It's all go

We got back from the vets and I started to get everything ready to go away later in the day.

At 9.30am I popped Rodders back in to the car to nip to Puppy School to see Sam to explain that we can't do today's class as Rodders is poorly and, now I am working, we can't do the Friday class anymore so we will be back to the Saturday class in January. I also wanted to get Rodders a new choke chain. Sam checked and the only choke chain they had was a bit big for Rodders but we heeled around the room to make sure that he couldn't escape from it when it went slack. We had a chat about how he was doing and she can see how much more confident he is.

Back home I swapped jackets and put Rodders in his crate so that I could nip to Tesco as I needed some final bits to make dip - I would be sent home if I turned up at Christmas without it!

Rodders was a bit fed up of all the time I was spending in the kitchen making dip and he took himself off to his bed for a while. He was happier when I had finished and he came upstairs with me while I finished packing my bag. I started to bring down the bags of Christmas presents while he sat on the landing chewing my slipper.

He then wanted to go in the garden which meant that I could pack most of the car without worrying about him. Once he came in I took him for a quick walk around the neighbourhood while I delivered the last of the Christmas cards and then put him back in the lounge while I finished loading the car.

We managed to leave home just before 2pm and stopped at the pet shop at St Albans for some bits I had forgotten and then headed up the A1 towards Oakham. The weather was getting awful, what started as a cold morning had gone through drizzle and was now chucking it down with rain. At one point we were down  to 50mph as the spray was so bad. Then we found out that there was a problem on the A1 and we may need to divert off. Then the traffic news said the road was open and then, when we were almost beyond the point of no return, they changed their mind. Grrrr.

We found our way off the A1 and on to the A47 and got stuck behind someone that thought it was good to drive at between 35-45mph. By the time we got to Uppingham there was quite a daisy chain of frustrated drivers behind him. Luckily for me he turned left as I turned right. Three hours after setting off we eventually got to my big sisters!

While in the car I managed to talk to both my sisters and OH. Rodders wasn't bothered by that or the fact that he had been in the car for ages and he didn't make a sound all the way.

After we had said hello to my brother in law and Ailie I took Rodders in to the garden for a piddle while they emptied my car. Ailie had great fun putting all the presents under the tree and Rodders hasn't really paid them any attention at all. My sister was away having her hair done and got back about half an hour later.

I gave Rodders his tea about 5.30pm and then took him up the road for a walk and let him have a runabout on  his extendable lead. He kept getting bits of tree stuck in his legs and when this happens he just sits down until I remove it, bit difficult in the dark but we managed!

About 7.30pm my other two nieces arrived with a husband and a boyfriend. It was good to see them all together, I can't remember when that last happened. It was quite noisy and Rodders took a moment before he decided that he was happy with all these people around and then threw himself in to things and was getting lots of fuss. I made sure that everyone is aware that they cannot feed him anything because of his poorly tummy.

I tried to keep Rodders out of the kitchen while dinner preparation were afoot as he was trying to scavenge. We all sat down for dinner and Rodders was (mostly) on his snuggle fleece beside me. He did escape under the table a couple of times, I hope he didn't find anything to eat.

Once dinner was over I gave him his supper. He seems much happier of 75g and is taking a little longer to eat it.

There are so many people moving about that he found it hard to settle and probably didn't fall asleep on his bed pad until gone 10.30pm this evening. I will take him out in to the garden before bed, just not sure when that will be!

A quiet day and a visit to the vet

Rodders was very quiet today and hardly left his bed pad or my side other than to go out in to the garden for a piddle. By lunchtime he had eaten some chicken and rice and had drunk a little but he really wasn't playing like normal. He didn't even want to come upstairs with me.

I needed to go out waxing and shopping so I let him in the garden for a piddle and then popped him in his crate with a treat. I was out for almost three hours and he was happy to see me back.

We went out in to the garden so he could have a piddle and then it was time to go back to the vets for his check up. He wasn't happy to go out on his lead to the car but once we got to the vets he was very happy to trot in there. While we were in the waiting room we saw a cat and then a chocolate labrador. Rodders had been sitting nicely until the lab came in and then he wanted to play with it. He was making so much noise with his come play with me bark that I eventually asked the owners if he could say hello. They agreed and the dogs had a good sniff of each other. Rodders was then happy to come back and sit beside me.

