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.