Who’s a smoochie puppy then?

So – vet check up today – William’s boosters were due too – so we all went – Rachel is amazing with them – how many vet consultations have you had that take place on the floor at dog level!

Rachel was really pleased with the progress that Alf has made these past 2 months.  He has put on weight – his coat looks amazing – his teeth are cleaner – he is standing up sooo big and tall – – and – – he is interacting with others.  He is so keen to learn and get involved – and is responding to the outside world – bless him – he is trying sooo hard.

Because of his start in life Alfie has a special type of worming tablet- and he has to have one every month instead of the normal 6 or 12 months.  All puppies are born with worms – but – because of our treatments in the UK they are blasted out of the dogs system in the first 12 months and you just have to keep it topped up.  Alfie has not had this and we have to take extra care for the next few years.

The same thing applies to his other parasite regime.  Normally a dose of Frontline every 4 – 6 weeks will take take care of this – but because of his street life Alfie has a mite problem.  We use advocate – a stronger, slightly different formula than normal that includes a chemical to control mites.  Apparently they will be there even though we can’t see them – and they are a bad thing!

I am so proud of him and the progress he has made is such a short time

I made a HUGE mistake the other day.  I told Alfie off!!

I was tired – and cranky – and I wanted to get on with what I was doing – and he was barking and carrying on and I needed to talk to someone – so I barked back and tapped his bottom.

– Totally normal training reaction  – for a totally normal dog.

The instant I had done it I thought to myself – you silly cow – you can’t do that!

And Alfie went of in a total panic and hid for the rest of the day.

A split seconds loss of concentration – bugger!

That’s the thing with trying to train a nervous dog – my training rule book has totally been thrown out of the widow.  No normal rules apply.  You can’t scold a nervous dog – not can you put them in their place or dominate them.  You have to coax them out to do the right thing.

So – he went off and hid in absolute terror for the rest of the day – he would not be coaxed into bed to snuggle – and it was 2 days later that he started to interact with me again.  I feel such a muppet – but it was a really good wake up call.  Alfie has made huge progress in the past couple of months – but it has only been a couple of months and there is such a long way to go yet.

Last week his toilet habits were disastrous to say the least – was that a consequence of his telling off and him losing confidence?  or just a bad week?  Who knows – this will be a long road of humps and bumps – but I hold my hands up – I could have done better this week.

A couple of days later – we are in recovery mode!  I think I am forgiven

OK – SO Alf has just turned 1 years old.  Yeah – got that – 1 year old – just turned one – getting to be a grown up – testing his boundaries – doing grown up doggie stuff.  SOOOOO – past the nerve tingling, gut wrenching puppy tricks then?

Yeah – Right – – – SOOOO Wrong!!!!!

Bring on the shoes, books and toilet roll!!!

I have been struggling to get my head round the shoes issue for the past couple of weeks.  I have lost 2 pairs of shoes (one was my good pair that I was hoping to get at least another year out of) – a pair of cheepie old slippers – and the old goat has lost a pair of crappie canvas shoes.  I understand that behavior in babies – lost loads of shoes when Wills was a pup – big people smells and teething!!!  ( We don’t ‘Teethe’ as a 1 year old???)

Add to the mix – we have now just discovered toilet rolls – and newspapers – and scrumpled paper – and balls of wool.

Oh – I get it – I know the ‘whys’ – at 3 months old – NOT 12 months.

Stuck between a rock and a hard place here.  You can’t tell a dog with anxiety off in the ‘normal’ way – in ‘theory’ you have to praise the good and distract from what you don’t want them to do with other things.

Bless him – it’s as if we have hit the reset button and now he is starting as a baby puppy – he is soooo funny.

We are still having house training issues – food issues – street / people issues – but every week it is like we have a new animal, learning new skills and coping with the world in his weird way of thinking – but we have baby steps of learning to cope and deal with it rather than bullying the animal into repression/submission.  It takes waaaay longer – but is much healthier for the dog – and he is such a superstar!!

Oh – and – by the way – he has just run off with a wooden spoon from  – somewhere – no idea where he found that one!!!!

Alfie update – I think we have had a bit of a revolution – well 2 steps forward at least.

Alfie is taking more notice of the outside world – he is ducking in and out to the garden.   Look at dear old Wills watching him!

Alf understands that the summer house is at the end of the garden – all I have to do now is get the keys and shout that we are going ‘summer house’ and he dashes about the garden round me.  4 weeks ago I was dragging him down on the lead.

He is out first in the morning to get his wees (still coming in to use the paper for his business – but at least he is keeping it one place!)  Routine is the key.  He has the sweetest nature and is trying so hard to please me

I need to say a HUGE THANK YOU to all my customers!!  You are amazing.  I have people dropping in every day just to say hello to Alfie and get him used to being talked too – and I have people bringing in their dogs to say hi as well.  Everyone says how much he has changed already and I am so grateful for their feedback – it’s hard to know how you are doing when you are working day after day – you see the teeny tiny steps – but you mis that it all adds together.

His body posture is so much better now – I didn’t realise quite how big he is!  He cowed in just below knee height when I first met him – now his nose bumps my bottom!!

Love and licks