(dog) walking in a winter wonderland

Today I leave mums and head back home.


The weather decided to be amazing today so we have given the dogs a last walk in the Croc (pronounced croch) just over the road from mums house.









I hope I am not tempting fate by saying this before we have left but Mia has been very good


No toilet accidents


one scrap with her and Ben when I tried to put her with him for a christmas foto - no idea which dog started it but it was my fault.

One stairing out contest when granny told Mia to get off the sofa and she decided to take it out on Ben.

But a time out in the crate and she was as good as gold





we have been having some lovely naps all together and she has been v good, although still crated at night.


and she looooves her grannie and follows her all over the place





we have had a few nasty looks when she goes mental on the lead at other dogs, but it is getting better and far more important for me to get her to trust me than please Cesar Millan fans by a pointless show of domininence




Nope, yelling and hitting the dog will not show her I am boss, it will show her that an approaching dog is a v bad thing

Merry Christmas. Fairburn estate

Merry Christmas everyone

I hope santa claws and santa paws was good to all the kiddies and furkids alike

Mia and Ben shared the turkey giblets last night and today they are getting lamb. They have some chews and a big tuggy chewy squeeky soft toy to share
They love it so much it has already been repaired once.



As it was such a stunning day we decided to tire the dogs out before lunch so off to Fairburn estate for a lovely woodland walk.



Both dogs had a great time, running around till we saw the signs that said that dogs had to be on a lead. Then as they had worn themselves out a bit they walked pretty nicely on lead.



Dinner soon then drinkies and slobbing around watching TV. DOctor WHO is on tonight - yeah!!!

River Ness and Caledonian canal

Another stunning day and another lovely dog walk.
This time after visiting my fathers grave - and Mia giving us a little heart attack

Graveyeard in in the middle of nowhere surrounded by dry stone dykes, then a wee road, another wall, electric fence and then a field of sheep
I thought the doggies would be fine to run around in the graveyard, but nope
Mia climbs the wall, runs across road (just missing car wheels) cumps next wall and wriggles thru electric fence and runs into the feild of sheep

The laws in Scotland state that a farmer can SHOOT and out of control dog that is stressing his sheep
All she dose is stampeedes them all into one corner (about 100 sheep in one tiny corner) then, happy that she has done a good days work she runs right back to us.
Guess its on lead any time there might be sheep from now on.

Then into Inverness we gave the doggies a good run along the canal

Mia had a few growels at other dogs but every time she did Ben came over and jumped on her to distract her - good boy

up north

The doggies and I headed up north yesterday to visit my mum for christmas time.
Mia was a little star (as was Ben of course) infact overall she has been really good since the last post about her.



Out walking she has actually been hiding behind me when big dogs come too close and offlead running away more.





She still has her scrappy doo moments when approaching a dog first, but once she figures them out she is much better
and very flirty with big male dogs


After over 3 hours in the car yesterday we took them for a little walk and then they slept most of the evening.



Today after a shopping trip for us we took the doggies to the fairy glen(Reelig Glen)for walkies. We saw the tallest tree in the UK (although it is in a deep valley so it dosent look much)

And then we went up to A and B's to show them the doggies
Mia and Ben were v well behaived in the strange house, Mia only bounced a little bit but maily they said hello gently and then lay down under the table while we had coffie and yummy homemade shortbread.

You must have been a beautiful baby

Just looking at Mia and thinking about what she might have looked like as a puppy made me realise that I havent done a puppy post fot Ben

Currently he is about 21 months old

I got him from Dogs Trust in Glasgow on 20th May 2007, he was suposed to be around 8 weeks old


I think he might have been a bit younger or taken away from his mum far too young because he had no idea about keeping himself clean, infact for the first 4 nights I was woken up with the terrible smell of him curling up nice and warm in his own poo!! so for the 1st week he had a bath more than once a day.

From the start I realised that Ben haddnt read the puppy book. He thought stroking was the most scary thing in the world, didnt know how to play with toys or really interact with people. But he was cute, loved his food and bonded strongly to me.



Poor wee soul was very carsick whenever we went anywhere, so much so that he became really scared of the car for a while.
and when he went to puppy classes he was soooooo excited he barkbarkbarked the whole time, except when he was working. Right from the start Ben was top of his class, obedience and agility. Infact at some of the obedience classes when we had 'stay' compatitions I had to take us out because we won every single prize.



