My Dog Ate My Subwoofer

Our dogs are very choosy about what they want to chew. We are very lucky that they have decided to leave well alone certain things like dining table and chairs, and lounge furniture, but have taken a fancy to door frames and any pens that we leave lying around. Every now and then they decide to take a liking to something they have left alone for months. The other day I came home after leaving Charlie and Champa with the run of the downstairs for a couple of hours. The telltale signs of some bits of plastic lying on the floor set me hunting to find what they had been chewing. Not only had Charlie managed to pull off the front cover of my subwoofer speaker, but he had also decided to chew through the speaker fabric itself, leaving a holey mess that is unlikely to play bass sounds very well in future. How did I know it was Charlie? Because as I sat down to watch TV later that evening, he decided to have another go at it in front of me. Bless him.

Charlie is not always to blame though. Having discovered a yellow highlighter pen in pieces in the garden one day that I had obviously foolishly left within reach, I set about finding out the damage, and the culprit. Apart from a bit of highlighter ink on the lounge carpet (the sort of damage we have become accustomed to), there wasn’t any problem. Finding out who did it was fairly easy when I saw our two looking up at me from the dining room. Looking at Champa’s front paws gave it away a bit!

Carry On Camping

The training comes on apace, and both Charlie and Champa have their own traits and training needs. Champa is at the stage where she doesn’t get a training treat until she has sat down, lay down, sat again, fetched a ball and sat nicely to heel. Charlie gets a treat if he manages to walk 10 paces without eating poo. Champa gets more treats than Charlie.

Our first camping trip with the dogs at the weekend went better than expected. Despite the rain, we had a great time, and both Charlie and Champa behaved themselves around the campsite – seeming not to mind being tethered by long ropes to a ground stake for most of the weekend – they were still able to run around the tents and cause some havoc pulling over the camp chairs and chewing the charcoal from the campfire. Sharing the tent with both wet dogs wasn’t as bad as we thought either – they were so tired from the days activities that they just curled up and went to sleep without problems. I’d recommend the camp site – Thistledown in the cotswolds – and I’m sure we’ll be taking the dogs again.

 Both Charlie and Champa have now been neutered. Champa was spayed on Monday, and Charlie was castrated on the same day. After a day recovering from the anaesthetic they now seem back to normal, which is good, although they are not allowed off the lead for a while until their wounds have healed which is frustrating them a bit! They are funny to watch when they have their head collars on to stop them licking their scars – they are still walking around bashing into things as they haven’t got used to the size of the collars yet. And when they try to play-fight with each other while both wearing the collars, it is very entertaining!

It’s Been A While

A couple of months since the last post and in that time the business has been picking up, with a couple of regular clients and some ad-hoc ones too. Hopefully word of mouth will get round and the business will continue to grow.

And what of Charlie & Champa? They are also growing, especially Charlie who seems to get noticeably bigger every day. And stronger, which is a bit of a problem as he still likes to pull on the lead more than we would like. We use a halti on Charlie, and a gentle leader on Champa, and both of these work well in preventing them from pulling. But we don’t want these to become long term solutions, plus they look so sad when we put them on and every time we stop, both the puppies struggle to get their collars off, so we are trying to wean them off these non-pull collars by only using them when they refuse to walk to heel continuously. Which unfortunately is quite frequent at the moment!

Off the lead, in the nearby fields or woods, they both love their walks. Champa teases Charlie to chase her, and is then surprised when Charlie actually catches her – he never used to be able to but he is now bigger and faster and although Champa can run rings around him if she wishes, she has become complacent, and he takes full advantage. She then gets annoyed and snaps at him when he catches her, which I feel is a little unfair! She definitely comes across as the boss out of the pair, which is strange as she is very, very submissive towards other dogs. The speed at which she drops to the floor and rolls on her back when meeting other dogs is incredible. The tart! Watching her trying to get lower down than a Jack Russell is very amusing though! 

Next training exercises are to improve their heel walking, on and off the lead, to try to stop Charlie eating things he shouldn’t while out walking, and to try to get Champa to actually retrieve a ball, rather than just run after it, drop to the floor and sit and stare at it until you come to collect it. Any hints and tips on these things very welcome!

Neutering time coming up for both of them. I hope they don’t resent us too much for it!

