29 September 2017

Another day, another load of Finlay experiences....Finlay is 16 weeks old today!

It was my day off today and Deb was at work in the morning, so some home alone time with me and the boy. We had decided it was time to take him to the "dog park" near us. It isn't really a dog park, however it is the next best thing. It is a well frequented park by the local dog owners, and it is a really nice place to be....if you like dogs. It is fully enclosed so a lot of people let their dogs off, and everyone is really responsible.

It didn't take Finlay long to meet his first dog, which was a Min-Pin. He naturally said a big hello, which was a bit too much for the Min who slightly growled which Finlay totally ignored. So we moved on. Then we met a Pug, much more his kind of thing, the owner was a bit worried the Pug would be too much for Fin, but no such worries. The Pug was really boisterous and only around 9 months old, his breathing was so loud! Fin took that one in his stride. From there on in, dogs everywhere. There was one occasion where he did jump up at a dog who did quite seriously tell him off - just dog communication, not nastiness. Fin laid down and rolled over and apologised, totally appropriate and in that instance did take heed, which was good. Finlay even had a go on the skate ramp, he didn't get any 'air'. He finished that walk tired out, which was good as he slept the rest of the morning allowing me to get some bits done.

In the afternoon it was much of the same. He met a collie x spaniel mix that was fairly large and ever so tolerant. Fin gave him everything he had, in play terms, and had a whale of a time. He then met Jasper the Cocker Spaniel who lives near us, and actually got Jasper to play with him. Although Jasper is only 6 years old he generally doesn't play, but Finlay worked his magic. This time Fin was not so tired out despite his gallivanting, but he finally crashed about 8pm.

Finlay enjoying the skate ramp....he was actually quite annoyed he couldn't make it up the ramp, he sat at the bottom play-bowing at it and woofing.

Finlay being obedient. As I said in a previous blog, when he comes to the edge of a road you just say "wait" and Finlay parks his bum and waits for "over". He is such a star!!

27 September 2017

Deb does dog walking for the Cinnamon Trust charity, and twice a week takes out a Border Terrier called Dream and two Shih-Tzu's called Bubbles and Suki. Indeed at the moment Finlay is a pretty full on puppy with other dogs, he wants to say hello and jump all over them. The Cinnamon Trust dogs are a bit feisty with other dogs, but we thought it would be a good idea for Finlay to meet them and go out for a walk together. Today we went for a walk with Dream.

In fact, it was very straight forward. Finlay of course wanted to jump all over Dream who ducked and dived and stood her ground, but after a short period Finlay calmed down and they walked together like they'd known each other for years. It is really good practice for Finlay to be able to interact with dogs like this, and be told in no uncertain terms by other dogs when he is being too full on. Dream is around 7 years old and did give Finlay a bit of leeway due to him being a puppy, but was fine with him. We only walk a short way with Dream before I cut off and make our way home. Although Finlay would happily walk 5 miles a day, he is too young to be marching off too far. So he is carried part way home to protect his growing bones.....much to his disgust!

Finlay loves going out for his walks, we've seen TV programmes where dogs refuse to walk, but no such problems with our pup. He just zooms off. He is getting to the point now where sniffs are becoming interesting, he stops at lamp-posts and he knows he should be doing something, he just hasn't figured out what yet!

In case you haven't ever come across a puppy at the peak of his 'puppiness', have a look at this video. We have seen this numerous times with Finlay, his excess energy has to come out somewhere, this was him at lunchtime burning off some adrenaline. 

26 September 2017

Deb was on her own with the puppy today, as I was at work. It was also a day to test Finlay's capability to be left on his own, because Deb's car needed a service. So having walked him, he was then left on his own for the longest time yet. He was absolutely fine. It is of course vital that a puppy is comfortable enough in his surroundings to be able to be left on his own, we have never left our dogs longer than 4 hours or so on their own, but equally you can't be with them all the time, or they be with you all the time.

He was a bit manic when Deb returned, because he has so much energy right now, but he was dry and went straight out into the garden.

Another good walk in the afternoon and Finlay was on fine form. Today was another 'dry' day where Finlay didn't wee in the house, which is excellent. Over the last 5 days or so we have had more dry days than not, so I think progress is finally being made. In the evening, when he is at his most dangerous/lazy (depending on your point of view) he made a couple of clear indications that he wanted to go into the garden, and he did so. He has started pooing on the patio though, it seems like a bit of "I'll not be getting my paws wet on the grass tonight, so here will have to do".....

