Ollie's blog
Well K9 behaviour services has a new pack member! Rescued 3 weeks ago, this 16 week old wee lab/rott mix is now well and truly incorporated into our family.
We have named him Ollie (just because...)
Follow his blog to discover our trials and tribulations with a new rescue puppy.
9/1/10 We meet Ollie for the first time at Second Chance Kennels. He is 13 weeks old and HYPER!! He was discarded by his previous owners on Christmas Eve at the kennels. His tail had been docked to make him look like a Rott puppy but no further history was available. He and Polo (our GSD) get along just fine.
16/1/10 After meeting the requirements of adopting a rescue dog, we collect Ollie and return home. He was obviously not used to car travel and drooled and drooled. Never realised that such a small puppy could drool so much, just as well Polo can swim!! Something to work on!
Ollie settles in well and has no problem whatsoever in peeing and pooing everywhere! Should have bought shares in floor cleaner. We decided to crate him overnight with incredible success, whined only for 6 hours!
17/1/10 Bleary eyed we get up to liberate him from his crate. He shows his appreciation by flooding the floor before we can even open the back door. Mental note, open back door before crate!
He displays his affection towards Polo by nipping his ears and tail. Tail envy I guess.
Polo and Ollie posing
18/1/10 Much better night, only whined 5.75 hours! Remembered to open back door first. Ollie stands astride door and pees, half inside and half outside. Mental note, open back door, open crate,sprint to back door!! Only 12,000 accidents today. Seems to enjoy partially emptying his bladder outside and empty the rest in a nice warm environment. Polo tolerating his puppy play too much. Quickly realised that you must follow a puppy everywhere before that unique aroma fills the air in the house.
19/1/10 My wife phones me at work, "Get Puppy pads on your way home" Reluctantly, I spend £12 which I guess is cheaper than a divorce! Ollie surpassed himself today.
20/1/10 Realise too late that puppy pads are a waste of time and money. If I could only find puppy nappies?!!
Now down to 3.25 hours whining! My eyes are coloured with red lines and my eyelids are pierced with the matchsticks. It can only get better!
21/1/10 Okay, hands up time! Ollie has only had his first inocculation and shouldn't be out of the garden. Sneak him out with a splitter lead attached to Polo, praying that there are no cats outside. Over to the park, Polo gets liberated and Ollie remains on leash. Polo seizes his opportunity to torment/wind up/get his own back. Never knew a puppy had such pulling power. Pop my shoulder back into it's socket and walk home trying not to cry! It's been a week now since he joined our pack.
Meal time, Hill's for Ollie and Royal Canin for Polo
27/1/10 Gets his second vaccination. "You should allow 7 more days before taking him out" If only you knew! BAD!!
28/1/10 Could swear he's not had an accident today. Don't tell anyone out loud!
1/2/10 I swear no accidents. Sshh!
3/2/10 E-mail the kennels to boast about Ollie's new found elimination control. Pees three times and tops it off with a poo! Mental note. e-mailing counts as saying it out loud!
4/2/10 First obedience class. My wife takes him and returns with free goodies. Ollie has excelled himself. Only one to pee in class. I suspect the other 10 week old puppies have catheter bags fitted. Well, we can cheat too!! Bring it on....... I've not to take Polo and Ollie out at the same time. Walk them seperately until Ollie follows us and not Polo. Doh, some behaviourist me! Sometimes you're blinded by your own dogs.....
5/2/10 Now, we've kept Ollie on his original food (Hill's Puppy) as we were told it was what he tolerated. All fine and well, he eats it and it stays down. Ah, but ..FLATULANCE! We have a flatulent dog and how! No early warning system! Mental note, buy shares in air freshener!
6/2/10 Pack member for 3 weeks. Worming tablet....need I say more!!
7/2/10 He gets his first Kong! Infact. it's my first experience of filling a Kong. Scrawl Amazon for "Idiot's guide to filling a Kong" to no avail. Ahh! You bend the nozzle not push it in. Glad I bought two, one each. Ollie naturally progesses to XL size and Polo left with puppy size. Oh well. Sleepless nights a thing of the past. Walks well at heel until distracted by flirting female dogs. Only another 3 months before he gets his "tonsils" out!
Ollie chilling out
10/2/10 Just when I think I've cracked the toilet training, Ollie floods the floor. Deep breathe!!! Isn't it great when the kids are so helpful in cleaning up (sic). Second obedience class tomorrow. Beginning to walk well on leash (if no distractions) Best in the pitch black mornings!! Keeping the chin up (just!!)
