Nelson - updates

[zuznana]

I have started this new topic, just to keep Ann and Paul and everyone else up to date with Nelson's progress

7.10.2008-Tuesday

Well, last night, Nelson was put to test with the washing machine, tumble dryer and hoover.................and it didn't seem to faze him at all.

This morning, we forgot to close the living room door, so our little darling went upstairs. I was worried about him coming down, but he just raced down.Maybe a bit too fast as he almost didn't make the corner, but all was good.

The only problem we have is the separation anxiety. When we close him in the kitchen, he whines. So Gary stayed in the living room last night with the intention of teaching him slowly, but when I woke up in the morning, Gary was asleep on the sofa and Nelson on the floor, so I think we will have to keep him in the living room and see where we go from there.

And Nelson is not liking Yorkshire terriers. Lol. Thankfully, the owner's friends had a rescue grey, so he understood, that Nelson is not bad dog, just does what he was always doing before he came to us.

8.10.2008 - Wednesday

Well, well, well. What can I say about last night............BRILLIANT. Not a sound until he heard Ryan about 7 am. I think the separation anxiety wasn't from us, but from his sofa. I have a feeling that's where he slept last night. I left him here, with the TV on and didn't have to get up at night, so am very happy bunny.

And he is more and more like a "normal" dog on the walks, with sniffing everything and not looking around as much for things to chase. He did see Charlie (neighbors cat) in the morning, when I opened the door and wanted to run, but got stopped and Charlie run away and Nelson just kept walking.

And he now knows what driveway to turn into when we are going home.

And he has been microchipped yesterday and Gary said he was quite vocal with it. Poor baby. But at least it's done now.

9.10.2008 - Thursday

All was well at night again and we didn't hear from Nelson until the morning, when Ryan woke him up with his talking (Ryan talk very loudly in his cot, because now we have Nelson, Ryan is not aloud to come out, so he need to let us know he is awake.....and Nelson hears that downstairs) ;D

But we had our first hurdle today. But nothing that quick phone call from Ann and bit of her advice (thank you so much for calling so quickly) won't sort out.

We were letting Nelson to get use to us and our routine in his own pace and didn't enforce much of a routine on him. And that's where we went wrong. We now know that and working on it. Nelson is very clever boy. I had to tell him few times now to go to his bed instead of a sofa (for his quiet time) and after few tries, I think he realized that his bed is in the kitchen for his own good, not as a punishment.

So really all is good and it will get sorted. Nelson is my baby boo, but really, he is Gary's more then my dog. Which is not really fair as now us girls are outnumbered by boys. ;D (Aimee and me, Ryan,Gary and Nelson. )

[greytnutter]

Hey Zuzanna

Glad to hear that things are going well!! Love all the pictures and hope that your son is happier with Nelson now.

Doesn't like Yorkies - I'll have to get Pongo to have a word with him. After we got Pongo I came home from work to find no Pong !! Went down the garden to find a cartoon sized hole in the fence!!!

I raced round to the neighbours to find he had pawed at their door, been let in and spent around 7 hours (I was late home that day) playing and sharing a bed with their miniture yorkie!! It was hanging off his face playing and being a big pest & Pong loved it!!! But a cat - NO!!!

Anyway, plenty of us have had issues with sep anxiety so feel free to ask!!

Just to let you know that Nelson will be becoming famous soon. I am making Christmassy notelets and Beverley is making proper cards both with him on!!! Pictures will be in the website soon!!!

Alie

Alie

[zuznana]

I think that any advice on how to deal with SA is very welcome. And I can't wait for the christmas card. I will deffinately be getting some. After all, my family in PRague haven't seen him yet and what a better way of sending them pictures. ;D

[zuznana]

I am gonna just keep modifying the first post here, rather then replying all the time, so keep checking the first post for updates on Nelson. ;D

[zuznana]

OK, won't modify as it wouldn't show as update.....sorry about that.

12.10.2008 - Sunday

Well, we had our ups and downs.......downs was the night from Friday to Saturday.........he wouldn't settle at all. I found out yesterday, that he even woke our neighbor up. And we didn't even leave him alone too long, just about few minutes when he woke us up and me getting downstairs.

