Cody has torn his cruciate

Last Tuesday, we took Cody for x-rays at the vets, as he'd been limping intermittently for a few weeks, despite resting and painkillers. It was discovered he had a torn cruciate ligament. The vet suggested TPLO surgery (due to his size this was the best option) and referred him to a specialist vet an hour away, for the following week. We re-searched as much as possible about cruciate problems in dogs, TPLO surgery, rehabilitation etc. When we got there, we took Cody in (muzzled as he was so nervous he was shaking; although he let them pet and examine him). We decided to go ahead and we left him at the vets. It was a long day (this was about 9.30 am, we picked him up around 7 pm). He used the ramp to get into the car. At home, Daddy made him a pen, big enough he can stretch out but not too big he can jump around or anything. For that first night Cody was panting a lot and whining a little. He settled down though and seemed okay with the idea of the pen. The other dogs greeted him through the pen, well he wasn't really noticing but they were all doing lots of tail wagging, which was so sweet!

The next morning he ate his breakfast and we took him out for a toilet break. He is allowed to go out about four times a day for 5 to 10 minutes, which we can progress to 10 to 15 minutes in two weeks. He was limping on three legs for the first little while, then slowly putting more weight on his other leg and now at three days after surgery he is almost walking like usual, which is great!

He is starting to get bored, so we are teaching him new, calm tricks (chin rest, hand targets etc) and lots of kongs! He is also getting lots of attention from us, which he enjoys.

It's going to be a case of slowly building him up to more activity over the next three months. We are also planning to do hydrotherapy in a few weeks time. We are just hoping his other leg will be okay!

Zara's First Show!

I haven't been good at updating the blog yet again! Anyway, we took Zara to her first show yesterday; IKC All Breed Championship Show. Gilbert was also entered. This was the first day they could be shown, as it was their four month old birthday.

The day didn't begin as we had planned though. We got up early and we're ready to leave pretty much on time but the van wouldn't start. After trying different things to solve the issue, eventually at 10 we were ready to leave (we were supposed to leave at 7!). I texted Gilbert's owner, she said the judging was taking ages so we should still make it.

As soon as we arrived we got the dogs out and headed to the outside ring (it was originally to be inside, but we got moved and I was happier about that). Zara to being with was a little nervous as it was crowds of people and dogs everywhere, although she is very confident with people (so far) she can be shy with new dogs. We saw Gilbert, and the three dogs he lives with, one of whom is Gandhi, the puppies sire. I think Zara & Gilbert recognized each other (this was their second time meeting up after Gilbert left us). They were still judging the Doberman's so we sat down on the grass. Zara said hello to many lovely Bernese and we met Saphy's owner, although she didn't have Saphy with her. Zara also met two of her cousins!

Zara did really well at showing. She was happy with the judge handling her and moved nicely. She got Best Baby Puppy Bitch. We also got to see Gilbert in the ring and he was Best Baby Puppy Dog. They went in together then and when they were moving they were trying to play - Zara was trying to chase him! Gilbert got Best Baby Puppy in Breed. Gandhi was Best in Breed!

We then watched the Agility and Holly & Wilson had a go. Zara enjoyed that. I am really pleased with how well she did :)

Zara Update

Since Freya left on Saturday, it's been a time of adjustments for Zara. Instead of having a 'litter' we now have our new 'puppy' and so it's different. We have given her a big crate (as her bed) with a small pen attached, which has toys, a water bowl and a toilet tray (as she uses it so well I decided to go for the easy option and keep it). She isn't quite as happy about being left in the pen, as you'd expect. The other dogs, so far, are pretty good with her - except for Holly. I do give her time being free (but supervised) on the house, trips out and about, playtime in the garden, training etc. When she is in the pen she sometimes gets kongs / puzzle toys / frozen carrots. Having a puppy is hard work though! Today she managed to chew up a chunk out of the lino in her pen and pee in the van. We took her out with us to Tesco's and she saw lots of people walking by, one person put their hand out to her, she saw traffic and lots of trolleys being pushed and rattling. She was fine with all of that but not impressed about being left in the van for about twenty minutes (something that is great about service puppies is being able to take them everywhere!). Even though there are some challenges, she is such a fun puppy <3

Bernese Club Show

On Sunday we headed up to Dublin for the Bernese Club's Championship Show. I had been really looking forward to it and had bathed & blasted the two girls the day before. Zara went in the back with Amber for the journey & Wilson also came along too. Cody & Holly stayed at home with our friend. 

