Tuesday 30 November 2010
Wax for Paws and more Retail Therapy !
You can apparently buy wax for a dog's paws to protect them from the salt and grit on snowy pavements. So when our pet shop has restocked I might buy some. Might also buy her a coat and some boots as its been so cold here.... more retail therapy !
Home Made Liver Treats for Dogs !
Good tip for today is that I heard you can make your own chicken liver dog treats which you can chop up and freeze. What a good money saving idea !
Here is the recipe I might try which I got from a friend :
I will try this out and let you know how it goes !
Or for an easy life here are some liver treats to buy online.
http://www.petskitchen.co.uk/Pets'-Kitchen-Joe-and-Jack's-Natural-Dog-Food-Natural-snacks/c2_3_11/p36/Poochwork-Liver-Hearts/product_info.html
As they are hard treats remember I think the dogs need to be over 3 months to eat them. If you want to make or buy liver treats for puppies then you need to buy liver cake. I bought some lovely liver cake from Princess Sisky's Dog Treats at a local craft fair this weekend and Tika loves them ! However they are not available online.
Here is the recipe I might try which I got from a friend :
- 2 cups Flour
- 3 tablespoons Vegetable oil
- 1 cup wheat germ or cornmeal if wheat allergies are a problem
- 1 egg, lightly beaten
- 1/2 cup chicken broth
- 2 tsp. parsley
- 1 cup cooked chicken liver, chopped or mixed in a mixture
I will try this out and let you know how it goes !
Or for an easy life here are some liver treats to buy online.
http://www.petskitchen.co.uk/Pets'-Kitchen-Joe-and-Jack's-Natural-Dog-Food-Natural-snacks/c2_3_11/p36/Poochwork-Liver-Hearts/product_info.html
As they are hard treats remember I think the dogs need to be over 3 months to eat them. If you want to make or buy liver treats for puppies then you need to buy liver cake. I bought some lovely liver cake from Princess Sisky's Dog Treats at a local craft fair this weekend and Tika loves them ! However they are not available online.
Monday 29 November 2010
Doggie Pubs !
Just found this website - hope to check some of these out once she is a bit older ! And toilet trained !!
http://www.doggiepubs.org.uk/
http://www.doggiepubs.org.uk/
Snow and More Snow !
We have had continuous snow since she has been allowed out in the garden !
So its not been great temperatures for toilet training ! However we are having some success so far. We are following the advice in the books and only praising her when she gets it right and goes in the garden. However its hard standing around in sub zero temperatures !
We bought a training lead so have made a little use of that so she can have a run around when out walking at open spaces and also she can do some training. Its 15m long !
I took her for a walk this morning. I decided to walk on the pavements so we would only meet dogs on leads. However the first dog we met was one running loose while the owner cleared her drive ! However I just picked Tika up and crossed the road to avoid trouble. However we did then meet a very nice older dog who she said hello to and that went well. He could have eaten her in one mouthful as he was about double her size but it was a good first introduction to other dogs while out for a walk !
We bought a training lead so have made a little use of that so she can have a run around when out walking at open spaces and also she can do some training. Its 15m long !
I took her for a walk this morning. I decided to walk on the pavements so we would only meet dogs on leads. However the first dog we met was one running loose while the owner cleared her drive ! However I just picked Tika up and crossed the road to avoid trouble. However we did then meet a very nice older dog who she said hello to and that went well. He could have eaten her in one mouthful as he was about double her size but it was a good first introduction to other dogs while out for a walk !
Friday 26 November 2010
Pet Insurance !
We also are in the process of finalising which pet insurance to go with. So far we have narrowed it down to Pet Plan, More Than or maybe the Kennel Club. They all offer different cover and vary between £15 and £25 a month. Its a lot of money. They vary between offering £4,000 per condition per year which would be good for a long term condition. The other cover offered £7,000 total for any one condition but didnt state that cover was for life so I'm not sure if they might not be able to terminate the policy if they felt like it. Its quite difficult to decide. The vet thought that £4,000 should be enough to cover most things but then you hear stories from some people whose dogs have cost a lot more than that for various things......
International Sheepdog Society
They have some lovely Collie themed presents as well as dog whistles etc for sheep dog trials.
Their information about dog names says that the Society permits the use of only one, simple working name for a registered dog. Working on the fields, perhaps with more than one dog, a shepherd will be able to cope with names such as "Ben", "Meg", "Cap" or "Moss". But names such as "Philip", "Flossie","Pretty Boy", etc. would be impossible to work with. They are happy to accept non-English language names. The test is that the names should, ideally, be single-syllable. This is the same advice we were given by a relative who had had a collie but unfortunately we had already named her. So lets hope the name is OK ! I am only planning to have one dog so hopefully the name will work out. Once we got her we thought of some other names such as Mystic which would have been nice. Meg was a name we had in reserve as well.
