Tommy helps with the Christmas prep!

This morning Tommy and I got up early to get things ready for Christmas – Stan fans should know he is a bit lazy so Stan stayed in bed!

While I tided up Tommy set about a craft activity.  You see he is a bit OCD and he didn’t like the fact that our table mats don’t match – we have a set of four Christmas ones and a set of six with leaves on them and as there will be ten of us eating tomorrow he saw this as a problem!  I was actually going to use the table-cloth instead – don’t tell him anyone as he worked very hard to make the mats all match.  Here are his instructions so you can make some as well.

First he collected together everything he needed. – Wrapping paper, gift wrap pack with bows and ribbons, masking tape, scissors, table mats.

The he covered each mat in silver wrapping paper holding it in place on the back with masking tape.  Tommy’s top tip – Don’t use very strong glue or it won’t come off after Christmas!

First cover the mats – be careful with those scissors, puppies like Tommy should really ask a grown up to help – he did ask Stan but Stan just snored at him!

Once all your mats are covered you will have a nice set of matching Christmas themed mats – you could do this with other wrapping paper for birthdays or a Christening.

Tommy soon had a nice stack of matching silver mats.

 

Tommy thought his new mats were nice but a little boring so he set about decorating them using gittzy ribbons and bows.  Tommy’s top tip – avoid the middle of the mat with decorations as you need to leave space for a plate full of tasty festive food!

Tommy kept his decoration simple and he is very proud of it. You can of course make more complex decorations but remember he is only 10 months old so I think this is excellent. Well done Tommy.

If you want a dog who is clever enough to make fancy table mats the be sure to visit a rescue centre and then do lots of training.  The dogs at Border Collie Trust, who looking for new homes, have the potential to be as creative as Tommy if you give them a home with lots of love…..

(BCTGB can not be held responsible if your rescue dog does not make creative contributions to your home – that would be your fault for not training the dog well!)

Merry Christmas from me, Tommy, Stan and our family

 

 

 

 

Stan and Tommy have reading lessons and do some taste tests.

As you know Stan is an official taste tester for Wagg Foods and a proud member of Dalton’s gang.  Here is his special badge -

This means we have a good supply of Wagg treats for training and even better recently we have been taste testing the new range of biscuits from Wagg.  These are Wagg MMM’s and they come in four tasty flavours.  Chicken, Liver, Salmon and……. oh, no that’s it, that is the three new flavours.  Stan wanted four but the last one could not be done, not even by the great biscuit makers at Wagg.  Read to the bottom for a great competition that is all about the mystery missing flavour!

Wagg MMM’s

Today I used the supply of new biscuits for Stan and Tommy’s reading lesson.  Have a look at how they got on……

First I set up their reading cards, they are working on three new words right now – liver, chicken and salmon. For their first try they had the boxes as clues to help them out.

Stan had the first turn and he was told to read the word liver – as you can see he got it right so he was allowed to eat the liver flavoured biscuit.

Next he correctly read the chicken and salmon cards and was rewarded with the biscuits.

As he had done such a good job it was time to make the task more difficult and remove the visual clues….

The Wagg MMM’s boxes were removed…..

Now Tommy joined in as well. Tommy was asked to read the word chicken, while Stan had to select salmon. Both got it right first time they are such good readers!

I will carry on with their reading lessons and let you know how they get on soon.  Stan has already begun to read an online magazine regulary – Your Pet Magazine, while Tommy subscribes to Border Collie World which can be purchased from The Border Collie Trust – the subscription is used to help support the dogs in the kennels.

I then decided to make use of the reading cards to do some taste testing to see which biscuit flavour they liked best – Stan was still moaning about the missing fourth flavour, more about that later…..

The reading cards were turned over and the dogs told to sit close by. I asked them to close their eyes while I placed one biscuit on each card. Once the biscuits were in their proper places I told the dogs to open their eyes again while I explained what they needed to do. Stan listened very carefully while Tommy gazed at the biscuits and drooled a bit!