We had put a baby gate on the door between kitchen and living room so Nelson gets some peace from Ryan.

Nelson definitely likes his walks. One longer one in the morning (still not keen on small dogs though. lol), one long one in the evening and few short ones with the kids during a day.........saying that, it's more like walking the kids as I can't take a pram, so Ryan plays up and keeps stopping and not moving.

As our garden is now secure, we thought Nelson will love it there, but he is still getting use to it and doesn't go overly mad there yet. But he does in the morning inside before a walk.....he just runs around like a loon. I'm not sure how he can do that as he is so big and when he is mad, our house seem awfully small for him. ;D

He also started playing with his toy on few more occasions, so that's good. But we had to claim our sofa back as Nelson was getting a bit territorial over it with the kids, so he is not happy about that, and still tries to jump on. Like this morning......he was soooooooo funny. He jumped up and put his ears down, puppy eyes, the works.....because he knew he is not to sit there. Didn't get down when told, so I had to try and get him down. But he wouldn't budge, so i hold him under his legs and had to pull him off. I though once his front legs are off, he will get down.but NO, not Nelson, So I had to basically pull him down even more, lay the front of his body on the floor and then hold the back of his body and pull it down the same way........just very funny to everyone, even Nelson as he spread his body on the floor waiting for his belly to be rubbed.

[zuznana]

14.10.2008 - Tuesday

Well, Nelson has settled over night hopefully. We haven't heard him now for couple of nights, so all is good.

And he also seems more chilled and relaxed, but still unsure of the kids. Ryan more then Aimee, but we are hoping he will get use to them. We don't let Ryan to hassle him too much and with the gate between the kitchen and living room, everyone is getting some peace and quiet.

Nelson definitely loves his walk and every time we are in the garden, he goes to the side gate as to say "come on, what are you waiting for". He now goes in the garden without his muzzle and lead and is OK. But yesterday evening, we were gonna let him in the garden and were very lucky that I did hold his collar, because Charlie (the cat) was sitting right outside of our kitchen door.........hmmmm, that was not good.

And Nelson is also quite use to Benson the Dalmatian and lets him wander around the garden and the kitchen......but still just tolerating him. He is not much for playing and jumping and lets Benson know.

[gazzara]

Well I think I should pitch in and add my 2 cents worth.

In short, Nelson is an absolute dream come true of a dog. Over the last week and a bit I think he is starting to settle in really well. Yes, there were a couple of teething problems with Ryan but all seemed to be resolved and Nelson is definitely starting to find his feet, is a lot more relaxed (even with the chaos of the day - he just takes it in his stride) and is absolutely perfect.

On walks he likes to walk beside you and has even learnt to stop at the road and wait until I tell him to go. He walks past many cats without even flinching but there are a few pesky ones who do not realise how close to getting hurt they were. Lets put it this way, I would have got them before Nelson would have. A case in point was a couple of nights ago. We were walking and Nelson spotted a cat who ran around the corner. Now if the cat had sat still and not ran, Nelson would not have got jumpy and wanted to chase (well, what do you expect him to do, lol). I kept him close to me and we saw the cat over the road crouched down. Nelson was totally fine with him like that and we just ambled past without Nelson battering an eye lid. That was until the cat decided to go into prowling mode. i thought that the cat must be on something to try this but sure enough he kept on stalking Nelson whilst crossing the road. Nelson picked up on this and he kept a shap eye and was getting ready to chase. I had to then keep Nelson's eyes forward but look behind me as to not let the cat get too close. It was the maddest thing I had ever seen, lol. But all was well.

Today was a big test for us all in which Nelson passed with absolute flying colours. I had a photography job on so Zuzana had to mind the shop with Ryan while I went on this job. This meant leaving Nelson for a couple of hours on his own (for the first time since we have had him). I expected to come back to a dog barking for his owner with a bit of poo or wee but came back to absolute nothing apart from Nelson with the biggest, waggiest tale you had ever seen.

He is absolutely adorable and really fitting in with everyone now really well. We have installed a baby gate too so he can get some peace if needed when the kids are too loud, he is learning a lot of commands and now, as Zuzana has said, sleeping through the night well. He loves his walks, he loves the garden. We have even had a run together while he is on the lead. OK, so I cannot outpace him and I am sure he is chuckling to himself when we run but at least he can do some.