When we arrived we took them both out and overall Zara was very confident and relaxed. She is slightly nervous around dogs (and there was dogs, like, everywhere; although most were friendly). I think the thing that scared her was when people walked past the cars and some dogs would then start barking protectively. Many dogs did come over to say hello and some of the Bernese boys are big, but most were gentle. 

Her brother, Gilbert was there and it was great to see him again! He was so excited! The two pups enjoyed playing together. Daisy (an Amber X Mr Darcy puppy) came later on and she is lovely. She looks quite like Amber. Her sister, Saphy was planned to be there too but her owners couldn't make it, so hopefully we'll get to see her another time. 

I had Amber entered and she is totally out of coat. Even more so than when she normally sheds because of having the puppies. I decided to show her anyway - to begin with she did pretty good and did everything I asked but then as I was stacking her just before the judge went over her she found something to sniff on the ground and got distracted! She was happy enough with the judge handling her though and did stay standing. She moved okay for the first triangle, then the judge wanted a straight up and down, and she wasn't in the mood, I managed to get her going though but just as we were about to turn she tugged really hard to get out the ring (I wonder if something spooked her). So we just left as I figured she wasn't going to do anything more and she still got a very good :) We need to do more ringcraft and since that's the first show she's been to since probably last year, we didn't do too bad! 

We got to see some other relatives too; Amber's sister (and three of her puppies, two girls and one boy), Zara's daddy and a puppy who is related to Cody as her mother is half sister to the A-pups daddy. There may have been others too! It was nice to watch the other Bernese in the ring, there were a few dogs that I really liked. 

My sister Beth & Wilson did the agility try outs. It was the first time running a full course for them both. Wilson, despite having not done it before, ran up the A-frame quite happily! Go Beth & Wilson :) I would have had a go with Amber but when I went over there was a long wait so didn't get to. 

After the show we headed back to Daisy's owners house. All three dogs were welcome to come in and they were quite good actually! Zara peed & pooped on their floor plus tried to steal food a few times but didn't chew anything; other than dog toys! She didn't mind the little children cuddling her and wasn't fazed by Daisy's barking (she wasn't sure about other dogs in her house). 

It was a lovely day, lots of fun :)

Zara, Gilbert & Freya!

The puppies are now 12 weeks old! I had hoped to do lots of posts on here about them but so far I've not done very well at that, I will have to make a big effort to keep it updated now :)

They now have their new names! Gilbert (Mr Dizzy) RockyBear Count On Me - Zara (Little Miss Sunshine) RockyBear Follow Your Heart & Freya (Little Miss Chatterbox) RockyBear On My Way. 

Gilbert went to his new home on June 1st. He is settling in well and is living with three other bernese, one of whom is his Daddy, Gandhi. Freya went home on June 20th (so we had some extra time with her) and she too seems to be enjoying her new adventures! Zara is our new puppy and so will be staying here with us :)

This is the last video of all the puppies together.

5 weeks already

The Little Bears are already 5 weeks old. Wow.

They are getting very busy now, love exploring the world, although just from the safety of our home for now ;) They have entered the stage where they bite a sibling, who then squeals (often loudly) but the biter doesn't realise it's because of them that said sibling is squealing. This is an important part of their education and why you should always keep puppies with their siblings until they are at least 7 weeks old (although we will keep our pups until 10 weeks). It will be nice once they are past this stage though!

We started weaning at four weeks old (and one day, to be exact ;). We had Amber on Millies Wolfheart up until the puppies were about two weeks old, but she wasn't eating it (she has the art of licking tasty toppers off and then spitting the kibble all over the floor down to the ground!). Along with some issues with the other dogs too, we decided to go back to raw. This means the puppies are fed raw too. We started with boneless, ground chicken mince and they tucked straight in;

They are now on four meals a day (50g cubed chicken breast, 30g chicken and beef pre-prepared chubs each meal). Amber still feeds them regularly too. They are all between 4.3 to 4.5 kg now, which means over eight times their birth weights!! Wow again!!!

They have started having little adventures outdoors (my 16th birthday being the first time ;). They scamper about in the grass and chew anything within their reach. They also have their first collars, they look adorable wearing them although are still scratching them a lot as they aren't used to having anything around their necks - we never even used ribbons when they were tiny as we could tell them apart from the start. 

