W/C 11th October 2021

 Monday 11th October

Dembe was not at all happy when the alarm went on my phone at 7am, normally we sleep in until around 8.30am most mornings. This was his face on watching me get out of bed. He cracks me up constantly as he is so expressive. I had to get up early as my hairdresser was coming over to sort my hair out after last week's photo cruelly revealed all my grey hairs! 

Dembe was really well behaved when the hairdresser was here, apart from trying to climb up onto my lap a few times. Since he had his day at the vets he is very clingy and if there is someone here that he doesn't know brilliantly well he is wanting under my skin. Poor sausage. 

He was very excited when his dad came home for lunch, bringing him his carrot and squealing with delight as his dad gave him a cuddle. Dembe was knackered this afternoon as he hadn't slept all morning.

When his dad got home just after 4pm he took him for a walk on Woodbury common. They went up to the airfield and Dembe had a fab time having lots of sniffs and meeting other dogs. As you can see from the next photo he was very happy after his walk.

Tuesday 12th October

Although Jay was day off today he had to get up early as he had to travel to his mums house an hour away and then take her a further 30 minutes away to receive her booster Covid vaccination. Dembe had an early walk on the common and another walk around the block before he left just before 7am. Dembe came back to bed upstairs and went to sleep in his dads room.

We had a knock on the door and I thought it was the postman as I could see a red jacket, it was Martin from Happy dogs. He had brought a present for Dembe and a refund for me as Dembe can't go on walks for the foreseeable future. The present was a kind of wobble treat dispenser, Dembe loved it because he loves treats.

The only problem was that as soon as the treats run out he barks at it non stop! 😂😂😂

Dembe was very pleased to see Martin and he had a cuddle with him. I am just glad Dembe didn't try to make a break for it and climb into the back of Martins van as I don't think I would have got him out again.

Jay was home by around 11am and Dembe acted like he hadn't seen him in weeks. We took Dembe out for an early Woodbury Common walk as Jay is working overnight tonight and he needed to get some sleep in the afternoon. When he went up to bed Dembe went with him and snuggled beside him with his carrot - the big one.

Whilst the boys were having their nap, Petra from the Hydrotherapy centre rang. I have booked Dembe in for his first appointment on 26th October. Unfortunately due to us only being able to attend on a Tuesday that was the first opening. 

When I went to bed at 19.30, Dembe came with me. I was expecting him to stay downstairs with his dad but he wanted to go to bed. Jay came and got him at 10pm so that he could take him around the block for a walk. Dembe came straight back up to bed with no fuss and was an angel all night.

Wednesday 13th October

Jay came back at 5am and took Dembe out for a walk around the block. I was expecting Dembe to bark with the front door being unlocked but he didn't. Later on that day Jay told me it broke his heart having to put Dembe back in the house and then go back to work. Dembe tried to give Jay his carrot and he had to tell him to "go back to bed with mummy". 

We slept in until 8.30am and yet again I found him in his dad's room asleep. 

Jay came in around an hour later, he was exhausted and Dembe was thrilled to see him. Jay walked him around the block so that he could go to bed and not be disturbed by Dembe needing out. Dembe was more than happy to go back up to bed with his daddy and stayed there with him until he got up at around 1pm.

Whilst the boys were sleeping I did some sewing, as usual when I finished Dembe had to get in on the action.

Thursday 14th October

Jay is on a late shift today after working the night shift on Tuesday. Dembe had a walk around the block first thing and then another one on the common at around 9.30am.

Dembe was really unsettled today and barking at everything. Which was unfortunate as I was on a video conference call with Facebook this afternoon. As soon as I went to speak Dembe ran to the window. I managed to talk for a few minutes and then Dembe had to make his presence known. It was a bit embarrassing! Thankfully the other participants found it funny.

I was really unwell today, Dembe picked up on that and was stuck to me like glue. He wanted lots of cuddles and kisses. Even when I feel terrible he is a huge comfort.

Friday 15th October

It has been another rough day today. Poor Dembe was stuck to me like glue again! It must exhaust him looking after me. I do love a Dembe cuddle when I am feeling rotten.

This evening he couldn't make up his mind what toy he wanted to bring me.