Stan gave each biscuit a careful sniffing, turning each over and sniffing at both sides. Then he selected the liver flavoured biscuit which he took over to his bed to munch on.

Next is was Tommy’s turn and he was very excited about being allowed to take part in such an important grown up task – usually all the taste testing for Wagg is done by Stan with Tommy watching and sometimes getting a few left over crumbs for being good….

 

Tommy rushed up to the first sheet which had the chicken flavoured biscuit and without pausing he scoffed it down in one gulp – I’m pretty sure it was gone far too fast for him to be able to taste anything!

Next it was onto the liver flavoured biscuit – he leapt over to it before the chicken one had even gone from his jaws and it was gone in a flash!

Less than a hop or skip away lay the salmon flavoured biscuit and in a blink of your eye it followed the other two before he did a lap of honour of the kitchen hunting for any missed crumbs – when he calmed down his verdict was his favourite biscuit is all of them!

Stan of course was meant to be training Tommy in biscuit testing methodology and he claims he took this role very seriously – he only spent a few seconds distracted by his Meercat teddy!

So to summarise -

• Stan says go to the pet shop and buy Wagg MMM’s liver flavour biscuits as a Christmas gift for your four-legged pals.
• Tommy says go to the pet shop and buy Wagg MMM’s all three flavour biscuits as a Christmas gift for your four-legged pals!
• Both dogs say if you don’t have a dog but still want to nip out and buy some Wagg MMM’s they will be very happy to help out by eating them for you!

Now who likes competitions?  We love them.  The dogs especially like them when they can eat the prize!  Well we are holding a competition where you can win some Wagg MMM’s – Tommy has suggested the prize should be an empty box but I promise it will be an unopened not tasted box just for your pet!  We are going to give away three boxes (all with the biscuits still inside!) over the next couple of weeks and the for the first competition you have to try and guess what the missing flavour is!

If Stan could have any flavour on the planet in his biscuits what would he choose?  The biscuit makers at Wagg are very good and could produce tasty biscuits flavoured in many varieties but even they could not make the ones Stan wanted or they would have got into trouble…. so what do you think my boy wanted to taste in the box?  Answers in the comments section please!  (Oh and Dalton I think you are not allowed to enter as you have enough biscuits already!)

If you don’t live in the UK we are sorry but we can’t post the biscuits to you as it costs too much – you can still enter and we will send you one biscuit and give the others to rescue dogs in your name, so no matter where you live please still feel free to try and guess the secret naughty flavour!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Tommy has been learning new tricks!

His first new trick is one he is very pleased with. It is not something I taught him, this is something he has discovered on his own.

When everyone is busy doing something, perhaps answering emails, doing homework or reading a book, Tommy feels a bit neglected. He curls up for his nap but, like all puppies, when he wakes he wants to play.

He often gets Stan to play with him when the family are occupied but at times Stan does not want to rush around if he is having a nap so Tommy came up with a plan!

He has been practicing his plan repeatedly all day yesterday and several times this morning. He will walk over to the door to the dog run area; where he goes out to the loo. He looks around to see if anyone is watching and then using a paw he scratches the door. This always has a immediate response. No matter how busy they are with other things at least one member of the family will immediately go over to him and open the door to let him out. We are all well-trained to help him when he wants to go through this door as, of course, it usually means he wants the loo.

When we open the door he will skip outside and do his business before hopping back inside. Now though that has changed, as his reason for scratching the door is not to nip out and spend a penny – no, he wants to play and the instant he has a family member there opening the door for him he turns his back on outside and greets them excitedly asking for fuss.

The first few times this worked as the family were caught unawares and had not sussed out that he was after their attention! Now though everyone has been briefed not to give him big loves if he asks to go out when he obviously does not need to! We are of course making sure he does get lots of love and fuss.

His other new trick had Stan looking on in amazement  – Tommy walks on water!

