[Hanneke]

Simply the best dog ever! He has been a fantastic asset to our family!

[Hanneke]

Whilst I am writing my brief update on Oscar, he is curled up by the fire, probably practically IN the fire, if he had his way, and it is only September!!!
Oscar loves life and has been a dream dog since he arrived with us 16 months ago. We are surrounded by small children and the poor guy had all sorts of unintended pulling and pushing happening to him, but it just does not bother him. He is adored in the park where we live and some of the boys ring the doorbell to ask if the dog can come out to play.
He was fairly easy to train and overall is pretty good at the usual stuff. I love the fact that you can run him on the beach for ages without the worry that he’ll run off. He sort of hangs around in our vicinity and seeks out a running buddy in any of the other dogs who happen to be off the lead too. He also is a good long distance runner companion and nicely runs alongside on the lead. It is hard not to boast about him, as he is overall such a friendly and funny chap.
We are incredibly lucky to have him.
He came with us on holiday to Cornwall and did great on the boat, as well as the long drive in the car. Cornwall was fantastic, since all the beaches clearly indicate if dogs are welcome or not, and if they are, everybody runs their dogs off the lead. Great for interaction between dogs AND the owners. The latest pictures were taken there.
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[Hanneke]

Oscar is just back from his first family holiday and what a success it was! Sharing a house with six boys 4 years of age and younger (!!!) is no mean task for any adult, never mind a puppy dog! But he took to his job in great style and was pushed, pulled, dragged, petted and stroked and just enjoyed the company of everyone. In return, there were fabulous runs on the beach, through high grass fields and even up and down some rocks. A couple of dog-buddies up the road made for great chases around the various gardens and local farm. The hunter-instinct was very evident when Oscar proudly arrived with a dead bird and it was hilarious to see him run after swallows and butterflies.
We completed five weeks of obedience training prior to the holidays and with pretty good success. Lead walking is still a bit of a pull when not in front of the group and the odd time, the beach was far more interesting than the reward for coming back to the car, but I have to remind myself that he really only is six months old.
All in all, we consider ourselves very lucky with Oscar in our midst and I truly hope that his three siblings are as happy as Oscar seems to be.
We hope to join the fun day on September 12th, so see you there!
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[Hanneke]

Well, an update as promised. Oscar is with us 4 weeks now and he has settled in nicely. We have had the first two socialization classes and he did well. We received loads of compliments on Oscar’s looks, so it is very good for the soul to walk around with him anywhere!
He is an absolute joy and has become well and truly part of the family. He is fantastic with the boys (who are nearly 1,5 and nearly 3) and I hope Oscar’s siblings are going to find a good home. I noticed some queries on the forum for the other dogs from the same litter. Oscar is pretty straightforward to train and he clearly likes to please. He has a bold streak and loves digging up our garden, particularly if he got a bonio bone and stealing toys from the boys, but hey, life would be boring otherwise. We are still working on "being left home alone", but hopefully that will come with time. We have all the tips from the professionals in place, so I think it will sort itself out soon enough.

Some pictures from this afternoon on Brook Beach, Portrane and the Bonio afterwards.
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[Hanneke]

Glad to see that Nickle is going to his forever home. We adopted his brother Nugget (now Oscar) just over three weeks ago and he is an absolutely adorable dog. Hopefully this is in Nickle’s genes too, and I wish you as much fun with Nickle as we have with his brother!

[Hanneke]

A few days in and we are doing great. The house training is coming on nicely and the accidents are becoming less frequent. Mind you, I am watching Oscar like a hawk, so he is not really getting much of chance to make a mess. I gave him a bath, which he allowed, but did not really enjoy. Oscar seems an intelligent dog and seems to like doing things right, so we are very lucky in that respect.
We have been to the beach every day, despite the poor weather and he loves it. To our surprise, he was rounding the boys up like a collie, really trying to keep everyone together. Very sweet to see. He also is great in the car, having the entire boot all to himself!
Our only minor point so far, is that he howls the house down when he thinks he’s been left alone (and at this stage we have only gone upstairs and he is left behind the baby gates. We are working on that and hopefully he’ll get confident soon enough.

Oscar will be going to training at the end of the month and will get introduced to the dogs class this Saturday. We will update again after that.
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[Hanneke]

Well, Nugget is now renamed Oscar and has moved into his forever home with us this afternoon. He’s having a nap at the moment, after all the excitement of today. Our two little boys are getting to know him and are learning quickly!
Thank you to Jay and Aoife for minding him so well and giving him a new lease of life.
I will keep you posted on the progress he is making (and we are too, no doubt!).
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