Getting bigger by the day!

The puppies are 4 weeks old today! They are getting very active and playful now. Yesterday we moved them from the whelping box into a bigger puppy playpen, which has bed (including a crate), play and toilet areas. I think they are liking this new arrangement, and it gives them lots more space. They now have a shallow water dish; Dizzy went over to investigate and gave himself a sunrise when he went to sniff it and got covered in water! Sunshine & Chatterbox just go for a paddle ;)

It's amazing how much they've changed since they were born. They are now walking around and hardly toppling over at all. They have (sharp) teeth, which they like to chew everything with! They are barking and have great fun with their toys. They are interacting more with us and come over for cuddles.

They have now entered the Critical Socialization Period, a time which shapes the puppies futures. Therefore we are introducing them to all sorts of different people, dogs, animals, sights, sounds, surfaces, experiences...and making it all really positive.

A few of my favourite cute pictures from the last few days (we will try to do individual four week old pictures tomorrow)

Amber & Gandhi's puppies are here!

We have two girls and one boy <3

Mr Dizzy, Little Miss Sunshine and Little Miss Chatterbox

25.03.15

Wow, what a maniac two weeks! So it all started off on Monday 23rd at 5 am when Amber began nesting, we knew it wouldn't be long. As well as digging/scratching/ripping her bed and the nesting box she had several massive holes in the garden. Then on Wednesday it all moved up a gear. Her waters went at twelve thirty so we knew the puppies were on their way. After having spent a few hours not doing much we we're trying to make a decision about what to do and then we noticed green discharge..bad sign. So we went to the vets for an emergency c-section. There had indeed been a puppy in distress who wouldn't have made it had we waited much longer. We were there when they were born, the first boy squeaked almost straight away; the girls took a little longer - it's always so wonderful to hear! There were two vets and three nurses there, I'm really glad we got there before they went home as it is safer with more staff. We then brought them home almost straight after, so Amber was quite sleepy and was lifted into the whelping box. All puppies took a few minutes to start feeding but once they did they were flying it. Birth weights, in birth order; Mr Dizzy 560g, Little Miss Sunshine 540g and Little Miss Chatterbox, 560g. We stayed up the first night watching them, by the next morning we were very tired, but of course it was more than worth it!

Since then puppies have been busy feeding, sleeping, growing and being cute :D The vet called out at day three to do dewclaws and give everyone a quick check over. For the first few days Amber didn't leave them at all, as you would expect, so trips outside for toilet breaks entailed putting the pups into a box (with a pre-warmed heat pad and a cosy blanket). Now she goes in to spend time with them but it happy to spend short periods away as long as she is around the house. I will likely start taking her for quick walks in the field tomorrow, once her stitches are out.

Weights this morning are 1780, 1800 & 1960g so they have tripled their birth weights, plus some more! Eyes are nearly totally open, they are starting to try and walk (even if they often end up toppling over) and they are beginning to interact more.

Love them <3

Preparing for Puppies

Amber is now at day 58..so puppies could be born anytime! Most likely they will make their arrival sometime between today and Wednesday. She is getting very big now and I can feel the pups kicking often when petting her belly; it's amazing.

So, as you might expect, we've had lots of things to get ready and I think we've now got almost everything sorted! Whelping kit is together, bedding washed, puppy room organised....this evening we're going to put the lino we bought yesterday into the whelping box, for now she's got old (but still very clean!) vet bed, towels and brown paper in there so she can dig/rip/mess with that for nesting and then once the puppies are here we'll change it to all new vet bed (in some fantastic colours :D )

Her belly is clipped, she had her herpes vaccine last week, she's being wormed with Panacur every day. I'm trying to get as much 'usual' stuff done as possible so I can totally focus on the puppies the whole time. It will mean the other three will miss out on what we normally do - so I've made some stuffed kongs to keep them occupied, they'll get kibble trails and my sisters will walk / play / train with them.

Not long now!

Beyond Excited

Last Friday we took Amber to the Vets for an ultrasound to see if she was pregnant, after breeding her to Ghandi at the end of January, using progesterone testing to determine the most suitable day of her season. I explained more in this post about our plans, although I know I haven't been good about keeping the blog updated on our journey!

