It was really lovely to see Locky again today. Xx. It was great to see him greet his prospective new family with a very happy tail and a spring in his step! He trotted straight over to them as soon as he walked through the gate. :)) wishing them lots of good times together. Xxx
Thanks so much to Erik and his super family for all they have done for Locky. Xxx

Oh Locky what great news for you my lovely. Hope you and your new family have many happy times ahead - and big thanks to Erik for helping you on your way to retired living. x

Beautiful Locky, over the moon to see that you have found yourself a new home, I bet Erik and his family will miss you but will also be happy for you too, I hope that your poorly paw is getting better. Be happy Locky and keep being a good boy xxxxx

Locky did a brilliant first meeting, when he saw the family he was wagging his tail put his happy face on and placed his head to get a cuddle. I am really pleased for Locky the have been rehomed. Love at first sight for both sides :-). He was brilliant during his walk not responding to barking dogs at all. So have a happy retirement. We will miss this big loving and kind giant

Thanks to Erik for for update on Locky. :)) Hoping all goes well on Saturday. Xxx

So happy to hear that Locky is on the mend, fingers crossed for a successful viewing, he sounds wonderful xxxxx

An update on Locky. On Monday he managed to get the bandage of his paw, I think that was accidental. However, it allowed me to have a look at his paw and the swelling was gone and it looked ok. Of course it was bleeding due to the bandage coming off, so I did my best to replace the bandage. On Tuesday he had check with the vet, he was quite pleased with progress and mentioned that it will take 7 days for it to improve. He also indicated that it may have been an insect bite and explained the timelines which actually made a lot of sense and seemed to be inline with what happened to Locky. On Wednesday he was really doing well putting wait on his paw and walking much better, I felt confident enough to take him for a small walk during the evening. This went well and after a week not being able to go out, I think he really enjoyed it. On Thursday he had an other check-up for his paw, this was looking great and Locky just has a plaster, but Locky being Locky, he has pulled it off in less then an hour so I placed bandage on his paw to prevent him getting to the plaster.

Last time I did say that his training and work had stopped, but it did not stop me from doing some tests on him being alone in the house. He is better when Charlotte (our Greyhound) is around but when he is alone he does start to sing beautifully (read howl). So just to avoid separation anxiety developing, he will need to be trained to be alone in the house.

In terms of reacting to other dog breeds, he of course still does as we have not been able to expose him to other breeds. Nevertheless, I did make the following observation, he is not as quick to respond to other dogs compared to when I first had him. He is even less responsive to the vocal Westy next door. When he is inside and the Westy starts to bark, he may raise his head but not much more then that. If he is outside and the Westy starts to bark, he may join in, but even this is becoming less of a certainty, at this stage, very good progress. So the strategy of desensitasation is slowly working. In fact I was quite impressed during the Tuesday vet visit as there were lots of dogs around, about 6, and whilst curious he did not go into over excitement mode. During the Thursday morning walk, we came across a number of dogs, medium to small. Again I was pleased as he was starting to get excited but did not go into overexcitement. I was so impressed with Locky during the vet visit on Thursday, many fluffy medium sized dogs but he was very calm. Progress is being made with him, even though we were not able to expose him to more other dog breeds during the last seven days.

Locky has a viewing this Saturday, fingers crossed for him that it will go well and that he can start his new life with his forever family :-). You know, for Locky Gentle giant is really the right term. He is big but so lovable and even somewhat sensitive. Sometimes he comes-up and rests his head on your lap for a cuddle. I think the family will find it difficult to resist this boy ;-)

Oh no , poor Locky - here's hoping that his meds will kick in soon and get him well on the road to recovery. Sending him a gentle cuddle, and big thanks to Erik for getting him sorted. X

Great to hear Locky seems brighter today. :) We were all a little worried about him yesterday, especially when Erik sent us a
a photo of his paw!! Didn't look nice at all. Thanks so much to Erik for getting him see the vet. Sending Locky a get well cuddle tonight. Xxx

