Max the Collie Dog

Max is seemingly settling in to the routine of having time on his own for mornings and Marcus coming home to see him.

He has his toys with food in his toys and boxes with treats in. He has funny habits like lifting the washing up bowl out the sink, the drainer off the draining board and the dish cloth (if left out) is taken to his bed and chewed. Nothing serious just a collie doing habitual things that collies do.

His latest adventure while Marcus was out was only discovered by the evidence left. Max loves jumping up on to things. He loves to see what we see.

He also loves to go where his brother goes (Barney the cat). He has tried to jump on the wheelie bin and knocked the bin over, but then investigated the contents.

Barney is a little thug and knows he is not supposed to go across the breakfast bar to get to his bed on the fridge, but he does. Max obviously decided he was going to follow and jumped up on the breakfast bar.

Marcus came home to find big doggy paw prints on the breakfast bar! I think this is a 1 off, but good job we wipe down the surfaces every morning and night with those 2 around!

Vx

Well, after a few scurmishes the boys found 1 true common cause. Max the collie and Barney the ginger and white tom cat both love steak.

Marcus bought some frying steak that was being sold off at Tesco for Max's kongs and as a treat last night the boys had a little as their evening treat.

We have been trying to get Max to do sit, then down, then trying and with some sucess leaving a treat just within reach of him. With steak we had no hope.

Between him sitting literally on me to get his share of the steak and Barney trying to grab Max's steak when he did leave it for a second.

The boys were working as a team after a while, one keeping Marcus busy for treats and 1 with me. When Marcus ran out of steak the team were back to me. I had to hold the little bitsof steak to my chest to stop both mouths going for it. As I released pieces one at a time to each animal the other was nose to nose with him trying to get it.

So, the boys are now working 1 for all and all for 1 purpose and that purpose is food.

This morning the boys started a new trick. One meows for food as you open the door to the cloakroom where the food is kept while the other pushes the door open and tries to get the nearest bowl of food. I hav a feeling that the boys are now settled together and think they will beat the humans whether it be steak, biscuits or treats out the fridge.

V x

I regularly visit the Many Tears Website and read the stories of what the dogs have been through or come from to be in a rescue. And what a special rescue it is.

This was a piece that I read today (Tuesday 29th August 2006) After a rubbishy morning at work it makes you think how really awful the life the dogs had before they got saved by the guys at many tears. This piece made me smile and hopefully will make you smile too.

Sardines (see above for the first picture)

26-08-06 Thank you for our sardines, we love them and they will make our coats better!!!!

26-08-06 I will remember this day with a smile on my face, as though the week has been a real sad one and my heart has felt like it is broken to day has made me feel better.


Happy helpfull volunteers turned up, depressed ex breeding dogs played and were pamperd and the home had an air of peace and happinness all around. even the tescos driver who deliverd donated sardines and goodies( THANK YOU!!!) looked around and smiled too. , Boy are my dogs here wonderful, make the trip and see!!!! or e mail Rosmary in somerset and see the foster dogs there. .

Hi,

If like me you have a dog that loves running around playing and is not the best at fetch, but has a medioka go, this is the dog toy for you.

Max is very in to playing now, after not having a clue when he first arive. He loves getting a tennis ball and playing in the garden or when we go up to the field near us he has an Air Kong. Which at the time of purchase was seen as very expensive and a waste of money.

They are not cheap, but they are great to throw and with a throw rop attached to the kong the toy can be thrown a long way. When Max sees the kong and he is let off the lead in the park he bounces up and down egging us on to throw the kong for him to race after. Few things will take his attention when he is in persuit of his kong.

He usually does an impressive slide when he gets to the kong, occassionally doing a full forward roll over it if the grass is wet or his speed is more than his brain thought it was when he goes to pick up the kong in his mouth. (Very amusing!)

After picking himself up he grabs the kong or the rope attached to it and comes bounding back in our general direction. If he has hold of the rope the kong will be bouncing off the ground and his head as Max lollops along (best description of his method of movement is a lollop... :) If anyone has seen it you will know what i mean!).

Max will then either race around with his kong in tow until he drops it and we pick it up or he will respond to the drop command (sometimes!) and he will start the whole proceedings again. Depending on how full of energy he is this game can go on for at least half an hour or more. He will chase tennis balls, but drops them soon after he gets to them, the kong is his favourite.

We NEVER throw sticks for Max as these can catch in his throat or break in his mouth and cause nasty injuries and we never let Max go after kids' balls or toys as his teeth could pierce these and cause tears from their owners. We are always aware of who is in the park or area with us and we hope that other dog owners and people using the park are just as aware. (Some dog owners are not as vigillant and this I find rude and with some dog's attitudes annoying when they continually sniff and fuss around Max.)

V x

We had pork with cheese sauce for lunch on Sunday and Marcus binned the remaining sauce in a sealed bag in the kitchen bin.

Silly us we left the bin in the kitchen, instead of just hiding it in the downstairs cloakroom. While we were out Max raided the bin and consumed the sauce.

Unfortunately his greed gave him a bad tummy and the next 24 hours he suffered a little, but still enjoyed his food.

Moral of the story dogs and cheese sauce do not mix and never leva anything food related within reach of a nosie always hungry collie dog called max.

Vx

Hi,

I have just been on to the Many Tears Website, they have a great way of introducing the dogs and are wonderful at fostering and updating the website on the many dogs they take on.

