4th Birthday update for Harley

4th Birthday update for Harley came in yesterday from Sarah. Harley is from Henry and Primrose's litter

"Dear Jane,
I hope you & the family are keeping well and have been managing in these strange times?  I’ve been very grateful to have Harley there when I get home from work keeping a sense of normality for me & keeping me company.
I was so sorry to read of Primrose’s passing recently, she was such a great Mum to Harley and was a lovely girl when I met her.
I thought I would send birthday greetings to Harley’s siblings today!  I can’t believe he is 4 already, where has that time gone?  It certainly doesn’t seem that long ago that I saw on your blog he’d been born.  I hope Bertha & Sasha are still well?  They look lovely dogs when I’ve seen photos of them.  Do you hear from Barnaby’s family at all?
I’ve attached a couple of photos of Harley for you.  He’s a lovely dog, he knows his own mind and thinks he’s braver than he is, but is very loving towards his favourite people!  My new neighbours have two cats which torment Harley!  He is always desperate to chase/play with them but doesn’t seem to take the hint that they’re not interested.  One has knocked him on the nose under the gate and they’ve both arched their backs and hissed at him, but he’s still as keen as ever and will sit on the doorstep watching for them when we get back from walks (photo attached!).
We had a few trips to the vets last month when Harley was very sad and lame with a swollen paw.  A course of antibiotics & painkillers settled things though and he’s been fine since.  It was the first time I’ve needed to see the vet with him other than for routine checks, he’s generally a very well boy.
His daycare was closed for 3 months from March.  I was in a panic as working at the hospital, I was still having to go in every day so had thought Harley would have to go to my parents, which would’ve meant I wouldn’t have seen him for all that time.  Thankfully, a friend who lives two doors from me said that she’d kindly look after Harley for me.  Harley gets on very well with her dog and I think they had a brilliant time.  He’s back at daycare now though and by all accounts it was as if he’d never been away!
We’ve been doing agility for about a year now & we both really enjoy it.  I’ve missed not being able to go over the last few months.  Harley is so super enthusiastic running over the jumps and takes every new obstacle we try in his stride, I’ve been really impressed with him.  I have to work really hard to keep his focus & stop his nose leading him off course, but we have lots of fun!
His recall is still a bit hit and miss.  He can be really responsive and lull me into thinking we’ve cracked it & then he gets a sniff and is off running & turns deaf.  I’ve accepted that I’m not going to change this so generally have him on a longer lead when we’re out and let him run when we’re in enclosed areas.  He seems happy enough and I keep working on the recall!  It would break my heart if he ran off & got lost though.  Retrieving is coming along though - as long as there is food involved at the end!!  He’s definitely food motivated rather than toy motivated.
Wishing you the best of luck with Teagol’s litter, I look forward as always to seeing the pups grow.  All the best to you, your family and all the dogs.  Thanks as always for Harley!
Take care
Love
Sarah and Harley xx"