Dog friendly park

We have not long been back from a fantastic dog friendly park, it's a 2 min drive away so Tarkka went in the car. On arrival the park seemed very quiet no dogs in site but during the walk Tarkka met/played with a golden retriever, a spaniel, 2 mastiffs (they were huge) and a couple of German Spitz (one golden one black) one wanted to play the other didn't. One of the mastiffs barked at Tarkka and told him off when he got fed up of Tarkka jumping up at him, which took Tarkka by surprise but we stayed chatting to the owners each time & Tarkka soon sussed out who he could play with and who didn't want to play so he just sat by my feet. The golden retriever was the best he played with Tarkka and accidentally squashed him (he really yelped) but was straight back up playing but gave the retriever a bit more space.

We also took a dog whistle along with us and when Tarkka wouldn't come we walked the other way & gave 3 sharp toots on the whistle. Each time he looked back at us, saw us walking away & proceeded to chase us, not sure if he will do this for long but it's giving me great confidence at the mo to let him of his lead. We also practiced puppy ping pong in the park and he was really good even with distractions and during the walk I occasionally put him on his lead for a bit then let him of again so he was never sure if the recall was for lead or just a big fuss (we left the treats on the side in the kitchen by mistake)

Anyway I'm off for a cuppa. Looking forward to seeing some of you at the Lappy walk on Sunday.

Days Out

Yep that's right we are now out in the big wide world.

First trip was to the railway station, what fun. Tarkka was not spooked at all, he seemed to really love it. Lots of fuss from people waiting to get on trains people getting off trains, taxi drivers & railway staff, even a train driver stopped to ask after him & give him a cuddle.

Next trip was to the beach, family trip late sunday afternoon. Josh loved skimming stones to the point that I had to call to him asking him to look down, yes he was knee deep in the sea.

Tarkka had a fab time, digging in the sand, paddling in the sea and sniffing through the seaweed. Not to mention all the dogs and people he met.

Monday involved a trip to the vet, he's now microchipped and weighs 5.15kg's. Unfortunately they day turned into a bit of a disaster with the vets giving me the wrong dose of worming tablets which caused Tarkka to be very sick. Thank god I had Jen and Jay on the end of the phone for support. Needless to say I've made a formal complaint to the vet and had an apology. but that doesn't take away the fact that Tarkka was v poorly & I was scared stiff.

If I sit in the big plant pot I might grow..........................

Anyway Tarkka is now back to normal, barking at the TV (Shelly he loved Snow Buddies) and ripping up newspaper normally when George is still reading it.

I made the mistake of letting him in the front room yesterday for 2 mins while I opened the curtains. 10 mins later found him chewing up one of Joshs sweatbands (match of the day ones he had just got) shhhhhhhhh don't tell Josh I've been able to fix it and put it back without telling Josh.

Where's this week gone?

So what have we been up to?

Sunday was a quiet day with a big of clicker training and playing in the garden. We also went next door to play with Emily & Harry.

Here's a clip of Tarkka with his & Josh's play tunnel.

Sunday evening we settled down and played the Wii. I was worried that Tarkka might try and jump up while we moved are arms around, fear not.

As for the rest of this week so far, I'm not sure what we have done, it's all been a bit of a blur, (so much so that I forgot my physio appointment today, whoops) Tarkka has been to Cubs twice and met other dogs. He has also sat nicely and watched the boys on their bikes, looked up at helicopters/aeroplanes and barked at birds. Tarkka has had his teeth cleaned most days and had a brush every other. He's putting on lots of weight, not sure I will be able to carry him much longer.

One really big surprise for Tarkka was going to spend the evening last night with Maija, Neka, Keskiyo & Annie Bear. Reason - George was out at a meeting plus Jay & I had an Exonian Canine Association meeting. So Jen volunteered to puppy sit. Thank you Jen (mum), hope you have got over your migraine.

Tomorrow we go to puppy class, first one. Tonight we have got friends coming over for tea, more cuddles. Tomorrow is also nail clipping day yippee you hear me cry...................not (of well I've got to get use to it).

Tarkka was entered into his first show but not for competition so he will be going to his first show on the 6th Dec to watch & learn from his mum, dad, Apina and Kippis.

Today I bought Tarkka a reflective coat to wear (partly for fun) but also so I can see him in the garden at night. Don't think it will last long.

Josh has been great these last few weeks he has really taken to Tarkka and had it his own responsibility to look after him downstairs from 7.15 - 8am giving me a chance to grab a shower & sort the school bags out etc. He takes Tarkka out in the garden & cleans up after him and plays with him in Tarkka's enclosed zone (kitchen). I'm really proud of my little boy and think Tarkka and Josh now have a really close bond.

What's in store for the rest of the week? Well I still want to get to the station, puppy class, more friends coming over Friday and then it's the weekend with the dreaded microchiping on Monday.

Things I have been doing wrong (will enlighten you on a few things)

1) Letting Tarkka have my yogurt pots when I've finished with them - I now have a dog that barks the moment he sees a yogurt pot & goes mad.

