Monday 12th October
As usual, even I get bored of this sentence, Jay was on an early shift today. Dembe stayed downstairs which he does occasionally. When I came down I found him on the small sofa curled up on my electric throw. All the previous dogs loved the heated throw and whenever I use it Dembe always gives it a good sniff. It was odd seeing him in the corner on it as normally he sleeps on the side nearest the front door or on the big sofa, snuggled on his dads dressing gown.
I was really slow to get ready this morning so our normal routine was all out of whack. Dembe though was more than happy to follow my lead.
We were entertained this evening by Dembe crawling all over Jay, who was shattered after the early start and wanted to lie down on the sofa. Dembe saw that as an invitation to lie on top of his dad and have a cuddle. I swear he thinks he is a puppy still. I don’t know how but at 35kg he never seems that heavy, I think it is because he is so long.
Tuesday 13th October
As usual Jay is day off today. On Tuesdays and Sunday’s Dembe is always a very happy boy as his dad is home with with him all day.
This afternoon Jay took Dembe out for a walk on part of Woodbury Common off Pines Ridge Road. He gave him a good 40 minutes walk, whilst out they bumped into a 9 month old very pale yellow Labrador, that was full of bounce and was doing the play stance with Dembe and indulged in Dembe’s favourite game ever of chase. The pup was a little bit bigger than Dembe and chunkier so show lines unlike Dembe who is working lines. By the time Dembe got back to the car he was covered in mud. He had to be hosed down in the back garden to get all the black mud off him. He was knackered after his play on the common
This evening we had dog training, this was the first session where I was freezing cold. Next week I am wrapping up properly with a hat on! Dembe is doing really well. It is always amazing that he works better off the lead doing heel work than he does on the lead.
There was a young Labrador at the training centre and Dembe was desperate to go and play with it. Thankfully though when we started the lesson he switched on to work mode.
Wednesday 14th October
We had an early start this morning as we had to collect a hire car from Exeter. Dembe was not impressed with the early start! He was as good as gold in the car as he really seems to have settled down on journeys now. Before he used to fuss and cry now he lies down in the car quite happily. He was very tired for the rest of the morning though.
He was very cuddly today and kept climbing up on my lap, getting me to hold his cows ear for him whilst he chewed it.
Martin came and collected Dembe for his walk as Jay was on a late shift today. It was a big day today as it was the first walk where we had said to Martin that we were ok with Dembe being off the lead with him.
It was really funny hearing from Martin that when he did the recall command with Dembe he refused to come back until Martin put his hand in the air. Dembe is very particular even at home, he was trained to do recall with a voice command and a hand signal. He flatly refuses at home to come back to us until we have our hand up, so he was just letting Martin know do it properly or not at all LOL!
Martin said that he did a bit of training on the walk with Dembe, getting D to stay and wait until given the command to retrieve the ball. Unfortunately Dembe was a bugger and refused to have a poo whilst out. This is the second time Dembe has refused to poo on his walk so yet again Jay has had to come home and whip him around the block.
Once Dembe had been out for a walk he stopped crying and fretting and went straight to sleep.
Thursday 15th October
Dembe has been very clingy all week with me. Probably because I haven’t been brilliant health wise. He has been hyper vigilant as well which is slightly annoying as any sound from outdoors he has barked at. He is sleeping almost on top of me at night. He is doing what our Weimaraner Frankie used to do sleeping as close as he can to my left leg, with his head resting just below my knee.
Nurse Frankie was very attune to what was going on with my health and maybe Dembe or should that be Dr Dembe is the same?
Friday 16th October
Dembe’s new toys arrived today. We have bought him a replacement dinosaur, as his original dinosaur the first toy I ever chose for him, was looking a little ragged and needs a bit of sewing done to repair a hole. I bought two so that we always have a back up should anything happen to the other two. Blue dinosaur as it is known is the toy he always brings his dad in the morning when he hears Jay stir.
We also bought Dembe a replacement Carrot as I saw on the website of Pets at Home that they had just launched these again for Christmas, so that accidentally dropped in my basket too.
A week or so ago we had purchased him a Ruff and Tumble Drying Coat as he seems to take an absolute age to dry. He hates the hairdryer and it doesn’t matter how much you towel dry him off he is soaked for ages after. He has a terrible habit of wanting to lie on my legs when he is soaking wet making my clothes damp, so we thought after seeing so many other people recommend them we would give it a go. When it arrived I was in a bit of a panic as the site that I purchased it from had only put the length measurements for the sizing where as the packaging also said about his weight. His length put him in the L size but his weight put him in the XL category which is for large Labradors. He isn’t a large Labrador but I was worried the new coat wouldn’t fit. I managed to get it on him without a fuss and I am happy to report it fitted him perfectly. I took some photos to send Jay as he was working.
I love the second photo as I have managed to capture him with his tongue out, which rarely happens. We chose the Sandringham blue version of the coat.
Saturday 17th October
I was feeling really unwell this morning, I think Dembe knew I wasn’t right as when I woke up up he was lying right beside me. I kept yawning when I was downstairs and Dembe kept yawning back at me. For about 30 minutes we were stuck in a cycle of yawning at each other which was hilarious. He was on the small sofa and I was on the big sofa. Every time he yawned he wagged his tail at me.
We had a play this afternoon as Dembe was fully of beans waiting for his dad to get home after 5pm.
The hire car has been really irritating as it has been set so that only the drivers side opens when unlocked using the key fob. This means every time Dembe or I get into the car Jay has to climb inside and open the doors from there. Whilst they were on their walk this evening I had a look at the operating manual and sussed out what I needed to do to set the central locking so that all doors open when the key fob is pressed. I do wonder what was wrong with leaving child locks as just a button on the drivers side of the vehicle instead of making it a palaver of using the onboard computer. I probably sound like a philistine but I hate all the tech in cars these days.
Dembe is cracking us up, the car is really low, lower than the Happy Dogs van he jumps into for his walk but he still refuses to jump into the car. He gets his front legs on the back seat and then stands there with his arse hanging out waiting for Jay to lift his back end in. He is such a bloody diva that dog!
Sunday 18th October
Sunday as always is a day of rest. I’m feeling awful so Dembe is stuck to my side.
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