Holly’s first anniversary

It was a year ago (at the beginning of December 2010) that we got Holly, our second springer spaniel, so she’s been with us now for just over a year.

We adopted her through a dog rescue charity called CAESSR, which stands for Cocker and English Springer Spaniel Rescue - http://www.caessr.org.uk. Margaret had been musing about having a second dog for some time. Gravel is so good that we thought another would be hardly any work – hmm!

I came across CAESSR and, after a home visit, we were passed fit to have a dog. They were in touch pretty quickly and suggested Holly, a three-year-old bitch who was being fostered by a family in Moulton Chapel near Spalding after being brought into care. She’d started out in Ireland and had been given some gundog training. I guess she failed, which is why she came across to England (rescue No 1) and then lived in Portsmouth for a while. The story was that the other dog didn’t get on with her.

So we were to be home No 3 in three years. The house where she was being cared for was a big place, one of those you see a lot in the Fens, where the extension is as big as the original house, and they’d also bought some land at the back where they had a massive fenced paddock. It would be perfect for Gravel as we could let him off the lead and not worry about him running off.

Holly was a nervous little thing. Very small and slight compared to Gravel, but she was friendly. Max had come with us and he was hitting tennis balls with a racquet for the dogs (Gravel, Holly and Debbie – the fosterer/carer’s – two springers). Holly was brilliant at bringing back the ball, unlike Gravel who thinks it’s great to catch it and run off.

It was a bitter day, hard frost and a light dusting of snow – the start of one of the worst winters for many years – so we went inside the house to have a chat. Holly had a bladder weakness caused by a botched spaying and was on a drug called Incurin to keep her bladder tight and, in spite of a few misgivings, we decided to take her.

She came back in the car as good as gold and settled in the house quite well. She likes to be fussed and Max is always happy to oblige. It all seemed to be going very well and, in fairness, it has gone OK. You never know, when you rescue a dog, what it has suffered or experienced. It was hard to say Holly has been mistreated, but she is a very nervous dog. She cowers, she is frightened of new people and of other dogs. When we got her, she was pretty bony and her fur was quite dull and thin.

She certainly has an appetite, she eats her food even more quickly than Gravel (which I would have said was impossible) and she’s very quick across the ground.

The week after we got her Tom and Hannah came up for the weekend (I think he wanted to see her) and then it was Christmas so she had all the family dropping in at various times. She enjoyed the fuss, but was clearly, already far more work than Gravel, who is so laid back and chilled.

Holly having a cuddle with Sam - Christmas 2010

First problem was panic wees. She’s much better now, but meeting new people often saw her lose control of her bladder. Sometimes she’d go into a submissive position on her back and wee, sometimes she’d just wee. Then she was also soiling in the house. Every morning when I got up, she’d have done a poo in the kitchen. Fortunately, they were hard and easy to clean up, but it’s not what you want at 5am! Third problem was the manic barking – sometimes she just runs up and down the garden barking and doing little pirouettes at the end of each run as if she’s trying to catch her tail. In the early days there was also a few growly spats with Gravel as they sorted out who was top dog (it’s Holly by the way).

Margaret had some good advice on keeping her calm and dealing with the soiling from a specialist at CAESSR and having that support made a big difference.

You sort of underestimate dogs. They’re so stoic, but they are very intelligent animals. Just image a person who is not treated brilliantly, shipped to another country, kept in an unhappy home for 18 months, then driven 150 miles north, kept for two weeks, then taken away by complete strangers to another home. It’s no wonder she was stressed and her behaviour is sometimes a little off.

She is now clean in the house, although we still get the odd panic wee, so it’s important to keep her calm. She is top dog, but she depends a lot on Gravel and she’s learned a lot from him.

When we first had her, we gave them both a bone. Holly knew it was food, but she had no idea how to eat it. She couldn’t hold it, so pushed it against the side of her basket where it was held firm and tried to gnaw it with her front body at ground level and her bum sticking up in the air. She’s watched Gravel and now sits happily with a bone held upright between her front paws so she can chew it easily.

She’s also learned to chase birds and other game (so she could be a working springer) and in the summer she caught her first pigeon. It was so funny, she grabbed it and shook it (instinct), but then clearly didn’t like the taste of feathers in her mouth. I don’t think dogs can spit, but Holly came as close as any dog I’ve seen.

She could sit (just about, but was otherwise untrained. She’s still not as good as Gravel, but she can sit, stay, trust and (sometimes) lie down.

Holly clearly had not been played with. She’ll bring a ball back double quick and do it until she drops, but if you try to play with her, especially a chase or “try to grab-me” game, which Gravel loves, she just flips on her back into the submissive position.

On a walk, she now sniffs scents like a proper spaniel and, incredibly, when we got her, she couldn’t swim, or at least she didn’t swim. For a springer spaniel, that’s extraordinary. She’s learnt from Gravel and also had a sink-or-swim lesson last winter when the thaw started and she fell through ice along the avenue towards Toneham. You’ve never seen so much panic splashing. We would have pulled her out, but she quickly managed to get back onto solid ice.

Holly, ears flapping in true spaniel style, runs through the long grass
along Toneham. Pictured by Tom Rayner.

One area where Holly does excel is recall. Gravel is so bad – once he picks up a scent, his nose works overtime and his ears go on strike – but Holly is always looking to see where you are; she does go further away now, but will generally come back quickly, even if there’s a really interesting scent to follow.

She’s improving all the time and is now definitely one of the family, we wouldn’t be without her. Every dog is an individual and Holly has some characteristics which I’ve not seen in other dogs. One of the funniest is her vanity. Dogs are not supposed to be able to recognise themselves in a mirror, but Holly does. When we first got her and she saw her reflection, she thought it was another dog and started barking and running around. She’s now worked out that it’s her she can see and she definitely looks and admires herself. Sometimes when she trots past the patio doors, she has a good look at herself and literally puffs up – just like me admiring my reflection in shop windows. I’ve never seen another dog do that.

Rescue dogs are an unknown quantity and do require more work than a puppy, which comes with no baggage and can be trained to your specification. With an adult rescue dog, you have to work with the dog and also everything else it’s been taught (and experienced) along the way. It’s very satisfying when it comes right and sometimes it requires the patience of a saint.

One of the delights of the summer - ice creams!