He has come on so well, he is a very thoughtful dog, timid of lots of new things, but if he knows you want him to do something he will give it a try. He loves learning and doing his tricks. He loves most dogs and people although he kinda keeps away from kiddies he is v gentle with them.



Everyone tells me how lucky I am with him, and I do agree although I have put a lot of hard work into getting him where he is today. Hopefully if we can get Mia 1/2 way as well trained as him she will make someone a lovely pet

Scotland homecoming 2009

As our government in their wisdom decided the fantastic adverts to encourage people to return to Scotland for 2009 are only to be shown IN Scotland just now I thought I would put some of them up here
Truly stunning

Stop Harrods selling puppies

A friend is just back from a trip to London and was sickend by the sight of cute puppies for sale in Harrods

The fantastic people on the dogsey forum are all pulling together, talking to newspapers and tv to try and get this stopped.

I will add links to petitions and anything I find, so please if you have a link that needs added to this list just let me know.

Why is it so bad that puppies are in pet shops?? Should we be able to buy LIFE on a whim along with a bag of crisps and a (fur) coat? Arnt they just the best last min christmas prezzy??

While thousands of dogs a year are put to sleep because rescues have no more spaces every puppy that is sold from a shop encourages the puppy farmers to churn out another litter from their poor dogs.

These puppies are locked in their pens when everyone leaves the shop, they are not socalised. But the RSPCA will not do anything about it because they are warm and fed.

Even in a top store like Harrods these puppies CANNOT be well bred, no reputible breeder would sell their puppies to any shop, a decent breeder is responsible for their puppies and would want to vet the home the puppy is going to.

Harrods dont care who they sell to and they dont care what happens to the puppies once they are sold, Harrods donot take the puppies back. A decent breeder would.

Animals should not be sold in a shop. If you want a puppy or dog either find a good breeder or better yet go to a rescue

Please tell everyone, boycott Harrods and anywhere else that supports puppy farming!

http://www.dogsey.com/showthread.php?t=97866

http://www.thepetitionsite.com/takeaction/468623560#body

One step forward and a few back

Not the best day today in the Mia house!!

I thought we were really making progress. Mia was excited to go to training class last night and a whole lot calmer. Her recal was getting great and she was teaching herself when she pulled on the lead of got a bit mental to just sit down and calm down.

Today was a total mess!!

She was having a play with a few dogs and I was chatting the the owners when I noticed she and another dog had gone missing. The other dog came back after a couple of min but no Mia

I looked for ages then I found her liying in a ditch munching a cooked chicken bone!!

I got her lead on her and was trying to get her away from the bone when Ben came over.

I just didnt have enough hands, she went mental at him, I managed to get them pulled apart but Ben has a puncture above his left eye!!

Then we had a pee in the house!! Guess she is forgetting that she is toilet trained.

Then another walk and she was on the lead and had a mental at another dog, when I moved her away she was in such a rage that she turned and bit my leg, she realised what she had done and calmed down, I know it wasnt on purpose but it did hurt.

Then back in - after she had already done the toilet outside and the little charmer left a poo in the kitchen

so I guess its back to basics with about everything for her!!

Its such a shame cos in the main she is a lovely wee thing, and so smart but little things like this limit the houses she could go to. Her reactivity means that she really wouldnt be any good in a house with children. She loves all people but she has now bit me twice, B, my mum, and mm once each. Sometimes I could just cry!

(Note, the foto is of them playing, I didnt stand around taking fotos when they are trying to kill one another!!)

A little christmas fun for us all

Another Paisly Etsy buddy http://lornasmithstudio.blogspot.com/ is doing a festive music countown on her blog, and her latest one is my fave christmas song (well except fairy tale of new york)and it reminded me of this version
Enjoy

My fave walk, for justnow

Had a lovely walk with the doggies on Erskine beach

Weather nice and crispy and sunny so I put on the silly hat and bundled the dogs in the car.

They had a total blast

Mia met lots of dogs including a GSD that didnt react to her barking!! Yeah we are making progress. She is relaxing and getting so much more like a puppy rather than a dog who has to contol everything and attack before they get her

We still have some problems, she sometimes guards Ben off the sofa (which she gets a time out for) and I doubt she would be happy if we didnt feed her in the crate.