Just take a look -
http://www.freewebs.com/manytearsrescue/dogslookingforhomes.htm

Many people do not seem to realise that the dogs they pay hundreds of pounds of hard earned cash for are going to come from a breeder who ... yes loves their puppies, yes wants the best for the dogs they produce when you ask but, will breed a bitch straight after the last litter is homed and they have made around £400 to £600 per puppy (x6 for a rough littler estimate = £2400 to £3600) Every few months (tax free - cash in hand!).















These girls are 2 examples of post puppy farm bitches. From the age of the dogs being brought in the girls are only used for a few years, good bredding boys may be kept for up to 6 years. I am no expert, but the poor dogs are given no love and no life. They do not know people as more than those that put food down, deal with their pups and sort out their time with another dog....

When you next choose your dog, think about the dog you are getting the time you can spend with him or her for the next 10 to 15 years and what you are putting money towards. Maybe look at a rescue centre like Many Tears and see if you can rehome a dog.

From experience I can say that the time you put in is given back to you many fold and the life you are giving to that 1 dog will mean so much to him or her that the future years together will be cherished.

V x

You may wander why I have uploaded an image of a loaf of bread.

The answer is simple. We have discovered a new favourite of Max. He has a taste for bread, not that he was given bread, we would never do that. He managed to locate, remove and munch through the remaining 1/3 of a loaf that Marcus had bought from a local bakery and had ear marked for our tea.

We only realised what had taken place when we came into the kitchen and found the remains of the platic wrapper and then discovered no bread on the side where it was left.

Basic error - never leave anything edible within Max's reach. This is on any working surface, window sill or table. He is an angel of a dog when in sight of a human, but any food is fair game when he is wandering through the kitchen on his way in or out of the house.

He is also very good at finding the bread left by the ducks on the baniks of one of the ponds we go for walks past!

He has also worked out that if he quietly lifts Barney's food bowl off of the window cill where he eats and then eats the remaining contents he can get away with it. His only error is that when he does it Marcus seems to be in the vicinity and the clumsy dog kicks or drops the bowl just as he gets to the bounty!

Collies are not food focused, but it is definately one thing Max is very fond of!

V x

Max & Poppy met for the first time last week. Poppy came for short visit with Nikki (her owner) and Max had great fun in the garden.

Max has learnt to play with more of his toys and is being a little horror playing grab the toy that Poppy has. They are like a couple of kids!

Max also spent the day with Nikki and Poopy when we were at the wedding. Which Poppy and Max loved, but I guess they both wore Nikki out! (Thanks for dog sitting for us Nikki.)

Poppy is also spending the day with Max and Marcus in Tuesday & Wednesday. I would guess more of the same with some walks and sleeps in the garden, weather dependent!

Vx

When we were looking to take a dog on a lot of people said that the cat would not cope with a dog and that we would have issues introducing the dog we rehomed.

Well, this is true if you take on a dog that has a breed in them that naturally chases little furries or a dog that is wanting to be more dominant and be alpha in the house.

Max is totally different, He is very wary of our little fury. This could be due to Barney being... well the best description could be thug. He has his own mind and is totally willing to have the big fluffy thing in the garden, especially when he keeps all the other thuggy cats out of the way. But, if Max makes Barney jump by smelling him or coming in to the room right behind him Barney will arch his back and Max knows to back away. There have been a couple of little fallings out of a hiss and a dog moving rooms very quickly.

But as you can see both the boys are doing well and both get as jealous of the other when we share out food or attention!

V x

We had a great surprise at the weekend. Claire and the kids came over and went to the park with the 3 of us.

On Saturday Max met Claire and we spent a lovely hour in the garden catching up and then on Sunday Claire and the kids came round and we went to the big park in Bursledon for a play on the swings and a little bit of a walk. Max got a bit hot, so we just pootled about a bit while the kids played. But, he loved William. A new best friend for both of them.

Max has found his calling in life. Escaping the garden has become a mission!

To the point of having to block up all gaps that could possibly fit a collie through. Marcus has had to rebuild defenses with added protection after Max visiting next door's garden on a number of occassions.

Sorry to Elaine & Martin for the intrusion.

We are building up the fences at the weekend, thank god for great neighbours and high fences on both sides.

Vx

Although Max is getting use to so many new things he still has lots to learn and plenty of puppydom to enjoy. He is very good, very gentle and totally soft with all people. He is still very timid with new men and when men stand up or stand around him he can get very nervous.

Life with Max is still settling down, 2 weeks in we are finding out how intelligent and how quick minded collies really are. We have also discovered that Max is suffering from seperation anxiety.

This means that although he does not always have to be glued to me, Max wines and panics when he is left alone.

For the first week he has slept at the end of our bed, a lot of the time next to my side of the bed. Waking whenever one of us move or leave the room. Following if i leave, even to go to the loo! :)

We have some days where Marcus has to be in the office. This means that for a few hours in the morning and afternoon Max is left with lots of toys, a treat ball, chew bone and the run of the house on the first 2 days. He has learnt to open doors (both ones that open inwards and away from him.

With this ability Max has been able to get to lots of the windows to see if he can see us. His interior design flair has come out with net curtains pulled down and a few bits and pieces knocked over. He is not destructive, just scared and wanting to find us.

We have arranged to see a dog behaviourist and Max & Marcus are doing obedience classes, starting next week.

We have now decided to give Max the run of the dining room, study and a dog flap to outside. Meaning he chooses where he wants to go.

All this makes life very interesting. :)

V x