Bella, Bess and Cara

feldandjack · Guru

Bella, Bess and Cara

max · Enlightened One

Love the way you wrote this, LOL biggrin

Glad Cara is OK, what a little madam. They do make such a racket but I do not blame you for thinking things were bad, once Cas got caught on electric wire that was round a field for cattle ( it was not switched on at the time ) and what a palaver she made only to have a couple of marks on her underbelly. Bella and Bess sound fantastic and its great that they are getting on so well together. biggrin

Nora

tootsmazza · Enlightened One

LOL, I bet Bella doesn't fall for that one again wink

I'm glad Cara was okay though, she must have given herself a real fright.
I believe the phrase my mother would use is "little besom"
Marie

abbey · Old Hand

Oucheee..that must've hurt..glad she is ok.

Isla · Enlightened One

Love that story. biggrin

feldandjack · Guru

OK I admit it, I'm beat! cry

Bess likes to escape from the run, she doesn't go anywhere (just in to the garden then back in to the run) but I have been going round and round the run trying to foil her departures furious

People come past and laugh at me, with my hammer and assorted fencing. The fence is 6' at the lowest point, and after hiding out, drinking a few gins with the folk next door, we spotted how she gets out. She just jumps the fence, not even at the lowest point, but at the higher part! I'ts going to have to be a covered run for the wee squirt furious

Bella does not attempt to get her large bulk on short legs, over, under or through the fence smile

I'm off for more gin, it won't stop her escaping, she is in Caras bed at the moment, but it makes me feel better about it.

Indiana · Guru

Yes, I've always found alcohol to have a rather therapeutic effect followed closely by memory loss - very good if trying not to think about 6ft fences that can be easily cleared!

feldandjack · Guru

A few gins and a large bar of chocolate never fails to get the brain in gear wink

I've made a few modifications to the run (it looks like a cross between Saughton Jail and Burns's scrap yard) but the wee minx has not escaped. furious

If it remains 'Bess proof' I'll work on making it a bit easier on the eye. The score may have been Bess 1, me 0, but I think we're 1 all now. biggrin

Bess is taking her frustration out on the logs, I don't mind it'll save me spliting them for kindling.

Christine Young · GAL Newsletter Editor

LOL Anne! Cara's dramatic hysterics were so funny and I don't think Bella will be caught out like that again. It's great the dogs are all getting on and you're having such fun with them!

Christine

RhonaW · Master

mmm, perhaps you should be looking out for bogeys, tunnels and little mounds of sand!! Okay, I've watched to many war films in my day - but they are a clever lot our little darlings!!

feldandjack · Guru

Score still '1 all' but I'm still checking for 'digging' biggrin

tootsmazza · Enlightened One

feldandjack wrote:

Score still '1 all' but I'm still checking for 'digging'

Hilarious, Anne, just remember when Mason started daycare and the other dogs were caught trying to dig while he stood 'innocently' a few metres away.
I'd be watching for any gatherings of local dogs on the other side of the run, armed with wirecutters, spades, small incendiary devices etc.... evileye

feldandjack · Guru

S**T,Blast and other bad wordies furious

score now Bess 2, me 1. I can't even fill up on gin as I'm on call this weekend cry

Hubby left Bess in the house with Cara this afternoon, as he didn't want her escaping when no one was here. No disasters in the house, but Bella has taken a major huffy, and ripped the floor out of her kennel. Back to the drawing board for me. I see big £££££££s on the horizon, covering a 12' x20' run aint going to be cheap. Anyone got any ideas? wink

You can't help but love the little angels, can you? evileye

feldandjack · Guru

I've ordered a covered dog run, it's not as big as the one they have, but East Lothian planning dpt. would be out in a jiffy if I tried to cover the one they are in. It's only til we see how thing pan out re. living in the house. A few wee accidents with house training (although there's been none to date) would not be a problem, but Bella has a few issues with 'things' which would result in stuffed things, (furniture, toys etc) being unstuffed and more solid things (chairs, tables, flooring etc.) being chewed in to very small bits furious

Bella is not being BAD she is just doing what she thinks has to be done and we all have to learn to live with each others idiosyncrasies. Compromise is a great thing wink

Indiana · Guru

Don't know if I could compromise on the complete distruction of my furniture!
So far, I've had to deal with the runiation of a wooden floor (nail skid marks all over it) and the chewed bed (easily hidden by a cunning throw), not to mention the chewed chest of drawers (my fault, I left half a chocolate bar in it...) but it's not sooooo bad that you'd notice

(I write all this through gritted teeth wink

)

-- Edited by Indiana at 17:09, 2007-08-11

moptop · Master

Oh Anne, I don't know what the answer is. Time, patience and some good dog training books. Also, some sound advice from people who know their stuff, I guess!! Hopefully, the dogs will settle down in time. It is early days yet.

