Meet our newest family member, Finn the Dog. Finn is a 26 month old Welsh springier spaniel, with boundless energy and love. He came to us through Lorraine’s best friend, who inherited him from her ex-husband when he died. Jackie unfortunately already had two dogs and two cats and the five of them were not getting along to well, as Finn for one does not like cats, and two he is so full of energy that he was driving them all nuts. So Jackie asked Lorraine if we would take him in, and Lorraine worked on my soft side to get us all to meet for a hello. Well I am not that hard hearted especially when it comes to dogs. Once I saw Finn and spent an afternoon with him I fell in love with the dog and agreed to take him in. Since that fateful day, 18 days ago Finn and I have been inseparable.
Finn is a wonderful dog and has many fantastic traits and skills, he does have some PTSD moments from his original owner whom we suspect did not always treat Finn right, but we are working on overcoming those obstacles and so far have been pretty successful with treats, love, trust, and respect. It is amazing what those four things can do for a dog! So much so that Finn is now walking with me leash free and comes on command. He is learning to camp with us and has already gone on one RV trip where he did amazingly wonderful, considering it was his first ever camping trip. We have a few issues when it comes to trusting people outside of his family group but that is to be expected. Eventually I will break his habit of charging people at full speed and barking as if he is going to bite. This is a common issue with this breed and it can be dealt with by properly socializing the dog; all it takes is time and love.
Overall I am very happy with Finn’s progress with us and how he has adapted to his new, home, new Family, and new life. What a huge change for him over the last 18 days, and for us as well. We went from having a 16.5yr old American Eskimo who sleeps most of the day away and for exercise walks around the block at a snail’s pace; To having a dog that is on the move 16hrs a day and never stops wanting to play or go for walks. In the first week we had him I was walking him three times a day and I lost 10lbs doing it! What an Adventure! I knew there was something missing in my life and that was an active dog. So I guess Finn and I kind of found one another and now have become inseparable friends.
At the end of this week we will be going on Camping trip #2 and I am looking forward to again teaching Finn about camping and boundaries, and how to stay in our campsite without a leash. Of course there is the walks and the play that I know Finn is looking forward too, as well as I am. I will look to post more stories on the website about Finn’s adventures and how he adapts to camping with us. I also hope to post some videos of him in the new future. As you can imagine with a dog of this nature I have been very busy just trying to keep up with him and get him on the right track with us. Busy yes, but full of Fun too!
Lorraine and I feel very blessed to have Finn in our lives and we are looking forward to spending many years with this Dog enjoying all of the moments and laughter that he brings to our lives. Oh..If your wondering how Annie is dealing with this all, he is doing fine. He and Finn have developed a truce and they seem to be all right with one another, though Finn has to be careful around Annie as he is young and powerful and could hurt Annie accidentally. So we have been working also very hard at socializing the two dogs together so that they form a relationship. So far so good! Of course Annie is still #1 in our hearts and in our family.
Till next time
Happy Trails,
The Glampurs
