Monday 5th August 2019
Dembe was a very sleepy boy this morning, snoring his head off beside me on the sofa. He keeps making me giggle as it just isn’t possible for something so cute and dinky to snort like a warthog.
He has been entertaining himself whilst I got some sewing done this morning. I am still working on my scrappy quilt. In the afternoon we cuddled on the sofa. I had a bit of a panic when I realised I hadn’t taken any photos of him today. So I woke him up and took this one. As you can see from the glare he wasn’t impressed.
Everyone who has seen this photo agrees he looks like a stroppy teenager.
He did forgive me later and lay on my lap holding my thumb in his mouth. He is so gentle he just likes holding my thumb, doesn’t suck it or lick it just gently holds it between his teeth.
At 17.45 Sam, Sarah and Gemma came over to see Dembe. They haven’t seen him for a while. Sam is Dembe’s biggest fan, it is so lovely to see them together. Dembe came out of the kitchen once Sam was settled, ran over to Sam, jumped up and gave Sam a kiss. All very gently, he is super aware that he needs to be gentle with Sam which is just brilliant as it isn’t anything we have taught him.
Gemma, Sam’s sister, confidence has really grown with Dembe and she is no longer terrified of him. She interacted with him on her own initiative which was lovely to see. Before she has always been too scared to as she thought he would bite or jump. He does jump on occasion but he doesn’t bite he mouths. Sam bought Dembe two kong tennis balls so Dembe thought all his Christmasses had come at once! Sam spoils Dembe something rotten buying him presents. I have told him he doesn’t need to bring anything as Dembe is always just so happy to see him.
Dembe spent most of the visit trying to work out how to carry two tennis balls in his mouth. I got Sam to feed Dembe treats which they both enjoyed. It is funny as Dembe always licks Sam’s glasses – which he never does to me or his dad. He also always snuffles around Sam’s hearing aids, which must be very loud. He is exceptionally gentle though.
Tuesday 6th August
We took Dembe up the Common by 8.15am and gave him a good run around. We took him there early as we wanted to get to the vets pretty early so it would be quiet and Kate could see him for a bit. He needed to be weighed and get his worming tablet. I had been panicking that he was going to weigh in at 32kg and be told he needed to go on a diet so I was relieved when the scales read 29.4kg. Kate said he is still growing and that he was a very big dog. He still seems so tiny to us and he is now heavier than Mollie ever was. Actually he is probably heavier than Travis was.
I gave him his worming tablets when we got home from the vets. As he is now nearly 30kg he needs three. Normally he eats them straight out of my hand so I gave them to him with a few slices of sausage. He ate one tablet and spat two out and made no effort to eat them so I folded them in some ham and then went down no problem.
In the afternoon we went to Woodbury Castle for a walk and I accompanied the boys on my mobility scooter. It is such a shame that over the last two weeks Dembe’s recall has really deteriorated. He has decided it is now optional whether or not he comes back. We have gone back to basics with him. I know it is hormone related as the humping of his bed has resumed, which hasn’t happened in months.
This evening we popped over to see Uncle Paul. Uncle Paul and Dembe adore each other, they both just get so excited when they see each other. We haven’t been over to his house for a while so Dembe was running around like a loon and jumping on the furniture. Thankfully Paul was ok with that. He told me the only dog that will ever be allowed in his house would be Dembe. Paul has made a lovely job of his garden lots of pots with flowers in, it really is something special. Thankfully Dembe left them alone.
Wednesday 7th August
Jay was on a 9-6 today so took Dembe out before heading off to work. I was pottering around all morning when my parents turned up with Maggie. It is really weird that Maggie will play up at the caravan but runs and hides in my house. Dembe gets massively over excited when Maggie comes over and gets boisterous. I was trying to explain to my parents that the majority of the time he is pretty calm chewing his bones / antlers / yak chews or having cuddles.
In the evening we popped over to my parents caravan, where Maggie and Dembe played. Dembe was naughty and stole Maggie’s rawhide chew. He hasn’t had one of those before and he thought it was ace. Maggie wasn’t impressed when she noticed.
By the time we got home Dembe was fit for nothing and crashed in his basket!
Thursday 8th August
Well would you believe it??? Dembe slept until 6.21am unheard of. Yep no wake up call by him at 5am wanting his breakfast. It was so confusing both Jay and I assumed that the other must have got up for him. The shenanigans at the caravan last night must have worn him out.
