Worming, poo & crane flies

Molly's mum accidentally shut me in the garage! I followed her in but she didn't realise so left & shut the door behind her. She then heard me barking but it took her a few minutes to work out where it was coming from.

Molly's mum also accidentally elbowed me in the head when I was welcoming her home. I thought she did it on purpose so ran away from her in a huff. She had to use food to persuade me to be her friend again!

Molly had to use food to bribe me to take my worming tablets. Firstly she just gave them to me but I spat them out. Then she tried to trick me by making me do basic commands & she gave me food as the first few rewards & then tried to sneak the tablets in. I realised immediately though & spat them out. Then Molly tried giving them to me with pieces of liver cake but I'm not stupid - I ate the liver cake & spat the tablets back out. Eventually she persuaded me to take them by covering them in liver paste.

I ate some yummy horse poo when Molly's dad took me for a walk. Unfortunately though it upset my stomach so I was sick a couple of times. The first was when I was home alone that morning so Molly arrived home to discover me eating my sick. She thought it was yucky but I didn't want my breakfast to go to waste! Then I was sick on her duvet in the middle of the night. Molly doesn't get cross at me though, she's always very understanding - even when the next day I made muddy paw prints on her clean duvet cover!

On the subject of poo, I rubbed my face in some on a walk. Molly insisted on washing my beard when I got home & was shocked by the colour the flannel turned!

I've discovered that I like eating crane flies, yum yum! I made everyone laugh when I spent ages staring at one on the wall that was just out of my reach.

I also found a mouse (in the garden) but again I couldn't get to it because it was hiding behind some plant pots. Molly's younger brother shut me inside while he rescued it. Humph! I wanted to play with it!

Molly's older brother came round for tea again. I love seeing him - I'm a very sociable dog. Here are a couple of photos he took of me & he also took the second photo of me with the crane fly.

A couple of Molly's friends visited too. I got very excited by the little girl's hair (Molly's not sure why) so tried to groom it. Everyone found that funny.

When I was on Molly's sofa with her friends Molly was in her bed just across the room. Molly worried I'd get too boisterous with the little girl so got some food out & called me to her. I was so enthusiastic that I lept from the sofa to the bed without landing on the floor inbetween! Molly wishes she was well enough to take me to agility as she thinks I'd enjoy it.

Sometimes (when she's poorly) Molly doesn't walk like people usually do but instead she crawls or shuffles on her bottom. Usually when people join me on the floor it's because they want to play with me so when Molly does I tend to lick her face & ears, stand up against her head, groom her hair & pounce on her feet & hands! I do make her laugh.

I also made Molly laugh when I was cuddled up to her in bed & decided to lick her armpit. On one occasion when I was lying on her chest & licking her face, Molly closed her eyes momentarily. At the same time I yawned but because I was so close when she opened her eyes all she could see was the inside of my mouth! Hehe.

Bed & liver cake

Me & Molly have had a few disagreements over who's bed this is. Sometimes we share it:

Sometimes I insist on sleeping on it in such a way that there's no room for her:

And sometimes she wants it all to herself. Humph! Molly would like you to know that she kicked me out one morning because it was 4.30am & I jumped onto the bed, waking her up, lay on her arm, wriggled about a lot as I attempted to clean myself & then when I finally fell asleep apparently I was vibrating so much it was stopping her getting back to sleep! She's been pleasantly surprised by how cuddly I've become over the last couple of weeks & loved the fact I spent most of last night in her bed (but I was less wriggly that time).

For ages now Molly has been trying to teach me the commands "up" & "off" (furniture). I'm still very hit & miss with "up" & don't understand the word "off" at all unless Molly also uses a hand signal. Or at least that's what she thought... When she had a bit of energy & some high value treats she got the clicker out & hoped we'd be able to make some progress with those 2 commands. As soon as I saw that Molly had got liver cake I demonstrated that I know exactly what "up" & "off" mean & got them right about 90% of the time in that training session. I've actually understood them for quite a while but didn't think it was worth my while responding to them - until I saw liver cake! Hehe! Molly tried me again with the commmands later when she just had kibble rather than liver cake & I still responded so she thinks we've cracked it now.

After I ate some chicken poo in the garden Molly wouldn't let me lick her face. I didn't understand why she didn't want kisses.

One afternoon Molly came out on a walk with me & her mum!

She had to use her wheelchair for most it but that didn't faze me & I did a very good "stay close" for the first time with the wheelchair when Molly wanted to distract me as we passed some birds.

In the living room there's a cushion with a pug on it. I don't care about the pug but I have a bit of a thing with cushions. Sometimes I completely ignore it but sometimes I think it's my job to try to kill it. Molly thinks this is very funny but I take it seriously. I tired myself out so much trying to kill it one evening that I ended up asleep on it!