Rachel called us in and we talked through how the last day has been. I said that he was still quite quiet and sleepy but had drunk all the rehydration salts and more than 2 bowls of chicken and rice. She checked him over and he is no longer dehydrated which is good and heart and temperature are still good.

To be on the safe side she wants him to have antibiotics twice daily for five days and to stay on chicken and rice until she sees him again on Wednesday, just because she wants to be a bit cautious and make sure he is better by christmas. Once she gives him the OK we can gradually swap him back to kibble.

We went back to the waiting room to wait for his tablets and another bill and there were two more cats in there, one was making quite a lot of noise so I managed to get Rodders to sit behind them. He only made a bit of a squeak, much better than the barking earlier.

We got called forward to pay the bill and pick up the tablets and we were on our way out the door. Rodders was quite happy to walk back to the car and go in his crate.

Took a while

It really did take a while for Rodders to wake up this morning. Even when we went upstairs for me to get washed and dressed he wasn't interested in his Kong for ages and wanted to curl up on the bath mat. Eventually he ate the easy stiff, the kibble that had fallen out of the Kong. This is what was left from his supper last night and the first thing he has eaten, apart from treats, sine 6pm last night.

It did seem to perk him up and by the time we moved in to the bedroom to get dressed he was getting livelier. Getting dressed was interesting as he was trying to catch my clothes.

We came downstairs and he had a quick play in the conservatory before asking to go out in the garden for a poo. Once he was back in we got ready to go for a walk. As soon as my coat went on he started jumping up and getting excited but did contain himself so that I could get my wellies on without him knocking them over.

Once outside he spotted Adam and started to bark, he seemed quite keen to get to him but once we got close he hid behind me until he felt a bit braver and came out for a sniff. He so wants to greet people and he is getting braver, but there is a little bit of him that wants to  hide still. No doubt he will get there.

We were joined by another neighbour, who got barked at as well, and she and I walked with Rodders to the mini roundabout before parting company. Rodders did bark at another lady as she passed us, she thought it was funny, I thought it deserved a check.

We got to the Nicky Line and turned right towards the rugby field. Rodders walked to heel a lot of the time, stopping to sniff but coming when called, even when he could hear lorries and air brakes. This is huge progress!

We walked the length of the rugby field and just as we were about to move on to the field itself OH called so I stood still while I talked to him and let Rodders have a sniff about. When I hung up we walked to the field and swapped leads.

I spoke to Nicci at Puppy Party last night and explained that I wasn't happy to let him off lead yet. A) Because I am not sure of his recall and B) If he didn't come back he isn't micro chipped yet. But he is desperate for some freedom and wants to run about. We talked about using the extendable lead and she talked about the pro's and cons and suggested that he is walked to a park or field on a normal lead and we then swap to let him have some freedom. We can also practice recall that way.

So today was his first time on the rugby field with his extendable lead and he loved it. To start with he didn't realise that he could get further away from me than normal and it was a bit of a shock when he realised I wasn't beside him. For a little while he would just stop behind me and wait to see how far I would go. I would then call him and he came running for a fuss and he would then try it again. Sometimes he wouldn't come straight away to see what I would do, he didn't take his eyes off me.

Once he got the hang of it he was happy to run about sniffing things and then running to catch up and get past me. As we came down the third side of the field he spotted a man on a bike on the path and started to run towards him barking. I locked the lead and called him, as he turned and came back towards me I let the lead recoil and we carried on down the field and did the fourth side before swapping back to his normal lead and heading for home.

He had a quick play while I grabbed something to eat but has now curled up on snuggle fleece at my feet.

A walk down the Nicky Line

Rodders was happy playing in the garden but he hadn't been out on his lead today so I got my wellies and coat on before calling him in.

As soon as he spotted what I was wearing he was bouncing around with excitement but I managed to get him to sit long enough to have his lead put on.

We walked out the house to the right and towards the mini roundabout before going left to the bridge and down the steps top the Nicky Line. We turned left and came back under the bridge. Rodders is walking so much better and most of the time is happy trotting along beside me. He will stop and sniff at things but usually moves on when asked.

We met a lady coming towards us with three dogs and we stopped for a chat. Rodders is the first Mini Schnauzer puppy she has seen and she thought he was gorgeous. She was also pleased to see that I didn't even try to pick him up when her dogs came towards him. I told her that I thought he needed to get used to them and as long as he doesn't seem upset by them I would never pick him up. She gave him a fuss before we turned around and headed back the way we had come.

