Please play....

This goes on inside and outside of the house, I can sit and watch the cat chasing him across our decking then the dog hides behind the bush at the end while the cat sits and waits for him to dare show himself, inside it usually ends up with Neo being chased round the coffee table!

Hubby reckons Neo has given the cat a new lease of life as instead of sleeping all day he now fits in time to chase the dog!

We took Neo to a Country show last Sunday at Kelmarsh. It was his first experience of such a large crowd of people and dogs and he behaved extremely well.
It seemed that every other person had a dog with them and being such a friendly Rottie he absolutely loved it, what was great was that we didn't have to worry about 'not so friendly' dogs as it wasn't the place you'd get away with taking an aggressive dog.
He also got his first look at Ducks, Goats, Pigs and Chickens, thankfully all were safely secured in pens as he just wanted to play with them!
Am looking forward to taking him to another soon.

I've purchased a 'Dogmatic' halti as while at the show I had to keep him on a fairly short lead which led to a lot of pulling, normally he is pretty good and doesn't pull but I think there was so much going on he was just impatient to greet the next dog or get to the next smell.

We had a go with it today, I put it on him when it arrived and gave lots of treats then took it off, later on I did the same again then we went for a short walk in it this afternoon. He has taken to it pretty well, he doesn't make drastic attempts to get it off, a few half hearted attempts when he thought I wasn't watching! He isn't totally happy with it and makes a face when he tries to pull and ends up facing me! I do think its going to make a big difference though so we'll be persevering with it.

+

I ordered a wine glass for a friend and it arrived very well packed in some thick cardboard, as you can see Neo took great delight in shredding it, not so long ago it would have taken him days, now its a matter of minutes!!
I'm so pleased with how well behaved he is when it comes to his bones etc, I have no problems approaching him when he has a bone and he leaves it for me when asked. Its funny really as his preferred position with bone is to sit next to you or if he can he likes to put his front feet and bone in your lap. I gave him a pork roll (dried rolled pig skin for those not familiar with dog chews) this morning and was mildly surprised when he allowed the cat to sniff at it. I'm sure its mostly his gentle nature that makes him so unprotective over his food but I think i'll still take some credit for the training we've given him to get to this point. Hes never had his food or a chew removed from him without having something tasty to replace it and that has proved to be an excellent training tip.
Talking of training, hes still excelling at his puppy classes. Last week we put them in the stay and I was able to walk to half way across the hall, return to him and repeat before he was allowed to move and he performed this twice, the only pup to remain in the stay that long. I can feel my head swelling as I write!

Another milestone!

Neo enjoyed his first off leash walk today.

We're lucky enough to have the run of my in-laws farm with well fenced fields and not another person or dog to be seen. We have always intended to only let him off the lead there and not in public. I feel it is an unecessary risk to let him run free in a public place when we have the run of the farm, he is a breed with a bad reputation and will be a big dog who would easily scare someone who didn't know him, I know he wouldn't intentionally hurt anything but don't want to put him in a position to be hurt himself or blamed for something not of his doing. Besides hes got a long flexi lead which hes quite happy to jog along on and stop to sniff at regular intervals, hes not the most energetic dog in the world!

Anyway, we've practiced his recall at home and at puppy classes, also while in the park safely attatched to the flexi lead, each time the results have been good so I decided it was time to attempt it without a safety net.

As usual he was as good as gold, I called him to me a number of times throughout the walk and each time he trotted over took his treat and trotted off again. It was lovely to see him free and doing his own thing.

I had forgotten how social having a dog was. We have a small park at the bottom of our street which provides a nice half hour walk so if we've not been anywhere else I take him there for his daily walk, I've started to regularly meet the same people and they often stop and have a chat. Yesterday I had a natter with a couple of old chaps walking their terriers, they both thought Neo was lovely and kept commenting on how well behaved he was which I was really chuffed about. Its very gratifiying when your dog is praised for his behaviour and makes all the hard work worth it.

This is Neo indulging in his new hobby 'digging away at our foundations'
As fast as hubby fills it in its dug up again. I haven't the heart to stop him, besides that area is earmarked to be paved in the summer so the problem will be solved. We always know when hes been indulging as he comes in with it all over his nose.


Puppy class went very well again last night, Neo was very well behaved and did everything asked of him, almost first time! He thoroughly enjoys these classes and I'm so glad I decided to continue going. Hes certainly forming a friendship with two of the smallest dogs, Rocco the Beagle and Rosie the Daschund. Will try and get some photos of them together next week.

I took him to see a new vet last week which opened up in Jan. I had noticed he was scratching his ear and had developed a bald, slightly sore patch under it and I wanted a second opinion concerning his loose stools.
The vet was very good, a big fan of Rotties, apparently he did some work with the gentleman who origianally imported the breed.

He suggested that the dandruff and loose stools were all connected and if we sorted out the skin problem the rest would come right.

So I left with a bottle of ear drops and instructions to wash him twice a week in Vosene (sp) and to feed him nothing but his JWB food and treats. He also said to stop feeding the puppy food and start him on the adult one as the extra protein wasn't required and could be causing the problems.

I was a bit worried about changing the feed but others assured me it was ok and they had fed their pups adult feed without any problems.

Fingers crossed we'll start to see an improvement in a few weeks, the ear is already sorted so just the dandruff and loose stools to go!

Puppy Class #2

Just got back from his second week at puppy class, he was a little star again. We had to do a 'wait' command while we walked through a gate then call them through, he did this very well, twice!
Our recall was a success, the instructor held onto the dog while the owner walked away then turned and called them at which point the instructor let go. Neo came straight away, I'm in no doubt the hot dog sausage was his main focus, but hey it worked!
I'm pretty sure he'd go to anyone who called as long as there was food involved as while watching the others he was straining at his lead every time another dog was called to their owner!
I have to say I actually enjoyed it this week which is a relief after last week, this time I went with no expectations and just went with the flow. Its a pleasant group of people as well with a variety of pups.
Neo seems particularly taken with a Beagle and a Daschund, its so sweet to watch them play together and Neo is very gentle.
Will actually look forward to next Monday.

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!!