Monday 29th April
As Jay was on an early we got up just after 4am and took Dembe out . It was raining and when Jay went to get Dembe out of the car he refused to move, he lay down as flat as he could to make it as difficult as possible for Jay to get him. Jay managed to get him out of the car in the end but Dembe made it very clear he wasn’t impressed by walking extremely slowly and only speeding up when he realised he was on the way back to the car. This is the first time he has ever kicked off about not wanting to go out. To be honest I can’t blame him.
I managed to find another of Dembe’s baby teeth this morning.
He was chewing his antler chew whilst sitting on my lap, as he was chewing I spied a tooth sat between his gum and his cheek. So I quickly fished it out. He wasn’t very happy as he is quite possessive over his teeth.
He has spent most of today outside in the garden destroying the few plants I have in containers. I am sure he thinks his name is “Dembe No!” He also attempted to dig a hole in the gravel by lifting up the heavy duty membrane underneath. Basically he has been a bit of a sod all day. I am beginning to wonder if maybe we have hit the teenage years already! As Dembe No used to work immediately, now he carries on whilst he thinks about it.
At 2pm he collapsed after being on the go constantly and went to sleep for two hours solid! Which meant I got to watch the latest episode of GOT without any interruptions.
Tuesday 30th April
Well a miracle happened today after being let out at 4am for the toilet Dembe slept until 7.11am. That is the latest he has ever slept as normally he is fussing from 5am for his breakfast. He has done that ever since he came home with us since January 11th. Jay and I are in shock we feel really behind all morning as after 7am is really late for us to get up currently.
Dembe got taken to Woodbury Castle for a walk and had a lovely play with a Golden Retriever. He had a really good run around and as soon as he got home he fell asleep on the sofa.
This afternoon Dembe had a play with the hosepipe, he got soaked but he does love it.
Removing his cage has certainly reduced the humping we were having to endure. We left what we had nicknamed his sex bed in the lounge in case he “needed” it but he has only mounted it on a handful of occasions.
He has been a very good boy as he was left in the house whilst we were in the garden tidying up. As he always does he just puts himself to sleep on the sofa, we have left him for up to an hour before and never come back in to any destruction. I have probably jinxed that now.
As he attacked all my plants yesterday they have now been covered with chicken wire! He isn’t very happy about that.
Wednesday 1st May
As Jay was starting at 9am this morning we were up the common by 7am so that Dembe could have a really good run around off the lead and let off some steam as Jay won’t be back home until after 6pm. He really enjoyed his walk and he made friends with some other dogs and had a nice play. It is so nice ( but equally weird) to have a dog that gets on with other dogs. Our life before with the Weimaraners was spent trying to avoid other dogs as Frankie was nervous aggressive. Now we can go where we like at whatever time we wish because it doesn’t matter if other people are walking by with their dogs nothing bad will happen. It is hard to let go of the nerves that used to accompany dog walks though. Quite often I find myself looking around waiting to see if a dog walker is going to go on the same path as Jay. I have a few times got my phone out to ring him only then remembering he is with Dembe and he doesn’t need an advanced warning that a dog / horse / walkers are approaching.
It was really funny this morning as Jay gave me a kiss goodbye as he was leaving the house. He then said to Dembe “kiss”, well Dembe normally gives Jay a good lick when he says kiss. Today he decided to give Jay’s nose a little nibble instead, which made both of us laugh as this is what Mollie ( our Weimaraner) used to do. Mollie rarely kissed me but she always kissed Jay. She absolutely adored him and would sulk upstairs in his bedroom all day when he was at work. All our boy dogs have always been very affectionate and Dembe is no different. Willow wasn’t really a licker either but she loved both of us equally and would just spend all day going between us both for lots of cuddles.
Ellie came over today she hasn’t seen Dembe for at least 6 weeks so couldn’t believe how much bigger he was. Dembe was really good and wanted to spend as much time with Ellie as he could. Her husband Paul also popped in and Dembe was determined to cover him in kisses too.
In the evening a couple swung by to pick up the land drainage pipe that I had sold to them. They brought their 7 month old Golden Retriever that was about 4 times the size of Dembe. Missy and Dembe hit it off immediately and there was lots of play bows and sniffing of bottoms. We kept hold of Missy whilst her parents loaded up their car. When they had gone Dembe sat by the front door and kept crying, he did this for ages. He wanted his new girlfriend back! In the end I had to distract him with a marrow bone.
Thursday 2nd May
Jay was late night today so he took Dembe up to the Warren and gave him a bigger and different walk than he normally would. Dembe had been like a coiled spring from waking and really needed to burn off some energy or it would have made it really difficult for me to manage him alone all day. After his walk he was pretty shattered and slept the rest of the morning.
I did a side by side comparison of Dembe at aged 8 weeks, 3 days and then 24 weeks, 6 days. It is quite shocking and it is so hard to remember him so tiny.
