Here he is on the arm of the couch, resting his front paws on the wooden stool!
And Minx lying on my sunhat on the back of the couch.
Thursday, March 14, 2013
Our Feline Furbabies
Magic chooses some odd places to sleep...
Here he is on the arm of the couch, resting his front paws on the wooden stool!
And here he is in the bookshelf - one of his favourite, favourite places to sleep.
A basin full of Minx!
Greebo... Only Greebo... Notoriously camera shy, I can usually only photograph him when he's asleep. Here he is on the couch backrest cushion with his head hanging down between his front paws!
Here he is on the arm of the couch, resting his front paws on the wooden stool!
Wednesday, March 13, 2013
#RiddickPup Is Forty Nine Weeks Old
Sheesh... I can't believe our little "Pickle" is almost a year old already!
This weekend Riddick worked very hard. He attended his first event for SA Guide-dogs as a "PR dog" and he did better than I expected. He wasn't nearly as vocal as I thought he was going to be and that was a big relief.
SAGA had a stand at the Hobby-X show at the Coca Cola Dome selling raffle tickets for their annual car giveaway, and Riddick went along to draw the crowds with his cuteness! SAGA always has puppies-in-training and working guide-dogs and service dogs at their show and expo stands so that the general public can meet the gorgeous puppy dogs and have a cuddle. As Riddick was wearing a blue puppy-in-training jacket, we were explaining to people that he's not actually going to be a guide-dog because he's partly blind himself. People were quite taken by him so I am thinking that as SAGA doesn't have jackets for their PR or career changed pooches like the brood bitches or the pups that didn't make the programme, I should ask SAGA if I can make a special "PR Pooch" jacket for Riddick and some of the other dogs to wear... Perhaps in a purple or green material, so its different to the blue puppy-in-training jacket, and the red service dog jackets.
What do you think?
Riddick was very well behaved and we were very proud of him! He was a little mouthy with some of the people who said hello, and when there were people crowding the other puppies he got to barking to call them over to give him some attention too, but he was really well behaved and polite! Even walking around the show with him was cool.
One thing that caught me off-balance - literally - was when we headed outside the Dome for busies. I've never trained Riddick to walk down a flight of stairs when he's on lead, and I nearly went flying!!
His weight hasn't changed, still just over 30kg, and he's still eating 200g of Nutriphase Adult twice a day.
crazy puppy has a thing for my lawn...
Greebo fetches socks from my son's room and then Riddick eats them! Conspiracy...?
This weekend Riddick worked very hard. He attended his first event for SA Guide-dogs as a "PR dog" and he did better than I expected. He wasn't nearly as vocal as I thought he was going to be and that was a big relief.
SAGA had a stand at the Hobby-X show at the Coca Cola Dome selling raffle tickets for their annual car giveaway, and Riddick went along to draw the crowds with his cuteness! SAGA always has puppies-in-training and working guide-dogs and service dogs at their show and expo stands so that the general public can meet the gorgeous puppy dogs and have a cuddle. As Riddick was wearing a blue puppy-in-training jacket, we were explaining to people that he's not actually going to be a guide-dog because he's partly blind himself. People were quite taken by him so I am thinking that as SAGA doesn't have jackets for their PR or career changed pooches like the brood bitches or the pups that didn't make the programme, I should ask SAGA if I can make a special "PR Pooch" jacket for Riddick and some of the other dogs to wear... Perhaps in a purple or green material, so its different to the blue puppy-in-training jacket, and the red service dog jackets.
What do you think?
Riddick was very well behaved and we were very proud of him! He was a little mouthy with some of the people who said hello, and when there were people crowding the other puppies he got to barking to call them over to give him some attention too, but he was really well behaved and polite! Even walking around the show with him was cool.
One thing that caught me off-balance - literally - was when we headed outside the Dome for busies. I've never trained Riddick to walk down a flight of stairs when he's on lead, and I nearly went flying!!
mommy's handbag makes the best pillow
His weight hasn't changed, still just over 30kg, and he's still eating 200g of Nutriphase Adult twice a day.
Monday, March 4, 2013
#SAGApupVolt Is Sixteen Months Old
Volt has been in guide-dog training for a little over four months (19 weeks) and on Friday we saw Volt's trainer at SAGA's College of Orientation and Mobility Cansa Shavathon.
She says he is doing incredibly well!
She is using a "gentle leader" on him to stop him pulling on the lead, she says she's never had to do so many "return to heel" commands with a dog before, and she says she has built serious biceps and triceps with him - but he is such a pro!
He is VERY clever, he is confident and he takes initiative, and she is even allowing him to use his love of retrieving and carrying (even though its not officially part of his training) by letting him pick up and carry dropped items.
He did his first walk with his trainer being blindfolded, and it was a perfect trial with him guiding her around all the obstacles!
We are so proud of him!
I can't wait to see my beautiful boy again!
