#RiddickPup Is Thirty Nine Weeks Old

We went for our weigh in this morning and Riddick weighed 29kg on the vet's scale this morning and he is just over 57cm tall at the shoulder.

And this week, Riddick's new Doggles arrived! We ordered his "grown up" Doggles from iWarehouse.co.za for an absolute bargain, compared to other places we've found them for sale! Since he outgrew the baby Doggles he had so very quickly, he hasn't worn these in a while so the process of getting him accustomed to them has started again. Doggles offer some tips on their site for training your dog to wear them, one of which is not putting them on inside the house. LOL! We've started with short periods of him wearing them and giving him treats at the same time.

As usual, this is my view when I am sitting on my bed with my laptop. Where I go, he goes, so working on my bed means he's on the bed too.

And he sleeps on our bed (I have mentioned this before), and after his 11pm busies he comes running up the stairs and jumps onto my husband's spot on the bed!

When Riddick sleeps on the floor at my feet he has to lie on at least one of my feet!

And Riddick does love the couch...

#SAGApupVolt is Sixty Weeks Old

The Voltinator goes back to SAGA to continue his training this coming Wednesday, so his holiday with us is almost over. Its been so nice to have him here for a little while to love and cuddle and treat.

And you know what, knowing SAGA will find the perfect partner with the perfect home for him is such a big thing for us, never having to worry about whether he is happy or safe or well treated makes it a little bit easier to let him go.

Today at the vet Volt weighed in at 33.5kg, which is a little lighter than when we sent him back to SAGA for training - but he does work hard every day. And he is still just shy of 60cm tall at the shoulder.
He is still energetic and excitable and very lovable, but we can see a huge difference in his behaviour in terms of how his training has kicked in.
He is still very excited when he sees other dogs and will happily take off to go and play if given the opportunity!
I bought all four of the dogs a big juicy meat bone as a Christmas treat, and all four of them have been taught that their treats belong to me. I don't leave them in the garden with these bones, I will give them each one- in order of seniority, Thelma and Louise getting theirs first- and then I make sure they stay on opposite ends of the garden as such a delicious treat can cause trouble if they are unsupervised. After about 20 minutes on the first day, I took the bones away and stuck them in seperate bags in the fridge so they could have them again another day.

This is Volt with a little plastic drinking cup! Does he look guilty or what!? I don't know where he found it and I took it from him before he did any damage to it, but his face was so comical I had to take a picture.

And here is Volt, blowing bubbles in the pool! He doesn't get into the pool, but he does love to lie on the side and stick his face in the water.

#SAGApupVolt And #RiddickPup Together For Christmas

Aren't our boys just too beautiful!

This Saturday past, friends of ours came to braai with us and brought their 8 week old Labrador pup, Bella, along with them.

Bella and the boys played until late into the night, and Bella was fast asleep in the car when they drove home, with both Riddick and Volt sleeping away most of Sunday!
Bella is just the sweetest little girl with a typically friendly Labrador nature, and Volt and Riddick being well socialised meant they played well together from the moment dainty little Bella arrived.

#SAGApupVolt And #RiddickPup Together Again

#SAGApupVolt is Fifty Nine Weeks Old

We fetched Volt from SAGA's kennels on Friday afternoon, and he was very happy to see us indeed, it was so sweet! Initially we couldn't find him in the outside runs of the kennels so we went inside to look for him, and as luck would have it he was right at the end. I was almost afraid I wouldn't recognise him but I spotted him immediately!
He's home for a two week holiday over Christmas, as his trainer is taking a break and didn't want to leave the dogs in kennels whilst she's away.
All the SAGA trainers go on holiday over Christmas so the dogs in training either go home to their puppy-walker families or they spend a couple of weeks boarding with volunteer families.
We didn't get to the vet for a weigh-in, but is still 57cm tall at the shoulder, so I think he has stopped growing for sure.
When he arrived home I immediately let him off-lead and he and Riddick took off into the back garden to get re-acquainted and then they played until they were both exhausted! Its so sweet how well they get on and how well they play together.
Then I had to pop out to the shops and when we got home about an hour later Volt had dug a big hole in the corner of the back garden!

