Where the Wild Things Are

[barbarianoftheuniverse]

I have an eight month old Border Collie called Meg. She is far from perfect (and so am I).
Today she has been about 60/40 good. The 40 included chewing up my camera memory card which DH is sure he put safely on the mantelpiece. Every time I look down at this screen she takes a quick munch of the coffee table with her eyes on mine. This despite a 2 hour walk which included much in and out of streams.

I think you've just about summed him up their basil - well except to add, extremely soppy and loving, plus possibly 'annoying'. (He's been whining and meeping all afternoon because dh is working outside and has the gate open, so he's not allowed out. He has a very errrr ... unique whine. )

Well done Fitz on his rosette - but surely he was robbed? I've seen his photos, he definitely should have got first place!

Had to laugh at his junior handler indiscretion. I do love watching that class. Naughty Fitz!

we think he was robbed, moose, but then we're biased

Well, took my two to the local park today and Pip didn't wuff at a single dog. They were all at a distance too, which is when he usually does it, so it seems his vw show experience has done him some good. Today he just looked at the other dog, then back to me for a treat every time.

He was a little so and so leaping on Lurcherboy and apparently going suddenly deaf when I told him to leave, but I will forgive him that for today and he did improve as the walk went on.

Well done Fitz, great to get something but looking at him - you're right, robbed of what was rightfully his!

Moose - would you ever get an OES? Or are you a committed lurcher mum now? I used to dream go having one as a child, but really any dog, just a dog was my dream. Sometimes I can't believe that we've managed it as for years we've been moving around with my DHs work and I never wanted the stress of moving a dog so thought it might not work out till retirement! Here we are with a very naughty minty! He ran off today on a walk chasing one of his favourite doggie buddies and he turned back, looked at me and my chunks of sausage and thought 'nah' and ran back to buddy to play. The bugger - I had a right job retrieving him and of course he then stayed on lead which my shoulder complained about.

I don't think so mint, the grooming would put me off, having had a Soft Coated Wheaten that required a lot of grooming. My boys are both pretty easy care. Just a quick zoom groom here and there, with a weekly nail clip and regular tooth brushing and they look respectable enough. Think I'm getting lazy in my old age, because I've had two heavy/double-coated shepherd breeds and the SCWT in the past, but no longer have the patience for hours of combing and trimming etc.

Must've been the day for teenagery canine antics today. Pip was a little sod in the park. Only with Lurcherboy, thankfully, but he ignored the whistle once too and he's normally back like a bullet when he hears it.

Had to go in the garden when I let him out after his evening meal. I was watching him through the kitchen window and there he was, with a big belly full of kibble, leaping around like a mad march hare, chucking an empty kong around - just asking for a case of bloat. As I watched he somehow managed to ping the clip on his collar and it flew right across the garden. Went out to retrieve it and the little darling picked it up and shot off up the garden with it. Oh - he's so funny ... in his opinion!

Awww Eric has found a friend. Pretty sure Eric thinks he is human and has tended not to be all that interested in dogs really. He tolerates them rather than enjoying their company until last night when a Springer decided that he wanted to play and he wasn't taking no for an answer. The running and dodging was just too tempting and in no time at all Eric was chasing him like a loon. He was a bit bemused by him cocking his leg and scratching the grass though. Hopefully they'll meet up again fairly regularly or if not Eric might decide that other dogs are worth his attention

Sounds pretty funny to me too Moose. I'm sure he just couldn't understand why you weren't joining in the game! I love the look they get when they know they've got something they shouldn't - that up for it, come and get me! Minty does it with tea towels all the time. If it's raining over a few days the garden gets strewn with them!

I went on a dogs for the disabled Paws workshop y'day. Really interesting to see how dogs can calm and help autistic kids and adults. What was not so good was that they'd run the course with a mixture of people who are thinking about a dog and dog owners. So they spent about two hours (zzzzzzzzz) talking about choosing a pet. They had two rescue dogs, but they were really advocating pedigree dogs due to the socialisation and health benefits. Next month we have demos from pedigree assistance dogs.

