Well this week has been a shit show to put it bluntly. I haven’t managed to keep Dembe’s diary up to date due to the Covid situation. Hubby is now home from work for 12 weeks due to the meds he takes meaning he is at high risk of serious complications / death should he contract Covid-19. So this week it will just be photos.
As of Monday night the UK was put on a lock down which meant the end of dog training and the end ( before it had even started) of Dembe using a dog walking service. It has been hard to get our heads around it. Dembe is loving his daddy being home but he is having to adjust to the change in our routines. He is still as wonderful and gorgeous as ever.
Monday 23rd March
Today Dembe was definitely picking up on my anxiety about Jay being at work. He played me up all day long barking and just being very needy. Eventually he wore himself out. Just before Jay got home he went to sleep of course!
Tuesday 24th March
Much calmer today with us both home.
Wednesday 25th March
We decided to upcycle some furniture. Dembe decided every time the sander was on he was going to bark at it and try to sniff it! Not at all dangerous.
He was shattered in the evening. As he is now having two long walks a day he is much more settled in the evening.
Thursday 26th March
Friday 27th March
He is loving the dry weather and being able to get out and sit in his favourite chair.
I have to be honest we have had a very lazy day today. Cuddles on the sofa and snoozing.
Dembe was determined when his dad came home for lunch that he was going to take his sprout toy into the back garden with him.
He is loving his home cooked meals
Tuesday 17th March
Day off with Jay today. It is hilarious when Jay is day off mummy gets completely ignored. He has draped himself all over Jay today.
No visitors today as we are limiting our exposure to the outside world as both me and Jay are more at risk of a severe outcome if we come into contact with Covid-19. We are just attending dog training this evening and only that because it is in a huge barn and we can employ social distancing. We will be having a break after this term ends purely as we will be limiting social exposure.
Tonight at training we learned about canine enrichment and games to play with Dembe if we end up in a lock down situation. It was really good fun and Dembe really enjoyed himself. At one point Dembe managed to slip his lead and he did a a run around the whole of the barn, he looked like a streaker the way he kept looking over his shoulder. He went straight over to his mate Rufus who he adores and all he wants to do is have a play with him! Rufus’ owner was laughing her head off at Dembes antics. He gets so excited when he gets to play games at the training centre.
Dembe was so exhuasted after training he just went to sleep as soon as we got home.
Wednesday 18th March 2020
Well I was expecting Dembe to be like this all morning after last nights escapades
But his actual dosing lasted a very short time indeed. I ended up playing Find it with him for close to 40 minutes . After which I don’t know who was most knackered him or me!
Today was quite a huge day really as I finally bit the bullet and decided to enquire with our dog trainer about dog walking. This is for when Jay is working on a late night as Dembe simply refuses to use the backgarden to go to the toilet. Even having a wee now seems to be out of the question. Jay has started to take him out twice on a day when he is working late before he goes to work. But even then I am left weith Dembe crying on and off from around 5pm until Jay gets in at 9 / 10 pm. It simply isn’t fair on Dembe and it isn’t fair on me as it means my evenings are spent continually getting Dembe out in the back garden to go for a pee which he now flatly refuses to do.
I am also going to get Jay to speak to his friend at work whose wife runs a dog walking service and ask if she can pick up Saturday afternoon walks with Dembe as she could do with an extra client. She has had so many cancellations with people either being made unemployed or now working from home her business is being impacted badly. It will only be about once a month that Jay gets a late night Saturday but it will help Dembe and me and in turn our friend.
waiting for his dad
In the evening the dog walker come over and met Dembe . Dembe went absolutely crazy! Initially he was barking loads and then he went to his toy box and brought Phil his sprout. Just as Phil was leaving Dembe decided without warning to puke all over the lounge rug so that wasn’t at all mortifying.
He is absolutely fine in himself however I am concerned about his left eye. He seems to be blinking it more and it looks red. There has also been a bit of gunk coming from it. So a trip to the vets tomorrow for him.
Thursday 19th March
Poor Dembe has a corneal abrasion. Initially I had though he may have conjuctivitis but Jay took him to the vets at 10.15am and they could see a scratch on his eye. He has had an injection and eye drops put in.
