Monday 15th July
As usual for Monday Dembe and I were left to our own devices as Jay was on an early. As I caught up with The Handmaids Tale from Sunday night, Dembe amused himself.
I managed to get a bit of sewing done. Dembe tried to run off with a strip of fabric that I was working on. Joining 2 inch wide strips of fabric into one giant length. He picked up the end that was on the floor, the top of it being under the presser foot of my sewing machine. He is a right little tea leaf, I have found pin cushions ( thankfully no pins), my quilting gloves, stabiliser for embroidery and one of my bras on his chair in the garden!
We all went up to Woodbury common when Jay was home from work. I used my scooter up there, as I have mobility issues. It was the first time I have been up there on it with Dembe off the lead. I have always been nervous before that I would run him over. However he was brilliant. He kept well away from the wheels and only approached me when I was at a standstill. Every time I stopped he jumped up on my lap!
Tuesday 16th July
Dembe is 8 months old today, how quickly those months have gone by. It means we have owned him for 6 months. We can’t imagine life without him.
We took Dembe to the Doctors surgery today as I had an appointment with one of the gp’s. You can read about our experience here – https://wp.me/p4zBAs-yp. I don’t want to fill Dembe’s blog up with such a negative experience that I am still cross about. He was a good boy it is a shame the doctor wasn’t on her best behaviour.
The receptionist thought Dembe was wonderful as did the many patients who he met in the waiting room. He made an old chap’s day as he allowed him to fus him and had a long chat with Jamie about dogs. It was clear this old guy hadn’t spoken to anyone for ages and was head over heels for Dembe. We were so pleased with how he behaved that we are considering getting him registered as a PAT dog ( Pets as therapy) where he visits hospitals and hospices and just spreads some love.
We had a wonderful walk on the common this afternoon, I went up on my scooter again as this area was much flatter . We even had a chinook fly over the top of us and Dembe didn’t bat an eyelid.
Wednesday 17th July
Dembe is a very tired boy today. He has slept most of the day away.
He was only happy today as long as he was in the same room as me at all times. I tried a bit of training with him with the light pull today but he flatly refused to put it in his mouth. He was quite happy to touch it with his nose but not the mouth!
He had a nice walk with Jay on the common after work this evening.
Thursday 18th July
Due to Dembe sleeping all day yesterday he was an utter maniac today.
I was sorting through the dirty laundry seperating colours from whites / lights I looked up and out into the garden to find him outside with my bra ( second time this week) and my tropic bamboo washcloth! He does this in a blink of an eye. In the house his stolen items always end up on my bed or beside it. Usually Jays socks and pants. When he takes stuff into the garden he likes to take it to his favourite chair. I had to go and rescue them both.
As he was so crazy I did some training exercises with him, I have found he gets crazy when he needs mental stimulation and he loves doing some tasks and they calm him down. So we worked on stay training, I managed to get 2 metres away and him staying in a lying down position for 30 seconds. I didn’t push it as I know he can get frustrated easily, especially when he can’t fathom the point of it. I also managed to get him to lie down without having to point to the floor ( in the past even touch the floor to get him to do it). We did a few cycles of training over the hour and he calmed right down as he had been mentally stimulated – and had mummy’s undivided attention.
We treated Dembe to a tin of sardines tonight with his dinner. He loves Sardines but oh my they are smelly. We give him sardines in tomato sauce as he doesn’t need the extra oil or brine. His breath stinks for hours after LOL
We won £128 on the lottery last night – I found out this morning so I bought him a Trixie Poker Box 1. An brain training activity for him. I can’t wait for it to arrive.
Friday 19th July
Dembe is 36 weeks today!
Jay is on a 9-6 today so Dembe got out for a walk by around 7.20am just as well because crocodile was being thrown around the lounge from before 7am.
I wasn’t expecting it but Dembe’s Poker box arrived today, so that was a lovely surprise. He was immediately inquisitive.
The light is terrible in the house today as it is pouring with rain and looks more like a November day than the height of summer. So you will have to excuse the lack of photos etc today.
Dembe worked out in a few minutes how to open the box that has a flip lid. He took a bit longer with the lid that has the red handle on. Instead of grabbing it with his mouth he nudges it with his nose. He is dead proud of himself when he gets the treat out of the bos. I think it will take a bit longer to get him to take the lid off with the string handle and pull the drawer open but I didn’t want a toy that he could master in a day as that would be a complete waste of money. He is funny though as he goes over and checks it at least once an hour just to see if any new treats have been deposited. The flip top lid is always open as he does that one so easily!