The most AMAZING news is she is pregnant! :D
We saw four puppies. I am so happy and can hardly believe it!!
The litter is due March 25th, so about three weeks time.

She is now day 38 (scan was day 28) and is starting to look big. She is up to three meals a day and has had a 25% increase on her normal maintenance diet. I am keeping her fit by walking for around twenty minutes a day in the field, plus in the afternoons we go out in the garden for a while.

It's going to be busy here now; we've got the whelping box out but it needs a new coat of paint plus new pig rails. The puppy room (right by our kitchen so in the heart of the home, so to speak) is in the process of being cleared out and cleaned. I have lots of supplies to order too.

Some snowtime pictures of Amber from earlier this week <3

 

Results are back...

...from Cody's hip & elbow scoring. They actually came back way quicker than usual, I wasn't expecting them until the end of the month! His hips are graded 6/4 = 10 and elbows 1/0=1.

My thoughts are number one we will now not be breeding from him and that is definite. Whilst some might consider it, I am not happy to use a dog with an elbow score anything other than a total of zero. I had hoped he would have excellent elbows but on the positive side, one elbow is and the other is only a one. So he shouldn't be affected by it; or if he is it will be later in his life. The hips are bang on the median score, so average for the breed.

As we won't be breeding from him, I will also not bother trying to get him into showing, as he honestly doesn't enjoy the experience. Instead, we will do the things Cody loves; like Obedience. I will continue to do things the way we do - I'm not going to change his lifestyle because of the results as they still aren't particularly bad, just not perfect :)

Recent pic of the gorgeous boy <3

Hip & Elbow Scoring

One of the health testing requirements for Bernese is hip and elbow scoring. Cody is now 18 months old, which is actually commonly agreed to be the upper 'ideal' age range to complete these; although I will add they can indeed be carried out at any time once the dog is over a year old. So we took Cody in today at the vets for both his hip and elbow x-rays, which will be sent to the BVA (British Veterinary Association) for scoring, this is done based on the degree of dysplasia of the joint - the top possible score is 53:53 so 106 - the lower the score, the better.

Every breed has an 'mean' score (whereby you mix all the results of all the dogs together), which gives you an 'average' score which isn't actually the score of the 'average' dog, if that makes any sense?! Let me explain a bit more - to create that number, you are going to have some dogs with very high scores, which is going to skew the picture, and make you think the hip status in the breed is worse than it really is. For example, the mean score for Bernese is 15. Therefore, someone might think that breeding from a dog with a score of anything under that would be perfectly acceptable - and until recently, the BVA's recommendation actually followed this. However, it has now been adjusted to 'well under' the BMS instead.

They are now also publishing the 'median' scores, which means there are an equal number of both lower and higher scores, so what the dog in the middle of the populations hip score is. Instead of using the BMS, you are actually better to use the median scores to determine your 'cut off' point for breeding dogs - they need to be under the median score (for Bernese, 10) - unless in the case of an otherwise exceptional dog (and even then it should be very carefully considered). 

Elbows are quite different in that you only have four possible results, 0-4 (or a mix of those, such as 1/0 which would make a total score of 1). Again, you are hoping for the lower score the better and advice is to only breed from dogs which score 0/0 (occasionally, like with the hips, you could consider a score of 1 but it is an exception to the rule).

Anyhow, Cody got on just fine today, I had planned carefully how I wanted things to go - we arrived, took him in for his pre-med and then waited back in the car until he was literally ready to go straight in; we left him after they had injected anaesthetic and he was totally zonked. Then afterwards when he had sorta woken up (basically only opened his eyes, although when we walked in he tried to get up to see us, bless him!) we put him in our car until he was okay to go home. He's been sleeping for the afternoon and ate his dinner with great enthusiasm! 

Naturally, I am hoping Cody will come back with amazing scores...We looked at his x-rays with the vet; the elbows look fine and the hips look okay too, although one seems to be noticeably better than the other so I would expect the scores to reflect that. Now we've just got to wait 4-6 weeks to find out!

Planning...

So we've been thinking of breeding Amber again, she had her first litter in 2013 and had six puppies, one of whom was our Cody. She is fully health tested, has an excellent temperament and has been very successful in the show ring. We hadn't especially planned for another litter as I really wanted to see how the puppies turned out first (as well as the fact that we would always keep a pup back, and I wanted Cody two years before we added another). Now I have a good idea of how those other six puppies have developed, we can decide based on their good and bad points, which would be the most suitable sire for another litter. Re-search begins...

