So what has he been up to this week?
Well there have been 3 impressive successes, two dissapointments and a truce between dog and frogs!
Let's start with the dissapointments; Biscuit the cat and Rocky have had four evenings in the same room, leading to hopes that they will sort out the pecking order and become friends. Rocky has been very good and gentle apart from one time when he rushed up shoving his nose on the seat just in front of her......... instinct took over and he was rewarded with a huge hiss and a double whack on his nose........... (no claws.......even when ruffled Biscuit doesn't do claws). This set Rocky down into a sit position with his ears down and a quiet woof. Thinking that the pecking order was now established we proceeded to congratulate Biscuit and ressuringly stroke Rocky. Well if we'd had any chickens we would obviously have counted them too early; as since then Biscuit has retired to the upper floor of the house again and we are back to square one!!!!! If anyone has an idea on how to stop a cat from sulking I would be most grateful?!
This photo is of Biscuits second favourite sulking place............ the washing basket!
Dissapointment number two is quite a biggy! On walks we happily spend ages stood around while Rocky sniffs a scent or sits down to take in the atmosphere; this can be quite a lengthy process but he seems to get such a lot out of it that we don't really mind it. What we do mind however, is when he snaffles up something revolting and proceeds to bring it up again (not always in an out of doors kind of way). It's not as if he doesn't get enough to eat!! Well, during the week he had obviously done this without us being aware (we do try and stop it happening for his sake as well as ours) and proceeded to be quite ill indeed. Unaware of what he may have got hold of a trip to the vet was initiated, and needless to say, Rocky was quickly on the road to recovery and my bank account was severely lightened! This did however lead to success number one.
No one, not even the vet, seemed able to offer any helpful advice on how to stop a pup from doing this unsavoury kind of thing. We had, however, bought a halti some time ago for use in lead training. It fits over a dogs snout and the lead clips on to the side of the head, it stops a dog from pulling in a very kind way, by resulting in the dogs head being turned to the side if it pulls; instead of the possible trauma of collars pressing on windpipes etc. Anyway, I hit upon the idea of trying it to see if it could be used to dissuade Rocky from eating things off the ground on walks. I am happy to report that it is marvelous for this and Rocky seems a lot calmer with its use. I do (and always will) let him smell his way around a walk (he is a hound dog after all) but a gentle tug on the lead at precisely the right time means his head pulls very slightly to the side, he bypasses anything remotely edible or unsavoury, and carries on quite happily. It does mean that you have to always watch for little signals that he is about to snaffle, but we were doing that anyway. Here's hoping it continues to be a success!
This is the state of Rocky after coming home from success number two...................... seems it took a lot out of him?!This success was when Rocky became socialised with horses. On a walk in the country we came across a field with horses in, quite common in our part of the world. I saw a good opportunity to let Rocky meet some of the other animals he may well encounter throughout his life with us. We walked over to the gate and Rocky was quite curious, but when the horse came over for the handful of fresh grass I was holding, he shot behind me like the devil himself was after him! After two cuddles and being in my arms while I was stroking the horse (another feat of physical acrobatics......... my Kung Fu master would be so proud of me!) Rocky settled for sitting behind my legs while poking his head out between them. Whilst this was particularly uncomfortable, it was at least promising. Anyway, to cut a long story short, the third cuddle in my arms resulted in Rocky and the horse sniffing each other and obviously agreeing not to eat each other, as after that, he sat quite happily at the fence while the horse towered over him and indulged in some more grass.
The third and last success of the week has been Rocky's ability to show he does remember his house training lessons. I am not counting my chickens just yet (OK, if I had any I wouldn't) as I know he may make mistakes as yet, and so may we. But it does make for an easier life.
Rocky is growing well and looking so grown up and handsome some times, then he sits like a puppy and the image is shattered!! Anyway, todays exhaustion has resulted from sitting out the front of the house watching the world go by while I wash the car and my other half clears out the garage. What a lot of life he's seen, there have been cars, bikes and motorbikes going by; dogs going for walks and children coming up to say hello to him. He has been in his element; loves it! He had a soft mat to sit on, his chewey toys incase he got bored, and us around him at all times. He just sat there taking it all in and enjoying life.......but boy did it make him tired! Those eyes did thier thing and it was time to bring him in. Rocky walked briskly to his bed, fell in and after a brief peek out of one eye to check I was still around fell into a blissful sleep............... How I miss being a youngster, I used to be able to do that; oh well, such is life!!
Bet you thought I'd forgotten about the frogs? ................. Our patio appears to double up as the local meeting ground for frogs of all shapes and sizes, Rocky no longer appears surprised when on going out the back door there is a hoppy thing bouncing around. He moves towards it, has a quick sniff on his way past and just gets on with his life. I think he's done marvelously; but as I mentioned before frogs seem to be the most ungrateful of things and hop themselves almost into appaplexy after a quick sniff from our boy!!!! So, trying not to give the meeting ground a bad reputation, I still end up chaseing them, picking them up and putting them under cover somewhere. You'd think they would have passed the message on by now wouldn't you?!
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