doglets: (seren head)
 

And the rest of the world hasn’t been good to Seren. I have to remind myself that for all the hundreds of people we pass without incident, the anti-dog ones are the minority. But Seren is only absorbing the bad times. She has a wilful personality and can be demanding, but a lot of her behaviour is now coming from fear and a series of bad incidents

On a walk, a man came rushing out of his house, one of those front doors that go directly onto the pavement. He narrowly missed us, started yelling in my face and glaring at Seren, who fear-barked back at him. The more he got in my face about my fkin rottweiler, the more Seren reacted.

In the park, an off-lead bouncy staffy ran up gleefully but unexpectedly behind her, sniffed and pawed her back, totally spooking her out. Seren turned and growled. The owner was yelling over “it’s ok he’s friendly, he’s only playing” The first rule of dog-park life is that both sides have to agree on-lead and at distance to the “only playing”. It’s not fair or helpful to let an off lead dog run, however cheerfully, at a dog who has no escape. Seren wet herself, then tried again to defend herself, so this was a clumsy struggle of me clinging desperately to her lead and trying to politely keep the other dog away. The owner offered to put her dog back in the car because he wasn’t giving up trying to get Seren to play and apparently wasn’t good on a lead....

But the damage was done, Seren was now edgy and feared. I half dragged her back to our car with the staffy still trotting behind us. He was a friendly, happy soul and in another dimension I might have happily let Seren play with him. 

Seren’s relationship with other dogs and people is tense. Walks, now, are us playing the Pink Panther, tip toeing along, hiding behind lamp posts and diving up alleys. This isn't good for either of us.

doglets: (seren head)
We started puppy class with enthusiasm but it hasn’t worked out well. Seren is the massive lummox that no one wanted to sit next to. The majority of her classmates are tiny, weeny, fragile things that were frighteningly expensive. A lot of the class intend to breed from their beloved  investment   acquisition. Between exercises the fragile little dudes are picked up and rocked like babies whilst their owners glower at Seren. Seren could probably fit half the class in her mouth and still have room to chew her kong.

Seren can do all the things, all the commands, but the minute there is nothing to do she barks and lunges at the prey. It doesn’t really matter if a 2 kg pug-poo doesn’t do what you tell it, just pick it up and bend it into an approximation of a Sit or Down. Recall on a long line is like landing a reluctant fish for the small dog owners. If Seren doesn't do long line recall, it's me that falls over if I try to prompt her with a tug.. 

Week one we just had a sense of people avoiding us, by week five people just aren’t hiding their disdain for us and our barky frightened puppy.

Last week was truly awful, with people giving us an obvious wide berth and filthy looks. Seren ended up so confused and wired, she threw up all the way home. She’s got typical big puppy travel sickness at the best of times. Seren is now so disruptive in class, I just don’t think there is any going back.

doglets: (kato age two)

“Right” I said “I’m going to drop this prescription into the doctors and leave you tied up here behind this tree, I’ll be 1 minute tops”

“One whole minute, that’s a lifetime” Kato looked at me, I could see the forlorn realisation in her eyes that I really was about to dessert her.

“You can see me through the window” I said trying to hold back my own emotions “There is no need to panic”

“Why can’t I come in the shop?” Kato asked sadly, straining at the lead trying to follow “I will be good...please don’t leave me”

“It’s not a shop, it’s like a vets for humans” I said welling up “Just sit nice, remember sit stay from school, don’t growl at anyone, just sit stay...one minute....you’ll be fine...”

“Don’t” said Kato melting my heart with her deep brown wounded eyes. I could hear that gentle canine heart snapping as her beloved human cruelly abandoned her. Years of trust crumbling away, she thought I loved her but here I was callously walking away.
"Kato, really, you're fine" I said sniffing

“DON’T” she whimpered louder

“I love you Kato" I mouthed at her, blowing her a kiss but then “Ouch!..Ah...fk...damn tree”

DON’T walk backwards” said Kato “Was trying to warn but...”

“You know what Kato” I said as I untied her “hippy can drop the prescription off later”

“Bet that smarted” said Kato as we headed home

“Yeah” I agreed

doglets: (kato age two)
We came out of the house just as the bin lorry appeared. The Bin Men SWAT team leapt

out and surrounded my neat row of bins.

“Not walking past scary men” said Kato turning to go back inside just as I shut the door and she bashed into it.

