W/C Monday 18th October 2021

Monday 18th October

As usual Dembe's daddy is on an early shift, Dembe is absolutely knackered as he hates an early start! 

I haven't been very well so Dembe has been following me around everywhere. He is giving me lots of cuddles and affection as he always does when I am feeling rotten.

This afternoon Dembe wanted to play nudge with his favourite ball, his glow in the dark one that was a present from Bev and Harry.

 I love this face I managed to capture.

He was very happy when his dad got back and his pack was all back together.

As you can see from his smiley face!

Tuesday 19th October 

Jay took Dembe around the block first thing this morning, he bumped into a lady he works with walking her dogs. Then at around 8.30am Jay took Dembe down to the beach as a treat.

Dembe really loves the beach in all weathers. He was running around amusing himself, carrying his ball.

When Dembe came home we gave him a quick hose off in the back garden as he was covered in sand! Dembe was so knackered after his trip to the beach he slept for the rest of the morning.

Dembe's new supplements arrived today so I was able to start him on those when he had his dinner this evening, 

As usual on Jay's day off it was the daddy and Dembe love in!

Wednesday 20th October

Dembe woke me up barking at 7.40am, Jay had left him asleep on the sofa when he went to work. Now he was barking out of the window in his dads bedroom. Shock horror Dembe's daddy is on an early shift today which will throw me and D out all week!

We are having another sofa day today, thankfully I am starting to feel better now. Dembe was very excited to see his dad when he got home from work. Thankfully on both his walks lunch time and after work they managed to avoid the rain! 

At 17.30 Dembe wanted his usual after dinner stroll. The rain was so unbelievably heavy, Jay got changed into his walking gear, put Dembe on the lead and opened the front door. Dembe took one look at the rain and hurtled back into the house. That is the first time he has ever done that as usually he will go out what ever the weather!

Dembe is cracking us up at the moment. Jay has been having Chicken drumsticks a few time which he heats up in the microwave. Dembe loves chicken drumsticks, he obviously doesn't get given the bone, just the flesh. Dembe now stands in the kitchen looking at the microwave and barks at it until the drumsticks are done!

Thursday 21st October

Well this is a shitty week of Jays hours as he is now on two late shifts back to back.  Dembe had a quick walk around the block at 06.30 and then at 8.30 he had a walk up on the common. He met lots of dogs on the common and covered them all in his slobber. He was particularly happy to meet Max a black Labrador who quickly got covered in Dembe's excited slobber.

For the first time in a week I was able to do some sewing. Dembe decided he was going to sit out in his favourite chairs in the garden. That would have been fine had the temperature not dropped significantly over the last few days. It is now feeling much more Autumnal, it took some food bribery to get him to come inside!

Jay popped back at 5pm and walked him around the block. Dembe was a really good boy and settled down early. He stayed upstairs with me until Jay got home just after 10pm. He didn't bark but you could hear his tail thumping against the wall on the stairs. Jay took him for a walk around the block and he surprised him by doing a poo! Normally on his last walk of the night he just has a few wee's. 

Friday 22nd October

Dembe has always had this thing where he may not play with a toy for months and then all of a sudden he digs through his toy box and finds a toy that he then becomes obsessed with. Today he found his Sprout, he hasn't played with his sprout for around 6 months at the very least. Obviously carrot is still a favourite along with find it bunny, blue dinosaur and Aubergine. In the photo above he is waiting for me to throw him his sprout back. He will hit it with his nose back to me and we play this strange game of catch for a while!

Dembe slept most of the afternoon whilst I had a play on my embroidery machine. He woke up shortly before his dad popped back to take him out for a walk around the block. Dems and I sat on the sofa and had a nice cuddle for a bit. Dembe went to sleep really early, for a change I was late going up to bed (19.30). Before I went up to bed Dembe was sprawled across the little sofa snoring his head off.

It made me giggle that he was sleeping with his front legs crossed so daintily. He woke up as I was taking photos of him.

That is the glare from a dog that really didn't want to have a camera shoved in his face!

Saturday 23rd October

Well all change again as Dembe's daddy is on an early today. Dembe had a very early walk and then came straight back up to bed with me. I woke up at 8.30am to the sound of Dembe snoring away!

Dembe is a very cuddly boy today!  Whenever I have a long stitch out on my embroidery machine I go into the lounge and have a smooch with my boy. He loves lying on my lap whilst I hold one of his chews.

Tomorrow we are going to do a recky to find out where Dembe's hydrotherapy is ahead of his appointment on Tuesday.