He had a lovely play on the common this evening he met a one year old Cairn terrier called Poppy. As Dembe is so used to his best mate Maggie chasing him when we visit my parents he now thinks that is the job of all small dogs and poppy was only too happy to oblige! He got back to the car exhausted.
I posted this photo on Instagram and then got instantly mummy shamed for the fact he isn’t in a crate in the boot of the car and not wearing a harness. Firstly he can’t go in the back of the car as my scooter is in there. I have problems walking, even a fold down scooter is bulky. We now own a 7 seater car so even with that boot space there. is no room. Especially if I have my fixed frame wheelchair in there. He isn’t wearing a harness currently as we haven’t been able to find one that fits him properly. They are usually too tight on his neck and too wide on the body.
However I did appreciate that the person was acting out of concern and she was right in the fact if we were involved in a crash all the force would be taken through his neck. What I didn’t appreciate was the fact she did it publicly as a shaming act. There was nothing stopping her private messaging me, that is what I took offence to. After doing some research on the internet I found a harness that doesn’t break the bank and has been crash tested unlike the majority of harnesses on the market. Having taken his measurements this one should fit him well.
I don’t agree with putting dogs in the boots of car’s unless it is strictly necessary. The boot of the car is the crush zone, it is designed to crush like a concertina, crate or no crate a dog could be killed if you were ploughed into from behind. What she couldn’t see from the photo is that we have a safety net between the front seats and the rear seats so he can’t be catapulted forward between seats, plus the seat belt attachment he has on means he can’t move to between the seats. I do take her point on his neck being at risk which is why the harness is arriving today.
So I have had my first experience of being mummy shamed! It’s been a long time coming. It’s hilarious as normally people try to shame me over my sewing machines / embroidery machines or my Emma Bridgewater pottery collection.
Saturday 20th July
Oh my word Dembe is a demon child this morning. He woke me up by crying at 05.8am as he wanted his breakfast, Jay has worked a lot of earlies this week which means he gets his breakfast at 4.30am, so now he was up and hungry. He had his breakfast but the little blonde bastard wouldn’t settle. He made it quite clear one of us needed to get up. As Jay will be working until 10pm tonight I thought it had better be me. I gave up at 6.20am. My back was killing me as well so it suited me.
Every toy was out of the box by the time Jay got up at 7.30am, by 8am it was clear Dembe needed a walk as he just wouldn’t settle. However even after his walk he was being a pain in the bum finally going to sleep at 10am
He is now tucked up beside me out for the count as I transfer from his paper diary to his blog this weeks events!
Dembe’s new chews arrived today, I got him some Yak chews after seeing them recommended on various Labrador groups on Facebook. I think he likes it, I haven’t seen him for close to an hour now as he is having a good chomp. I saw him briefly and despite all that chewing there was barely a dent on the chew. He is carrying it around constantly like it is his most prized possession .
Dembe’s new harness arrived today it is called The Slow Ton harness and is one of the few on sale in the UK that have been crash tested. It fits him really well. If anyone is interested they are available from Amazon.
Sunday 21st July
I have no clue as to what is going on with Dembe at the moment but he is insisting the whole household is up and downstairs before 7am. After having a few weeks of being “allowed” to sleep on until 7.20am this is killing me. He basically sits on the bed and cries until you get up. It doesn’t matter if you stroke him he continues to cry. He has always been a whinger and thankfully I have seen on a Facebook Labrador book that this unfortunately is quite common. Before I have always panicked that he is in pain etc so rush to him to check him over. It turns out it is just he wants attention because he has been deprived of attention for a whole two minutes!
As he was so bouncy Jay took him out before 7.30am. He gave him a nice walk on what we call old common, which is called old common by us as that is the place on the common we have known the longest. He has finally settled in his bed and is fast asleep.
He has lost his Yak chew somewhere in my room. The carpet looks like someone has really bad dandruff as it has got all the tiny flakes of Yak chew all over it. At least it doesn’t smell bad just smokey.
It got really warm this afternoon, before we took him out for a walk Dembe and I were messing about on my bed, playing with toys and having a cuddle. He still likes having a cuddle during the day whenever he can.
Every time I see this photo it makes me laugh. He looks like he has taken the selfie and I have photobombed him! The look in his eye says I’m with the crazy lady!
A tiny little video from up on the common –
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