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

 

W/C 19th July 2021. HOT, HOT, HOT!

Monday 19th July

The UK is currently experiencing a bit of a heat wave at the moment so it is important that all dogs walks are done in the coolest part of the day. Jay took Dembe out for an early lead walk before he went to work. Martin from Happy dogs picked Dembe up at around 9.30am. It was already quite warm so Martin walked the group in shaded areas, unfortunately that area didn’t have a good enough signal to do a Facebook live. When Dembe got home I hosed him down in the back garden. Martin told me what a very good boy he had been.

We had got up incredibly early ( for me and Dembe as we like a lie on, after Dembe has had his first walk of the day), we were up at 6.30am. Dembe was starving hungry straight off the bat which is unusual for him. He really isn’t the typical greedy Labrador and is an extremely fussy eater. It was so unusual I took a photo and sent it to Jay to prove to him Dembe was having an early breakfast.

I managed to get some sewing done today, whilst Dembe slept after his happy dogs walk. When I went to take some photos of my finished pieces Dembe couldn’t help but get involved in the process.

During this intense hot spell we are having at the moment Dembe has taken to lying on the patio flag stones in the shaded part of the back garden.

To help cool him off in the afternoon I filled up his paddling pool.

He enjoyed this immensely, he loves water and goes crazy when the hosepipe is out. As a result of his love of water and the heat at the moment we have bought Dembe a spinkle mat which is coming tomorrow.

Tuesday 20th July

It is as hot as Hades! When Jay walked Dembe on the common at 4am it was already 17 degrees centigrade.

I found two ticks on Dembe, one on the front of his chest and one in his armpit. He was a very good boy and let me remove both of them using the tick removing tool I bought from Amazon. He did however run up the stairs with his carrot after they were removed. It seems that he thinks we can’t get him when he runs up the stairs. Martin our dog trainer has said that is more a Golden retriever type of behaviour as they are sensitive souls.

My phone just refused to focus properly on the tick so this is the best I could do. Both ticks were of similar size. Both sites where the ticks were removed are lightly swollen so I shall keep an eye on them. Mollie our eldest Weimaraner was the same when she had ticks remove the skin would swell slightly where the tick had embedded itself.

Thankfully he did forgive us for removing the tick!

Dembe’s sprinkle mat arrived at around lunch time. We got it assembled quickly and put it outside for him to have a play with.

When the jets were on he refused to go anywhere near it. So I turned the jets off and he was more than happy to play in the water that had collected in the bottom. I turned the water back on to put the jets on whilst he was on the mat he was fine with that, thank goodness.

Dembe had lots of little walks to the shaded lane that is very close to our home. He took full of advantage of Jay being home and must’ve had about 6 walks today.

Here he is looking as gorgeous as ever!

Wednesday 21st July

Dembe woke up just before 6am, on waking I gave him a cuddle and discovered another tick on his chest near his front leg. He was very good boy and allowed me to remove it from him cleanly using the tool. We think he is picking up the ticks from the lane as it is used by Foxes and Hedgehogs. I have checked him all over several times today to ensure I haven’t missed any. I have gone online and ordered some rose geranium oil to apply to him before he goes for walks as this is supposed to be as effective as Deet at keeping the little critters away. For the minute I have used some peppermint oil on him to put them off as this is effective too.

His paddling pool needed cleaned and filled so we had a laugh with the hosepipe and the crazy dog again! He does love the water.

Due to the heat I cancelled Dembe’s walk with Sophie from Creature Kind, she had just emailed me to discuss the situation, she offered to take him out earlier but as Jay was on a late shift it wasn’t worth it. He was actually ok about not going out. The heat was so oppressive that he was quite happy to just have cuddles on the sofa with me.

Jay popped home at 5pm and gave Dembe a walk around the block, it was soooo hot. We hosed him off before the walk and then again when he came back. Dembe was more than happy for an early night and we were up in bed by 7pm.

Thursday 22nd July

It is still crazy hot! Dembe is having a very early walk on the common and then Jay will walk him in the shaded lane at Lunch time and then again when he gets home from work. It is too hot to have Dembe running around being a nutter, although to be honest he has slept most of this last week due to the heat and I don’t blame him.

This afternoon I took Dembe on to the shaded part of the patio and practised getting him to sit nicely with a huge bag of treats beside me. I also used the opportunity to give him a quick groom as the hair in the house at the moment is just bonkers. It has never been this bad ever! There are huge great rolls of hair appearing out from under furniture even though the house is vacuumed twice a day at the moment due to all the bloody hair! Honestly how he isn’t naked is beyond me.

I know I am biased but I really do think that he is such a handsome boy. I know every dog owner says that about their dogs but he is just gorgeous. I am utterly besotted with him as is his daddy.

Dembe is going absolutely crazy for Cottage cheese and petit filous deserts – both human foods, which he can have a little of sometimes. He loves the cottage cheese so much that I have been letting him have the last dregs in the tub. Until now he has never stuck his nose fully into a food container or carried it around. We laugh because Frankie our Weimaraner, who sadly passed away two weeks before Dembe came home with us used to do exactly the same. It is so sweet to see him doing stuff that the other dogs did. He makes us laugh when he races into the kitchen when he hears the Fridge open just like Willow used to. Willow was so bad if she heard a kitchen timer go off she would race you to the kitchen LOL!

