Benny - SRF004

Ideal home for Benny:

• Benny needs an experienced, work from home family who can continue his training to allow him to develop into the fantastic dog he has the potential to be.

• Adults/Older children (12+): Benny is a very playful dog but he does need his boundaries respected. He selects his “special person” and becomes very fixated on that one person. He was initially not keen on being approached, unless you are his special person and preferred to approach himself. He has growled and snapped a few times, but as soon as he touches, he then withdraws and apologizes. If he makes the approach, he is more than happy with being petted. There has been a significant improvement in his behaviour on this in the last few days as he has settled and gained in confidence.

• Other animals: He has been absolutely fine with both our cats, shows interest but no aggression. He has shown interest in the chickens but has not evidenced any prey drive. Not observed any interactions with sheep, cattle or horses. He is fine with other dogs both in the home and out on walks.

• Environment: Benny enjoys being in the thick of the action, he is very interested in any activity the family are doing. He shows no fear of vacuum cleaners, lawnmowers and petrol strimmers. Equally, he is more than happy snuggling on the sofa with our teenage son and daughter. He loves going on walks and is sociable and well behaved.

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Personality and Behaviour:

• Affectionate and Loving: Benny loves a snuggle on the sofa and is often seen lying on his back with his legs in the air. He enjoys being close to his people and, once he has settled, will fully relax. It is important to respect his boundaries when approaching and he has growled and snapped if approached when he is not in the mood. He has certainly shown massive improvement in this area

• Active: He loves going for walks and running around. We started him on a long line as his recall needed work. He now runs free with us and as long as there is a ball, he comes when called. His recall will need further work with his forever family. As all spaniels do, he pulls hard on the lead and this needs also further work.

• Toys: Benny LOVES balls! He demonstrates obsessive behaviour and will stand in front of anyone and bark until the ball is thrown again. This will make recall training easier, but management of his ball obsession is a must. We have now removed all toys and control his playtime. This has resulted in a significant improvement in his behaviour, and he is much more relaxed. He demonstrates no guarding behaviour, and we can take toys off him easily. He also shares well with other dogs, displaying no aggressive behaviour when the 3 dogs are playing with toys together.

• Travel Friendly: Benny loves a car trip, settles quickly and is quiet during the journey. He travels in a dog crate in the back of the car with our other 2 spaniels and is quite happy.

• Crate Training: Benny came to us with a crate and with information suggesting he spent circa 4 hours per day in it. He showed moderate anxiety when put in his crate and was reluctant to go in himself. Positive reinforcement has reduced his anxiety and bedtime is now fun for him as he races to his crate and sits waiting for a treat. Positive reinforcement must continue so he relaxes in his crate. He generally goes to bed around 9:30pm and is ready to get up around 7 to 7:30am.

• Separation anxiety: Benny showed moderate to severe separation anxiety in the first week, with frantic running around, scratching at doors, crying and howling. It was impossible to settle him when his “special person” left the room even for a few minutes. We have not started separation anxiety training at this stage, focusing more on his general anxiety to ensure he settles. He has not been left alone at all during his foster care due to the level of separation anxiety he has shown. We have seen the behaviour reduce from completely frantic to more controlled moderate behaviour over the weeks, he will now sit on the sofa, whimper and howl occasionally. This is interspersed with quiet periods where he is alert and anxious but quiet. Benny will require on-going positive reinforcement over the coming weeks and months.

• General anxiety: Benny came to foster care a very anxious and highly strung dog. Even when resting he remained on high alert. We have seen a marked improvement over the last few weeks and are hopeful this will continue to improve as he gets to know his new, loving family.

Training and Health

• House Training: Benny is fully house trained and indicates by standing at the door, whining and scratching when he wants to go out.

• Lead Training: Benny pulls quite hard on the lead and needs further work to improve this.

• Weight: Benny was 14.6kg at his last vet check. He has breakfast and dinner and is fed working dog food. He also has treats (mini dog biscuits) as part of his training.

• Vet Visits: Benny has had a vet check and was a little bit grumbly and anxious.

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Medical History:

Benny is healthy, has been neutered, vaccinated and treated for fleas and worms. He does have a hanging dew claw which the vet has said will probably fall off by itself. He has also had a toe amputated on his right hind leg, no information has been submitted on the history of this. It does not affect his mobility.