POKEY's ADOPTED!

Our sweet little Pokey pup has been adopted! He will have four setter brothers and sisters (2 Irish, 2 English) and will be spoiled rotten by his totally awesome new mom and dad!  I think this is the photo that finally tipped the balance...

Pokey swims!

We joined a whole lotta other setters at Bark Til Dark Dogpark for some running and, I hoped, some swimming. This was Pokey's second visit to a dogpark and his first one with a pond. Sure enough, five minutes after we arrived, Pokey was swimming. He chased a tennis ball straight into the pond and tried to walk on water. He figured out the dog paddle immediately and was in an out of the pond for the next three hours! He had a fantastic time, running, chasing, swimming and wrestling (Frankie was also there). He greeted all the dogs beautifully. He makes me so proud. He's so well-behaved and well-adjusted. Just a completely open friendly dog.

Playdate!

Pokey had a playdate with another young English Setter being fostered by OESR, Frankie. Frankie's more than twice Pokey's age but he's a pocket setter and they were pretty evenly matched. They had a great time chasing and wrestling and chasing and resting and chasing and wrestling and... well, you get the picture. Were they both so tired that they slept the rest of the day? Nope. 30 minutes of napping and both Frankie and Pokey were back up and ready to go!

Pokey at the Dog Park

Pokey visited his first dog park at Alum Creek during Pup-a-Palooza. We were only behind the fence for a few minutes since we were actually there to volunteer but Pokey's behavior led me to believe that he'd do quite well at a dog park. So tonight we ventured out to Wheeler Park in Columbus (foster mom's old stomping grounds) to see how he'd do. He was fairly shy about meeting the other dogs but not frightened and way more excited about chasing the birds.  He did great on his recalls (if he was looking in my direction) and I even got a video of his first off-leash bird chase!  I'd say he enjoyed himself!

Pokey at Pup-a-Palooza

Alum Creek Dog Park held an event called Pup-a-Palooza. They invited rescues and vendors to set up booths and OESR volunteered. I thought Pokey might bring the rescue some attention so, Saturday morning, we headed up to the dog park. It's a long 45 minute drive but Pokey was great in the car. We spent a few minutes in the actual dog park and Pokey enjoyed saying hi to the other dogs but was ready to go after a six month old Golden rolled him. We headed to the OESR booth and spent about two hours greeting people while Pokey showed off a few tricks.

We met a new OESR foster named MacArthur. A very regal handsome boy who laid quietly and accepted the attention as it if was his due! Although it rained and we all got thoroughly damp, it was a nice event with a great turn-out. Pokey was very tired after all the excitement and slept all the way home!

Pokey at school - video

Pokey was invited to attend a local daycare's "pet day". I was a little nervous since he is a pretty active young pup and we were going to be surrounded by 2-3 year olds. I took Carter last year and he was overwhelmed by the attention. But our little boy held his own. Of course, he wanted to jump and gives hugs and kisses but he calmed down fairly well and would sit while the kids would run over and pet him with only the occasional bark of frustration. Then he discovered a toy soccer ball and couldn't care less what the kids were doing. I like this video because it illustrates one of the benefits of owning a deaf dog. How do you think a hearing dog would have reacted to the high pitched cacophony?!

Available to adopt - video

I've been a little lax in posting lately so here are a couple photos and video of our favorite little boy.

When he stops moving, he's just to die for adorable.

Here's a video of Pokey on the way home from puppy kindergarten. He's very curious and likes to help navigate. He braces himself by leaning against you and curling his head over your shoulder. Again, adorable.

Pokey is a begger, but a pretty patient one. He lays/sits very quietly next to you while you're eating, just in case you should happen to feel like giving him a bite. Sometimes, we take our sweet time eating and he just goes to sleep. Did I mention he's adorable? 

Pokey is also now available for adoption on the Ohio English Setter Rescue website. That's right folks. He's up for grabs!

Pokey's Adoption Posting

Gimme Five!

