Lessons Learned.

As we are approaching week 4 of dog ownership I though a little update on how Smartie was adjusting to life with us.

For a rescue, I would imagine that depending on what history you are aware of you should introduce everything slowly and as if it was a new experience. In truth, he may have done everything before but not with you so I guess in that respect it is a new experience.

Smartie has long elegant nails and I thought a visit to the groomer might be a good way of letting him enjoy being pampered and also getting used to someone other than us touching his paws. I made the appointment and arrived on time. I bundled my little ball of energy out the car, grappling with his lead. As I swung a leg behind me to close the car door Smartie headed off with me floating behind directionless like a paper kite. The groomer met us at the door looking rather bemused as Smartie had a sniff at her, bounced at her legs once or twice and then cocked his head from side to side working out what direction he should head in. To the horse noise, the dog noise or the children squeal noise?

Just as I had gathered a modicum of decorum a puppy spaniel with the floppiest ears came racing from around the corner to meet the ‘wild dog’. I allowed the dogs to have immediate eye contact. (WRONG!) I allowed him to rear up on his hind legs. (WRONG) and then I reverted back to paper kite mode whilst a little chase ensued. (Yes I know! WRONG!)

Grooming lady was looking as though she was about to explode. I don’t think she knew quite where to begin. Thankfully she started at the dogs’ feet and explained to me how his nails were fine. If, when the dogs paw is firmly on the ground the nails don’t touch the floor then the nails are ok. She did compliment him on his long elegant toes and nails but that was where the good comments ended.

I was about to turn tail and begin the drag back to the car when a firm hand gripped mine and removed the dog leader from my hand.

I learned lots of things very quickly as the ‘matter of fact’ manner with which grooming lady had decided to use, began her speech. It seemed to me that she had so many ‘corrections’ to tell me that the best way was to say them quickly.

She informed me that as a relatively new dog owner having not had a dog for some 11 years, that I was an idiot for choosing to adopt a ‘problem’ dog. She told me that Staffies and Staffie crossbreeds where probably the highest maintenance dog on the planet. I was told that aggression could come to fore at anytime. She told me I was allowing him to be the pack leader and with that came heavy responsibility of protecting us all. This is when aggression could be shown. I understood this. The harness I was using was enabling him to pull; the leader I was using was giving him too much freedom and also allowing him to lead me where he wanted to go, again, giving way to him being pack leader. I was told that until he could walk by my side at my pace he wasn’t ready to be off the lead. She also told me that‘re-call’ was a pipe dream with a dog so easily distracted and so obviously in charge.

I sucked in my breath, had a talk to myself in my head and decided that punching the grooming lady squarely on the nose was not an option. She was deeply bereft of people skills…. The image of the nose punch went away and I replaced my facial expression with a one of acceptance. She was a dog person…. She wasn’t going to pander to my needs and treat me with kid gloves. I needed the short, sharp shock tactics.

At this point she walked up the street… with my dog. I could hear echoes of “No, no, no, no” and “Sit, Sit, Sit” and then “Stay, Stay, Stay” ….
This went on for some time. The stop/start movement, the noises, the pokes in the ribs…
“Walk on!”
I sighed as I watched the amazing transformation in what seemed like 18 hours but what was actually 50 minutes. She had him sitting and walking, staying and stopping on command.
She brought back a rather bewildered and shell-shocked looking Smartie and handed me his leash. As she told me a few other tips Smartie sat at my feet and didn’t make a move. I was no longer a directionless paper kite!
Dogs need boundaries; they look to us for direction and instruction. It is our job to make the dog feel protected and not to burden them with responsibility they could never cope with.

I offered to pay this lady for her time, it was the least I could do. She refused but she did offer her services to me later this week. She asked me to bring him over one evening and she would work with me again, this time allowing me to be the pack leader. I accepted.

When I arrived home I began to tell the extraordinary tale to my husband who responded quickly by grabbing the dog and lead and a pot full of tasty treats and went off into the garden to try out all of the new commands. Smartie excelled. The short session was brought to a close with a game of fetch.

On Sunday I had arranged to go to the RSPCA spring fair where we would be seeing all of Smarties former carers including his foster mum. I was a little anxious wondering how he would behave but showing a united front, we all got ready to go. Smartie was ready with his new half choke-chain collar and short leather leader. Packs of tasty snacks where handed out to all of the adults and we were on our way….