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Sunday, March 3, 2013
Our #RiddickPup Is Eleven Months Old!
This afternoon we took Riddick to an off-lead dog park.
I have been a little nervous to take him because we battled with Volt's recall, and when we took Volt to a park he'd take off after the other dogs and it would be a mission to get him back...! That said, I was a nervous first-time-puppy-mom with Volt, and I was terrified I'd lose him! His dog distraction (his love of other dogs and wanting to play) was a real problem though, so my fears were realistic to a degree...
But my confidence is way up with Riddick! Having seen how well behaved he was when he was off-lead at SAGA and seeing how he listens when I call his name we decided to chance it.
It was fantastic! It was exactly the way I had always hoped a dog park experience with my own dog would be! He is respectful of other dogs though he seems a little wary of playing with them. He's well behaved around the people too and doesn't jump up on anyone. He doesn't chase the balls thrown for other dogs, though he loves his own one and happily chased it down many times over - even with a Collie cross trying to catch it too. He didn't get into the big water trough for a swim as he's never been mad about water, but he drank lots of water and we did two circuits of the park with him running and investigating behind and ahead of us but returning to us when called or just to make sure we stayed close. At one point we were sitting on a bench under a tree and he stayed sitting right there with us!
It was glorious! We will definitely be going back more often.
On Friday SAGA's College of Mobility had a Cansa Shavathon and we went along, taking Riddick with us.
He was very well behaved and showed respect to the older dogs whilst being playful with puppy Jenna, and he greeted the people happily without jumping up. We played ball on SAGA's lovely expanse of lawn and he showed off his recall, his Doggles, and his fast-improving benching behaviour.
We were very proud of him.
My husband shaved his head after making his R50 donation to Cansa, and I ran around taking photographs, I donated my R50 too but I didn't shave or spray my hair.
I got to visit briefly with the 'K' litter puppies who will be going home to their puppy walkers this coming week, and we were told that we may be able to get an 'L' litter puppy to raise towards the end of April!! So exciting!! SAGA's brood bitch Jelly is pregnant, so depending on how many pups there are we should be getting one soon (her last litter had 9 pups). We're thinking up a list of names for boys and girls starting with 'L' so if you have any suggestions let me know.
And we saw Volt's trainer, who says he is doing incredibly well! He did his first walk with his trainer blindfolded, and it was a perfect trial with him guiding her perfectly around all obstacles! We are so proud of him!
This week past we made great progress with Riddick's nervousness of passing cars after his accident a while ago. He hardly batted an eyelid although the bigger cars and vans still made him slightly wary. I am very relieved that he's gotten better so quickly! Our walks will soon be back to normal again.
On Saturday Riddick found an apple next to my bed. I know it smelled interesting because it immediately caught his attention, but I think he thought it was a ball... He chewed on it for ages before it fell off the balcony and he forgot about it.
I had a giggle this week, we were watching Spaceballs on TV and towards the beginning there's a scene where "Dark Helmet" walks onto the scene. Riddick barked and ran at the screen as though the character was walking into the living room! He didn't like it at all! It was so funny! I rewound the movie and played the scene again but the second time he just looked at the screen and walked away.
I have been a little nervous to take him because we battled with Volt's recall, and when we took Volt to a park he'd take off after the other dogs and it would be a mission to get him back...! That said, I was a nervous first-time-puppy-mom with Volt, and I was terrified I'd lose him! His dog distraction (his love of other dogs and wanting to play) was a real problem though, so my fears were realistic to a degree...
It was fantastic! It was exactly the way I had always hoped a dog park experience with my own dog would be! He is respectful of other dogs though he seems a little wary of playing with them. He's well behaved around the people too and doesn't jump up on anyone. He doesn't chase the balls thrown for other dogs, though he loves his own one and happily chased it down many times over - even with a Collie cross trying to catch it too. He didn't get into the big water trough for a swim as he's never been mad about water, but he drank lots of water and we did two circuits of the park with him running and investigating behind and ahead of us but returning to us when called or just to make sure we stayed close. At one point we were sitting on a bench under a tree and he stayed sitting right there with us!
It was glorious! We will definitely be going back more often.
He was very well behaved and showed respect to the older dogs whilst being playful with puppy Jenna, and he greeted the people happily without jumping up. We played ball on SAGA's lovely expanse of lawn and he showed off his recall, his Doggles, and his fast-improving benching behaviour.
We were very proud of him.
I got to visit briefly with the 'K' litter puppies who will be going home to their puppy walkers this coming week, and we were told that we may be able to get an 'L' litter puppy to raise towards the end of April!! So exciting!! SAGA's brood bitch Jelly is pregnant, so depending on how many pups there are we should be getting one soon (her last litter had 9 pups). We're thinking up a list of names for boys and girls starting with 'L' so if you have any suggestions let me know.