13/2/10 Ollie walking well at heel. Now obeys the commands "sit", "down", "paw", "heel" and "come" Out this morning to park both dogs together. Enjoys being off leash for first time. Recall excellent. Meets my brother's two dogs "Molly" and "Harvey" and has a great time. Lab side coming through with his fetch and retrieve skills. Rottie side coming through by his sheer size now. No problem putting leash back on. Sssh, also no accidents in house............................
27/2/10 This week has been great. Travelled on the train to Edinburgh and back, instant hit with the other passengers. Recall keeps getting better, lab side really showing through with his retrieving skills. Having said that, managed to lose more tennis balls. Just received a new delivery of 20 bright yellow ones. Should keep him going for a while!
Enjoyed his walk this morning in the snow with Polo. Still one or two wee accidents in the house but overall he's done really well.
No more early morning howls..phew!
Working with a phenomenal number of dogs at present. New assessment tomorrow and Ollie's going to help me judge the dog's temperament which he's actually very good at just like Polo. Worming tablet on Monday............................
1/3/10 Hurt his left front paw, slight limp which worsened after contact with road salt. Off to vet, no major damage, just a nick on his pad. A bottle of medcam and £29 later, he's back leaping about like a jack russell! BTW He crunched his worming tablet and savoured every bit! Has taken to stealing Polo's bed! Happy to go into his own crate overnight though! Hooray.
6/3/10 Paw seems to be getting better. Is learning the hard way that some other dogs take exception to his youthful play. Yelped twice now, but fortunately he is fast. Avoided a nasty bite from a bull mastiff and a border collie. Didn't have my business cards with me but gave owners verbal message of this website...so if you're reading this............you know who you are.................. get in touch.......and I'll teach you how to regain control of your dog!! :-)
Am starting some clicker training with him. Why? It's the best way of training a dog!!
8/3/10 This clicker training is SO easy for Ollie (and any dog). Against my better judgement I am going to teach him to do some "tricks." Why? I don't really know.......... Well actually I think he needs more stimulation. May even post some video of him on this blog...if I can work out how to do it. Watch this space!
Watched a Cesar Millan episode last night (yawn). Top 3 aggressive dogs as voted by the American public....3)Rottweiller 2) German Shepherd 1) Pit Bull Happily, conclusion reinforced that any breed under the wrong instruction can be aggressive! NOTE: Any dog being "corrected" by positive punishment ie leash corrections can become even more fearful and hence even more aggressive. Don't bully your dog into behaving. Ollie loves hearing dogs bark on the TV, Polo couldn't care less! My wife visited a wildlife centre in Cupar today, observing captive wolves in a natural habitat? Feel quite jealous....must take a trip up there...........
11/3/10 Ollie has gained his Good Citizen Dog Scheme Puppy award. He did so well and I am so proud of him! Now for Bronze..............(yeh..right..sit, down, stay and come are just the ticket and could save his life one day)
28/3/10 A couple of "wee" and "formed" accidents in the house this week, never trust your teenagers to open the back door! Ollie is progressing well, he has welcomed a visiting GSD this weekend. A little unsure at first, but came round. I am working with his obedience when off leash. He is toy orientated, especially tennis balls and footballs. This is great for exercise but not so great for me when the park is inhabited with kids playing football. His recall goes right out the window. Back to basics, I need him to be bulletproof like Polo (still working on the cat socialising!). He is getting bigger (huge) and it's difficult to convince people that he's a 22 week old puppy! 3 days to go before his worming tablet..................
2/4/10 Aaargh! Forgot to give him his worming tablet yesterday. Do it tonight...... Still working on his recall where there is other stimuli, so far so good!
A HAPPY EASTER TO ONE AND ALL
Remember, chocolate is poisonous to dogs, don't leave it lying around!!
11/4/10 Second night of leaving the crate open and no wet floors hooray. However spent first few minutes this morning picking up the pieces of cardboard box that he had shredded! Mmnn!!
Am starting to wonder about his early socialising as his hackles go up on meeting another dog. There is no other evidence of aggression, no growling, barking or biting. Body language is relaxed other than the hackles. Will keep my eye on this to ensure it does not progress.
PS Happy Birthday to my brother Alistair!!