Tommy can walk on water!!! Stan was gob smacked but then soon followed him out onto the ice!

Our hero began by testing his new-found skill close to the pond edge.

Stan soon moved onto other things, perhaps having the sense to know that it is not a good idea to wander around on the ice. Tommy thought it would be cool to head out into the middle of the pond – this resulted in him being recalled immediately! I didn’t want to risk any accidents!

I encouraged games on the much safer bank – here they are sniffing around to find a hidden treat in the frosty grass.

No apologies for the poor photos as I could not retake any, they all had to be very quick snaps with me holding tight to the dogs leads at all times in case the ice cracked.  Immediately after taking the quick snaps I set about teaching both dogs not to do this again just in case they fell through the ice!

Fireworks – the worst is over :)

Over the last few days I have felt very sorry for the many dogs we have been hearing about on face book and twitter who are very upset by fireworks.   I have massive sympathy for these dogs and their owners who I know are also very upset by their dogs reaction to the bonfire night celebrations.

I myself am very lucky – both my dogs are very relaxed about fireworks and don’t get stressed at all. This is great as we live in a built up area surrounded by pubs and houses and there are frequent firework parties.  These are not limited to bonfire night as the pubs around us often host weddings and other celebrations and fireworks are often let off at these events.

This year was of course Tommy’s first experience of fireworks and I was determined to prepare him for them as well as I could and so we played a sound effects CD with firework noise frequently, both in the car and in different rooms of the house, for weeks before bonfire night.

When it got closer to November 5th and we started to hear fireworks regularly I made sure we were totally relaxed while they were going off and if he reacted in any way I distracted him by getting up and moving to anther room – he follows me around so he was then busy seeing where we were going rather than thinking about the noise he had just heard.

During bigger displays, which happened more as we got closer to bonfire night, I made sure we had a few new toys about and got these out when the bangs started to keep him focused on nice things.  I also made sure he had nice walks each afternoon when I was expecting noise and he actually napped through a couple of close displays!  It’s worth making sure you know what events are going on around your area so you can be ready if a big firework display is planned.

All this preparation worked and Tommy was his usual chilled out self during the noise and excitement last night and over the weekend.

Stan fans will know what a nervous and unpredictable little boy he is and would probably expect him to be very upset by the noise of fireworks.   I certainly had anticipated problems and was worried last New Year as fireworks are let off in massive numbers around midnight where we live and this would be the first time that I could see Stan’s reaction.  Well I was amazed to be shown by my boy that I need not have worried.  Far from being scared of fireworks he actually likes them!  On New Year’s Eve we were outside when the first batch near us were let off a little early and Stan’s reaction was instant – he moved to be in a better position for viewing and sat down to watch!  Since then if he hears them he will wander over to a window and he watches them in the sky – often falling asleep by the window while he is waiting for the next one!  Just goes to show that our dogs are very special and individual – Stan is one of a kind!

Control freak releases control!

This is a long story cut short…

Once upon a time I was very much the person in control but it meant living a life I did not like, living away from home, driving a foolish number of miles a week, putting pressure on people to always be the best.  I was a control freak.  I earnt lots.  I had an enviable life style BUT I didn’t like it.  I’d had enough so I walked.  I went home.  I got a dog and Stan and I settled down to a happily ever after life.  One where I woke up next to my husband everyday and saw my kids everyday and I didn’t work 16 hours a day to put zeros on the balance sheet.

I had a lot of fixed ideas about how to look after my dog, how to be his pack leader, how to carry on being a control freak in many ways.  Then I began to read books.  Look at web sites.  Take courses on dog behaviour and training.  Talk to trainers, especially Lisa (she knows who she is,) the impact Lisa had was life changing for my dogs and ultimately me.  I resisted her thoughts as I have to admit I like to be a control freak but I kept thinking back to things she said.  Eventually I began to think differently and began to be less controlling of my dogs (by now two had become one.)

