So I am debating what to do about Emma. I now have this space and as we have not yet been able to place Emma with anyone in Cyprus I am thinking that I will most likely end up taking her back to the UK. It is no life for a dog to be kept in kennels for months on end despite it being better than living out on the streets in all weathers, starving not knowing where your next meal is coming from.
Whenever I am out in Cyprus I have Emma to stay with me so she can have a few weeks respite from her life at the kennels and experience what life would be like in a proper home. On this most recent visit she has stayed with me for 5 weeks and has had a brilliant time. She has now got over her puppy chewy faze and so on really hot days when we had to go out on errands we have been able to leave her in the cool of the house with the radio on and she hasn’t caused any damage whatsoever. In fact having not been very happy to be in her crate she has now gone to going into her open crate totally of her own volition to have a snooze on the soft carpet inside.
I have also had success in teaching her to shake paws, something she hadn’t quite got the hang of last time she stayed. Now she will sit to wait for her food or a treat then she will shake paws with me when asked to do so and then she will wait to be given her treat or told it is OK for her to eat her meal. She walks very well on a lead without pulling at all and her recall is coming on nicely, although as she loves to play the chase game she thinks it is very funny to get us to chase her around the garden and sometimes she will try to do this when we need her to come to us.
One evening I found a small blue soft ball down by the beach and brought it home for her. I had tried to buy a ball for her over in Cyprus but couldn’t find one that was suitable, so her only toy had been a rope chew toy or we had also used a pomegranate as a ball for her to retrieve. She loves her ball and enjoys having it thrown for her to chase after and retrieve. Sometimes she decides she wants to run around with it and you have to chase her to get it back again so you can throw it for her one more time. The look of utter joy and fun on her face during these games is priceless and exactly like that of a young child who is excited to play chase and runs away laughing and shrieking with enjoyment.
I have just had to return her to my friend’s kennels as I have to go back to the UK tomorrow. I hope she will settle back in OK after her spell in a proper home, but I know she will be happy to see her doggy friends again.