Monday 9th September
Today Dembe and I were totally shattered after our busy Sunday. He spent a lot of the day sleeping and I spent a lot of the day being jealous of the fact he was! I felt barely human until gone 2pm.
Dembe had quick bursts of energy during the day which mainly consisted of emptying his toy box all over the lounge floor. He is loving his new antler chews which Jay bought him yesterday and the bear that Julie & Nigel gave him.
Tuesday 10th September
Jay had the day off work today so at around 10.30am we took Dembe to the vets to be weighed. He now weighs 32kg and is 23 inches at the shoulder. The vet staff said he was ok as he has a waist but we need to be careful from now that he doesn’t get overweight. The thing is if anything he is having less of everything he was having before so it was a bit of a shock to find out he now weighed 32kg. Which was the same weight as Willow our Weimaraner who passed in 2017.
We went up to Tesco after the vets to do some more socialisation and environmental training with him. We only popped in for 3 items but it took us 40 minutes to get around such is the size of the Dembe fan club. He got so much love from the staff and customers, who were all brilliant at asking for petting him.
This afternoon we cut his stupidly long dew claw. We had to wait until he was asleep and then practically pin him down as he hates his nails being cut. We have done it regularly since he came home with us but for some reason he has decided the nail cutters are the work of the devil! This was the glare I got afterwards.
Tonight was our first night back at dog training after the summer break. It was good to get back to it. Dembe was good apart from the barking trying to get a Giant Schnauzers attention all evening. He tried to get Suki’s attention all night with a variety of vocal techniques. Thankfully when doing the exercises he was quiet! He did some work with the trainer and refused a biscuit when the trainer offered it to him. Probably because he knew there was better on offer. He was then given a bit of dried liver, which he chewed. To be fair Dembe has always chewed his food but it surprised the trainer who joked he was the first Labrador he had met that chews his food!
Dembe does get bored easily and when he does he lays on the floor refusing to move. Jay now starts dancing in front of him to get him moving as it is something different. Dembe always jumps right up!
Jay is becoming so much more confident training Dembe, the bond between them is just deepening through this which I love. I get to spend every day all day with Dembe so its important Jay has some Dembe love too.
Wednesday 11th September
Dembe and I were both shattered after Tuesday. We had a really lazy day with lots and lots of cuddles on the sofa.
I had spoken to the trainer last night about a few issues I was having with Dembe – grooming being one, he has always hated this from being a puppy. At 8 weeks old a brush on his fur would send him into attack mode. His baby brush is covered in teeth marks. So as advised by the trainer today I started the first of his daily grooming sessions. It went very well, by the end of it I think I may have convinced Dembe that this is a nice thing to do. There was a lot of bribery involved and treats given but my goodness what a lot of hair came off him.
A friend popped over with my raffle prize today. Dembe disgraced himself by lifting up her skirt and then shoving his nose in her crotch. I wanted to die. It is the first time he has done that to anyone and no one was expecting it. This was what Frankie used to do to all my female friends and I would always knew who had their period because his nose wouldn’t leave their crotch the whole time they were here. Thankfully everyone laughed it off as just Frankies thing, some probably actively avoided us that week! I have no clue why Dembe did this but he has also just done this to my mum ( who popped over on Saturday morning). Maybe another thing to speak to the trainer about.
He loves walking around with his antler chew in his mouth looking like a pipe.
Dembe has started being picky with his food. It is taking him an hour to eat his evening meals. There is nothing wrong with him as he is eating treats etc fine and he will sit and beg at the fridge whilst he is supposed to be eating his dinner. In fact he has slowed down so much with his eating that we have switched back to a normal bowl rather than his slow feeder.
Thursday 12th September
Dembe and I are still bloody shattered. I have no clue what is up with us this week. All we both want to do is sleep. Jay is on an early and left the house just after 6am. The next thing I knew it was 8.20am and we were both only just waking up. I could have slept for hours but my back was sore and I had to take my morning meds.