Week Commencing 23rd August 2021

 Monday 23rd August 

Firstly thank you for joining us over here on Blogger!

Martin and Luke from Happy Dogs arrived jut after 8.30am to take his lordship out for a walk. I was still watching The Handmaids Tale from the night before, so it wa only because of the way Dembe was barking that I realised the Happy Dogs Van was parked up outside. 

We had got up early well at least I had, I surfaced at 7am but Dembe didn't wander downstairs until 7.30 despite the fact he had woken me up crying for his breakfast. I got him his breakfast and he turned his nose up. No amount of coaxing could get him to entertain eating it. So it got wrapped in cling film and put back into the fridge. When he turns his nose up he then doesn't get anything until his next meal time. He is such a fussy dog and he will turn his nose up just because he wants to see what we will add to it. Spoilt bastard.

He was a very good boy on his walk for Martin and Luke, he is coming back when called and not disappearing ahead like he was doing earlier on in the year. 

His new water bowl arrived from Pet Planet today, we have a stand that raises the height of his water bowl. The stand and the bowl were bought back in 2006/7 for our Weimaraners. Dembe has always enjoyed having a raised water bowl. Sadly the bowl was starting to develop small rust spots so for safety we needed to change it. It took me two days of searching online to find a bowl that wold be big enough to sit on the stand. I really didn't want to have to find a new stand as well as a bowl. 

Sadly the water bowl arrived with a huge dent in the side of it due to inadequate packaging. Pet planet were amazing! They answered my email within ten minutes of me sending it and sent out a new bowl for Dembe, ensuring this one would be wrapped properly. We will use the dented one for when he is visiting Nanny Morris' house as his cousins Darcy and Dusty will also be there and they will all use the one water bowl then. The mat under the water bowl we bought from Amazon a while ago now.

I finally managed to get Dembe to eat at 3pm. I added sardines to his food and he still turned his nose up. From experience I know when he does this if you change the bowl his meal is in he will then eat it. So I swapped out the bowl for an Emma Bridgewater pasta bowl and the little sod ate the lot.

He kept making me laugh this afternoon by sitting at the other side of the coffee table like he was waiting to have a chat! 

On Dembe's walk up the common this evening we discovered that he has learned how to pick black berries from the copious amounts of bramble bushes on the common. Our second dog Mollie knew how to do this and taught all our other dogs to do this, first Travis and then Willow and Frankie. With Dembe being an only child we don't know where he has worked this out from whether it is an innate ability or he has been shown by another dog on one of his walks. For a dog who doesn't like any fruit to find that he is helping himself to black berries is hilarious.

Tuesday 24th August

Jay was day off today so Dembe made the most of it and caught up with all the cuddles that he missed on Monday. I got up at 7am and left Jay sleeping, Dembe scoffed his breakfast and then went upstairs and started dropping his carrot toy on Jay's head to wake him up. I woke up with a migraine and the longer I was up the worse my head felt so I ended up going back to bed at 8.30am until around 11am. Dembe came up with me sleeping with his head facing towards the door so he could guard me.

When it was time to take Dembe out for his afternoon walk, I was well enough to come along for a change of scenery, sitting in the car whilst Jay and Dembe went for their walk. Jay decided he would take Dembe to the pond for a swim.

Dembe had a fantastic time splashing around in the pond chasing stones and collecting the sticks that Jay threw for him. He was drenched when he got back to the car. As we approached home we witnesses a road traffic collision ( RTC ) . A large white van hit a van that was parked outside of someones home and damaged it. The van made no attempt to stop and carried on. As we have a dashcam, we pulled over and spoke to the people who owned the van, they had been in the garden and were completely unaware that their van had been hit. They were ever so thankful that we had stopped and were going to provide them with stills and the footage of the incident itself. 

Dembe liked the man whose van had been hit, he came over to the car and put his hand up for Dembe to sniff. Dembe barks at most people who approach him when he doesn't know them. This time he stunned both Jay and I by licking the blokes hand! 

Wednesday 25th August

Today Dembe has a walk with Sophie from Creature Kind booked. He loves meeting up with his best mate Polo for a walk. Polo is also a Labrador and around the same age as Dembe. Sophie arrived at around 12.30pm and Dembe was more than happy she had come to get him. I no longer need to put his lead on as Sophie opens up the side of the van and Dembe charges in. He always put's his nose up to the crate that holds Polo so they can greet each other.

