Out into the Big Wide World

Posted on November 14, 2008 by Susan

It was another big day for Biggles. His first day off-lead in the park.

Sunday will be his first introduction to the puppy field – Beanie’s regular haunt. He’ll meet his half-sister Bella and all of Beanie’s buddies. Although Beanie won’t be there this week for reasons we’ll explain later.

Today we settled for a little quiet area of the park just to see how he’d behave off-lead. Here’s a little video clip of the moment we first let Biggles off-lead:

That’s Beanie’s first coat he’s wearing. It looks more like a little waistcoat on Biggles – he needs a bigger size already!

Any more treats mum?

Making new friends

Testing out the sniffer

I wouldn’t mind another bit of that sardine cake!

First Day at School

Posted on November 13, 2008 by Susan

Biggles finally started puppy classes last night and I baked a sardine cake for the occasion.

We were last to arrive and all the other pups were getting to know each other as we walked in. He was the youngest and littlest there, but it didn’t phase him for a second. He ran around saying hi to everyone, tail waggling like mad. He was very popular with all of the children.

He’s every bit as confident as Beanie was when she was little, but a lot more noisy! He barked to let everyone know he’d arrived; He barked at everyone he met; He barked when anyone paid attention to him; He barked when no one was paying attention to him; He barked when anyone appeared to be having more fun than him! But basically all the barks meant one thing – I’M HERE – PLAY WITH ME!!!!!

After the introduction we had a handling session. The idea of this is to make sure that when your puppy grows up he doesn’t mind having his teeth brushed, his ears inspected or his nails clipped. And it also makes your vets life a lot easier if your dog is happy to be handled.

Biggles doesn’t mind being handled at all….

…all he cared about was getting hold of that sardine cake that he could smell in my pocket!

Finally we were to give our pups a nice long cuddle. A lot of the pups weren’t happy about that but Biggles was in his element – as always he rolled onto his back with his little eyes pleading me to give him a tummy tickle! He’d stay like that all day if you let him.

Next we swapped pups so that they got used to being handled by lots of different people:

The beginners were all taken into a corner to learn the basics. As Biggles is such a clever little boy (and we had been practicing) the trainer used him to demonstrate how to sit, down and stand. Biggles did very well, but as the trainer handed him back to me he quietly suggested that I work on bite inhibition for next week – it seems that along with that tasty sausage Biggles was nibbling a bit of juicy human finger as well! :)

Finally the class ended with a little recall practice. Biggles did very well and came running the moment I called – he probably didn’t run the fastest, but he definately had the cutest recall :)

Two Drowned Rats for the Price of One

Posted on November 10, 2008 by Susan

Beanie and her pal Sophie went for a joint swimming lesson today at Allers Farm Kennels Hydrotherapy Pool.. We all had a fantastic time!

Jennifer, the hydrotherapist, had told us that we could go in the pool with our dogs if we had wetsuits. Suprisingly, you can get a wetsuit for about £20 – £25 from a variety of online stores and also from Aldi or Tescos. I managed to pick up a real bargain and paid just £6.25 for mine. It’s not the best fit in the world – but then I’m not the best shape in the world :) And at that price you can’t complain. So Jennifer looked after Sophie for her lesson and I went in with Beanie.

I thought the water might be a little cold, but it was lovely and warm.

Sophie and Beanie clearly loved being in the pool together, but suprisingly didn’t try to wrestle each other into submission whilst in the water. In fact, they really seemed to work together as a team:

All I need now is a pair of water ski’s

The pool has water jets to make the dogs work a bit harder (Beanie and Sophie are swimming into the jets in the picture above). They seem to love swimming into these, and Jennifer thinks it’s because they like the nice massage that it gives them.

The dogs don’t swim for the full half hour. There’s a little ramp for them to climb up onto every so often for a quick breather. But as Beanie and Sophie have been getting swimming lessons for quite some time they’re happy to stay in the water most of the time:

We really want the dogs to get used to playing in the pool and just having fun, so Hazel worked hard from the side of the pool trying to tempt the terrible twins with just about every toy in the toy box. Sophie showed some interest…

…but Beanie only has eyes for food:

Whilst Hazel and Jennifer persevered with getting Sophie interested in the toys..

…I took the easy option and tempted Beanie around the pool with little lumps of chopped kidney:

But next week I plan to take along some toys that will both float and contain food – that should do the trick!

Part way through the swim session we had a little visit from a young Beagle called Henry. He’s a regular border at Allers Farm Kennels and was lured in by the smell of Beanie’s tub of chopped kidney. He stopped to say hi to Beanie and Sophie:

Beanie finished off the session with a little bit of diving practice….

I can’t recommend Allers Farm Kennels Hydrotherapy enough. It’s not officially open yet as the pool room hasn’t been decorated. But the pool is fully operational and I doubt the dogs care what colour the walls are! The owners and staff are all very friendly and go out of their way to make sure dogs and their owners have a great time. It’s also very affordable if you have more than one dog or go along with friends as the cost is the same regardless of how many dogs you take with you. Needless to say Sophie and Beanie are booked up for more fun next week.