Freddie the Country Dog

We have officially moved into our new home.

This means of course that Freddie now gets 100 acres to roam and protect.

Which means that there is a whole new set of adventures out there for Freddie to get into.

Yesterday we went out for a walk because I wanted to check out the Water Tank at the top of the hill.

I'm going to pee on this, do you have to look???

Here is the cute boy caught in the act of peeing on a bush.

Coming mum! You called?

Getting closer!

After which he bounded off down the hill in pursuit of something.

After I walked up to visit the water tank and check out the views, I started calling for Fred.

He'd been gone for a good fifteen minutes by then and I was getting worried.

I stood still listening intently for the sound of a puppy in pain. I eventually heard lots of crashing and wood snapping and then spotted the boy bounding up towards me.

I love how the pics capture him with this mouth open and all this fangs sticking out. LOL

Freddie the Luck Dragon

Freddie Big Tongue

Here he is after coming back, panting like a banshee and with his tongue hanging out.

This picture makes him look like the Luck Dragon from Neverending Story.

At least I think so anyway....

He seemed pretty happy anyway.

I also spotted all this yellow stuff on top of his nose.

I think he might have tried to stick his nose into an ant hill or something.

That or he found a HUGE flower full of pollen to sniff. LOL

Here he is later, resting back at the house. If you look his back paw is bleeding.

I didn't notice at first until I started taking lots of pics.

He had managed to scrape off half his toe.

YECH

I think he might've just landed on something without realising as he was running.

I washed it off with dettol and rinsed it a few times.

This morning it looks ok so I've stopped worrying.

Let's just hope he keeps his adventures to ant hills.

The last thing I want is for him to discover snakes =(

"Yech mum! Not Snakes..."

Here are a few more close up shots. I love this one - he looks so serious:

The Contemplative Fred

Here he is after drinking water. He practically drank an entire bowl. I have no idea what he got up to when he ran off.

And to be honest I'm not sure I really want to know. LOL

A Happy Boy

I LOVE this shot of him also. Again you can see that yellow spot on the bridge of his nose.

He's been Yellow-Spotted

And another one taken from above...

And lastly a profile shot. Look at his fangs!

Some new Freddie Portraiture

*yawn* why do we have to take pictures?

 I know, I know, I know.
Long time no blog!
Life has been super hectic while we get ourselves into gear.
We are in the middle of moving into a 100 acre property which will give little Freddums here enough room to run!
Managed to get out the camera yesterday (and bring in the cable this morning) to capture a few pics of little Puppy Fred when we headed down to the coast.
I didn't manage to get any pics of him swimming, but it seems like he's lost his aversion to water for good and was willing to get into the river. Not like last time when he was dragged kicking and screaming into it. We'll turn him into a Water Puppy yet!
Here are some cute pics from the back of the car en route to the coast:

"Ok mum, if you insist here's me looking super happy!"

"Yup, still smiling!"

OK, this is getting slightly dull now..

It was a very hot day yesterday and you can see that's he's trying his best to stay cool with that big pink tongue of his hanging out.

OK mum, are we there yet???

Isn't he a handsome boy? He's still growing
sideways and filling out nicely. He's never going to get any taller,
but this is his third collar since we got him, and he's already moved
up another notch on the collar hole thingies.

We'll be moving into our new property in less than 20 days. So stay tuned and I promise to take pics of his new digs when we get there! Oh yes, and post them up of course!

A very undignified puppy

Undignified Fred with Crazy Owner

Fred: Sitting in a human's lap is overrated

Fred: That's It. I'm outta here...

It's lonely at home........

Rosie's been gone for over a week now. Freddie was pretty good for the first week even though he was spoilt rotten by us. Let inside at all hours of the day by the hubby. Plenty of cuddles from me, and lots of long walks from both of us.

The other morning I noticed that the jasmine plant I had planted post Rosie had been dug up. Roots scattered all over the footpath.

! ! !

Since I didn't catch Freddie doing it, and there's no other culprit, I couldn't do anything other than replant it, hope it survives and put a little fence around it.

Now that Rosie is gone, the true Fred can shine through. He *does* dig - just not as big gaping moonscape holes as Rosie.

He also started going off his breakfast. Which is quite worrying. I had used Rosie's old food bowl to water the jasmine plant in the morning before work and forgot to put it back inside.

I wonder if Freddie spotted the bowl and remembered/wondered she has gone, and is getting a bit antsy.

He eventually eats everything, but he doesn't gulp it down like he used to =(

When we come home there's a lot more whining too. He's always been a quiet dog. Usually he'll open his mouth while he stretches and I think that activates his voice box. But when we used to come home you'd probably hear one whine from him and a few howls of protest or excitement (however you want to look at it) from Rosie.