Would be really interested to hear how it goes next month sally - we tried to get on one of the courses but all the dates were booked up :(

Mind you, Fitz has helped ds2 all by himself without going on a course . When we first got him ds2 was really not happy as he hates change - he used to call him Sauron and for the first few weeks Fitz did seem to single out ds2 for extra foot-nipping. Fast forward 6 months and ds2 loves him now :)

Today's daily dose of cuteness - we had a rare burst of sunshine and the combination of wildflowers, lush grass and cute puppy was perfect

Basil have you signed up on the waiting list. They say that the dogs can't be trained until they're 15-18mos old to do support work as they need to be totally up to speed with the basics of training and socialised. Get yourself on the waiting list.

Just had confirmation of how mental exercise tires dogs out. I took DD to her new flat sadness as she leaves home which is 70 miles away and took Finn with us. He sat in the back watching everything. I was stuck in a queue for an hour and a half, added onto the hour and a half it should have taken, on the way back and when we got back he was shattered. Obviously car trips exhaust him more than I realised.

Fitz is beautiful!

What an interesting course Sallybear - is it for personal use or work? I would love to have a PAT dog in the future and wondered about Minty in couple of years as my mum would take him out with her but I'm not sure he'll ever be calm enough!

Boys all gone out for walk while I get some work done and I keep wondering if they're ok. Silly of me but they have picked the busiest woods to walk in and minty is pushing boundaries!

Thank you minty :). I know we're biased but I do think he is absolutely gorgeous but the best thing about him is how calm, loveable and friendly he is - he's brought so much joy into the house in what has otherwise been a pretty grim year

We are going to get him trained up as a PAT dog when he's a bit older as he is so calm and never jumps up

I'm on the waiting list as well for the course Sally's on so will be interested to see what that's like

And yes, NCIS to mental stimulation bring exhausting - he's been to the groomers this morning to have his feet tidied up and a general brush-over - the girls there make a big fuss of him and he's come home and is flaked out on the sofa absolutely shattered!

PS. I think we need some more pictures on this thread

Lovely photo basil, Fitz has such a winning smile!

Sally, sounds like the next session is going to be more interesting for you. I'd tend to disagree with them on the pedigree thing, as hearing dogs get the majority of their dogs from rescue centres and they do really well.

Here's some pics of my two.

Once of Pip (from last month when he was still wearing his tshirt) to show you just how lanky he is these days. (Please excuse the school holiday mess in my living room. )

One of him having a good go at a selfie - it's a bit blurry and not great in terms of photographic quality, but I love it because it's one of the few photos that really shows off how scruffy and beardy his face is.

... and not to be outdone, one of my gorgeous Lurcherboy having a wistful moment. He went to the vets for his vaccination boosters last night and as I suspected, has gained rather too much weight. He is on a diet and has been steadily loosing but he has a fair bit to go - poor boy, loves his food too and has started taking every opportunity he can to nab other people's. I've never known him steal food in his life before (he'll be 9 this autumn) yet he's stolen food off the kitchen table and we've discovered the reason behind the weightgain was him stealing Pip's dinners.

At least I can sympathise, being on a diet myself at the moment as well.

Gosh moose pip is so tall and lanky - I love his 'selfie' he looks v mischievous (and lurcherboy l

Gah - sodding phone ...

Lurcherboy looks extremely dignified

Do you have to trim pip's beard at all?

Fitz went to the groomers yesterday - he needed his nails clipped and the feathering around his feet tidied up and I wanted them to get the last bits of dead undercoat out now he's finished moulting - don't know what they used on him but his fur is sooo soft - he's curled up next to me at the moment and it's like being cuddled by a silky cloud (albeit one that's destroying a tennis ball )

Fitz came first in 'Dog the judge would most like to take home' . Dd v v pleased :)

Wahey - way to go Fitz! At last a judge with fantastic taste in dogs.

I think you've summed both my two up there basil. Pip is extra mischievous and norty at the moment (teenage time has well and truly arrived) and Lurcherboy is usually a lovely calm, steady boy that watches Pip's antics with a look of utter disdain.

Pip has very little fur, so just needs a quick zoom groom followed by a hound glove, nail trim and ear clean once a week, plus tooth brushing. His beard doesn't have to be trimmed, as it's fur not hair. I used to have to do a full groom weekly and trim/clip my SCWT girl myself too. They have hair, not fur and the English coat gets terribly tangled if not properly cared for. Lurcherboy has the really scruffy Deerhound ruff from his mum and a thick, silky soft coat over the rest of his body. He sheds really badly all year round and has to be groomed in the garden due to the clouds of fur that come off him. He honestly looks a stone lighter when we've had a good go with the zoom groom on him.