[zuznana]

16.10.2008 - Thursday

Well, if we thought cats are bad, you should see Nelson, when he sees a fox...OMG, I though he was gonna rip my arm off....lol. I am careful on walks and look around a lot to see and to be more aware of any cats around, but yesterday, it was dark and I didn't even spot the fox until it was too late. Poor Nelson, he so wanted to get it.

And this morning, he had his first mad moment in the garden and ran around like a loon. Big one. It was lovely to see. Then he heard people taking kids to school and jumped up on the big side fence and just looked over it.........."I could really jump over it if I wanted to" look on his face when I called him.

And he also met my mother-in-law's dog - Summer, the Labrador - and all is good. Nelson seem very tolerant of big dog in his house. But there is something about Nelson as both his friends (Benson the boy and Summer the girl) want to hump him. He does not like that. ;D

He really is coming out of his shell with us, but as he is still quite unsure of Ryan, we are keeping them separate (with the baby gate so no close contact, but they both can still see each other and Ryan can stroke him) and only give them limited time together for Nelson tog et use to Ryan.

Nelson does respond to his name and to being called to us...when he wants to. lol. But really, he is very good when left on his own and now seems to sleep through the night.

The only thing with Nelson is, that he starts barking and whining in the morning a lot....and I really miss being woken up by my alarm clock rather then Nelson. ;D ;D

[zuznana]

17.10.2008 - Friday

Hee hee, today was a big day for Nelson. First thing in the morning, Gary took him for his walk and this guy stopped his car and put the window down. So Gary thought that he wants directions...it was about 7ish in the morning. But this guy started talking about Nelson. How gorgeous he is and so on. Then he got out of the car and said some more about how beautiful he is, what a great colour (blue) and how well he looks. He also mentioned that his wife told him there is another greyhound around (by that time he said that they have a female grey)....anyway, he was very talkative and it turns out that he works for the greyhound rescue in Brighton and lives around here. So that was very nice to hear about Nelson.

And in the afternoon, I took Nelson to the town. The walk is about 20-30 mins and we walked past road works, where they were using the hydraulic hammer....it didn't even faze Nelson. He was very good. And in town, he was a star, lots of people didn't faze him either (not that many as Seaford is a small town), but he didn't like it in our shop......perhaps computer games are just not Nelson's thing.

But on the way home, I walked along the main road and Nelson is not keen on all the cars and first short cut he saw, he turned into. It's a bit weird how the loud noise from road works didn't bother him, but cars, that are not a loud bother him.

And he started jumping up on the counter in the kitchen and started eating food, so you could say he is really getting use to the home life. Now we have to get use to putting everything away. lol.

He is wagging his tail now more every day. So that's good, but no change with the kids, but with time, I'm sure he will.

[zuznana]

19.10.2008 - Sunday

Big day today....Nelson wagged his tail when Ryan was stroking him. That is a big breakthrough for Nelson. He hasn't done that yet. I'm so pleased. ;D ;D ;D

[zuznana]

23.10.2009 - Thursday


Nelson is still unsettled at night sometimes, but not when we go out. He seems fine and our neighbor doesn't hear him when we are out.....so I don't understand why he does it at night, when we are home.

And he can open a door between our kitchen and living room. So very crafty boy.

He does greet us with very waggy tail now and it's lovely to see.

[zuznana]

28.10.2008 - Tuesday

Well, Nelson has been OK over night now and only woke us up today at 6.30........but I blame the clock going back an hour.

And yesterday, I wanted to buy some papers on my morning walk and Nelson couldn't go inside, so I had to leave him waiting outside (with constantly looking at him and the shopkeeper thinking I'm rude, that I don't even look at him when I'm paying ). But Nelson has been waiting patiently and didn't even make a sound or try to jump.

He is much more confident around us now and always comes to me when I'm on the sofa and pokes me with his nose and tries to climb up on the sofa too.

