Rio the Spanish Water Dog
'Hola' Scout!
It's your new friend Rio the Spanish Water Dog here, wishing you all the best with your new humans. It's great when you can find the right home, I spent ages waiting to sort out mine but it was worth the wait. We've got our own beds and a garden with real squirrels as well as toy ones.
I'm five years old now, but I still remember the day my Mum and Dad came to pick me up from my kitchen pen, and that very long car journey on mum's lap which was so hot and jolty that I threw up all my dinner. What a waste! Still it made the car smell great and once I had some nice soft bedding in a crate in the the back I felt much better because there was more air there and the vibrations seemed less. We had to start with just little trips to the nearby lake though, it taught my mum to drive a bit slower too.
My sister Carmen,who is now four, had the same problem when she had her first car journey, but we both love the car now as we always use it to go somewhere fun - like taking Mum to training, breed club gatherings or the beach. Carmen really showed off by being clean in the house as soon as she got here. It took me 2 weeks before I could be sure Mum would let me into the garden at the right times, and then she took away my newspapers which was great because I could suddenly see where all my toys were.
You are so lucky living in Cumbria. We encourage Mum to hire holiday cottages which are dog friendly so that we can play in the rivers of Cumbria and Wales, and sometimes the New Forest. Carmen always sits on the brochures to show the right page. Dad takes loads of photos of us playing on holiday. Choosing the right humans for you is so important and we like ones who play agility and watery walks with tracking games. Sometimes mum rides a horse and we run free along with them, it's great because there are no roads or other people about in those woods and we can sniff and roll as much as we like for a whole hour. We come back very muddy and have brambles in our coats - Mum makes us have a bath so we play her up and try to jump out of it. This has made her install a downstairs shower for us which she calls "efficient".
I expect you like to play with sheep - we always have to go on the lead near sheep, but in Spain the Spanish Water Dogs are allowed to herd them just like you collies do here. It's great to have a human who understands what turns you on. I've heard some dogs just watch TV all day. We do watch "Caesar" sometimes, he's cool. He really understands how new pups need to integrate into an exisiting pack. My sister Carmen barks at all the big black dogs on TV and Mum makes Caesar's hissing noise at her - she has quietened down a bit now to try and please Mum but those big black dogs are still scary you know.
Mum keeps reading books about training so we climb on her lap to try and distract her. We are dreaming about coming back to Cumbria for another holiday with those lovely walks. Dad has attached a picture of me with Carmen at Pooley Bridge. Do you recognise the lamp posts?
"Adios amigo".
Rio (and Carmen, who can't type yet but is quite good at obedience).
