I let him off lead for a few minutes up on the meadows yesterday morning seeing as there were no other dogs for miles and no cars etc. (Plus he'd already scared all the crows off when we arrived) . He was marvellous - he barely left my side. So much for letting him off to run about and let off all his energy while I just stand there!! He got about 5 metres away from me ONCE and came back perfectly. We will try again another day. The wind has got up a it since we tried. Wind spooks him a bit. Not that he's out and out scared, just gets him giddy.
 |
| Not a real stone circle - one made by the quarry up the road lol |
This week I've also used my new PROPER walking boots - superb investment! We've been off the beaten track alot this week and Leo loves it. We've found lots of little paths that all lead back to the woods or park and it's great. In this hideous weather I think they should be the top of every new dog owners shopping list. Forget bones and toys - boots are best thing you can buy yourself if you love your dog!
One thing that I did find strange was walking along the main road. On a previous walk down there I'd assumed that Leo was a little skittish because of the traffic. With his history with cars I thought maybe the sound of some of them was scaring him. However, this week we went along the same road and the only bit he was scared on was where there was ivy ad other plants hanging over a wall over his head. His fur was standing up and everything - it took me some time to convince him to walk under them. A bit odd. I will continue to monitor...
Leo must be settling in properly now - he's started letting me do silly things to him:
And he loves having his teeth brushed! He's also taken to being dried off with a towel when we go out in the rain. Which in Britain is no bad thing. Getting caught in rain here happens alot... sigh...
I bought Leo a bone which he absolutely adored. He's never shown any food issues until that, but as you can see, he was not keen on me stealing this off him:
We then had a SCARY moment on Saturday night (typical of our dogs to do weird stuff at really inconvenient times....) He dropped what was left of his bone behind the sofa. It must have got caught in the dust (Sorry Leo - mummy is better at cuddling than cleaning) and he inhaled a nose full. He starting dong this retching/sneezing/coughing. I felt so scared I couldn't even finish my meal. Because he'd been eating a bone earlier in the day we were convinced he'd got something stuck in his throat. We prised his jaws apart to try see but could see nothing.
He settled down after a few minutes and I did the one thing you should never do when someone's ill - started googling symptoms!
I found lots on something called a "reverse sneeze" - and after watching a few clips on youtube I was fairly confident that this was what Leo was suffering - probably as a result of breathing in a mouthful of sofa dust. I found an article from a vet who said that if a dog had something stuck in his throat he'd be really uncomfortable.
Leo was by now sound asleep so I was a little easier with the situation. On Sunday morning he was fine and we've had a couple of lovely walks.
He met a nice little greyhound lurcher girl up on the meadow who was, according to her owners "a bit timid". She did let hubby stroke her and Leo must have sensed that she was a bit wary because he didn't throw himself at her like he normally does. Lovely girl. I think we need another dog like that because calm dogs do seem to have a calming influence over Leo. He is quite good at sensing the boundaries. He manages to be giddy with giddy dogs but knows when to step it down a gear for ones who are a little wary of him. If anyone has any hints on how to get the worlds most friendly dog to just walk past another dog without bowing down to play with them PLEASE let me know. 20 minute walks take an hour because we have to stop to bow to every dog we see. It's impossible! As much as I love having a dog that is friendly with other dogs, it would be nice to be able to just let him know when it's appropriate and when it's not. Any advice appreciated...
We did set off driving to North Yorkshire in the new car to let Leo stretch his legs up on the country lanes up there. We got as far as Grassington and the rain was POURING so we stopped for a toilet break and came home lol! This was Leo's first time in the new car and he was on the back seat with a waterproof "hammock". As usual he was fine (I don't know why I worry about this boy really) and settled down really quickly. Although I think the cover was a bit slippery and he moved a foot every time we went round a roundabout. Next investment will be a fleecy one I think... so the poor lad doesn't wake up on the other side of the car that he fell asleep on!!
We haven't tried the 40 foot long lead this week - the rain and wind has kept getting up and I don't want to spook him again while he's doing so well. We will return to it though!
No comments:
Post a Comment