16/04/10 Continue to be successful in "decrating" Ollie overnight. No accidents so far! Recall still needs improving, going to have to work harder at this. He ran in front of a car, whilst being chased by Polo, in the Glen today whilst out for a walk with my wife. Fortunately, he chose the one driver who actually sticks to the 5mph limit! Isn't the weather getting better! Hooray!
19/04/10 Success today with recall, ignored several "footballers" in the Glen today, had a look but no chase! Hooray, the hard work is starting to pay off! Still raising his hackles, no growling or other display of aggression, which is confusing as this would normally tick the "play aggression" box. Suspect his socialisation with his littermates was nil. If the breeder thought nothing of chopping his tail off and trying to pass him off as a pedigree Rottie, then I suspect they didn't give a hoot about socialising either. I can fix it though!! (Not his tail, that's gone but his mind!!) Have also made great strides towards counter conditioning Polo with cats. He had been taking the mickey! Now he knows I mean it when I say "leave the cat!" Onwards and upwards!
25/4/10 The little blighter chewed my slippers!! Thought that only happened when dogs were bored and under exercised or in cartoons!!!. I have to practically put him in a wheelbarrow to bring him back from the Glen as he's done in! Mmnn! He's starting to get a bit frisky with Polo too, time for his "tonsils" to be removed! We're moving house in 3 weeks so may try and book him in this week. Will try and book the boys into Mayfield Kennels for the day of the move.
26/4/10 Aargh! What's happening? He peed QUITE HAPPILY all over the floor tonight. Hasn't done that in ages!
1/5/10 Aargh! Back to the locked crate overnight! No accidents, just wanten destruction of our cardboard packing boxes! They're £2 each!! He has a Kong!!!!! "Tonsils" definately going now!!
8/5/10 He destroyed his bedding 2 nights ago so I replaced it yesterday. Has started to do the same again. Old towel to sleep on from now on. I think it's sexual frustration but the "tonsilectomy" will have to wait until after we have moved house next week...drat!! Otherwise, he's becoming a model dog! The boys are booked into Mayfield kennels for the move date. They'll be in good hands!! Here's an up to date picture of Ollie!
Ollie : photo taken 8/5/10
14/5/10 Already chewed a hole through the lip of the new bed. Old towels for bedding. He's started this odd rasping noise, especially when excited. Sounds like he's trying to regurgitate something. Responds to being "ignored" but never come across that behaviour before! Will take him to vet just to make sure there's no obstruction. House move on hold because the lenders wanted some more info, why didn't they ask a few weeks ago? Had to cancel everything, removal men, BT connection, tool hire, new furniture delivery, kennels etc. TOTAL nightmare!! Our energy suppliers are Scottish Hydro Electric who also provide our phone service. I am not impressed by their customer service at all. VERY UNHELPFUL. Am definately going to change when we finally move.
Oops, two weeks late with their worming tablet!
And a Happy Birthday to my niece, Kiera!!
15/5/10 Sweet smelling, just given Ollie a bath. Well overdue! Next time I will empty the bath whilst drying him! He decided to jump back in!! Negative reinforcer? Worming tablet! (just kidding!)
No agility class today, am at a loose end! Really miss it!
Sun is shining so may incorporate an extra walk today. Sunny Dunfermline!
Have potential premises for agility classes in Edinburgh. Will start to advertise places now! Maybe Ollie can join in!!??!!
16/5/10 Great day, visited his Granny, no accidents. One recurring problem----FLATULANCE!! Hill's Science Plan and Pedigree Puppy food? Lethal!! Pooooaaayyyy!
23/5/10 Ollie's doing really quite well. Recall improving steadily. Jumped over a wall at Glen bridge yesterday chasing his ball. Gave my wife and daughters a real fright. They envisaged peering over to see Ollie 40 feet below!! Fortunately it was only a 3 foot drop!! He lost his ball though, and it was my last. Have to reorder.
Very wet walk this morning in the park. He found a tennis ball though, probably one of ours that he had previously lost!
Here's a picture of his bed that he's been chewing!
26/5/10 I swear his flatulance is getting WORSE!! Also, lost his ball again this morning. Is happy enough though with a replacement (small) rugby ball.
Has started yapping at 5.30am. Just ignoring him, but it's just as well that my wife has no access to firearms!!