Rodders started to pull a bit so I made him sit a couple of times and when that didn't work I started to use the choke chain to check him. By the time we got back to Pentland he was walking nicely again.

Doing this route means that he is exposed to traffic a little each way and I hope that this will help to settle him down a bit and get him used to it.

Best walk so far

Rodders was really good on this mornings walk!

He got excited as I put on my coat and was leaping about by the time I had my wellies on. I have started to make him sit and wait at the front door like we do in training and he did it at the second attempt (first attempt on the way back in).

He messed around a little on Pentland but was fine by the time we were heading to the rugby field. We walked a little way down the field and then turned on to the Nicky Line and walked parallel to the field. He was a bit interested in the squirrels but carried on walking when asked. We got to the end of the field and turned around at the gate but Rodders had spotted a Jack Russell and wanted to wait for it to catch up and say hello. He was fine with it and happy to let it sniff him and have a sniff himself but a little spooked when it barked at him. They played for a little while and then we got over taken by a load of bikes, he was happy to sit and watch them. We then said goodbye to the Jack Russell and headed back on to the field.

There were two Rottweilers coming towards us and they ignored him completely, he was happy to look and then carry on. He wanted to run a bit so we did. Then as we walked along the side of the rugby pitch where there was lots of interesting rubbish thrown about he was happy to leave when asked.

Once at the other side of the field we crossed on to the path and started heading towards home. He was fine in the trees but he starts to walk much quicker once we are on the road and is still spooked a little by cars but was a bit better with the bus, maybe because it didn't actually come past us. He wasn't too happy about walking past people at the bus stop but did it.

We then turned left in to the estate and headed for home. We had been out for about 30 minutes and we had managed to walk further than normal. He only really sat down once refusing to move and a quick pull (or is that a check?) got that sorted.

Since we got back he has been chasing his toys around the conservatory and he has just asked to go in the garden. Might go and grab myself some lunch, once he is a little dopey this afternoon I may go out shopping for an hour or so.

Breakfast and the end of the adventure

Once I was up I threw on some jeans and boots and took Rodders in to the garden and he piddled and pooped before I brought him back in so I could wash and dress properly while OH took the crate back to the car.

We managed to take the rest of our luggage out to the car before breakfast and OH went to settle the bill.

Again, because we had Rodders with us, we needed to eat in the bar and I had taken a snuggle fleece with me. Rodders was amazing and settled at my feet with a toy very quickly. He was so quiet that the hotel owner, Cole, didn't even realise he was there and wondered why we weren't in the main restaurant! As soon as he spotted Rodders he came over to give him a fuss (& tell us what a handsome boy he was), as did the waiting staff.

Breakfast over and it was time to say goodbye to OH as he headed off to work. I slipped the extendable lead on Rodders and let him have a run around the garden for about twenty minutes, sniffing and exploring, before putting him in the crate for the long journey home.

He was very good in the car until we were about 10 minutes from home when he started barking. Unfortunately there was nowhere for me to pull over & stop as we were in traffic which meant that Rodders piddled his bed. No matter, we have a spare bed pad and it washes.

I would say that was a successful adventure and good experience for Rodders - Not so sure OH will agree as I am sure he will be a bit stiff and tired today!

More walk, sit, walk

We were late going for our first walk today as Rodders has slept for a lot of the morning and wasn't too lively first thing.

As soon as he saw his choke chain he was leaping around with excitement but it still took me 5 minutes to get it on, then 5 minutes to get my wellies and coat on while stopping him escaping up the stairs and a further 5 minutes to get him to sit long enough to have his lead on. So there you have it, 15 minutes to get out the house!

Rodders walked quite nicely around Pentland and almost to the Rugby field before sitting down. I got him going again but once we were on the field he was a nightmare and at one point lay down refusing to move. I took him through the trees on to the Nicky Line and the only time he sat down was when someone walked past us. He trotted along quite nicely until he got a leaf stuck to his leg and then he whinged until it fell off. He was quite happy to see another dog but wasn't very impressed when it ignored him.

We walked under the bridge for a little way and then came back and up the steps by the church. He sat each time a car came past and nearly lunged at a bus. He was happy to get off the main road and back in to the estate. By the time we were approaching home he was walking very nicely.

Once in the door he tried to escape upstairs but I wouldn't let him until his lead and choke chain was off. I managed to change out of my wellies before I went and got him back. He came down all by himself but needed a lot of encouragement again.