If I had dreamed the outcome of this outing it would have been acceptable to me, however it was not a dream. Smartie sat nicely; he was calm and happy as we chatted to the kennel carers. He wagged his tail and accepted treats. No jumping, no running off, no barking. Was this really the same Smartie that was a bundle of excited, uncontrollable energy only the day before? He had a little jump when he saw his former forster carer but we had to allow him that. She cried and cuddled him and thanked us for loving him.

This is just the beginning.

Our New Addition to the Family

I had never considered what I would do when my children didn’t need me to ‘look after’ them anymore. I know the old saying, you will always need your Mam and Dad and I agree with it whole heartedly. It’s the time when you children no longer rely on you for entertainment or to stay home with them. That period of time when they have reached adulthood, have their own friends, their own itineraries even though they still live at home.

With my son now 22 years of age, working full time, having his girlfriend and constantly booking holidays it is rare that I see him. I still wash for him, feed and clean up after him but he’s not reliant on me for anything other than that. My daughter, well, it is a little different with her as she and I are very close and we probably do more together now as friends than ever before but of course you still have that empty feeling when you realise she doesn’t need me to take her to the doctors, or to be home after college and things like that. She is 18 years of age in July and of course she has her boyfriend and will be going off to university in September so I guess I will feel a little worse then!

I have thought about this so much lately and I decided it was perhaps time to talk to my husband about it. I explained that it was time for the two of to start living our own lives. Perhaps we should start planning things for just the two of us…. I decided that later in the year we should go to York for a long weekend. We both love York. “Ooooh, yes! That is a great idea! Count me in!” exclaimed my daughter from the depths of the living room. That’s ok; we can have a nice summer holiday, just the two of us. It will be nice not having to create activities to suite younger people. We’ll be able to potter around Bulgaria as we wish.
“Gabriella and I will come with you, if you let me know the dates.” Said Allen….
“I would like to go on another holiday with you and Dad too but could Scott come?” Said Andrea…

You can see how this is going can’t you… I’d rather have it like this than to have them not want to be around us as we grow older. It’s with all of this in mind that we decided to get a dog to live with us. We love dogs; we love animals to be honest. We have always had to work such long hours, full time that having a dog was never really a viable option. Now though, things have changed. My husband works shifts so that means the length of time any dog would be expected to stay home alone is reduced to no more than three hours. We have always thought that if the time was right for a dog it would have to be a rescue dog. We would only want to give a home to a dog that hadn’t had much insight to love and regular food and cuddles, a dog that could truly feel safe for the first time in a long time and for a long time to come.

I spent the next three months scouring the online rescue sites just looking for the ‘right dog’ for us. We wanted a dog that was calm and not too young. We wanted a dog that wouldn’t have separation issues, no aggression and one that didn’t mind the small furry animals that already lived with us.

I was beginning to think that we would never find one. How strange when there are so many dogs out there looking for homes and yet here I was, struggling to find one. I knew I was asking a lot of any dog. The small furry animals was a much bigger issue than I thought it would be and it seemed that for the majority of dogs their natural instinct was to chase small animals.

Eventually I saw on our local RSPCA web site a dog called Smartie. He was a Staffordshire Bull Terrier Cross. He was only one year old but was living with a foster family as he hadn’t coped well with kennel life. This dog had been scalded and beaten and his wounds had been left open and uncared for. He was starved. Eventually a neighbour reported the owners and the dog was taken away by the RSPCA. A court case followed and the RSPCA ‘won’ their case. (I don’t think they ever see these cases as a victory in a glorified way, only that it meant that the dog or animal was safe from any further cruelty and the people responsible were held accountable. I doubt anyone would think the punishment was sufficient but at least they had done all they could within the perimeters of the law.)

Smartie was waiting for his forever home. His foster mum had written that Smartie was a god boy, he didn’t chew, he was house trained and he could stay home alone. (As long as you didn’t leave things lying around as he likes to take things to his bed) He knew basic commands and was very good on the lead.

I made an appointment for everyone who would be in this dogs’ life to meet him. We all trooped up the local RSPCA centre. My self, my husband, Allen and Andrea, my dad, his dog and one of our degu’s in a little carry case. The meeting went very well and Smartie seemed to like us all. We took him for a walk and saw how good he was on the lead, how good he was with Scruff and how happy he seemed. He didn’t show any interest in Edgar, our little degu, so we knew then he was the one for us. We signed the adoption papers and were told to wait for the home check. Home checks are vital as it gives the organisation a chance to see where the dog will live and it gives you an opportunity to ask questions. They checked our garden fence and gave us the all clear. All the home-check lady had to do was to hand in her paperwork and all we had to do was to wait.