Everything crossed for locky xxxx

Oh no, poor Locky, I do hope he is now on the mend bless him, and it was obviously worrying for you too, I wonder if he has been bitten by something, well whatever it is I'm sure the vets will sort him out. Take care Locky, get well soon sweetheart xxxxxx

Locky has given us some concern over the weekend. The anti inflametry meds did not do much for Locky, there was little change in the swelling of his paw. His mood was also not the normal happy chappy. His appetite, drinking and weeing had not changed which was somewhat of a comfort. Unfortunately, on Sunday morning there was a change. When I got up in the morning he had a bold spot on his paw. This spot changed to an small open wound and that changed to a bigger open wound. I was quickly intouch with the daybreaks team and as it was developing it was felt to get him to emergency vets in Shirley. Once arrived I explained to the vet the history, what has already been investigated and the conclusions from those investigations. The vet drained fluids from Locky’s paw and then Locky had to recover from the sedation. Locky is suspected to have an infection, although they are not sure. Locky is on antibiotics for 10 days. If it does not work, more x-rays maybe needed, if that is inconclusive blood test. I think it is best to be positive and think this will now resolve his paw. Why this has happened the vet was honest and said he does not know. Locky seems brighter today and more alert so that are good starting signs. Locky will have his castration check-up tomorrow so I will ask them to check the bandage and the paw too. As you can appreciate as Locky has not been well we have not been able to do much around his behavioural improvements and for now we will need to focus on him getting better. I want to say a thank you to the daybreaks team helping to get an emergency vet sorted out quickly. I must admit that it was a bit of a worrying time yesterday.

Hope Mr Locky is feeling a bit brighter today and that his paw isn't bothering him too much. He is obviously learning so much in his foster home, and is in the best place to recuperate from his op. As shanishoo says, Erik's updates are a learning experience for us hoomans too! x

Poor Locky, he must feel a bit grotty tonight! Sending him lots of love and hope all will be ok with his paw. Xxx

Love to Locky tonight, i hope his paw and other bits (or not in this case) are ok, rest easy fella xxxxxx

Locky has had his castration today he had his teeth checked all was and went fine. He also needed to have his front paw checked as it was swollen this morning. I have no idea why this might be. The vet did his check and nothing obvious found externally. They done x-rays and again nothing could be seen, in one way good news in an other way not as we still have no idea why his paw is swollen. This is when it be good if pets could talk :-) He is going to get my cuddles today and lots of tender loving care for the next couple of days as he will have to take it easy and let the anti inflammatory medication do its work, fingers crossed.

Fantastic update on the most handsome Mr Locky. Thank you Erik and family for helping this gorgeous boy adapt to a life in a home. X

I love reading these updates on Locky, it sounds like he is really responding to all the training and time you are so kindly giving him, it's fascinating to read about all the things to lookout for to anticipate Lockys behaviour and it is passing on knowledge for all of us to look for and apply. Keep up the good work, i look forward to the next Locky instalment xxxx

Locky, has been busy. I have been training him so he knows his name. I do that with high value treats. He is making great progress, I can get recall with him now, not yet fully consistent but he is either turning his head or coming to me when I call his name.

He is making progress with other dogs. It is now clear that he is fine with confident and calm dogs. It does not matter if they are large or small, fluffy or not, black, white or tan. He remains very curious but does not lunge at them with a slow approach. When they are excitable dogs, that will increase the likelihood that Locky will react. He is never first to start barking, once the other is barking he will respond. His breathing is also a good indication of his state of mind. Because he is such a big boy, you can really hear him change his rate of breathing. This indicates his level of excitement. It is important to note that in his body language I do not see signs of aggression. He is displaying excitement and insecurity.