10/6/10 He must have eaten something dodgy in the park! Luckily, I wasn't first home!! My wife is worried that he is underweight, I'm not so sure. What is the ideal weight of a crossbreed Lab/Rott? His bones aren't prominant, he has a waist (more than I do!!) and he eats well. Mmmn maybe weigh him at the vet and see what they say. Nothing else really to report, still infatuated with his ball, still eating his bed, still farting away! Have returned his soft mattress and removed his blankets, we'll see how long it lasts! New supply of 20 tennis balls arrived the other day, still have 16!! He seems to be getting more sociable with other dogs, less appearance of his hackles, which is good. Perseverance!
13/6/10 Thought I'd take some film of Ollie with his ball over in the Glen. Here it is......................
He's a pretty spectacular catcher? Likes showing off !!!!!!!!!!!!!!
21/6/10 Ollie has been barking early doors lately, enough for my wife to threaten to "give him away!" And she doesn't need her beauty sleep!! Took him to Aberdour beach last night and he proved to be a very capable swimmer! Anyway, have been ignoring his demands to get up, with mixed results. In the end, and to cut a long story short, he had his dangle berries removed this morning! Still a bit sleepy this evening, perhaps even subdued. I don't think it's hit him what is missing, hee hee! Still, castration will remove his risk of testicular and reduce his risk of prostate cancer, a very good reason to neuter if you're not planning on breeding your dog!
I'm looking forward to a longer lie in the morning............................ will let you know!!
26/6/10 Ollie appears to have recovered well and is neither up nor down following his op. The hardest thing is keeping him on his leash in the park, Polo is inflicting his revenge by teasing him as he freely runs about. Also seem to be enjoying an extra 3 minutes sleep in the morning following his op. I knew it was money well spent! lol
29/6/10 Happy 19th Wedding Anniversary to my wife Caroline and I !! Celebrated by taking my youngest up to Casualty with a broken arm!
30/6/10 Ollie has been sleeping longer in the mornings now-Hooray! He is expecting a new friend Rusty, a JRT, who is coming to stay with us for 2 weeks. He'll have to share his ball now! Seems to have fully recovered from his op now and is running after his ball in the park again. Jumped into the fish pond at the park, not the best filtered one either!! Still into everything...................
4/7/10 Ollie's got a new friend staying for the next couple of weeks...wee Rusty! Both are having to get used to sharing a ball in the park...so far so good! Ollie has really settled down following his op and long lies at the weekend are the order of the day. Going to visit his Granny this afternoon, very, very wet outside today. Worming tablet tonight............................. Here's some video of Polo, Ollie and Rusty in the Glen this morning..........
29/8/10 Ollie is growing fast, he appeared to have put a little weight on during his stay in the kennels, but has managed to lose it again, wish it was as easy for me!! I am really pushing him with his socialising skills, his hackles hardly ever raise now when meeting new dogs. There has been a few "handbag" quarrels with other dogs, mostly over his ball. All dogs have resource guarding in their genes but this should be under control. Most dog fights are just loud with a lot of snapping, showing of teeth, posturing, jumping etc. Most pass off without injury and no hard feelings. Personally, I would rather Ollie avoided these as not all dog owners understand inter dog aggression in the natural world. I still correct him for these displays unless it's for self defense. A recent example was when a Rottie took a dislike to him and challenged him. He stood his ground, defended himself and chased her off. No injury, no harm done and no hard feelings....just as it should be! There are rules to dog fights in the natural world just as there are in the boxing ring. A victor without fatality.
Yesterday, I took Ollie along to my agility classes. He socialised well and participated like a pro (yeh..right!)
I do think there is potential there though. He managed 3 classes in a row. Fell soundly asleep when we got home but full of the joys when out on his evening walk an hour later!
Olliw will be making an appearance at my Fun Agility Open Day at Pittencreiff Park on Sunday 5th September between 1pm and 5 pm. Come along and give your dog a taster of fun agility. Even better, it's FREE!!!
Oh and BTW, have switched Ollie from Hill's Science Plan to Royal Canin and his flatulance has GONE!!! On the other hand, he has started barking at 5.30am. Starts with a whimper and escalates to a bark after 5 or so minutes. Telling him to "shut up" from upstairs seems to work for a few minutes and then he starts up again. I think I'm getting my selective deafness back...lol..............
2/9/10 Check up at the vets today. Weighing in at 28kgs, just perfect unlike Polo, who has to lose 3kgs! New supply of worming tablets..............................
5/9/10 Ollie makes a guest appearance at my Fun Agility open day at Pittencrieff Park. Lasts about 10 minutes before he is escorted off the premises for constantly slipping his leash and causing a riot!