Last night when I came home, there was a constant whine coming from the back of the house. *shakes head*

These little things are making me think that he must be getting pretty lonely at home when no one is around. He's only ever been alone for a few days in a row - when we first got him. Otherwise he's always had Rosie for company.

I have found that having one dog is much more relaxing. You can heap your attentions on the dog, and not worry about the other dog feeling left out, or making an effort to share your affection around.
Having one dog certainly works better for us. Unfortunately it doesn't seem to work better for Fred.
I came home last night to see that he had done some landscape gardening.

Freddie's Friend

The branch is one that was cut down a while ago that Hubby had never got around to removing. Here Freddie's dragged it inside the verandah so he can chew on it. I watched him circle it last night trying to decide on the best method of attack.
Poor boy. He's so excited to see us when we come home. I try to give him as much attention as I can, but I get the distinct feeling that giving him company during the day might be the best cure.
I'm not sure I'm ready for another dog again. But it's not all about us either. We need to take Fred's feelings into consideration, and the vibe I get from him is that he needs company. Spending the evening with us is super and all that, but we don't really give him that much stimuli. I think another dog for company would be best to keep him occupied and happy.

Just Fred

We returned Rosie on Saturday.

But it was not without its dramas.

We found out the week before that you can't surrender a dog to another council area. So this Saturday morning we got up extra early and drove down to the council pound (I had a lunch date with mum at Midday, and the pound closed at midday).

We turn up to discover they didn't have room for Rosie, and when we pointed out that we were told we couldn't surrender a dog to a different council, they suggested a few that would, and also suggested the RSPCA.

Since we had said that Rosie has a tendancy to run off and digs, chances are that she wouldn't be able to be rehomed, and that perhaps being put to sleep might be best. In which case, since they were full, we could go to the vet. That took the wind out of my sails. They acknowledged it was a hard decision to make, but while I am prepared to surrender Rosie with the off chance that she can be rehomed, I was not prepared to simply put her to sleep.

So we went home and looked up the closest RSPCA.

The place was HUGE. I'd never seen such a big dog pound before. Supposedly it's the biggest one in New South Wales.

The surrendering process went pretty smoothly. No judgement from the people behind the counter (as opposed to the local council - "have you tried rehoming? etc etc"

We filled out the forms, and before we knew it, we were handing over the lead.

When it was time to leave, and we started walking away Rosie made an attempt to follow us. That nearly broke my heart. Especially when you think about all the trouble she's been, and how she used to choose not to follow us and go her own way. I turned away. When I looked back for one last time, all I saw was her bottom entering the door as she was being led into a room to be examined. That's the last glimpse of Rosie I ever saw. And I still couldn't look her properly in the eye =(

I hope she makes it and goes to a good home. The RSPCA did say that a digger is harder to rehome, but that she'd stay with them for a few days before anything happened (i.e. being put down). =/ =\ =|

Would it be too morbid of me to go on the RSPCA website and see if she's there available for adoption? In fact, I've just gone to have a quick look. She's not on the website, but then again, it's a huge pound. Perhaps they only put up a select few online?

Husband reckons Rosie isn't a very good domestic pet - i.e. she doesn't go for super affection like Freddie does, and she constantly beats to the sound of her own drum. I still stand stubbornly on the side that she just needs the right owner with a big enough yard that no one will notice that she digs massive craters and gets into all sorts of trouble.

I must say though, going home, it felt like the garden breathed a huge sigh of relief. We can now scrape up all the dirt from her diggings off the pavement path and dump it back into the holes she dug, without having to worry that it will all be in vain when she digs them all out again. Would you believe the footpath was so thick with dirt that there were earthworms underneath when I scraped/dug it up?!

We also planted in a jasmine plant to grow along the back fence, without having to worry about its survival rate. Freddie won't dig it up. Although I do admit to wondering now that Rosie's gone whether or not Freddie will start destroying the garden, or that we'll discover that Rosie was just a front for Freddie when he in fact was the real destroyer. How ironic would that be?

Freddie's been holding up pretty well. I was worried that he would stop eating. Whenever Rosie came back after her jaunts she would growl at Fred and he would stop eating. When she used to jump onto the other side of the fence, she'd growl at him and Freddie would leave his bowl uneaten.

But so far, he's gobbled up everything. We were giving him kangaroo sausages the last few nights, and it's very amusing watching him eat them. Hubby argued that I should cut the sausages up. I pointed out that he was a wolfhound and if anyone doesn't need his food cut up for him, it's a wolfhound. I mean my entire FIST fits in that mouth. Why should he be concerned with a measly sausage?

