New training tactics & beds

Yesterday morning Molly took me to a nature reserve in a neighbouring county to meet up with some of her friends for a walk.

That was exciting because I'd never been there before so there were lots of new sights & smells to explore & because it's half term there were lots of children & dogs around for me to watch & bark at. Molly wouldn't let me play with them though.

During my exploring I got burrs stuck in my beard, oops! Molly kept trying to remove them but when she did it pulled on my lip, ouch! They seem to have worked their way out now but Molly still needs to give my beard a wash & see if she can get a brush though it. She's been putting it off though because I don't make it easy for her, hehe!

One of Molly's friends that we met up with yesterday is very knowledgeable about dogs so she gave Molly some advice on how to manage my excitement around other dogs & practise my recall with the long lead. So Molly is feeling more positive about those things now.

After our adventure yesterday Molly dropped me back at home & popped into town. I slept most of the time she was out. When she came back a delivery man brought the weekly supermarket delivery so Molly shut me behind the stair gates to keep me out the way. I didn't like that because I just wanted to play.

This morning I weighed 8.6kg again (for the 3rd week in a row) so that supports the theory that I've stopped growing now.

Molly hasn't felt very well today & has kept blowing her nose which makes me jump every time! We've only had one walk today but that's ok with me because I've been tired after yesterday.

We went to the playing fields to practise my recall with the long lead. Molly is much better at handling the long lead now she's been shown how to do it so I enjoyed having more freedom. I did get a bit silly trying to bite the lead though! Every time Molly asked me to "leave it" I did, then went straight back to biting it again!

Molly recently bought some liver paste which I LOVE! She brought it with us to the park today so I showed her how good I can be at listening to her when I know she's got that in her pocket! I did some really good recalls away from birds & other people (including a man on a ride on lawnmower) but wasn't so good at recalling away from other dogs. Molly said we'll get there though.

At the end of our walk Molly let me say hello to two other dogs we met. One wasn't very keen on me but I enjoyed playing with the other.

The other thing Molly is now trying is stopping & continually feeding me while big distractions (such as dogs & particularly interesting people & children) that I'd usually bark & lunge at pass us. I like this! She didn't manage it when we passed our first dog on the way to the park today because she was busy picking up one of my poos but she tried it when we passed a man & a child with a football. Molly said I was good - she knows I'll do anything for food!

Just before we got home we met one of Molly's friends & they stopped for a chat. I was really excited & kept trying to jump up. Molly said we need to work on how I greet people because not everyone likes my wet & muddy paws on their trousers. Molly doesn't mind it though because she loves me.

A couple of Molly's friends have called round briefly to see her today. I did some very impressive barking to try to warn Molly & scare them off before Molly let me know they were friends. Then I just wanted to play with them.

I still don't like being left at home alone but I'm getting better at not being so clingy when Molly is around. Today I even chose to sleep downstairs for a while when Molly was upstairs in her bedroom.

I couldn't convince Molly to share any of her food with me this evening, despite my best attempts. I'm very well trained & never mug her for food, I just sit & stare at her in the hope that she'll give me some.

It never works though :( Molly says you mustn't feel sorry for me because she gives me plenty of food & in fact I'd just had my dinner before she had hers tonight!

Apologies for the poor quality of this photo, it was quite dark, but Molly wanted to show you what she woke up to this morning. I got bored while she had a lie in so entertained myself by shredding a tissue. Molly knows what I'm like with tissues so usually keeps them all out of my way, but she missed one!

This evening I had lots of fun trying to kill my bed & then chewing the labels on it. Molly just let me get on with it because I don't sleep in it much so she said if I destroy it then she's not going to replace it!

Talking of beds, Molly said I don't seem to understand the idea of sleeping in them. I don't know what she means!

I was especially annoying when Molly went into the garden tonight to close the greenhouse door & kept trying to bite her ankles. Molly has no idea where that came from, unless I was just being a bit silly due to only having one walk today.

And here are a a few more photos:

Thanks for reading.

Fun with friends

On Sunday morning (after we wrote the last blog post) Molly made me wait for a walk because she said she had to clean up. Boring! But then we went to the nature reserve. We walked the same route we did a few days previously, but we did part of it backwards this time to make it more interesting.