Oh – I’m currently reading “The Perfect Puppy” by Gwen Bailey, which I think is very good. Having read a lot of dog books over the years, and most recently reading a couple of Cesar Milan books, this one is refreshing in that there are a few things in there that are new to me, and it is very well written and easy to dip into. Recommended.

Water, Water Everywhere

Do you encourage your puppy to swim and enjoy water, or do you avoid the risk of infection, swallowing dirty water and the poor impact muddy paws will have on your carpets? Well, we chose the former and encouraged our puppies into the shallow water, so they could enjoy it and learn to swim should the worst happen one day and they find themselves fallen into a body of water. It is probably true that all dogs can swim naturally anyway, but a dog that is used to swimming will have a better chance than one that doesn’t.

Seeing how much they both now love the water, after the initial trepidation from both of them, has confirmed our decision. Charlie seems to enjoy ignoring the shallow slope into the water and instead go for the leap from above, four paws splayed outwards as he hits the water. Champa just speeds through the water as if it wasn’t there, emerging looking like a drowned rat at the other side, before shaking to drench anyone within a few yards of her and puffing back up into a dog-like shape. And then repeating the whole affair.

Unfortunately, what with both puppies being very sociable and loving running up to anyone nearby, and the fact that we are still in the process of training them to not jump up at anyone and everyone, can lead to some embarrassing situations where muddy pawmarks appear all over complete strangers as apologise profusely.

On the subject of water – a good trick from the wife: pop a small treat in each hole of an ice cube tray, fill with water and freeze. The puppies love to play with, and eat, the ice cubes, and they lick, crunch and chew them until they get to the treat frozen inside. A bit more interesting that just giving them a simple treat!

Peace… and a Brief Lie-In

Charlie & Champa’s training is coming on very well. We’re not obsessive about teaching them every little command – I never see the point in getting them to ‘roll over’ for example. But the toilet training seems to have finally sunk in, so to speak, and we can now think about getting the carpets cleaned! Meal times are a great example of refined dining… at least until we let the puppies actually at the food – they sit peacefully next to their full bowls until the ‘ok’ command is given, when they dive in and guzzle their food as if their lives depended on a clean bowl in under 60 seconds. To avoid the inevitable hiccups and upset stomachs that they get after such a frenzy of activity, they are even good enough to pause eating on command too – though they don’t look overly impressed at being asked to do so.

Next challenges are the walking to heel (before Charlie gets too strong for us to be able to pull him back) and the barking from Charlie. Training to stop barking is a difficult one, I find, as ‘respected wisdom’ says that you should first teach them to bark on command, then to stop – which not only seems a little backward to me (not to say confusing for the dog) but is also not an easy challenge. Charlie and Champa rarely bark, and most of the time when they do, it isn’t a problem – when they are very excited playing or when they need to go outside first thing in the morning, for example. Dogs need to be able to bark naturally, and it is right that they should be allowed to do so. But Charlie also decides he wants to bark as much as possible between being first let out, and when we feed them. As this generally corresponds to around 6am – 7:30am, this is not a very social time, and is unlikely to endear us very much to the neighbours (or, as they get louder, the entire neighbourhood).

So – how to stop this barking? We can’t go down and tell them “No!”, as the fact that we have come when ‘called’ backs up their barking. Shouting from a distance is a bad idea as it can be seen as joining in with their noise, and whispering from a distance has no use at all (after all, a very loud whisper is a shout). Waiting until he stops and then going in and praising him is the usual positive training method, and we have tried that for the last month, but the waiting can be half an hour or more (at 6:30am, 30 minutes of dog barking can seem a lot longer!) and it didn’t seem to improve matters anyway.

After some debate about the humane aspects of the solution, we have recently tried out a collar (no, definitely NOT an electric shock one!) that sends out a shot of citronella scented water when it detects a bark. We figured it was no different from us doing something like a short spray of water manually when they bark, which is another method of training, and we were determined to monitor its use and stop using it if Charlie seemed in any way distressed by it. While it isn’t quite the positive training method that we try to adopt for all other practices, it isn’t a painful punishment and is designed to deter rather than scare.