He is still really funny when he eats, I have never known a dog wag his tail as much as he does. Mollie would always wag her tail when drinking which always made us chuckle. Frankie would wag his tail really quickly but would barely move it and Willow would use her tail as a signally system so much more than the other two did. When you talk to Dembe as he is eating he wags his tail even faster.
Today Dembe really surprised me, I knew he had been up to something as it was so quiet. I came into the lounge and the sofa throw had been really scrunched up. As I sorted it out two pebbles from the back garden fell out. He had brought in two pebbles from the back garden and buried them in the throw. Silly hound. He has always buried stuff but it has mainly been toys hidden in his bed. This is the first time he has brought something from outside to hide in the house.
Friday 3rd May
Dembe is 25 weeks old today. I can’t believe that we have only had him since the 11th January as he is so much part of the family. He is such a happy go lucky dog. At 25 weeks he still loves to come in the shower with me although now he is much more tolerant of being dried off and no longer attacks the towel as you dry him. He loves chewing his antler chews and his raw beef marrow bones. One of his favourite toys is the small toy Sam gave him when they first met. We call it Sam’s baby, he loves the blue plastic spikey shell it came with. I think because it is a different texture in his mouth. He can now get me different toys that I ask for. He knows piggy wiggy, chewie, crocodile and toto ( the dog from my Dorothy costume).
This week we have been keeping him entertained by getting him to find a toy when we have hidden it. He loves searching through the sofa cushions and in all the nooks and crannies.
This morning on waking Dembe was manic. Once he is up he likes all of us to be up, he loves the whole pack being together. If I am the only one up he will repeatedly go upstairs and go into Jays room, licking his hands and eye lids. Today which was a first he jumped onto Jays chest, dropped his antler chew on his face and then started licking his eyelids. Normally Dembe stays on the floor, today he just leapt up on the bed. So Jay really didn’t have much choice in the matter he was getting up. As he was such a live wire we took him straight up the common for a walk.
He had a lovely play with a Labrador cross called Winston. They ran each other ragged.
He must have been having a growing day today as he was asleep for a lot of it.
He was really cuddly all day and just wanted to be wherever I was. He missed his dad today and went crazy when Jay came home at 7.20pm
Saturday 4th May
As Jay was on another early this morning we took Dembe up the common just after 4am. After today I don’t think we will bother doing early morning walks as they are obviously not his thing at all. He refused to get out of the car again, lying as flat as possible to make it hard for Jay to get him. What we will do in future on Jays early shifts is he will have a lead walk around the block on Jays lunch break. I just hope that he isn’t too manic whilst he waits for his first walk. Unless it is for his breakfast Dembe really doesn’t do early mornings.
I’ve no idea what is up with him today but he has been really whingey. As long as he is doing something he wants to do he is fine but the minute he is told no he is moaning. He got his arse in his hand with me this morning at 7am as he got told off for barking at the pigeon on my neighbours roof at 7am.
And then he sits really nicely for you ans looks at you with those big brown eyes and you can’t stay cross for long. Even if he has been giving you lots of attitude since waking.
A sad day today for me and Jay as we learned that one of our first litter of puppies Isa passed away yesterday. She was Frankie and Willow’s sister and was born in 2006, our very first litter. I can’t lie I sobbed my bloody heart out. I know she was the centre of Jodie’s life and I hate the fact that she will be hurting now like we have been. I only kept in touch with a few of the people who had puppies from us. I did try to keep a relationship going with the new owners but many of them didn’t reciprocate. Jodie was among the few that always stayed in touch and I loved seeing the photographs of Isa ( called Isa as that is what the money should have been going in to) as she looked like a combination of all my Weimaraners. A sad day indeed.
Sunday 5th May
Today I woke up really poorly, my dear boy Dembe stayed by my side to ensure I was ok. Jay took him out for a walk to Woodbury Castle where he met the two lady Bulldogs and he had a play with them. Its been a few weeks since he has seen them and their owners couldn’t get over how much he had grown.
We went to a picnic / birthday party this afternoon which was a new experience for Dembe. Lots of children and footballs both of which are his most favourite things ever. Thankfully after 10 minutes of being there he calmed down considerably and behaved like an angel for the rest of the two hours we were there. He even had some off lead time chasing a ball.
As we were going back to the car we bumped into a lady with a Weimaraner called Sasha. We have met her up on the common before when we had the three Weimaraners. Dembe got a little over friendly and Sasha gave him a warning nip. No blood shed, no growling but she made it clear she wasn’t enjoying him being in her face.
After we went to the party we went up to my parents caravan – Dembe was shattered he slept all the way in the car and he really wasn’t happy when Jay woke him up to get him out. He did have a lovely time though playing with my parents Jack Russell Maggie and then meeting Wayne and Hilary who have been wanting to meet him for ages. Thankfully Dembe was on his best behaviour and did us proud.
He ( like me ) has been exhausted for the rest of the day and we are just about to toddle up the stairs for an early night. He has been snoring so loudly lying here on the sofa beside me!
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