Monday, July 30, 2012

#SAGApupVolt Is Thirty Nine Weeks Old

He's nine months old today!
I had a very busy week this week and as a result I didn't get very many photographs of my boy. I also didn';t get to the vet this morning to weigh him.
His wart removal "injury" has healed nicely, and then this morning his right eye was puffy and red again! Ugh! I am treating him with isee (eye ointment) and I will be keeping a close eye on it. It seems he and Riddick are again chewing on my cycad and I think he stuck himself on the very sharp, spiky leaves.
We've made huge progress on his "positive dog distraction" and on his "pulling" (on lead) in the last week and I am very happy with that! We have a home visit from our SAGA PDS this Tuesday and they will be checking out how we're doing with walking, people greeting (he does love people...) and so on.
Hold thumbs for us that our "inspection" goes well!
:D
On Saturday night we went to my cousin's thirtieth birthday party and Volt was on-lead all night. He was an absolute superstar with LOADS of children coming to talk to him and pet him and jumping around in front of him! He didn't flinch! I took one of the dogs' blankets with us and Volt stayed on his blanket almost all night and everyone was very impressed with how well he behaved and how he was with the children!


He was completely worn out by the time we got home but I gave him a hoof to chew on as a reward anyway.

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Don't forget to check out the Twitter hash-tag #SAGApupVolt to see regular updates on my puppy raising adventure!
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Sunday, July 29, 2012

Sunday, July 22, 2012

#SAGApupVolt And #RiddickPup - Week Nine Together

The puppies didn't see each other all week because Volt was at kennels, so they had a lot of playing to catch up on over the weekend!






#SAGApupVolt Is Thirty Eight Weeks Old

We've had thirty weeks and three days with Volt and I hardly saw my boy this week! When he chewed his stitches out (from his wart removal) last Sunday, SAGA suggested I take him to their "hospital" kennels so they can doctor it and make 100% sure there's no infection until the small cut had healed a bit more. I dropped him off on Monday and fetched him on Friday again and Riddick was very happy to see him!


On Sunday we spent several hours at SAGA's stand at the World Of Dogs And Cats Pet Exhibition where SAGA was selling little stuffed Labrador toys, and raffle tickets for the car they are giving away! Its an awesome training exercise for the pups-in-training like Volt (Rankin was there today too) because they have to stay calm and quiet with people of all ages and races walking past them and talking to them and cuddling them, and today was extra challenging with all the dogs and cats going past us as well! Its a lot of work for the dogs to concentrate on being well behaved for several hours and they go home quite tired.
If you were there today- thank you for supporting SAGA!
Volt met a lot of people and got a lot of cuddles and attention today
Rankin is a couple of months older than Volt
Volt being very obedient, and SAGA's Pieter's O'Riley and Maggie being good as gold
the crowds outside the SAGA stand
And when we got home from the expo we had a well deserved ball game on the back lawn!
talk about a lucky photo!

click on the puppy to make a donation to SAGA

Don't forget to check out the Twitter hash-tag #SAGApupVolt to see regular updates on my puppy raising adventure!
Follow @SAGuide_Dogs on Twitter and on Facebook!

#RiddickPup Is Sixteen Weeks Old

Our gawjiss puppy weighs 14,8kg today which is a 1.4kg gain in the last week! He is actually a little smaller than Volt was at the same age but not by much. He will now be getting 160g of food three times a day and I am still adding the water to his food to slow him down.
He had a bit of a lonely week without his best buddy Volt, but he's definitely progressing in his training and we got to play with his toys without he and Volt first "arguing" over who is going to have it first!
He is still sleeping on the couch and on the bed with us, and I know we are probably going to regret that when he's fully grown... And he has taken to sleeping on the backrest of the couch because its nice and soft but that I am not allowing (apart from taking a picture of course).

Yesterday (Saturday) we spent the day at my parents' house with the puppies and my family. My mom's dogs are really doing well with socialising with our puppies and our boys always have a wonderful time with all the children! The following series is of my almost one year old nephew playing with Riddick and an empty 2L bottle! I was very pleased with how gentle Riddick was when the two of them were playing.

