a bit of trauma

when we first got our sam, he found all cars, but especially big ones, traumatic. after walks along the traffic-free river, we moved to nearly deserted night streets, then residential areas, and then, eventually, long walks by continuous traffic, such as in the road we live by.

all in all, a successful treatment. sam no longer thinks traffic is a big deal. then, the week before christmas, we open the door to carollers -- one fairly bad caroller, actually -- and before anyone can stop him, he has streaked out of the door, and right onto the road. into traffic.

a car breaks but sam is hit midleap, in the middle of the pedestrian crossing. everything is awful. the husband tries to keep him from running into more cars, i try to get him into the house. onlookers try to give advice, the car driver tries to take the blame, while sam refuses to move and turns into a wriggly, biting beast. well, at least he's not paralysed. bleeding from our hands, we finally manage to get him onto a chain and lure him into the house, where he slinks away, once again a traumatised dog.

luckily for us, the driver did break on time, and sam's injuries are mainly external. our wounds are deeper, but are healing now. and sam, oddly enough, is still confident about traffic. we're developing a strict routine of him always sitting down before we go outside, and will be looking into gates and fences for the forecourt.

new skills

sam is a very clever dog, quickly getting the hang of new commands. this may have lead me to progressing too fast, so that many of the commands don't become firmly established or he gets them mixed up. i'm backing off a little, training the important stuff, recall and silence, much more slowly. today, we got him to be quiet for a short while when tied up at the playground, and to come back on a lead when walking by the river. hooray!

but one ability which sam has picked up and developed is playing with toys. when he first got his pink squeaky ball, he would chase it a little, but shortly afterwards it would end up under the sofa. now he leaps, pounces, throws it in the air and chases it around the room, before lying down to gnaw on it, emitting happy squeaks. i think he really got the point after we bought him a pig that goes "onk".

good pooch!

or actually, poo.
warning...
keep post out of contact with food.

i never thought i'd be this happy to pick up a pile of poo. after three weeks of liquid and semi-solid products, sam today properly shaped lumps with what looked like pieces of wood in them. maybe he's been lacking in fibre? anyway, the vet's cure seems to be working. hurrah!

teaching a new dog old tricks

i taught sam a trick! one of the simplest in the book, namely "put paw on hand where treat is", but it's still quite amazing to see how fast he got it and how happy it made us both.

in other news, he's still not very good to leave alone at home. today, i'd made the leash a bit too long and he'd managed to reach and overturn a shelf full of stuff. this was the same shelf my daughter climbed on and overturned a week ago. maybe i simply need heavier furniture?

home alone

the first time we left sam alone at home for an extended time period, he howled and made a mess (in a neat pile). and the second time. the third time, he only made a puddle. today, he made a puddle as well, but only by upsetting his water bowl. progress is such a sweet experience.

the hubby even talked approvingly of getting another dog ("an older, more sedate female who can teach sam some manners" -- yeah, right!). more fuel for my dreams!

sam...

my northern snow dog.

the bitter pill

so, nice mr. vet gave sam a course of antibiotics and three deworming tablets. after i arrived home, i tried giving the antibiotics to him by placing them in his dry food. the hungry dog was suddenly totally uninterested in dry food. i then alternately tried tricking him to eat them along with some treats ("schmackos"), or shoving them down his gob (luckily, in this case, he doesn't know the meaning of biting). howling like in the nether circles of dog hell and strong rabbit behaviour, i.e. wriggling away and running off fast, ensued. it took a good while before he would come back in from the garden, even the wellbeloved schmackos didn't tempt.

this put me in a bout of despair, until i realised a bit later that the pills could be crushed and mixed with a nice meat mash we had in store. this time, the bowl was licked clean of food and medicine.

that still left the dewormers. these tablets seemed bigger, and i didn't have that much mash to mix with. what to do? the vet had said i might be able to give them directly, and the package did say something about "flavour". so i tried with one. the dog, no longer suspicious of my feeding intentions, sniffed, licked, and gobbled it up like candy. the second tablet went down fast as well. by the third one, sam had lost interest, repeatedly "losing" it and only sniffing at it when it lay on the floor. i steeled myself, and forced it into his mouth as gently as i could. it disappeared. the deed was done.

that only leaves a lot of grinding and mashing (but hopefully no gnashing) over the nex few days...

old haunts

i took sam on a long walk back to the rspca today. not "back" as in we're giving him up -- heaven forbid! -- but to have their vet see him, because of his little pooblem. we got deworming pills and a prescription for antibiotics, so now whatever is being mean to his tummy should be very afraid. that is, if we successfully get him to eat the pills.