I was still in bed when Jay took Dembe out for a walk. He took him for a long walk as he is on a late night tonight. He met lots of his doggie friends and had a massive game of chase which is his absolute favourite game in the whole world. He then slept for the rest of the morning still worn out from running around with Maggie the day before.
The weather was really oppressive, very humid and it was making me feel rough so in the afternoon I decided to have a lie down on the sofa as I didn’t think Dembe would settle if I went up to bed. As quick as a flash Dembe was up on the sofa too and lying on my chest.
He is so very cuddly and always just wants to be near me. He stayed on me for about 20 minutes and then got on and climbed onto the other sofa. After a few hours lying on the sofa I felt a bit better so I decided to sort out my quilt and get the three layers together.
I will never make the mistake again of trying to baste an almost king-size quilt whilst Dembe is in the house. When I started he was fast asleep, I just got the back flat on the floor when he woke up and decided that he would sit on it.
I managed to get the wadding onto the quilt backing by bribing Dembe with several frozen carrots which he immediately took upstairs to my my room to eat. It was all down hill from there!
He thought the quilt top would be the best place in the entire house at that moment to do spinnies ( chasing his own tail). I managed to convince him it wasn’t and he did for a time stay on the sofa for me.
The minute my back was turned he jumped off the sofa and sat on the quilt top again. By the time I had finished I was drenched in sweat due to the humidity. Cursing myself for having started this, when I should have waited until Jay took him out on a walk.
Friday 9th August
Dembe is 39 weeks old today, so we have owned him for 31 weeks. It seems like so much longer.
Jay was on another late night today so he took Dembe out for a nice long walk. He went to the Model Airfield and bumped into the lady that has 5 Labradors, who he runs into a lot and all the dogs play nicely together. Jay said it was Labrador central up there today and Dembe was in his element getting lots of lovely comments, what a nice boy he was, what a gorgeous face he has etc. That always makes Jays heart swell with pride.
I got some quilting done in the afternoon so Dembe slept in the lounge on the large sofa so that he could see me whilst I was working. When I finished for the day we had lots of cuddles on the sofa.
He was a bit cheeky this evening and was constantly trying to make a move on my dinner.
I had to keep lifting my plate out of the way of his snout. He would then start airlicking because he couldn’t get anywhere near it
We had a very cuddly Friday evening.
Saturday 10th August
I was really unwell today, my eyeball had managed to stick to my eyelid overnight and caused another corneal abrasion. Same eye as before (7th July). I was feeling so unwell that Jay came home from work to look after me. I ended up having to go to the minor injuries unit to get treatment for the corneal abrasion as I had a constant feeling that I had something stuck under my eyelid.
Once home we had a really quiet day with Dembe glued to my side
Thumbsucking again.
I keep forgetting to mention that this week Dembe has started to go into Jays room in the mornings after he has had his breakfast. He comes back upstairs checks on me and has a quick cuddle then he gets up and sleeps in Jays room for a couple of hours. It is the first time since the baby gate came off that he has changed the room he is sleeping in. Jay had been feeling very left out as our previous dogs used to divide their time between him and me at night. Since they passed away he has been sleeping alone ( we have separate rooms as he snores and i have insomnia. ) which he has found hard to get used to. I am so happy for him that Dembe has started going in with him.
Sunday 11th August
Thankfully my eye was feeling an awful lot better this morning. In fact I was feeling much better than I had done yesterday as a whole thank goodness.
Jay is off out to a family meal today so it will be me and Dembe home alone for a few hours this afternoon. Due to him having to travel Jay took Dembe out for a longish walk first thing this morning. As it was Sunday and early the common, well the bit where he went was empty and they saw no one. Give it a few hours and it will be teaming with people.
My plans today are to write up Dembe’s blog post – almost done and just chill – doing, as yesterday was quite stressful due to my eye injury. Dembe is as usual incredibly cuddly and looking gorgeous as always .
Ever since Jay left to go to the meal an hour ago Dembe has been on the window sill looking for him. He hates it when his whole pack isn’t together. Plus he knows it is Sunday and normally Jay would be here all day. Bless him. He has to learn that we do go out even if it is rarely!
This week we have booked a stay in a hotel for next year and we will be taking Dembe with us. We are so excited as it will be the first time Jay and I have gone away since 2006.
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