I got really excited when we saw other people on our walk but luckily (for Molly, not me) there weren't many of them around. And I found a feather! I have a short attention span - when I find something like a feather I'm obsessed with it for up to a couple of minutes & then I just lose interest.

After that Molly's visitors arrived. They stayed elsewhere at night but spent Sunday, Monday & Tuesday with us. I was shy at first but soon warmed up to them.

Abigail was really good at playing with me. I had lots of fun chasing her in the garden & trying to chew her fluorescent shoelaces.

She took my lead on some of our walks too (photos to come later) & didn't mind too much when I got overexcited & jumped all over her!

Chloe had previously had some bad experiences with dogs so was scared of me to start with (& then even more so when I chased her - just because I wanted to play) but by the end of their visit we were good friends & she was happy to stroke me, give me toys & hold my lead in the garden. Here are a few photos of us getting to know each other.

^ Abigail helped show Chloe that I wasn't going to hurt her

Molly said I was really good & gentle with Chloe. I didn't protest at all when she wrapped me up in my blanket.

When everyone ate at the table Chloe brushed all of her crumbs onto the floor for me to eat! That was very thoughtful of her.

On Sunday afternoon we all went for a walk round the village together. When everyone stopped for a while I lay down on the pavement for a rest.

On Monday morning I was left alone (with a chicken foot to eat, yum!) while everyone else went out but then in the afternoon we all went out to the country park together. The girls enjoyed playing on the play equipment & Abigail walked me for a bit.

Molly thought she'd lost her phone but luckily she'd just left it in the car. And I met a tiny miniature schnauzer puppy! Molly let me say hello & I was very well behaved & not too rough but the puppy growled at me anyway!

Yesterday morning Molly washed my beard because it was a bit mucky. I tend to run away when she gets the flannel out but then I like to help her (as she's actually washing my bead) by licking the wet flannel. And on this ocassion when Molly brought out the towel to dry my beard, I play bowed to it, which made Molly laugh! I then ran away from the towel before running back to play with it. Molly said this made drying my beard quite a challenge! When we went out for a walk after that, as well as eating duck poo (which got stuck in my beard), I tried to disguise my scent by rubbing my face in cow pats. It worked really well until Molly insisted on washing my beard again & brushing my teeth!

That was a fun walk though - we went to a local village where we walked along the river & then into the big field we sometimes visit, but we came to the other side of it this time. The girls had fun on the playground & watching boats going through the lock & Abigail took my lead for a while. I kept trying to chew it though! Here are a few photos.

Then we went for lunch but they all sat on a bench outside so I could be with them. I was really well behaved which Molly suspected was because I was tired after that morning's walk.

I've slept really well for the last few nights after having so much fun with the children during the day. Here are a few photos of the funny positions I sleep in.

I was sad when our visitors left yesterday evening & I spent most of this morning lying in front of the door waiting for them to come back. They didn't though.

This morning Molly said I wasn't having a bad hair day, I was having a bad beard day! She did insist on waking me up at 7am though.

We had an early morning walk round the village via the little field & then round the pond & across the playing fields. After that Molly went out for just over an hour & had to leave me at home. I got lonely on my own so was really pleased when she returned. And then a friend of Molly's came to visit so I received lots of attention from her. I was very tired though after such a busy few days so soon relaxed & dozed off.

This afternoon we had a long walk to & round the fields at the edge of the village.

We saw lots of other dogs on our walk but despite all my barking they wouldn't play with me. We went a new route & although we had a few rests along the way we were out for an hour & a half! I tried to persuade Molly carry me towards the end because I was tired but she wouldn't because we were nearly home & apparently I'm too heavy now. However once we got home I did my usual trick of refusing to go back inside the house because that means the end of a fun walk. Molly tried to tempt me in with fish but even that didn't work so she had to pick me up!

Molly bought a little teddy bear at a carboot sale on Monday morning with the intention of giving it to one of her friends as a present. I spotted it when she later unpacked her bag & really wanted to play with it, so jumped around trying to get it. Molly gave in & let me have it so I settled down happily to chew it. Within about 5 minutes I'd pulled its nose off & the stuffing was starting to come out so Molly had to take it off me :( It was fun while it lasted.

Molly wanted me to let you know that I've done some really good "leave it"s over the last few days, such as when I've got hold of the post or one of her younger brother's socks.

