A walk in the park.

The weather in Melbourne has been terrible,

yesterday it was soooo hot.

Today it is bucketing down and incredibly humid.

The dogs were going stir crazy,

so I decided to take them for a walk.

Much easier said than done!

Putting on their halters is easy, but harnesses are beyond me.

Middi stands like a rock, with his head down and a look in his face that says  "are you ever going to learn!"

Toffee has a velcro girth strap, 

should be easy to put on,

 but she is not tall enough for me to reach.

Eventually we get going:

 Middi plodding along on the outside

and Toffee skipping happily next to the chair.

The first corner is the worst, 

I want to go to the right and Middi wants left, 

Toff doesn't care,

 as long as she is with her brother everything is fine.

At last we are off to the park!

The rule is Toffee must sit at each corner,

Middi is my working boy and does not sit at corners any more,

 he stands, so we can move quickly.

Today Middi had to sit like Toffee.

The indignity of it!

Yes, he sat, 

but you would have thought he was an oldie

taking his final walk to the vet.  :-(

some mums are so mean!

See we did make it

and as you can see we were all happy.

I think we will have to do more tandem walking,

Middi is so sad when I leave him home,

and I miss his presence by my side.

I cant resist.

Today was one of those balmy days we get in Melbourne, 

after a few days of extreme heat.

Helen and I went to Glenhuntly, 2.2k's from home.

I walked and the kids rode in the car,

what a life!

Middi loves cars, he would always ride if he got the chance.

After the big "ride" he was tired, as you are when your mum expects you to walk half a kilometer.

Toffee of course, was full of beans and could not wait to go to the big dogs park with Chris.

They practiced running free [on the long line] and coming back for a treat when called, a great game,

but a very important skill to be learned.

Looks easy when Chris does it.

When I try it is hilarious,

imagine 15 meters of clothes line, an excited puppy 

and a six wheeled wheel chair.

It takes about 2 minutes for me to get completely tangled

and 20 to get me untangled!!!

When Toffee arrived home,

Middi checked her over to make sure she was still in one piece,

then they went to sleep!

If you look carefully you can see they are sleeping around the end of my bed.

They stayed like this, sound asleep, for more than an hour, .

They love each other, there is no jealousy, food can be shared

and even though they can play very heartily,

the next minute they will be curled up asleep in the one crate, 

with those great long legs tangled round each other.

They bring me so much joy.

New Year Resolution!!

1st of January is the time for "Resolutions"

I really hate them because 

I never manage to keep them!

This year is going to be different,

I am going to start training Toffee properly.

No more lazing around in the sand pit!

Or beating up her long suffering brother!

She is well and truly over her

little "operation".

In other words,I have run out of excuses!

Oh dear! I have just read an article that I did for Petstock .

When Middi was six months old he had been on the train.

Attended at least one council meeting and slept beside me.

Knew to sit quietly by me when I stopped to speak to people in the street.

Started learning not to greet people without permission.

Was playing "touch" with all the things he would have to pick up when older.

As well as the basic obedience commands.

What a lot Middi had done, I had better get a move on.

At least I have the walking under control now,

Toff stops at the curb and usually 

will sit without me reminding her.

I no longer have to remind her to keep away from the wheels 

and walk straight, it means that I can have at least one eye on the road.

The biggest problem at present is her timidity.

She is very shy and widdles when ever she is nervous,or excited.

The vet says she will grow out of it, I certainly hope so!!!

You would think someone with a face like this, 

would not be afraid of anything.

I had thought training a second Poodle would be easy, 

I had forgotten, that like children,

they are all different!!!!!

The proud doggy grandma!

Toffee started dog school in earnest today.

I was watching her and her mum out of the corner of my eye,

{the big boy was making no secret of not watching}!

She was working beautifully with Jess, sitting when told, and staying quietly when left at the fence without mum.

She walks so nicely at heel, I think the Black Dog halter works really well on our dogs.

In case you have forgotten what she looks like,

here she is with her "big girl" hair cut.

She has now gone from white to yellow group,

should be interesting as she is just about to hit adolescence, 

when all puppies start thinking rules are not for them!!!

Just like humans -- they push the boundaries 

all the time.

It seemed to go on for ever with Middi,

but now he is his old sweet self, but still very determined!

Next Thursday Toffee will go to dog school with Chris,

Middi and me,

I will be taking half the class with each of the dogs,

another challenge for all of us!

Toffee is a digger!

