BENJI... is the sweetest, young nearly-lab who was roaming on a housing estate in Roscommon in Ireland for some time before he was finally picked up. He used to hang around waiting for the kids to come home from school because he so loved playing with them.
As you can tell from the top pic, this is a soft, gentle young man, about a year old, who loves people and other dogs, even though he’s so nice that he can be bullied by some. He has good basic manners and walks well on a lead. Off-lead, he looks like you’d have considerable trouble losing him... :-)
Benji will make a fantastic, undemanding addition to the family (although of course he’s still a youngster so will need lots of fun and walks). Subject to further assessment, we are pretty sure Benji will be fantastic with children.
UPDATE 25/7/10
Benji arrived with us a week ago and is in foster in Nottingham with Mary and Johnny (thank you both so much!). Here is their assessment of this lovely chap:
“Benji is a diamond, his behaviour in the house is near perfect. He does not jump up at people, rarely barks and does not steal food. He has manners. He could become obsessive over lights and shadows. He will watch for the reflection of his disc in doors but is easily distracted. He will play fetch, bringing the toy back and dropping it at your feet. He will bounce in front of you until it is thrown again but does not touch you or the toy except to bring it back again. He will wait and let you go out of doors or the gate. He pulls on the lead but this is improving. On walks he has a 100% recall. He is attracted by movement and has become excited by cars, bikes, joggers and running dogs. When off lead he has dashed after two running dogs and two bikes and given a bark, but returns as soon as called. He gets more excited by things moving when on the lead . He has also barked at two elderly men when he was on lead, for no apparent reason. He loves to play and enjoys playing with my 12 year old daughter and her friends. I think he would chase any cats or small animals.”
Wow... 100 per cent recall? How fabulous is that? (and how rare...!) Benji is clearly a bright, biddable, loving, house-trained boy who is respectful towards other dogs and plays beautifully with Mary + Johnny’s collie x girl.
Another lovely chap... we truly are blessed with them at the moment.
UPDATE 29/8/10
Benji has been rehomed to Carol and Nick in South Derbushire and we were delighted to get this email from them: “We are very happy with Benji. He's settled well. Straight away since Wednesday night when he arrived- he has slept on his bed overnight without a murmur. Walks well, comes when called . We've walked him a lot and introduced him to the neighbours' dogs.
“We've let him off the lead a couple of times since Wed night for a good run and he's reliable as can be - especially as his retrieval instincts are really well honed.
“We truly are pinching ourselves. Some collie madness but not too much. He stares at shadows and lights and wants to chase cars. Grumbles at other dogs when on the lead. But Mary's been discouraging this and- following her advice- he's continuing to improve even in the couple of days here. We're inventing games to keep him interested. I followed your website advice and got a Kong. He loves it and it keeps him working for about half an hour.
“He has so many good points and is so affectionate. We are really happy with our choice.”
A big thank you to Carol and Nick for giving Benji such a lovely home - and a huge thank you, too, to Mary and Johnny in Nottingham for being wonderful foster parents to Benji. A very happy ending for this lovely boy.
The pic on the left, btw, was taken today - at a folk festival near Oxford where Benji is camping with Nick and Carol - and by all accounts taking it all in his stride. Well, you can’t help but be cool wearing such a lovely bandana!
