It's been a very chilly week this week, and I'm afraid I've not been very well. So there isn't much news and even fewer pics.

However, despite the weather, there is one significant piece of news ..... Sweep has graduated from his puppy collar to his bigger puppy collar! Paula from House of Zed makes some truly beautiful martingale collars. Here is the little demon wearing his new collar. It seems to be a hit. He particularly likes running round in circles chasing the tags which dangle from it, lol.



Puppy class this week was again poop and pee class. But Sweep has improved in his recall and his walking on lead. I've put in a fair bit of work with him and Simon has helped too. Sweep now knows 'sit, stay'! His party trick is to sit, stay outside the bathroom door for me. Excellent! Luckily he hasn't identified with the labradors ... otherwise we'd have loo roll all over the house!

Next week is the Christmas Party. I'll keep schtum about his costume for now. But let's just say, he has a certain look which Im gonna exploit!

Puppy class ... or should that be POOPY class?

No pics with this post ... for obvious reasons. We did take the camera, but ... em ... well let's just say the pics can't be broadcast on the WWW. LOL.

Sweep made some very nice friends, including Lucy the scottie pup and Ciara the irish terrier pup and not forgetting Jack the dalmation pup and the bearded collie pup whose name escapes me. And we met Harvey the corgi on our way home. Harvey was going for the older dogs good citizen class.

First of all we decided it would be me handling Sweep this evening. Simon took a seat on the sidelines with the camera, doing his great impression of a surly teenager. Sweep and I took our place in the circle and when he gave me his attention he got his treat. Now, as you can imagine, one small hound has a limited attention span especially when there's new friends to play with. So that exercise was a non-starter. Then we had to do some dog distraction, and one by one we practiced weaving in and out of the other pups and encouraging Sweep not to play ... or bounce on everyone that was going past him. Again that exercise will take a lot of practice.

However then Sweep decided it was time to pee. Result: one empty puppy and one red-faced Alison! Out came the mob and bucket and, many apologies later, we started our treck round the hall, weaving in and out of the other pups. That is until we got to Lucy, who Sweep decided he would hump. Then came the beardie pup who Sweep barked at, then Jack ..... Sweep couldn't get free to play so he promptly pooped all over the floor instead. So, again another red-face and lots more apologies. We finally got back to our starting position having ignored Ciara for all of a second before lunging at her and creating havoc with knotted leads!

The next exercise was sit and stay. Yeah right! Sit we can do. Stay we cannot do! Stay means Sweep completely ignores me and wanders off in the opposite direction. Recall was impressive though. He was being held by the trainer while I walked away a few steps constantly telling him to stay. Excellent ... until I said, in the most stupid high-pitched tone, 'Sweep, come'. At which point Sweep ignored me and ran off to get to Jack the dally pup again. Ho hum.

Walking to heel was a no-no. Even when being bribed with a million and one treats Sweep doesnt do THAT at all. But while waiting for our turn to go up and down the hall, he found pooping a most appropriate passtime! Purple-face ensued at this point and a quick look at the clock reassured me that there was only 5 minutes to go ... PHEW! Again, for the third time, the mop and bucket appeared.

So, where are the pictures? Well Simon did take a few ..... he thought it was funny to catch Sweep 'in the act' so to speak. Then again, to a teenager, a poopy puppy is sidesplittingly funny, especially when you see your mother's face turning from pink to red to puce! Now you realise why I havent posted them!

Better luck next week, I guess. And we'll work on the pooping in the meantime.