But I watched him last night as he picked up his sausage and set it beside his bowl. LOL. I think he's a little flummoxed with what a sausage is. He always eats it, but there is always that slight look of confusion before he eats, or at the very least a hesitation. He never gobbles it straight up like Rosie used to. He'd pick it up, put it to the side, and sometimes even eat around it on his dry food first.

Freddie's also spent quite a lot of time with us over this weekend. We gave him a shower when we got home - he was getting a bit too doggy for us. From the moment the word 'shower' was uttered, we got the feeling that he was already onto us. But as per usual, once he got in and realised he couldn't get out, he suffered the shower. We didn't let him out for the rest of the evening, as I refused to let all our hard work (dragging him in, soaping him up, dragging him back under the shower spray, etc etc) go to waste, if he went outside and lay on the wet grass (it had rained all weekend).

Sunday, I gave him a good run around the oval and when we got home let him inside. Which is a treat in itself. I was busy doing some other things, but the minute I sat on the ground he crawled up to me for a cuddle. Later when I went to get up from the couch, I must've gotten up too quickly. There was a big thwump noise as Freddie hit his head on the bottom of the coffee table in his need to look up and see where I was going. Any human who made such a noise would've had a concussion! Not Freddie. He spent most of the evening following me around the house.

He's also outgrown his collar. The last few walks on lead, I've noticed how responsive he is, and I thought perhaps our training had finally gotten through. But when I looked at him last night with his neck bulging out around his collar, I realised perhaps it was simply that he finally felt my pulls because the collar was too tight =/

We took it off, and my next errand is to get him a bigger collar. This will be his third collar. So atm he is going around the yard collar-less.

Overall hubby reckons Freddie seems happier that Rosie's gone. I definately don't notice him moping. If anything he seemed more relaxed as he wandered the yard, picking up his bones to chew on. I always knew that Rosie was dominant and a bit of a bully, but perhaps there was more to it than I realised.

There is definately less stress around the dogs. I don't have to constantly keep an eye on Fred as he does his walk. I used to have to watch Rosie like an eagle, in case she rolled in a smelly patch of dirt. I'd also have to be careful about other dogs, in case she spotted them and bounded up to growl at them and scare the crap out of their owners.

Freddie bounded up to a stranger on his walk last night, but all it got him was a friendly pat. No 'keep your dog on its leash' kind've comment. And once he got his pat, he bounded off again.

While I have to be honest and admit that life is less stressful without Rosie around, I must also admit to feeling a bit sentimental about her departure. I also feel guilty that we couldn't be her Forever Home. My friends tell me that if she's not for you, she's not for you, and pointed out that she might not feel as comfortable/happy with us either. They also point out that we did try - and for two years no less. I'm sorry that we weren't the best owners for her, and I really do hope that she can find better owners. I kept on wondering what it might be like, if she did get adopted and I happened to meet her on the street one day. How bizarre would that be? But then again, I'm just fantasizing. It's a lot harder to voluntarily give a dog up, than to have her taken away from me, be it with her running off and being picked up by the RSPCA, or her being rehomed with my knowledge and consent.

Rosie.

This is one of the hardest posts to write. 

Rosie is going back to the pound tomorrow, and I have no words to express how conflicted I am about it.

Hubby has been lobbying for Rosie's departure for close to a year now. And I have been lobbying for him to be patient, but after the last weekend or so, Rosie's a lost cause.

Rosie's destructive around the yard - digs holes, jumps fences, ruins veggie gardens. She only comes when called when she chooses to (many a time she's run off during an off leash walk and only come back the next morning).

Two weekends ago, I had planted in a new veggie patch replete with dozens of beetroot, kale, kohl rabi and other yummy seedlings. Over the week I didn't get a chance to inspect said seedlings, so Two Fridays ago, I asked the husband (who was working at home that day) to check on them for me.

He came back with "The dogs got in. It's all gone."

I originally thought the email was a joke to rile me up. I had been SO proud and SO excited about that veggie patch. But as the minutes progressed and a phone call was made, it turned out it was true.

Here is the yard the morning after. Hubby had already gone in and raked over most of the damage. Apparently before that it looked like a moon crater.

the aftermath of my veggie patch

Other victims included my Stevia Plant. I had heard much about the magic of Stevia. Its leaves taste super sweet and can be substituted for sugar. I finally got my mitts on one, and planted it in a pot alongside a hardy coriander (Hubby loves coriander, but normal coriander doesn't survive frost) and a mushroom plant (supposedly the leaves taste like mushrooms).