I used to take such pride in my SCWT girl's coat, but don't think I could face that much coat care these days. I ended up keeping her trimmed short once we had more than one dc, as I just didn't have the time to spend on it like I used to.

I am on a bit of a downer about Pip today. Ds2 was sitting with me this morning and suddenly said 'Mummy, why don't you ever go out anymore'.

He's right, I don't and it's really starting to get to me. A combination of things have happened, first Pip with his noisy whingeing, then my Mum's knee worsened and she can no longer drive while she's on the list for a replacement, so the trips out we used to do, where we took him with us are no longer possible. There's absolutely no way I could just hop on the bus to town and spend an hour wandering around the shops and having a coffee, simply because he is so noisy. He would be ok for a while, but the minute he needed to go out or felt a bit peckish or got a touch bored he'd start wailing. It's not real distress, he's just a noisy dog. I'm really hoping it improves as he matures, but in the meantime, I am a prisoner in my own home except for school runs and dog walks and I am struggling to not resent it, regardless of how much I adore the daft mutt.

I thought when dd started school full time I'd be free to go into town shopping or help out at the school here and there, go on school trips etc, but as it is I didn't even bother getting DBS checked this year, as I knew I couldn't do it and dd keeps asking me why I can't help in her class, as they're crying out for someone and keep asking for more helpers.

He's being a real pain with noisy whining at the moment. He's started getting us up at 6.00 am - which doesn't go down at all well at the weekends, but we can't ignore him because of the neighbours. We've been taking it in terms to go downstairs, tell him to settle without opening the kitchen door, then wait in the living room until he's been quiet for a while before attempting to grab some more duvet time, but invariably he starts up again within half to three quarters of an hour. The same method did work with getting him to settle to sleep when we moved his crate into the kitchen, so hopefully he'll get the message in the end, but I would seriously love a lie-in occasionally. Ridiculous thing is, our dcs don't get up until 8.00 am, so if it wasn't for Pip we could have another two hours of sleep.

He's booked into kennels for a couple of days in a few weeks time and whilst I feel terrible about it, I desperately need a break from him and am so looking forward to having some freedom. I dread to think how/if he's going to handle it - it could go either way and make him worse (it was going into kennels after we lost Oldgirl that triggered Lurcherboy's SA) or make him realise that he can survive without me. Desperately hoping it's the latter, but knowing him and his highly-strung ways, I have a bit of a sinking feeling about what life is going to be like for a few weeks afterwards.

Sorry to be such a great big grump. I just don't know how to fix this anymore because it doesn't appear to be SA, he just likes the sound of his own voice. I rewards him all the time for being quiet and he does respond to the quiet cue, but of course that doesn't help when I'm not here.

He'll be one year old on 1st June and I really thought we'd be further forwards with this by now.

Moose - that sounds tough for you. I don't think I would cope well without freedom so I can understand your frustration.

What about starting a thread here for advice?

I'm not experienced at all so please ignore me if this isn't helpful! I think I would be addressing the issue with neighbours to see if they really are still bothered. They may well be much less bothered about crying than previously. I'd be asking if they mind a bit of crying each morning as you plan to stay at school to help out or nip into town and that each day there's likely to be an hour or two of you not present but you hope the noise settles over time. I'd just be a bit firm about this being a noise within reasonable limits I.e. Not at night, not prolonged over 4 or 5 hours and not due to any cruelty but due to a dog that is perfectly well cared for but likes singing, making noise etc.

I'd be worried about my own mental health if I couldn't get out the house and in that situation I think I'd be taking quite a hard line with any unsympathetic neighbours.

Just as a comparison we have a 13 year old who loves loud music, hates earphones and was blasting it out randomly in his bedroom which is attached to our lovely but very quiet neighbours. I asked her how much it bothered her and explained I'd like teenager to be allowed some freedom to blast out his music but would obviously respect certain limits so never after 7/8pm, never before 11am and only ever for half an hour at a time so she'd know it was over soon! She laughed and said yes of course that was fine, that all sounded reasonable and not to worry. I think it helped her that she knew there was a plan and boundaries and it wasn't going to left unmonitored.