He brought me Cleo ( the caterpillar ) Carrot, Find it Bunny and then Crocodile.

Saturday 16th October

This week has been a bit of a write off with my health. I am poorly again, even I am getting fed up with it now. Yet another migraine this is the 3rd in the space of 24 hours. Jay was on an early shift at 5.50am I gave up trying to sleep and came downstairs. Dembe was making a huge fuss wanting his breakfast. Now this week Dembe has had two days where he has barely eaten, we have remained firm and he has been offered his food for 20 minutes, if he doesn't eat it gets picked up. He gets no treats either if he hasn't eaten his food. Yesterday morning he ate his breakfast, last night he ate his dinner. Both those meals contained raw beef mince with 1/4 pack of raw food ( Chicken and Lamb variety ). So when he was making out he was STARVING this morning, I just thought oh yeah, what's the bet you leave it? 

Well.....

He polished off the lot, with this meal I added in more raw food and reduced the beef mince a bit. Tonight I will push it a bit more and give him more raw again. It has taken us a month to get this far. We have had to be persistent and consistent with our approach. I am really proud of him for eating his dinner. He gets lots of praise when he finishes his meal. When he has cleaned his bowl he looks up almost smiling as we tell him what a clever boy he is!

We decided to go back to bed at 06.30am my migraine was getting worse and I really wanted to try and get some sleep. It didn't happen, Dembe went off into Jays room and I listened to a podcast about the Salem Witch trials until 08.30am. When I got up I was fully expecting Dembe to try and make out he hadn't been fed.

Weirdly Dembe wanted out in the back garden and he went and sat on his favourite seat. He is so well camouflaged that you can barely make him out. I had to bribe him with a cocktail sausage to get him to come back in.

He is so knackered from his early start today all he has done is sleep in various places around the house.

This suits me fine as I really am feeling rank today.

See you all next week!

Week Commencing 4th October 2021

 I have been really rubbish at keeping Dembe's diary up to date this week. Think it was still all the stress from the vets the previous week and being exhausted by it all!

Monday 4th October

Since Dembe had his day at the vets last week he has been incredibly clingy! I am almost falling over him as I go around the house as he just wants to be next to me all the time. On Monday afternoon I went upstairs to get some medication and I ended up spending almost an hour up there having a cuddle with Dembe as he just wanted some close time with me. He is so soppy and affectionate.

This morning was Dembe's first early morning in quite some time, he really wasn't happy about it and refused to get out of bed!

He has got into his new routine quite quickly and is no longer waiting by the window waiting for his dog walker(s) to arrive. It used to break my heart to see him waiting and knowing that due to his limp ( which we now know is  bilateral elbow dysplasia ) he wasn't going out. We now spend lots of time playing, cuddling and generally making a fuss of him.

Tuesday 5th October

I really wasn't very well on Tuesday having a migraine at both ends of the day and alas I didn't take any photos of the boy.

The vet rang in the afternoon as they had the report back from the orthopaedic specialist, who confirmed out vets belief that he has the beginnings of Bilateral Elbow Dysplasia. We were given 3 options, 1. CT scan to see what is happening to the elbows, would involve a general anaesthetic. 2. Arthroscopy, camera inserted into the joints and a good look around, again would involve a general anaesthetic. 3. Conservative management, using supplements, reduced exercise, weight management, hydrotherapy, physiotherapy etc . We have opted for option 3, we have insurance but as they have both said it is only at the very early stages we don't feel it warrants any invasive action at the moment. 

The vet also advised us if we had slippery flooring, which we do, to get some mats down so that he doesn't hurt himself. We have already ordered some mats and are just waiting for them all to arrive. 

We will use pain relief as and when he needs it. We have been referred to hydrotherapy and are waiting to hear back from the physiotherapist.

Wednesday 6th October

Jay was on a late shift today, so he took Dembe out on a walk around the block for his first walk at 5.30am. Then at around 9am he went up on the common with him.