11/9/10 Woken up this morning by Ollie barking around 6.20am. Selective deafness could only last until 7am where I just had to get up. If I had a gun.................
To make matters worse it's torrential rain outside. Took him and Polo to the Glen for their walk, was only drizzle there and my feet are sore with ill fitting wellies. Also not the best choice to drive in.
19/9/10 Sunday morning...very early Sunday morning....very,very early Sunday morning... "woof, woof, woof!" Squint at alarm clock...5:20 Close my eyes. "Woof, woof, woof!" My wife by now has a pillow surrounding her ears. I recall last night's conversation...."why don't you try a bark collar?" "Well, because when you take them off, the dog starts barking again" "Mmmnn? Am starting to lean towards short term respite tools!! Expensive? Yes Effective? Yes, in the short term Worth it? Will let you know..............
I jest!! Ollie's barking in the morning is an alert form. He needs to go pee! Settles back into his crate afterwards and returns to sleep. Identify the bark, meet the need and hey presto..problem solved! No need for positive punishments.............
25/9/10 Have been reinforcing Ollie's obedience training with visual commands. He is a quick learner, but I shouldn't really be surprised as dogs communication is virtually all visual!
Have also been introducing tone modulation in my commands as suggested by Patricia McConnell in her excellent book "The other end of the leash." I thoroughly recommend any dog owner to read this.
Otherwise, Ollie has been splashing about in the puddles in the park following this weeks heavy rain!
27/9/10 Last night, kept his crate open to see if this stopped the early morning howls! Worked a treat..not a peep. Am reserving judgement for another few mornings though.
PS And I know I shouldn't say this out loud...but.....nothing was chewed either!! I'm gonna regret saying that...................................
1/10/10 HAPPY 1ST BIRTHDAY OLLIE!!!!!!
5/10/10 Still no yapping in the morning, open crate seems to have done the trick. Noticed that Ollie seems to have a bit of conjunctivitis so appointment for vet tomorrow for some eye ointment. Lost (yet another!) ball in the Glen today. Stock running low so another mega order required.
6/10/10 Quiet, peaceful mornings, hallelujah! £29 later, Ollie has his eye ointment. Bit of a wrestling match to apply it though. Two falls, half nelson and a submission later and he's sorted!
14/10/10 Ollie's mobility seems to have become quite laboured overnight, my daughter assures me it's nothing to do with her teaching yoga to him. Struggling to even get up. Am worried, so off to vet. £36 later and a bottle of Metacam to show for it may do the trick. He has a slight cut in his paw but it's the hips that are worrying. Vet says its probably a strain (after the yoga session!) but to keep him on the leash for exercise and keep an eye on it. Can't rule out hip dysplagia yet though........................
16/10/10 Well Ollie seems to have made a full recovery! Leaping about like his usual self. No more yoga for him! Will reward him with his worming tablet tonight! Need to take a picture of him for the website, it's been a while..........
26/10/10 Mmnn...Oliie's recall seems to have gone out the window in the Glen. Okay everywhere else, I guess the distractions, squirrels, rabbits are too tempting for him. Have intensified his obedience training , using the clicker and treat. Is improving tremendously and the best thing of all is the treat is his tennis ball. Having to carry several with me now due to his knack of losing them!!
Will keep you posted..................
5/11/10 Bonfire night, loads of fireworks nearby, but not a peep from Ollie. However, I have made a mental note to myself, NEVER leave your pizza unguarded on the coffee table. Between Ollie and Polo, they ate one and a half 16 inch pizzas! I have now found out, they were for Adam and I's lunch tomorrow. Aaargh!
6/11/10 Have gone right back to basics with Ollie's recall training. Up to the point now where he will come back whilst in Duloch Park. Too soon to try the Glen though...........
Contemplating adding a space for Ollie in the fun agility class.
Anyway, here's a couple of pics I took today...
8/11/10 My wife took Ollie and Polo to the Glen this afternoon and reported that Ollie's recall was impeccable!! The power of positive clicker training!!! Just a few minutes training a day has paid dividends.
14/11/10 Aaargh! Lost Ollie in the Glen today for about 30 minutes. He took off into the wooded area and disappeared. Had visions of him being washed away in the Glen stream that was flowing fast and strong after the heavy rain. Also occurred to me that, having recently changed his collar, that I hadn't put his tag on it. He is micro-chipped but still.......