“SHE’S PUT TINS IN THE BURNABLE” barked Kato loudly

“I have not!” I hissed at Kato and tried to remember if I had in fact made a Bin Faux Pas.



The Bin Men efficiently flicked open each lid and scanned the top layer. This usually takes a nanosecond per bin. One of the Bin Men hesitated on Grey Bin. I swallowed. The only thing worse than getting a sticker of shame for bin maladministration would be being there and getting it in person, especially as the traffic had stopped. The packed No 6 bus was watching the Bin Men SWAT team scan my bins with their infra red laser eyes. The moment of hesitation seemed to last an eternity. Finally they pirouetted my bin to the truck.


doglets: (frodi curious)

Did Mr and Mrs Dogmatix anti-flea drops. Kato just scowls. Frodi didn’t even grumble, not one growl, not even a hissy gnash, no limbs, or digits were lost and no blood was shed. He’s come a long way.


doglets: (kato age two)

Have got happier tails half typed of Kato and Frodi Adventures but today is an anxious day.

Recently Kato has been having some health problems and a few weeks ago showed us a flaw on her leg. It is a nasty looking sore (she had meddled) – after a course of steroids, it disappeared briefly. The sore re-appeared and Kato is, as I type, down the vets having it removed.

With her other vague symptoms (off & on upset tummy, itching sore, discomfort) there is a more sinister feeling around Kato’s flaw. We expected her to be anxious at being left but she cheerfully walked off with the young man vet to the kennel area, even though he had just stabbed her in the leg, perhaps hopeful of rectifying the no-breakfast situation.

So I’m sat here with Boy Dog and the minutes are just dragging. Usually Monday morning things take me hours but I've already finished them.


doglets: (kato age two)
Frodi could hear the mewing as we approached the vets. His paws began to feel like lead.

“Oh good” said Human “Sounds like a lot of cats are in”

The mews began to form words “Frodi...Frodi-no-nuts.....

Human pushed the door open slowly to a waiting room full of cat carriers and boxes. The squeaky music from Psycho began to play in Frodi’s head


“Hi” said human “Would anyone mind if Frodi had a glance in a cat carrier, we would really like to get a cat but want to see how he would get on”

“Yow bring him here Bab, our Samson lives with 6 dogs” said a burly bloke with a tiny little cat in a basket carrier

“Don’t meet their eyes” Frodi repeated to himself “Stay calm, you can do this, think sheep...wtf are sheep...not sheep.... no eye contact.....feels hot in here...damn no sweat glands...don’t meet it’s eyes”

............................

Returning home, even the usually insensitive Kato knew not to ask. Frodi went to his basket to reflect. Frodi fell asleep but was taunted in his dreams by a feline Punch & Judy show “Frodi....Frodi-no-nuts..” The show was broken up by advert breaks for Dysons, Milk Floats and Fly-Mo’s.

“Not the food processor!” Frodi yelped as he awoke “Oh Katrina, it’s you...”

"Wanna talk about it?" Kato asked

"Failed – they told me to peep in the cat carrier, I smiled a big toothy smile. Cat turned into some sort of demonic spitting entity. I reflexively went for my pistol and that was it really, automatic fail. Didn’t even get to the practical"

"But there is good news – apparently we’re not getting a cat – she’s un-favouriting all those cat rescue websites she’s been looking at for weeks"

"Brilliant"  said Kato"Let's go down the pond and tell Rat the news"

doglets: (kato age two)
Kato has a sore on her back right. It’s been there awhile and she often meddles with it. It doesn’t have the sinister passive aggressive tumour look of Frodi’s lumps but it wasn’t healing up.


Kato shivered in the vets, visibly quaking and trembling. She managed to back herself under the seats which made the seats wobble. Vet is unsure what it is, she’s on steroids for a week to kick start the healing and stop it itching. If it heals up - great. If it doesn’t...surgery.

One of the side effects is thirst, combined with her piddly pants problem this led to a very wet dog/bed this morning. But we’ve decided to manage the house and not the dog. Any increase in her piddly pants pills seems to make her unhappy and uncomfortable with all the signs of abdominal discomfort, pressing her tummy to the cold tiles in the hall and craving to eat grass. We’ve bought incontinence bed protectors for her favoured sitting areas which has led us foolishly, oh it seemed so funny at the time, to use the command “put Mary on the pink”.  I had friends who used the command piddlediddle for their dogs, it worked, it stuck and they found themselves on holiday whispering to their dogs to piddlediddle.