As I have mentioned before, we have a very vocal Westy next door. Who is helping Locky (although the Westy does not know that :-)) overcome his need to react to the Westy’s barking (disensitising Locky to the stumili). Overtime this should also help with his reduced response to excitable dogs when walking. I am seeing progress here too, when the Westy barks more often then not he is not getting up, or running upstairs to look out of the window and bark at the Westy.

I have noticed that Locky is getting more comfortable and relaxed at our home. When he is in the garden his tail is in a nutural to confident position, unlike when he is out in the big world he is more inclined to have his tail tucked between his legs. His pupils are also less dilated and, he rolls on his back now and then. I do think that he will settle slowly in his forever home, they will need some patients with him.

He is also doing well with his table manners, compared to Charlotte (our Greyhound) Locky has no problem or needs to make a special effort to reach the dining table top. We had to realy train him with the power of the back. Meaning turning our back to him and giving him no attention. This is also paying of as he is now more inclined to lie down and not interrupt our, breakfast, lunch or dinner.

Locky is making good progress with his indoor manners. He is gaining confidence indoors and in the garden. He is responding to his name. He is slowly improving not to respond to the Westy. He is making progress with his insecurity towards other breeds. Overall he is doing really well, I am really pleased with this gentle giant. Tomorrow he will have his castration operation and will have to have some down time whilst he recovers. Great progress, well done Locky.

Thanks so much to Erik for his latest update on Locky. It's great to hear how his training is going. Erik also gives us all some useful tips! :)
It's a good thing he is a strong chap, carrying a 40Kg Greyhound down the stairs is quite a challenge! :)) Xxx

This will be a long one as I thought I need to provide some general observations about this lovely gentle giant. So far we had a couple of drives in the car and he is so relaxed in the car. Locky will initially stand when you start to drive but, he soon lies down and occasionally look out of the rear window. With a high value treat he will jump into the back of the car.

As many have mentioned he is strong but I have found that he does not pull much. He can lean against you even whilst walking. He is currently a bit nervous when out and about, his tail is tucked between his legs. For now I walk him with the yellow “I need space” collar and the “nervous” lead. This will help a little with other dog owners keeping a respectful distance.

Locky is a quick learner, he is so tall that he easily reaches the dinning table top. So when there is food he, of course, wants to get to it. With the help of our backs and ignoring him he soon goes away. He is now less persistent. Kitchen is out of bounds and this Thursday morning he was actually waiting and standing at the dinning room edge with the kitchen. With the help of high reward treats he is starting to respond to his name.

He is great with my daughter who is 4, she is confident enough to push passed him, tell him, “NO Locky” and she knows the power of the back. He is really good with her. Charlotte (our Greyhound) has also stood her ground. This is right of course, it is her teretory. Many of the foster dogs make the mistake that they can try and take Charlottes food or treats. They soon stand corrected, no different for Locky who has experienced Charlottes passion for food. Charlotte also has her safe place, a sofa, again she does not like sharing this with other dogs. On these fronts he is also a quick learner.

Where I live there are a number of foot bridges, I always kick myself for forgetting that Greyhounds may not know or been on stairs. Once I am up the bridge I think ohh S*%T will they go down. In our home, I never encourage foster dogs to go up, but if they do that is fine. It is the going down that can be the problem. The first night Locky did go up, the next morning he was not confident enough to go down himself so I had to carry 40kg of Greyhound downstairs. He is going up and down fine now.

Locky is not cat friendly he does bark at them. What we did with our Charlotte (our Greyhound) is simply ignore and control her lunging behaviour. It does take time and, I mean not weeks but, many months before she became less re-active. These days she certainly will notice cats but does not lunge at the cats. This takes consistency in ignoring and being patient and persistent in that approach. For Locky that be the same with a consistent approach he will overtime become less re-active.