Well, 2 days in and it is looking promising. We put the collar on after we have taken them out to the garden when they first wake up, then on again after taking them for their first walk, while we are getting ready for the day. Charlie doesn’t seem to mind the collar (other than the first 10 minutes when I put it on, when he tried his best to get the collar off, then just decided it was too much trouble and gave up). Aside from the odd small yelp, which I think Charlie has worked out is the loudest thing he can get away with without setting the thing off), we have peace and quiet. He doesn’t seem at all bothered when we come in a take the collar off, or when we first put it on. He is only wearing it for 30 minutes a day and both the neighbours, and us, get a little peace, and hopefully Charlie is being well trained that he doesn’t need to bark, and he will still get fed! So far an excellent buy at £30 (Petsafe Anti Bark Spray Collar – Citronella, http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B000H3VAQ8). Being citronella based, if it doesn’t work and Charlie keeps barking, at least our kitchen will be mosquito free in the summer!

I just can’t wait for the time when Champa realises that when Charlie wears the collar, if she gets close and barks, Charlie will get a squirt of water on his chin! It will be great fun for her!

So, How’s The Training Going?

A question regularly asked of us. The question usually relates to how well we are training Charlie & Champa. Perhaps a better question is how well they are training us!

We are now trained very well at leaping from our sofa the moment either dog shows any sign of wanting to go outside. I’m sure they wind us up by just circling around a couple of times and sniffing the carpet to see how quickly we can jump up and rush to let them out while they seem to smile and settle back down in front of the radiator. Luckily, ‘accidents’ are now becoming rare (finally!) but both Charlie and Champa make sure they give us no notice whatsoever of any such slip up on the toilet training!

They have also trained us well into getting up at 6:30am. Or rather 6:20. I’m sure Charlie knows our alarm is set for 6:30 and decides to wake us up with his barking instead, ten minutes earlier, knowing that our concern for our neighbours means we will rush downstairs to let them outside.

The arm muscles are coming along well – Charlie is making sure that his pulling on the lead, leading to us having to regularly stop to ensure he stops pulling before continuing on for 2 paces before he is pulling again, is better than any gym workout. And for a 4 month old puppy, he is getting very strong!

Both Emma and myself are very good at fetching the ball too. We throw it for the dogs, they run after it. Champa drops down next to it in classic border collie pose, and Charlie plods up a few seconds later, picks it up, wanders off with it for a few paces, then drops it when he finds something more interesting to sniff or eat, and they both lose interest in the ball until we fetch it for them, at which point they pester us to throw it again.

Lastly we are getting very well trained in patience.It is the key to our supposed training of them. Patience and consistency. Not easy things to learn. That’s why dog training is more often than not, owner training.

Toilet Training Troubles

I have found in the past that friends who have just had a new baby seem to spend an inordinate amount of time discussing their offspring’s toilet habits – generally reserving their discussions for others in the same situation, but sometimes with me, and they wonder why I give them a confused and concerned look over the subject of the conversation.

Since getting our two puppies I am ashamed to say that the conversation in our household seems to be moving along similar lines. It’s scary. Discussing the frequency, location and even the detail about the motions of Charlie & Champa is something that should never be done outside the four walls of our home, but we find other dog owners, especially puppy owners, are equally toilet obsessed. I hope we grow out of this phase!

Reports from fellow dog owners that their little darlings were perfectly toilet trained within 2 days of entering the home are simply depressing. Emma would like to get our two to go to the bottom of the garden to ‘do their thing’. I would be happy if they managed to make it outside the back door. Or at least if they acknowledged that the middle of the carpet is not the ideal place to flood, rather than look proudly up at us as if to be waiting for some reward. Nearly 2 months in and Charlie is pretty good, Champa still seems to let excitement get the better of her, at the expense of our nice lounge carpet.

There – see? I’m even discussing it on the blog now! No photos on this blog post, for obvious reasons!

Champa? What’s All That About?

When asked the names of our puppies, we usually get a smile when we tell them Charlie’s name, and a confused look when we tell them Champa’s. It is usually repeated back along the lines of “Champ?”, “Shampers?”, “Jumper?” and it takes a few attempts for people to get it, often with an explanation of where it comes from.

My previous dog was called Inca. Keeping the same ‘theme’ I had in mind that my next dog would be called ‘Maya’ – ancient civilisations seemingly have the benefits of two syllables to aid easy yelling across a field, not being offensive (again, to aid yelling across a field!) and a name that generally people can spell (useful for vet’s receptionists!) and at least understand. Although I never would commit to a dog’s name until we have seen the dog and checked that it ‘fits’, I did have in mind that my next border collie would be Maya.

