Monday 22nd April
After the hot weather of the last two days it is much cooler today and Dembe’s activity levels have really increased. During the warmer than normal days he has been very sleepy and quite content to move as little as possible. Today he has been manic and it has made a change that Jay has got to see him like this and not just hear from me that he is bloody mental.
We were up the common by 7.30am and Dembe met up with lots of different dogs. He managed to seek out some more Labradors ( he finds dogs like him fascinating ) one of whom stole his ball and had to be bribed by Jay to get it back. He really enjoys playing with other dogs and it is really good socialisation for him. It is so strange having a dog that doesn’t see other dogs as a threat like Frankie and Willow ( our Weimaraners ) did. Mollie was always really good with other dogs. She also loved Labradors even though she was a Weimaraner and it is because of her we chose a Labrador puppy after she passed away. She had always had an affinity for them and we took it as a sign that she was giving us her blessing for when that awful day came.
Dembe has wanted lots of interaction today, he wants us both to join in playing with his toys and rolling the ball along the lounge floor.
At 5pm Sarah, Gemma and Sam came over for a catch up Sam has been at college since he last saw Dembe and obviously Dembe has grown loads since then. I am always amazed at how gentle Dembe is with Sam. Sarah (Sam and Gemma’s mum) took some lovely photo’s.
Tuesday 23rd April
Dembe is having a very Monday like Tuesday. Jay is in work when he is usually day off on a Tuesday, he is also doing his Monday hours as well so it’s not just Dembe who is confused!
Dembe has been very cuddly and sleepy today, probably because he was so manic yesterday. A lot of the time he just wants to sit on my lap and be cuddled. It’s just as well that I have no plans for today and I am quite happy to indulge him.
He has managed to have a poo right outside the back door, then stand on it and bring into the kitchen with him. It is the first time he has done this and he is not impressed when I attempt to clean his paws. This has just added to the washing mountain considerably. He had a reasonably sized area to go to the toilet in so why right in front of the patio doors seemed like such a good idea I have no clue.
I’ve had the patio doors / back door open all day so that Dembe has been able to take himself out to the toilet whenever he wants to. He is getting really desperate to get beyond the patio and out into the bigger garden but with the revamp still going on it isn’t safe and he would be covered in mud within minutes.
Mark our friend popped over in the afternoon as the wheelbarrow I ordered to help shift the 3 tonnes of gravel through our house , won’t go through the patio doors despite the seller stating its dimensions it is 9cm too wide. Thankfully Mark is a blacksmith so take the wheelbarrow away for some minor cosmetic surgery. Dembe has a thing for Mark so spends the whole time trying to get his attention and rolling on his back for belly rubs.
Wednesday 24th April
Just to throw Dembe and I out a little more this week Jay is day off today. Bank holidays although nice have a lot to answer for as it will be days before I actually know what day of the week it is.
The little ball of fluff has been like the energiser bunny since waking up, so we got him out for a walk nice and early. The weather was horrendous and the boys returned to the car looking like drowned rats. The walk seems to calm Dembe down well for a little while anyway.
Dembe has been watching me like a hawk all day as I have had a really bad headache for the last two days and it shows no sign of shifting.
In the afternoon I had to admit defeat and go to bed to lie down for a bit. To my surprise Dembe came with me. Normally if I go to bed when Jay is home Dembe will stay downstairs with him. He settled down immediately and then placed his head over my left ankle just as Frankie used to do, which made me a bit emotional.
After an hour or so with heat and massage my headache was a little better and it was just as well as we needed to go to the builders merchants to pick up a a plank of wood to be used as a ramp for the wheelbarrow tomorrow. We took Dembe with us and he was such a good boy. He did get a little whingey waiting in the car and if I had a lead on me I would have let him have a wander but unfortunately Jay had taken it with him. After we collected the wood we took him out for a stroll on the common. The rain had cleared and now the sun was making an appearance.
Thursday 25th April
We started the garden revamp back on 17th March, it was being done so that Dembe had a safe area to play as the decking we have had down for the last 15 years has rotten through and he keeps digging holes in it. We have run out of plant pots to put over the holes he has made. Once the decking and the joists were done which was done over 2 Sundays we were left with what we affectionately called the mud bath and Dembe for his own safety was banned from this area.
Before Dembe can get back into the garden 3 tonnes (or near enough) of gravel have to be moved from our front garden, through the house and into the back garden. The joys of a mid-terrace house with no rear access. Mark ( a bloody hero ) is doing this for us as Jay has torn a muscle in his back from removing the decking and joists and then transporting that to the tip. He has estimated it will take him 45 minutes a bag, I think he is crazy!
I have to say considering Dembe has no floor space to move around on as all the lounge furniture and all the kitchen furniture has been move to the right-hand-side so that Mark has a clear run with the wheelbarrow. I keep Dembe busy for the first 90 minutes with a raw frozen beef marrow bone. It was just the last 45 minutes ( the last bag ) that he got a bit whingey and wanted to see what Mark was doing all the time. He didn’t want to be confined to the sofas whilst there was a person walking past him all the time. He is a crazy Labrador pup after all and he can’t stay still when he is awake.