On Saturday we spent the day at my parents house and the dogs always come with us when we go there. Volt was super excited to see all the people he knew again and he and Riddick had a ball with the hose pipe and the children and the toys. They were quite exhausted when they got home.

Volt will be going back to SAGA to continue his training a day or two after New Year.

#RiddickPup Is Thirty Eight Weeks Old

Man alive I love this dog...
We didn't get to the vet to weigh him this week, because Christmas, but he is 57cm tall at the shoulder give or take a few millimetres.

he's most content when he can get his nose on the armrest between the front seats

fast asleep on the kitchen floor

playing silly buggers with a leaf stuck to his nose

he doesn't know what to do when he can't really see what his "granny" is doing

 his crocodile impression

cool, glorious mud and a bottle to chew on - its a dogs' life

he doesn't like the big swimming pool, but this he loved

sopping wet puppy

The Doggy Parlour Came To The Girls!

Last Saturday we were heading out the driveway, and parked outside our one neighbour's house was a van from The Dog Lady. I popped over to where they were busy with a couple of Huskies, and got a leaflet with contact details on it.
They came back to my house the following Monday morning and Thelma and Louise got the full treatment! There's a bath and a grooming table in the van, they plug an extension cord in in the house and the girls were brushed, bathed, blow dried, had their ears cleaned and their nails clipped!

Neither Thelma or Louise liked it very much, but the two people who came with the van are very confident with the dogs and they handled the girls firmly but kindly.

And the girls have never been aggressive or mean so whilst they would jump off the table and run back in the gate if they weren't leashed, they put up with the process without a whimper or a growl.

Both girls have a double coat, so without regular brushing they have a soft fluffy undercoat that starts to clump and it looks really scruffy. I brush them fairly often, but having a good spa-treatment once a year makes a huge difference.

Louise's coat is much fluffier than Thelma's too, so she had to endure the blow drier for longer than Thelma did- you can see the fur literally flying in the next photo! Thelma's lovely short coat dried very quickly in comparison.

And Thelma and Louise are both so silly and bouncy when they go back into their garden again, its almost like they know they're all clean and smelling nice!

#RiddickPup Is Thirty Seven Weeks Old

Riddick weighed 28.2kg this morning which seems to be a little bit down on last week, but it was on my scale at home, not the vet.

He's still on 200g Nutriphase Adult and I am liking it. His tummy likes it too and his teeth are nice and clean. And whilst he sheds like crazy- I'm talking a handful of hair just from running it down his back- his coat is shiny and soft.

His training is coming along nicely. Leash-work is still a bit messy as he walks beautifully one day and dreadfully the next, but we continue to work on it. He's doing really well with instructions like "sit", "down", "up sit" and "shake". He's still a bit of a nervous passenger in the car, but the Roadie has definitely made him feel more comfortable and secure.

I have realised that he knows the difference between a regular phone call and one from the gate where someone is wanting to come into the complex! A regular phone call he flat ignores, even if its on speaker. A call from the gate gets him all excited and fidgety and running to the door before the car has even driven in the gate! I'm not sure yet how he knows the difference as I have the same ring-tone for all incoming calls... But it does mean I have to get him on-lead before I head for the door because he just LOVES getting visitors!

And this picture is a perfect example of why it pays to train your puppy from day one! Here is Riddick, fast asleep not a nose-length from my take-out chicken! He has been taught from tiny that people food is not for him so he doesn't even associate it with a treat.

A Rare Greebo Photo...

Where he isn't fast asleep I mean!
He's notoriously skittish around my camera and usually ducks and runs for cover if he sees the camera! This time he just opened his eyes and made sure I didn't do anything else...