I love a happy ending….

Smartie lives with us now. (Three weeks today and I have to say he is different dog to the one we brought home) He is fun loving and happy and loves snuggles. He can walk and play for as long as you are able to and he is always happy to snooze in the sunshine. Smartie loves food and that is probably one of the very few things that I can say is a negative point. He is very greedy but when you realise he went so long not knowing where his next meal would come from I think you can understand. It’s a fixable trait. Other than that he seems to have fit in perfectly with us. Living in the same room as Edgar didn’t go to plan though and although he shows no aggression at all he was ‘overly interested’ in Edgar. We decided it would be better for Edgar if we moved him so he is know living happily in Andrea’s room with the other 4 girl degus. He gets plenty of attention and we all go to see him. He seems happy and I am sure he is more relaxed without having a dog’s nose poking though his cage.

I would like to introduce you to our dog Smartie.

Blame it on the Weather…

I can’t believe I am entitling the Export template as ‘Week 7’! Where does the time go to?
Isn’t it a fact that the older you get the quicker time seems to pass… I know, it goes no quicker or slower whatever your age but the perception is much different isn’t it? I find myself deliberately doing little to nothing on a Sunday to make the day appear longer… Obviously with that you get a serious feeling of regret due to wasting an entire day.

I can’t wait for Spring to spring! I long for the nights to be lighter, for the colours to brighten up and for the fear of one last snowfall to be gone. My dad has a theory based on an old wives tale so it is of course 100% true. *!*

“February fill dyke, be it black or be it white”

It would seem it will work either way for us, it has been both black and white lately! As I was driving up the hill to my house which is one of the same hills that the weather people always mention… “The snow will be more significant on the Hills…” My dad noticed the dykes along the fields were all filled with snow. He sucked in his breath and shook his head. February Fill-dyke….. White.

I still have an eerily quiet garden… I am not used to the peace as we always have so many visitors. I am still blaming the Sparrow hawk… It doesn’t stop those silly squirrels though… they visit whatever…

If you can’t watch the antics of the garden visitors then you have to find something else to watch and dad and I did just that. The Jazz Singer! I was brought up with the soundtrack and I like nothing better than to cosy-up on the sofa and sing through a film! *oooh baby baby* I actually found the character Neil Diamond played in the film to be very annoying… self-centered and arrogant, but these are newly made assumptions that have come to me over time. Jaded with experience perhaps? If you concentrate on the songs he becomes less annoying….
*I’m amazed, I’m confused.
I’ve been dazed, I’ve been used*
I’ve only got one particular blot on my landscape this week and that is the looming-large appointment we have with the Damp-man… yes, you guessed it… We have damp issues! (I blame the weather….) I’m hoping it is a relatively cheap fix but of course it won’t be…. I may have to take my sing-a-long-The-Jazz-singer ‘show’ to the streets along with my dads cap….

Putting it all down on paper….

The wind is frantic this morning. I could have said the wind is strong, or the wind is wild but I prefer to use the word ‘frantic’ for if it were visible it would appear to me as something frantic! In a hurry and in a muddle, not sure of where it wants to be or which direction it should be headed.

Wind scares me, you can’t see it so you have no idea of the danger it can herald. I hate it when I am driving and I have no control as it slams into your vehicle and you feel the impact, you just pray you are still heading in the same direction you were and that you are still in the correct lane.

Wind aside I feel I have nothing noteworthy for my blog. Does that stop me from posting? You bet your life it doesn’t. I have always prided myself on the fact that I can talk or write about nothing noteworthy like a pro!

I think for me, this is the opportunity I have been waiting for where I can lay all my ‘stuff’ out in neat paragraphs. All of the things that are whizzing around in my head that although are not stories in themselves at the moment, given time they will be….

Edgar. Edgar is a worthy recipient of an entire blog-post. I want time to get together some photos and if I can wangle some help from someone… *yes… that means you* I may even try and up/download a video. Edgar is my Degu. He lives in a large cage that sits neatly in the corner of my living room. He is the most intelligent little rodent that I have ever had the privilege of meeting. He is only one… Degus should never be kept in captivity alone. They are social animals who need to be with their kind. I have a solution for Edgar that I will share with you later but whilst he is alone and I am his family he is providing me with an insight into his behaviour which is very interesting and highly entertaining.