Before everyone else sat down to eat tea another evening Molly took the cushion off me & put it on top of a cabinet. She purposely pushed it to the back so I couldn't reach it, or so she thought... Later she spotted the cushion on the floor & claw marks on the top of the cabinet where I'd stretched up to get it, whoops. And over the weekend I helped myself to a wrap that Molly's younger brother left slightly overhanging the edge of the kitchen cabinet. I thought it was for me!

Over the last few weeks I've had great fun tearing up post so Molly & her mum come up with a temporary solution until they can get something more permanent organised. They've put a folding stool with a plastic box on top of it underneath the letterbox, so that catches the post. They did that just in time because since then some theatre tickets & an important benefits form have come in the post. I haven't tried to get at the post in the box yet but today Molly spotted me standing up & looking in there after she took the letters out.

When I'm left alone now the bathroom door is shut so I can't get at the toilet roll. They like to spoil my fun.

Comfort, food & mischief

A few people have said to Molly that they preferred me before I was clipped but Molly knows it wasn't fair to have my coat like that while she wasn't well enough to maintain it. My new haircut has made me much more comfortable, Molly didn't realise how much the matts had been restricting my movement. She says I'm very springy & much happier now. I've been a bit chillier though since I was clipped so have been more cuddly than usual & sleep on Molly's bed more often now.

Molly carefully worked out the last couple of matts on my paws which had been missed when I was clipped. There are still some matts in my beard though & she doesn't know how to get them out because I'm not very cooperative. When I go out chasing rabbits across fields & through hedges much less plant material sticks to me now & Molly can easily remove the small amount that does. Last night I had great fun on my walk because there were geese to chase & they even left me poo to eat! Yum!

Talking of food, I tried a chip for the first time a few days ago when Molly's dad dropped one on the floor. After that I sat & then slept at his feet while he ate in the hope that more would fall from the sky but unfortunately it didn't. Molly couldn't manage all of her fish that night so she scraped the batter off & I had it for tea the following night!

I've shown Molly I can do a "wait" for the whole length of the staircase - aren't I clever! I've become very lazy doing "down"s again though, I try to see how little I can move & still get a treat! Molly doesn't reward me though unless I do it properly.

Molly's mum is a keen knitter & she's been using some exciting orange fluffy yarn recently which I've been very keen to play with. She usually keeps it out of my reach but I did manage to grab it & run off with it the other day. I also surprised her when I helped myself to some yarn off a shelf that no-one realised I could reach!

On the subject of causing mischief, I pulled the toilet roll off the holder again while I was home alone, hehe! And when the online shopping was delivered Molly's mum very kindly left a packet of kitchen rolls within my reach while she was distracted putting the rest of the purchases away. Can you guess what happened?

I also found a big bunch of stones in the garden so enjoyed dragging those around. They were surprisingly heavy. Sorry the photos are a bit blurry, they're action shots!

Molly (who knows more about computers than me) has added a 'Follow by Email' option to this blog. You can find it on the right hand side of the page (if you're accessing this blog from a computer) & if you enter your email address you should be notified every time we post a new update.

Smart

Today I went to the groomers! It was my first full groom since the traumatic one I had a few months ago so Molly took me to a new place. We'd called in there several weeks ago so we could see what it was like & Molly was really happy with them so took me back today for a full groom. It went much better than she expected - I was very well behaved & we all love the outcome. As well as my coat being matt free & much easier to maintain, apparently I smell lovely too. I disagree with that though so will be on the search for some poo to roll in on my next walk. I'll be going back to the groomers in 10 weeks.

We had a photoshoot in the garden when we got home. Sorry about the lighting, I am more black in real life than I look from these photos.

In other news, we did some "wait" practise last night with chicken & Molly was able to get half way up the stairs while I waited in position. We also did it the other way round where I waited half way up the stairs while she climbed down. Apparently soon we're going to try the whole staircase.

Molly's younger brother recently gave me a cuddly toy he'd had when he was little. It's a small yellow dinosaur called Dino & it's my favourite toy (Molly thniks it's only my favourite because it's novel). We don't have any photos of it at the moment but will take & share one soon. I keep presenting Dino to family members in the hope they'll play with me.

Me & Molly had some nice cuddles on the living room floor last night & I've been snuggling up to her on the sofa this afternoon.

Socialising, a fly & cuddles

Molly celebrated her birthday at the weekend so we had a few visitors for me to socialise with. I did lots & lots of barking when Molly's young friend came round again but soon settled. I love it when both of Molly's brothers are around & the younger one even took me to the pub last night! I couldn't believe it when we found Molly's mum & dad there! I was very well behaved.