Good advice, thanks mint, but they've already been so patient while I worked things through with Lurcherboy and we had similar issues with Oldgirl when we first moved here 11 years ago too, so don't feel I can ask them to just live with it.

It would be so much easier if they both worked in the daytime, even for just a couple of days a week, but they're both semi-retired and do a type of supply/cover work, so I can never tell when they're likely to be in or out.

He doesn't howl or bark, it's just a really loud whingey whine, that I've only ever heard sighthounds do - and it carries. These are solidly built, redbrick houses, but I remember way back when Oldgirl was stressed after moving house and the neighbour was on night shifts, he said a similar level of noise kept him awake.

I feel such an idiot too. I am supposed to know how to deal with this sort of thing. I sorted Lurcherboy's issues by empowering myself with knowledge and taking action, but I feel totally powerless with Pip. Don't really want to start a thread about it, as although I can give advice from experience based on helping Oldgirl and Lurcherboy to get through SA I feel people will question whether or not I know what I'm talking about if I admit what a pickle I'm in with Pip.

But Moose you're allowed to be human and not have all the answers! I don't think that you having issues to deal with raises questions over your very considerate and detailed advice for people on here. I work with a dietitian whose advice I seek out because it's good, clear and given from an intelligent, caring perspective. Her son never eats fruit, ever, he is practically fruit phobic. But I don't question her knowledge and ability to give excellent nutritional advice becuase she's got such a big food problem with her child. I just think he could be a lot worse about food in someone else's hands.

So I think reaching out for help is still one option open to you. You're so full of time and help for others, it would be sad if that was unavailable to you?

Is there anyone local that could do some dog sitting once a week for a fiver? Anyone you could seek out through local school mums?

Thanks mint.

Dh and I have just been discussing it all. We came to the conclusion that we need to find an occasional dog sitter, as you suggested - and I need to get on with booking some driving lessons, so I can at least go out and take the dogs with me in the car, even if that means I can only go out on cold days.

It's such a shame, because in every other way he's perfect. He brings us so much happiness and laughter and has been good for every single member of the family, as well as being something we all agree on. If we could just sort the whining he'd be pretty much the perfect pet.

I was watching a video of a similar aged Saluki cross on a sighthound rescue site a while ago and sure enough, he was making exactly the same noise while he was bored because his owners had the audacity to stop and have a chat with someone.

Moose - . There is nothing like being stuck in the house and feeling trapped to bring you down.

I do think the driving lessons will make a massive difference. My mum learned to drive at 55, she never went further than the local town or to the supermarket, and used the car round the village in bad weather to pick up her friends. She never even went on a motorway, but the freedom it gave her to not have to ask one of us was empowering. She never was anything other than a nervous driver, but the benefits outweighed this massively.

I honestly find that the less I stress about my dogs, the better they are. I have learned this from DH, who adores both of them, but will just leave them if he needs to go out, or ignore them for 3 hours while they watch him in the garden, Then, they get a fully interactive walk and lots of cuddles. But, to him, a dog is a dog, as much as he loves both (especially Harry, there's man love going on there!!), he will not allow them to have a negative impact on his life. he thinks that I let the dogs rule MY life, rather than the other way round, and he's probably right.

We went to friends on Saturday night at 7pm, and returned at midnight. You know what? They were fine. They had been with us all day, two long walks, training and yummy bones etc. They had each other. They had a quick wee, then went to sleep again when we got back.

Your dogs, like mine, a loved and trained and well cared for. If putting him into boarding for a few days gives you some freedom, then do it. Just consider the loves of many 1000's of dogs in this country, perspective is a good thing sometimes.

I also think that you should start the thread, as sometimes, you get advice that strikes a chord.

My dogs are fine at the minute, Harry still buggers off into the rape fields and pops up again randomly, but Hector continues to be a little poppet.

I have given up the KC Bronze though, my life is too hectic at the moment, and this new trainer had a rolling set of lessons for 6 weeks until she felt them ready to do the exam. Well bollox, Hector could have done the exam on the first week, I am not paying forever an a day for a certificate to tell me what I know anyway.

Harry is very good at agility - I am sadly crap