It's been a while!
Hello folks!
Phil sent me a nudge to remind me that I haven't been on here of late, so I promised him an update on Oscar and also that I'll be more present than the past months! We've had a string of bad luck this past year (nothing to do with Oscar), so my mind has been elsewhere, but things are smoothing out a bit now.
Oscar is coming up for two years old and really is a joy to be around. I can't deny that it has been very challenging raising a deaf bullie from 12 weeks, but perseverance and a big dose of patience and gritted teeth (they're down to near stumps now) has paid off. He responds well to our hand signals around 90% of the time, has never messed in the house, has never chewed anything (well, not to the point of destruction anyway!) and has a temperament that, for an EBT, amazes me. He is so gentle , especially with small children and is a friend to all. But he does have some strange, or at least unusual , traits:
He has ZERO aggression. He has been attacked twice by other dogs, once quite badly by a Labrador who had Oscar's head in his mouth at one stage, resulting in a visit to the vet to check on the puncture wounds he had in his face and muzzle. Oscar did not retaliate at all, in fact when I finally got him away from the lab, he just stood there wagging his tail, blood streaming down his face! The second time was an attack by a Jack Russell and Oscar read it as a game and started bouncing around whist the JR snapped and snarled and nipped him a few times.
He is strange about food. Every other EBT I have owned has been like a pig, eating anything and everything. He nibbles at food throughout the day and will not eat any raw meat, beef, chicken, nothing. So we have him on Taste of the Wild, which over here in Holland is expensive, but grain free and he loves it.
And finally his ears....after weeks of countless taping, gelatine supplements we finally gave up and now have a flappy eared hound (but whose ears miraculously perk up when he is asleep and sometimes stay that way for 5 minutes after he wakes up!!). I am convinced that this is due to his deafness and the fact that he does not have to use his ears for anything, but hey, we don't care now, that's just the way he is! He was never going to be perfect anyway!
So that's the update and attached a couple of pics to give you an idea how much he has shot up. I am catching up on a lot of the topics on here...have to admit that by doing that I realize how much I have missed you guys! Enjoy the pics! Pete
Phil sent me a nudge to remind me that I haven't been on here of late, so I promised him an update on Oscar and also that I'll be more present than the past months! We've had a string of bad luck this past year (nothing to do with Oscar), so my mind has been elsewhere, but things are smoothing out a bit now.
Oscar is coming up for two years old and really is a joy to be around. I can't deny that it has been very challenging raising a deaf bullie from 12 weeks, but perseverance and a big dose of patience and gritted teeth (they're down to near stumps now) has paid off. He responds well to our hand signals around 90% of the time, has never messed in the house, has never chewed anything (well, not to the point of destruction anyway!) and has a temperament that, for an EBT, amazes me. He is so gentle , especially with small children and is a friend to all. But he does have some strange, or at least unusual , traits:
He has ZERO aggression. He has been attacked twice by other dogs, once quite badly by a Labrador who had Oscar's head in his mouth at one stage, resulting in a visit to the vet to check on the puncture wounds he had in his face and muzzle. Oscar did not retaliate at all, in fact when I finally got him away from the lab, he just stood there wagging his tail, blood streaming down his face! The second time was an attack by a Jack Russell and Oscar read it as a game and started bouncing around whist the JR snapped and snarled and nipped him a few times.
He is strange about food. Every other EBT I have owned has been like a pig, eating anything and everything. He nibbles at food throughout the day and will not eat any raw meat, beef, chicken, nothing. So we have him on Taste of the Wild, which over here in Holland is expensive, but grain free and he loves it.
And finally his ears....after weeks of countless taping, gelatine supplements we finally gave up and now have a flappy eared hound (but whose ears miraculously perk up when he is asleep and sometimes stay that way for 5 minutes after he wakes up!!). I am convinced that this is due to his deafness and the fact that he does not have to use his ears for anything, but hey, we don't care now, that's just the way he is! He was never going to be perfect anyway!
So that's the update and attached a couple of pics to give you an idea how much he has shot up. I am catching up on a lot of the topics on here...have to admit that by doing that I realize how much I have missed you guys! Enjoy the pics! Pete
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2592 x 1936 - 739K
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720 x 720 - 133K
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