What are you and your dogs up to today? Part 2

[JudyN]

didnt Jasper have fears of monsters in the garden before? I remember when he wouldnt go out at night.

No, it was more a case of him being desperate to get down the bottom of the garden to kill them, often at 2am We solved that one by sectioning off an area we could let him out into at night in case he needed to toilet so he couldn't get down the garden - he stopped bothering to ask to go out once he realised he couldn't chase the monsters. But he still belts down there like a bat out of hell when I let him out for his bedtime wee.

Della, I hope you sort out Laufey's digestive issues.

I try to avoid reading too many stories about dog abuse. So much of it goes on, and it's so upsetting to think about it

Jasper had a fantastic walk this morning. We were just going to do the heath area above the woods but dropped down into the woods and met Wilf,
a lurcher friend he knew as a pup but hadn't seen for a good year or so:



Neither are great ones for playing with other dogs, but soon they were chasing each other through the trees.

This is what happens when another dog owner recalls their dog - Jasper is there instantly, doing his best 'good boy' sit because if it earns the other dog a treat, why shouldn't it earn him one too?



We met several other of his friends, including a young red setter he also played with. But with all that running and weaving through trees he seems to have tweaked something and was limping heavily as we left the woods. I usually keep him on lead down the trailway but he put the brakes on so I had to let him off so he would have to follow me or be left behind, and he'd eased up a bit by the time we got home. He's flaked out now though!

it was interesting that he would refuse to move when he was on lead, but the instant I let him off lead he started walking straight away. This is just one more paradox with Jasper - in this situation, being on lead gives him more control, not less

And now I really need to take advantage of him being worn out and get on with work. I'm editing a book written by someone who doesn't have English as their first language, and this is an example of what I have to try to unravel: ''entrepreneurship is a react to new opportunities that it occurred through investing in new knowledge'

[delladooo]

Thank Judy, I hope so too if for no other reason that I really don't like waking up in the middle of the night to a dog being sick, I can' really do sick

I don't tend to read abuse articles either but that one caught my eye and I had to read it and then obviously follow it because I can't help myself.

Jasper has some very lovely looking friends and you have some lovely scenery to walk in, there isn't much like that around here unfortunately. Good luck taking advantage of the sleeping AND with the editing, I would never be able to do that

I'm trying to take advantage of the kids' morning napping to work on my uni assignment but it's not going well and whenever I move Laufey looks at me like he's expecting me to take him out now (in fairness it is getting close to time to go out)

[bendog]

I'm 36 and a half weeks pregnant now so only just over 3 weeks until the baby is due

We've been busy getting the house and dogs prepared - Moses baskets been up for weeks and we've played baby crying noises and carried dolls around and stuff to try to get the dogs used to it.

However I haven't been too busy to throw together a little tricks video featuring my heavily pregnant self and my fabulous happy doggies so here it is!
http://youtu.be/i58BWp9LQ4Q

[DianeLDL]

Congratulation! What wonderful news! Let us know when you give birth, along with photos.

Of course, you would know how to prepare the dogs for the baby.

I wonder if they will have jealousy issues and would love to know how you handle it,
And with four dogs, I assume they may react differently.

That would make a nice thread to start not only to keep us up to date, but also to help anyone coming to the forum looking for similar information.

Diane
PS: My eyes are not working well. Due for my injections for the spasms next week. Cannot wait.

[minkee]

Bendog, the video linked does feature a heavily pregnant lady, but she's not you and she's doing tae kwon do!

[bendog]

Oops! Thanks Lou, edited now. That other video was one I sent to my instructor coz it made me laugh!

(Just incase anyone is interested in seeing a heavily pregnant lady that IS me doing TKD then here you go: http://youtu.be/4xg5GC8tHWY - I make lots of mistakes though!)

[MPbandmom]

Love the videos Bendog!

My two have been having fun with evening walks. Although OH seems to have decided that since I can walk with him in the evenings, that he doesn't need to take the dogs out during the day. I think I would rather have his company in the evening though. I am still sleeping through my alarm clock in the mornings and not getting up in time to get the dog out for a morning outing, so I can't blame him for lack of effort on the dogs' part as he had been doing more than I was managing. I think once the sun starts rising earlier my sleep pattern will shift to match it. At least I hope so.

We had a very wet heavy snow today that didn't really amount to anything as the temperatures were above freezing. Looking forward to getting out with the dogs maybe to the battlefield sometime this weekend.

[Erica]

What a great video, Amy! I was about to say "Wow, they all look so cute and happy doing their tricks, especially Poppy, Charlie, Bendog, and Sasha!" ...then I realized that was all of them. I love the second-to-last picture.

[WufWuf]

Cool videos Amy I love seeing your guys doing their tricks

[JudyN]

For the third month running, we're missing the Southern Lurcher Rescue walk & pub lunch Two months ago Jasper was recovering from his argument with barbed wire, last month I had to take OH out emergency suit buying, and now Jasper's limping very heavily. I'm not sure what's going on - he's been licking his paw a lot but I can't see anything wrong with it, and I've squeezed and wiggled all his joints from toe to shoulder and apart from looking generally worried, he didn't react at any point. He can get on and off sofas OK, but can only just manage a hobble and has shown no interest in going for a walk. He didn't even try to help me digging in the garden and lay on the bed I took out there for him instead, which isn't like him at all. He's been a bit whingy the past couple of evenings too, wanting lots of fuss & cuddles. He did limp a bit after playing with a lurcher last week but seemed to get over that. I've dosed him with arnica, but if he's no better tomorrow we'll go to the vet's - they may be able to pin down where the problem is, and anti-inflammatories may help.

[Nettle]

Try a salt-wter paw soak in case he has a thorn up a nail or working its way through from beneath.

[JudyN]

Thanks, I'll give it a go. How long should I soak it for? (I'm not sure he'd tolerate it for too long.)

[JudyN]

I soaked his foot for a few minutes - he seemed to quite like it, though that could be because OH was spoonfeeding him his tea at the time He was also weight-bearing on it more afterwards, so it must have made it feel better.

Isn't the day long when you don't have to walk the dog? And can't you get a lot of gardening done when he isn't trying to help?

[delladooo]

Oh I do hope Jasper's okay Judy, I wouldn't know about the gardening but I'm not sure what I used to do all day before I was walking Laufey.

After the nightmare at the park on Thursday I'd not taken them out together on my own since but then this evening mum's feet aren't too good after being at work so I took them out, there were no other dogs and it was a much more pleasant experience however Laufey managed to pee on MiMi's head (she stuck her head under the stream!) and then MiMi had a good run about even if Laufey didn't. Laufey's also got a poorly ear at the minute, it's very waxy and was quite red. I'm going to order some thornit powder and see how we get on with that, he was itching it quite a bit but that seems to have mostly stopped now so I think it has improved on its own slightly.

In other news, mum managed to find (and snag) an offcut of astroturf at work. Obviously it wouldn't be enough to cover a garden but it covers about a third of the dog area of our little yard and MiMi has been much better with the toileting, we've only had two accidents and they were because the cat distracted her. Laufey has even been on it a couple of times and it's definitely working better than the real grass we tried so we'll see how it goes.

[JudyN]

That's funny Della, Jasper has no problem toileting on grass, but he refused to go on Astroturf when we were in a holiday cottage that had it!