Ohh yes Locky has had 3 wee acidents, but to be fair to Locky on two occasions he accutually warned that he needed a wee, because he was whining a little. As I was not fully aware of his method of warning I ignored it. I jokingly said to my wife that Locky should have a different pitched whine for when he needs a wee and one for when he wants something different ???? but that is probably wishful thinking. This is a good example of being patient and being aware of their behaviour patterns. This Friday morning he actually came upstairs to wake us up because he wanted a wee. This is great as it helps to prevent accidents, it is actually really nice to have such a happy face waking you up, brilliant Locky.

When I walk Locky, people usually say, He is BIIIIG!!!. One lady told me that she “wanted to say that he is a nice little boy but he is not little at all”. They also quickly notice that he is so friendly and kind. Statements I fully agree with and whoever, will have Locky will have a loving, kind addition to their family. He is just adorable.

It is so brilliant that Erik has the time to spend with this lovely boy, not only working out what is triggering his behaviour but formulating a plan to work with him over time to help him.

With time & patience like this, Locky will gain confidence and learn how to behave in the outside world, and will consequently be a much happier chap.

Locky is indeed lucky (sorry, couldn't resist!).x

Locky had a good night, he was sleeping down stairs then came up stairs during the night. In the morning he was very happy to see us wagging his tail in helicopter motion. We had a nice walk together with Charlotte. This morning he met an old German Sheperd Dog and a small cross breed, again limited reactions other then being curious.

Last night I called a dog day care and dog trainer friend of mine to brainstorm Locky’s behaviour, it is always useful to get a different perspective from someone. I was hoping he would agree to meet as he has many breeds around during the day with different tempraments. This would allow us to assess Locky’s behaviour in a controlled manner. The great news is that he did agree to that.

So said so done, I took Locky to the dog trainer and after the introductions and letting Locky have a smell of the area, we then introduced him gently to the first dog. An alpha male Labrador, very relaxed, confident dog. They were slowly and briefly introduced all went well and they had a good sniff and it was a positive meeting with lots of praise. I will not describe all the encounters but we slowly went up in scale of excitable less confident and reactive dogs. He did really well with all of them. The 4th took him a bit more time to adjust to and was unsure, the last one because it was reactive and barking that is what made Locky respond.

What have I learned from today, well a number of things. This may sound obvious, but we have it confirmed that he is slightly nervous about meeting other dogs. This is displayed by Locky initially having his tail between his legs when seeing other dogs. A slow approach, lots of praise and positive re-enforcement will ensure that his tail will slowly move up followed by Locky wagging his tail. What seems to trigger his re-action are excitable dogs and, especially those who start to bark, that is what makes him more nervous and responsive. This explains why he was anxious yesterday as the Westy next door had been out a lot and he sometimes does not stop barking. Today, it is wet, the Westy is not out, therefore no barking and as a result Locky is sleeping and relaxed.

The plan of action is, going to start in our home. Make him less re-active to next doors Westy and during the walks try and expose him to as many different breeds as possible. Using lots of positive re-enforcement when displaying the right behaviour. This will slowly give him more confidence and likely to be less responsive. My suggestion is also that he needs not only an experienced handler but more importantly a confident handler. A confident handler will ensure Locky feels safe, secure, less nervous and hence will grow in confidence. For today Locky can relax as he seems tired, bless him.

Great feedback on Locky, I'm sure with love and patience he will get there xxxxx

Great to hear how Locky is doing. Thanks so much to Erik and his family. Xxx

The gentle giant, this is so true and he is so lovable. I fostered Locky to work with him on his over-excitement of seeing other dog breeds. On Saturday, we did our normal introduction to our home. I first let him in the garden, a walk around the block and then invite him into our house and let him explore rooms.

I always thought Charlotte (our Greyhound) is a big girl but she is dwarfed by Locky. He ofcourse is new to the home environment and needs to learn about the boundaries, where he can go and where he cannot go. This will take him time and for us adjusting our routine to allow Locky to learn.

