Thursday, June 14, 2007
Going Out with Your Dog....
I know when people go out with babies and klittle kids they take all sorts of parafinaylia (spelling not inc.) with them on their trip. I never knew how much stuff you would take for your dog.
Doggie Essentials -
Nappy Sacks / Poo bags - for the obvious
Water Bottle with optional bowl
Lead - light weight, easy to carry
Mobile - to call for help when you get lost, stuck on the salt marsh or the dog goes wandering off... seriously useful & essential
Treats (Optional but very handy)
A Ball, lots of dogs prefer tennis balls - be warned you willl need a supply as dogs loose balls :)!
Digital Camera - for those moments when the cannine is being a cutie, it does happen promise!
Map - for those weekend walks and finding somewhere to park / where you are going
(not that men use these things or so they say...)
A bag to put it all in :) I use a little pull string ruck sack, but be warned water and mobiles do not mix... from experience.
Things for humans -
Walking Shoes / Trainers - twisted ankle / wet feet can be painfull / annoying
Lightweigh Jacket - for the wetter days of summer
Sunglasses - look cool and no squinting
Water - use the dog's water unless you are a bit squemish
Mobile - (as above)
Cash - enough for a lolly or a pint or 2 in a friendly pub, plus parking if req'd
Comparing the list, we carry a lot of stuff for our pampered pouches on days out. Do kids need more or less stuff in quantity?
Vx
Doggie Essentials -
Nappy Sacks / Poo bags - for the obvious
Water Bottle with optional bowl
Lead - light weight, easy to carry
Mobile - to call for help when you get lost, stuck on the salt marsh or the dog goes wandering off... seriously useful & essential
Treats (Optional but very handy)
A Ball, lots of dogs prefer tennis balls - be warned you willl need a supply as dogs loose balls :)!
Digital Camera - for those moments when the cannine is being a cutie, it does happen promise!
Map - for those weekend walks and finding somewhere to park / where you are going
(not that men use these things or so they say...)
A bag to put it all in :) I use a little pull string ruck sack, but be warned water and mobiles do not mix... from experience.
Things for humans -
Walking Shoes / Trainers - twisted ankle / wet feet can be painfull / annoying
Lightweigh Jacket - for the wetter days of summer
Sunglasses - look cool and no squinting
Water - use the dog's water unless you are a bit squemish
Mobile - (as above)
Cash - enough for a lolly or a pint or 2 in a friendly pub, plus parking if req'd
Comparing the list, we carry a lot of stuff for our pampered pouches on days out. Do kids need more or less stuff in quantity?
Vx
Labels: Days out, Doggie, Essentials, nappy sacks, poo bags, walkies, Walks
Tuesday, June 12, 2007
Agillity Targets
When we got Max all those months ago we had no idea he would get us involved in agillity, learning tricks, doing house checks for Many Tears (www.manytears.co.uk) or even what it would be like to have a cannine family member.
Agillity for the uninitiated is where a dog runs a course of jumps, tunnels, frames, sesaw and sometimes through a tyre.
This sounds straightforward, but it is not as easy as those clever canines on tv make it seem. It is also very addictive, some of our friends are at training 4 times a week and do trials and competitions every weekend from April to October.
We have limited ourselves to 1 class a week with Dianna & Rhyss, that Marcus does with Max. Then a training session with Dianna and Rhys, as well as Anna & Rufus. The difference from when we started in May to now is stunning. He is so much more responsive and the understanding we have of how he thinks is brilliant.
When you run a dog like Max you are thinking 2 obsticles following the 1 he is doing, so you will say 'over' a jump as he leaves a tunnel and then as he jumps 'over' the next jump.
The things that beat Max is he is sooo fast. He loves agillity and whines when he watches the other dogs doing their agillity rounds. He speeds upto the A frame or the dog walk and misses the target pint. These are the areas that are painted a contrasting colour. The dog must touch these with I belive all 4 paws on entering and exiting the frame or dog walk or the sesaw. Max is so long legged he jumps all of them, we have to lead him by his collar over the obstacle and he can still decide to jump off.
The funniest thing is to see him on the sesaw, he jumps and uses the motion of the obstacle tipping to jump over the other side.... it made the trainer laugh out loud when he did it the 1st time.
Vx
Agillity for the uninitiated is where a dog runs a course of jumps, tunnels, frames, sesaw and sometimes through a tyre.
This sounds straightforward, but it is not as easy as those clever canines on tv make it seem. It is also very addictive, some of our friends are at training 4 times a week and do trials and competitions every weekend from April to October.
We have limited ourselves to 1 class a week with Dianna & Rhyss, that Marcus does with Max. Then a training session with Dianna and Rhys, as well as Anna & Rufus. The difference from when we started in May to now is stunning. He is so much more responsive and the understanding we have of how he thinks is brilliant.
When you run a dog like Max you are thinking 2 obsticles following the 1 he is doing, so you will say 'over' a jump as he leaves a tunnel and then as he jumps 'over' the next jump.
The things that beat Max is he is sooo fast. He loves agillity and whines when he watches the other dogs doing their agillity rounds. He speeds upto the A frame or the dog walk and misses the target pint. These are the areas that are painted a contrasting colour. The dog must touch these with I belive all 4 paws on entering and exiting the frame or dog walk or the sesaw. Max is so long legged he jumps all of them, we have to lead him by his collar over the obstacle and he can still decide to jump off.
The funniest thing is to see him on the sesaw, he jumps and uses the motion of the obstacle tipping to jump over the other side.... it made the trainer laugh out loud when he did it the 1st time.
Vx
Labels: A frame, agillity, dog walk, Dogs, energy, fast, focus, learning, Rhys, round, Rufus, trainer, Training
Smelly Max
Hows this for an awakening... you are quietly dosing, well to be honest snoring :) in bed when you here something and feel something land on the bed. Next second you get a whiff of really off fish. You then open your eyes to find a collie in the process of licking your nose who smells worse than a fish restaurant's bins after an extremely hot day.
This is what I had this morning, Max had found a large amount of something fidhy left in the park and decided he had to roll in it.... what a stink!!!
Max avoided the bathroom with great skill hiding behind me, the bedroom door, making a short lived run for the stairs then in he went. Marcus man handled him in to the bath and he got washed off.
This is pretty good timing as he has started his summer malt. He must have lost a good 2 handfulls of hair and after his shamppo smelt a lot better.
He did get his revenge by shaking off the remains of the water over the clean towels on the landing, but then went outside to sulk for all of a minute, coming in to see what was going on in the kitchen and see if it involved his food.
Vx
This is what I had this morning, Max had found a large amount of something fidhy left in the park and decided he had to roll in it.... what a stink!!!
Max avoided the bathroom with great skill hiding behind me, the bedroom door, making a short lived run for the stairs then in he went. Marcus man handled him in to the bath and he got washed off.
This is pretty good timing as he has started his summer malt. He must have lost a good 2 handfulls of hair and after his shamppo smelt a lot better.
He did get his revenge by shaking off the remains of the water over the clean towels on the landing, but then went outside to sulk for all of a minute, coming in to see what was going on in the kitchen and see if it involved his food.
Vx
Labels: Dogs, fishy smell, malt, Max, roll, shampoo, smelly dog, wet dog