At one point while Molly's parents were out I fell asleep on Molly's floor as it was getting quite late. Molly's younger brother popped outside briefly but I didn't hear him leave so when I heard the door on his return I ran downstairs all excited thinking it was Molly's parents. I was disappointed that it wasn't so huffed at her brother which made him laugh.

I also huffed at Molly yesterday (& then walked away) when she tried to groom me & I just wanted peace! Sometimes I try other tactics to get out of being groomed. When it's my beard I've tried putting my head flat on the floor so Molly can't get under my chin & I've also tried burying my head between her legs.

Occasionally though I do cooperate & Molly has managed to get a few knots out of my beard. I'm going for a professional groom tomorrow which Molly is quite apprehensive about. She knows they'll treat me well but she expects I'm going to have to be at least partially shaved or cropped really short because I'm so matted. She feels guilty but I know she does her best when she's ill.

Molly had to pick lots of vegetation out of my coat when I got back from a walk where I'd been chasing rabbits!

I found a dying fly on the carpet a couple of days ago & made everyone laugh when I just stared at it for ages. I didn't know what to do!

I went to a puppy play session over the weekend! Apparently I showed Molly up when my hormones got the better of me, oops!

I wasn't very friendly with some of the dogs - I did quite a bit of growling when I was on lead & then tried to dominate a more submissive puppy. I also marked all the agility equipment in the field & the wheel of Molly's wheelchair!

It wasn't all bad though. I played nicely with some of the dogs.

I surprised Molly when the first thing I did when let off lead in the field wasn't going to greet the other dogs but was to explore the agility tunnel. And when I spotted another owner sitting on the floor with treats I ran through my repertoire of tricks in front of her to try to earn myself some food! That made Molly laugh.

Yesterday I was much friendlier with other dogs we met on our walk, in fact I was too friendly for some of them! Molly came out with me & her mum which was great! And I was very good at walking with the wheelchair (even on the pavements), although I did pull a lot.

We went to see Molly's friends & Molly was pleasantly surprised that I didn't attempt to mark in their house despite another dog living there. I wasn't allowed to play with him though because he's old & apparently I'm too boisterous. Humph! So I did lots of barking at him (through a glass door) instead because I was frustrated. Luckily he wasn't bothered.

On the way home I knew where we were going so lay down on someone's lawn & refused to move. Molly's mum picked me up & put me on Molly's lap in the wheelchair but I got a shock when it moved. I didn't like that!

When Molly's mum tried to take me out this morning I wouldn't let her catch me to put my harness on. I don't like the idea of having my harness put on at all but am fine once I'm wearing it. She eventually managed to corner me though.

Molly has been giving me chicken over the last few days when we do training rather than the kibble & treats we usually use. I'm much more keen to please when meat is on offer. I did my first down "wait" which really impressed Molly as we'd only done sitting "wait"s before.

Molly said we really need to work on my recall because I ran out the front door twice yesterday. I only went onto the lawn (because there weren't any other dogs around for me to say hello to) but wouldn't return when Molly called me.

Today I was left at home alone & like usual I got very excited when someone came to the door. They didn't come in & see me which I was disappointed about but they did put something through the letterbox for me to play with. Apparently it was a birthday card for Molly!

Why does Molly say I'm not cuddly?!

Waiting, food & cuddles

I've been practising "wait" with Molly, her younger brother & her dad this week. I'm getting good at it, even when they go out of my sight, but if they're gone for too long I go & look for them before they call me. I don't get food as a reward though if I do that. Molly has been continuing some other bits of training with me too but I still get "sit" & "down" confused at times.

If Molly isn't well enough to come downstairs she gives me meals in my Kong Wobbler upstairs instead. There's too many bits of furniture I could get my kibble stuck under in Molly's bedroom so I have it in her parents' room instead. The furniture there is further off the floor so my kibble doesn't get stuck but sometimes the whole Kong does. When it does I just do something else & hope Molly will come & rescue it for me. I was also surprisingly patient when a piece of kibble blocked the hole in my Kong so it all stopped coming out. Rather than getting Molly to help me I just lay down next to it & waited. It was a while til Molly realised I needed her help.

I'm back to eating normally now, in fact sometimes I'm very over enthusiastic & throw myself at the Kong Wobbler. A few days ago I had my monthly flea tablet without any fuss, I like the taste of it.

When a physio came out to see Molly at home she gave me a pizzle to keep me out of mischief, yum yum! And I helped myself to a corn on the cob I found in a carrier bag on the garden table. I wasn't allowed to eat it though, humph!