I had to change this paragraph a bit due to this afternoons experiences. Nevertheless, I have taken Locky on a number of walks to see how he response to other dog(s) and dog breeds. During the weekend and this morning, he has seen, poodle, a quite a number of mixed breeds, a german sheperd dog, a couple of spaniels, a tinny jack russel, a border collie and he did not reacted at all to them. This afternoon there was a change noted, I saw him respond to a cocker spaniel, our neighbours Westy and, I did a walk with him and Charlotte we met a small cross breed and he lunched at him.

My wife and I did notice that he was more restless this Monday afternoon compared to yesterday when we were all home. Today, once we where all home, he relaxed and was sleeping. There maybe a little clue there. We will go on a journey of discovery with Locky and try to help him become less reactive. He has a castration appointment next week which hopefully will help him to.

Sofar, he is a joy to have around, he is so lovable. He comes up for cuddles. When you walk in the room his tail starts to wag whilst he is lying down. When you come home you are greeted with such a happy dog it is great. My daughter (4) thinks he is great, my wife likes him. He is an easy walk, does not pull, my wife who is petite is confident enough to walk him. Overall a positive start.

It was such a shame things didn't work out well when Locky met the Labradoodle today. His prospective family were very sad as they really wanted to be able to take him home. Xx
I'm sure spending some time with Erik and his family will be great for him. Xxx

Great to hear that this gorgeous boy is going to experience home life and get some one-to-one training, enjoy sweetheart xxxxx

Bad luck matey - but some time with Erik will be so good for you as you learn all about what goes on in the big, wide world. x

Locky sweetie, so sorry you didn't like the labradoodle, it would have been a lovely home. Thanks to Erik for taking you home to work with you, I will miss your handsome kissy face and helicopter tail! Xxx

Yay Locky has gone out to foster with Erik who owns Charlotte so he can work his magic with him meeting other breeds of dogs. Locky is so big but so affectionate. He just can't understand what other breeds are at the moment so gets very excited!

Oh no, so sorry to hear this, better luck next time sweetheart xxxxx

Sadly Locky was too excited with the labradoodle he was hopefully going to live with so he is now unreserved :-(((( He is a very strong boy and at 40kg needs a very strong experienced owner.

Yayyyy, well done gorgeous boy, delighted for you xxxxx

Oh Locky I’m so happy for you. The last few times I’ve been to the kennels we’ve had lovely cuddles and a lovely walk. You are a gorgeous boy but soooo big and I was worried it would be hard to find you a new home. But here you are reserved :))) Congratulations gorgeous boy xxx

Ooo brilliant news!! So happy for you Locky. xx

I had the pleasure of walking Locky this afternoon. He does walk very nicely on the lead but doesn't always want to turn round to come back to the kennels. :)
Fortunately his split tail is looking much better, it's amazing the speed he can wag his tail! It goes round and round like a helicopter!
Hoping his forever home will soon come along. Xxx

Wow 40kg, you must be a big boy locky! I do love big dogs though, thr bigger the better! Xxx

Lucy is right about Locky he does love people! He is so sweet and just a happy puppy who is no trouble in his kennel. He is a very big boy who weighs nearly 40Kg! He is strong and would need to go to a home with someone who is confident with handling a lad of his size when out and about. You would also need a big sofa! :))) Xxx

Locky is such a cute boy, he absolutely adores people and has such enthusiasm for life with his windmill tail! x

I met this lovely big lad today and wow! what a bundle of fun he is. Very affectionate and playful. I could see him enjoying playing with older children or an active family who could keep him amused. He is still only a very young lad with much to learn but he's eager with a get up and go go go attitude. Whoever takes him home will have a super play mate. He certainly put a smile on my face today, what we all need in the current climate xx

A cuddle for gorgeous Locky! He is very tall lad and very strong. He is very affectionate and does like to lean. :)) Xxx

Welcome Locky - you are a very handsome young fella indeed. x

He's absolutely beautiful

A stunning boy with beautiful eyes xxxxxx