Pokey's going to be up for adoption soon so I thought it was important to teach him some behavior basics. First, he learned "high five" (in about 2 minutes) to make any kids happy. He can make it up on the big bed to keep his owners company and he loves to jump from ottomans, to chairs, to sofas, without touching the floor. Very important if he has muddy paws so that he doesn't get the floor dirty. I think his new owners will be very happy, don't you?!

A-Roo-Roo! - video

Haha! I got it! I just let the camera run while I was leashing up the dogs to go for a walk and I got Pokey's roo on "tape"!

Puppy Class - videos

Here are some pictures and video of Pokey at puppy kindergarten at Posidog.

"Come on, come on! Let's go!"                                    Practicing heeling

"Um, am I being good? So where's my treat?"

Watch me! Pokey's good at this game.                              This is Pokey's playmate, Bella.

I'm a big boy.                                               Bella showing Pokey who's boss!

 

Playing with Bella

Hide and seek!

I wanna join the circus - video

We set up two chairs in front of the big window so that both setters can sit and watch people walk by. They tried sharing one but... that was... bad. Oddly, only the setters like these chairs; none of the other dogs spend any time on them. Pokey found a new way to entertain himself, though. I think he's auditioning to be a wireless trapeze artist.

Mama? Is that you? - video

Pokey loooooves our pack matriarch. Who am I kidding? Pokey loves all dogs. But he has been desperate to get Dixie to pay attention to him. She barely tolerates him so I was delighted to catch this small moment.

Pokey Supports Victory Gardens!

Pokey joined me in the garden this evening to look over our latest crop of tomatoes. We try to keep the dogs out since the Goldens like to help themselves to any of the ripe produce and Pokey likes to wrestle with the plants. He was fairly well behaved (aside from trying to take a power nap in the strawberries) and got his first taste of a sun ripened cherry tomato. He wasn't too certain at first; popping the skin is always the first challenge. But once he sunk those razor sharp puppy teeth in to taste the juice, he was ready for more! Guess I'll have keep an eye on him in the garden from now on, too!

 

The Nutless Wonder

Pokey had his neuter surgery today. I think it was more traumatic for me than it was for him! I dropped him off early at SOS (where we met OESR's Emma - cuutie pie!) and ran off before I lost my nerve and grabbed him back. He went through the surgery with no problems and was talking up a storm when I picked him up in the evening. Everyone thought he was adorable and cute. He whined during the entire drive home and was very excited to get home. The pack gave him a couple sniff-overs to make sure he was the same puppy. He demanded dinner, a water bowl refill, and is now taking a short break chewing a small rawhide. He's also micro-chipped so all of you thinking of puppy-napping... don't try it, we'll find him!!

Talkin' to the man in the mirror - video

Or the puppy reflected in the window...

Puppy Kindergarten

Pokey's been going to puppy kindergarten at PosiDog. I think he's doing fairly well and today he learned "down". He's extremely food motivated and, now that I have treats that are high value enough, he's picking up even faster. He FINALLY found a great playmate in a little spitz named "Bella". She and Pokey had some great play sessions. She's quite the runner and after Pokey rolled her a couple times, decided that she would just outrun him. Which she did quite easily but after a couple laps Pokey figured out that cutting the corners would lessen her speed advantage! I'll try to drag Heather along next week to take some class photos.  Pokey's passed out, now. It was a very good morning.

I worked from home today so I got to keep the little fellow company. He was a tad confused and went into his crate a few times, demanding his food stuffed kong toy! He finally decided that hanging out in mom's office was more fun. Although I later discovered he'd put his little puppy teeth on my printer power cord so... no more printer. In the afternoon, I assembled an IKEA bookshelf and Pokey had a BLAST ripping apart and wrestling with the flat-pack cardboard! Who needs all those expensive dog toys! A cardboard box or an empty water bottle will entertain these pups for hours.

We got a package from Lucky Fiona which included a whole bunch of collars for Pokey's foster brother, Carter, as well as a collar for Pokey! Shannon at Lucky Fiona is a huge fan of the Pokestenator. Pokey took a shine to Carter's "Vega" but I think he's got a bit of growing to do until it fits, don't you? And yes, Pokey's sitting on the patio table and, no, I did not put him up there. He's a climber. Yes, yes, I should have disciplined him but... what a photo op!