Allowed Out !
Well finally our new collie puppy is allowed out. She is now 11 weeks old and has completed her course of puppy vaccinations. So, after a last visit to the puppy socialisation class at the vet, where she met the same two poodles as last week, along with a labrador and a pug (very cute !), she finally got to go outside !
She is enjoying being out in the garden (newly fenced off !) and has been following various scents.
Our next task is to introduce her to some well behaved dogs so she can have some good experiences with meeting other dogs. In addition we need to try out "planes, trains and automobiles" ! Well maybe not all of those exactly but before 16 weeks we should expose her to various experiences. The reason for this is that puppies are very impressionable as well as eager to try new things at this age. Any good experiences are stored up by the impressionable little things and will make them more confident dogs in the future.
At the age of 16 weeks, they become much more wary. Apparently in the wild this is the age at which they leave the den and a survival tactic is for them to be wary of new things.
So between 8 weeks and 16 weeks its important to introduce them to a variety of new people and experiences. They will probably only complete their course of injections and be allowed outside at about 11 weeks so you have to cram a lot of new things into those last 5 weeks !
There are quite a number of out of control dogs that walk near us, so I want her to have some controlled good experiences before meeting some of them - and also maybe put on a bit more weight !
So I'm away to text a friend to see if her friendly spaniel is available for a "playdate" !!
She is enjoying being out in the garden (newly fenced off !) and has been following various scents.
Our next task is to introduce her to some well behaved dogs so she can have some good experiences with meeting other dogs. In addition we need to try out "planes, trains and automobiles" ! Well maybe not all of those exactly but before 16 weeks we should expose her to various experiences. The reason for this is that puppies are very impressionable as well as eager to try new things at this age. Any good experiences are stored up by the impressionable little things and will make them more confident dogs in the future.
At the age of 16 weeks, they become much more wary. Apparently in the wild this is the age at which they leave the den and a survival tactic is for them to be wary of new things.
So between 8 weeks and 16 weeks its important to introduce them to a variety of new people and experiences. They will probably only complete their course of injections and be allowed outside at about 11 weeks so you have to cram a lot of new things into those last 5 weeks !
There are quite a number of out of control dogs that walk near us, so I want her to have some controlled good experiences before meeting some of them - and also maybe put on a bit more weight !
So I'm away to text a friend to see if her friendly spaniel is available for a "playdate" !!
Friday 19 November 2010
Puppy Socialisation !
Last night Tika went along to the puppy socialisation class at the vets ! She met two poodles and apparently had a great time once she was brave enough to come out from under her chair.
We will hopefully take her along again next week as its a good chance for her to meet some puppies in a safe environment. The day after that she will be able to go outside finally ! Yippee !
We will hopefully take her along again next week as its a good chance for her to meet some puppies in a safe environment. The day after that she will be able to go outside finally ! Yippee !
Sunday 14 November 2010
Calm Sunday
Well we have now had her for two weeks and today was actually quite a calm day. Maybe she is learning ! This week she will get her second injection and a week after that she can get out in the garden and possibly for a walk. This should let her get rid of some of her energy !
We have spent today making sure the garden is secure and we only have one more gate or barrier to build.
The vet has a puppy socialisation class so we may take her to that this week although I would have thought that possibly the vets floor might have parvovirus so maybe we should wait a week. We'll let you know how it goes.
We went back from using newspapers to using the puppy mats again as we had visitors. In fact the puppy mats seem to be a bit more successful.
She has definitely learned to "Sit" and is pretty good at "Fetch" and "Bring" with a tennis ball.
We have spent today making sure the garden is secure and we only have one more gate or barrier to build.
The vet has a puppy socialisation class so we may take her to that this week although I would have thought that possibly the vets floor might have parvovirus so maybe we should wait a week. We'll let you know how it goes.
We went back from using newspapers to using the puppy mats again as we had visitors. In fact the puppy mats seem to be a bit more successful.
She has definitely learned to "Sit" and is pretty good at "Fetch" and "Bring" with a tennis ball.
Thursday 11 November 2010
Hyper Collie !
Well she is now beginning to show her true colours !
She can vary between being a very calm, sweet dog to certainly in the evening becoming a snapping, wild, full of energy challenge ! We are doing all the things the books say such as ignore her when she isnt behaving and also saying a strong "No" - "uh uh" or actually growling which seemed to work well.
