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

[JudyN]

Ah, but Delta has a cunning plan - if he keeps chewing it there he'll end up with TWO bully sticks

[JudyN]

Jasper has a new girlfriend... I met someone I used to see on walks but her deerhound died a couple of years ago - now she has a 5-month-old deerhound pup. They belted round the field together several times, alternating with him taking a breather and telling her off for grabbing at his ears and trying to get him to play. One moment he'd be grrring at her, the next playbowing It's the hardest I've seen him run in some time - I think he felt the need to demonstrate he was faster than her, but he's a bit out of practice.

Here they are taking a break:

[Nettle]

How lovely! Lots of fun to come if you meet on a regular basis.

[JudyN]

I hope so I can see Jasper getting grumpy with her once she's bigger and heavier than him though, particularly if she's still puppyish. Though her manners are a lot better than the last deerhound pup we knew who at 6 months was much bigger & heavier than J and who would put his paws on J's back & try to have a boxing match. In J's world, only he's allowed to put paws on backs

Our conservatory has roof blinds which cover the roof in summer and (if OH gets round to it) are rolled back in autumn. This is a big job, as the tops of the blinds are covered with dead insects - two years' worth at the moment, as OH didn't get round to it last year. When he lowers the blinds, sweeps them, then winds them back, Jasper goes mental: he barks, he howls, he runs around agitated and is generally in a state. The only other situation I can think of when he gets worked up in this way is when I take Monty, the cat, to the vet.

I can sort of understand the latter - J loves Monty (though it's not reciprocated) and presumably is worried about where he's going. But what is it about the blinds being wound back that he finds so upsetting? I'm going to take him out for a walk later and OH can deal with the blinds then.

[Nettle]

Chicken Licken - the SKY is falling in!!!!!! And making a lot of noise as it does it.

[JudyN]

That's certainly what it looks like, Nettle

He took that article about dogs being able to digest starch at face value, it seems - he did a smash & grab while OH was making tea and made off with a bread roll. I blame OH, obviously, for not supervising closely enough.

[Nettle]

How cute of him to create his own scientific experiment

[Shalista]

Really happy with Bax and R+ stuff right now. It's really nice to be able to pet him and then when he walks away for a bit i stop petting him, but then he comes back and nuzzles my hand for more. Being able to pet Bax because HE want's to be pet is just something really special

[Nettle]

Well done, Shalista So many people struggle to understand that.

[JudyN]

Remember the spaniel who fell 60ft down a dam wall? She's a finalist in the PDSA Pet Survivor awards: https://www.pdsa.org.uk/get-involved/ou ... ivor/darcy

Here's all the finalists: https://www.pdsa.org.uk/get-involved/ou ... t-survivor Being me I can't vote for Darcy just because I've followed her story - I'm going to have to read all their stories and see who I think is most genuinely deserving (and not in a 'Who got the worst injuries and survived' sort of way).

ETA: some scary-looking x-rays here: https://www.thecourier.co.uk/fp/news/lo ... nal-award/

I've just read up on the other finalists too and everything's gone a bit misty....

[Shalista]

Bax's bad days always inspire me to be a better fur mom. yesterday was miserable. i cant even count the ways he drove me nuts.

so today i turned over a new leaf and took him out to play with his flirt pole again. it was wonderful! we had so much fun especially once i took the "human"" out of the equation. He only chased the toy for maybe a quarter fo the time we were out. the rest of the time he happily gnawed and shook it. it was his time and that was how he wanted to have fun so we did it! Id give it the occasional tug to remind him that it was "alive" and we just enjoyed the good weather.

so much of this dog journey I've been on is realizing that i just need to take a deep breath and spend some time with him the way HE wants to spend time. I get so busy and locked in on his necessities and my busy life that i just don't spend as much time as i should enjoying his company.

[Erica]

I've started walking dogs at the shelter on my "mornings off," and my free time has all but disappeared I'm actually pleased that rally was cancelled tonight; I'll have to do some training with Delta anyways but I am sooo tired it'll all be stuff he can do while I sit down. There are wildfires way off to the west of us but the smoke has blown in enough that I don't want Delta out in it long...so he's full of beans today.

I'm incredibly busy between Delta, the shelter, and working with the training company, but it's a good and productive busy.

[Shalista]

Thanksgiving went great! the kids went to ohio so Bax wasn't forced into his room and he pooped that morning so i didnt have to worry about him holding it and then sneaking off later. there was a bit of a bark fest when the guests arrived but they all came in a clump of people so he only barked for a bit once. I worked around it by getting his attention with treats and then just feeding him them until he calmed down and focused on me. my cousins girlfriend loooovesss dogs so i was able to give her some treats and she fed bax to. by the end of the evening everyone was able to pet bax and he was coming up to say hello to everyone!

best part? no accidents in the house and bax was able to mingle!

[Erica]

Yay!!! That's wonderful Shalista

We had a good Thanksgiving too. Delta was on leash for most of it, because the youngest cousin is scared of dogs. Opal tends to do her greetings and then just lay in a corner or stand near people who pet her; she doesn't try to make friends with people who are uninterested. Delta thinks a child shrieking, throwing their hands in front of their face, and running away is an invitation to play (obvious for dog people to understand why but hard to get a child to stop!) So leash was on for him. Then right before that child left, another cousin arrived with their brand new baby, so obviously he was kept on leash for that too. Baby was interested in dogs but their dog never gets near the baby, so I fed Del a stream of treats while baby patted and grabbed his hair for a few seconds. (Delta is not bothered by any kind of petting/fur tugging/patting that a baby could manage. Pros of having a dog with intense grooming needs - they get used to a lot of odd handling!) Baby liked the texture of his fur Couldn't have asked for more from our dogs! They did really well.

[Shalista]

Poor Bax, i gave him the liver heart and some bits from the turkey and i think it was a bit to much liver. poor bax over indulged and he's had the runs all day =( happens to the best of us poor chap