Now, a few months later, after many discussions with Amber's breeder, we have found a potential sire. He was imported from Sweden (hence bringing new bloodlines) and is a gorgeous dog. I have spent countless hours re-searching pedigrees, looking at photos of different relatives, reading show critiques and also talking to the dogs owner. They came to our house to visit today, along with their dog (plus two others, one of whom is from the same kennel). He has a lovely temperament, very laid back and friendly. His main 'fault' as such are very light eyes and therefore he couldn't be bred with a female with the same fault; however Amber has good dark eyes so that wouldn't be an issue. Amber has a tendency to 'fly her tail on the move' (I can also see this in a few of the puppies, including Cody) but this dog's tail carriage is normal even on the move

This dog has, like Amber, been fully health tested, had several fantastic wins at shows; including Best in Show at a Bernese Club Championship Show. He has a stunning coat and lovely movement with lots of drive. He isn't the biggest male (weighs 52 kg) but I prefer the more compact, shorter and stockier shape and believe that many Bernese are now too big - they are not supposed to be a giant breed, but a large one!! His lines have also been successful in working and at Obedience competitions, they seem to be very versatile dogs and that's a big plus for me. 

I tried to get some pictures of him but only one turned out okay:

So overall it's coming together, really pleased and now just got to wait until Amber comes into season and hope all goes to plan. 

Our Fostering Journey

In 2011, when Amber was around 16 months old, we knew we would love another dog some day. However, we weren't ready for the long term commitment another puppy would bring, so when we heard about fostering we decided to look into it some more. Initially, we wanted to do fostering with an animal rescue charity but they were a long distance away and wouldn't accept homes with young children. It was then that we heard about an Autism Assistance Dog charity who we're looking for puppy fosterers and we decided to apply to see if we'd be eligible. 

The puppy coordinator called around to our house, met us and Amber, and said that they were happy to accept us as fosterers! They said they had a black Flat Coat Retriever puppy who they'd be needing to place in a few weeks time and we could take her. We were so excited and couldn't wait. This was 'S' puppy so needed to have a name in that letter, we had a few suggestions, and they picked one of them - Skye.

Skye came to us in March. She was 9 weeks old and a very cute little girl. Over the next year, she came loads of places with us - shops, restaurants, cinemas, children's play parks, pet stores and more. She had a few health issues (ear problems mainly) but luckily these cleared up as she got older. She was full of energy and very clever. She hated her working jacket which was weird, eventually though she was okay with it. Skye was a handful but we felt very privileged to have spent a year with her!

Just before Skye left, my sister got her dog, Holly (Papillon X Cavalier). I also took on another assistance dog puppy, Bramble, who was a Labrador X Newfoundland. She was totally different to Skye, overall more chilled out and mellow. She was rough with Holly though and would freak out in butchers - we worked on that and she improved lots. She left us at eight months, and she had great potential. However, over the next few months everything unraveled and she turned into a nervous dog who would shake with fear whenever you tried to bring her into a busy place. It made me so upset to see what this dog had turned into. The trainers thought she had had 'something in her' which suddenly switched on at as she got older, but I don't agree with that. I think something went wrong with the other fosterer she was with, she had some bad experiences and that caused it. Whatever it was though, it meant she was no longer able to qualify as a fully trained dog and instead is now living as a pet.

We had a break for several months whilst Amber had her litter, one of whom was our Cody. I needed to spend time working with Cody and wouldn't have been able to give a service dog puppy everything they needed.

In March of this year we took on Louis, a Labrador Retriever puppy. He was so easy, took everything in his stride, a truly fab little pupster. I really think they should have considered using him for breeding (health tests pending, of course) but they decided to castrate him. He stayed with us, like Bramble, for six months. Cody and him were best buddies and loved hanging out together. Louis is still young and won't enter formal training until early 2015. I hope he makes it!

We have also had a few puppies for boarding - Abbey a Labradoodle, Rozie a Labrador Retriever X Golden Retriever, Chester a Chocolate Labrador and Orla a Labrador Retriever.

It's hard to cover in one post everything about fostering these dogs, but to sum it up in a few words - it's hard work, but extremely rewarding!