He really isn’t happy about the eyedrops. I put the first lot in at 12.30pm and he ran up the stairs straight after and stayed on the stairs glaring at me through the banisters for 15 minutes.
He then came down the stairs and went onto the small sofa, huffing and puffing the whole time whilst flatly refusing to look at me.
I have booked Dembe in for some dog walks next week and one the week after. This is a huge step for Jay and I, turning Dembe over to someone else for at least an hour. But it will do Dembe good.
Friday 20th March
Dembe’s eye is still a little swollen and red but it is looking a whole lot better than it did. He was bouncing off the walls today . I have never known him so full of energy. Obviously the pain relief he was given at the vets yesterday knocked him bandy.
I did manage to get a little sewing done today at least whilst he had a nap upstairs.
He was walked early and again before Jay went to work, as he is late night today. But he is still bouncing off the walls. I thank my lucky stars this is the last late night I will have to endure with a whinning dog that keeps running to teh front door despite having a garden he can use to relieve himself.
Saturday 21st March
Dembe’s eye is now back to normal, no swelling and all the redness has gone.
Again he was absolutely mental this morning for about an hour after his long walk with Jay before he finally conked out.
He has been incredibly vocal today, barking and howling at everyone who dares walk past our house. It is a bit of a nightmare when all he wants to do is talk!
As soon as the clock strikes one Dembe assumes his position at the window waiting for his dad to come home for his lunch. As soon as his dad arrives Dembe then goes to his toy box and presents it to his dad. It is very sweet and you never know from one day to the next what toy Jay will be given.
Sunday 22nd March
Jay left the house before 8.30am this morning so that he could go and get shopping for both sets of parents. Both are self isolating due to this fucking virus and need bits and pieces from the supermarket to get them through. As Jay wasn’t in his work uniform Dembe kicked off from the moment he left. Howling and barking at the front door and lounge window. Hoping that his dad could hear him and that he would hurry home. I hate it when Dembe is like this as there is nothing you can do to console him apart from just getting him chewy treats as he can’t chew and make noise at the same time.
He did settle eventually and I managed to get a small amount of sewing done before Jay got home.
As soon as Jay sat down Dembe draped himself all over Jay to make up for lost time. He loves his dad.
Dembe and I had a very quiet day today as we were both shattered after helping dad with the decorating last week. I am sure Jay went back to work for a rest. I was so knackered I went up to bed for a nap at 2pm and slept until 4.30pm.
Dembe was so good and got straight back into the routine of Jay being in work. He is quite like Mollie in that he knows the difference between his dad in his work uniform and dad in his civvies and what it means.
I took a couple of good photos on Sunday.
Tuesday 3rd March
Dembe was taken up the common by Jay nice and early. They went to the model airfield where they met an elderly chocolate Labrador. The old boy was more than happy to play with Dembe although he did struggle to keep up with him.
I had the doctors at 10.10am so Jay and Dembe dropped me off and had a wander around town. He went around the market where the pet shop stall were feeding hims sausage! He also went into a friends shop, which is also great experience for him. It was very busy down the town and lots of noisy traffic. It didn’t phase him which was great as it means our early environment training has paid off.
waiting for a belly rub
We had dog training this evening, after a week of reduced barking Dembe decided to be a gobshite. In the end Martin came over and got him to be quiet. It is for attention and when he gets bored, wants you to play etc. So at dog training he hates standing around doing nothing. SO I have asked Jay in future when Martin is talking to do sit and stay exercises with Dembe. That way he thinks he is still working and he should be quiet. He never barks on a walk or when moving at dog training. It purely is a boredom thing. At home he liked to bark if he felt Jay and I were ignoring him but he has stopped doing that now.
About 20 minutes into the session the barking was under control. Dembe seems to need a 30 minute warm up before he is in the right place to learn. Which is strange as he gets a walk before he goes, I think however as he sees his mates before class maybe he gets too excited and it takes time for him to get back into the learning zone. By the end of the lesson Dembe and Jay were working beautifully together. It was so choreographed they looked like they were dancing or working to music.
