Piles of Puke!

Don't you just love it when you're in a hurry to go somewhere and your lovely doggy suddenly vomits all over the place!!  Poor girly - out it all came! 3 nice piles! (which nearly became 4, due to my gagging!)  Was the shit-sick variety - rapidly stinking out the house, so even though freezing cold outside, had to open up the doors and scrub it all up quick!!  Now to steam clean the area!  Baby girl kept her lunchtime snacks down, which is more than can be said for me, everytime I remember the smell!! :))  

Kitten Crazy!

Aaawwww - last week we babysat 4 beautiful kittens, rescued from a horrid woman who wanted rid of them.  Now all homed to good loving homes.  Albeit a short time with them - three nights - I miss them sooo much!  My dogs didn't get a look in as I was up to my elbows in soiled cat litter, kitten food and just watching the 4 cheeky little monkeys rampage around our spare room!  House is sooo quiet now but dogs have me all to themselves again!!  Would have had to re-name my blog cat litter and kitten-poo or something like that!!  Oh good luck little ones.

Zombie Dog Trainer!

Why do I always do it?!  Fall asleep on the settee during one of the soaps or Autumnwatch!!  Not because I'm bored, but 8.30-9pm seems to be my sleepy-time!  In the land of nod for a couple of hours and then can't sleep when I eventually do go up to bed!!  Wide-eyed and bushy-tailed I may be right now at 3.30am, but that won't be the case when I take a class in just a few hours!!  Lots of coffee to try and ward off the zombie-look will be the order of the day!!

Don't Panic Girl!

It's offical - I'm losing my marbles!  Whilst cooking dinner tonight, I had a sudden panic that I should be teaching my puppy class!!  But duhh!! It was week 4 last week, I have no class tonight!! - I start my next course next week!!  What a horrible feeling that I should be somewhere, but was instead cooking dinner and drinking red wine at the same time, so even if I should have been there, I was no longer able to drive!  Panic over, once I convinced myself when viewing the diary, that today is the 14th not the 21st!!  Turning 40 is certainly proving to have implications on my once sharp memory!! :))  What's my name again!??

Wellies, Wet Dogs and Walkies!

I really love this time of year - beautiful Autumn!  Gorgeous colours of leaves, rain and yes - wearing my wellies!  (Now I don't look so out of place by my choice of footwear!!)  I love walking with the dogs in the murky rain and muddy woods and kicking through the leaves on the ground!  Splashing through the puddles (which helps wash off any dog-poo we may have trodden in!) and seeing the squirrels playing and gathering nuts!  Pheasants and muntjac sometimes cross our path and we try not to disturb them as they go about their business.  We trudge carefully round the familiar woodland tracks, which take on a different look with each passing day, as the trees shed more leaves, occasionally quite slippery as a result.  As the light starts to fade, sometimes a mist hangs in the treetops, so we hurry through before I start to imagine spooky things! - especially with Halloween approaching!  Finally we reach home where the dogs get towelled down and settle for a quick nap before their dinner and I have a lovely hot cup of tea!  What could be better than that?  Well maybe a crumpet to go with the tea!! :))    

Barking Like Bonkers with Boredom!