Andrea. Andrea is my daughter… she has applied and has had a (two) conditional acceptance(s) to Teeside University. At first she was determined to live at home… However, now we are looking at her staying in the halls. How will I cope without my heartbeat in my daily life in person?

Andrea. She figures an awful lot in my list of worries… Her English tutor has just left the area to begin employment in London. He has been vital over these last few months helping to focus my daughter on certain aspects of her Literature. They are going to continue the tutoring session via Skype! I am sure the blog fodder that this is going to produce will be immense! My daughter… technology and her inability to talk on the phone never mind to hold a conversation with a man on a laptop screen.

George. My dad has a broken shower. I managed to get him a new one at the weekend and now I just have to find someone to fit it. My husband is very handy however, with electrics he is reluctant. He fears inadvertently killing my dad with the water and electric combination and spending the rest of his life in prison. I told him not to worry. There is no way he would get life. Probably a couple of years tops!

My house. The constant deluge we have had of wetness has brought to light a rather extensive damp problem…. Who can help, how much, what work it will entail. This only worries me because I hate upset. I hate mess… it’s as if my daily life is interfered with and it causes stressful feelings. My dad has always said that I have underlying OCD issues. I have never thought they were underlying…..

See? No blog post as such just a little teaser to what you may get in the not-so-distant future and into the bargain, I have managed to offload all of the worries on my mind this morning!

For the record my son Allen at this moment in time has given me no worries relating to his (or my) well-being. Best not to tempt fate…..

A Dog or a Lamp?

Looking for a rescue dog that will co-habit with 5 degus and 2 hamsters is not proving to be an easy task. I am slowing up on the search. I did tell my husband that if there was a dog out there meant for us then the situation will present itself to us. I am leaving it all to fate!
Having put that little task to one side I am left with another quandary… how to bring my husband around to the idea that we need a new standing lamp…
(Dog to standing lamp… smooth…NOT)
I know you can get reasonably priced ones but isn’t it always the case, when you see one you love, and it is expensive, you decide its too expensive but none of the others come up to that level after you have seen the perfect one.
The lamp I want is this one…

Isn’t it lovely, a little out of my price range at £135.00? I took a great opportunity and mentioned said lamp to my husband in a rare moment during the football when Newcastle United were winning. Catch him a good mood….
He mentioned something about saving for it. I think he was only half listening. What he doesn’t know is that we have a ‘savey club’ at work and since January 2nd this year I have been saving… £140.00 to date which is good in one month. He hasn’t even missed it from the bank or his wallet  haha *seriously only joking*

Anyway… I needed to get the dogs and lamps out of my head and get on with some work, at work, but just before starting time I thought I would complete my morning ritual and check the local rescues to see what dogs were looking for homes….
*Rolls eyes incessantly at self*

I found Eddie, a 3 year old male boxer dog and Star, a 1 year old male Beagle mix hound.

It can’t hurt to email my hubby I thought… So I did just that.

I have just received his response…..

Subject: RE: Eddie & Star from Deerness….

I thought you wanted a lamp? Love D XX

SO… he WAS listening….

Bird Watching Afternoon.

We do enjoy the RSPB Big Garden Bird watch. It can be quite an event in our house and this weekend it was no different. I had chief bird watcher in charge of the proceedings. My dad was also in charge of the pencil and check list… V.I.B.W. (Very Important Bird Watcher)

Things started slow, it was a milder afternoon than we had had in the past few days. There was still snow but the thaw was well under way. The feeders were filled to the brim of all manner of tasty treats to tempt our feathered friends.

“Dad! Two blackbirds… over there by the fence!!”

My enthusiasm was a little too much but my dad seemed to like it.

“ Yes, yes, I have got them down now… just two? Is that not a third one there?”

He points in a very general direction.

“No dad, that is the back of the other one behind the trunk.”

They left as quickly as they arrived, the noise could almost have been deafening if it wasn’t for good double glazing.

“The Sparrow hawk is coming.” Dad remained deadpan as he made the announcement.

“How do you know?”

He stayed straight-faced.

“The Blackbird told me…”

I nod… and quickly open up a new tab on the laptop and Google ‘Straight Jackets’.

I had barely got the S-T in and swooping down from above and landing squarely on the largest branch of the apple tree was the Sparrow Hawk! He searched the area with greedy-eyes and then flew back to the other tree on the other side of the garden. Settling, he continued his visual search and he must have seen something moving on the large tree over the fence and he was up and away so quickly. He glided straight over the fence of our garden and slap-bang into the net of the neighbours’ trampoline. I knew that thing had to have a good use as it never has any children on it! With not an ounce of dignity left he flapped a few times then he took his embarrassed self away from the tree and off into the distance he fled!