Friday 23rd July

My goodness what a cuddly boy Dembe is being today, I cant bend down without being kissed and I can’t sit or lie down without being cuddled, brought a toy or kissed to death. He has managed to lick my eyeball 3 times today!

I had a lie down on the bed and he couldn’t get close enough to me for a cuddle.

It was slightly cooler this evening than it has been all week so Dembe was much more active. He wanted to get me lots of toys out and have me play with him for ages. I don’t mind as it was lovely to see him more comfortable rather than struggling with the heat.

After having a massive play session he then crashed on the lounge floor and went to sleep!

Sorry this week has been a bit shorter than normal. We are having a new boiler fitted on Monday so we have been getting the house ready. We will be doing the final prep on Sunday which would be my normal day for writing up his diary, hence why it has been done earlier. Hopefully it will go smoothly.

The next two weeks Jay is on holiday so I shall be taking a two week break from Dembe’s Diary and will catch you up August 9th 2021.

 

W/C Monday 31st May 2021

I’m actually going to start on

Sunday 30th May

It was very warm today and we had all the windows of the car open for a few hours before we made our way down to Jays mum’s for the day. Dembe would be meeting up with his puppy pal Darcy and then having a long walk on Dartmoor.

It is safe to say Dembe loves his Nannies garden. Jay and I were inside talking to his mum whilst we could see Dembe so excited that he was doing Zoomies in the garden by himself as he sprinted around the garden! We were laughing at him as he was just so happy. He had a really lovely play with Darcy who has become less bitey as she has got older. After an hour in the garden, Jay put the hose on both the dogs as it was getting warm and then they set off for their walk to the Tor.

We were quite surprised when both dogs were still on the go when they got back from their 6 miles walk. Dembe was fixated on Darcy’s tennis ball and was following that around the garden. They were both really well behaved.

When we got home at around 5pm that evening Dembe came inside the house and jumped up on the sofa. He fell asleep immediately and didn’t move for the next hour he was so tired he didn’t even want his dinner.

Monday 31st May

Today is the Whitsun bankholiday and the last bank holiday before the last one of the year in August. We were having a lazy day after our trip out yesterday. I had quite a nasty migraine overnight, Jay and Dembe were knackered after their long walk.

We measured Dembe today for a new car harness as he has outgrown his old ones. It will be coming tomorrow, the size that is coming is the largest one they do and should be able to be made bigger than what he needs. I like this brand of harness as it is one of the few in the world that has actually been crash tested. It is called the SlowTon Harness and is available from Amazon ( I am not receiving anything for this recommendation it is just the one I found after researching harnesses)https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B07DQGFG2C/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o07_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1 this link will take you to it on UK Amazon. We went for the green tartan version as Dembe has a nice Racing Green leather collar.

Tuesday 1st June

The hot weather is continuing and despite the forecast of rain tomorrow we have got Dembe’s pool out for him so he can have a play.

He was so excited all he wanted to do is eat the water from the hosepipe. We also got out his cool mat so he can chill out – literally.

Dembe’s car harness arrived at 11.30am so we were really pleased it had arrived before Dembe’s next car journey. It needed barely any adjustment and is very easy to get on and off.

Dembe was asleep very early tonight.

Wednesday 2nd June

Today is really weird as Jay is on an early shift and not a late due to the bank holiday, also Sophie from Creature Kind is on Holiday so Dembe has a walk booked this morning with Happy Dogs.

Sadly Dembe was very naughty on his walk today, he decided for the first time ever to run off and disappear. Martin had almost got to the point of having to ring me to tell me Dembe was missing when he emerged from the bushes mouth covered in frothy saliva. I was mortified that he could be so naughty, especially when the boy I know can be a bloody angel. I told Martin that for all future walks Dembe has to be on a long lead. I wouldn’t cope at all if we lost him or if he fell pray to a dognapper. Until he realises he is not in charge on walks he will have to be on the long lead.

For the rest of the day Dembe was rather meek and mild knowing that he had well and truly pushed his luck. Sadly due to the events of the last few months we haven’t been on his training consistently if at all and like a child when the rules aren’t enforced they take full advantage. Things are going to get quite tough for him over the next few days as we revert back to his training and doing it consistently.

I ordered Dembe’s food on Monday and that I arrived today, he is very happy with his Highland Essentials. As the food was being tipped into his food storage bin it dropped on the floor and it was like watching a game of Hungry Hippos! As he is such a fussy eater I was very surprised that he even looked at it.

His stomach has been making some awful noises this afternoon, god knows what he was eating in the bushes when he went on his adventure.

Thursday 3rd June

Well this is really going to throw us all out as Jay is late night, normally that is Wednesday. So on Dembe’s first walk he had a walk around the block and then for his second walk Daddy took him up the common for an hour. They had a fun time although by the time they got back the temperature was really beginning to rise.

I was pretty poorly today so did little more than lie around on the sofa.

