Chelsea Hunter is a female Springer Spaniel, she is nine years old. Her owner has asked us to keep her name anonymous but she is very proud of her dog. She entered her dog in this competition as she felt she has one of the most unique and special dogs she ever owned. The competition deals with overall personality and skills, unlike traditional dog shows.
What makes Chelsea so unique? We called her owner and visited Chelsea to find out. The first obvious trait is she is a 9 yr old dog, yet she looks no older than 4! Her owner shared what she believes is Chelsea's anti aging secrets, “I have always told her since she was turned 4 that she was a puppy and only 2, She seems to have allowed this information to go into her subconscious and its working! She amazes vets and dog professionals of her youthfulness. Basically, we don’t believe in aging in my household, it's all in your mind. We call it the anti aging zone!! So we plan on Chelsea staying healthy and young for many more years. She also takes a vitamin, gets plenty of exercise and lots of hugs.”
Her special skills
Chelsea is a Springer Spaniel - a Hunting Dog by nature, she is supposed to flush out birds and small animals, but the only bird she has caught is when she was one year old, she came in her house quite excited with her catch, and dropped it on the floor according to her owner. However, her owner believes she found the bird and did not actually hunt that bird. She will dart out of the house if she sees a squirrel or rabbit, or hears ducks, but she never catches anything.
Key words that get Chelsea excited and barking
Birds
Squirrels
Rabbits
Ducks
Chipmunks
Dig
If you say this word, she will spring into action and dig a deep hole. If you say. One paw, she will dig with one paw, if you say double paws, she goes back to two.
If she is outside and you say, Guard the house, she comes back in.
Leash
Chelsea never has to be on a leash. She stays on the property. Her owner stated that many people ask her if she has an electric fence, she responds NO!
Yet, Chelsea will growl and bark at any dogs walking by and she has to be called back in. She is very protective of her owner.
She has never learned to really go for a walk on a leash. She would walk half a block then stop and want to go home. It took a British Horseman to come visit to teach her after nine years how to go for a walk. She is doing better.
Toys
Chelsea loves playing with her stuffed dog toys. She carries them in her mouth constantly. She loves to have you toss the toy as far as you can, she will run to get it, however she will not bring it back. She stops halfway and drops it, sits and stares at it. You have to walk over to it, and re-toss it. She will repeat this for an hour.
Evening Hugs
Chelsea is a very affectionate dog with those she loves. When her owner comes home at night from her office the dog expects to get hugged before the owner’s daughter. If the owner tries to hug her daughter first, Chelsea will jump up and push the daughter out of the way to get hugged first. Her daughter plays along and when Chelsea is getting hugged she says, “Chelsea I’m Jealous.” She will keep hugging her owner until the owner tells her she loves her and she looks beautiful.
Panic Attacks
To get Chelsea into the car you have to say, “Car Ride Chelsea,” and she will nervously run to the car. Her owner stated that we have to reassure her that we are just going to pick up my daughter, stop by my office or go to the store or get gas. I don’t normally bring her with me to get gas, she thinks the gas attendant is evil and growls and snarls at the window. I have to slightly open the window and hand the man the cash. I think she understands how high the gas prices are and she is angry about it! She can’t ever visit my sister and her family in Vermont, her owner stated, as she cannot stay in the car that long.
Her owner stated that Chelsea has a tough time going to the Vet or getting groomed. She shakes and won’t get out of the car. When taking her to the vet her owner who is a petite woman has to carry her in like a baby. This dog weighs 40 plus pds. She then holds on to her owner wrapping her paws around her shoulders. ‘It’s always quite a scene” stated the owner.
Special talents
Chelsea is such a sweet and very polite dog at home. If the owner brings food upstairs for her daughter and friends, and the tray is left on the floor, Chelsea will not grab a bite. She will sit and stare at the tray, often placing one paw on it. But she will not take the food off the tray. She waits for someone to offer it to her.
TV Watching
If the owner and her daughter are watching TV, the dog will stare at them not at the TV. If they laugh at something, she wags her tail. One of her favorite shows she reacts to is “24” with Keifer Sutherland. She reacts and gets excited when she hears action going on in the show. She will bark and run around the room.
Food
She tries to eat all day long. She will sit in front of her food tray looking very hungry for different family members. The owner stated that her mom or dad may come by to help with her daughter when she is at work. The dog may have eaten, but she sits by her bowls and licks her lips. She then gets extra food. They were all unaware that so many of them were feeding her, but they were curious as to why the vet said she had gained a few pounds, Chelsea was put on a diet. She prefers people food and will wait to see if she will get meat or other goodies before she will eat her own food. She goes absolutely crazy for bagels and Philadelphia soft pretzels her owner stated. “if I am upstairs working on my computer and she knows there are either bagels or pretzels in the kitchen, she runs up to my desk, she barks then darts out of the room as if I am to follow. I often tease her by saying, what is it girl, is Timmy stuck in the well again? I follow her downstairs and she barks at the bagels or pretzels until we give her a small piece.”
Food Games
Her favorite game to play is pick which hand has the dog treat in it. However, instead of using her snout, the owner says, Use your paw to choose. She will lift up her paw to the correct hand and get the treat. That is an amazing talent the owner stated.
Other special traits
Chelsea will sit and cross her paws. Her owner said that always looks very ladylike and she tells Chelsea when she sees her do that… “Chelsea that is so talented!”
Junk Yard Dog
When she was 4 thru 7 she loved playing junk yard dog. This is when she would pretend to attack you and grab your shirt sleeve, growl and snarl, but she was having fun and never really bites. However according to her owner one day a neighbor came to visit and thought it was real. So we stopped playing Junk Yard dog.
Her owner stated there are other wonderful personality traits about Chelsea and why she deserved to win, “One winter I got a very bad flu, she lied on my bed with me for 5 days only leaving momentarily to get food and go outside. But then she came right back up. She used to sleep in my room for years, but then she moved to my daughter’s room. However when we have a major thunderstorm she runs through hallway and runs in my room to sleep with me. She also knows how to open my front door from the outside. Which is not good in the winter as we will let her out, go back upstairs, feel a chill, then figured Chelsea let herself back in.”
The owner stated she has owned many dogs in her life from a poodle to golden retriever to a cockapoo, but Chelsea is the best dog she ever owned. “With Chelsea it’s often scary how much she understands. She is so intelligent, but so sweet even with her neurosis. No matter what happens in my day, I can always count on her unconditional love and a big hug when I come home.”
We congratulate Chelsea and know she will continue to be a wonderful dog and family member. This writer wants her anti-aging secrets as well. She truly looks 4 not 9!