Unfort the lovely people across the road have been using agreesive fireworks to scare the dogs, and it has worked, in the dark now Mia has to be walked on the lead else she will run home and just sit and wait on the doorstep till we come back

Poor puppy!!

On the training front things are going great, I have phased out the lure for her 'paw', 'sit', 'down' and circle 'right' she still gets lots of rewards

Tried to trim her nails tonight!! We got one done (one nail not paw) with lots of treats but the lady just wasnt happy so I will have to take it slow.

PAH this morning too, bought nice treats and a soft travel crate for her going away christmas and new year, she seemed to like it and trotted in and fell asleep, then chased Ben away from it!!

Mia's 3rd training class

I just got the foto of Ben just after he had his big win the other week

He looks really bored, I am so chuffed and a little shellshocked

Today Mia went to her 3rd ever training class.

Week one, she lunged and went mental every time a dog came close, she also attacked my trousers

But she did sit and lie down, heelwork was rubbish - lunging at dogs

This week so much better, lots of small dogs in class and she sniffed and said hello to them like a nice calm dog. A couple of lunges, one when I gave a friends dog a treat and another at a big collie she dosent like. Really so much better tho

I didnt have to shovel treats in all the time and she hardly barked at all

Got a nice stay from her and she walked quite nicely to a kind of heel. We also did a trick where she had to come then stop and sit, the trainer let us do that out in the corridor away from the other dogs and she was really getting it

and her 'leave it' is fantastic, I had a treat on my knee and then one in my hand and she just sat wagging her tail not even looking at them

She really is a smart girl

Still can be a bit agressive on the lead but getting better and bullies Ben sometimes and trys to stop him getting on the sofa

But she is improving

Jacks Gone

I never thought I would be a bit sad with a sale

But Jack Skellingtone has sold!!

I really liked the wee chap, he turned out so well, and also he was the most viewed and hearted item in my shop

I suppose it was only a matter of time before he went.

am I daft or do the rest of you get a bit sad when you sell something??

Still I really needed the sale, the driving school has been a little slow lately and I got up this morning to a totaly flat tyre

why is it that I can never get a puncture in an area where it can be fixed and I always need a new tyre??

What about Ben??

I was holding off posting this because I was waiting to get the fotos and videos off other people (I was to busy running to take fotos)

Two weeks ago today was Bens first ever agility compatition

To say the least I was vvv nerous!!
We ran 4 courses

1st one

My nerves and Ben being a bit high as a kite resulted in a messy round with lots of twirling, but a clear round

2nd run

A little better, slow and not to confident but a nice clear round

3rd run

Really much better, slow and steady but another clear round - then the results came out

WE WON!! what a smart little boy! and as that was the agility grade 1 run it also means that we have gone straight up to grade 2 in our first ever comp!! what a wee star!!

4th run

Nerves gone and Ben is flying, difficult course but we are going really fast

Unfort we are bot a little tired and Ben knocks a pole down and I move to fast away from the tunnel and he pops out - so faulted twice - but in my mind the best run of the day

What a fantastic little boy!! I look forward to more shows next year!

Been a while - more Mia

I have been really bad at blogging latley, V busy with the dogs - so sorry about that


So here is an update on her progress so far.

Mia has been settling in quite well, she has made a few doggie friends and is much more relaxed with Ben. She is still a bit loud on the lead when she sees other dogs but mainly it is just wanting to get over and see them. Unfort most dog owners think she is being agressive. She really does NOT like GSD's and some large breeds (you know how to pick your fights girl!)

I have been taking her to training classes and she is getting quite good at working and ignoring the other dogs, although when they get too close she can get a little snappy.

So far she has learnt (not 100% but a good start) sit, lie down, come, leave it, circle right, paw and heel. She has also been introduced to the tunnel and weaves - just so she isnot scared of them - I wouldnt drill weaves just now (or ever) as she is young.

I decided to mix up the basic obedience with more luring and moving type tricks because she is so smart she was sitting automatically every time I tried to train her.

She has for this week been alowed on the sofa and she is really turning into a total teady bear just wanting to sit right on your lap.

She is getting a little less bossy with Ben, instead of forcing him out of the way with agression she kisses him away - which is cute but will also have to stop too - If she had her own way she would get all the loving and Ben would be stuck out in the cold.

I have figured she used to live in a house with a doorbell as there is an advert on TV with a doorbell and poor wee love keeps running to the door!

