7 July 2017

Sharing His Space


We had a good ride out this morning but I felt guilty leaving Rick at home although he does give us a wonderful welcome when we get home.  He gets an hour’s walk morning and evening and I always accompany him and Paul for the evening walk.  I just find walking so much more difficult than cycling, my hip and knees suffer as soon as we start to climb (there are a lot of hills around here).  It’s so slow and I really miss feeling the wind in my hair.  I shall persevere and hopefully get fitter.  It’s a pity Rick can’t ride a bike.


When we adopted Rick the refuge warned us that he can be territorial and aggressive in the car.  This goes entirely against his normal docile and loving character.  He has his own duvet in the back of our estate car and was initially quite nervous and growly if anyone approached him when he was in the car.  Paul has been working with him and spends time every day sitting in the boot (trunk), getting Rick to share his space.  It might look crazy but it has worked really well and he is a much happier dog now and seems perfectly relaxed about his place in the car.  Now we just have to try and train him not to bark at white vans.




25 comments:

  1. I like bike riding, my husband does not, so we walk. Desensitizing him to the car is a good idea.

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    1. I don't get any hip pain whatsoever when I'm cycling. I love it.

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  2. You have a lot of patience. Good work with Rick. He looks a delightful companion.

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    1. Paul has more patience than me. I just do the grooming and cuddles.

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  3. Good idea to teach Rick to share his space.
    We have been fortunate that we haven't had any problems with the dogs in the car. Even when we had three, they all loved the car and sat, or lay very comfortably together in the boot. The biggest problem was always getting them out after a trip !

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    1. He's happy to get in and out, he just doesn't like anyone approaching the boot when he's in it.

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  4. They both look very happy.

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  5. I`m the opposite - I can walk for a couple of hours but riding the bike makes my knees ache. I think I need to adjust the height of the saddle.

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  6. I recently was obliged to take Bok with me to the airport (there was a risk of storms), so put his spare basket in the back. He loved it, and even slept a bit. Usually he barks at every uncouth street-dog we see en route.

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    1. Rick's fine once he's in and seems to enjoy travelling. Could get a bit noisy if he barks at every white van when we take him back to the UK!

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  7. If Rick barks at white vans it shows how intelligent he is as all white van men are dodgy characters. Funny to see Paul in the boot of your car!

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  8. YP. - it's a boot (trunk) actually.

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  9. Just a thought - will you need a dog guard between the boot and back seat, so that Rick can travel safely?

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  10. Hello Sue, I had to read twice; you have your very own dog?! I didn't know? But then I do have a lot of catching up to do...
    Greetings Maria xx

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    1. Hello Maria. Lovely to see you back. Yes, we adopted Rick from a dog refuge a few weeks ago. x

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  11. Are you on holiday? Or do I need to send round a search party?

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    1. We are fine. See today's blog, just finding life difficult right now!

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