As readers of this blog will know we have a nightmare with Dembe and his food. Sadly some of this problem is of our own making. Every time he turns his nose up we panic and then add something to his dinner to make it more exciting. All this has done has taught him if he refuses to eat then he gets something better. So starting from this evening I will be playing hardball and teaching him if he doesn't eat then he gets nothing until his next meal. It will be hard but it is getting to the point where he is refusing everything apart from cheese and corned beef, which is not a balanced diet! as much as he likes it.

I had a very cuddly boy again, so he had lots of attention lavished on him. As I was getting some sewing done Dembe positioned himself out on the chairs so that he could see me whilst enjoying some time outdoors.

He did make me panic as I couldn't see him later on in the afternoon. I looked all downstairs for him, only to spy him hidden by the Yukka.

Spot the Labrador!

Dembe and I were both shattered so we had an early night as we always tend to when Jay / daddy is working.

 I emailed Happy Dogs and Creature Kind today to formally tell them that Dembe would not be returning for walks with them. It is really gutting as he loves his social time with his friends but we have been told his main walk needs to be no more than 25 minutes and no crashing around or being an idiot. For those that are unaware Elbow Dysplasia is a life long condition that will need to be managed,

Thursday 7th October

The way Dembe was sitting on the sofa made me think of King Dembe so I drew a crown on his photo! 

Dembe thought it would be really clever to turn his nose up at breakfast. So after 20 minutes of it being down and barely being touched it was picked up and put in the fridge ready for his dinner. He looked really shocked when none of the usual treats were forthcoming. Jay nearly cracked but I said to him that Dembe has us wrapped around his paws. For him to be healthy he needs to be eating the meals we give him and not rely on being topped up with treats all day long! 

I admit is horrible knowing he is hungry but I am not to blame for that. He was given breakfast and decided he wasn't going to eat it. This refusal of food knowing that something better will be offered is also a sign of intelligence. I have to say his wind has been much less frequent and less foul smelling since moving over to raw. He is also pooing a lot less and the consistency has become a lot firmer so easier to pick up. Probably TMI for some but Dembe has always had issues with wind and his poo being loose. Even as a small puppy his wind was horrific. That is why we moved him off the Kibble that the breeder had him on as it really wasn't agreeing with him. We have tried a variety of kibble since all expensive stuff but he still has the bowel issues. So that is why we decided to move to raw food for him.

Today would have been Frankie and Willow's 15th birthday, it is the 3rd birthday without Willow and the 2nd without Frankie. They are missed everyday the same as their mum Mollie. They were such a massive part of our lives.

Mollie & Frankie

Both of the above photo's are Willow

Both the above photo's are of Frankie.

Dembe picked at his dinner this evening, we know there is nothing wrong with him as he will eat a cocktail sausage. He is trying it on and it is going to be a battle of wills, only mummy will win this!

Friday 8th October

Daddy was on an early shift today, so Dembe was shattered as he had an early walk up on the common. Plus Jay took him for a walk around the block before he left for work. On both occasions Dembe refused to poo. Which was very silly as when Jay is on an early shift he has the longest stretch without a walk.

Again he ate very little breakfast, which was silly as there would be no treats forthcoming. This is the longest he has not eaten properly for, he is probably expecting me to cave as usual but not this time as I am fed up of trying to get him to eat.

At 11am Dembe started crying and going to the door wanting out. He was very persistent poor lamb. Thankfully Jay was popping back to give me some medications that I needed. So when he came back he walked Dembe around the block. Dembe had two enormous poo's, Jay said he nearly needed a forklift to pick them up😂😂😂😂😂😂 When Dembe got back he was much happier! As Jay had come home then he didn't come back for lunch.

Dembe was really into his blue dinosaur today. He kept jumping onto my lap with his blue dinosaur in his mouth. He likes lying across my lap having a cuddle with a toy in his mouth! 

I told him at 15.30 that his dad would be coming home soon. He ran to his toy box got his carrot and stood at the window waiting for his dad to get home.

Dembe did eat this evening however shortly after he threw it all up. He has been sick a couple of times this week. I think he may have an issue with the Golden Paste or the Salmon oil we have started him on. So after an hour when he hadn't been sick I gave him some more dinner but a much smaller portion with no supplements in. That did the trick and he kept that down. So the plan is now to not use any supplements tomorrow to let his tum settle. Then to slowly reintroduce them one at a time.