When all the gravel was down I let Dembe have a run around on it,
He still needed to be careful as there was no fence at the back of the garden still as we were waiting for the fence post shoes to be delivered – which they were mid-morning. Dembe was going absolutely crazy, he was running in and out of the house and then the full length of the garden. At one point I closed the patio door to stop him as I was worried he was going to hurt himself and the chump ran straight into the closed door. He was out of it for a few seconds not knocked out but very dazed. I checked him over because I was in a complete panic and thinking what an idiot I had been for shutting the door when he was in such a frenzied state of excitement. Within a few minutes he was moving around normally but he was a little subdued, probably because he had a bit of a headache. I don’t think I have ever felt so helpless or frightened.
Dembe was allowed to wander in and out of the garden all afternoon whilst Mark worked to get the fence up and install the new gate. We had painted these last weekend.
Dembe was loving the freedom of having all this space to run around in.
Friday 26th April
As Jay was on an early shift we took Dembe up the common at 4.45am as now he is that much older he really does need two walks a day. He could have had a lead walk but our street lights don’t come on until after 5am, it’s much more fun on the common by torchlight.
Despite having that walk he was still full of beans today. All he wanted to do was go out and play in the garden. He is back to shoving his head into all the plant pots and getting compost all over his face. Pulling apart the plants and eating old bits of feather board fencing if we can’t get to him quickly enough. In other words he is being a bit of a sod. As soon as I make him come back in he decides he wants out in the back garden, even when it is chucking it down.
Yesterday when we were moving the furniture Jay and I decided to get rid of Dembe’s crate. It is currently used once a day for him to go in when the cleaning is being done. He is never shut in it and it is an eyesore when you live in a tiny house. It just dominates the whole lounge. I thought I could put up with it for the first 18 months of Dembe’s life but I really can’t, it is ugly. So we have taken an enormous risk and brought down the Weimaraners old wicker basket bed. The minute he attempts to chew it the crate will be back. I’m not hopeful as this morning I caught him licking the F&M Hamper that is in my bedroom out of his way! That has been liberally sprayed with bitter apple spray and I have also coated the wooden bedroom furniture in it to deter the little bugger.
He is 100% ok from his run in with the patio door yesterday thank goodness.
As I was getting into bed this evening I found a tooth beside the bed. We have managed to find 4 of his baby teeth now, he has lost many more than that . Yesterday we found one under the sofa as it was moved for Mark. It looked like a popcorn kernel as did the one I found on the floor of my bedroom this morning!
He is 24 weeks old today!
Saturday 27th April
Jay is late night tonight so Dembe has had a nice walk on the common this morning, unusually despite there being lots of cars in the car park he didn’t bump in to anyone at all.
He was a little bugger during the night as he woke me up at 3am trying it on for his breakfast. He was most disgusted when he was turned out into the garden and he only got a small treat for having a huge wee. He sat waiting for his food but I went back to bed. He very slowly ascended the stairs shooting me dirty looks all the way. He needn’t have worried as Jay ….the weakest link woke up at 4am and gave Dembe his breakfast. I have had to have a word with Jay and lay down the law that the boy doesn’t get fed before 5am on any day of the week. I am not having another night of being woken at 3am because Dembe decides he would like his breakfast. Message is received, lets just see if he manages to do as I have asked. He will in the long run as a sleep deprived wife isn’t fun for him.
Early this afternoon the stepping stones we have ordered for the garden arrived. We wanted the gravel broken up a little by having some nice stepping stones that will add another layer of interest. Dembe was delighted that there was something else to have a sniff of!
He has been a very tired boy since his dad has gone to work. I hope it stays that way as I am shattered after Thursday. I know I didn’t do anything physically for the garden but the added stimulation has exhausted me. For those of you just joining the blog now I have a blog all about me and my chronic health conditions at http://www.themyastheniakid,com.
Something that is quite strange since the crate has been removed Dembe has stopped humping all the time. In his crate he used to gather up his bed to his nether regions and hump until it was all hanging out…quite literally a lot, lot more than a lipstick. The bed that was inside his crate is still in the lounge but doesn’t seem to hold the same attraction for him. He also hasn’t tried humping anything else either which I thought he may do once his usual method had been removed. Lets hope it continues as it was quite frankly a bit gross and on more than one occasion I have been worried that it wouldn’t go back in!
Another thing we have noticed since we removed the crate is that he is playing a lot more. The toys that used to be taken into the sex den are now being played with all over the house and garden. Just have to scrub the no humping thing as he has just tried to do his bed that was in the crate but as it is moving around he didn’t get the result he sought.
Sunday 28th April
I woke up at 3am to find the little rascal wide awake and doing his noisy yawns to make me stir so I got Jay to take him downstairs for a wee and a poo. I told Jay that there was to be no breakfast. Dembe wasn’t impressed and was slow to come back up to bed. Despite my back killing me I stayed in bed until 5am and then got his lordship his breakfast. He had another trip outside for the toilet and then raced back upstairs to bed. The little dumpling let me sleep until 7am!! Unheard of lately and mummy doesn’t feel so very wrecked this morning.
The lie on though seems to have supercharged him and he was throwing his antler chew around and generally being the energiser bunny so at 7.30am we both got dressed and took him up the common. Jay said he played with every dog he came across so should be exhausted. The little bugger hasn’t slept more than 10 minutes all morning!
We have had two lots of visitors and that hasn’t put a dent in his energy levels. Whilst my parents were here he managed to knock a pint glass of water twice by throwing his kong crocodile softy in the air. Finally at 12.30pm he closed his eyes and went to sleep. I got this photo of our little rascal just before he dropped off.
He was much more subdued for the rest of the day, thank goodness.
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