However on a positive, she has learnt "Sit" and this has been useful actually to make her behave and sit down instead of jumping.
We have bought some more toys - a puppy bone from Asda and some new tennis balls for dogs from Asda which didnt have so much fluff on them to be chewed off.
We also have a stair gate up now so she is kept in the kitchen. This apparently is a good idea, apart from protecting your carpets but it also stops them being given the "right" to greet people at the door which lets them get a big opinion of themselves in the "pack" which is not what you want.
Also we discovered a new game she likes tonight - hide a dog treat in a box along with her toys. Kept her busy for a while !
I have signed up for dog training classes which begin in February !
Also she is still sleeping well in her crate at night. We have allowed her to roam the kitchen for the last few nights and that has worked well. She appears to get up to go to the toilet and then go back to her crate to sleep.
So we have reached 9 weeks with her !
Two weeks to go until she is allowed outside and I think that will help to let her run off some steam.
She can vary between being a very calm, sweet dog to certainly in the evening becoming a snapping, wild, full of energy challenge ! We are doing all the things the books say such as ignore her when she isnt behaving and also saying a strong "No" - "uh uh" or actually growling which seemed to work well.
However on a positive, she has learnt "Sit" and this has been useful actually to make her behave and sit down instead of jumping.
We have bought some more toys - a puppy bone from Asda and some new tennis balls for dogs from Asda which didnt have so much fluff on them to be chewed off.
We also have a stair gate up now so she is kept in the kitchen. This apparently is a good idea, apart from protecting your carpets but it also stops them being given the "right" to greet people at the door which lets them get a big opinion of themselves in the "pack" which is not what you want.
Also we discovered a new game she likes tonight - hide a dog treat in a box along with her toys. Kept her busy for a while !
I have signed up for dog training classes which begin in February !
Also she is still sleeping well in her crate at night. We have allowed her to roam the kitchen for the last few nights and that has worked well. She appears to get up to go to the toilet and then go back to her crate to sleep.
So we have reached 9 weeks with her !
Two weeks to go until she is allowed outside and I think that will help to let her run off some steam.
Monday 8 November 2010
Fireworks
Well we survived Fireworks night. Two nights of fireworks although the Credit Crunch has cut down the number from previous years I would say. We followed the advice of the books and turned up television noise and we didnt react to any fireworks. It seemed to work but whether that is just because she doesnt yet really have an understanding that there is a world "outside" the kitchen yet I dont know. Anyway we got through it.
We are not sure if she may have a bit of urinary infection at the moment but she is going all over the place. However she still seems bright so I am keeping an eye on her at the moment.
The crate is working well. She is comfortable in it and settles down. I have now managed to escape from the campbed and slept upstairs again last night. She seems perfectly happy now in the kitchen. The only thing is that I need to be able to hear her squeak in the night around about 3 or 4 to get out to go to the toilet - she was very good last night and just got up for this then straight back to bed. I am sure I can probably leave her with the kitchen to roam in rather than closing the crate door but I still prefer to know exactly what she is up to. We have found some toys and books are absolutely essential and I will list them if they are on Amazon. The crate we got is 36 inches long and is a good size although wouldnt be big enough if you need to be out at work for 4 hours or more. In that case you need to set up a puppy playpen area with a crate plus extra space for toileting.
We are not sure if she may have a bit of urinary infection at the moment but she is going all over the place. However she still seems bright so I am keeping an eye on her at the moment.
The crate is working well. She is comfortable in it and settles down. I have now managed to escape from the campbed and slept upstairs again last night. She seems perfectly happy now in the kitchen. The only thing is that I need to be able to hear her squeak in the night around about 3 or 4 to get out to go to the toilet - she was very good last night and just got up for this then straight back to bed. I am sure I can probably leave her with the kitchen to roam in rather than closing the crate door but I still prefer to know exactly what she is up to. We have found some toys and books are absolutely essential and I will list them if they are on Amazon. The crate we got is 36 inches long and is a good size although wouldnt be big enough if you need to be out at work for 4 hours or more. In that case you need to set up a puppy playpen area with a crate plus extra space for toileting.
Thursday 4 November 2010
4 Days Later
Well the first night with a puppy did not go as planned ! We had followed the advice of some books and thought that she could have two nights in a soft crate in one of our rooms before migrating to her metal crate downstairs (which has bedding etc in it - its not just metal !).