And we saw Volt's trainer, who says he is doing incredibly well! He did his first walk with his trainer blindfolded, and it was a perfect trial with him guiding her perfectly around all obstacles! We are so proud of him!
This week past we made great progress with Riddick's nervousness of passing cars after his accident a while ago. He hardly batted an eyelid although the bigger cars and vans still made him slightly wary. I am very relieved that he's gotten better so quickly! Our walks will soon be back to normal again.
On Saturday Riddick found an apple next to my bed. I know it smelled interesting because it immediately caught his attention, but I think he thought it was a ball... He chewed on it for ages before it fell off the balcony and he forgot about it.
I had a giggle this week, we were watching Spaceballs on TV and towards the beginning there's a scene where "Dark Helmet" walks onto the scene. Riddick barked and ran at the screen as though the character was walking into the living room! He didn't like it at all! It was so funny! I rewound the movie and played the scene again but the second time he just looked at the screen and walked away.
Some gratuitous puppy cuteness...
Sunday, February 24, 2013
#RiddickPup Is Forty Seven Weeks Old
Today he weighed 30.4kg on the vet's scale (300g up on last week) and the vet's receptionist comments on his progress every time we visit! He's done so much growing up in the last few months! When we arrive at the vet he waits until I say he can get out of the car (on lead), and then we go to the lawn for busies before heading in the door. He now heads straight for the vet's scale and then sits - after sniffing it thoroughly and with a treat for encouragement - and waits until I have a steady weight for him before heading home.
The reason I started "handling" with Riddick the same way I did with guide-dog puppy Volt is to pick up physical problems early. Handling means you can examine your dog- top to tail- in a relaxed state. And because of our handling sessions I have discovered that one of Riddick's top front teeth is a little off-colour... its not loose and its not hurting him, and I don't know if he's bumped it or something, but now I know to keep an eye on it for deterioration.
On Friday evening we took Riddick for his first walk in the street since his accident two weeks ago.
We've been taking short walks inside our complex- like we did when he was a puppy- so that I could make sure he was completely healed before attempting a regular walk, and on this evening in the street he was very definitely freaked out by cars going past us. There are cars inside our complex of course, but they don't move around a lot... We approached his hesitance by cutting our walk short, calling him to me and distracting him with a treat whenever a car was approaching, and doing short obedience exercises ("sit" "wait") away from the road when a car was passing.
What also helped, quite by accident, was a group of young guys walking up the street and Riddick being distracted by their lumo-yellow football as they kicked it around between them.
By the time we got home he was already coping better, but we will be approaching it slowly over the next few days.
One odd thing we've noticed is that up to a point, about a third of the distance in our daily journey to drop off my husband and son for work, Riddick is calm and practically asleep on the back seat. But we turn a corner - a left turn to be exact - onto a different stretch of road, and suddenly he's up and whining and yawning and he just won't calm down! I don't know if its noisier or what, but he really doesn't like that part of our trip!
He still has a rather unhealthy taste for socks... And other underwear if he can get hold of them! He loves chewing on anything, but socks are a favourite. The problem is not holy socks- that I could probably live with- the problem is that he swallows them as he chews them! That means he either throws up at around 3AM, or they come out of his other end... We watch him like a hawk but he still manages to get hold of socks every now and then. I am very worried a sock is going to get stuck and tangle up his insides!
The reason I started "handling" with Riddick the same way I did with guide-dog puppy Volt is to pick up physical problems early. Handling means you can examine your dog- top to tail- in a relaxed state. And because of our handling sessions I have discovered that one of Riddick's top front teeth is a little off-colour... its not loose and its not hurting him, and I don't know if he's bumped it or something, but now I know to keep an eye on it for deterioration.
On Friday evening we took Riddick for his first walk in the street since his accident two weeks ago.
We've been taking short walks inside our complex- like we did when he was a puppy- so that I could make sure he was completely healed before attempting a regular walk, and on this evening in the street he was very definitely freaked out by cars going past us. There are cars inside our complex of course, but they don't move around a lot... We approached his hesitance by cutting our walk short, calling him to me and distracting him with a treat whenever a car was approaching, and doing short obedience exercises ("sit" "wait") away from the road when a car was passing.
What also helped, quite by accident, was a group of young guys walking up the street and Riddick being distracted by their lumo-yellow football as they kicked it around between them.
By the time we got home he was already coping better, but we will be approaching it slowly over the next few days.
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| I took the empty chlorine dispenser out of the pool and before I could toss it out Riddick made it his new toy! |
He still has a rather unhealthy taste for socks... And other underwear if he can get hold of them! He loves chewing on anything, but socks are a favourite. The problem is not holy socks- that I could probably live with- the problem is that he swallows them as he chews them! That means he either throws up at around 3AM, or they come out of his other end... We watch him like a hawk but he still manages to get hold of socks every now and then. I am very worried a sock is going to get stuck and tangle up his insides!
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