2) Lifting/moving the settee every time Tarkka gets a kitten ball stuck under the sofa (other option is to let him go berserk running round & round the sofa barking)

3) Not putting Tarkka on a lead when taking him out in the garden causing problems last night when Tarkka wanted to go to the loo but as soon as his lead went on at Jen's he thought he was going for a walk & wouldn't go wee - until Jen took over (I promise I will try harder)

4) Letting Tarkka bark & try and eat the pattern on the back room carpet (any ideas how I can make Tarkka understand it's just the pattern on the carpet?)

5) 6am after going out in the garden I make a cuppa and sit down in the back room (can't remember last time I sat in the front room, might start calling it a parlour) anyway as soon as I sit down with my cuppa, Tarkka barks & yes I pick him up and he cuddles in with me on the settee.

6) Leaving back door open when I take Tarkka out to go wee in the rain - Tarkka then ran back in & went wee on the carpet in the warm & dry - another reason why he should be on his lead, I know.

I'm sure I'm making loads more mistakes but these are the ones I've realised and now need to try and improve on.

So much for me training Tarkka, I think he's doing a really good job of training me.

Friday & Saturday

Bit late on updating you but last few days have been really busy. Friday we went back into work as Paul was leaving to head off to New Zealand. I decided this would be a good opportunity for Tarkka to be among a large group of adults plus get use to things like clapping. Tarkka was very good and had lots of cuddles. Biggest surprise was when Abbie asked if she could hold him. Abbie is very scared of dogs so this was a big deal, and made me feel very proud of Tarkka that Abbie had asked.

Next I had to run a couple of errands so Tarkka stayed in his car crate while I nipped in & out of places.

When we got home we settled down to some clicker training. I was surprised how quickly Tarkka picked this up. He will sit & down. We are still working on stand. We did clicker training 3 or 4 times throughout the afternoon in 5 min spells.

In between we played out in the garden. Tarkka found a plant pot (with plant still in it) however with a quick tip, the plant was tipped onto the grass and Tarkka proceeded to run around with the plant pot on his head.

3.15 prompted school run Tarkka came along as normal, he's now happy to see the kids and be fussed by both kids & parents.

Saturday was a bit different, for a start George got up at 6am and woke Tarkka up and played with him until 7am yippee a lay in. After breakfast Tarkka had a nap, but we had noticed over the last couple of days that he wasn't so keen to go in his crate. With a bit of quick reading I decided to play games involving his crate. So I put a hula hoop on the floor & found one of Josh's training golf balls (like a kitten ball it has loads of holes in it) and it it great for zooming along the floor & bounces really well. I started by just playing with Tarkka on the floor, which was great fun but as Tarkka got use to bringing the ball back to me and giving me the ball back for a treat I upped the game. I now got Tarkka to sit in the hula hoop on the floor and then swapped the ball for a treat, then I bounced the ball into his crate. Each time he ran to his crate & retrieved the ball bringing it back to the hoop and sitting to exchange the ball for a treat. We did this for about 10 mins and repeated it throughout the day. Result when Tarkka got tired he went of his own accord to his crate and fell asleep. Plus last night after going out and starting to do the whole shutting down, turning things off etc again Tarkka went and got in his crate for bed.

We had a few visitors today. Paul & Nik popped over to say hello, Nik wanted to keep Tarkka however don't think it will fit into the travel plans as they set off for New Zealand in a week Nik's going home and Paul's going with her (Paul's turn to be a foreigner for a couple of years). We also had a visit from Pauline (next door neighbour) with her 2 grandchildren, Harry & Emily. Harry was a bit nervous but Emily happily stroked Tarkka (even if each time she bent over to stroke him he tried to eat her hair).

We have also gone for walks every day around the block (in my arms) and met lots of people & dogs today we met a spaniel and a really big golden retriever each dog wanted to say hello so I crouched down while Tarkka pawed at them (not scared at all)

Tarkka was also lightly groomed today and had his teeth brushed.

Healthy eating & puppy party

Eating - Trakka was watching me sort out the slow cooker yesterday morning and I was surprised that when I dropped a carrot baton he picked it up & was off to hide with it. I thought he would then leave it but to my surprise he sat and ate it all up! Add to this that he steals tomatoes straight off the plants in the garden, I'm starting to wonder if I own a veggie dog + liver cake.

Tarkka has upgraded from chewing sticks, he's moved on to chewing trees & logs!

Last night we went to a puppy party run by the vets. It was really well organised Tarkka met a Siberian Husky, Golden Retriever and a shih tzu. He was so well behaved and played really nicely (honestly Jen) he showed the group how he sits and stands and Alfie the golden retriever and Tarkka were soon the best of friends, bowing at each other and pawing each other to play.

The Vet nurse showed us how to clean the dogs teeth and so we all had a go. We played pass the puppy so that's another 7 people who have cuddled him. After the session we stopped back as Sarah (vet nurse) was asking us loads of questions about the breed and she then showed us a great game of dog tennis to try & improve Tarkka's none existent recall. George and I are going to work really hard at this and see if recall gets better. However recall aside Sarah was really pleased with Tarkka and said it showed that we had put a lot of time & effort upfront into thinking about how we were going to bring Tarkka up and his socialisation was going really well.

