I am a few days late writing part two of the Spring Dog review. I have no real excuse besides for being a slacker. So to continue from Tuesday I want to talk about Ellie since she came to live with us. As I said on Tuesday, little did we know what we were in for. I had grand plans for her in my mind. She was going to be potty trained quickly, sleep in her crate at night or on her own bed on the floor, she would be good on walks, and she would play fetch with a tennis ball. So far she is an expert with a ball, fairly good at walks, did pretty well with potty-training, but the sleeping arrangement was a pipe-dream. I think that got ruined the very first night she came home. We had a little crate set up in the living room for her with a blanket Alyssa made and we set up an air mattress on the floor so we would be able to take her out quickly at night. We figured she would be exhausted after the car ride and getting acclimated to her new home. Literally the minute her crate door closed she started howling bloody murder. I tried to stay strong and let her go for over an hour but finally we let her out thinking “oh she can sleep with us just for tonight since she is used to having all her brothers and sisters close by.” We tried to get her to lay with us but she wanted to run wild like a banshee. This was our first glimpse into one of her major problems as a puppy which I will talk about in a few paragraphs. My plan was to get her to sleep through the night in her crate and then let her come upstairs and sleep on the floor on her bed. For nearly six weeks I slept on the couch with her in her crate so that I could let her out when she needed to go to the bathroom at night. I didn’t want to sleep upstairs in our bedroom because I didn’t want to carry her crate up every night and back down each morning. Finally she was sleeping 10-4 straight through and I was extremely sick of sleeping on the couch so I tried her on her bed. I knew it was going to be a process, but I was hell-bent on not having her sleep in bed with us. The first night she lasted about an hour on the floor and then she wanted to come to lay with me, I put her back on the floor after 15 minutes and she lasted another hour. It went on like this for 2 weeks, gradually getting her to sleep longer and longer on the floor until she spent 4 hours at one time there. After that night though something in her snapped. She did not want to sleep on the floor at all, I don’t know if it was the hot weather or what but she was restless the next few nights. She would lay on her bed for 10 minutes and then wander around the room, bark to come up with me, scratch at the door, anything but sleep. I knew I wouldn’t get much sleep with her wandering so I had her come to bed with me and she fell asleep almost instantly. Big mistake. After those few nights all hope of her sleeping on the floor was lost. She was too comfortable snuggled up close to me. Things haven’t changed much since then. Even with Alyssa in bed now, Spring Dog is tucked in between us tight against me most nights.
I said that first night we got a glimpse of a problem she had. As a puppy she had bouts of craziness, not excessive energy but episodes of pure craziness. She would go outside and run laps around the yard jumping and trying to bite at anybody and anything that she came near. These episodes would last for 5-10 minutes and then she would act like the never happened. When she was at my parents house she would run and try to bite at Bella, when she was with my uncle’s puppy who was about the same age she would play very rough and bite a lot. It was almost like she was having a seizure. She was earning a reputation of a problem child and if things didn’t get better she wasn’t going to be able to play with anyone. I knew that if these types of episodes happened in a child that an adjustment could help with them. I knew that I could probably adjust her if I had to, but I didn’t feel totally confident and would rather an expert take care of her. My aunt has been taking her collie to an veterinary chiropractor for years and I asked about her. It happened that she was planning a trip with her dog in a week so I asked to tag along with Ellie. My suspicions were correct and the vet said that an upper cervical adjustment should take care of her seizure like symptoms. She examined Ellie and adjusted her upper neck, paws, and upper lumbar spine. Ellie slept the whole way home and most of the evening. Since that one adjustment, the episodes have stopped completely. She still has a ton of energy, but the aggression has stopped completely.
The one thing that defines Ellie most people that know her is her love for a tennis ball. I said one of my grand plans when we got her was to get her to play fetch. What I didn’t plan on was her being obsessed with tennis balls. The first toy I bought for her was a package of tiny tennis balls. From the first night she would chase those balls all over the house. She would crouch down and pounce on them as they sat on the floor. Eventually she moved on the full size balls and things would never be the same. From the minute she wakes up to the time we go to bed a tennis ball is the only thing on her mind. In the house she has one with her constantly, either trying to get you to throw it for her by shoving it under the couch so you have to get it out or carrying one in her mouth while dragging a blanket around. Outside, she will chase a ball until the cows come home. She has an amazing ability to catch the ball on a bounce, it is like she is an All-Star shortstop. When we go to my parents house she runs inside, takes one bite of Bella’s food, and then starts searching for a ball. Her obsession can get annoying at times. At night when we want to watch tv we have to put her ball up or she will make it impossible to pay attention. When this happens she stands on the couch and yelps trying to get it off the bookshelf. I guess you could say we got more than we bargained for when we wanted her to like playing fetch.
As I said last post, Springer Spaniels are loyal and loving, and Ellie is no different. She wants to be by my side at all times. If I get up she is right there seeing what I am doing. She waits for me when I shower or leave her home with Alyssa. Besides her tennis ball, there is nothing she wants more than to make me happy. They say dogs are man’s best friend and she is no different. Even though she is crazy at times, I wouldn’t trade her for anything. She has made drastic improvements since we got her and she will be a great dog for our future children. Here are a few pictures of her in the past 7 months since we got her.
Spring Dog This! 