I groomed Dembe again this morning and got even more off him. He sat for me better today and I didn’t have to chase him around the lounge, which is always a bonus!
At lunchtime Jay came home and because the weather was dry we sat outside for a bit and we played ball for a bit with Dembe.
He slept loads this afternoon whilst I did some sewing. I did wonder how on earth I would get to do anything when he first came home with us. He had to be watched like a hawk and always had to be as close to me as possible. Now however he will happily take himself upstairs and sleep on Jays or my bed . He will also sleep in the lounge and ensure he can see me by always being in my eyeline.
He decided to play silly buggers again with his dinner. He sat and begged at the fridge, we left his food down until he finished it and he got nothing extra until his plate was clear. He is just trying it on at the moment.
Friday 13th September
Dembe was an utter pain in the arse overnight, constantly moving around on and off the bed. He went into Jays room at 1.30am after Jay had taken him outside in case he wanted the toilet but all he did was lie down on the grass. He spent the majority of the night with Jay after that. Thankfully we all got some sleep then.
He didn’t wake up for breakfast until 6.30am but again he messed about for well over an hour eating it. He kept walking away from his bowl, begging for food or getting toys out of the toy box.
As Jay was on a late night he took him for a nice long walk up the common this morning. He came back absolutely shattered – shit nights sleep perhaps? He went straight to sleep for a few hours.
My friend Sandra popped over at Midday. Dembe greeted her like an old friend and showed none of the nervousness or fear that he did last week. In fact he covered her in kisses he was that pleased to see her. Sandra stayed for an hour or so and Dembe just wanted her attention the whole time.
Dembe was very good again whilst I did a little bit of sewing. He is such a cuddly boy today. I don’t remember a day where i have been kissed as much by him.
He ate his dinner fine tonight as there was the addition of a tin of sardines in tomato sauce mixed in. He is a cheeky fecker.
Saturday 14th September
Mum and dad popped over this morning as Jay is working 10-7 today so we will both be too knackered to go to the van tonight. Maggie was hilarious running into the house picking up Dembe’s duck and then trying to run back out of the house with it. Dembe as usual got over excited so I had to have him on the lead for a bit as he wanted to do zoomies in the house which I won’t allow as there are too many things he could bang into and injure himself on.
He was shattered after their visit and barely mustered a bark when his dad came home for lunch. As it was nice we sat outside for part of Jays break.
Dembe was really crazy by the time Jay got home from work despite having a walk in the morning. On his walk this morning he was playing with a German Shepherd, his owner asked Jay if his name was from the TV show The Blacklist. When Jay confirmed it was he said ” that is so F**king Cool”. So Jay and I had a proud parent moment as our furry kid has a cool name LOL
Sunday 15th September
Dembe woke up at 6am for his breakfast, he was still a little toad about eating his food. He ate half of it then left it for 90 minutes until after he got back from his walk and was ravenous! He polished it off in one go then.
We promised our friend Becky that we would go to Tesco Honiton today to see her as she was working. She really wanted to meet Dembe. We had a nightmare journey with Google maps taking us on a journey of epic proportions. It was utterly ridiculous as we found ourselves being taken through Ottery St Mary. In all the years I have driven to Honiton ( obviously not the last 6 years as I have had no licence!) I have never ended up going through Ottery St Mary! We totally ignored Google maps on the way home and went the way we knew.
We got to Tesco at around 11am and it was very quiet, which was great for us as obviously this was a new environment for Dembe and he wouldn’t have his usual fan club like he does when we go to his normal branch.
He wasn’t perfect but as he didn’t do a dump in the aisle I will take it as a win. His behaviour was good it is just we have really high expectations forgetting that he isn’t even 10 months old until tomorrow and everyone has off days. His main issue today was continually climbing up onto my lap , well when I say continually it was only about 4 times and I eventually managed to get him to stop.
He was so knackered he slept all the way home and has barely moved since! Quiet day ha ha ha!
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