All the photos above reproduced with kind permission from Sophie Start Creature Kind

Dembe was thirsty and hot when he arrived home. He headed straight for his water bowl and had a huge drink. Then he found his favourite spot on the floor and alternated between there and the patio slabs.

After he had cooled down he decided that he had to have some mummy cuddles and climbed onto my lap for a fuss.

He had an early dinner as he is always starving on Wednesday evening due to his walk and afterwards rather than have a mad 30 minutes he flaked right out again.

Jay popped home at 5pm to take him around the block so that he would be ok until he got back at 10pm. Dembe settled down very quickly this evening and stayed up with me on the bed. Jay ran him around the block again when he got home.

Thursday 26th August

Happy International day of the Dog! 

As Jay is on a 9-6 shift today Dembe has no dog walks booked today. Usually on a Thursday Dembe sleeps loads as he is worn out still from his fun and frolics from the day before. He decided that he was going to be a sod again with his breakfast, turning his nose up until I relented and added some cottage cheese to it. He has me wrapped around his paw!

I was having a quick tidy up this morning and Dembe decided to climb up the stairs and keep an eye on me from a better vantage point.

Dembe was very happy to see his dad when he got home at 13.20pm, for the first time ever he brought his dad Cleo the Caterpillar.

We took Dembe up to the model airfield on Woodbury common in the evening. Dembe had a lovely run around and stretched his legs. He settled down really quickly after that and went to sleep.

Friday 27th August

Dembe is still being a fuss ass with his food. He keeps turning his nose up at one pot wonder, even if it has other stuff added to it. Grr so once again he doesn't have breakfast.

As Jay is on a late night tonight Dembe's first walk is around the block at 5am. His second walk is on Woodbury Common. He played with lots of dogs and had a fab time. He was playing with a Black Labrador called Tilly, he managed to get a foamy mouth and share it with Tilly all down her back!

He was really knackered when he got back and was more than happy to lie on my bed and drift off as I sorted myself out for the day.

He is still being a pain in the arse with food, as he hadn't had any breakfast he was starving this eveing and needed no encouragement at all to have his dinner.

He was so hungry an hour after he had his dinner I gave him a smaller portion of his favourite, Meatloaf which he ate straight out of the tub. He is such an idiot as he knows the drill and knows that he will be made to eat what he turned his nose up earlier on in the day.

He was knackered this evening and went straight to sleep when I came upstairs.

Saturday 28th August

As we are going to Nanny Morris' tomorrow I am writing up his blog post today. I will include any photos I take in next weeks diary entry.

Jay was on an early shift today so Dembe's first walk was around the block as daddy was so tired he didn't trust himself to drive. Dembe came back up to bed with me and we didn't get up until gone 8.30am. Dembe decided to only eat half his breakfast this morning so when he had left it alone for 20 minutes it was picked up and put in the fridge.

He has been a bit of a sod this morning and instead of barking out the front window he has been howling. So he had to be told off a few times - mainly just tell him to get down, which to be fair to him he does do.

At one point after being told again to "get down" he stropped off out into the garden.

He has forgiven me though and we have had lots of cuddles on the sofa.

Even though he is a big boy now he still loves to lie across my lap as he did when he was a tiny pupster! I love our cuddles and we have them several times a day. He is the most affectionate boy even if he does very occasionally drive me to distraction! 

 

W/C 7th June 2021

 

As we have been on holiday this week I shall just share some photos with you rather than give a run down of each day.

It has been a very hot week, Dembe and the humans have been struggling to cope. We have been having a massive clear out of the house and Dembe has been brilliant throughout all the upheaval.

 

W/C 24th May 2021

 Monday 24th May

Dembe is booked in for a walk with Martin from Happy dogs this morning as Jay is on an early. The day started really sunny so I was hopeful that they would have a dry walk as it has been really awful the weather of late. Whilst Dembe and Martin were out we had some heavy showers and some hail. Miraculously they managed to avoid the showers and I had a very dry Dembe returned to me.

If you have Facebook you can see the video Martin took here https://www.facebook.com/415343231815686/videos/494023101908305

Dembe made a new friend Lilly, Martin joked that she made a good Shadow substitute for Dembe as he does like the girls!

I had got all prepared for a wet dog, Dembe was more than happy to have his post walk nap on the towel I had laid out ready for him!

Jay popped back for lunch and walked him around the block. He was very settled in the afternoon so that let me do some prep work for some sewing. At 3pm Dembe came into the kitchen demanding his dinner which is incredibly early but as he was asking I let him!