Dembe was a good boy for me today and just enjoyed having cuddles on the sofa with me. He was ecstatic that his treat box arrived this week. I get a treat box delivered every month as it provides him with different treats. He has got more adventurous and thinks nothing now of chowing down on a hairy rabbits ear or puffed pigs snout!

Jay popped home at around 5pm and walked Dembe around the block for 30 minutes before returning to work. I managed to convince Dembe that it was time for bed at 18.30 so I could have a good rest upstairs. He is very good in that regard.

Friday 4th June

Dembe has a walk booked with Martin this morning, although he seems pretty chilled and not bursting with energy this morning. I think the heat is getting to him. As agreed Martin had him on a long lead. If you have Facebook you can see the Facebook Live Martin from Happy Dogs recorded

here https://www.facebook.com/415343231815686/videos/2919510708337627 . Martin told me that Dembe was not impressed to be on the lead and was quite sulky as he wasn’t happy that he wasn’t getting to do what he wanted. He carried on that sulk when he came home!

He soon forgave me and gave me a huge cuddle, crawling onto my lap and staying there for 30 minutes or so.

With the heat he was quite tired and spent a lot of the day sleeping. I had implemented the new training regime getting him to sit and stay, to wait before doing things. The duck treats I got as a free gift with his dog food have gone down really well. It seems he will do anything for those.

This evening he lay on the floor to cool down in the evening and used his Carrot as a cushion.

Saturday 5th June

Another warm day and the last day that daddy is working before his weeks holiday and the daddy and Dembe love in can begin.

W/C 3rd August 2020

 

Monday 3rd August

I have to share this video from Sunday afternoon when Dembe went crazy whilst waiting to go out fr his walk

Jay was back to work today after his week off. However to confuse us all he was late night which is rare on a Monday. Dembe was booked in with Martin at Happy Dogs for a walk later on in the afternoon.

Dembe went out just before 3pm, for a long walk up the common. He was shattered when he came home and wanted cuddles. I had come down with a migraine in the hour before he left so spent the time lying on the sofa. I was only too happy for Dembe cuddles when he got home.

Dembe coped well with Jay going back to work and was a good boy for me.

Tuesday 4th August

I was still feeling really rough after the migraine so we had a quiet day altogether. I was feeling so awful by the time dog training came along, that I didn’t attend. Happy dogs very kindly shot dome video so I could see how well my boys were doing. If you are on Facebook you can find the video on their page https://www.facebook.com/happydogs.uk/

You can also see videos of Dembe’s walks following that link if you use Facebook. I can’t share the videos on my blog as the copyright doesn’t belong to me.

Wednesday 5th August

We all had to get up early today as we had an electrician coming over to fit an outside socket for us. Dembe hasn’t been great with strange people coming into the house lately, since lock down he hasn’t seen that many people and now barks like mad when someone he doesn’t know comes in.

I kept Dembe on the lead for the whole time the Electrician was here to ensure he didn’t get in the way. He was very good on the lead, we practiced focus work and calm giving. Both these techniques we learned at dog training and this can bring a very excited dog that is bouncing off the ceiling back down to earth and responsive to your commands.

He was knackered when the electrician left and slept for the rest of the morning.

We had a lazy day as I was knackered .

Thursday 6th August

Ever since Dembe was a tiny pup when I get ready in the morning , Dembe settles on my bed and goes to sleep. Probably as it takes me so long he has decided that he will use this time constructively!

From around 3pm ( despite the fact his dad was home for lunch) Dembe was looking out of the window for his dad. It was a bit of a nightmare as Jay was on a 9-6 so I had to try to keep Dembe occupied .

Dembe is still getting annoyed at the statue!

Friday 7th August

Jay is on an early today and tomorrow, so he took Dembe out at the crack of dawn for a nice long walk. The temperature is supposed to be increasing over the next few days.

Dembe was already finding it hot today

Thankfully today when he started looking out of the window for his dad I knew his dad would be home within the hour.

Saturday 8th August

OMG it is hot. At 4pm we saw the temperature was 32 degree’s. Dembe and I spent the majority of the day hidden in the house.

At around 12.30pm I gave his paddling pool a quick clean and refilled it. Dembe loves his paddling pool. Unfortunately his solar fountain broke – the pump got jammed. I have ordered him another one as he does enjoy playing in the spray.

Dembe gets over excited easily with the paddling pool. When his dad got in at around 1pm he was bouncing off the walls. Jay decided to check the tarmac temperature and then take him out for a walk around the block as he had wound himself up to a frenzy. Thank goodness he did as Jay said he did an elephant sized poo!

Dembe spent the afternoon lying on the floor between the sofa and the coffee table. I showered him off ever couple of hours during the day to keep him cool.

This evening whilst we were watching the TV Dembe walked up to the washing ( clean) that was waiting to be taken upstairs rifled through it and then helped himself to a pair of his dads socks. We were in hysterics as he has never done that before. Unfortunately the image isn’t that great

Sunday 9th August

It is still very hot here today. Unfortunately I have come down with a migraine again – this time I woke up with it. We are having a lazy day.