Anyway she became a howling, teeth flashing demon trying to get out. I doubt she was missing her littermates at all and was merely concerned with getting out. However as we live in a semi detached house, firstly we couldnt just keep ignoring the noise and secondly when I looked at her, I thought she was possibly going to get a tooth trapped in the fibres of the soft cage door. So out she came and into bed ! In fact I was even contemplating taking her back the next day but when I brought her through to see everyone else the next morning they were all happy to see her so that was the end of that ! So we now have our new family member !
In fact it has been quite an adjustment getting to know that new member of the family. However by day 5 she is now a firm member of the family and I think I am getting used to it !
She now sleeps in a crate and I took the advice of a friend and slept the last three nights in a camp bed next to her. It was supposed to be for two nights but we have found that she is pretty good at her toilet training but in fact she still needs up once in the night for a "No. 2" or a poo, whatever is the polite term for that ! So following advice from the books, I have not interacted at all with her until after she does her business and at that point its fine to praise her then settle her back to bed. So so far I had one night that was 11 - 7 with a wakening at 4 and last night she was 12 - 7 with two breaks at 1.30 and 5.
I am surviving OK on that so far as I was a bit of a latenighter before. However I am making sure I get to bed at the same time as her and get as much sleep as is possible.
Other things we got on top of is that we seem to have managed to stop her "puppy biting". A combination of sharp "Nos", ending the game is she bites and diverting bites onto her toys has worked.
Toyswise, we already had a teddy and an old baby rattle and a Kong Wubba which has been good. Today I went out and got a great ball which you can hide a treat in and there is a hole which the treat will fall out of when it turns the right way. She has thoroughly enjoyed this ball and exhausts herself chasing it. The Pet Shop also recommended a small space hopper which squeaks which you can throw to them and they bring back holding onto the handles. Apparently the feedback from customers has been good about this. However she is a bit wary of that at the moment.
Well I must go and get back to my new "routine". Oh yes and the ironing has piled up - the pile is currently the volume of an arm chair! Aargh ! Oh and the other thing is we have had lots of visitors eager to meet her so that is good and helps with her socialisation. All have to remove shoes at the door to keep the dreaded parvovirus out until after she completes her vaccinations.
And the other thing is to see how tomorrow night goes with Fireworks night. I am hoping she will be too young to notice them but if there are very loud that might be difficult.... Bye til the next time !
Anyway she became a howling, teeth flashing demon trying to get out. I doubt she was missing her littermates at all and was merely concerned with getting out. However as we live in a semi detached house, firstly we couldnt just keep ignoring the noise and secondly when I looked at her, I thought she was possibly going to get a tooth trapped in the fibres of the soft cage door. So out she came and into bed ! In fact I was even contemplating taking her back the next day but when I brought her through to see everyone else the next morning they were all happy to see her so that was the end of that ! So we now have our new family member !
In fact it has been quite an adjustment getting to know that new member of the family. However by day 5 she is now a firm member of the family and I think I am getting used to it !
She now sleeps in a crate and I took the advice of a friend and slept the last three nights in a camp bed next to her. It was supposed to be for two nights but we have found that she is pretty good at her toilet training but in fact she still needs up once in the night for a "No. 2" or a poo, whatever is the polite term for that ! So following advice from the books, I have not interacted at all with her until after she does her business and at that point its fine to praise her then settle her back to bed. So so far I had one night that was 11 - 7 with a wakening at 4 and last night she was 12 - 7 with two breaks at 1.30 and 5.
I am surviving OK on that so far as I was a bit of a latenighter before. However I am making sure I get to bed at the same time as her and get as much sleep as is possible.
Other things we got on top of is that we seem to have managed to stop her "puppy biting". A combination of sharp "Nos", ending the game is she bites and diverting bites onto her toys has worked.
Toyswise, we already had a teddy and an old baby rattle and a Kong Wubba which has been good. Today I went out and got a great ball which you can hide a treat in and there is a hole which the treat will fall out of when it turns the right way. She has thoroughly enjoyed this ball and exhausts herself chasing it. The Pet Shop also recommended a small space hopper which squeaks which you can throw to them and they bring back holding onto the handles. Apparently the feedback from customers has been good about this. However she is a bit wary of that at the moment.
Well I must go and get back to my new "routine". Oh yes and the ironing has piled up - the pile is currently the volume of an arm chair! Aargh ! Oh and the other thing is we have had lots of visitors eager to meet her so that is good and helps with her socialisation. All have to remove shoes at the door to keep the dreaded parvovirus out until after she completes her vaccinations.
And the other thing is to see how tomorrow night goes with Fireworks night. I am hoping she will be too young to notice them but if there are very loud that might be difficult.... Bye til the next time !
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