Busy week

We've had a busy week this week. Unfortunately puppy classes were cancelled because of unfinished works at the town hall. Hopefully they'll be back on this coming monday. But we've been doing training at home and Sweep now knows 'roll over' though he gets a bit confused by this sometimes. We managed to fit in a walk aroung our local loch earlier in the week with big brother Coco. Coco is 16 and doesn't walk quite as fast as he used to but he does enjoy his morning constitutional. So Sweep joined him in him wednesday constitutional though got a little impatient at having to stop to let Coco catch up. Of course Coco wasn't at all bothered by Sweep's tantrums and just walked straight past, totally ignoring him. Then we met the ducks. Sweep wanted to play with them but Coco stood well back. I think Coco's worked out that ducks are best left to their own devices and he tends to walk past them without batting an eyelid. That is unless there's an egg lying around. Then its a case of sod the ducks and grab the egg! He's only managed that feat once though, luckily!!! Sweep met the ducks again today and I let him get a bit closer. He's now learned why we steer clear of the ducks ..... having been hissed and quacked and snapped at! After the walk, Sweep decided to use Coco as a pillow. Well, Coco is lovely and soft, isn't he!?! On thursday Sweep decided to raid the bin to get a yogurt pot. Sweep likes yogurt, especially strawberry flavoured! He also has a taste for peanut butter. Well Im a marmite gal so the thought of having peanut butter in the fridge makes me cringe. But I relented and now Sweep has his own (tightly lidded) jar in the fridge which gets used to smear the inside of his Kong. Probably a bit more suitable than a pinched plastic yogurt pot! Unfortunately over the past couple of days big brother Coco has been quite ill. He has problems with his skin and ears which need pulse therapy with antibiotics. He also has a lot of muscle wastage in his old muscles and has become very thin. We're all very worried about him, not least because of his age. He's been with us since January 2008 when his owner had to give him up to go into residential care. But we fell in love with him within seconds of meeting him. He's a very gentle and loving giant - and a true gentleman. He also has the patient of a saint having Sweep around. If you're reading this, please spare a moment to send a good thought or a healing blessing Coco's way. We went back to the loch today, in the fog and ice, with Sweep, Coco, Willy and Ben. Having found a nice quiet (duck-free) spot, Sweep got the chance to go off the lead and have a daft few minutes charging round with Ben. Willy tried to join in but gave up and decided to dig up stones instead. Coco just stood still and had cuddles from me. Here's one manic puppy wearing off a fraction of steam, on a perfect winter's morning.

Chip Day!

We had a trip to Lockerbie today to meet the vet. I thought Sweep had come of age to get his microchipping done.
He was brilliant in the car and did what he needed to do before we went into the surgery. He sat patiently in the waiting area and didn't lunge too much towards the beautiful border collie that was also waiting.
Jo the vet came and called for us and Sweep happily trotted after her. Jo had a listen to his chest, checked his teeth and eyes and confirme that 'he's probably deerhound cross', which we kinda already knew, but I guess they like to prove they know what they're doing.
Sweep sat quite patiently while Jo got the needle ready ..... but boy oh boy did he yell when it went in!!!!! I think the whole of Lockerbie now know he's arrived. He even refused the treats I had with me. And Sweep NEVER refuses food!
But, he's done now, so that's that. I think we may have to check it's Hazel on duty next time, because Sweep learns very quickly and Im sure he'll remember Jo and the needle.
I managed to snap a couple of pics last night and here they are.
First is Sweep with two of his new brothers, Willy (black lab) and Ben (greyhoundxcollie). The feet belong to Simon and are best ignored!!!

Second is another group shot ... and as usual Sweep is in the middle of the dog pile!

Next is Sweep trying to get Tiger to play with him. Can you guess who won THAT battle? LOL! Tiger was happy to put her nose right into Sweep's bowl at breakfast this morning too, so I think he's learning a little respect for the cats. Smudge, our other cat, is still staying up a height when the boisterous mop on legs bounces around!

And last is a side-on shot of the little darling ..... before he pounced on Coco's tail!

Tonight we're going to have a lesson on sleeping in the crate WITHOUT howling. If anyone passes me in the street over the next few days/weeks - I'm the one with the dark shadows and the matchsticks propping my eyelids up! zzzzz

Getting the measure of one certain pOOpy!

Today I decided to measure Sweep to keep track of his growth. Seems like he's growth since we got him. He's 16 inches to the shoulder, though higher at the hips, his neck has increased enough to loosen his collar by a notch and his chest/tummy are 16"/13" respectively. He's a hungry little fella so I think he's gonna grow quite quickly. Having 2 picky eaters in the house it's nice to be able to put grub down and see it disappear ... and reemerge out of t'other end in one neat pile. Apols for anyone reading this who WAS eating!

Yesterday was so dark that we didnt manage any outside pics. It was raining heavily all day and Sweep refused to go out, prefering the shelter of the house eaves instead. Toilet training seemed to disappear out of the window too, with several accidents on the hall carpet. I've been standing outside and rewarding pees and poops in the right place with a morsel of food, which seemed to be doing the trick. But the rain put paid to that! However, today Sweep has gone out when told (or when carried) and 'performed' for his treat brilliantly. Phew!

I did manage to get a great group shot though ... with Sweep in the middle as usual!


Of course he's found another great spot to sleep ... my chair!