the nice staff at the rescue centre were, of course, pleased to see sam, and to hear that he and we were settling well with each other. what was even cooler was that when we left the centre, a cute enforcement officer, or whatever they're called, peeked out from his car and asked if that was an inuit dog. i replied in the affirmative. he asked if we'd gotten it from the centre. yup. it turned out he was the one who rescued the dog. apparently, sam had been left behind by a breeder who got into some trouble. it was good to get a fuller picture of his history -- i'd imagined him being left somewhere tied to a fence, which for this people-loving animal would have been a disaster of great magnitude. i mean, just leaving him to enter a shop for a few minutes has him howling to the heavens.

we then went to the nearby vet to pick up sam's antibiotics. as soon as the receptionist saw us, she exclaimed "is that the one that just was here with the rspca?"

it seems we got ourselves an unforgettable dog. except by certain breeders, that is.

give the dog a bone!

i have to confess that, until i got my dog, i had no idea what "paddywhack" meant. i never even thought it existed as an object, only as a funny word in the old song. but i saw it in the pet shop, was amazed and puzzled, and took it home just for the heck of it. now i know that it's a piece of neck and that the dog likes it.

"liking" is too weak a term when it comes to describing his relation to a real bone, however. "going crazy about" would be closer, but sam goes crazy a lot, like when anyone in the household re-enters the house, or when his lord and master calls him a good dog. "deeply devoted to" might be better, as the bone remained glued to his mouth for several hours after we gave the dog his bone.

now, all that remains to be seen is if the old man will be rolling home. he went out to taste some whisky with a scotsman, so i wouldn't consider it entirely out of the question...

long walk, short steps

we worked on sam's recall today -- the hubby and i took turns calling him from upstairs and downstairs, giving treats as rewards. sam got it quickly, and scampered up and down the stairs between us. he got it a little too quickly, perhaps, because after a while, when one of us said "done" so that the other could call him, he would run to the other for his next treat without even being called...

the whole pack of us walked into the city centre, which was also packed. this became rather tricky, as sam was alternately scared and curious and wanted to go any odd where. so we're keeping him away from the city, at least until the christmas rush is over. still, we managed without incident, except for all the people who wanted to know What He Was. oh, and some poo. luckily, we had 3x3 bags with us.

shit happens

(don't read if eating.

please.)


"big chief, no shit" used to be the hubby's refrain when he walked the dog. this he sings no more, instead having to use three plastic bags to pick up piles of wet poo. as responsible for the evening walk, i, for my part, can only add "big chief, much shit". we're wondering a bit about the dog, but he seems otherwise healthy, so we're not worrying yet.

shit happened, too, when sam was left alone at home for three hours the other day. apart from that, he hadn't destroyed anything, so i considered myself lucky with just a neat pile to wipe off the floor. then my daughter stepped in it on her way to the bathroom. sheeeet...

dogs might fly...

...if they have the right equipment.

original picture from upsidedowndogs
capshunned with icanhascheezburger

barking mad

sam has a little problem. he has a big problem about being left alone, and will whimper, howl and bark until he's panting. occasionally, he'll make a mess on the floor. if not securely tied up, which is somewhat difficult to do in a small english house, he'll grab clothes, gnaw on shoes or jump into the window sill in his anxiety. when tied up outside shops, he'll raise fear and pity in passers-by, sometimes attracting kind strangers who wonder if he's been abandoned. well, he has, but only for a short shopping trip.

we tried following the dog book's tip of leaving him alone for progressively longer periods. unfortunately, i misread "20 1-minute sessions" as 20 minute sessions to begin with, which means our training has only served to make him more anxious. we are now back to basics, with me leaving the house or hiding behind a car, only to reappear as soon as he stops yammering. i don't know if this will work yet, and we don't have time to progress slowly. today i have to leave him behind for over two hours, taking my daughter to playgroup. someone's going to be trasked...

we have takeoff

i let sam off the lead today. it was a risk, because i'm not 100% sure he'll come back to me when called, but i felt i could trust him enough to take that chance. he zoomed off like a grey bullet, frisking and jumping like a calf after christmas. then i called him, and he turned, zoomed right back to me, and beyond, for another wild chase.

i let him run in huge circles around me as i slowly walked across the stray (yorkshire for "big green field"), then calmly put his lead on as he was lying down to chew on a bit of wood. we walked a bit more, but then i thought, he enjoyed it so much, i'm sure there's a lot of bounce left in him. so i let him off again. this time he went for the hedge at the edge of the stray, which borders on a row of houses. the hedge apparently has lots of interesting smells and such. this time, he did not immediately come back when i called. i turned and walked away, and luckily, he did come then. another lie-down, and the lead was on. perhaps it was too big a risk to take...