Everyone who has helped

Thankyou so much, she is really comming out of her shell and turning into a great little dog. She still needs some work for her fear agression and reactivity but I am sure we will get there

Some videos of Mia and Ben having a lovely walk in the autumn sunshine at Pollock park
http://s159.photobucket.com/albums/t132/abbeypam/Mia/?action=view&current=ben-miapollockpark1.flv

She has had many new adventures this week. A few house visits, a bus ride, meeting all the dog agility people and a whole woodland walk offlead
She still has some problems with recal and guarding Ben from things and she is a bit manic barky growley at new dogs then leaps all over them when they get close

But she is smart and learning new stuff all the time - and megga sweet

Please tell your friends to drop by this blog or my shop and either buy a raffle ticket to help this little dog and all the others in need or donate direct with paypal to pamduthie @ hotmail . com (remove spaces)

Thankyou to everyone who has helped so far, Mia is doing really well but every week there are more and more abandoned dogs in Ireland who need the help of all these amazing people to save them

More Mia

Well some good progress for the doggies

Mia and Ben have been playing offlead in the park. Her recal is mainly v good but twice now she has followed a man out of the park.

Today I thought she was going to go onto the main road!!! but she came back at the end

GULP!!

will have to watch her a bitmore

SHe has been good making lots of doggie friends just sometimes she can be a little snappy.

Mia at the vets

Well today was a big day for the little girl

She was at the vets to get her stitches out. She had a wee bark at a dog on the way into the vets but once then got a chance to sniff she calmed down.

Her and Ben had a wee scuffle at the end of a walk, a play fight gone bad but appart from that it was pretty calm.

Then she met B, and it was love at first sight.

She is getting so much calmer and instead of the manic leaping about meeeting people she sat nicely to be patted

Return to Mias progress

Mia Minx day 3!!

Another day in the house of puppy!

Good today, only one little snap at Ben the whole day - when she decided to not let him out of the kitchen. He didnt respond which is good and she was on the naughty step again - but didnt grump and came out quite and well behaived

trainig wise her sit is getting faster and cuter, recal with a nice sit in front is good in the house and we are getting there with a lie down. She also understands 'off' and is realising that she cant come on the sofa - she has had a bit of a huff about that, me thinks she has been a bit used to having it all her own way

Again thankyou to all who have helped with raising funds for her and the other doggies in her situation

If you would like to help please either visit my shop or donate with paypall to pamduthie @ hotmail.com

Thankyou thankyou thankyou

Return to Mias progress

Mia, the foster dog, the end of the 2nd day

Well the little miss is settling in quite well

Inside we had a couple of scuffles this morning but the guilty party was given time out (the naughty step) and they are becoming much calmer together - we had a good couple of hours with the 2 just sleeping and chilling out without even a strong look at each other.

On walks she is loving everyone, and she quite likes small dogs. If the dog is bigger then her she can be a bit growley and snappy untill they have been introduced then she is all puppy like and wanting to play (tangled us all up in her lead!)

She can now sit and she is doing that for food and she is part way to a lie down

I truly believe that traching 'tricks' is a great way to build a bond with a dog and they love working with you and so become better behaived wanting to please you.

She has also realised the sofa is off limits and is not trying to get up, she is smart as anything and is seeming to like being given rules.

A big thankyou again to everyone who has helped. The loan of the extra large crate has been a lifesaver, and all the bedding and toys.

Please tell all your dogy friends. We still need a little more cash to get her microchipped and to give a little back to help the poor doggies still stuck in the Irish pounds

Return to Mias progress

Mias here

Well I picked up Mia today

She is a lot more confident and loving than I expected and in the main her and Ben are getting along OK, we are taking it slow and she is crated for quite a while (in a huge crate) for them to get used to him

Strange thing is she has already started guarding me and we have had a couple of scuffles (my fault) over me - I just separate and time out both dogs - her in her crate

She is a lovely little thing, v thin but sweet

She seems to be toilet trained but does not appear to have any commands, but she is keen and loves food

Thankyou all for your suport so far

If you would like to help out with this wee doggie please visit my shop or you can donate direct via paypal at pamduthie @ hotmail.com