We won't be fostering  in the upcoming future, for a few reasons, but I have another project, involving a puppy in the pipeline, which hopefully will work out! Stay tuned :)

Anna xoxo

Skye with Abbey (with us for boarding)

Skye just before she left..

Bramble

Enjoying the beach, she was a true water baby

Little Louis...can it get any cuter!!

Smiley boys, Cody & Louis

Holly & Wilson's Toileting Problems..

This blog is mainly about my Bernese Mountain Dogs but today I'm going to be talking about my sisters little dogs, Holly the Papillon mix and Wilson the Cavalier King Charles Spaniel. Holly is 2 years and Wilson is 18 months.

Over the last few weeks, they have started toileting in the house. We were finding Holly peeing on dog beds and Wilson cocking his leg on random things in the house. They were also both pooping around the house. This for us was very annoying, because we put a lot of effort into housebreaking them as puppies and by this stage they should be reliably clean in the house.

We think they are doing this because they hate going outside in the dark, cold and rain. And fair enough, it's not all that pleasant to be outside in that kinda weather, but they still need to go out to toilet. Our dogs have a dog flap with access to a secure grass pen 24/7. So it's not like were not letting them out enough! Both of them know how to go through the flap and will happily do so.

We decided our 'training plan' was to take them outside on a regular basis (ideally every 1-2 hours) on leash to toilet. Then rewarding them with a treat when they go. They've already learnt a cue for this 'busy busy' which should make the process easier, I hope!

We've started doing it today. Mostly I'm doing it to begin with, then in a week or two when they are getting into the hang of things, my sisters can take over and then we can wean it down until they'll take themselves out.

So yeah, hoping they'll break this annoying habit because we're fed up of cleaning up after them in the house!

Here's a picture of the two pups. I'll update next week about how we're getting on!!

Anna xoxo

Chilling with Simba :)

Dog Training Classes Continued...

Following on from yesterdays post, I thought I'd update on how Cody & Holly got on at dog training last night. When we first arrived, as I predicted, Holly started barking non-stop! So this meant Cody got really excited (he usually does anyway, when he realizes where we are!) and started pulling on the leash. However, within a few minutes he calmed down. We started off doing musical sits - you walk around with the dog on a loose leash, when the music stops your dog sits, the one that takes the longest to sit is out of that round until you only have the winner left. We also did musical downs - Cody won a bag of treats, which he thought smelt very tasty! However, as he's still getting used to his new kibble, he hasn't tried them yet.

After that we moved onto doing routines and each person added a new cue each time until there were so many cues you couldn't remember how it went! For example - we had touch, down, sit, sit, down, touch etc. Cody really enjoyed this one.

Then we did some recalls. The other dogs were stood not that far away, and the dog had to run past the other dogs who were to the side, in order to come back to you. They used a long line in case the dog tried to run off - Cody really doesn't like it for some reason (normally he's fine with it as I have used one with him in the past) but he is very hesitant to run with it attached, it's like he knows he isn't supposed to pull on the leash (the trainer is holding the end of it, you see!) However, he still recalled back to me which was good.

Next was 'stays'. I was really pleased with how Cody did with these. At one point I was 50 yards away from him, and he didn't brake his stay, I was really impressed! I sometimes ran away, sometimes had my back to him, sometimes faced him, sometimes walked zig zag, sometimes straight, so really mixed it up and he did brilliantly every time :)

Holly did good too, she barked but not as much as we had expected! She was awesome at her stays - my sister did a 75 yards away down-stay with her at one point, which considering it was her first class, was fantastic. In the middle of the class the trainer had a pug doing a recall and Holly started barking at it, Cody tried to run over to it but managed to come back to us before he went right up to her. It showed us how much Cody responds to Holly's barking though, he wouldn't have done that had Holly not been there. We're hoping working on Holly will in turn help Cody's behavior at times too.

I also did some loose leash walking where I would change pace, sometimes walk really slowy,  then my normal pace, then jogging, then running and mixing that up. Cody loves that, he thinks it's a great game, and it's good way to keep his focus on me.

Really pleased with how the pupster did. They gave us a Agility tunnel and hoop jump to borrow for the week, so we're going to have some fun working with those in the garden. Cody did the hoop jump at class, but as it was on sand, when he ran through it, it fell over! Luckily these things don't faze him.