Under her bed there is a huge rubber backed mat which can just be steam cleaned or blasted with the hosepipe outside. Kato’s Mary is washed with a very strange looking tasselled sponge that [livejournal.com profile] sheff_dogs bought us for the car windscreen. It is ideal for washing the dogs Mary and I really think they missed a marketing target.

The patient is in fine form today. We had an unexpected walk (the best kind) to post my Mum some teabags as she's running out and the cleaner/errand runner has a flu type thing.


Frodi

Nov. 24th, 2014 12:40 am
doglets: (frodi action dog)

Frodi’s lumps were non-cancerous. He didn’t bite the vet or me on any of his check-ups . We still use a muzzle for very intimate rummaging. His obsession with squeaky toys was useful.I squeaked the toy at the nose end while vet got his stitches out. Frodi even sat politely in the waiting room talking to some cats and a rabbit. Dogs don’t seem to mind cats in containers. Seems it’s free range cats that arouse their hunting instinct.

I think we will always consider Frodi as being on the wrong side of the unpredictable scale. But this year he coped better with fireworks, just made himself into a very small ball and rolled under a bed, reminding me of Morph from Vision On.
His other fear reaction is to tuck his legs right under his body and point towards a corner with his chin & nose pressed flat to the floor.

He is still absolutely hopeless on a lead and even though there isn’t much of him (17kg) he is exhausting to walk.


doglets: (Default)

I am as rubbish as the rest of you at updating this thing – so this update will be delivered in bits. I’ve been writing it since about October and just updating it, thinking I really should post it. I didn't even break my net-silence for my annual rant about fireworks, I just rang my Mother and tutted a lot.

The Reaper – has been tapping on the windows recently with the summons paperwork for That Abe and Java. But in true doglet style they are refusing to go – “you’ll never take us alive” they sneer which is flawed logic but hey, they’re dogs and usual rules don’t apply.

Java – had a stroke just before Christmas. Very wobbly, off to one side, sight and hearing gone. Couldn’t find her food and had forgotten how to get up stairs. So sad to see her staggering around in an endless bewildered circle.

However, she improved very quickly and although a bit wobbly & lop sided, she seems content and coping better with eating, drinking, finding her basket and rolling her eyes at Bellend (Frodi) and Spoilt Bitch (Kato). She’s on vivatonin to hopefully prevent or minimise future episodes. She still spends every weekend with her companion (think Wallace and Gromit) and up until a few days before the stroke had happily done an 8 mile walk. Wallace was so concerned about her he slept on his lounge floor next to her but the next day she did a lap of the lake (walked round, not swam, that would be really eccentric :-))

That Abe – Zombie Dog, Abe the Undead. Two years ago we summoned everyone to her basket side to say goodbye. There’s hardly anything left of her physically – from 21kg at her most over-loved, big boned era to a 9kg skeleton. Along with her weight, she has also lost her housetraining and her manners, but she more than makes up for it in feistiness and occasionally gives Boy-dog a sound handbagging.  Perhaps the ever diminishing Abe will eventually just become a presence, a spiritual entity with no physical manifestation.

Frodi-  what possessed us?!!! He’s a collie, he doesn’t do boredom well and short of eating a toddler pretty much ticks every box on the bad-dog-behaviour checklist.  Everything spooks him and if it doesn't spook him he wants to steal it and throw it in the air. Love him though. A friend of ours (Java’s Wallace to her Gromit) has bought a house in <name of historical quaintness redacted> . Do you know anyone here asked his new neighbours, yes, he says I know Mrs <previous Frodi owner>. Oh said the neighbour lovely woman lowering her voice to outraged whisper:  used to have this terrible dog, dreadful nuisance, noisy, badly trained, petitions, letters, parish councils...just as we pulled up in the car with Frodi in full “Oh my God it’s moving, we’re all going to die, Lorry, LORRY, there’s a tree oh my God, car, CAR, car, car, tree, we’re dying here, OH MY DOG”

Kato – the little princess, secretly enjoys the company of Frodi, he lets her win wrestling game and she often has him in a headlock (which he loves) punching his lights out. Kato is the source of many arguments that she is a spoilt girl which hippy strongly denies as he irons her collar and ties a bow in her fur. She gets his empty yogurt pot and he never goes to bed without her – I rest my case

doglets: (abe in box)

