(If I can't chew them at least I can sleep amongst them)

Finally all the snow has gone, and our lawn now resembles a hippo mud wallow! Of course Neo has no problems with this at all, I'm constantly wiping his paws.

He is now enrolled in his puppy classes, they start on the 9th of March. It was an encouraging sign that the lady who registered us was very enthusiastic about him being a Rottie, I'm getting so used to the negative comments that it was a refreshing change. I was a little worried that he wouldn't be welcome.

A couple had taken their Beagle pup down to the registration, I've gotten so used to the size of Neo that I found it hard to believe that this scrap of a pup must be around the same age!that has triggered off another worry! hes 12kg (probably more now) of rottie pup who is pretty boisterous and has a favourite game of flooring anything smaller than him with a carefully laid paw across the back!! This is just his way of playing but unfortunately those smaller than him don't feel the same way! I really hope this isn't going to make us unwelcome.

Hes doing very well out on the lead, he likes to stop and sniff all the time like most dogs, I don't mind this at the moment as hes young and our walks are short, hes also pretty good at moving on when told so its not a battle of wills, but the plan is to get him to keep moving when walking on the lead and sniff around when off the lead. Not sure if this is the right thing to do but if your short of time then I feel the exercise is more important rather than a constant stop start.

We don't have children yet but have seen something of the joys(?) of raising a family as I have a young niece and nephew. Having Neo has opened my eyes to what having children around is all about. When it was just us and the cat life was pretty simple, the cat ate and slept and apart from some affection when he asked for it he required very little else. Now Neo has entered the fold all has changed, him and the cat behave like a couple of toddlers, Neo wants to play, the cat doesn't (or he makes out that he doesn't), hes forever trying to stick his claws in Neo's nose and yelling at him, now Neo has got quite good at dodging these weapons while at the same time flooring the cat with his big paws, you'd think that the cat would take the nearest escape route but oh no he just goes back for more! In fact its almost comical, one second I'm yelling at Neo for chasing the cat out of the room only to watch the cat chase him back in a second later! Its like watching siblings running around. Have given up trying to break up the fights now as they both seem to have settled into a routine.

I find myself having to time my activities around the pup like you would children. I try and only go out, have a bath or do the ironing when hes due his nap as I don't like to shut him in the kitchen more than I really have to, at least if hes sleepy its not such a big deal. My trips out have to be timed in between feeds and letting him out to the toilet.

We're still getting up at 3 or 4 in the morning to let him out and again at 7 although now hes getting older its noticeable that hes managing for longer. In a few weeks he may even go through the night, fingers crossed.

I've noticed that my living room is a constant obstacle course of toys and chews which includes yogurt pots and plastic milk cartons, my wood and tile floors are constantly decorated in large paw prints and my rugs are becoming black and furry! In my life before Neo I was a fairly house proud person and liked everything to be in its place, how thats changed! I do try to keep on top of the floor cleaning and the picking up of toys but am slowly realising I am fighting a loosing battle!

Hmmmmmm maybe theres a reason we still don't have children!!

Have had enough now!

One day of snow was fun, two was ok but now its just getting annoying! Yesterday was the first day I've managed to get the car out of my street and that was cause I had to get to work! It was sheet ice on the street on my return this morning and being bit of a whimp I got hubby to meet me and drive it down the road!

Its so unfortunate that this weather has arrived on the first few weeks of Neo being able to go out and about on his own four feet, I'm very aware that the next few weeks are important in regards to his socialization but its proving difficult to get much done as we've only managed to get the car out once this week and that was a quick trip into town. As he is still so young his walks have to be fairly limited so they are confined to within 15 to 20 mins of home and theres not an awful lot going on around here!

There is a small public field behind our estate so we've gone for short walks up there and hes befriended a Dalmation and a little girl. Our trip into the town centre on Sat was a success as he got lots of attention and loved every minute. Hes a real people dog at the moment and greets everyone with lots of enthusiasum.

Hes a little star on the lead, he continues to amaze me at how quickly he learns. Hes getting bolder now and striding out ahead so instead of encouraging him forward I'm having to encourage him back!

I still find it hard to believe how hes grown, well I can believe it, but I can't belive it, you know what I mean. I think back to how he travelled home on my lap that first day, wouldn't manage it now! He now has the whole of his crate to sleep in, it was initially partitioned off in half then increased to three quarters, in only five weeks hes grown enought to need the whole space!! People keep commenting on how big his paws are, personally i'm trying not to notice!!

In such a short space of time hes become very much part of our family and its been great watching how hes changed, hes gone from being a very quiet solitary pup who didn't really want to interact to a pup who loves to play and explore, has boundless energy and gives and wants plenty of affection.

Snow, snow, snow.....

I thought the snow we had a few days ago was a lot, I certainly wasn't expecting to wake up this morning and find drifts against the door! Its bad enough today to prevent the cars leaving the drives, hubby had to walk to work, lucky I don't have to do my commute for another three days!

Neo thinks its great fun, we had snow the day after he arrived here but nothing compared to this, hes been in and out all morning running around.







I'm surprised he has any energy left, friends came over last night with their young Cocker Spaniel 'Bella'. She really didn't know what to make of Neo as despite being 6 months younger than her hes a real bruiser when they are stood together and probably weighs more. His form of playing is also very boisterous and I don't think she appreciated 9.5kg of puppy jumping on her the whole time. She did get her own back however as she really does have a turn of speed and spent 5 mins running rings around Neo in the back garden! After they left he slept for an hour, woke up long enough to eat his dinner then slept for another hour!

We took him for his first walk yesterday, just a 10 min jaunt around the block. We'd done a little bit of lead walking around the house with the bait of bits of chicken but I didn't know what to expect once we got outside the front door.
He was actually pretty good for a first go, there were a couple of disagreements about how long he could stop and sniff for but these were won by me with the promise of more treats.
Its going to take a bit of patience and a lot of bait before the walks flow along nicely but we'll get there.

Tagged

A few days ago I was tagged by borderblog, worried me a bit as I am supposed to tag five others but haven't got five other blogs to tag! how sad!

Anyway, the instructions were to go to file or doc, open fifth folder and go to the fifth pic, post and describe, tag 5 other bloggers.




This is it. It was the home I made for my resident frog. I think he (or she) has been returning to the garden for a few years now hiding under some planks of wood, we had to move the wood so I decided to provide a better habitat. Its just a large plant saucer with stones and some pond plants. Well, the frog thought it was wonderful as he spent the entire summer submerged in it, the presents of dead slugs probably helped to!
In the autumn I upgraded to a small garden pond, I think the frog had already left for the winter but am hoping to see it again come the spring and hope he likes his permanent home.

I now tag:

Camera Trap Codger (Chris Wemmer)
My Art Stuff (marancat)