26 November 2017

Finlay is now 24 weeks old.

The boy continues to grow up and become less puppy to look at, although still very much puppy in his brain and mannerisms. He is still capable of being very very cute but also capable of being quite a handful. He is already showing the stubborn streak that Tibbies are known for. He enjoys going out for a walk, but does not enjoy either having his harness put on or being put in the car, so will go out of his way to be awkward and hide given the chance.

He continues to lose puppy teeth and has lost at least 4 now, the sharp needle like canines still remain and are still able to draw blood however! He went to ringcraft again on Tuesday and it wasn't a very good day. Finlay still goes there to play and not perform, and as such means that by the time he has been there 15 minutes he has worn himself out and then is tired and slow when in the ring. He shows flashes of what could be, but needs more practice yet. He can perform much better when out of that environment, he can sit and stand very well when not distracted and walk to heel.

Getting to view his teeth, such as they are, is still a big challenge. He wriggles and bites when you try and get to the teeth, despite lots of practice. He gives every indication that right now the mouth is just too sore to be messed with. Certainly with him loosing teeth and wanting to chew a lot, this must be the case. We had a small piece of house damage down to chewing, some skirting board in the kitchen bit the dust yesterday, the little monkey.

We are looking for a few dog shows to book him in to early in the new year. It will be interesting/fun/scary to see how that one goes!!

As usual some photos. I've posted pictures before of Finlay and the fire, the fire is switched off or a guard is put in front of it. But Fin is obsessed with laying on the edge of the fire hearth and wrapping himself around the fire. It looks so uncomfortable, but he loves to do it. It is interesting to note just how much harder it is for him now as he is growing bigger. As a small puppy he fitted here easily....

Then another waving video. Finlay goes into waving mode very easily. My wife had picked him up and he immediately starting waving his front paws at me and it isn't difficult to get him to continue. I think he would do it for hours - it is SO cute!

Here's another video of him out on a walk. He is quite reliable off the lead so far, although there are only very specific places that we allow him off lead. He isn't fazed by getting filthy dirty either, the muddier the better!

10 November 2017

Finlay is 22 weeks old today.

Still no sign of that puppy growing up mentally, even if he is growing physically. He is still so mad keen to meet other dogs, standing up wagging, licking their muzzles, play bowing, zoomies. It is lovely to watch and both so cute and a bit exasperating at times. Cute for obvious reasons but exasperating because he is such a full time job to keep on the straight and narrow.

Training is going well, he will walk to heel and stand - the latter is very much still a work in progress because he naturally plonks his bum on the ground so we are working on treating the "stand" as quickly as we can before it goes wrong. Recall is pretty good too. Ringcraft was probably similar to the previous week in that there are so many distractions and Finlay can't ignore them just yet. His tail doesn't stop wagging for 90 minutes, wagging at every person and dog :-)

He is also throwing his weight around a little bit, which we are having to keep in check. His age and development mean that testosterone is beginning to course around his veins and he is beginning to find his feet and getting ideas above his station. So some occasional firm handling and commands are necessary to make sure he realises that my wife is the leader of the pack....as for me, well not sure I outrank Finlay.....but I'm trying!

Here are a few recent pictures of the boy.

Got some food for me?

I'm watching you from my house!

Finlay loves to lay on the hearth, I guess it is cool. He used to fit not that long ago, but he doesn't now. But that doesn't stop him. We're wondering whether we'll have to have the fire taken out to give him room - only silly dog-people would even consider such madness!

I Don't fit!

5 November 2017

Fireworks night.....or indeed Fireworks weekend!

I hate Fireworks, I've said it before and I'll say it again every single year. They are unnecessary and the focus has completely gone away from the "celebration" and it is all about who can make the most noise. So many of the things just make massively loud bangs, that is it. No visual spectacle at all.

We are so lucky that Finlay has paid them little attention, save for a few woofs at the loudest ones. The thing is that the most laid back animal can been spooked, and just because Finlay is fine now does not mean that he will always be. This was how it was with Louie, fine for the first 2 years of his life, then spooked by fireworks in May totally out of season and totally unexpected, he was frightened so much on that night, he then had 11 years of hell and if you've had a dog scared of fireworks you'll know it is absolute hell to watch.

We actually had more fireworks here on the 4th November than we did on the 5th November, which is frankly ridiculous. But enough of all that, it just makes me angry, the main thing is we got through this year and gave Finlay the best chance we could of him not being scared of them. We sprayed his bedding with DAP spray and also some product we bought from Pets At Home that I saw recommended on the Tibetan Spaniel Facebook page, some Beaphar Calming Spot On. I honestly don't know whether any of it was necessary and in fact Finlay would have ignored them anyway, but that doesn't matter. All he will remember is sleeping through most of them and not being scared.

Here are a couple of more pictures from a few I took after he had been groomed. Deb grooms him on the table partly because it is much easier, but also because it is a good moment to practice some show tactics, getting him to stand....which he does quite well.

Pretty relaxed....

Stickin' me nose in the air

Mum has been fluffin' me ears up!

3 November 2017

Finlay is 21 weeks old today!

Well this week Finlay has been getting a taste of the show world. On Tuesday he went to ringcraft again and on Wednesday he went to a local dog show held by the Romsey & District Canine Society.

Ringcraft.....well he did a lot better. This is his third visit and he still sees it as a massive opportunity to play and socialise, not necessarily to work. But when you are that young, who can blame him. He really enjoys it there, which is of course the most important thing. He gets loads of fuss and attention, lots of treats and gets to walk around a ring and get handled by a couple of lovely people on the table. So what's not to like. On the table he is still a bit too keen to kiss the judge, his tail never stops wagging. Walking around the ring he did pretty well, by far the best he's done. He had his distractions, but we were very pleased with how he went around. Deb is doing lots of practice when out on our walks and he is starting to do "heel" quite well, and "watch me" and "stand" are coming on nicely. He really does pick stuff up very quickly, although being a Tibbie he obviously picks and chooses when he will pull these tricks out of the hat!

The show.....again, lots of attention, the chance to meet some other Tibbies and loads of other dogs. Finlay loved it. The venue wasn't the best because it is done in a horse riding school arena and the floor is covered in a kind of wool mixed with horse poo and goodness knows what. Finlay was very keen on eating it, and showing your dog there must be a nightmare. But despite that Finlay wasn't fazed by the venue and just left wanting more.

He is definitely growing now and we took some pictures today and he is looking decidedly leggy. He met lots of dogs down the park today including a massive (in terms of physical bulk) Frenchie x Old English Bulldog who was 10 months old. Initially he looked a bit scary to us (not to Finlay) doing high speed fly-pasts....but once they met properly they had the most gentle play-time, the Frenchie cross laid down and they really had fun. It was lovely to see.

So a few random photos of Finlay. This first one was from earlier today after Deb had groomed him, it is possibly one of the best shots I've ever taken of him. Though I say this myself....isn't he adoreable!!

This one gives you an idea of how he is standing now, clever boy!

The paws, he is very animated with his paws when he wants something....

Look at me!