Nelson is just putting up with Ryan, but yesterday morning, the kids woke up (and were naughty, because Aimee took Ryan downstairs without coming to get us). So I jumped up and rushed down, but I heard Nelson wagging his tail so much at the kids (it was like an earthquake). ;D ;D

And last night, we were in the garden and someone let off some firework and Nelson didn't even blink. He did look at the direction, but didn't freak out or anything. ;D ;D

and also, he responds to us more and when we call him from the garden, he will come to us......given he doesn't choose to use his "selective hearing" technique (I think he picked it up from the kids. lol )

[margaret1345]

These updates are great Zuznana, it looks like Nelson has finally realised this is where he wants to be and the kids come as part of the deal. I hope things just get better and better for you all.

[zuznana]

29.10.2008 - Wednesday
[/color]
Last night, at about half past twelve, Ryan woke up with terrible cough, so I had to go downstairs to get a medicine. So I turned the light on in a hallway and was expecting a waggy tail (we have to go to our kitchen through a living room, where Nelson sleeps)....but nothing. Nelson was fast asleep on the sofa. So I put the light on, in case he wakes up, so he can see that's me.......and again, nothing. It wasn't until I put the light in the kitchen, Nelson woke up. Bless him.

So here are some things, that show, how dogs adjust to family life and really are like their owners

Nelson farts so much........................reminds me of Gary ;D ;D

Nelson have selective hearing.............reminds me of the kids ;D ;D

Nelson sleeps a lot............................reminds me of myself ;D ;D

Nelson poos everywhere (out)............reminds me of Ryan ;D ;D

Nelson likes peace and quiet...............reminds me of myself again ;D ;D

[lin]

;D ;D ;D

[zuznana]

31.10.2008 - Friday

As the time goes, Nelson is becoming much more confident with us....or shall I say comfortable? He will quite happily pinch food of peoples plates and kids hands.......with people still there and eating. You would think that we are starving him. lol.

But I think, that he has a split personality....well, quite a few personalities. Here are some of them

The bear - I'm hibernating over winter and will not come out in the garden for love or money. ;D

The helicopter - I will show you that if I spin my tail fast enough, I'm a helicopter and it will work (because he doesn't just wag his tail from side to side, but all the way around) ;D

The torpedo - need I say more? ;D

The grumpy old men - Just need slippers and pipe and will be happy. ;D

But seriously, we can see changes in him every day. Couple of days ago, in the morning, he got one of his mad moments. He was running around like a loon again. And Aimee completely freaked out. I actually had to put the kids behind a sofa (the sofa cuts off a bit of our room, where the computer is). Nelson was so funny, but he would have knocked them over if they stood in his way. Ryan loved it though. And yesterday, Nelson started playing with his toy so we were throwing it to him and the kids joined in and everyone had fun............for about a minute. After that, Nelson just stretches on the sofa and won't budge.

Oh and Aimee already planned next Halloween for us. We didn't go this year as I don't really do Halloween, but Aimee wants to, so she decided that next year, she will be a pink witch, I will be the same, Ryan will be a pumpkin and Nelson will be a skeleton....which I think will suit him very much. Shame we have to wait whole year. ;D

[zuznana]

6.11.2008 - Thursday

I have been meaning to put here, that Aimee renamed Nelson to Snowy Bowie Reinie Bainie.

And last night, when all the fireworks kicked off, Nelson didn't even blink. Never bothered him a bit. What a brave little man. We are soooooooooooooooooo proud of him. ;D

[zuznana]

7.11.2008 - Friday

Poor Nelson. He must think we are big mean people. Putting aside the amount of times we stepped on his feet......he is very quiet when he is sneaking up on us. Bless him. But this morning, there was a BIG accident in the kitchen.

You know how we wrote that he barks in the morning? Normally, we get up and let him out straight away, but never associated the barking with the toilet as much. More to do with him hearing Ryan and wanting the company. But yesterday afternoon, he came to me and barked. I thought it was odd as he never does it when we are downstairs. So I let him out and he had poo immediately.

So this morning, when he barked and woke me up, I really wished I rushed down straight away, but as I had a stomach bug for last few days, unfortunately, I had to go to the bathroom and couldn't get down straight away. And when I did, there was a big wee under half of our table and 2 chairs. Poor Nelson, he must have been desperate. And you could see he thought he had done something wrong, so I just gave him big cuddle and told him it's ok as it wasn't his fault. After all, it would have been me or Nelson and Nelsons accident it's easier to clean. lol. So he got cheery again after realizing it wasn't the end of the world.