I'm still hit & miss with cooperating with being groomed. I did make Molly laugh one day when I buried my head in her elbow in the hope she'd go away. She didn't! And putting my paws over my eyes doesn't work either. I was also well behaved when I had a feather to chew as a distraction but sometimes I just get fed up & mouth Molly or walk away.

One evening while Molly's parents were away she spoke to them on the phone but had it on speakerphone. I didn't recognise her mum's voice because it sounded different but I was a bit confused when her dad made some funny noises down the phone!

While Molly's parents were away I had some walks with the neighbours. They walked me for longer than I'm used to so that tired me out. I really enjoyed those walks though. Molly's younger brother has been around more than usual this week & her older brother has too so I've had lots of fun playing with them. Molly was very surprised & touched that even when her older brother was sleeping downstairs I still chose to sleep on her bedroom floor. Of course I did, that's where I feel safest at night & I can keep an eye on Molly too.

A couple of times this week I've stolen Molly's warm spot in her bed when she's moved, hehe.

We had some good cuddles one day with me on the bed & Molly on the floor next to it! And I sometimes curl up & sleep on Molly's foot when she's sitting on the sofa downstairs, usually watching TV.

Talking of TV, Molly has discovered that I'm not at all fussed when she watches animal programmes & I don't react at all. I don't know why she was surprised - I know they're not real!

I've been home alone again since the last blog post & this time I didn't make any mess. Molly left me a chicken foot but I only ate half of it (for the second time) so she's wondering if I've gone off them. I still give really enthusiastic welcomes when Molly returns home.

A walk with Molly, balloons & toilet roll

Yesterday morning I was a bit out of sorts again - I was unusually cuddly, my tail was down a lot & I wasn't interested in my Kong Wobbler. I did take some food from Molly's hand & the floor though, but not very enthusiastically.

The previous day I'd perked up when Molly put my harness on to take me to the vets so she thought a walk might help this time. So she took me out! It was the first time the 2 of us had been out alone in nearly 7 weeks! We were only out for about 10mins, including a sit down, but it made me very happy.

When we got home I enjoyed a spot of sunbathing.

Then in the afternoon I discovered some balloons in the garden. At first I was very wary & kept running away from & barking at them, but soon I got more confident. Molly's younger brother filmed me. Sorry for the poor quality, the video had to be compressed so we could upload it here.

Last night Molly's younger brother took me out for a walk & we met up with his friend who came back home with us. I got quite overexcited at our visitor & wouldn't leave him alone. Even distracting me with a piece of tripe didn't work, I ate it quickly & then returned to bothering him.

This morning a neighbour took me out for a lovely long walk but even after all that exertion I only picked at my breakfast. Molly isn't sure if I've gone off/got bored of my food (so only eat in the evenings when I'm really hungry) or if I'd just get on better with one meal a day now. She doesn't think I'm ill.

After that Molly had to leave me at home for a few hours because she had a hospital appt. I made my own entertainment though - I discovered toilet rolls! Molly returned home to this:

3 toilet rolls shredded in 3 different rooms of the house! I was worried she'd be cross but she just laughed :) Her friend said I should audition for Andrex adverts!

I'm very sleepy now after all that excitement.

Worrying Molly

This morning I just wasn't myself. I was quiet, cuddly (which is very unlike me!), barely touched my breakfast, kept sitting or standing & staring into space & had an unusually wet nose. Molly phoned the vets for advice & they suggested that we visited so a friend kindly gave us a lift.

I was very well behaved travelling in a different car than I'm used to & then perked up just before my appt. I marked a chair in the waiting rooms room (I couldn't leave it to smell of another dog!) & tried to say hello to all the other dogs I saw. When Molly wouldn't let me I squeaked & squeaked!

We saw a nice vet (well I thought he was nice until he took my temperature!) & he couldn't find anything obviously wrong. He said he wondered if dogs got headaches & also said to Molly that I could potentially be developing a urine infection, so to keep an eye on me. We left with the plan that Molly would phone them over the weekend if I got any worse & if I was no better at the start of next week then I'd return for some blood tests.

I slept for quite a while when we got home but then when I woke up I was feeling much better. I showed Molly this by eating most of my tea, barking to alert her when some people walked past the front door, whining at her younger brother's (shut) bedroom door to try to persuade him to come out & play with me, giving Molly's face a thorough licking, presenting Molly with my toys to encourage her to play with me & doing a good short training session (including an excellent "wait" while Molly went into another room out of my sight) to earn some food rewards.

