Rocky is a 9 week old Otterhound pup, he came to live with us on the 29th August 2007 at 6.30pm. His first meal was 1 slug, a snail and the few remains of the cat food (which we had forgotten to pick up before we put him on the floor). The slug and snail, by the way, were from the back garden not from the floor we put him down on! Our 2 children (who are now in their 20's) instantly reverted to childhood and were scampering around on their hands and knees in an effort to outdo each other in the get Rocky's attention stakes. Rocky appeared to be delighted and reveled in the individual attention he was getting, showing his approval by chewing on noses and bouncing clumsily from one person to the next. Thus started our lives together.
A bit of background to his arrival in our home.
Otterhounds are an endangered breed in this country and there are few breeders around. Most of the existing breeders concentrate on showing or running working packs (not for otter hunting) which are important for keeping the breed going and publicising its existence. However, after some research I was able to locate a breeder who also allowed some of their pups to go to private homes.
Otterhounds are large dogs and being hounds have specialist characteristics, so are not for everyone, but the breeder was excellent in matching the right dog with the right home and us lucky few were able to enrich our families with these lovely characters.
Why an Otterhound? My husband and I were brought up with dogs (as were our children) and the last dog we owned had such a wonderful character we couldn't imagine replacing him with a dog of a different type. It took some research but I eventually found information on dogs with very similar characteristics - http://clubs.akc.org/ohca/OH-special.html, http://www.otterhound.org.uk/Ode.html, http://www.petpublishing.com/dogken/breeds/otterhoun.shtml.
After talking with a breeder about our old dog (who sadly left us at age 14) and taking into account the time and place we got him; it was identified that he was more than likely an otterhound cross. I was delighted, as I had finally confirmed which breed I wanted to share my time and family with! And now we have Rocky.
Why Blog?
Otterhounds appear to be quite popular family pets in the USA but have not got the same record in this country, so I am intending to provide a weekly blog that details the events and experiences that Rocky and I have as he grows up in our family and hope that it raises interest. I am sure there will be some funny tales to tell and it may be interesting to document how much of a challenge (if any) it is to have these lovely characters as pets. I am hoping that this may be another way to both increase publicity for the breed and create demand; which in turn may help with keeping these wonderful animals within the country of their origin.
Todays finale!
As todays posting started with diet perhaps ending on the same note may be appropriate. Rocky really enjoys his food and his regular feeds do not take long to disappear. However he seems to have a penchant for stones, dead leaves, slugs, snails and the last of the summer flowers struggling to maintain blooms! He came in this morning (after playing in the garden) and put his head down to his (metal) bowl to see if he'd left any tidbits. Opening his mouth to give the empty bowl a final lick a stone fell out and clanged loudly in the bottom. This noise made Rocky jump back and land in a heap on the floor, all legs and surprised expression. It took removal of the stone and some heavy duty coaxing to get him to accept his bowl again as something other than a Rocky eating monster! Daft Muppet!
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