And also last night was the first time, he dragged a carrier bag full of rubbish into his bed. What a cheeky monkey.

[margaret1345]

I love reading about Nelsons progress and how he is fitting in with the family. All greyhounds seem to think rubbish is fun, My old greyhound boy Archie when he was younger broke into the bowling green to raid the rubbish bin in there. My son had to crawl through a hole in the hedge to get him out.

[zuznana]

15.11.2008 - Saturday

I haven't put an update for some time. Nelson is getting better and better. He is getting use to Ryan really well and we don't have to leave him in the kitchen at all now. He doesn't really need that quiet time anymore and doesn't like it. He knows now, that Ryan is very boisterous boy and if he is in Nelson's face, Nelson will put his head away and is telling us this way to tell Ryan to leave him alone.

He is asleep on the sofa at the moment as the kids play around him and he has no intention of waking up at all.

He is definitely getting cheekier and cheekier. He will steal a food left on a plate or take a rubbish out of a bag (or the whole carrier bag) in his bed.

And we had some really bad weather lately and it blew away the screening in the garden, so there is a gate just put there, but Nelson can see out in a street. I thought it will be a big problem, but it's the opposite. Nelson now comes when called good 7 out of 10 times. Not bad for only 6 weeks being with us. (obviously only in the garden, we don't let him off the lead outside).

I really don't know what else to put here this time. We had so much improvement with him. Maybe one thing that we need to work at..his clumsiness ;D ;D. When we are walking, he is so interested in everything he sees, he is not paying any attention to us and always pushes us and bumps into us. And is constantly behind us, but I'm getting use to that and am careful when turning around so I don't step on his feet so much.

He does play with his teddies (or steals one of the kids teddies) and plays a lot with them. He does have his mad moments in the garden or around the living room.....and few days ago, Gary slept on the sofa and in the morning, Nelson started barking at him as to say..." Get of my sofa, so I can run around and jump there". That was so funny. ;D

We also had friend say that they should have got grey as Nelson is so calm compare to their dog. That made me smile.

[zuznana]

16.11.2008 - Sunday

Big thing today. Nelson didn't bark in the morning. He must have been very tired and I was woken up by Aimee saying if I will go and wake Nelson up. I'm so proud of him for not barking. ;D ;D

[zuznana]

26.4.2009 - Sunday

I haven't updated for ages. Sorry bout that. Things have been bad here, but we are on the up now...well, at least with our moods. lol

So Nelson is such a sop. He will still do anything for cuddle. He doesn't bark or whine now and actually goes to bed on command......and some evenings even on his own. He knows kitchen is "his" space to chill if he wants to be on his own.

As for the food, he still steals it of Ryan's hand.....well, it is normally on same level as him, so it is easier. We are telling him not to do it, but I think it's "his" thing. ;D

I said on the picture updates, that Nelson knows "down" now and will do it. And I have 100% faith in him, that in time, he will be able to be let of lead and come.........but that is in a future and we are not attempting it yet.

The big fence at the back of our garden is gone (wind blew it off), so we are back to the little gate, but Nelson is fine. And what is even better, he spends time in a front garden with us, where on one side we only have small fence (about 1 m high)), but Nelson is brilliant with that and never jumps over. He greets a dogs (even little yappy ones) through the gate with waggy tail and even saw a cat and didn't run for it. We are so proud of him.

Now he has his brown bean bag, he doesn't use our furniture anymore, only on odd occasion.

He has a good doggy girlfriend he loves and plays with a lot in her garden. Our friends are even going to have Nelson stay with them when we go to visit my family in Prague. He already claimed a place in their house on their (quite pricey) rug, lol. What can I say? Nelson has a great taste.

The only thing that happened in a last few months was he did something to the tip of his tail and as he was wagging it, he turned our kitchen into a crime scene.......well, more like a slaughter house. lol. Vet put a bandage on it and after about 10 days, Nelson saved us a visit back and took it off himself. lol. All is fine now and hopefully it won't happen again.

