A Dog Is For Love

A Lovely Week with Hazel and Daisy

I have had a great week with "my girls" Hazel and Daisy. We started off with a visit from dog psychologist and behaviourist Sue Cudby of www.dogconnection.co.uk. Although the dogs are getting on well together there were a few little issues I wanted some guidance about concerning the pup Daisy. She had been VERY naughty last week! I found her chewing something and on investigation it was a piece of black platic, half an inch square but now dented and pitted. I had no idea what it could be until a little later when I went to use my lap-top and six keys were missing! Oh, no the little minx - I never thought she would do that! Luckily I found five of the keys on the chair and managed to press them back in place. They are a bit wobbly now but they work. The "c" key sometimes needs pressing twice. The others she had dislodged were the "l" "x" "alt" and "@". Thank god the "@" works or I would have been impeded in sending emails. The chewed up one, beyond saving, was a key with the windows symbol that I never use, so a stroke of luck there.

Another aspect to this story is that I have since gone into my Amazon account to order a book and found things in my basket that I did not put there! Two computer games including Grand Theft Auto - something I wouldn't buy in a million years! My only explanation is that Daisy had navigated into Amazon and pressed enter a few times whilst she was dancing around on my keyboard!

Now back to Sue the dog trainer. She works on the Alpha method, helping me to become pack leader. Up to now I think Daisy was top of the pack, Hazel second, and then me - servant to both! Sue gave me some very good and simple advice that is proving effective and I feel much more in control now. I do little training sessions with them each day using rewards and a clicker. They immediately learnt the word "training" and as soon as I say "lets do training" they both sit to attention, alert and ready to start. It is really funny and I can use that phrase as an immediate distraction if Daisy is doing something unwanted and she immediately sits and looks at me waiting for the training to begin. Great stuff!

Another thing I have to do is pretend to eat the dog dinner before I put it down for them. This asserts my position as leader. So I stick my nose in the bowl and make an enthusiatic yum yum sound. Then they have their dinner.

We also took the dogs for a walk and I am working on reducing the pre-walk excitement so I can get Daisy's harness on without the usual singing and dancing around the hall. Sue's methods are working well and things are a lot calmer now.

It has been a lovely sunny week here in Norfolk and at the weekend we went for a day out in neighbouring Suffolk. We went to Oulton Broad, where people were enjoying themselves out on their boats and pleasure cruisers were running trips for visitors. We stayed on terra firma but it was lovely to enjoy the atmosphere at the waterside and the dogs enjoyed themselves in the park. Then on to the seaside village of Walberswick where I enjoyed an alfresco lunch at a pub with the wonderful whiff of the sea in the air. Dogs were welcome on the terrace at The Anchor and, whilst I left Hazel tied to the table leg when I went to place my order, Daisy yapped as soon as I left so I had to pick her up and take her with me to the bar. Something else to work on. Hazel is very laid back and I can take her anywhere. As I ate my meal, they enjoyed laying under the table in the shade with a nice bowl of water.

On Sunday we went to the Norfolk Dog Day, in aid of Help for Heroes. Apparently the event raised nearly £80,000. There were thousands of people there with their thousands of dogs! I have never seen so many dogs at once - all shapes and sizes. They were all incredibly well behaved - no fights breaking out and I hardly even heard any barking. We arrived too late to enter any competitions, which was a shame because I am absolutely certain that Daisy would have won the Waggiest Tail competition. It never stops and is sometimes just a blur it is wagging so fast! There were over 200 entrants to the Perkiest Pup competition - imagine that - all those fluffy bundles of love to drool over.

So with these lovely activities, intermingled with our usual country walks and frolics in the garden, we have all had a splendid week!

What a Good Girl!

I recently enjoyed a lunch-time meal with a friend at The Walpole Arms in Itteringham. This is my very favourite dog-friendly pub with a lovely traditional bar with open fire and beautiful old beams. The food is delicious.

On this occasion I ordered Norfolk Dapple cheese sausages with basil mash and ratatouille. When the dish arrived, there were three enormous sausages, so I decided to keep one for my dog Hazel as a special tea-time treat. I wrapped one up in a serviette and put it on the chair next to me by my handbag, to ensure I wouldn’t forget it.

As we ate our lunch, Hazel lay down under the table and I commented to my friend that she was such a good girl and that I could take her anywhere – she was so well-behaved. We didn’t hear a peep out of her.

 As we went to leave I reached for my bag and the sausage and, guess what? No sausage! I looked under the table to see a very satisfied-looking Hazel and just a tiny piece of remains of the serviette! What a good girl indeed!