23 October 2017

The boy is growing up.

We've noticed Finlay gradually changing over the last couple of weeks. He is more affectionate, he has sat on both of our laps and today even had a 20 minute snooze on my wifes lap. We wouldn't expect a Tibbie to be a lap dog necessarily, if he turns out to be then so be it. More than likely it is a phase, but it is nice he is settling into being a bit more laid back with us. He is also cocking his leg now, a sure sign of growing up and his 'boy' hormones starting to kick in.

Part of his problem I think is still teething. He is getting better with throwing his teeth around and he is being more gentle with us now. But clearly on some days he is desperate to chomp his chew toys and this will no doubt continue for a little while to come. He also is quite itchy and we aren't sure what is causing this. He is moulting out puppy fluff at quite a rate of knots right now, but it could possibly be because of his food. I know a lot of people recommend a 'grain free' diet to help with itching. So we have slowly introduced him to some different wet food and kibble to see how he does.

Some photos from the last few days:

Finlay still knows how to attract our attention, by "threatening" the items on the telephone table

He has also discovered the stream near us. He doesn't want to splash through the stream just yet, which I'm pleased about, but he is intrigued about it. So it is an area to be explored.

This next video made me chuckle. We have found a couple of places that are safe to let him off lead. I know Tibbies are notoriously unreliable off lead, but I believe that you have to try them when they are young, walk with a handful of tasty treats and make yourself someone who is going to be an attractive proposition to recall to. So far this is working. It is nice to see a dog off lead and free, but it has to be in the right place. Right now, I can outrun Finlay if he strays, but I won't be able to for much longer as he gets older/faster so let's get the training in whilst I can still catch the devil - I know the theory is you are supposed to run in the opposite direction if they leg it....but still! This video shows him almost doing that obedience, however this was a new place for him and he has discovered rabbit poo. I guess it does look a bit like kibble and it must taste better than what we had!!