So, I'm at a funny age - where the sensibilitys of adultlife are transmorphing into the free speech of eccentricity. This evening I have been mostly stamping around garden shouting "F**kers and C**ts" at the top of my voice, inbetween trying to coax the dogs out into the warzone for a much needed pee. We watched Mongrels take on 5/11 to cheer ourselves up

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6Y6qBJyoCyk

I know I have ranted on the journal before about the patheticness of this latest consumer con-trick. But watching three dignified animals cower in total fear makes me really angry and for what? A few loud bangs and some colours. Surely in this digital age there is an app on  god damn I-phones that could mimic it.  I can't even be tolerant of organised displays now, as it's the local Organised Display of Inconsideration that gives us the most problems and we're not exactly close.

(One not so dignified animal, That Abe, appears to take it all in her stride these days, she does bark back at the fireworks but it's not in fear, it's defiant annoyance and sarcasm) Even a good run on Cannock Chase today didn't take Kato and Frody far enough over the exhilarated exhaustion barrier for them to sleep through it.


 

doglets: (abe)
it was very quiet at Canine Feminist Collective HQ. Java was sleeping off yesterdays several miles mission accross Cannock Chase and a bit of snooter sunburn. Kato was basking in the sun,  dreaming of whooping the Dog Child Thorns little ass at Slippy next weekend. The humans were pottering about gardening and generally being pointless. And in the distance a dog barked that sounded just like That Abe. Human looked up from the French Bean seeds, stopped swearing about slugs and remarked to hippy "Hey Hippy, that sounds just like..............oh my DOG" 

Frantic calling of the little Abe and no sign, just the barking in the distance. But then she appeared in next doors garden with the elderly neighbour wheezing along behind her with a broom in his hands.

"ABE! How did you get there?"  hystericaled Human
Abe slipped with ease through the bars of the metal fence............
"How long you been able to do that?" enquired a jealous but impressed Kato
"How long we lived here?" said Abe serenely
"Little tinker came running out onto the pavement" said the elderly neighbour which caused our Human to turn a deathly shade of  white.

Our human is now convinced that Abe has malnutrition and must be fattened up - which is well worth being chased by a broom wielding geriatric. Hippy then constructed some temporary Abe-proofing to the fence. 

Psycho-Dogs

Dec. 4th, 2007 01:32 am
doglets: (abe wooly hat)
 In Therapy:
Humans have purchased us a CD -  by a band called FIrework Therapy and its rubbish. Got no beat, no bass, no lyrics - just some ambient rubbish like a Coil B-SIde mixed with early Throbbing Gristle. Apparently we have to listen to it on ever-increasing volume for Seven of our Dog Years. And its therapy. We will be well adjusted, phobia-free doglets and Miss Pissy Pants kAto won't temporarily lose her housetraining badge every year

Can't we just lie on a couch and woofle about  how being overly- domesticated has affected us as a species, the oppression of anthropomorphism and absent fathers......
doglets: (Default)

Java needs a coat. Her thin fur isn't really up to keeping out the cold. Fine when she is walking (she did a 7 miler with her club on Saturday including two miles of very steep hills) but when she is sat about afterwards she probably ought to put a jumper on. Java's apparell is the equivelent of humans sitting outside in your undies. 

In other news, the DogChild keeps the humans on their toes stealing everything in snooting distance - pinched a packet of double-choc chip cookies. kAt0 has the inteligence to work out the angle of trajectory to leap up, bash a paw on the biccys, flip them out of the cupboard, catch them in midair and finish with a pirouette. But lacks the commonsense to then stealth them out of the house. Excellent cat(!!!) burglar but needs a Getaway Driver.

Crashed and crinkled off to her lab (under the bushes outside kitchen door) to inspect and marvel.  Pressed her snoot very firmly over her quarry while Human (aka Mrs hippy)  tried to croupier the Biccy Grail in with the yard brush. This led to a stalemate of Human trying to rake kAt0 in and kAt0 digging her paws in and clinging onto cherry tree. The wreckless sacrifice of the biccys to the Wheely BIn Deity was possibly compensated by the comical vision (Laugh? We Nearly Mewed)  of Human lying on her front and crawling under the muddy bush. The Abester sat on the doorstep looking dignified, wise and highly amused while our muddy human sat cursing and spitting out bits of shrub.

doglets: (java kato bed)
Java and Abe have had a bit of a bark and a panic.  kAt0 is trying to fold herself up very small and press herself into even smaller spaces. She is asleep now, fretting is an exhausting thing. We will have to follow her around all night as there is no way she is going to willingly visit the karzee. 
doglets: (snooter)
Usual transmission hijacked by human for a BOAR(1)  and we doglets are too distressed and incontinent for LJing. Please remember I am an ordnairy polite, suburban, middle aged lady who likes gardening, cooking, Radio 4 and reading(2). just to further highlight how fkin incensed I am.