And tonight I had a little walk with Molly's younger brother. We weren't out for long but it was quite eventful. I tried to escape off the little field under the gate (onto the road!) but stopped when Molly's brother shouted at me to. And on the playing fields I ran off to say "hello" to some people. Molly's brother didn't call me back as he recognised their voices & knew who they were but they were surprised by me appearing out of the dark, hehe! Talking of the dark, the light on my collar is getting dimmer so Molly needs to buy a new one soon. Annoyingly she didn't realise this when she was at the vets today which is where she usually buys them.

I forgot to tell you in my last blog post that I discovered that Molly's mum had left some exciting things in bags & on top of boxes on the floor for me to play with. I found a camera in a felted case which I pulled out by the strap & then ran round the house with it swinging from my mouth until I was spotted! I also found a teapot with a knitted tea cosy on it so I took the cosy off & settled down to chew it.

Yesterday morning I had fun playing with several other dogs on the playing fields when Molly's dad took me out. Molly hopes she'll be able to come with us soon. I hope so too.

Later in the day a couple of Molly's friends called round. I hadn't seen them for a few weeks so forgot they were friends & initially tried to scare them off by barking at them. It didn't work though & Molly reminded me that they were friends so I soon settled down & was really well behaved. Usually I'm very excitable when children come round but Molly said I was brilliant with the 3 year old yesterday. Molly did have to warn her not to lie on the floor though because I think when people do that it's an invitation for me to jump on them to play!

I was very excited when Molly's younger brother came home from work yesterday evening & then took me out for a walk. He then went out again so I was very relieved when he came back a few hours later - so much so that I woke Molly up with my barking, oops!

And here are a couple of photos from yesterday. Molly sat down at the table to eat & then couldn't find me. She looked all round the house - checking the obvious places like the floor & the seats of the sofas & chairs, but it took her a while to notice me here:

Impressing Molly, grooming & socialising

Molly sometimes gets frustrated when her dad doesn't listen to her with regards to interacting with & training me because they both have quite different approaches. But yesterday evening me & Molly's dad really impressed her when I demonstrated how he'd taught me the command "wait". Molly thought it was a fluke so when he went out she tested me & I showed her that I really do understand it. Aren't I clever?!

The attempts to groom me have continued. I had my eyebrows trimmed a few days ago because they were so long that I couldn't see properly. Molly's dad trimmed off a bit too much but I can see now & Molly loves being able to see my eyes again.

Molly continues to insist on trying to get the matts out of my coat & I'm getting better at cooperating with her because she's very gentle. I do mouth her though if she pulls too hard but she said that's understandable. She also tries to get all the sticky seeds out of my coat after each walk to prevent them causing more matts. When I decide I'm bored or have had enough of being groomed I just walk away!

Molly & her dad have started trying to detangle my beard too but I don't like that because it pulls.

I had good fun playing with another schnauzer I like when Molly's mum took me for a walk one day. She looked very smart next to scruffy me because she'd just been groomed! I'm getting better at coming away from dogs once I've said hello but I still can't resist running off to greet them.

I've also enjoyed socialising with people. When Molly's friend came round to see her I made a bit of a nuisance of myself because I just wanted to play with her. Molly's older brother did return the day I wrote my last update so that was very exciting. And due to all my excitement at him staying in my house I tried to play with Molly's mum & dad when they went to the toilet in the night. They didn't want to play with me though. Humph!

Molly & her dad returned home from a trip out with some pizzles, chicken feet & tripe to refill my treat tin. Yum yum! They also had to buy a new food bag for walks because Molly's dad lost yet another one! This time they bought a spare one too for next time he loses one!

I mooched around Molly's feet when she cooked tea in the hope that she'd give me some people food but she didn't. I did get a couple of pieces of pepper later though as a reward for following some basic commands.

When I was home alone for a couple of hours I helped myself to my collar & a plastic bag containing a poncho off the top of the washstand. Molly had forgotten I could reach things on there, hehe!

I made a lot of noise at the front door trying to tell Molly that I wanted a walk. Her parents were both out though & she's not well enough to walk me at the moment so instead she got my flirt pole out & we had good fun playing together in the garden. It didn't use up much of her energy but it wore me out! I was good at "wait"ing but didn't want to give up the toy (on the end of the bungee cord) when I caught it, despite Molly asking me to "leave it"!

I enjoyed watching some otters on the TV.

And here are some photos of me resting & sleeping:

 

Me & Molly have never been too fussed about how many people see this blog but Molly is getting a bit disheartened at the recent lack of visitors. So if you do see this then please could you mention/recommend my blog to someone else because we'd like to make more people smile with my adventures & photos. If views don't pick up then Molly is thinking of continuing til my first birthday next month & then calling it a day. Thank you.