Saturday 9th October

Jay is on a late shift again today, so Dembe's first walk was around the block and then at 9am Jay took him for a longer walk up the common. As we didn't get up until late Dembe didn't have his breakfast until after his common walk. Today I threw caution to the wind and put a big portion of raw food in with his minced beef. I decided if he didn't eat it then he would go hungry until this evening. To both of our amazement he polished off the lot. No fussing, no walking away from the bowl it was head down tail up and the bowl was licked clean! I said to Jay we may have a few days where he doesn't eat but we know that he will eat it and not to pander to him! 

Dembe has spent a lot of the day sleeping in the lounge or out on his favourite chairs in the garden.  We have lots of cuddles and playing with his blue dinosaur again!

This evening for his dinner I gave him more raw than the minced beef ( I have been slowly trying to get him to swap over from minced beef to his raw food)  and again he polished the lot off.  I was amazed and Dembe looked so pleased with himself when I told him what a very good boy he was. Just goes to show that he has learned to be fussy and he has trained us expertly to give him nicer food he if refuses rather than just letting him go hungry!

Jay popped home at 5pm and took Dembe for a walk around the block. He will be back just after 10pm and will walk Dembe around the block again for his last wee-wee's. 

I am writing the blog early this week as we are going to see Uncle Paul tomorrow for the first time in ages we are going to his house. Dembe always goes crazy when he sees uncle Paul.

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Take care and have a good week

W/C 6th September 2021

Sunday 5th September

I don't always start on a Sunday but then the last few Sundays I have taken some cracking photo's of Dembe so I have decided to share them. 

Dembe's love affair continued today when I found two long lost socks tucked inside a tea towel which were a casualty of the tumble dryer. The socks were paired ( although they weren't a pair ) and then placed on the stairs ready to be taken upstairs. Dembe though had other ideas and immediately grabbed them and then paraded around the lounge with them.

He was so very proud of himself and he paraded with them several times throughout the day.

He decided today to dig out his tweed puppy from his toy box. He has had this toy since he was a tiny pup. He got it one day when I was at the doctors and daddy took Dembe to the indoor market for some environmentalisation training. Dembe chose this from the pet shop as daddy asked him to choose a toy. This was what he went for. He wasn't very happy when he had to hand it over for it to be rung up.

Monday 6th September

As Dembe's intermittent limp had gone away we decided to allow him to go out for a walk with Luke from Happy Dogs. He had a lovely walk and was fine after his walk. As it was so warm I got his paddling pool out to allow him to cool down as the temperature had soared whilst he was out with Luke.

Later on in the afternoon it became clear that Dembe's limp was back and worse than before, so I rang the vets and got an appointment booked for the following morning at 11am. As we still had some pain relief left I mixed it in with some cottage cheese and gave it to him. He goes crazy for cottage cheese.

You can see some slight evidence of his cottage cheese with the white dot on his nose!

Tuesday 7th September

Dembe has the vets today with his daddy at 11am. I decided to stay at home because it is so hot and due to Covid-19 I wont be allowed in the vets, only one of us can go in. Dembe and daddy are back much quicker than I expected. Today the vet has finally been able to see his limp, she has booked him in for a set of 6 x-rays, 3 on each front leg. In the meantime we have pain relief for him and we have to reduce his exercise with immediate effect. He is now only allowed 25 minutes off lead a day and the rest are just walks around the block for toilet breaks. The vet has said this could be a muscle tear that is just taking a while to heal but it could also be elbow dysplasia. They just wont know until the othopedic specialist has written their report after viewing the X-rays.

Due to the restricted exercise I have had to cancel all of Dembe's walks that he has booked with professional dog walkers. It is a shame as Dembe loves his walks but we need to ensure he isn't doing any further damage. We shall be playing some brain games with him to stimulate him mentally. As it is so hot Dembe isn't having long walks anyway.

Very grateful that he is insured as the X-rays alone will be coming in at over £700! 

As is usual when his daddy is home I barely get a look in! It is the Daddy and Dembe love in today.