Pokey also got into the celebration last night as Carter won the Lucky Fiona Setter Showdown! Carter and fellow rescued setter, Guiness, have been competing to see who could sell the most collars on Lucky Fiona's Etsy site. We picked out our own fabric and then got down to the business of drumming up support and ridiculing each others collars on Facebook. Lucky Fiona made the collars at cost and donated all the profits to Ohio English Setter Rescue. The contest ended at 9pm on Friday and Carter had sold just a few more collars than Guiness. In total, the competition raised an even $600 for OESR!!

 The winning CARTER collar.                                    The GUINESS collar.

Big Bark?

Pokey's working on his big boy bark. This is the first time he's shown any concern or protectiveness and I think his little roo-roo-roo is just to die for. He was startled by the sight of one of the cats on the other side of the sheers. Although I opened the door for him to see the cat, he still wasn't completely comfortable. This is round two of "protecting the house from the strange shadow". Since then, he's also barked at dogs outside the car, a passing motorcycle (with a big flag on the back), and a bicycle. We're working on mitigating any fear with lots of treats and petting but this is interesting new behavior.

Family!

Here's a picture of Pokey's litter that I had squirreled away on my hard drive. Can you guess which one is our Pokey puppy?

Oh, and here's their mom!

Pokey and RJ playdate - video

Tonight I begged my friend Susy for a playdate with her youngest setter, RJ. We drove up after work with a bag of hotdog pieces (so that Pokey wouldn't bark at me from the backseat during the entire drive) and a lot of excess energy. Pokey and RJ hit it off pretty well although, I think Pokey needs to grow a bit more before they can have some real fun! Pokey enjoyed all the little twilight moths and chasing around the neighbor's kids. We practiced a few recalls and sits (made so much easier with hotdogs!) and enjoyed the beautiful back yard and sunset. Pokey will definitely sleep well tonight so, a million thank you's, Susy and Jim!

Also, I'm requesting some ZEN for their older setter, Robbie, who's experiencing a mysterious illness. They're waiting for test results but, having just lost the most amazing setter, Jake, a quick recovery would be most wonderful.

Susy with Robbie

Bird!

I've been impressed with Pokey's birding instincts. His sense of smell is unbelievable and he's shown a keen interest in birds, even getting a little point in here and there. Today his got his first bird (thanks to either 'Delli or Apollo, I believe) but since he ate it, I think there's a bit to be desired in his retrieving ability...

We're also going to have to do some serious work on "drop it". He wasn't tempted by peanut butter, biljac treats, or wet dog food. He just jammed the bird further back in his molars and chomped faster...
 

Setter Argument - video

Pokey does a lot of barking but generally, there's a reason. This afternoon, after listening to him go on and on for a couple minutes, I finally came in to see what the ruckus was about. Carter had stolen his ball and Pokey was hell-bent on getting it back. These two don't interact very well so it was nice to see them within a few inches of each other without Carter trying to eat Pokey. Even if it was accompanied by ear-splitting puppy barks... (umm, please ignore the setter dust bunnies)

Worthington Hills 4th of July Parade

OESR participated in the 4th of July Parade for Worthington Hills and put the call out for all local English Setters. Close to 15 setters and their owners answered and decended on this beautiful tight-knit community with starred collars and flag bandannas. Of course, Pokey HAD to attend! Carter participated in the parade in 2009 and adored the attention; there was no way he would miss it either! Pokey met many of his fans and got cooed and ahhhed over for a full 45 minutes before the parade started. By the time we got in line, he was already looking a little tired. The parade route is only about a mile long but with temperatures soaring into the 90's and the high humidity, our poor little pup didn't make it far before he was lagging behind. Although he was enjoying the attention and pets from the various spectators, he gladly took his place in the "Kissing Booth" wagon and was pulled along for the rest of the parade route, accompanied by a rising chorus of "awww"s from the audience.