Anyway, found him sitting patiently at the top of the Glen beside the car park. Fortunately had the insight not to strangle the little beggar........................... Back to the drawing board....................
1/12/10 Wow, check out this weather! Ollie really enjoying his first real experience of snow, although he was limping a little a couple of days ago. Gave him a massage and some Metcam which seemed to do the trick. Am starting to worry that he has an arthritic problem. Will keep my eye on it...........
14/12/10 Hooray, a thaw at last!! Have been working with Ollie on an emergency recall cue. Have been using a whistle (conditioned stimulus) and reinforcer of his ball, which is now reserved for this purpose only. Gets to play with another throw toy on his walk though. Can't believe how quickly this has worked. He now stops dead in his tracks and returns on the whistle. Bought some new rubber toys for him, went a bit overboard! Should have kept track of the cost as I picked each toy up! Have eaten the incriminating (receipt) evidence!!
Training him to spin on cue and "get shot" His acting leaves a lot to be desired (or should that be my training!) Will post some video of his tricks soon. Maybe I could get a decent camcorder for Christmas?..........
11 sleeps until Santa......................
19/12/10 Ollie hares towards another dog this morning who has a ball. Loud blast on whistle. Stops dead in tracks and comes back. Yippee! Have been teaching him to bow on cue, which is an idea I got from Kathy Sdao. It's harder than I imagined without physical shaping. Still, have kept to the script and rewarding all the approximations of behaviour. He's getting the idea but will wait for more reliable responses before adding my verbal cue "Who's the Daddy?" LOL
I'm well impressed that Ollie (and Polo) have not destroyed the Christmas Tree or pressies underneath it. They have their own stocking filled with goodies courtesy of Eileen and Brian at my agility class!
6 sleeps until Santa..................
25/12/10 MERRY CHRISTMAS!!
1/1/11 HAPPY NEW YEAR!!
3/1/11 Well, Christmas and New Year passed without incident. Even the loud fireworks didn't phase Ollie! And the snow is almost GONE! Hooray............
Didn't get the camcorder but will endeavour to capture some of Ollie's antics soon and post them here.
6 more days and we will have known Ollie for a YEAR!! WOW, TIME FLIES..................
9/1/11 We first met Ollie a year ago!!!! Wouldn't swap him for the world..................
13/1/11 Just for a change, Ollie and Polo went for a walk in Pittencrief Park this morning. Met up with their "cousins" Harvey and Molly. Had some competition from Molly to get to the ball first. Won hands (well paws!) down, but then again he has 6 years advantage over her. 3 more days and Ollie will have been in our family for a year...
16/1/11 Happy 1st Anniversary Ollie!!
18/1/11 Here's some video of Ollie and Polo playing in the back garden. This is NORMAL dog behaviour. I do not discourage it. You can see that both dogs bite and hold on to each other. The important thing to notice is that they allow each other to do this and roles are reversible. They play like this often and without injury.
More NORMAL play
Often we hear that playing tug with your dog increases the risk of aggression. Certainly you should not play this game with a dog who currently displays aggression or is a resource guarder. Tug is an excellent game to play in a controlled manner. It is natural dog behaviour. Tug taps into the dogs natural instincts of dissecting prey. To discourage them from playing tug is denying the dog to display it's innate needs. Incidentally, Ollie has never tried to dissect any small animal he has caught, including squirrels!!
Here is some video of a controlled tug game in the kitchen
12/2/11 Ollie has had a sore paw this week, and has been limping badly. Despite giving him metacalm from the vet, he didn't seem to be getting any better. He is now on some antibiotics although the vet x-rayed his paw and could not see any punture wounds or foreign bodies in it. He was a bit spaced out after his general anaesthetic and promptly peed over my wife's slippers on his return to the house! Total rest, no walks, garden only.....get well soooooooon!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Oh, he also got his boosters and worming tablets. Good time to check when your own dog is due them and write it on your calender.
15/2/11 Follow up visit to vet today. Ollie's putting much more weight on it again. Antibiotics seem to be working. To keep up with the tablets and metacam and gentle short walks. Now does he look like a dog who wants gentle leash walks? Follow up again next week.
22/2/11 Vet follow up today. Ollie seems 99% recovered which is great. Final antibiotic tomorrow. Back to his usual lively and mischievious self!!
3/3/11 No evidence that his paw is troubling him, running about daft in the park after his ball. Usual acrobatics to catch it in mid-air! He's got an old pal coming to stay next week, Rusty the JRT.