It seems our little boy's "defensive" behaviour- where they bark at intruders- is kicking in earlier than Volt's did. Unlike Volt who is not allowed to bark, we are going to allow Riddick to be a guard dog. He is already reacting to someone (like my son) opening the front door or coming in the back door when he doesn't expect it. And he reacts if he hears the front gate. Now the trick is to teach him when it is appropriate to bark. We have discouraged barking and growling as part of play since he was little because I want him only to bark or growl to draw my attention to a visitor or intruder.
And here are some pictures of our gawjiss Riddick! He is growing so very fast!



And here he is running after a ball in the back yard! If he faces the direction you're going to throw the ball in he sees it as it passes through his field of vision, and will fetch it and bring it back until he's had enough. If he's not facing the direction of the throw he doesn't see where it goes and then we have to go and fetch it and throw it again. He's really very sweet when we're playing and he just loves it!

Monday, July 16, 2012

#SAGApupVolt And #RiddickPup - Week Eight Together...

Volt asleep in the front foot well and Riddick asleep on the front seat

Volt asleep in the front foot well, Riddick sitting on the passenger seat and a packet of KFC between us - neither of them even tried to sniff the bag!

both pups love lying at the top of the stairs watching people and cars go by in the street outside

Riddick asleep on the couch with me and Volt on the floor on his duvet

Sunday, July 15, 2012

#SAGApupVolt Is Thirty Seven Weeks Old

Volt weighs the same as last week so I think I can say he's stopped growing.
I know I am biased, but I do think he is the most beautiful dog, and he has the most divine soft coat. One of our favourite things is him sitting on the floor in front of me and me cuddling him and running my hands through his fur and crooning in his ear.
you can see the place on his leg where the wart was removed
On Wednesday evening we popped in at my folks' place to celebrate one of my nephews turning 16, and we took the puppies along with us. We are doing a lot of work on Volt's "positive people distraction" and "positive dog distraction" because as friendly and lovable and approachable as he is, he can't greet every dog and person he sees because he has to focus on his work. What this entails is lots of changing direction and obedience exercises when we're out walking, and when people arrive at the house it means he has to be on-lead until he is calm before our visitors can talk to or touch him. When I took Volt into my parents' house my husband had already asked everyone please to ignore him until I said it was okay to greet him and it took a good few minutes to get him to stay calm when people said hello, but the exercise was imperative.
Here are a couple of pictures of Volt asleep in and on "his" duvet on a REALLY cold night!
And you can read about Volt's visit to the vet to have the wart on his leg removed. He chewed the blue bandage off his leg within a couple of hours of getting home from the vet, and today- Sunday- I noticed he'd gotten rid of the stitches too! Naughty bugger!

click on the puppy to make a donation to SAGA

Don't forget to check out the Twitter hash-tag #SAGApupVolt to see regular updates on my puppy raising adventure!
Follow @SAGuide_Dogs on Twitter and on Facebook!

#RiddickPup Is Fifteen Weeks Old

Our puppy weighs 13.4kg today so he's gained 1.8kg since last week!
From today he will be eating 150g of Nutriphase Puppy three times a day and I am very impressed with it. Its not the most expensive food on the market but Riddick likes it and he's growing nicely. His poops look great too which is awesome since I have to do a lot of pooper scooping with four dogs at home!
Now that he's comfortable with climbing the stairs in the house, he goes up and down as he pleases. In the morning he comes downstairs with me and all the dogs go outside for busies. Then they get breakfast and then if he and Volt don't get to playing, Riddick heads back upstairs and goes to sleep on our bed snuggled up next to my husband! I have lots to do in the morning so I can't go back to bed, but Riddick does, LOL! Once my hubby is up and dressed, Riddick comes back downstairs with him. Its so cute. And he loves lying on the landing at the top of the stairs watching cars and people go past in the street outside.
people watching out the big staircase window
When we go upstairs to bed at night after last "busies" at 11pm, Riddick gets to get up on our bed and he falls asleep there- usually on the spot where myself or my husband would normally be sleeping! He doesn't lie there long before heading for his box on the floor.

Riddick has discovered that the ottomans in the livingroom are easier to get onto than the couches and this is his new place to chill- if there isn't already a cat lying on it!

Riddick is doing really well with car travel. He falls asleep in the front foot well very quickly and hardly makes a sound anymore.

And here is a completely gratuitous picture of my sleepy puppy asleep on the couch next to me.


Ooh and you can also read about last week's puppy class and his check up at the Jo'burg Animal Eye Hospital.