W/C 1st June 2020

 Monday 1st June

Dembe has been a really good boy today whilst Jay ( with a bit of help from me) did some DIY jobs around the house. He was so cute every time we bent down to pick something up he would come running and then kiss us. He is such an affectionate little lambchop.

The weather has been really hot, so when Jay took Dembe up the common he thought he would take him for a swim. Dembe raced ahead and it wasn’t until Jay caught up with him that he realised that all the water had evaporated and Dembe was having a terrific time rolling around n the mud. I had a phone call from Jay to let me know that towels and dog shampoo would be needed!

He was such a good boy as we shampooed him and then hosed him off in the garden. He loved laying outside in the sunshine whilst he dried off.

Jay is on holiday this week so Dembe is loving all the extra daddy & Dembe time.

Tuesday 2nd June

Dembe started crying at 4.39am and I was not impressed. 5am is bad enough every morning but just after 4.30am is taking the piss! I rolled over and ignored him, he slept for a bit and then went and got his daddy up at 5am.

Dembe is very unsettled this morning Jay has gone to visit his parents who he hasn’t seen since December. It took 90 minutes before he finally collapsed and went to sleep.

He was so excited when Jay got home, running around grabbing toys and dropping them at Jays feet. He always brings Jay a gift every time he returns home be it from work or just out of the house.

It was very close all day Tuesday, I was struggling with the heat as was Dembe. He flaked out in the evening and lay asleep on the rug.

Wednesday 3rd June

Dembe saw Martin the dog trainer today, as Martin was collecting a pallet that we were getting rid of. Dembe’s tail was going mad and he was barking to get Martins attention. They haven’t seen each other since March. We are all desperate to get back to our training sessions.

I tried to take a selfie with the boy but he was refusing to co-operate !

He was toy obsessed today constantly bringing us toys. His puppy that he chose at the indoor market last year has been a firm favourite this week.

Tonight Dembe settled in with me for the night after spending last night with his dad.

Thursday 4th June

Dembe has been in a funny mood all day, obsessed with finding all his toys that he has managed to push under the sofa. He cried for 30 minutes straight until Jay moved the small sofa and behind it we found his half chewed bulls tail. Then after he ate that he cried again at the small sofa and beside it we found his small pink teething ring that he hasn’t played with in ages and has had since he was 8 weeks old.

He then wanted to play with it all day long

Dembe has also started another little thing this week of stealing my slippers when I am on the sewing machine. Today he stole both my slippers, one was in the garden and one was in the bathroom when I went to put them on!

Dembe’s favourite game with Jay is what we call nudge. Dembe and Jay knock a ball backwards and forwards to each other. Dembe will play this for ages and will only play it with Jay. So we have had countless games of nudge this week whilst Jay has been off.

Friday 5th June

A year ago today we started our obedience training lessons.

I will be honest if we hadn’t paid for the course we would have never have gone back after that night. ( nothing to do with Happy Dogs)

Dembe was 7 months old and was the worst behaved pup there. Basically he looked like he had snorted a line of coke and then took some speed to liven things up a little. He continually barked at all the dogs wanting to play. Looked like a yo-yo as he bounced off the end of the lead. He was an absolute nightmare, Jamie and I were mortified as he wasnt the dog we knew and loved.

If I had been grading the lesson I would have given us a 0/10 . And not a hope in hell of ever improving.

We took on Martin’s advice , we practised what we had learned every day. I practised multiple times a day getting the figure of 8 lead on and off him so he would be used to it by the following week and we ditched the harness.

I was dreading week 2 just in case he was even worse but he surprised us all and paid us back in spades by being an absolute angel and I don't think anyone could believe the difference in him.

Dog training isn't a once a week thing, it’s every day multiple times a day. It is a commitment, you get out of your dog what you put in. You wouldn't expect to learn French doing one hour a week, so it annoys me when people think you only need to do the training exercises for the duration of the class.

I wouldn’t be without Dembe and I cant thank Happy Dogs enough for all their help and support

If you want to read about our first night at dog training you can find it here http://thedembediaries.com/2019/06/10/w-c-3rd-june-2019/

As my back was really bad I went up to bed early. Jay sent me some photo’s via messenger to make me laugh as Dembe was making a silly face and sleeping in a strange position!

Saturday 6th June

As my back is bad I am having a quite day. Dembe seems to be enjoying that.

He was less impressed though as I started to write this week’s blog entry copying it over from the hard copy I keep

After Sprout had been lobbed at me for possibly the 4th or 5th time I asked Jay to play with Dembe whilst I carried on with the blog post. They played on the floor together for around an hour and then played nudge for 30 minutes. Dembe is sound asleep now after that manic 90 minutes.

Tomorrow his uncle Paul will see him for the first time since March. We are socially distancing having a coffee in the back garden. Dembe has always adored Paul so I think he is going to go cray cray!

Jay got sent to pets at home with a list today. Im pretty sure the list didn’t contain the words new toy or elephant!

Sunday 6th June

Dembe got up early with me which is a rarity as normally he likes staying upstairs with his dad. He settled down beside me and went straight to sleep.

As predicted Dembe went crazy when Paul arrived and was basically throwing himself at Paul. He has missed him as much as we have. He has known Paul since he was tiny and out of all our friends he is probably the one person that he see’s on the most regular basis so not to have seen him since March is the longest time ever. I’m always amazed how dogs remember people.