From the last 2 pics you'd think 'butter wouldnt melt ...' etc. Don't be fooled! He has some truly demonic moments too. But I think one of the funniest so far has to be when he pinched a cardboard tube from the recycling bag ... the tube was from a roll of gift wrap, so quite a bit bigger than said small puppy! Here's the shot! Unfortunately it came out a bit dark.

Sunday ... Sweep's first full day here!

So, after Saturday’s travelling and all the excitement of a new place to explore, you’d think Sweep would be so tired that he’d fall asleep and dream away for the night, all cosy in his crate Not so! I did all the right things, calmed Sweep down and tucked him in, etc. but sleep wasn’t high on his list of priorities. Two hours later I finally managed to getmyself to bed and drifted off quite happily. That was about 2.30am.

At 9am, I rolled out of bed and thought Wow, we’ve had a reasonable first night. Walked the 3 yards to the bathroom, passing Simon’s door on the way … No Simon!?! Wandered downstairs with Coco and Willy barging their way past, passed the living room to find Simon camped out with pillows and duvet on the living room floor ….. with Sweep beside him on Coco’s mattress‼‼! I wasn’t best pleased. Simon had heard a whimper (probably a puppy dream) and let Sweep out of his crate so he could keep him company. So much for the two hours settling him in his crate. Argh! Kinda wish I’d had the camera handy now!

Sweep had his first walk today … down to the crossroads and back. He seems to like walkies and did the typical daft pup thing of trying to be everywhere all at once. It’s odd walking a little’un again as I’m used to biggies. Sweep’s quite confident on the lead and has to have a few reminders that he should walk at my pace and preferably not walk between my legs without warning me first. Saves us ending up in a heap!



We stopped at Harvey’s gate but unfortunately he wasn’t in so Sweep will have to meet Harvey later in the week.

The rest of Sunday was a constant round of chasing Ben and Willy around and trying to get them to play. They were having none of it. Having tried his luck, Sweep finally gave up and played with his Kong (which had a chicken Bonio hidden inside). He managed to sneak into the middle of his new ‘brothers’ too. Good job the mattress is big!



All in all, I think little Sweep has firmly planted all four paws under our table and has made himself at home. He isn’t backwards in coming forwards either. But the most important thing is we love him. He’s a little star and brightens our lives immeasurably. Don't think he's very impressed with me trying to take his pic though!

Thank You!

Just a quick post to say I want to thank Louise and her family for fostering Sweep. I know they will miss him terribly. But they have done an incredible job teaching him some good manners. And without them, Sweep wouldn't be the confident (if a little mischievous) little pup he is today! Thank you!

He's Home!

Well, he's here, and a day early too.

This is Sweep! Of course, nothing tastes better than a quick nibble at a new friend's nose, does it!



And here's the little darling showing how confident he was in the car.




And another ... Sweep sitting (bribed of course) waiting for some grub.


And naturally he had to check out Simon's chair.



And finally for today's contribution, this is Sweep trying to get his new 'brothers' to play ... they were having none of it!



Coco has treated new arrival with disdain. Willy has pinched Sweep's kong toy and Ben has tried to hump him. So, everything as it should be here tonight ... house has that odour of occasional puddle of excitement, dogs everywhere and I'm exhausted after a 300 mile round trip.

More piccies very soon ... if he stays still long enough!

The Waiting Game!

Ok, so I've gone totally mad! Last week I saw some ickle pups for adoption and fell in love. But I held back and didn't ring or email because with three hairy mutts under my feet already, I didn't think another was a good idea. And anyway, they were all reserved. Phew! However, on monday, this changed as the homechecks had failed so, I emailed the rescue and yes, 3 of the original 4 pups were still available. So I applied by email, had a sleepless night, received a call from the rescue the following day and a 'reserved' note was added to one of the puppy's rescue blog, pending references and homechecks.

Well, I sat around for 48 hours, shellshocked at what I'd done, but growing increasingly excited at the prospect of tiny feet, pitter-pattering on the kitchen lino. What on earth would Willy, Ben and Coco think of a young whippersnapper bouncing round them wanting to play all the time? More's the point, what would Tiger and Smudge think? Our cats are fine with our dogs, but how would they react with a young'un trying to catch their tails?

Today I rang the rescue to see if our references and homecheck had been successful and yes they had. So it's all systems go now! We'll collect the little darling (hopefully) at the weekend. Ooooo, can't wait!

I'm not going to say any more than that for now. But I'll update this blog when he arrives. I think I've already said too much! Yes, it's a little boy!

Watch this space!