It never ceases to amaze me how some people get a dog but don't provide it with much to do and then wonder why it creates havoc around the home!  Chewing, barking, digging inappropriately etc.  (all natural dog behaviour by the way, but can end up being done to excess or at times the owners find problematic). Or some people don't research the needs of a breed and get a dog totally inappropriate to their lifestyle, home and their ability / availability to provide the dog with adequate mental and physical stimulation etc.  For example getting a Collie and then shutting it in a small flat on its own all day!  Some dogs don't even get regular walks or they spend their waking hours home alone, whilst the owners are out at work all day.  The equivalent of solitary confinement in a prison - why is the dog, a naturally social creature, effectively being punished for just existing, I ask?? Some people admit to only taking the dog for a walk once or twice a week!!  Or the walk they do get, is extremely short and always to the same place.  Boring!!!  I regularly see someone who gives their dog a walk to the playing field, she walks around the middle of the field, waits until the dog has a poo and then takes it back home, well once it eventually catches up with her, as she always seems in a hurry to get the walk over with!!  No interest in interacting with the dog at all!  This all takes place under 10 minutes!  Really not an adequate exercise session for a one year-old labrador!  Then this same owner is heard complaining that the dog chews everything at home, runs off to see other dogs and people in the field while she stands calling it in vain!  Duh!!! Helloo!!!???  I would just like to have some owners experience the boredom and feeling of going 'stir-crazy' that some dogs have to endure - how would they like to be locked up in a house all alone, or outside in a garden all day, where their excrement is also left lying for days on end or just simply ignored by the humans as they are too wrapped up in their own doings?  Wouldn't you go crazy and just try finding something to do, to alleviate your boredom?!  Or would you just become depressed and lethargic and withdrawn?  Or maybe just resign yourself to the boredom but then go completely nuts once you had company again and jump all over everyone, only sadly, to be shouted at for being a pain?!   There are so many toys and activities that owners can provide for their dog in order to keep them sufficiently mentally exercised - Kongs, Nylabones and Buster Cubes - Kong Wobblers and Activity Balls and Busy Buddies - if you don't have the time to spare to attend to their physical and psychological needs, let your dogs have fun at least!!  (or don't get the dog in the first place?!)  Training and playing games, setting dogs puzzles to solve - all can help alleviate some problem behaviours by providing adequate channels for mental and physical needs.  My last little quip on this subject is - why do some owners feed their dogs the equivalent of rocket-fuel and then wonder why the dog is tearing up the house!?  Feeding dogs a working diet when the dog does not work, is a recipe for disaster! As is feeding a diet of cheap, nasty, colourful food and treats!  It's like feeding sugary drinks and e-numbers to small children and then seeing them bouncing off the ceiling and having major temper tantrums!  So for a happy home, make sure you have a happy dog, then it'll be happy days all round!! :)

Job Well Done!

With reference to my previous post - no need to rant, but can breathe a sigh of relief!  Victory has been served!  Due to so many complaints, (mine being one of them), about the amateur 'dog expert' on the TV, the slot has been removed from the programme!  Well done to the BBC One Show for listening to the many knowledgeable people from animal welfare, dog training and behaviour associations and I'm sure, many savvy owners, who lodged complaints and statements - and for at least trying to salvage the situation, by putting in a VERY belated warning about viewers seeking professional advice before attempting to try any behavioural rehabilitation on their own dogs.  Very ironic when they had featured someone who was blatantly not a qualified professional, but never mind!  They made a boob with that one didn't they!?  Also good that they talked about qualifications - now people may realise that this is a proper profession not just some hobby that we do on one night of the week!  Thank goodness the tide has turned for dog training and behaviour and there are enough people on board out there to make sure we stamp out the out-dated, misguided, harsh and down-right dangerous, in some cases, ideology that has for so long been forced onto dogs under the guise of dog-training.  Gone out of business will be the ignorant bullies whose own inferior self-esteem and refusal to educate themselves in the understanding of canine psychology, fuels them to bully and 'dominate' dogs in order to train them.  Gone will be this CRAP about having to be the pack leader!!  Hopefully now people will sit up and realise that dog-training is about working with your dog, not against it and that there are qualified people to turn to.  Strange how dogs are regarded as man's best friend but some people just perpetuate the myth that they need to be shown who's boss!  At last people can question the methods used on their dogs and say 'no' and find a decent trainer / behaviourist.  It just goes to show, if you're passionate about something, just stand up for it and be heard - if enough people shout loud enough then you will be rewarded!!  (There's a pun in there somewhere about Positive Reinforcement!!)  (Especially when this subject has so many welfare and liability issues!)  So all in all, for all the dogs out there - Job well done!! :))