He did however have an episode of defiant "attack daddy", where no amount of "no" was cutting it. He tries it on more with me than Deb, so clearly I need to be firmer. He has worked out already who is the leader of the pack, and he doesn't mess with her! (and nor do I.....)

Here's a picture from the care home when we visited dad on Saturday. Being a bit naughty with his eye on a (plain) digestive biscuit, who could resist!

25 September 2017

It is sometimes impossible to know what drives a puppy, because he can't speak to you. After a fairly straightforward morning, Finlay suddenly explodes with energy and biting over lunchtime. Playtime is too rough and he is wanting to stick his teeth into everything, so presumably because he is teething it is driving him nuts. In the end despite redirecting his anger towards various toys and away from our hands and arms, he gets shut in the puppy play-pen to calm down. He has a big strop and tosses his beds all over the place and after 10 minutes we let him out again. He is calmer but trouble is there just under the surface.

I’m thinking that a longer walk will be in order this afternoon!!

24 September 2017

Today was Finlays first visit to Whiteley Lakes, which is a nice area in the middle of a business park, always quiet at a weekend. It is also a good chance to see lots of ducks and swans to see what Finlay makes of them. Well he loved the area and seemed to want to jump in the lake, which we didn’t let him do, there will be other times to let him try water but this isn’t the place….the lakes are quite deep right from the edge, so poor Finlay wouldn’t have got a taster he would have been full blown swimming, so didn’t want to chance that! He wasn’t too interested in the ducks because they were just serenely gliding around the lake, but he did take notice of the swans. Apart from being much bigger than him, they hissed at him, which intrigued him. We know from previous experience our other two just wanted to see the swans and say hello, or course the swans had other ideas….so caution was taken! We will come back here again because we know our previous dogs liked it here, plus Finlay loves both leaves and feathers, so plenty of those in abundance.

Finlay finds a quince from our tree....he's not sure what to do with it....

23 September 2017

Another puppy romp today, pretty much the same again, Finlay loved it and got tired out. The theory is with these romps is you go from having the dog off lead and under control and say “go play” and they get their socialisation. Then you call them, they come back, and you have a bit of control time again and go around the cycle again. However, Finlay isn’t so good at the recall, fun is just too much fun and he loses his sense of hearing. No amount of chicken or liver treats will get him back. We do get there eventually, but the boy is just having the time of his life. It is good for him, but in a way a bit of an unnatural experience, because you wouldn’t be out on a walk and come across a field full of 30+ puppies.

We also visited dad again, this time we took dad down to the café in the care home and had a coffee and biscuits…..’someone’ might have had a bit of biscuit also! Again Finlay loved it, and because he was still a bit tired from his romp, he sat quietly in dads arms whist he stroked him. It was lovely to see, and probably the first time I’ve seen Finlay relaxed in that scenario.

Finally we decided to bath Finlay, it needed doing because he was a bit smelly from his puppy romp, rolling around in a wet muddy field. But besides that, he is going to have many baths in his lifetime, so it made sense to get one in early to acclimatise him and it gave us the chance to give him a nice gentle one to not freak him out.

Did he enjoy the experience, well no, but he stood stoically through most of it. We didn’t do his head and neck nor was the bath very deep, but it did the trick. One of our previous Tibbies cried and shook most times we bathed him, but not Finlay. He went absolutely mad when we took him out of the bath though, rolling around and charging around the bathroom. He also hated the hairdryer with a passion, so Deb took on the hair-drying task whilst I brushed him, he loves to chew the brush so this was a good distraction. He then forgot about the hairdryer and by the end of the session was fine. I expect this will reset somewhat when we next do him, but hopefully this bath hasn’t put him off.

22 September 2017

Finlay is 15 weeks old today.

Today as well as a walk/carry around his local area we took our first visit to Whiteley shopping centre. This is a nice local area which allows dogs, lots of new sights and sounds for the puppy and lots of adoring people to make a fuss of him. Always plenty of those to be found, he has this way of looking at people and getting their attention, as soon as he knows they are looking he wags and that is it, they’re hooked. We stopped for a coffee in Café Nero and he found the perfect place on the corner to lay and pose, so as people passed….the look…the wag….the fuss….many times.