Whisper

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helen&tony
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Re: Whisper

Post by helen&tony » Sun Oct 12, 2014 5:13 am

Hi
Excellent...she'll get there...
Cheers
Helen
In the beginning there was nothing , then God said "Let there be Light".....There was still nothing , but ,by crikey, you could see it better.
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Re: Whisper

Post by philpdr » Sun Oct 12, 2014 9:06 pm

Brilliant story,hope she soon settles in. =D>
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Re: Whisper

Post by BigPanzer » Fri Oct 17, 2014 11:09 am

Hi,

The poor girl has been here for a week now and occasionally she is emerging from here crate when the house is quiet.

For the first few days she would neither eat nor drink and I was getting very concerned, but her appetite is returning and she has started to drink.

We have somebody from Battersea coming to see her this pm together with an ITV camera crew. Don't know what they expect to get of her, as soon as she realises she is being watched she heads straight for her hidey hole.

No idea why they are coming, but if they want an interview I hope I can get in one or two of my own thoughts such as don't buy a dog from a puppy farm/backyard breeder because she is one of the consequences, and to give support to a rescue organisation by dog walking or fostering.

Peter
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Re: Whisper

Post by Bongoplod » Fri Oct 17, 2014 11:42 pm

I watch the show every week,saw the programme featuring whisper,and look forward to her next slot on the show.
Ill also look forward to your updates on the forum

Brian
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Re: Whisper

Post by BigPanzer » Sat Oct 18, 2014 2:53 am

Hi Brian,

Heartbreaking wasn't it, and she is a beautiful dog. Battersea called her a Staffie and there is quite a bit of Staffie in her, but I think there is some lab in there too. And she also has the elegant gait that makes me think lurcher or greyhound.

We had the TV here today. Really good, patient, competant and sympathetic camera man. After I'd watched him for a bit I realised how good he was with her and asked him if he'd done any wildlife work. Apparently yes, in Africa. There was also a rather nice young lady from Battersea who I think is one of their "big" people in the publicity dept. This has me slightly worried, we didn't plan on this - we thought we might have to do a small piece to camera when we went to see her, followed possibly by a short update in a few weeks time.
However, having been involved in the rescue and fostering of abused pooches (mostly Staffies) it is something that is very close our hearts so after a lot of discussion we told Battersea that we would be as helpful as we could, but no press knocking at the door.

They were here for about 3 hours and Whisper was a star! Chris, the guy with the camera set it up on a tripod at the far end of the garden and we ran cables out to the Bongo and hid in there. SWMBO, to whom Whisper responds to better than me (she is terrified of men) coaxed her out of her crate with cheese (she seems to prefer D.Glos to Cheddar but we won't be buying it from Tesco any more - see Helens link) and Chris got some good shots of her in the hall and in the garden. Another good use for a Bongo and I didn't have to run the engine!
There some great shots of SWMBO feeding cheese to all 3 mutts together in the hall.
You wouldn't believe the lengths they go to. I wasn't allowed to wear my baseball cap because it has a Nike logo on it. And SWMBO was supposed to hide the makers name on the packet of dogfood she used.
I didn't ask when it will be broadcast, but I think they are working about 5 weeks ahead, so probably episode 9 or 10.
The technology they have available these days is fantastic.

Whisper has progressed well so far. She has a good healthy appetite and has started to drink normally, but we are going to watch for any weight gain due to lack of activity. What I think might happen is that she will progress quite rapidly back to the state she was at when Karen had her on foster and after that things will become slower.
She is beginning to trust SWMBO a little now and that is a good start. And I think there could be the beginnings of a friendship between her and Kam the Kollie.
She will now sometimes lick my hand if I put it into the door of the crate, but I don't want to put it in too far or too often because that is her "space". After she has licked it she will let me tickle her head and ears with something that looks suspiciously like pleasure, but she will withdraw her front paws if I touch them.
When she is in the garden her tail is coming up now.


Cheers

Peter
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Re: Whisper

Post by helen&tony » Sat Oct 18, 2014 4:31 am

Hi Peter
If she is likely to be a while before she can be exercised, I wonder if a system similar to lurcher training might be handy :-
Rig up some pulleys in the garden, and have one that's motor-driven. run a loop of string round, and tie a toy mouse on....darned thing should rocket round the loop, and it can be switched when nobody else is in the garden....5 minutes to set up!
Cheers
Helen
In the beginning there was nothing , then God said "Let there be Light".....There was still nothing , but ,by crikey, you could see it better.
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Re: Whisper

Post by BigPanzer » Sun Oct 19, 2014 10:44 am

Hi Helen,

That's a good idea, I've seen a similar thing being used to drag a lure for terrier racing. Unfortunately our garden is a bit small. I had also been thinking of something along the lines of a radio controlled rat or similar using some of the multitudinous collection of r/c bits lying around in my "man cave" aka the back bedroom, but the same applies.

Hopefully it will not be too long before she is adventurous enough to go outside the front door on a long line - we have a lovely large green out there, no traffic and normally deserted during school hours.

My next big worry is we are starting the firework season. She heard the first ones in the distance last night and did the fastest run for her crate I have seen so far.