7/3/11 Rusty arrived for his holidays yesterday and he and Ollie are already getting on like a house on fire. Finally Polo gets a break from Ollie wanting to play!!
10/3/11 Ollie's limping again! Given some Metacam and see how he goes!
11/3/11 No sign of the limp, must be Munchausen's!!
15/3/11 Wee Rusty went home tonight. Ollie missing him already! Back to tormenting Polo :-)
5/4/11 Bought Ollie an interactive ball which speaks when touched. He loves it which is more than my wife does. Have hidden the hammers! "I WOULDN'T HAVE EVEN BOUGHT THE KIDS SOMETHING LIKE THAT!" Ooops!
7/5/11 THAT ball has gone missing!! Bought him a couple of Tug e nuffs which he just loves! Now forms part of his emergency recall. Reappearance of the limp last week for a few hours, some metacam did the trick.
18/5/11 Nil to report really from Ollie. Am trying to limit his acrobatic displays during fetch by keeping the ball low to the ground when throwing. Although facially he looks like a lab, his body is becoming more Rottie like and I suspect he could injure his skeletol system by jumping up to catch the ball or frisbee. Could perhaps explain his occasional limping........Anyway, here's another recent photo.......
5/6/11 Having to increase Ollie's food intake as he's losing weight. Down to 24kgs from 28kgs a few months ago. Too much exercise and not enough fuel!! More stuffed Kongs to be left lying around.
On a training front, he's doing really well. Will now sit/down/stay when I'm out of sight and giving commands and also sit and stay when looking at running squirrels! Onwards and upwards!
12/6/11 Ollie appears to be regaining weight, shall wait another week before taking him to the vet to be weighed. I think I have upset him! Whilst playing fetch in the garden his rubber hoop rolled between the gaps in our neighbours fence. He looks at me, then through the fence and then back at me "Why d'you do that?!!" Maybe they'll be kind enough and chuck it back? Poor Ollie! Just waiting for him to start the Munchausen's limp....................
20/6/11 Mmnn, rubber hoop has disappeared and it's not back in our garden. Just wait til their son's football comes over the fence......................... On a positive note, he's starting to fill out. Will get his weight checked this week.
29/6/11 Happy Anniversary to my wife who has put up with being married to me for 20 years!!
3/7/11 Okay, our lawn is not looking so good, the fact that our back garden is just lawn, makes it all the worse. I am going to try "Dog Rocks" The majority of comments support these as being effective in preventing the brown/yellow/missing lawn patches. Will order a packet today and let you know my thoughts.
27/7/11 Decided not to buy the Dog Rocks as it suddenly dawned on me that they would only be effective if the dog ONLY ever drinks out of his water bowl. Puddles would be a no-no and I'm not fussed about this, so I kept my money. Ollie seems to be getting less sociable with unfamiliar dogs...........proving that he was removed from his littermates wat too early. Some systematic desensitising and counter conditioning work ahead of me!! Oh, and by the way bought him another rubber hoop..you should have seen his face!!
2/10/11 Wow, can't believe it's been over 2 months since I last posted. Having said that, not a lot has happened. Had the garden landscaped, dogs yet to even have a sniff of the new lawn!! Currently, we have Rusty visitng whilst his owners are on holiday. The usual 20 minute warm up and settling in period, now they're best friends. Have just purchased a new HD camcorder so will hopefully get some decent videos on the site soon. Systematic desensitising and counter conditioning program well under way with Ollie, good days and bad days as to be expected. Ollie and Polo heading off on their holidays next weekend to Mayfield Kennels whilst the rest of the family jet of to Cyprus for a fortnight. The dreich weather finally got to us! Have started "find it" games with Ollie, he has a tremendous sense of smell, hide the ball, rubber ring and get him to find it! He loves this. Need to teach him to find my glasses and my car keys next! Oh, worming tablets tonight! Joy of joys.......................
4/12/11 Ollie is still inconsistant when meeting other dogs, and I'm at a loss to understand why! Quite an admission for a behaviourist! However, perseverance in training is the key and keeping him sub threshhold to reactivity will work. There are no overnight successes! The dark mornings and evenings probably don't help!
However, he's active and enjoys his toys and games. Loves his nylon bone!
Was very keen to sniff Polo on return from the groomers (Karen at Mayfield Kennels, Dunfermline)!