I turn to my dad seated next to me with a very smug look on his face.

The garden fell silent for the next few minutes as is usual after a sparrow hawk visit.

The brave arrived shortly after the hawk had left. Safety in numbers!

“5.. Tracey, 5 long tail tits.. 7! 7! There are two on that feeder…10! Count them Tracey!”

I concur! There was indeed ten Long tail Tits, as they took to each feeder, flitting from one to the next like busy little mice-birds..

The feathered flood gates then opened. It was a wonderful sight! A robin, little and fat and very proudly sticking out his red-breast was fluttering upwards in a very undignified manner as he tried to feed from the fatty cake in the square cages. Usually feeding from the ground, this was a strange thing to see. As he dangled and fluttered the tits came in, Coal tits – 2, Great tits, 2…3, Blue tit, 1… and so the count went on. The blackbirds, already counted arrived, the second Robin arrived and was very quickly seen-off just as we checked another ‘I’ on the checklist. As quickly as they arrived they left and the garden fell silent.

“Rabbit!” dad has his wiggly finger out again aiming it to the bottom of the garden.

“It’s a bird watch Dad.” Seems I should point it out.

“I wonder were the squirrels are today?” He seemed undeterred by my mention of the animals not being allowed.

As we sipped on our hot coffee and chatted dad spotted the newest visitors. I was not so sure about the ‘Safety in numbers’ statement for these chaps but one after the other the Wood pigeons arrived. We live opposite a very large farmer’s field so we are used to the arrival of these guys in large numbers. Very early on a morning is the best time to catch them all. I have had up to thirty in at one time. (Approximately!) This time was a rather lesser number of 8. Impressive for our list though. Dad marked them all on the list and as he added the last strike for 8, number 9,10 and 11 settled at the lower part of the garden.

Other birds arrived and departed over the hour, we made sure we didn’t do any false accounting and we had an impressive list by 3pm.

The only notable no-show was the Woodpecker. We had visits from the Jays, two of them. The mystery bird we had two of we think they were young male blackbirds… I wanted them to be Field Fare but I think that would be false accounting.

All in all it was a very enjoyable hour spent appreciating and getting swept up in the excitement of the Big Garden Bird Watch.

Lonely in the Snow

As the snow brings the Country to an almost standstill once again, I hear myself harping on about the past. “They would never have coped if they had the snow we had as youngsters!” It is true though. To digress slightly, I took a phonecall last week from a man saying he wouldn’t be in for his shift as it was snowing…. Erm yes?? So what? You are just going to give up and stay home, go sledging with the kids? Not even an offer of putting a holiday in? I have walked 2 miles to the nearest bus stop and navigated the tricky bus protocol which is foreign to me. Apparently you can’t sit in the very front seats. You have to keep them free for those who can’t make it further up the bus.
I don’t like to drive on snowy or icy roads even though my car is ok and able to handle it well. I hear people saying that if you can’t drive in it you should stay off the road. No problem! I can adhere to that one. Small sacrifices though. My car is ok but my sons sporty little number isn’t so good so we hatched a plan that enables him to drive my car as long as he drops his old mam off along the way. Perfect? Not so much… he starts work at 6.30am.
So here I sit, all alone in a large empty office. It is eerily quiet. I’m all wide-eyed as I realise that the first person in has to get busy quickly! Changing the calendars, emptying the dishwasher and opening the windows to let in some air. It is almost like being at home.
The forecast is threatening one last heap of snow before the temperatures rise early next week. I think we have floods to look forward to then…
If I could sit in my conservatory, with a steaming hot mug of coffee all day long I would want it to snow forever. In my fairytale world that would be perfect, sitting and watching the birds as they fought for a morsel. Seeing the squirrels, busy fools, collecting nuts and hiding them. Returning later and trying to remember where they buried them.

Reality bites though. Instead I sit here in a lonely office after navigating a snowy and icy hill. After rising at the unearthly hour of 4.45am and dowsing my face with cold water in a hope of short, sharp wake-up shock. After spending a much too large portion of my working day yesterday trying to work out why my Dads Sky system is telling him that there is no satellite signal. After ringing all the bus depots to make sure my daughter can get home from college and after realising that my fairytale conservatory roof is leaking….

Don’t forget that this weekend is the RSPB Bird-watching weekend. (UK)

Have a wonderful weekend. Yeah! A lie in tomorrow!