So Nelson is a little darling. Feels like we had him forever (in a good way) ;D

PS.: But he could still fart for England, lol. ;D

[frohburg - Jackie]

Sorry to hear that things haven't been good for you Zuznana. I really hope that there is an improvement for you.

Lovely to hear that Nelson is settled in and that you have bonded well.

Take care.

Jackie, Flash and Gemma

[zuznana]

30.6.2009 - Tuesday

Well, well, well...........Nelson is definitely not cat friendly and because of that, he had to have a visit to the vet.....

One day, we were eating dinner and all of the sudden, I see Gary getting up, screaming "Nelsooooooon".....in that moment, I realized something happened and Neslon is not in his bed anymore. He was all the way on the other side of our garden (in about 2 seconds, literally). Then we saw him holding a cat in him mouth....we both called him and he was sooooo good and coming back to us, letting the freaked out cat run for her life (the cat is fine and nothing bed happened as we saw her again couple of times)

And then we noticed that his leg is bleeding, so few bandages later and a vet visit, he had to have stitches put it. And he definitely doesn't like the plastic thingy they put on them and managed to still reach the stitches so he had to have bandage over them all the time.

He hurt himself as he jumped over the small plastic children's table and broke bit off.....also our little metal incinerator is in pieces....nothing will stand in Nelsons way, lol. But stitches are now out and all is well.

Apart from that, he is doing well and is very soppy and cheeky (especially when it comes to eating bread or food of kids plates). He loves poking anyone with his nose to get attention.

And at the vets, when all the other doggies tried to make friends with him, he was just going to the people for cuddles. He is our lovely cuddly bear and every one always says what a beautiful dog Nelson is.........but we know, don't we? ;D

[frohburg - Jackie]

Nelson has been having a few adventures. Glad to hear he has recovered well. Just hope he takes is steady in future.

[margaret1345]

Oops poor Nelson and poor pussy cat, but glad to hear all seemed to end well. He must have been having one of those days.

[zuznana]

3.10.2009 - Saturday

Happy first anniversary to Nelson living with us

It;s been ages again since I put something here. I'm really beginning to be bad at updating.

Well, we went to Prague for the summer holidays to see my family as they don't get to see the kids at any other time. So 6 weeks in Prague. Brilliant time, but missed Nelson. Our friends had him as he is use to their house (and Boo, his little doggie friend, who Nelson loves and who is now a bit down, after Nelson hasn't been there.)

And they said that he is the perfect house guest. lol. He had his futon that he claimed there and after they put Boo with him in the kitchen over night, he was in haven, lol.

Anyway, after our holiday, my dad came back with us ......as he does every year......and made such a fuss of Nelson, that Nelson will love him forever the most, lol.

Well, what can I say about him. Nelson changed soooooooooo much. He is still the same cheeky monkey and steals any rubbish bag that is within a reach of him, but is so much more chilled around Ryan. And I mean really super chilled. Doesn't have to go it the kitchen anymore at all (only still sleeps there) and Ryan loves him so much and gives him so many cuddles that even Nelson doesn't know what to do with them, lol.

So more and more happy days with Nelson. I can't even remember what it was like before him and I mean that in a good way. We all love him and we know he loves us too.

Well, I will try and stay on top of the updates more now everything is back to normal (holiday over and my dad gone).

PS.: Nelson';s favourite thing to do it STILL sleeping, lol

[zuznana]

Wow, almost 3 years of having Nelson.

He is getting grey now. A lot on his face and ears, but behaves like puppy. He is now off lead every walk in the park (but will forever need his muzzle though) and kids now walk him on his lead after dinner. He is still very much people's dog as he never plays with dogs, but stays with us people, when we chat.

Just wanted to let you all know how is is. Still as clumsy as ever and very cuddly. He now sleeps on a sofa (and with space left to move too........it is huge corner one), so in the morning, Aimee comes down and they cuddle up together. Ryan however takes over Nelson's beanbag in the mornings.......and sneakily gives Nelson half his toast too.

Nelson would still eat everything if he could and will if we forget to put it away....some things never change. ;D

[kamascave]

Well done Nelson bless your heart

[lorraine88]

A lovely update on another happy hound! ;D