Yours is one of the reasons why my husband fought so hard about us getting more pets!! He loves animals, but, he always sees the bigger picture and prefers the easy life. We have had our fair share of delinquent dogs in the past !
Jack is an absolute dream and he was more than happy to leave it at that.
I nagged for a year for another dog and I got my wish. Sally has proved to be an absolute dream as well, no issues whatsoever. But, David was worried sick that another dog would upset the happy balance.
However, it's all new to Bess and Bella coming from kennels. Sounds like a bit of separation anxiety in there too. Give it time !  Perhaps, some good agility training would get all their energies out!
Possibly a month from now they will be different dogs!!
Marian.

feldandjack · Guru

Bella and Bess do not seem stressed at all biggrin

they are both as happy as Larry. Bess has gained so much confidence, she is more than happy to leave Bella and go off on her own exploring.
Bella just likes to have 'things' she was not happy at Bess getting put in the house, when she had to stay in the kennel cry

Bess had access to all the 'THINGS' in the house evileye

I love the fact that they are both confident enough to be themselves and have stopped cowering and flipping on to their backs whenever you call them. Sharing our little 'getting to know each other episodes' is very therapeutic for me wink

I like learning to live with dogs, and these two are great when you are in the house with them, but I don't think Bella is ready to be left unsupervised furious

yet! At least if they are in the outdoor run when we are both out, I know they are safe, and so is the furniture.
Bella does try not to steal everything, but she can't help herself. It's a bit like Mason with the cats, not chasing them just isn't an option. furious

Kleptomaniac, that's the word for wee Bella smile

Strange that I can't imagine not having these two, even although they've not been here that long. Thanks to everyone for replying to my ramblings, hubby is just as attached to B+B as me, he's delighted about the new run for them, he was very worried about Bess getting stolen or lost. (I'm just glad he didn't put Bella in the house with Bess, he 's not doggy and so wouldn't have considered the fact the house contents would have been trashed) biggrin

moptop · Master

Sorry Anne, I hope you don't think that I was implying that were not coping.
You are doing a marvelous job and you seem very happy with everything. biggrin

I think it was me, in my own head when I read your posts, thinking, I don't know if I could cope with any destruction in my hoose!! I was just cringing a little, thinking of my own belongings getting destroyed.
I've had lots of rescue dogs with every issue you could think of in the book, especially aggression. We coped with it all and they turned into great dogs.
It gave us tremendous satisfaction, to see, otherwise no hope-rs, turning into very happy, splendid animals. You will be the same.
But, the only thing we have never ever encountered is trashing!   I bought a large dog crate, just prior to Jack coming home with us. I am always prepared and had every eventuality covered. But I did not need it. The only thing Jack ever did chew, was two T.V. remotes when he came. Cost me about £60 for two replacements. He never did it again, as each time I gave him one of his own toys to chew instead, as I firmly said NO, taking the chewed remote off him!!!
I looked out the crate again for Daph coming, just in case of any issues, and I was expecting a few, given her background.
It was put away in the shed again when Sally came, she's an angel.
luckily, you have the outdoor kennels.  Glad your two are settling down fine and just loving their great home and giving you so much pleasure.   That's what it's all about!!
Marian.

Leolurcher · Master

feldandjack wrote:

She just jumps the fence, not even at the lowest point, but at the higher part! I'ts going to have to be a covered run for the wee squirt

Bess...beddie x? Merely keeping up the great tradition of beddie xs keeping us on our toesApart from one of her collies the woman at the boarding kennels where we have boarded Flash our beddie x says that she hasn't seen another dog that can bounce up and hit the wire roof on the kennel run. I have seen him do it. You would think that he was bouncing on a trampoline. It is quite remarkable ..up he goes with his head and legs hanging down and he hits the wire roof with his back.

Almost as remarkable as the tiny space that he can wriggle through under fences . If he cant flatten down enough to duck straight under a fence he throws himself onto his side and does a sideways shuffle underneath it and of course if all else fails he is a digger of holes par excellence.

Hope that Cara in fine after her mishap.
Love
Eleanor Flash and Hazelxxxxx

Leolurcher · Master

Hmmm I was nearly caught out by another of Flash's tricks this morning. He used to do this with Leo and now he is doing it with Hazel. Racing around with a bigger heavier dog he will suddenly run straight towards things like me, fences etc then he will suddenly nick out of the way and the bigger dog crashes into the obstacle. Phew...had a near thing...how Hazel managed to miss me I don't know cry

. She didn't miss Tom a few weeks back biggrin

glad it was him and not me.

Another cunning beddie x trick? who knows.
Eleanorxxxxx

feldandjack · Guru

Bess is good at that one as well, Cara ended up in the pond. I think Cara is getting the measure of these beddie x tricks, now that Bess is super confident Cara has stopped dive bombing her, giving it big RRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRAAHH furious

Beddie x can run almost as fast as a Cara, what Bess lacks in speed, she more than makes up for in manoeuvres biggrin

tootsmazza · Enlightened One

LOL, Mason is very good at the sudden dodge as well, usually when I've called him to come.
He'll come firing towards me and I'll think "finally recall" then at the last minute he darts off to the side evileye

I've always assumed he learnt the moves coursing.
Marie

Leolurcher · Master

feldandjack wrote:

Bess is good at that one as well, Cara ended up in the pond.

you can't help but think that they do it on purpose. Glad Cara wised up to that dodge quickly. My poor Leo had a few nasty crashes before he cottoned on.
Eleanorxxxxxx

abbey · Old Hand

Groan..why does all naughtiness realte straight back to these Beddie x..oh, God, what have i let myself in for....! doh

feldandjack · Guru

Your wee poppet will be with you from the start, so you'll have a head start on me. You can have the joy of watching the wee sausage develop his 'character' and so stay one step ahead of him. biggrin