Dembe has to have someone in the room with him when he eats or he will walk away from the food no matter how hungry he is. He has had this little quirk since he was a tiny pup.

He was very impatient for his dad to get home this afternoon and spent ages at the window watching the world go by and checking if it was his dad or not.

Tuesday 25th May

Dembe woke up at around 5.30am for his walk this morning, Jay took him around the block and then they both came back to bed and went to sleep. He started crying at 7.30am for his breakfast so I got Jay and we all went downstairs together. He has been demanding his food earlier than normal at the moment, which is unusual especially as a few weeks ago we had meals left as he didn’t want to eat them. He polished off a huge breakfast in record time!

He is being an angel with having his eye drops put in. He is such a good boy that he lets me do it by myself if I need to because Jay is at work. The Weims would have put up such a fight it would have taken an army of people to do it! His eyes are clearing up beautifully, bless him he must have been hurting and we didn’t know.

Today has been a Carrot day today, he has taken it everywhere. He has a habit of running up the stairs of he thinks we are going to do something he doesn’t like – for example clean his ears, clip his dew claws etc. For some reason today he decided to run upstairs!

He thinks we can’t see him because he is behind the banister! Numpty.

Wednesday 26th May

Today’s the day the boys are reunited, Polo will be on the walk with Dembe and they can resume their bromance.

As is usual Dembe had 3 walks before Jay left for work around midday. Dembe was picked up later this afternoon so whilst we were waiting, I gave Dembe a groom much to his digust. He is moulting an incredible amount at the moment. I used a zoom groom and a furminator on him and must have got enough off to stuff a 14 inch cushion pad!

Dembe had a fab walk with Sophie and Beth, if you have Facebook you can see a video of Dembe and Polo here https://www.facebook.com/2517468794947463/videos/4523341044360218

You can see another video of Dembe and the gang on Creature Kinds Facebook page by using this link https://www.facebook.com/2517468794947463/videos/4523356911025298

Photo Credit Sophie Start Creature Kind

Photo Credit Sophie Start Creature Kind

Photo Credit Sophie Start Creature Kind

Dembe was shattered and starving hungry when he got home. We had an early night, he was in one of those moods where he is almost in my skin as he is so close to me on the bed.

Thursday 27th May

Dembe was knackered before he even went out with Martin from Happy dogs this morning. I don’t think he was expecting a walk today. Dembe was on the second walk so was picked up later.

As Martin switched on his camera to do a Facebook Live Dembe decided to live up to his name of Dembe ” 2 poo’s” Morris . If you have Facebook you can see the video here https://www.facebook.com/415343231815686/videos/482804812979561

Dembe spent most of the afternoon asleep either inside the house or out in the garden.

Friday 28th May

Jay was on an early shift, Dembe was asleep in my room for a change as normally he will go in and sleep on Jays bed. When Dembe and I came downstairs we saw that Jay had left this for us.

Martin had told me the day before that Dembe would be picked up early for his walk as he had lots to do today. That is fine with us as it means Dembe doesn’t have to wait hours between walks. Dembe started barking at the window at 8.30am by the way his tail was going I knew it was Martin from Happy Dogs.

If you have Facebook you can see the Live that Martin recorded here https://www.facebook.com/415343231815686/videos/1001586060597560

When Dembe came home as he was coming into the house I could see what looked like a Tick trying to get under Dembe’s collar. Luckily with his light coloured fur they are easy to spot when they are the small black ones. I freaked out a little and managed to catch it before it buried his head into Dembe’s skin. I have never known a year for so many ticks. We have had two in the house already most years there is 2 all year. So Jay has organised picking up Dembe’s over due tick treatment this evening.

I managed to make these two this morning

Dembe heard me as I put the squeakers into the Carrots and came running out of the lounge and wanted me to give him one of the carrots. I have made these for my nephews Cocker Spaniel Dusty and my friends sisters dog Bertie. They will both love them and there are two squeakers in each one. Dembe absolutely adores his full sized carrot. I am so glad that I have been able to make a replacement for him now they are no longer sold by Pets at Home.

Dembe has been chilling out this afternoon between barking at the carpenters working on next doors porch. I am updating his diary earlier than usual as on Sunday we are going to Jays mum’s house. Jays family will be scattering his dads ashes up on the beacon and Jay is taking Dembe with him for a nice long walk. I am staying at his mums house as the path isn’t disability friendly and is too much for me to manage. I used to walk this track twenty odd years ago before I got sick.