A new addition!

[cymrucat]

Hi all,

I wasn't sure which way was best to update you all, but our little family is getting ready to welcome Poppy, the Cocker Spaniel!!

A very chance meeting with an old friend, led to discussions around their need to surrender Poppy due to various sad circumstances. They had tried everything to keep her, but over a coffee they were keen to know about CDH as they see our pics of our walks on facebook & Instagram. We talked some more about Poppy, & my heart began to beat a little faster, finding out all about her.

We arranged to meet to go for a walk, mainly so that I could offer answers & info to the family about CDH. I will no doubt surprise you when I say that upon meeting Poppy, all four of us fell completely in love with her!

A few more walks ensued, followed by a visit to our house & a meeting with our cat...supervised by experienced dog trainers. Upon speaking with Canine Citizens & our vet, we made the decision to bring Poppy into our family :-)

She is a total joy, and we're all very excited! I now understand about there being the 'right dog'... Plus the family who needed to rehome her are able to still see her & watch her grow with us :-)

We are still keen to be as involved as possible with CDH, and as I'm typing everyone in our workplace has brought me bags of stuff from recent spring cleaning!!!
We were so impressed to see 37 new vols inducted this weekend!

I'll post some pics & hopefully we'll be down soon!

Yay!!!
New dog owners, the Elliott's xxx

[Baglady]

aw, can't wait to see Poppy Elliott! So happy for you Ellie, you've shown the most extraordinary patience waiting for 'the right one' to come along....

[cherylW]

Hi Ellie! Chuffed to bits for you, so lovely hear you've got a new addition. I just knew the right one would find you :-) x

[oscarsmum]

Oooh - congratulations, and we MUST have some photos - pleeeeeeeeeeeeeease.

[cymrucat]

Hello!

Hopefully I can get some pics of Poppy, she's like a blur! 

It's been our first weekend as new dog owners, and I think we're training well! We've a lot to learn, but so has Poppy, and we're doing ok after two days.

Our first day was a walk in Forest Fawr along the sculpture trail, followed by lunch at the Forest Tea Rooms - Poppy was very well behaved, and is treat orientated, so we managed to practice some basic commands. She is really quick to learn, and has already grasped 'sit', 'wait', 'down', 'floor' and 'come'...I'm going to need some more training treats!! 
We had a good play in the afternoon to give her some mental stimulation as well as the physical side, and she loved to play catching bubbles with the girls!
A good evening and night followed, and we're keeping to a steady and consistent routine so far.

Today we set off for the Elliott's fave place in the world - the beach 
Poppy was in her element, bounding all over the place, following the girls over the rocks and into pools - she is a water pooch! We knew she had recall training, so we spent an hour or so using Mum's 10m training lead to help with our recall - we'd let her go so far on the lead, then call her back and rewarded her each time and made a fuss. She got the hang of this and towards the end of our time on the beach, was coming to us without calling, and ignored the treat in favour of a fuss!
She is a little uncertain with other dogs, and comes to heel very quickly when they are around - I think it's because the dominant dog in her last home may have taken her confidence a bit. But we tried socialisation today with my Mum's dogs, and she soon made friends!

I feel like she's been with us ages! We've got a 'New Pet' check with our vet this week, and then hopefully we're starting the beginners training in a couple of weeks 

Otley our cat is fascinated with her - as is Poppy with him; we're taking introductions very slowly, and so far there hasn't been any uncertain signs...they seem to share the family space.

Anyway - here are some pics!!
Really hope to see you all soon, Ellie x

Starting out on our first walk :-)


Is there something on my nose?!

Beautiful girl :-)

One tired dog!

Off finding treasure with Carys!

Saying 'I loves the beach!'

Learning to play ball with Paul!

After a swim in the rock pools!

[cherylW]

Aww Ellie she's gorgeous!! Looks like she's settling in brilliantly

[Baglady]

Room for 2 Ellie? Have you seen Timmy?

Poppy looks absolutely gorgeous, I'm so happy for you all