Pot

This is all that remained:



i.e. NOTHING. There is a gaping HOLE where the stevia plant used to be. Guess Rosie has a sweet tooth. *pouts*

However, when I went to replant my veggie garden this past weekend, I did find a few survivors:

Parsnip

That little leaf that's leaning across the entire pic is a Parnsip. My only parsnip left of the four little ones that I had.

I also managed to find another beetroot and two kale. Covered in dirt, but somehow not dead yet.

So that's reassuring.

Anyway, back to Rosie.

It seems that this is the final straw.

What else has she done in the last two years since we got her, other than dig huge pot holes that me and Freddie have managed to fall into?

We had to fence off half the yard because Rosie was doing so much damage to the garden. When we came back from our honeymoon, Rosie would make a point of jumping over that fence. She never figured out how to jump back though. So she'd stand there and howl and whine until we eventually let her back in. It didn't matter how long we left her on the other side of the fence, she'd constantly go back over. Husband argued that she was doing it for attention. I'm not so sure myself, but I had no suggestions as to why she was acting the way she did.

She's always run off during walks. Happened probably the second week in after we got her. Hubby went with the dogs for a walk, and she ran off. Never to return. We got a call from the pound a few days later. She'd been picked up wandering the local school grounds, and managed to hurt her paw. So pound release fees and a vet visit later, she was back at home. But her running off was consistent throughout the two years she's been with us.

The scariest was a few months ago, when she ran off, and disappeared into another village. She'd been found wandering the local rifle range. The guy who picked her up gave us directions to pick her up. We had to drive down a road until it hit dirt road, and then go for another 7km. We did it at night, with a smattering of rain. There were many moments when I was terrified that we'd never get back out alive (the road wound through state forest). I kept on imagining people jumping out of the forest and forcing us out of the car. I was so glad Hubby was with me, and I wasn't on my own.

Rosie has never been much of an affectionate dog - least not like Freddie is. If you give her a pat or a scratch, once you're done she goes away and spends the rest of the evening under the coffee table. If you stop scratching or patting Freddie he'll put his nose up under your arm or put his head in your lap, insisting the tickling/scratching continue.

I think that Rosie's lack of affection has also affected the way Hubby sees Rosie. He finds her too much work perhaps, for what she is. Personally I think that Rosie just needs a different owner. We used to take her to dog training, but life kind've took over, and we never went back after the first few weeks. Every weekend I tell myself I will give Rosie training so that she will come when called (so many times on an off leash walk she will run off, and want to be chased rather than come back on lead. It can be very frustrating). But every weekend I have so much on, that training her falls down the priority list and most times she just gets a hurried walk around the block.

I feel guilty that I haven't given her proper training. I could've got an expert trainer, but 1. they cost a lot of money, and 2. you still need to train the dog after the trainer leaves - and the fact that I didn't have time to train her anyway, makes the spending of money a moot point.

Her last home was with a foster family, and she spent it with a dozen other dogs, and spent the time egging the other dogs to chase her. She's a runner/chasee. Our yard isn't really big enough for her, and Freddie's not that much of a chaser.

So I think she needs a family that has a few dogs. That, and a family/owner who has plenty of time to train her, and perhaps doesn't mind that this dog is more like a cat in some ways than a super affectionate dog.

I always thought that I was a Forever Home Dog Owner. A Responsible Dog Owner who, once you take responsibility for a dog, never gives up on her. But Hubby is adamant that Rosie has to go. And despite me trying to put it off, and suggesting ways that we could rehabilitate her, after this last debacle, it's pretty obvious that I've lost this one.

The hubby talked about giving her up to the pound last weekend, and I mentioned that I'd probably need to fill in some forms (I'm the official owner). He found the form for one pound, and the first line is:

"I give permission for my dog to be euthanised"

YIKES. Talk about confronting. I don't want Rosie to be euthanised. I want her to go to a decent family. I want her to be loved, because obviously we aren't the right owners, with the right amount of time for a dog of her temperment.

I came home on Sunday evening in time to catch Hubby take Rosie to the pound. I reluctantly agreed to go with him. It turns out he had left it too late in the evening, and the pound was shut. It also turned out that we were at the wrong pound. This particular pound had a no kill policy, which was part of the reason why we were going to it. But since it's in the wrong council area, we couldn't drop her off anyway, even if they weren't closed.

So Rosie got another week with us.

Last night as I was scratching Freddie, Rosie looked up at me from under the coffee table and thumped her tail.

My heart kind've broke. I couldn't even look her in the eye.

The Hubby hadn't mentioned anything about giving her up again this week and I thought perhaps he'd let it go.

But today I got an email to remind me we'd need to leave the house early to give Rosie up, because we're meeting my family for lunch later on and needed to have enough time to do both.