Wednesday 8th September

Today will be Dembe's first day without his afternoon walk, that he would usually get on a Wednesday. As Sophie was on holiday he wasn't booked in for one today, so daddy is popping home on his lunch break at 5pm to take him around the block.

When Jay goes to work Dembe is stuck to me like glue. I am writing this week's blog post on my The Myasthenia Kid and he has nestled beside me on the sofa.

With his treat box coming last week it has made things easier occupying him. I pulled out a humongous furry cows ear (yuck), He enjoyed it and it kept him out of trouble.

When I was doing my pilates exercises Dembe climbed on top of me and dropped his wet partially chewed cows ear on my face, thanks boy! Mummy is always a climbing frame when she is on the floor no matter what she is doing.

He spent quite a bit of the afternoon snoozing and was very ready when his dad came home at 5pm for his walk around the block. When Jay got in at 10pm Dembe got his last walk of the day.

Thursday 9th September

Dembe was fizzing with energy today, it is safe to say he is missing the exercise that a long run brings. He is being a bit barky today so I decided to start playing brain games with him and so some training as well. It has been a long time since I have done this and I really need to get back in the habit.

I managed to capture him in this photo just on the inhale before he barked.

And here he is looking very cute

For our first brain game I got a muffin tin form the kitchen and some treats. I then searched through Dembe's toy box and found all the balls that he had plus a few toys. I then placed treats into the tin and covered the holes where the treats were with the toys. Whilst doing this i made Dembe sit and stay as otherwise he would have eaten them before I had the treats covered. As you can see from the video ( well hear) his nose is really engaged with this game as he works out where all the treats have been hidden.

I upped the difficulty level on each game, I did this by adding flat coasters instead of toys over the top of the treats so he had to work out that he had to slide the coasters.

Another game we played is one I call touch, so a while ago I trained Dembe to touch the palm of my hand with his nose when I say the command touch. I then vary the position my hands are in and change which hand I will use so no hand is in the same position twice. I don't think we had played this for around a year and he remembered it straight off. Of course this time I couldn't do any positions where he would be jumping up like I did before.

Daddy was due home at 6pm ( he had already been home at lunch time and walked him around the block), Dembe wanted to go to the toilet ( despite the fact the back door was open all afternoon) and lay in front of the door to let me know that is what he wanted.

Friday 10th September

Daddy was home poorly from work today, he had come down with a migraine overnight. He doesn't get them very often but when he does they are bad ones. Dembe spent a lot of the day upstairs with his daddy keeping him company. I wasn't feeling brilliant either with intermittent vertigo.

Dembe was knackered after being on duty all day!

Saturday 11th September

Daddy was back to work today and was on a late finish. None of us woke up until gone 9am, Dembe had been out at 5.30am but had come back to bed and had promptly fallen asleep. We were in shock that Dembe had allowed us to sleep for that long as lie in's are not something he does.

We are looking at changing Dembe's food again as he has been really awful of late with his food and turning up his nose. We have had a really good 18 months - 2 years with his eating but it is a royal pain in the arse when he starts refusing to eat. So we have decided to go back and try raw or B.A.R.F - biologically appropriate raw food. Dembe has problems with his ears which 9/10 is caused by an allergy to something in his diet, plus he has got a bit pudgy and needs to lose some weight. I went back to my favourite raw food site which is Dogs First and looked up how they recommended to switch a fussy eater over to raw. So for the last few days I have been adding a small amount of minced beef to his meals as we know that he likes raw mince from when I make his meat loaf.

Well the minced beef has gone down so well he is back to inhaling his meals and I have been able to reduce the amount of his normal food and replace it with beef. We shall still be doing this slowly and will use beef mince when we start moving him over to a better balanced raw food. I haven't seen him eat like that since he was a puppy! 

As Dembe was a sleepy boy today I managed to get some sewing done this afternoon. I did give him a deer leg to chew on but he didn't take any notice of that until later in the evening when he stripped it completely.

He was a very good boy for me today apart from when I was having my dinner and trying to watch an Italian TV show that had English subtitles. Dembe kept managing to position himself between my plate and the Tv so I was having to guess at what was being said whilst the subtitles were obscured.

We don't have any plans for Sunday other than to chill out and get some housework done! See you all next week