Cheers

Peter
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Re: Whisper

Post by helen&tony » Sun Oct 19, 2014 3:18 pm

Hi Peter
I tried training our Willow on a 15 metre lead when she first came....with her it was a waste of space....she is either the most stupid dog EVER, or in true saluki/ greyhound style, a bit too intelligent!....I bet you'll get more luck with Whisper!! :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol:
Fireworks....we get that on New Year...our lot go out to watch!...but, yes, they are a blinkin' pest...and I don't think they should be sold....I remember as a child our neighbour setting fire to their French doors :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: ...Dad went to put out their box of exploding fireworks
Cheers
Helen
In the beginning there was nothing , then God said "Let there be Light".....There was still nothing , but ,by crikey, you could see it better.
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Re: Whisper

Post by roosmith » Tue Nov 18, 2014 1:13 pm

What is the latest on Whisper, Peter? Interested to get an update now!
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Re: Whisper

Post by notlob » Wed Nov 19, 2014 12:25 am

Pete,

My lad loves the Paul O'Grady programme (The family outvote me and we have to turn over from George Clarke and his Amazing Spaces), So am I right that Whisper was featured last week along with you and your good lady at home?

Excellent work by Battersea and you both!

Dave
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Re: Whisper

Post by roosmith » Wed Nov 19, 2014 9:11 am

notlob wrote:Pete,

My lad loves the Paul O'Grady programme (The family outvote me and we have to turn over from George Clarke and his Amazing Spaces), So am I right that Whisper was featured last week along with you and your good lady at home?

Excellent work by Battersea and you both!

Dave
I get outvoted too, however with a Bongo connection however tenuous, I've been following this story!
Vivaro named Stewart however ex '96 4wd 2.5TD owner.
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Re: Whisper

Post by BigPanzer » Wed Nov 19, 2014 5:15 pm

Hi Folks,

What was on TV last Thurs. was actually recorded almost 6 weeks ago when she had only been with us for a week, she has come on quite a bit since then.
She is continuing to come out of her shell and we are now able to let her loose on the green outside the front door, where she loves to burn off some energy with a good run, either on her own or chasing round with our other 2 mutts. She still has little recall, but it is coming on slowly. When she is out there her tail is up and we get that famous Staffie grin. Fortunately the green is traffic free and she still has to be within sight of our front door so she has somewhere to go if she gets spooked.
At the moment she is still terrified of men, not just me, but any man so most of the work with her has to be done by SWMBO, who puts her on a long line and is working very hard to bring her in close so she will walk properly with her. Cheese is a big help here and every day there is a slight improvement.
What we have is a fully grown, strong, fast moving dog, but almost completely untrained, unsocialised and with all the knowledge of a 12 week old puppy. It makes for an interesting time, but fortunately she has a lovely personality otherwise we would not be able to give her the freedom she has. We are both loving having her here and I have no doubt that, given time and a lot of patience we can make a "proper dog" out of her. She is keen to learn, but her attention span is quite low so the tuition has to be in short spasms with a good run in between them.

Roo - the only Bongo connection so far is that is where the cameraman hid with his monitor and the rest of his gear when he was filming her in the garden. When she becomes trustworthy on a lead we will be able to get her in there and start taking the 3 of them out to various places to give them a change of scenery and smells. This can't come soon enough because we still have to test her with livestock. There is a lot of farmland around here and it is vital she learns to behave herself with sheep, cattle and horses.

She is proving to be a delightful and very time consuming lady and neither of us begrudge one single second we spend with her. Hopefully now I'm retired we will be able to make one or two local-ish meets next year and some of you might get to meet her - along with the other two mutts.

Cheers

Peter
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Re: Whisper

Post by roosmith » Thu Nov 20, 2014 1:46 pm

Thanks for the update Peter and fingers crossed it carries on in the same vein. We know the slow long road only too well, our mutt took 15 steps back a couple of weeks ago when someone let off a rocket a couple of gardens away, while she was outside. She came to us scared of her own tail and she'd made loads of progress. We're now back to walks being down sideways while she checks what is following her. Again no time is spent begrudgingly!
Vivaro named Stewart however ex '96 4wd 2.5TD owner.
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Re: Whisper

Post by the.sasquatch » Thu Nov 20, 2014 2:20 pm

This is a wonderful story to read :) really brightened up my day. I kind of know what it's like, I took in a cat that had not been treated all that well. It took him a good 3 months to settle in and get used to me and his surroundings. It probably took another 6 months to get used to having people come and go, untill then whenever someone came round he would hide under the bed till they were gone. 2 years on and he is the friendliest cat i've ever met :) now if anyone comes to the door he is the 1st to greet them. Still can be nervous at times but it has certainly been worth all the effort.

I wish you all the best with Whisper and I'm sure with all the love and caring you are giving she will get her confidence back and be a happy healthy dog
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Re: Whisper

Post by helen&tony » Thu Nov 20, 2014 2:28 pm

Hi
Peter...
Glad she's doing well...at least when you get improvement, you know it will continue...we thought that with Willow she'd always be a bit of a problem, but she settled . She's an old lass now, but still shows lots of "gutsyness " from time to time
Roo...
Funnily enough, most of our dogs have ignored fireworks...and the last few have been trained to ignore gunfire, as there are often pesky hunters around...gggrrr....I keep meaning to ask when it's open season on humans that shoot at animals :!:
Cheers
Helen
In the beginning there was nothing , then God said "Let there be Light".....There was still nothing , but ,by crikey, you could see it better.
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