So you can imagine how conflicted and depressed I am. I'm truly hoping that at the pound Rosie can find a better owner than us. It kills me that we have to give her up this way and that there's a chance she won't make it. We don't know anyone who is in fact after a high maintenance dog, or who has a yard big enough and sturdy enough to withstand dog digging, and has enough patience to train Rosie right and give her the life that every dog deserves.

Tomorrow's going to be a hard day.

Rosie of the Nervous Disposition

Rosie the Crazy in a moment of stillness

Fingers crossed, but Rosie seems to have mellowed a bit in her old age. Or perhaps she is simply biding her time before her next rash of Disobedience comes along.

I've noticed over the last few weeks she's gotten a lot more cuddly. She'll lick my face for no good reason and will tend to follow me around sometimes, just like Fred does. Although no one can do a better Shadow than Fred.

Having said all this, I'm pretty sure her nervous disposition is something ingrained in her. You watch her twitch in excitement and do loop-the-loops jumps around Fred when either dinner, permission to come inside or a walk is on offering, and you know that that is just the way she is.

I guess everyone's gotta have some personal quirks right?

Rosie and the heater

Here is Rosie staring puzzedly at the heater. That, or she's considering wearing my boots. It's getting cold here, and everyone needs warm tooshies.

The more I look at this picture, the funnier it gets.

What is she thinking?

"Where were you last night when I was shivering in the cold dog house?"

"Gosh I love you"

"I wonder if I can sneak these boots out while mum's not looking. They look just my size and the perfect colour too..."

And here is a pic of the dastardly duo. The dogs are taking it in turns to look at the camera.

Rosie looks at the camera, while Fred sulks

Freddie looks up at the camera hoping for a cuddle while Rosie looks away

Rosie looks up as she notices me taking a picture. The flash really
does something crazy to their eyes though. Freddie's looking as morose
as ever - mainly I think due to the lack of cuddling/tickling. The
other night I joked to him about coming over for a cuddle. He
immediately perked up at the word 'cuddle'. I think he's learnt a new
word.

My what big dogs you have, Mister!

It's hard to believe that we've had our doggies for close to 2 years now. I was going through some old photos online the other day and came across this: 

The picture that tore at the Husband's heart strings

This was Freddie's mugshot at the Pound. They had it up on the Pound website, warning that he was on deathrow.

This was the first pic I ever saw of Fred. And I recall me looking at it nonplussed, reading the description and thinking "wolfhound? What on earth is a wolfhound??" Famous Last Words

Now compare that sad little face to:

What'cha doin, Mum?

Fred: "Ok mum, what are you doing now?"

He's not as thin in the face now, and he's certainly filled out a bit. I don't think he'll get any taller, but he's certainly long and solid.

Below is a pic of Fred eating his breakfast. He actually doesn't look as intimidating eating as he does when he's lying on the ground, all stretched out. You tend to forget sometimes what a big mass of a dog he is. But that certainly doesn't stop me from loving him. Big dogs are the best, I reckon. You can thump them to your heart's content. You can be as rough as you like, and he they just don't feel it. If anything, they look at you asking for more.

Eating breakfast so he can become a Big Boy

I got these two pics today from a cd of pictures that my cousins took when they came over to stay.

Oh go away so I can eat my breakfast in peace!

My, what big fangs you have Freddie!

They get fed the same amount of food once in the morning and once in the evening.

They usually get a walk when we come home from work, and by the time we have dinner and settle down, it's long enough between exercise and meals for the doggies to have their dinner.

After which, if they are lucky, they get to come inside to spend some quality time with the Human Boss.

Below is a pic I snapped of them in the study. This is still their favourite room. If I'm the only one at home and am busy with other things (i.e. not in front of the tv) the dogs will wander into the study and sleep in there. I think perhaps it might be because it's the only room they are allowed access to that has carpet - i.e. it's comfortable for them to sleep/lie on.

Chilling out in the study

Rosie sniffing Fred's butt

Before the dogs are let in, they are required to do a sit. I do this to encourage them to recognise that being let inside is considered a privilege that they must be polite about. One night as the husband went to let the dogs in, Freddie had been busy chewing on his bone. Apparently when he realised that he was being allowed in, he did a double take and spat out his bone before hurriedly going into a spit. I can just imagine how comical it would have been to see a big 40kg dog spit out his bone in order to get inside.

Freddie's not as fastidious with me though. When I went to let him in the other night, he wanted to take his smelly bone which was covered in dirt inside with him. I had to make him drop it, but it still took two goes before he understood and came inside without the bone.