I’m not going to detail the changes in how I think now – that will happen  gradually over coming weeks and months and there are still areas where I am making up my mind and learning how to make sure my dogs get the best life possible.  There will be people who have very strong views on how to train and relate to dogs who won’t agree and they wont understand my changes in thinking.  However there will also be people who will look at the photo below of Tommy in his new harness who will totally get where I am coming from – Tommy will never wear a half check collar like Stans.  In the photo we had just come back from out first walk with the harness in place and his posture on the walk was so much improved that it was worth buying even if that were the only reason!

More on my changed ideas soon but for now here is my baby in his new harness……

Do you like the colour – it matches Stan’s lead….

Fun, fun, fun!

Exercising dogs physically even with breeds that like to walk miles like Stan and Tom is fairly easy if time-consuming.  A greater challenge is presented when you know how clever both my dogs are.  They both need a lot of mental stimulation and love a challenge so I spend a lot of time playing games with them, which they really love.  Until recently most of the games were 1 on 1, with me taking one dog into a separate room or outside to play and then switching dogs, to make sure they both get a turn.  Then I thought of the treasure hunt game  and they were able to have fun at the same time for a change!

The idea of the treasure hunt came from combining two of Stans fav games.  We play a game where I tie a treat up in a small square of fabric and then hide it and Stan has to search it out and when he does I open it for him and he gets the treat.  He adores this game and will play it over and over again.  We play in the park as well as at home.  Playing in the park is great fun as there are lots of places to hide the cloth but playing at home is also fun and really good for wet, rainy, days.

We also play a game where I put a treat into a container and give the container to Stan – he then has to work out how to get the treat out which is sometimes easy and sometimes much harder.  Narrow necked tubs with a rim around the top edge are very hard and give him a real challenge.

For treasure hunt I put treats into several different containers and hid them around the living room before letting Stan in and asking him to find them.  He got very excited and really enjoyed the search.  Tommy could see what was going on from the other side of the dog gate but he was not invited to play at that stage.  Then I realised if I placed the tubs around the room rather than hiding them then both dogs might be able to play – I thought hiding them at this stage would be too hard for Tommy, who is after all very young.  This was a great success and they played several times – Stan frequently took his tubs out of the room to get the treats out as if he was hiding his techniques from Tommy.  It was lots of fun and great to watch – have a look on you tube.

I cut Stan’s leg off!!!!

Stan fans will know that my boy does not like anyone other than me and a few special friends to touch him.  He spurns most physical contact with anyone outside the house with the exception of Rachel at Border Collie Trust who he loves very much and he even allows her to pick him up and cuddle him.

His hatred of close contact with strangers can be a problem.  Visiting the vets was initially a nightmare as he hated even going through the door.  Now he is able to enter the building confidently and he takes a treat from the receptionist – at arm’s length obviously!  Then he will also enter the consulting room and he sits on the floor just inside the door.  The vet is now able to sit on the floor close to him but he can’t touch him which can make for interesting examinations!

I have a friend who is a dog groomer and we visited her a few times hoping she would eventually be able to clip Stan’s nails but it soon became apparent that while he would be ok being in the same room with her he was not letting her anywhere near him with clippers in her hand.

Nail clipping was also a problem as Stan was very worried about being groomed – he even hid from the brush and it took several months to get him to be relaxed about being brushed.  He was very scared of the clippers and I have had many months of building his confidence up so he would let me cut his nails.  We usually now get to cut the nails on one foot in a session and then he has a cuddle and some biscuits – the other paws have to wait for another day.  Now Tommy is part of the family he is groomed just before Stan with Stan watching and Tommy likes having his nails cut – I think because he gets such nice treats while it is being done.  Today I was keen to get at least a few of Stan’s nails cut and after all the hard work getting him to be more relaxed about this imagine how I felt when this happened…..