Amber & Wilson got a long walk in the afternoon and then stayed home with the rest of the family whilst we were out. I tried to get a picture of Cody at dog training but they all turned out fuzzy (annoying phone camera!)

Enjoying walkies

Dog Training Classes

Tonight we are taking Cody to dog training classes. At the end of September we enrolled him into a six week obedience course and we've now got three weeks left. It's all taught using positive methods (not that we'd ever use anything else) and it's held in a local horse barn, meaning there's lots of space and it's weatherproof. Cody normally comes home with sand in his fur, but that's not a big deal, it brushes off!!

There are about half a dozen other dogs and owners attending so it's a good opportunity for Cody to socialize and learn in a distracting environment, something that for the first week he struggled with at times, but is focusing brilliantly now and it's not just at classes, out and about generally too. 

He's shy with new people, always has been. Who knows why, since we've always tried to make meeting new people a fun thing. I've worked hard with him and he is making good progress. He will now go up and sniff new people, even wagging his tail when he sees someone. However, if they go to pet him, he backs off :-/ So I'm hoping this class will help with that, and certainly so far it is - he will now take treats from strangers for the first time! Onwards and upwards :)

He's also met a toy poodle, Mossie and a pug (can't remember her name!). He was friendly with both of them. Sometimes he gets on great with other dogs, sometimes not so much - it's more with males though, especially larger breeds. 

Holly's also coming along, although tonight will be her first time! My sister is going to be working with her on her barking habit whenever we meet a new person or dog on a walk (she thinks she owns the forest!!). As she barks, she sets Wilson off, which then makes Cody very excited! Hopefully she'll get on well, I'll report back tomorrow :)

The first night, Cody working on some sit-stays.

Our Backyard Animals - Meet the Goats!

We have pygmy goats, four of them - Hermione, Neville, Harry & Ron (yes, they're named after Harry Potter!!). We got goats in 2012 and so that makes them all around 2 years old, as they were all born within a few months of each other.

We first were interested in goats, as we loved their personalities and we had a area of our garden with steep banks that was really hard to mow - perfect for goats of course, as they could keep the grass down and are mountain animals. A lot of people ask if we milk them, the answer is no, for a start three of them are boys, and as they are pygmies they wouldn't produce enough milk to make it worth the effort. So, they're basically pets who help with the lawn mowing!!

We got them from a farm in Carlow when they were a few months old. Hermione's mum died so she was hand reared so is totally people orientated. Ron and Neville are brothers and Harry is the youngest by just a week. When we first got them, the boys were quite scared, but they soon came out of their shell, helped by Hermione's confidence too. 

We've made them a big field area with lots of toys for them to jump and play on. They are such fun to watch and love lettuce leaves as treats. They get on really well with the chickens, they all share together. Although, saying that, sometimes the chickens will go into the goat shed, and if the goats come to the door, the chickens will flap and cluck and scare the goats away, lol!

Anna xoxo

Amber with Hermione

Ron, Neville & Harry exploring the wheelbarrow. Just a few seconds after this picture was taken, they all jumped out!!

Hermione climbing on one of the toys, this picture is from just a few weeks ago

Happy Halloween!

Overall, we had a fun halloween. We walked the dogs in the morning, it was a short one because of time pressures, but at least they did get out. Our cousins then came around in the afternoon, and the dogs were in the 'den' aka dog room, as Zoe is quite nervous around the dogs. We did some Halloween craft and then some of the children wanted to watch a spooky DVD, the annoying thing is the player is in the den, so I have to get the dogs out for them to do that and it means the dogs don't have a haven to get away from everyone.

They said hello to some of the visitors, but Cody was quite hyper so I decided to take them outside. We played with our new ball, a JW Hol-ee Roller, amazing toy!! Then we had a walk around the garden and did some training, practicing working with two dogs at once - leaving Cody or Amber in a stay whilst I work with the other dog. They love training time. By the time we were coming back inside, the movie had finished (it was quite a short one to be fair) so I put the dogs back in the den and fed them their dinner. 

The humans then ate and we carved our pumpkins, although we did it in a rush so they weren't as brilliant as they could have been! We did a Bernese Mountain Dog for one of them, just like last year - it was Cody's first Halloween, and being such a young puppy, he was in to chewing everything and ate the nose!! 

Later on in the evening, using my sisters 13 euro tiny barbecue, we made a bonfire to toast marshmallows. I kept burning mine, but it was fun! We started doing it last year, as we don't go trick or treating, so it's a fantastic way to celebrate Halloween. 