Fred exposing himself as he goes to scratch his ear

Looking away from the camera pretending that he doesn't know anything abt his exposure

He's squinting a bit in the flash, but he loves putting his head in my lap, all the same

Lately we have started letting both dogs stay in our bedroom at night. It's interesting watching the dog power play.

It used to be Fred was the only one allowed in, and he would sleep beside me.

When Rosie was also allowed in, for the first few nights I noticed she would sleep at the foot of the bed guarding the door. However she soon began inching into Fred's territory. I'd wake up one morning and Rosie would be curled closest to me, and poor Fred would be pushed up against the wall. Don't get me wrong - there's plenty of floor space for both of them. Yet I found it amusing that Rosie decided that the best spot (since she is top dog) is nearest me, and hence pushed Fred out of the way.

Last night Rosie wasn't let in to sleep with us. I have no idea why - as I was already fast asleep before the dogs were. But after the alarm went off I went to put the alarm on snooze only to be woken up properly by Freddie sitting up and licking my arm.

He then watched him, with his tail wagging back and forth. When I indicated that I was going back to sleep he dutifully stretched out and slumped back on the floor.

When I finally did get up, I noted with amusement that he sat there watching me with his little adoring eyes. I like to pretend/think that he enjoyed the privilege of being with us without Rosie interfering.

I find it amazing how easily Fred relinquishes his life to Rosie. Be it best spot next to his Boss or letting her eat his meal.

I think I was reading something the other day about how when it comes to dogs, the female dog will always be Top Dog. That is certainly the case when it comes to Freddie. Poor ol' Freddie.

Thinking back though if nothing else we have managed to mellow Rosie down. Lately she has been a lot more affectionate, and whereas it used to be only Freddie would follow me around the house, I notice that sometimes when I get up to do something both dogs will get up and follow me.

Rosie of now is a far cry from Rosie of Yesteryear

Curious!Rosie inspecting the door that seperatesher from the humans

naughty rosie.. tsk tsk tsk

It's all starting to sound a bit like a broken record.

I finally got around to getting some balloons on the weekend. I had read that one way to discourage dogs from digging was to put balloons full of water into their holes. I filled up about 5 balloons and dumped them into the deepest holes. We'll see if anything happens.

I spent the evening craning my ears to see if I could hear a splosh of water and a yelp of surprise. No such luck yet...

On the weekend I also noticed, that since the garden was now fence free, the dogs went wandering to their heart's content. This meant more dog poo on my veggies, and some very deep holes along the fence..

*sigh*

A fence was dutifully put back up, and restrengthened. We shall see if she manages to get over this time. And of course there are balloons in those holes now... *holds breath in anticipation*

On Saturday night, I noticed Rosie was getting quite antsy. Kept on moving around the living room. I called her over to encourage her to just chill out with the humans. She'd come over in my direction, never looking me in the eye, do a semi circle, before turning away to wander again. I'd call her back and she'd do the same thing. It was like she was refusing to come when called. Husband ended up sending her back outside. Although I'm not sure she knew it was for her insolence of refusing to acknowledge me.

Last night after I let them in, I caught her craning her neck over the coffee table in order to sneak some food off the table. If there's one big no no in our household is that you don't beg for food or steal it off tables. She got immediately reprimanded and sent back outside again. She hasn't done that in a while, or at least gotten caught for eating off the table in a while. I had actually thought she'd learnt that particular lesson.

The husband is getting a little short tempered at Rosie, and it's not foreboding very well for her stay with us. He's been mentioning quite often lately that he wasn't sure getting her was the right thing. I'm half and half about it. Her antics don't impact me as much, mainly because 1. I don't do much in the garden so don't really appreciate all the mess and damage she creates, and 2. she has yet to run away from me on a walk. I've had her not respond, but never to the point where she just ran off into the bush and I couldn't find her. Then again, I don't do 'exciting' walks with her. We just do a few laps of the oval. Whereas the husband takes the dogs out to roaming the countryside.

As a result of Rosie's antics, Freddie got to spend the night with us again. Boy that boy sheds a lot of hair... I only just vacuumed that bedroom floor the other week.Not that you would know it, looking at that floor.. *shudder*

Fred's in the Dog House

In a weird twist of fate Freddie spent the night outside while Rosie got to stay with the Humans last night.

We came home to discover not only did Fred destroy his bed (again), but that he chewed up the hose.

That's the second hose that has succumbed to wolfhound teeth. *sigh*

Welcome to my household which consists of one Chewer, and one Digger.

The consequences of his actions meant that Fred wasn't allowed inside the house (a huge privilege) after dinner. Although I don't think Fred really understood why he was left outside. I mean, shaking a mangled hose thing without the hose isn't exactly revealing to a dog. It's not like we caught him chewing it. In which case, maybe he'd understand.

