ReikiAnge Posted October 11, 2009 Report Share Posted October 11, 2009 He is very gorgeous indeed Very glad he has found a lovely foster home within which to find his confidence again Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fee Posted October 11, 2009 Report Share Posted October 11, 2009 Totally gorgeous Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JulesB Posted October 11, 2009 Report Share Posted October 11, 2009 Ooh, what a handsome lad Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wendbert Posted October 12, 2009 Report Share Posted October 12, 2009 Handsome boy Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
purple_mog Posted October 12, 2009 Author Report Share Posted October 12, 2009 MarcoP says thankyou very much for the lovely welcome and deafie snuggles - he promises to try and say hello when he meets you but it might take a while for him to come out of hiding This morning was a little more chaotic on our walk, he coped very well with the speedy lurcher pup that came over, but was quite worried and barky by the dog's owner I feel its very much him just not knowing how to react so we'll get working on that - though it made me realise how much I have become used to not having lungy barky dogs anymore.....its a little like starting all over again Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BillyMalc Posted October 12, 2009 Report Share Posted October 12, 2009 Ooooohhh I feel an extra bag of treats coming up!!! :wub: (training aids you see ) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gremlin22 Posted October 12, 2009 Report Share Posted October 12, 2009 Aww what a babe! fingers crossed for you and him. he looks a very clever fella. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
purple_mog Posted October 14, 2009 Author Report Share Posted October 14, 2009 Well - what a few days it has been for the wee boy! He has started to play a little with Farah, and has made a couple of doggie friends out on our walks. I had a random house guest last night and although he did his normal hiding thing, he was able to come into the living room with us and snuggled behind me on the sofa - kept peeking round to look at her And then this morning Marco-scaredy-boy-Polo managed to say hello to two people on our walk eventually (lots of hiding behind me, darting out and hiding again ), he's met them from a distance just once before so I think that was really very brave We went for a little run yesterday morning to see how he would cope and no problems - so he can start coming out on short training runs with me and the other two hooligans Still itching like mad most of the time (and its a little annoying at 4am ) but hopefully the new food might help - thanks Sarah Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
billydog Posted October 14, 2009 Report Share Posted October 14, 2009 Gorgeous boy He seems to be doing so well with you - good stuff Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zico's mum Posted October 14, 2009 Report Share Posted October 14, 2009 He's lovely - and has come a long way in the short time he's been with you as well,obviously he trusts you and yours totally Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EAD Posted October 14, 2009 Report Share Posted October 14, 2009 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ranirottie Posted October 14, 2009 Report Share Posted October 14, 2009 gorgeous boy x Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
purple_mog Posted October 15, 2009 Author Report Share Posted October 15, 2009 We had a bit of a break between training classes last night, so Marco came along and a friend of mine came to be a random stranger. Marco was really good and got pretty close to him, still fairly relaxed. I think it helped that my two were milling around as well so keeping everything very low key. After training back at the house Marco came up snuggled a bit with my friend Such a very very brave boy! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BillyMalc Posted October 15, 2009 Report Share Posted October 15, 2009 Well done, Marco - and Mog! Can't wait to meet the gorgeous boy now :wub: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
purple_mog Posted October 21, 2009 Author Report Share Posted October 21, 2009 Cross-posted from a training blog I keep, so sorry for the random training content but also shows how much progress the wee boy is making! Marco Polo is the newest canine resident in our household, a foster dog for Wiccaweys who has been here just over one week. Marco is just 2 years old and was born profoundly deaf. Although he is now looking for a new family, one of his previous owners has taught him quite a bit of sign language. The interesting thing for me was seeing the difference between my own clicker principle trained deaf dog, and Marco - a lure trained deaf dog. Now obviously I can't attribute ALL of these differences to clicker versus lure, but I think several of them do seem linked. Marco is very clear on the signs he does know - but each is a distinct behaviour, asking for linking sequences of even just two behaviours causes bemused and puzzled faces. He doesn't offer any behaviours apart from the stereotypical collie stare at my face, and has not transferred things like nose touch or paw touch to anything apart from a simple stationary hand target. Interacting with novel objects is beyond his understanding at the moment, as is following a target. Once we step outside the front door - his attention is non-existent (some nerves, mostly distracted) and he seems unable to offer any of his behaviours apart from a sit! We've been working on teaching him a clicker sign as for my little deaf dog, but I had a feeling he wasn't really making the connection, and our initial attempts to get any sort of eye contact just in the front garden never mind on the pavement were going nowhere. Change of tactic - quick session to sensitise to the LED clicker light and I got the feeling we were cooking on gas, much sharper focus and a thinking brain started to emerge! Moving outside the front door, suddenly not only was I getting some eye contact, when we 'clicked' and rewarded his eyes were coming back to me for more. In that first 10min session we made it out onto the pavement and managed some basic moving-back-ups (game borrowed from Pam Dennison). There's a noticeable re-orient to the 'clicker' and a dramatic difference in his attitude. And yesterday afternoon Farah was positively flirting with him Finn seems happy to be left out of the silliness but I'm afraid that FloozyFarah may have forgotten all about gorgeous Sparky Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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