I do worry that we expect an awful lot from him when he still is only a babe in arms at 15 months. Mind you however old he is he will always be our puppy.
Wednesday 4th March
Dembe decided this morning that we all needed to be out of bed at 5.45am which made him supremely popular! By 7.15am I was hanging out of my arse! He however was beside me on the sofa snoring his head off the little bugger.
I am so pleased with how he is getting on with his home cooked meals. What a joy it is now to feed him, I no longer get so stressed out and upset that he isn’t eating properly. He is looking fab and he is definitely moulting less since changing him over to the majority of his meals being fresh food.
Today Uncle Paul came over. Dembe always gets over excited when Paul comes to visit so I put him in the kitchen and shut the baby gate before letting Paul in. I kept him behind the gate until I knew he was calm. He let me down on the barking front but that was because he had slept all bloody morning and was now wide awake and raring to go.
Sleeping before Paul arrived
I got a great photo of Dembe sleeping in the afternoon
bawls out
As I crept up on him I started to take photos. This next photo as he wakes up and sees me is hilarious
Every time I look at the photo I can’t stop laughing. His face is so funny!
Thursday 5th March
Jay was on an early today so he took him on a walk around the streets, Dembe refused to go for a poo, which was a bit silly as he won’t be going out again until Jay gets home tonight. Although he does have access to the garden.
I got some sewing done in the morning but I managed to mess up my neck, so by 2pm I have a crippling headache. I can barely string a sentence together so Dembe and I went up to bed. Dembe was a super star, he was a bit perturbed by my oxygen being on for so long and came and gave my nasal cannula a good sniff. He then settled down and went to sleep on my bed.
I got up at 4.30pm as I knew Jay was coming home at 5pm. Dembe and I sat by the window.
Friday 6th March
Jay is on a late today so he took Dembe out for a nice long walk to ensure he would be ok for the rest of the day. Jay will be taking him out again when he gets home at around 10pm and Dembe has access to the garden all day.
Unfortunately at around 4.30pm Dembe starting crying and going to the front door. It was clear that he needed a poo. I am unable to walk him, I just can’t walk very far at all. My mobility scooter was in the back of my husbands car and Dembe still isn’t trained to walk alongside me, with me holding the lead. So I had no way of getting him out for a walk. I kept letting him out in the garden but it became very clear I would have to get Jay to pop home on his lunch break and take him around the block.
Jay got home and took him out for 15 minutes. Dembe had two huge dumps almost immediately, so I was right he had been complaining that he couldn’t go for a walk. When he got back from the walk I was expecting him to settle but he didn’t we ended up playing find it bunny for an hour. By the end I had him finding bunny in the washing machine drum and from the tumble dryer!
Eventually he did settle at around 19.30pm. When Jay got in he took Dembe out around the block again to ensure he wouldn’t want to get up too early.
Saturday 7th March
Jay is on another bloody late. It is quite rare that Jay works two on the bounce , I just hope Dembe doesn’t kick off tonight like he did last night.
As he was working until late Jay took Dembe out first thing and then again at 11am to ensure he had got everything out that he could. On Dembes walk he was playing with a female black Labrador that was much bigger than him and had a whale of a time.
Dembe has been very vocal today
He has always been a very vocal dog, from about 9 weeks old he was expressing himself.
We are having to stay up later than usual as I am waiting for a delivery from Hermes ( so surprised it never ever turned up). So I switched on Crufts to see what Dembe would do, as you can see it didn’t stay on for long as he insisted on attempting to talk to the dogs on the tv.
Sunday 8th March
Dembe decided we all needed to get up at 6.30am. I managed to keep him occupied for 15 minutes whilst I came to and got some fluids and meds into my system. I decided to get up and crack on with Dembe’s food preparation for the month. I may have gone slightly overboard but I want to ensure that if the Corona virus comes to this house at least Dembe has food. All it will take is food to be got out of the freezer and defrosted and he is ready to go.
Jay got Dembe out and took him up to Woodbury Castle for a nice long walk to burn off some energy. It appears to be working as he is snoring his head off beside me.
Its been crazy here only just managed to squeeze all Dembe’s meals into the freezers. At least I wont have to cook for him for quite a while !