I think the reason why he did it was because we've been quite busy lately at work, getting home fairly late at night, and haven't had time to walk him. 3 days without a walk makes a dog very bored indeed.

At least I managed to give him a quick walk around the block before we ostracised him.

All my reading of dogs (in forums and dog training books) suggest that our choice to do so probably would've made no impact. It would've been a punishment and not a correctment/learning behaviour technique. But I think leaving Fred out there made the hubby feel better at least. After all it was his hose. Fred ate the one I bought a long time ago.

After we let Rosie in, I don't think she really knew what to do with herself.

She came in and after realising Fred wasn't behind us, wandered around to check and then gave us both a look of shock and awe, as if to say:

"I'm the favourite tonight? Really? Are you sure?"

It's funny because the night before, she knew that she wasn't going to be let in after her shooting range escapade. In fact, she didn't even bother getting up after dinner. Dogs sure get used to routine. Although it says a lot that she already knows that she won't get let in if she's done a runner the day before.

Anyway, let's hope no more nasty surprises greet us when we get home tonight.

what on earth is going on in the world of fred and rosie??

"Where have all the updates gone?" I hear you ask.

Well, see, Fred and Rosie were privy to a special event a few months back. Their parents finally decided to make their doggies legitimate, and tied the knot in January. This was followed by a month of absence as they cavorted around Europe, while the dogs spent time busily getting buzzed by their grandparent's electric wire fence.

Lots of stories to tell you, but not much in terms of photos.

Freddie is still as adorable as ever, and due to Rosie's constant misbehaviour gets to spend most of his nights in our room.

While we were away on honeymoon, the puppies were placed at the inlaws, who live on 1 acre. This meant there was plenty of room for the dogs to run around. I don't know about you, but I'm not a big fan of kennels.

When we went to find doggies, we went to lots of dog shelters, which sometimes also doubled as kennels (i.e. places for doggies to stay while the owners went away). And I must say, no matter how often they get walked, the little piece of concrete that they could call their own just seemed way too small for my liking.

So it was to the in-laws they went. And while they had plenty of space to roam, there was concern that Rosie would dig herself out, or Freddie would jump the fence in search of their parents.

So an electric fence was erected. I am told that Rosie was the first Victim, having run to the fence to greet visitors, only to yelp in surprise. It took a while for her to warm back up to the inlaws for dinner. Which is a feat for a dog who adores food.

When we ended up picking them up a month later both dogs were neither distressed or overjoyed to see us.

Our own backyard is fenced in half, in an attempt to stop Rosie from digging up too much of the established rose bushes and fruit trees in our yard. The night we got back, Rosie managed to figure out how to jump onto the other side of the fence.

And so began Groundhog Day for Rosie. She had figured a way to get onto the other side of the garden, but couldn't seem to get back. This happened almost every night. Rather than just go all the way to the bottom of the garden and let her out, we decided to leave her there, each time a little longer, in an attempt to teach her that it really was silly to do what she was doing. After all, once she got over there, she'd start to whine and howl in despair.

Especially forlorn were the whimpers as she watched Fred get fed, or Fred get taken for a walk.

Rosie is Top Dog in the backyard and has always made a point of eating before Fred. Initially Freddie wouldn't eat whenever she jumped over. But soon doggie hunger instincts took the best of him, and he started eating regardless of her enraged barks.

After a few weeks of this constant jumping we began to realise that:

1. Rosie would never learn to make sure she had an escape route before jumping over the fence

and

2. She was really only doing it for attention.

It was starting to get a little irritating.

Not to mention the fact that she was POOING in my VEGETABLE PATCH! GRRRRRRrrrr

Eventually we relented and took down the fence, just to see if she would still go over, and of course we wondered what was so fascinating abt the other side of the fence.

The minute the fence went down she stopped going over.

Obviously the novelty of the jumping was simply because she was jumping into the forbidden.

But does Rosie's little defiances stop there? Oh no.

The dogs went for a walk on the weekend. Husband came home with only one dog. *sigh*

Rosie wandered off during her walk, and couldn't be found no matter how hard he looked. Good thing I got those dog tags, right?

I got a call yesterday morning to discover that she had wandered off to the shooting range.

We ended up driving down a 7km winding dirt road with lots of potholes last night in pitch black through state forest to pick her up. The guy who found her lived out in the middle of woop woop, and to be honest, I wasn't really appreciative of having to spend an extra 30 mins to pick her up. It had been a LOOONG day.

There was no contrition as we went to pick her up. She had been chained up, and the minute I took her collar, she was intent on running away. Husband grabbed hold of her and made sure she got in the car safely.

