Good advice; however, Rocky is only a young teenager and an apparently bright one too! So boredom needed to avoided ................
Not that Rocky ever fussed or hounded (get it?) us to keep him occupied ................
He just looked so fed up we felt guilty ..............
Yes - we are soft touches!!!!
But look at him!!!
So what can you do to stimulate a grounded young Otterhound?
Step one :
Blow up a balloon, get him interested and step back!!!
Rocky first had to catch it ..............
Hours of endless fun, and not one sign of frustration!
Then he had to manoeuvre it so that he could get hold of it .......................
Rocky shows how gentle Otterhounds can be by the fact that he played with it for so long without popping it!
Getting bored?
Step two:
Play "sneak up" on the cat ........................
OK - she caught you ......................
Good try though!
Step three:
The provision of new toys kept him occupied for quite a while ..................
This wasn't such a spectator sport though ..............You have to join in on this one!!
Although these tactics did the trick and Rocky fell asleep contented ..............
He had turned the living room into a close approximation of a scene after a small bomb exploded!!!!
OK - not quite .......... but it did take a while to tidy up!
I wonder if he has just too many toys?
Step four:The next day saw a renewal of interest in his balloon.
Rocky had the bright idea of playing with it outside ...............
He played with it on the patio ................
Then up in the garden .................
He then learned that he had to chase it to catch it again when the breeze got up a bit ..........
Still, he loved it and had lots of fun.
Despite lots of input our hero was still looking a bit fed up!!
Step 5:
Get him a nice juicy knuckle bone ..............
Rocky loved this and spent hours resting in the garden and chewing and gnawing on his bone .........
And I mean hours ................... !!!!!
We had a contentedly sleeping hound that night!
The next day saw the introduction of ..........
Step six:
(The secret weapon)
"What's that mum"?????
"OK, .................... so what's a bubble? And what's it for"??
Step six wasn't going too well to begin with!
Our hero watched but with little sign of understanding what it was all about ............
Then without warning his natural playfulness kicked in ..............
He was off - playing at trying to stamp on the bubbles...................
Then lunging to try and snap them up with his mouth ............
This session eventually turned out very successful - not very much running about but lots of fun!!!
Our six step plan was working well ...................... but Rocky still seemed a little fed up!!
One of Rocky's best mates came round to see him as well - (Step seven I suppose).
Now step eight wasn't really planned for and I am not (in any way) recommending it as a solution for bored young Otterhounds!
What happened was .......... a friend at work asked me if I wanted a kitten ............ well, the last time that had happened was 18 years ago when we got Biskitt ............. and that turned out to be a good idea!!!
S0 ............ without even thinking about Rocky's enforced rest I happily said "yes please" ...........
So meet Mij (named after the otter in "Ring of bright water").
Isn't she adorable?!!
The family were all keen to meet her ..........
Rocky was so excited he became a little boisterous..........
So Mij just hopped behind the gate at the bottom of the stairs and played with him from there!
Rocky has since been learning a new command ......... "Quiet". This is to signify quiet in action as well as voice ..........
For some reason (and this is a killer!!), Rocky doesn't seem to try to be quiet unless you say it with a Welsh accent?!! Where that came from I have no idea ......... maybe there is some Welsh ancestry in his makeup???
Anyway; and with apologies to any Welsh readers, we have to say "Kwie Utt"! He is getting the idea but at present we have to say it every time she comes and joins us downstairs, then he's just grand!!
The two new friends had me in stitches the other morning ............. in fact Rocky was very goldfish like(?).Mij had climbed onto the table ................ Rocky ambled across and spotted her.
He then seemed to think "Oooh a fluffy thing"! And rested his chin on the table.
Mij, peering out from behind the salt and pepper pots, wriggled her little bottom and ran forward to pounce on his face ............. at which point Rocky moved his head back with a "What was that" look on his face!
Seconds later ........... Rocky had an "Oooh a fluffy thing"! look on his face and rested his chin on the table ..............
Mij ran from behind the pots and pounced on his face ...........
Rocky backed off a little with a "What was that" look on his face!
Rocky looked ........... "Oooh a fluffy thing"! .................... and so it went on ........... for quite some time ............... Rocky's tail wagging slowly all the time!
How cool are pets????!!!!!
Rocky's new best friend is better than the telly .............
He watches every thing she does ..............
No matter where she goes ..............
Or what she is doing ............... he finds her fascinating!
And doesn't look fed up during the evenings!
Once his lameness is better (and he no longer gets bored) I'm sure he will keep playing with his newest pal and they will be lifelong friends
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