We did some good training today when we recapped "sit" & "down" & I didn't get muddled once! Then we tried some work on a new command. Molly thought I'd cracked it but then when we tried it later I kept lying down instead so we've still got a way to go.

I think it's my duty to protect Molly so I've been taking that very seriously at home today & growling & barking at anyone coming to the front door or posting something through the letterbox. Molly said it's embarrassing but I need to scare away anyone who might harm her! If Molly opens the door & greets them happily then I can relax & start bouncing around hoping they'll play with me or give me attention. That reminds me, we met my favourite postman on our walk this morning! He gave me lots of fuss & a biscuit! That's why he's my favourite.

Yesterday evening Molly rolled out of her bed without checking where I was first! That gave me a shock but luckily I wasn't hurt.

I'm now much more confident with the stairs & am happy to go downstairs & out the dog flap in the middle of the night if I need a wee. When I get back into Molly's bedroom I like to jump on her head to let her know that I'm back safely. She doesn't seem to appreciate this though!

And here's one last cute photo :)

Being helpful & waking Molly up

After I last updated my blog on Friday, Molly had to pop out to the library so I spent about 15 minutes on my own. Molly observed that I was starting to get a bit less clingy - I was happy to spend time playing alone in the garden & dozing in a neighbouring room, rather than at her feet. That evening we went on an hour long walk around the village. I barked at every single person & dog we saw! And when we got home I stubbornly stood outside the front door & refused to follow Molly inside because I didn't want my walk to end.

Yesterday morning when Molly got up I stole her place on the bed.

When she came downstairs after having a shower she found that I'd been helpful & moved some of her post from the letterbox to the middle of the living room floor. I was very good & didn't chew it though. Then she got a hammer & used it to break up some of my big fish treats to make them a better size for me.

When Molly did some jobs in the garden yesterday I tried my hardest to help her - I protected her from the scary hosepipe by repeatedly pouncing on it, drank from the end of the hose while she was watering the plants & tried to play with the chickens by throwing myself against their fence. I also really wanted to eat the chicken food but Molly wouldn't let me.

We did some more work on the new command Molly is trying to teach me. She thought I was starting to understand the command but then each time she asked me I just did "down" instead, oops! Molly knows I can hear but wonders if my hearing isn't particularly good because I often seem to struggle to differentiate between spoken commands & she wonders if sometimes I don't respond to my recall because I can't hear it. She'll ask the vet next time we're there.

After that Molly nipped out without me to buy a paper but then she came back & got me ready for a walk. I still make it hard for her though by running away when I see my harness. We walked round the corner to the postbox to post a couple of letters & give me chance to do a wee & then we got in the car. Molly said we were going to see her younger brother (I understand his name) so I wouldn't settle on the journey as I was too excited & kept looking out the window trying to spot him. When we arrived at his work I was so happy to see him for the first time since the previous Sunday & then he got in the car to come home with us! But first we went to a National Trust property for a walk round the park there. I did lots more barking at people & dogs. There were sheep in the park but although we kept away from them there was plenty of yummy poo for me to eat. When we got home Molly insisted on washing my beard & brushing my teeth!

Molly says I'm strange. We were in her bedroom together yesterday & I got bored so wandered off to explore. She later found me curled up on the bathroom floor - it was comfy! Molly apologises for the state of the bathroom in the photo, it's being redone in a few weeks.

Yesterday evening we went on a walk round the village. I found a dead bird but left it alone when Molly asked me too. She was really impressed because I tend to ignore that command when I've found any kind of meat.

Last night when Molly went up to bed I stayed downstairs because her younger brother was still awake. I must have fallen asleep because I woke up at 3.40am (Molly made a note of the time), realised I was all alone & ran upstairs to find some company. I was so relieved to see Molly that I gave her a really enthusiastic greeting. How was I supposed to know she wouldn't appreciate being woken up?! When she rolled away from me standing at the edge of the bed & licking her face, I jumped onto her head instead. Then when she got up to go to the toilet I stole her place in bed, hehe! And this morning I woke her up at 7.15am (by licking her face again) but she refused to get up til after 8am - she said it was too early!

Molly said we have visitors coming this afternoon for a few days so apparently I've got to be well behaved & not too excitable for the children. Hmmm. We're going to go on a walk soon to burn off some of my energy.