Then our cousins left, and we put the bonfire out. I let the dogs free and they sniffed around looking for crumbs from dinner. 

We are lucky that as we are out in the country, we don't get fireworks, which makes Halloween a lot less stressful! I don't know how our dogs would react to them, as they've never experienced them but it's a relief to not have to have that worry. We also haven't had trick or treaters for two years running, we keep the front of the house dark and don't put a pumpkin out. I wouldn't want people coming in dressed up and spooking out the dogs. 

I wanted to get a Halloween picture, but with the chaos yesterday I didn't get time, so here's this one instead!

Anna xoxo

P.S. Our cousins left yesterday to head back to England, so it's back to normal for us here! We did pop over yesterday again and went down to the beach, had a really windy walk but it was lovely. 

A Day by the Beach

This week our cousins are over from England. Yesterday it was Torin's birthday, so we went down to my grandparents house for a party. We had hoped our friend would be able to come to our house and dog-sit, but she was busy so we took them with us. It's just over half an hours drive away from our house but luckily all our dogs are brilliant travelers. We first stopped off at a beach to walk them, but our cousins hadn't arrived yet (they were supposed to be meeting us there, but were running late). So we decided to explore down a cycle path until they came. It was a nice walk and Amber & Cody got some off leash time to use up the burst of energy and excitement from just getting out of the car! My sisters had Holly & Wilson on leash though as they have unreliable recalls in new areas.

We met two other dog walkers, the first lady had a small black spaniel and they walked past us, they were a reasonable distance away but it was a good opportunity to work on Cody being calm and focusing on me. He was great, thought about barking, but didn't - just looked at them, then back at me hoping for a reward for being a good boy and no pulling towards them. The little two yap a lot when they see someone so this makes it even more challenging for Cody.

The other person we met had two collie type dogs, they were running free and I was concerned they might run right up to us, and didn't know how Cody might react should this happen. However, they just ignored us so that wasn't an issue. Whenever I spot someone I clip Cody onto is Dogmatic headcollar so I am fully in control, as at 48kg if he pulled on just the collar, chances are I wouldn't be able to restrain him! I try to focus on getting him to choose to listen to me rather than 'controlling' him all the time, and not have to rely on the leash to keep him by my side, even with distractions. However, he's young and strong so the Dogmatic does have it's place!

As we approached this walker though, he managed to slip out of the Dogmatic, I really don't know how he managed it! There wasn't time to get it back on, so I tried to keep him walking past - he wasn't really co-operating, as he was trying to pull to the side to get to the other dogs. He wasn't too bad though and after a few minutes and some encouragement walked nicely past the other dogs, although by this stage, they obviously weren't so close. Overall I was pleased with how he was.

Then we met up with our cousins and headed to the beach. We let both Bernese off leash again, and they ran down to the sand and headed straight for the sea for a paddle. They had lots of fun.

We then had to leave them in the car whilst we went to the swimming pool. This is why I was hoping our friend could dog-sit them as I don't like leaving them in the car, but without that option this was the best we could manage. Grandpa sat in the bar watching the van from the window so I knew they'd be okay. It was busy at the swimming pool, being mid-term and all that, but we still had fun - we played sharks & penguins - basically our own made up game of swimming tag, and also did some swimming relay races :)

We then went back to my grandparents house, and I got the dogs out for an explore of their garden, although they kept running back to the car as they could smell their dinner which I had prepared ready for them - it was supposed to be for after their play in the garden, but in the end I just fed them, gave them a few minutes outside to toilet and went inside - it was wet and cold and I really didn't want to stay out longer than I had to!! They are only allowed in the hallway, but this has always been the way so they generally settle down okay, although Holly did fuss for a little while! Just before tea, my uncle went into the hallway and disturbed them *annoying* so they started barking and jumping around so I took them out again and decided to leave them in the van whilst we had tea. Torin had a very yummy chocolate birthday cake, and some meringues (I LOVE meringues!!)

So the dogs did have to spend more time in the car than I would have liked but they had a new walk which they always enjoy. When we got home we played in the garden and I groomed them, then they settled down for the evening.

Anna xoxo

Cody goes paddling

Happy boy loves the beach

Amber doing a brilliant recall

Smiling for the camera