I was so happy with Tarkka & us when I got home I decided to take the plunge and clip Tarkkas nails. Tarkka was shattered from playing with the other pups that he was happy to sit up on my knee and with a bit of fidgeting (he did yelp once but as I hadn't even started I didn't react) I did all his nails including the dew claws. Now feeling really proud of myself.

Tarkka when put down on the floor decided to show me how sharp his clipped claws were by trying to dig up the pattern on the carpet :-(

Something I've not covered is noise. So far Tarkka has been exposed to the following scary noisy things. Cars & lorries both during the day and night. Council big grass cutter things. This morning he saw a tractor (not sure about those) he has also met the bin men and the guys who follow behind cleaning peoples bins, he even had a cuddle with one of these guys in his scary yellow jacket. Next week we are of to the train station, watch this space to see how we get on.

From Handbags & Gladrags to Puppy & Poo Bags

Carrying on from yesterday morning the afternoon became very hectic;

Jen (birthday girl) & Maija arrived in the afternoon to play. Sorry folks but no photos as Tarkka & Maija didn't stay still long enough, far to busy charging around the garden chasing each other. Had been explaining to Jen that Tarkkas coat had needed a really good brush that morning as it was covered in something sticky and as if on cue two heads popped out from under the hebe followed by very sticky bodies covered in dead leaves. Yes looks like the hebe will need digging up & moving to the front garden.

Tarkka showed Maija his version of football, it involves running in & out of Josh's goal climbing through holes in the target rebound sheet (net had to be taken down on first day home).

He also showed Maija how to stick your front paws in the pond & drink (sorry Jen). On a good note he showed Jen what a good boy he is sometimes showing off how he can sit & stand when requested (or bribed with food), he also showed off how much better he has got at laying on his back to be fussed. Maija is a real beauty and soon settled in to playing with her brother. After a couple of hours it was time for Jen & Maija to leave & I had the school run to do. I decided that Tarkka could do with some time out so put him in his crate & then waved Jen off and went to get Josh.

After tea we had a few friends over. Josh has just gone up to Clubs as he's now 8 but his friends are still at beavers so after the drop off, Nic with her younger son Harry (4) and Sarah with Katy (nearly 3) came over. What fun Tarkka had, first Katy fed Tarkka liver cake then they all went out in the garden (Josh with then) and mum's looking on while the children all ran around with Tarkka, laughing & screaming, playing with his toys and sitting down for cuddles. Nic & Sarah also had cuddles with Tarkka. When it was time to pick the boys up from Beavers Josh & I decided to go with them, taking Tarkka in my arms. Josh had done a dog preparation diary to get his animal care badge while at Beavers and had promised to take Tarkka in when we got him. So off we went to meet loads more children & parents. By the time we got back Tarkka was shattered so making the most of him being so still I did his frontline, he was as good as gold.

After a cuddle on the settee it was time for bed.

Slugs, Snails & Puppy dogs tails

Yes with the arrival of wet weather Tarkka has taken to bringing in Slugs & Snails, he tries to sneak past me heading for his crate so he can eat them, but with help from Josh (calling from the garden that Tarkka has something in his mouth) I'm able to do a quick exchange for a chew toy. Last night we left Tarkka home alone for an hour after tea so we could go off and do the supermarket shop and today I'm upstairs in the office catching up on emails etc while Tarkka is left in the kitchen.

Barking & nipping have become are biggest problem. Tarkka has taken to barking at us when he wants attention, or if you are making a cuppa as he believes I should be feeding him. He also barks at our coffee mugs? We have even resorted to using the pet corrector, however here's a photo of what Tarkka thought of pet corrector.

Nipping - as the days have gone on he has started to nip, we have followed Ian Dunbars advice of calling out Ouch and trying to walk away but Tarkka just barks at you and then either runs around the furniture or follows you trying to nip again. This is normally first thing in the morning & 8-9pm which ties in with him being most active, roll on being able to go out for walks.

This morning I tried to do some pond awareness - failed miserably as Tarkka's attitude is yes mum I know it's a pond and yes I still want to chase frogs and tadpoles so I'm off in.

Tarkka has also taken to creating dens in the bushes and barking and chasing the baby frogs through the bushes, my poor wildlife. Late last night I sat watching the frogs jumping across the decking in the rain heading away from the garden. It could be that it's that time of year for my frogs to move on but I still think Tarkka has helped them make the decision to leave us.

Tarkka charging out of one of his many den's in the bushes.

Today I gave Tarkka his first brush down, he was very good and stood really still.

After been told off for trying to remove the washing off the line as fast as I was pegging it on, we then set up the bubble machine in the garden & Tarkka spent a good half hour chasing bubbles all over (windy days have some benefits).

Tarkka is now tucked up in his crate hopefully having a sleep before Jen & Maija arrive. He did have a temple tantrum about having to go in his crate which involved digging up his vet bed, but I think he's now sound asleep (I assume this as I'm sat upstairs and all is very quiet).