Puppy Class

Well what can I say!

Am not entirely sure what I expected but I didn't expect to be considering not going back!

Firstly I'd like to sing Neo's praises as he was exceptionally well behaved considering hes not been in the presence of so many puppies before, in fact I would say he was probably one of the calmest and best behaved.

Before we'd even entered the hall a woman pointed out to me that Neo's habit of putting his foot on top of other dogs is a sign of dominance, I already know this! we are working on it and hes ten times better than he was, I have to say the thought 'theres always one' went through my mind. A few mins later I found out she is also an instructor who is training our instructors dog!

We all entered the hall and sat in a circle while the instructor introduced herself and checked she had all the dogs and owners on her list. She then went through some other stuff which I struggled to hear above a couple of barking puppies (not Neo!)

She then asked if we all had our 'poop bags', everyone answered yes. I felt things were rapidly going down hill when she asked us to produce said bags! felt like I was in primary school!

Herself and the instructor who's acquaintance I'd made earlier then went round the room to check all the name tags. Now I know that Neo's is wrong as I have his name on it, after having it done I was told this is not such a good idea as if he were to run off someone else could claim him just by calling the name on the tag. I had not had a chance to get another one done, on checking the tag the woman not instructing pointed out it was not a good idea and I was a bit 'naughty' having it on there!
I think hubby was just getting ready to kick me under the chair as he could see by the look on my face that I was about to 'bite' said instructor!

'Naughty'! do I look 5 yrs old!

Next we got up and moved onto a rubber matting walkway around the hall. The instructor wanted to see if the pups would do a 'sit' and a 'down'. Neo has no problem at this at home but I wondered how he would be with all the distractions so while she was going around the hall I practiced with him and he did just fine.

When she got to us she asked for his treat, I had brought some 'Probiotic Healthy Puppy Treats' she took one look and said 'Oh i don't think these will work'!!!!!!!
Oh my god! how long has she known my pup? oh all of 10 mins, versus the 8 wks I've had him and trained him perfectly well with said treat!
Apparently I should have come with cheese or some other smelly treat. That all very well, yes, he loves cheese and I do use it for his training sometimes but I do try and limit it preferring to use something slightly less fatty.
I couldn't bite my tongue and I did point out that the treat was perfectly adequate for my dog. Neo then proceeded to do a perfect 'down' for her!

Ok I know I'm not the most patient of people but I really did feel like I was a 5 yr old back at primary school! and to be perfectly honest I was bored!

I am going to go back next week in the hope things improve, we're going to do 'recall' and thats not one of Neo's strong points so hopefully we will learn something and the socialization is good for him. Think hubby will have to accompany me again though to keep me under control!!

Toys and Bones

Many years ago I had a wonderful Black Lab, he was the kindest, most gentle creature, loved everybody...........until he got hold of a bone! Then he turned into a snarling, growling monster! It would start the second you got within a few feet of him, he would never bite, you could still get your hand on the bone but it wasn't a pleasant experience so we tended to leave him to it. It was totally our fault as he was never taught not to be possessive, he was the same over his food.

This is not a mistake I intended to make with Neo so from day one he was fed with us sitting with him, fussing him and putting our hands in his bowl, the time spent doing this has paid off and we have no problems with possessiveness over food.

Hes 16 weeks now and I've been putting off giving him bones as haven't wanted to deal with the fallout! then someone rightly said 'wouldn't it be better to do it now rather than wait till hes bigger!' of course this made sense so off I went to the pet shop for some bones.

When I got back I did a few mins of training with him then gave him the bone. For the first 10 mins I held onto it which he was fine with then I went out and made a cup of tea came back and took hold of it again, asked him to 'leave' which he did, I even pretended to have a gnaw of it myself! The only time he snarled was when the cat decided to get in on the action. In my house the cat is higher in the pecking order than him so I told him off and made him allow the cat a sniff at the bone, he waited patiently until the cat wondered off again. So all in all it was a success.
I'll give him another one next week and repeat the process.

Hes also now having Tripe Sticks, these smell awful! but he loves them and has shown a little bit of possessiveness over them when hubby has been with him so that's being nipped in the bud at the moment.

I'm afraid I spoil him a bit when it comes to toys, each trip to the pet shop I like to get him another one as don't want him to become bored and start on the furniture, so far we've been lucky and he hasn't destroyed anything, I'd like to keep it that way! I swap the toys around every few days.

So on Tuesday I arrived home with this
Well, this is a very scary and dangerous toy, you wouldn't believe it to look at it but Neo assures me it is and shouldn't be approached without extreme caution and lots of barking and dancing around! I've seen him scared of the vacuum, the ironing board and the pushbike but never a toy! It is very funny to watch. Hes only happy when the scary toy is back in its box.


I'll keep getting it out and perhaps as he gets older he'll feel less threatened by it!

Hes growing up.

Hes growing so fast! Two and a half weeks ago I weighed him down at the vets, (hes too big to sit on my scales) he weighed in at 11.5 kg, I went down a couple of days ago and he is now 16.5 kg, seems at the moment he is putting on a steady two kg a week.

Certainly filling out nicely, developing his adult shape and putting on some muscle.

Hes becoming quite a vocal boy, loves to grumble while he is playing or being towelled down, I'd heared about the 'Rottie Rumble' and they certainly do, its pretty funny to hear, I do try to dissuade him from it outside the house as to those who are of a nervous disposition or don't know Rotties it would sound like hes growling but if you heard his growl you'd know the grumble is nothing to worry about!!

We've had a couple of challenges last week, he objected to having a piece of stick removed from his mouth, something I've done many times without a problem, this time he decided he wanted to keep it and put up a little protest! It was a short lived protest and he was left in no doubt as to who the boss was! the incident hasn't been repeated since although I'm sure there are many challenges to come.

Last week his perfect world had a slight hiccup, we went to a friends house where he was playing with their Jack Russel, one minute they were playing and the next things had turned nasty. Although I was in the room with him I didn't see exactly what happened to set it off but I suspect he got a little boisterous and didn't heed the JT's warning so things escalated, to be fair to Neo he did submit but the JT didn't back off. Thankfully there was no damage and he didn't seem to bothered but since this altercation he is much more respectful and a little cautious when meeting new dogs which is a good thing as he did tend to go at them with both barrels which dogs didn't appreciate.

A couple of days ago I went for coffee at my friends who owns the Springer Spaniel and the Cocker Spaniel, both female, I've mentioned them in a previous post. Both the dogs have been round to us separately to meet Neo so we thought it would be good to introduce him on their own territory. I was a little nervous about how he would react after his little upset the week before. Initially he was a little nervous but both the other dogs greeted him with waggy tails and within minutes the three of them were chasing around the living room like the best of friends, in fact by the end of the visit we decided that they are both a little in love with him!

Socializing is going pretty well now hes able to get out and about, we have a local country park which is a great place to go and meet other dogs and children, hes so well behaved, rarely trys to get their hands in his mouth, keeps all his paws on the ground when meeting people and dogs and doesn't pull on the lead, hes doing us proud and appears so much better behaved than many of the dogs we've met. Lets hope this continues next week at his first puppy class.

(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)