Raff Looking Good

Here is Raff looking very handsome like his sire - Styleside Xanadu. His dad, Richard, took these photos this month. Xan is also the sire to Molly's pups.

He has been attending classes as is a favourite, learning very quickly. At 5 months he walks to heel and sits and stays well.  Bramble will have to sharpen up if we are to maintain any competition !!!!

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Wednesday was a fun day. Planning for our lovely, petite, calm chocolate Labrador Teasle - the one who came 3rd in a working test whene she was 5 weeks pregnant - to whelp next Tuesday, the 19th October; we nipped over to see Gaynor to borrow the whelping box, I decided Teasle might like a trip out since she hasn't been going far recently. I joked about the bumpy road, thinking it wasn't the same as for humans. Gaynor did explain that a car joutney does sometime precipitate labour in dogs too. Well, we got the box back and cleanedit down then nipped off for some food, came home and looked at Teasle who appeared to be even more cuddly than usual. Later in the evening, she also seemed to be panting, not heavily, but panting and wanting company. Thinking back, yes, she was a bit restless but eventually settled down squashed in a bed with Molly. Naturally, Gaynor had been explaining what to look out for - panting and ripping paper. I phoned up and gave a heavy breathing demonstration for Gaynor and Ronnie who thought it sounded quite contained and maybe she wasn't ready. I decided I was just overexcited and tried to put Teasle to bed. She just came and cried at the door and I did give in a few times before I realisedshe might be fussing because I was giving in. Consequently, after making sure all the whelping equipment was to hand; I put out the lights and went to sleep in the bedroom above the utility room so that I could at least hear her if she cried or ripped paper and not wake Alistair if I got up to her. At 0430 I heard her crying and also quite a high pitched noise. I shot out of bed and ran downstairs clutching my clothes which I put on over my PJs when I got to the kitchen. I forgot my glasses and my phone!! There at the utility room door was a very worried looking Teasle who shot through and into her bed in the dining room before I could do anything. There was still noise in the utlilty room where a little dog pup (all cleaned and sorted despite Teasle's concern) lay yelling...and no ripped paper! I had to get a lead to persuade Teasle back into the whelping box and she tried to sit in my lap there - yes, I had to perch on the edge and give her lots of cuddles . A second puppy arrived soon afterwards and Teasle, again, dealt with it but still wouldn't lay down. It was around this time I decided that I just didn't have enough hands, couldn't see as well as I would like and called Alistair who brought my glasses and phone and put the kettle...Good Man!!! We then both tried unsuccessfully to persuade Teasle to lie down and I started to worry that pup 1 was cold. At 5am I gave in and called Gaynor who said we should make Teasle lie down (it took two!!)and she duly arrived half an hour later. Pups came quite fast and furious. She stood up for one and there wasn't even time for us to catch it!! Another, with a lovely white blaze on his chest, also came vertically at about 9.15 with his afterbirth high up and it ripped too close to his umbilicus. After half an hour of applying pressure Alistair and I did a mercy dash to the vet who tied a ligature and explained that we could do that with cotton if there was another problem. There wasn't and after a walk around the garden, the pup we could still feel, number 10, arrived at about 11.30.
The idea of logging each pup went right out of the window, and just looking at them it was easy to see that they were a good size so I didn't weigh them. It is lovely to see them feeding and Teasle turning into a really good mum. She isn't too keen to leave them - even for food, water or to relieve herself!! She watches carefully when we move her pups, especially for a bit of a cuddle, but is very calm and content. She isn't even concerned when Molly and Tosh, our other 2 labs, or Baggins, our rather huge cat, pass by!

Training Week!! or ...'maybe this'll work!'

This has been quite a week for training. On Tuesday the class was held in the evening. The remedial group arrived a little early. For Molly the aim was to stop her running in after a mark when Gaynor said ‘Karen’ so that I could send her. She had worked out that I send her shortly after being given the word! That was sorted quite quickly, which was good. The fact that I spent much of the rest of the evening chasing her down when she didn’t respond was less good! L

So, on Thursday evening the remedial group met again, together with Gaynor’s Blitz and Ronnie with 1 year old Richie. Alistair came for the first time to watch, but mainly to look at the kennels as we are looking to put one out at the back. Partly for the pups if we ever get that far and also for short term accommodation. If I get to keep the pup I want from Molly then there will be two of them and it will be a tad easier for the morning poo.

As Alistair was there he brought Tosh out to watch. She was interested and so, since Tosh had been very keen when we went to the pond, at the end of the evening Gaynor threw her a dummy. Of course she turned her nose up at it!

Today I set off in the rain to do some concerted training. In the first field, I set out three dummies and called Molly to sit and sent her back, after throwing a dummy out to the left. I stopped her every so often on the way back and then she retrieved it well. Next was back and left. It was not in any of the ‘usual’ places, but she handled well on to it. The third was further left and she found that easily. When she returned, as I couldn’t remember exactly where I had thrown the other one, I sent her for it – took about 3 seconds!!

In the next field I dropped a dummy way back for Molly to fetch from the far field, over a hedge. She has done this often but not so far. However, she went straight out and back. Two more long retrieves, sitting and taking some direction, but the rights and lefts were off. She wasn’t listening.

I decided that I should remind her about direction. I sat her and told her to stay. I threw one dummy over her head and Tosh shot off as did she. I grabbed her and put her back and Tosh, for the first time in months decided she was going to retrieve! I threw it to the left, to the right, behind and over and each time Molly stayed still, resigned, while Tosh retrieved them all!!!

So I set up a long retrieve, dropping a blind and then throwing a dummy she saw, walking across the field and throwing a dummy in her sight over ‘the’ fence. I sent her back, and she went well with three stops on the way. It took a while to get her to go out right. Well, she hadn’t seen one dropped there, but eventually she went and found it. Getting her to go back and then left to the dummy she had seen me throw was harder. I got the impression that she had forgotten it. I had to get up there, but eventually she did it. Over the fence to collect the rugby ball dummy was a piece of ease.

After a well earned run, in the final (and also first) field, I sat her down and placed the dummies behind and to the left and right, not too far and Molly did some good retrieves and whistle work. All that is left is to get her to work like that at training tomorrow!!!