adapt which I was happy to give him. He plays really well with Gruff with lots of charging around the garden chasing each other, tugs of war, and extended play fights indoors although he generally wins as he’s a much bigger dog, but he does take a lot of cues from Gruff.
He continues to use the crate each night of his own volition, remains house-trained, and has never attempted to get on my bed. In general, my house is a little tidier as I have to keep all footwear and anything chewable safely stored away but that can rapidly give way to a mess as a carelessly placed cushion or a newspaper are chewed to small pieces. Doorways are proving to be less of an issue too.
From the start he has been very affectionate and loves belly rubs and will lie on me when watching TV, something Gruff has never really done much so there’s no competition. He is particularly affectionate first thing although he stays patiently in his crate until I have had a shower after which there’s a lot of dancing around, tail wagging, and playing with Gruff (another patient waiter!).
He is very curious of things, although “can I chew it?” seems to be his first response, and he is somewhat obsessed with the TV remote control but has not damaged it to date but it will disappear if I’m not careful where I put it. He does mouth a lot which is only ever meant affectionately and which I find endearing, but I am working to curb that. Around the house he follows right behind me such that I frequently catch his mouth with my heel.
He’s a bright, very friendly and affectionate dog with no aggression in him at all. It’s going to continue to be a lot of work, but I believe he will become a great companion for both me and Gruff - he already is. I suspect he will also be quite a good guard dog as well – there’s clearly some German shepherd in his lineage and he is quite happy just sitting in the drive watching and waiting and giving the odd bark when he hears something! Overall, I really like him for all his mischief and I can’t wait to get him on proper walks along the beaches and up the mountains here in north Wales with Gruff.
With thanks to everyone at BDRUK.