Oh no! Poor Stan

Basically when cutting dogs nails you need to be wary of cutting into the quick – this is meant to be easy as you can see the red area where this is and you leave some white below it – simple with a dog with white nails like Stan – not so simple if the nails are black.  I have always been careful and this is the only time I have ever made a mistake and oh boy Stan let me know how unhappy it made him.  You would have thought I had cut his leg off!  He yelped and then held out his paw while whimpering so I could apply pressure to stop the bleeding.

He the retired to his bed…..

Sad…..

Meanwhile Tommy had found the abandoned clippers and was keen to have his nails cut again – to get more treats …

If I sit here holding up my paw they are bound to clip a nail or two and the best treats get given out for being brave at this!!!!

Stan settled down for a long nap and only got out of his basket when Cathy got up.  He jumped up onto the sofa and sat next to her and held out his paw to show how cruel I had been to him!  The result was lots more spoiling!

Stan slept off the trauma!

 

Tom’s training begins more formally

Well I decided I couldn’t be that lazy for the whole day so I began to plan Tom’s training more formally.  Until now we have been more focused on making sure he has a good bond with me and that he works with us on house training.  He can do some basic stuff on command as this was a good way to build the bond I wanted.  He will sit, lie down, offer a paw, give five, crawl and of course recall which I have spent a lot of time on as I feel it is so important.  Now I think it is time for him to begin to walk to heel and do some simple obedience training.

I popped to the pet shop first and bought some supplies and following the lovely Wagg treats Dalton sent us I decided to try their training treats….

We have been trying Wagg training treats…

The treats were a hit with the dogs who loved them and I liked that they are easy to break in half – why are all treats too big?  Once split into two these were about the right size and they were obviously tasty.  Tom was also introduced to the clicker which I will be using for some of his training – more details on this when he has practiced a bit more – hopefully we will have some YouTube videos.  At this stage I just want him to get the idea that a click equals a treat is coming and so I clicked and gave a treat repeatedly – he really liked this!

Stan had a training session after Tommy and also tested the new treats and he really liked them  as well.

 

 

 

 

Rain and toilet training a puppy!!!! aaahhhhh!!!

So it has now rained for days, weeks, months, years…. or it feels like it!  It’s driving me mad – I am an outdoor person so I am in danger of shrinking out there at the moment and even Stan has decided he would rather miss a walk than go out, if it is really pouring down.

Since Sunday, when we bought Tom home, there have been gaps in the rain – brief and damp but gaps, where it is dry enough to venture out into the garden, and try to explain the proper place to do one’s business.  He has been getting the idea and although he has a long way to go I felt we were making progress.  When I open the back door he rushes out in a sort of explosive way and then races down to the area for doing his business.  He is by no means getting it right all the time but I have been making sure his visits to the toilet area are frequent and well-timed so we have had a lot of lucky positives and as for the negatives, well I just clean them up and get rid of the smell. I strongly believe in teaching with love and reward so I seldom tell my dogs off – I like to catch them doing stuff the right way and make a big fuss of them.  It works, they want to please me, so I just show them what they need to do to make me happy and they do it.    It sounds simple and it is – it just takes time, a calm attitude and you need a good relationship with your dog.  So I hear you thinking what is she moaning for…..

BLOODY RAIN!

That is what is making me moan!  It began to pour down yesterday evening and it has not stopped since!

Just look at the dogs toilet area in the garden!

Even Stan is not going to go to the loo here! The garden is turning into a lake!!!

So…… Keep calm and carry on.  Stiff upper lip.  Just get on with it.  All these thoughts ran through my head as I realised there was no way on earth Tom was going into the flooded garden today.  Stan fans need not worry – he is a very sensible dog and he popped around the edge – narrow, but still not flooded, did what was needed and ran back to bed as fast as his legs would carry him.  I know you can get snow shoes for dogs but can you get waders for pups?  Anyway we have decided I will ……. KEEP CALM…… so….

Puppy, having been to the loo on the conservatory carpet, was played with, cuddled and then put in his large crate while Stan and I set off to Pets at Home to sort out a solution.