We dropped her off at home, and I was amazed to watch as she pranced, yes, pranced to the gate, wagging her whipping tail up high as Freddie watched from the other side of the gate. As if to say, 'check me out. aren't I clever? i made them drive out to get me". Usually whenever she wanders off on a walk, she comes home, covered in cobwebs and stinking of some unknown animal poo. But not this time. This time she was smart enough to get US to get HER.

Anyhow, we're kind of at our tether in terms of Rosie. Not only does she wander off on walks, refusing to come when told, but she's a helluva digger. There are craters the size of a moon in our backyard the husband just does not appreciate. Refilling the holes do nothing. She's cleared out entire garden beds. We even went to such desperate measures as putting dog poo in the holes. Which seems to stop her a little, but all she does is find another place to dig.

The other day our next door neighbour came knocking, warning us that Rosie was digging another Escape Route at the fence.

I'm starting to think I might need the assistance of a dog behaviouralist. Because at this rate, I'm not sure if we can really keep her. Her constant disappearing act makes me think that

1. our yard is too small for her, and
2. we don't have enough time for her.

We had hoped that the dogs would keep each other company, but the more we watch them together, the more it looks like that Rosie isn't really interested in Fred. If anything, they pretty much ignore each other until dinner time, when Rosie starts up her growl at Fred to make sure that he remembers she eats first.

And I'm sorry to say that she doesn't really endear herself to anyone. Sure, she's the prettiest dog you'll ever meet. But affection? Sure, give it to me if you want, but don't expect me to want it or ask for it. She's more like a cat in that regard. And I'm sorry, but I signed up for a dog, not a cat.

If you give her a cuddle or a scratch she will accept it. But the minute you stop she just wanders away. Goes and sits under the table, or wanders off into the study, curls up in a ball and sleeps.

Fred, on the other hand, if you give him a cuddle and stop? God forbid. He'll put his head on your lap and look up at you begging for more. If you're tickling his tummy and stop, his paws will start waving in the air, trying to grab hold of you to try and encourage you to keep tickling.

Maybe if we had Rosie on her own, we would never really think twice of her behaviour. But when you put her beside the affectionate and docile Fred who only ever needs to be told once not to do something before he stops, it's a different kettle of fish.

I know it's bad to compare dogs - each personality is different. But when he is just so .... doggie.... he just makes Rosie look all the more worse for what she is.

You may consider me petty, and perhaps her 'crimes' so to speak arent' all that bad on their own in isolation. But trust me, this has been a buildup of over a year or so. It's not the first time she's run away on a walk. It's not the first time she has refused to come when called, and it's not the first time she's dug the backyard into oblivion or done things she knows she's not allowed to do (eg, go over the fence).

There are moments when I feel like a very bad dog owner. I guess I'm just despairing at ever being able to get through to her. Let's just hope that a dog behaviouralist is all I need to get Rosie back on track.

The Fred Swim and other interesting chronicles

As promised, here are pictures commemorating Freddie's First Swim.

C'mon Freddie, It won't be as bad as you think y'know...

Yeah Dad, I guess you're right...

Whoa... water's cold, dad!

Fred: Ok, I don't like this, I wanna go back to shore now. Dad: "NOT. SO. FAST. FRED."

C'mon, little boy...

Fred: I'm not too sure, Dad. That shore really looks beckoning..

..and off they go. look at that huge wake that Fred leaves behind him...

As I turn around, guess what swims past my camera lens?

Harry: "wait for me, guys!!!"

"Hurry up then, Harry!" Dad says with a bemused smile

and a little while later....

See the red circle? They're allll the way over there...

So this is a huge thing, because in the last 18 months that we've owned Freddie, he has stayed away from the water. The last few times we tried, he just stood on the shore and refused to go in. And his weight and size being what it is, we couldn't convince him otherwise. But somehow or other we managed to trick him in, and since it was such a hot day, it ended up that I think he rather enjoyed his little swim.

Here are some earlier pics taken before the Freddie Swim.

Here he is with my nephew-to-be.

I like the second pic when Fred is getting patted, and he looks up as if to say 'Oh gee, that's really nice! Thanks!'

That or he's asking if he can have a sip of that glass of champagne on the bench.

OOooo.. pebbles....

All these pics of Fred's tongue hanging out makes me wonder if he's just super thirsty.

Fred-a-goin-a-huntin'

 

I really like this pic too, because his fur just kinda blends into the grass.

And finally, here is Freddie wishing you a very good Seasons Greetings*:

Fred: "I look so stupid..."

* NB: I am not held responsible for this pic.