(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??