Please tell your dog loving friends

Return to Mias progress

Mia the rescue dog

I had no intention of getting another dog but this little girls face just said 'help me'
She was in a pound in Ireland that puts dogs to sleep after 5 days
I offered to foster her and a local charity were able to pull her to saftey and are working on getting her over here.
So now I am trying to think of ways to fundraise for her to get her medical treatment and to help the charity that is going to all the expense of getting her here.
One thing I am doing is a listing on my etsy for her
http://www.etsy.com/view_listing.php?listing_id=16336568

the idea is everyone who buys gets a 'thankyou' foto and then are entered into a draw to win a cusom fuzzy of their pet
If you would like to donate direct I have a paypal account pamduthie @ hotmail . com (remove the spaces)

Please tell everyone you know!! and if you have any more ideas for fundraising please let me know.
She is only 6 months old and deserves a better life than she has had up till now

She should be getting here monday or tuesday so I will keep her progress updated on here

Return to Mias progress

Fridays feature - ewesyourimagination

Todays friday feature is

http://ewesyourimagination.etsy.com

From today onwards the friday featured NFEST artists will be cross posted in the NFEST blog.

http://nfest.blpgspot.com
and in my blog

http://benmcfuzzylugs.blogspot.com


Any NFEST artist wishing to participate please post in this thread
http://feltingforum.com/phpbb/viewtopic.php?t=2669&start=15



What got you started needle felting?
I helped during the shearing of a local Shetland ranch, and was generously given a LOT of free wool, so I bought some needles and stabbed away!



How long have you been needle felting?
Only since March of 2008...I've come a long way and get better every time I poke!

Describe your style of work
Most of my things have oddly turned out sorta cutesy....that's odd because I'm more of a creepy, weird minded person when I start out on something. I've also just discovered how much fun wool "paintings" can be.

How do you promote your items?
I chat as much as possible on Etsy, in the forums, labs, and chat rooms. Then here on the forum, Flickr gets a lot of views, and I started a blog for fun! I just listed some specials on IndiePublic's Gift Guide too. Also, there are going to be NFEST members who will all hold a shop sale on the same November weekend which will be promoted in various ways.



What/who inspires you?
The huge pile of wool and my husband saying "Thats an awful lot of wool." Well, that inspires me to keep at it, but I have a wild imagination anyway to come up with most of my things.

Can you remember what the 1st thing you made was?
A very primitive looking sheep. Then immediately a grizzly bear that looked waaay better!



What are you working on right now?
A very creepy macabre vase, black and white with crimson red locks. I wet felted the main vase, and have needled "faces" into places. Creepy.

If you could only save one of your items from a fire which one would it be?
Yikes. We just installed a small woodstove, so I better really think on this one. Well, it would have to be my "Harvest HoneyMOONers" painting, and the "Crimson Passages" (they only count as one, cause they're stored together right now

A fun way to do your bit for charity

I havent blogged about the charity for a while so I though I would add a wee peice here.

BACCAS (bowel and colon cancer awwarenss) was set up following the death of my father Dr Rev George Duthie.

As dad made us promise not to run races and things for him we thought the best way to fundraise was to hold cocktail parties - something he loved to host

Our aim is for people to have parties all over the world.

Many people have had parties and had great fun doing so. It can be as big or small as you like, just a few people in yourhouse with a few drinks and nibbles, a small collection for the charity (if you get in touch I can give you badges to sell and ideas for cocktails) and just take a moment to remember that in the UK every 15 mins one person is diagnosed with Bowel Cancer and every 30 mins someone dies of it!

Remember the people who cant be there and celibrate people who are, raise a glass and say

'Bottoms up for BACCAS'

This blog post is part of Zemanta's "Blogging For a Cause" campaign to raise awareness and funds for worthy causes that bloggers care about.

Thursday dog agility

I have been very bad at my agility updates!!

At the moment we are on the countdown till Bens 1st real show - about a month away!!

I finally got my finger out and got him measured - good news - he is a medium dog!! that means he has been training at full height for a few months now and we dont have to work at getting him to jump higher.

He is doing really well at most thing, weaves were really good tonight - getting a bit of speed there!

But he is scared of the see saw!!! he does not like things to move under his feet and he does not like the bang as it tips back.

So although in the main he was really fab in class everyone else had quite a giggle when he ducked under my arm and kept about 3 feet away from me barking and spinning - then as an extra avoidance tactic he squatted and did a poo - in class!! But I had roast ham with me so I won in the end.

I think a few more weeks and he will have calmed down on the see saw (fingers crossed)