Then we travelled around Asia and got to know a bit about the history of the region. One of our favourite places was Laos, and the best time we spent in Laos was in the Free The Bears sanctuary in Luang Prabang, where we spent 3 weeks helping out with the 20 or so bears they have there. They have 5 cubs there and we spent a lot of time with the bear cubs – being slightly less dangerous than the 200kg adults we were at least able to interact with the cubs. One of the cubs was a poor little thing who had suspected hydrocephalus, as well as being almost blind and a little deaf. She had to be in an enclosure on her own for much of the daytime (though I believe she was to be moved in with the other young bears shortly after we left) as she would never win any competition for food, and kept bumping into things. She was called Champa, and the name suited her as it suits our Champa now. Champa is an ancient kingdom that covered much of Vietnam and some of Cambodia and Laos from the 7th to the 19th century. In honour, and memory, of Champa the bear cub, we decided to call our border collie Champa. 

Welcome

When we first went looking for our puppies, we tried to ensure we were happy with the breeders and their background before we set foot in their homes to view the puppies. I knew all too well that ALL puppies look really cute, and as soon as you see one you will want it, so the concept of visiting a few different litters and making our choice of puppies from a big selection was just not going to happen. So long as the breeders were nice, the puppies healthy and puppies’ parents were friendly, I knew neither myself nor Emma would be able to say no to the first puppy we saw!

Decision number 1 was the breeds. As a lover of border collies, there was only one choice for me. As someone who has always wanted a chocolate labrador, Emma’s mind was also made up. Hence we went for one of each!

Decision 2 was the sexes – again this was easy. I have always had bitches, Emma always dogs.

Decision number 3 was a lot harder – a puppy from a breeder or a rescue dog. This was a tough one and a decision that we changed our minds on a number of times before getting them. Rescue dogs is certainly the ‘better’ choice – there are too many dogs out there in rescue shelter to not give it serious consideration. For a number of reasons (I may cover in a future post) we decided to go for breeder-dogs this time around, and to commit to getting rescue dogs in the future. It is a personal decision for all, and I would not (and obviously cannot!) criticize anyone for opting to go for a dog from a breeder rather than from a rescue centre, but everyone should at least consider a rescue dog as an option.

Decision 4 was where to get the puppies from. We decided the breeders had to be kennel club registered – not because we wanted perfect examples of the breed from a long line of champions, with posh sounding kennel names, but simply because we did not want to get a puppy from an unregistered breeder. So, with a lot of help from Emma’s mum, Janet, while we were away, we found the breeders in our area, did some ‘vetting’, narrowed down to those with litters ready soon after we got back from travelling, and visited them.

My first impressions of Charlie was a fat, miserable looking dog, who still managed to look cute. Emma loved him. Well in fact, Emma loved the whole litter and couldn’t decide which one to go for, so I helped out and picked the one who looked awake, but not too over-eager.

Emma’s first impressions of Champa was an over-excitable psycho who seemed covered in poo. Despite the fact that we do both love both puppies, we still maintain these views to some degree, but they do seem to be just typical of their breeds – he is lazy and stubborn, she is excitable and easily bored.

But we loved them and couldn’t wait to get them home.

Good Luck!

That is the usual response we got when telling people we were getting two puppies at the same time. We were aware of the problems – bonding too closely with each other rather than us, teaching each other bad habits, being hard to control together and hard to train. But that didn’t put us off and it seemed the right thing to do. Finding two perfect puppies so soon after our return from travelling was a great stroke of luck, finding two that were ready to be picked up at the same time was even luckier. So welcome to Charlie, our chocolate labrador, and Champa, our border collie.

We then discovered the benefits of having two puppies – they get on really well together and keep each other company when we are not around or are too busy to play with them, they wear each other out nicely when playing and they (sometimes) teach each other good habits!

This blog will aim to be irregular, but frequent, updates on their progress, and on ours! Brief posts will be the order of the day, with photos as we get good ones. The puppies are a new venture for us (though both myself and Emma have had dogs around the house in the past, and I have owned a lovely border collie, Inca, a few years ago) to go along with the other changes in our lives – returning from a year travelling, Emma looking for a new job, myself looking to make myself useful doing volunteering work and starting up a ‘labour of love’ business doing some dog walking locally – www.chocolatetortoise.com.

Please add comments as you wish. We hope the blog will be of interest to our friends and family, for us to re-read in later life when the puppies are no longer puppies, and maybe of interest to visitors on our dog walking website. Join us on our journey through puppyhood!