 [profile] little_nothing  has a fabulous rant about fireworks on her LJ, mine is restrained and polite in comparison. Though I may be accompanying her to shoving fireworks up japs eyes if my current upset levels do not subside.

I will never, ever see the point in fireworks. Just more media hyped shite that people sheep along to. Its in the shops, its in the papers, we must buy it, we must be slaves to it. Fkin BaaBaa thought control. Oh, but its pretty.........go take some acid and watch some fractals on your PCs, stop upsetting my dog.  But its tradition.......so's burning people at the stake, but we grew/evolved out of it. Its my religion.......its a festival of light - get yourself some fairy lights and a flickering torch. Its only for one day - no, your part of an elongated sheeplike thing, its not just you,  it goes on for several days and my dogs distress goes on longer.  Wheres the harm.........you upset my dog, thats the fskin harm, you upset many other dogs/cats and there was no need, you weren't even going to eat them, I would be less pissed off if you killed and ate my dog (3)

 And I don't agree with organised displays unless they are twenty zillion miles away from my house and my dogs, and anyone elses dogs for that matter.  So go have your organised displays at sea. If anyone who loved animals could just see kAt0 so upset, seriously spooked, shitting herself (literally) her tail right under, shivering and cowering........well........

Abe and Java are doing OK - perhaps down to their older years. Java has had a ten mile run, a swim, socialising with three other dogs and a lonnnng sesh in the pub with her Personal Dogsitter and is too tired to be afraid. Abe is doing very well, except on the really groundshaking explosions or long fizzing ones. She shoots out to the loo, does her business and shoots back in.  Even trying to entice kAt0 outside with the indifferent(ish) Abe and ourselves hasn't worked. kAt0 ended up having a poo-incident indoors and this has upset her even more. 

And before any behaviourists  write in - kAt0 was socialised to gold standard perfection - but fireworks are in an unpredictable class of their own when it comes to spooking dogs. She was handled muchly by many as a puppy but she still doesn't like randomness.

(1) BOAR - BIt Of A Rant (tm) [profile] rainbowskye
(2) I so am!
(3) Tho I would still kill you, hunt you down and dissect you, slowly, with a rusty, blunt razor blade.

And so, to bed. 

 
doglets: (java goggles)

 Java has always been a committed pro-housetraining doglet since the first day she set paw in the Canine Feminist Collective HQ, which considering she had been in the nick in a 4foot square pen for 6 months was amazing.

Java can usually, easily do up to six hours between toilet visits, can do a straight eight hours overnight if need be.   But the last few days has seen a couple of splatty poos just an hour or so since visiting the Little Bitches Room - not a full emptying of the dog but a semi-runny puddle. Her snoot is a healthy cold wet snoot, she seems her usual self, demonstrating some excellent repelling of Trick-or-Treaters. It only happens when she can't ask to go - she asks by snooting and barooing, and can be very persistent if shes clothing/desperate, pawing and climbing on those with the Mystical Skill of BackDoor Opening. Java gets very upset if she does it in the house. She chooses to go as far away from the house as she can. Her food hasn't changed and she doesn't seem upset by the Punch-Up with The Abe Infidel on Friday. Even though I scolded her quite sharply,  she looked so sad and confused, she just wants me to love her, and sees That Abe as a threat to that relationship and all relationships.

Have been wondering about her age recently - everyone who meets her thinks she is much older than the dogs home would have us believe. She is sort of nine, a year younger than That Abe. Maybe she is older. She did grow when she first came to live with me and

[profile] theroversbut perhaps that was just good diet and being loved on terms she could cope with.

Going to follow her tomorrow to her pooing place in the garden, and see if theres any problem with her number two-ing. Though she is not keen on being watched pooing, especially if she is off-lead.

 

 

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