We came home with more spray stuff for getting rid of the smell caused by little accidents and a pack of puppy pads.  Tom was pleased to see us when we got back and showed how happy he was by running straight into the conservatory as soon as he was set free from his crate and weeing on the carpet, followed by an excited Stan, who looked at the wet patch with interest!  Oh no; what if Stan decides this is a good idea!

Anyway I cleaned it up; mop up the wet bit, spray with smell remover and mop again, spray again and leave smell remover to dry.  I spread out the puppy mat and popped our boy onto it with a smile on my face – “Good boy, be quick.” I encouraged.  He walked off.  Fair enough he has just been emptied!  I let it be for a while and tried again.  No luck.  I fed the dogs.  Waited a bit.  Tried again.  No luck.  This was repeated several times with no luck so they had a nap and I did some work.  Tom woke up.  I tried again.  No luck.  I tried again…. you are getting the idea?

Then I was distracted briefly…..

This happened…..

He destroyed the pad!

He then did a wee on the conservatory carpet…. I told him off – gently  but he knew I didn’t like that.

Sad face….Ooo…I didn’t mean it mum.

Then he sat and looked at me – so cute!

Impossible to be cross with that face!

Now he is asleep and he seems to have forgotten how to operate a bed again!  While he sleeps I will come up with plan C – at least the rain appears to be not so heavy!

New sleep position!

Sunday Sunshine

Well we got up this morning and the leak in the sky may have been plugged – still a few clouds in the distance but IT IS NOT RAINING and even better THE SUN IS SHINING.  This is great news as I have loads to do today and sunshine makes me feel more energetic and able to rush around and get everything sorted.  So here is today’s list -

1. Nag Steven into having a shower
2. Remember not to walk too far on walkies as should still be resting sore legs – knees still hurt and one is swollen but I’ll live – think walkies is ok but today is not time for a 10 m,ile plus hike!
3. Do the ironing (as if this one will get done!!!!)
4. Go to cheap clothes shop and buy two orange T shirts for Cathy to turn into works of art – look out for photos in future blog
5. Visit Border Collie Trust
   1. Give Lisa our thunder shirt so she can see if it helps nervous collies
   2. Cuddle puppies that have arrived, which is an essential task obviously
   3. Take one of the lovely boys and girls they have there for a walk with Stan, Cathy and Steven – this is good for several reasons – gives socialisation activity to Stan, helps me in my mission to be a thin chocolate lover, keeps teenagers fit and gets them out in the fresh air, should be enjoyable for which ever dog we take out, gives me chance to take photos and video to use in rehoming features about the trust
   4. Buy new lead for Stan from their excellent selection
6. Subscribe to Border Collie World – info on website- quarterly mag;  it only costs £10 a year – goes to help support the collies in need
7. Do further study on my pet first aid course – this is proving to be VERY good and goes into a lot of depth.  There are videos and a manual and it is all explained very simply.  Focused mainly on dogs but has fair bit about cats as well and other animals.  I am about to study dog cpr!  Stan has already helped by having his breathing checked and his pulse taken.  He will be helping again soon by being bandaged – look out for the you tube video and blog about that one!  The course also helped Border Collie Trust as I used the code “bordercollie” when signing up so I got a discounted price and they got a donation. Click here if you want to try it as well  http://t.co/Ri28Pok1
8. I have joined the Academy of dog training and behaviour as a student – hoping to gain some formal qualifications in dog behaviour to help the dogs I take on walkies and of course my own special boy and today I want to take a look through the info for the first section of the course which is all about what goes on inside a dogs mind, what they are thinking and how to work them out.
9. Sort invoices and get ready for posting so I get paid for articles that have been published recently
10. Add latest articles to web site so regular readers can see them
11. Do final drafting of features that need to be sent to Dolls House Magazine next week
12. Make tea!!!
13. Chill out – it is Sunday

Oh and most important – play with Stan – he has been sat staring at me the while time as I type this and clearly wants t0 play ball right now!