In all my years of owning dogs

Toffee is the first "digger" I have ever had

.

She started from the day she arrived home.

Her specialty was to undermine the pot plants,

rather dangerous as some of my pots are huge.

I looked up Ian Dunbar's  article on digging dogs,

he suggested assigning a special place for digging

and salting it with treats and bones.

As my garden is not very big, Chris suggested using

a children's sandpit.

 It works brilliantly, sometimes she finds a biscuit hidden in there

so it is always worth checking out.

This picture was taken after she had emptied half the dirt out,

she couldn't decide the best place to hide her teething bone,

so of course she kept digging it up and the dirt went flying.

Where did she eventually put it?

Under her bottom!!

Toff spends hours in the dirt, it is in a sunny corner, 

under the veranda and out of the strong rain.

Toffee treats her sandpit like her crate -----

a nice secure place to hang out,

when there is nothing interesting going on.

If you have a digger, this could be the solution for you,

its worth a try.

Enjoy the Spring rain -- it makes the weeds grow!

Could this be our little darling??

Someone has been to her first day at puppy school!

She was not an angel, just a normal little toddler wanting her own way.

Jess said she had a tantrum, as I had no idea what a puppy tantrum entailed I asked Chris to explain what happened.

Here is her reply!!!

 Tantrum…..

Chris – “Toffee come here”  (offers treat, is ignored)

Toffee – “ Oh, not right now I’m busy sniffing butt”

Chris – No, I said “COME HERE” (changes tone to more serious)

Toffee – “Nope, I’m going to play with this toy under the table”

Chris then goes and gets naughty puppy and scoops her up, flips her onto her back in her arms, holds her very tightly and puts her hands on her chest very firmly.

Chris “ Now SETTLE”

Toffee – “No, don’t wanna  WAHHHHHHHHHH”  (kicks, fusses)

Chris – “Sorry Toffee but I really don’t care, (grips tighter) now SETTLE”

Toffee – “ No, No not gonna, WAHHHHHHHHHH” (more fussing)

Chris – (softly) “Enough.” (keeps holding tight and waits for her to stop fussing around 30 seconds, then loosens grip)  “Good girl, now go to mum”

 If Toffee openly ignores her (or you) I suggest Jess sits to do this if possible, Toffee is fairly strong.  She needs leverage to keep her grip.

I have been “wrangling” naughty puppies for some time so I am fine standing (haven’t dropped one yet).

  

This is tough love, not cruelty, Toffee needs to learn the rules. 

I am not hurting her, simply demonstrating I am stronger than her, like her doggy mother would have. 

Just remember, don’t call her over to “correct” her – go fetch her.

  

Coming willingly must always be pleasant and be rewarded.

This last sentence is so true, the number of times I have seen people at the park call their dogs [who are being less than angelic] and when they come, give them a smack and yell, stands to reason they are not going to come next time

.

Training puppies is just the same as teaching toddlers, except puppies grow so quickly, that you need to get it right from the beginning.

I must be getting old, I have no memory of  Midnight having tantrums at that age.

He was a difficult boy to train [and sometimes still is] thank goodness I never had to try and put him on my knee, 
he would not have fitted!!

That boy AGAIN and AGAIN!!

Just in case you hadn't noticed 

I really, really, love that boy of mine,

but sometimes he makes me sooooo frustrated.

Last week his brain was on another planet,

and I had 2 fails in our lesson!!!

I could not get him to "sit/stay" or "wait" when he was told.

He just sat there, poked his tongue out and said --

"naaa, don't feel like working today"!

HONESTLY!

Two nights later, this is what I wrote in my notes --

tonight's funny thing.-------
I sent my coffee cup flying and asked Middi to pick it up for me, he carefully picked it up and brought it nearly to me, but before he reached me the cover fell off and he only brought that.

I asked him for the cup,which is very slippery, 

after pushing it round with his nose, to try and force the lid open, he left it and went into the lounge.

I thought he had given up and was about to call him back, when through the door he came with sparkling eyes and his polar fleece grab rope in his mouth, he then placed that on my tray! I told him he was very clever, but I really wanted my coffee. 

As the cup is really hard to hold with out its cover I was about to pick it up with my grab stick, Middi pushed my stick away and worried the cup with his mouth and paw, until he got it in his teeth, then he placed it very carefully in my hand.

Lots of praise and cheese!!

  What a darling exasperating boy he is!

 

Have a bone Mum!