poo sticks

as sam was starting to smell a bit too much like a cowshed, i decided to face my dogmons and hose him down a little. it was easier than i thought to get him into the tub, although i did have to give the great lummox a little help. he was okay in the tub, but initially, not with the shower. you haven't lived if you haven't seen a big dog perched uneasily on the edge of a tub. fortunately, sam is a good_dog(tm), calmed down and came back down again. i got him very nice and clean with no more fuss.

the next day, we went for a walk along the river side, and he found a pile of poo to coat his neck, head and ear. time for another bath, sammy-boy...

amazing dogitude

i just caught our dog in the act of nimbly picking a spoon from an empty bowl left on the table. it's too bad he's not allowed to take anything from it -- i was mightily tempted to call him a "clever dog" nevertheless. but i guess in his own mind he is one, anyway.

what did earn him a lot of praise, however, was his being able to open the door to the garden. he's been jumping onto the door handle a couple of times lately, but today he actually managed to twist it, get the door out slightly, and then nudging it open with his snout.

much can take place in a week

there's a full moon tonight. i'm getting more attuned to the night sky as i spend time out with a doggie that needs to relieve himself, bounce and play, or be prevented from eating all the lobelia.

sam is everything i expected him to be. an all-round good boy who sniffs, wags, licks hands (and occasionally ears) and kills "prey".

he also steals and chews clothing, toys, and any food he fancies and can get hold of, has bad habits such as jumping up or nipping people, and has been used to relieving himself on hard floors for too long. his hat of being separated from his pack knows no bounds, and he's got a good howl in him. the need for constant vigilance during the day, in addition to disturbed sleep at night, has made the last week, and sam, a real handful.

it was the worst of times, and the best of times, to get a dog. november is, actually, the cruellest month, with its rains and winds, not to mention firweorks around bonfire night, which happened to be the night after we picked up sammy-boy. luckily, he's not afraid of firweorks at all, just traffic and other loud engine noises. although i'm on studying vacation, my husband has a lot of work to do, having recently received his school's first batch of students, while at the same time having to prepare a new curriculum (and other stuff) for next year. and daughter dear has a runny nose. all this means that, all things considered, it's the best time to introduce a canine, because if we can get through this, we can get through anything.

we alreayd knew from the rescue centre that there was a lot of bounce in sam -- the kennel workers tended to have difficulties putting his collar on, taking it off, and entering or leaving the kennel without him getting out -- but we also found out he really liked mouthing things. the first few days were spent teaching him not to jump, and leaving our stuff alone. we can measure how calm he's become with us by seeing how much he still bounces in new and frightening situations. he's learnt the leave, sit, and out commands, although he chooses to pretend he hasn't sometimes. the nipping, which could be painful, has become more of a gentle tickle. he still jumps sometimes (such as right now), but we have found that sending him outside tends to burn off excessive playfulness.

i think we have succeeded in convincing sam that outside is overall the best place to put pee & poo in, although accidents may happen if he's overly stressed. twiggy's yell of "quiet" stops him from barking and howling his way through the night. best of all, he and little boo peep are getting along very well -- she can hang on him, lie down on top of him, and even pull him around by a chain, without either of them causing the other too much trouble.

everyone seems to be getting more trustful. the dog can go out into the garden on his own without worrying that we'll disappear, and we can have the same trust in him. he'll probably still nip at the lobelia, and possibly bounce through the forbidden kitchen garden, but he at least knows he's called sam and that he's our dog.

we got it!

we're getting our doggie the day after tomorrow. today he went to have his thingies snipped (eww, that sounds horrid! now i understand the popularity of medical jargon) while i went on a shopping spree to the local pet shop. they had it all, from the super-deluxe hand-brushed leather collar and chain, to icky-tacky multicoloured ones with bells and whistles. after searching hard, i managed to find something a bit between the two extremes. so, sam has suffered, but i suffered, too!

sam in his kennel

my sister took this photo when we all visited the RSPCA to meet and walk sam. as always, he bounced up and down in his kennel when he saw us.

choices three

the husband has forbidden me from saying one more word about dogs tonight, so here i am. my muscles are aching after walking three big, bouncy and boisterous dogs, pets that have clearly overwhelmed their previous owners, but who all have a very loving nature. i'm ashamed to say that i rejected the labrador as too pedestrian -- it's the dog everyone and his neighbour has in norway, and i find it nice, but not too interesting. so i'm a breedist. that's good to know.

i've also realised that the dog for me is big, and therefore strong. the great dane i walked, however, proved a bit too big and strong, as it knocked over our little daughter, and even pulled over my own sturdy self as i tried to help her. in addition, this dog didn't have the redeeming feature (to her) of being soft.

that leaves sam, the northern inuit dog. he looks like a wolf, walks like a cat, bounces like a rabbit -- so that's all the pets we wanted in one -- and flees from cars like a sheep. animal bonus! he seems never to have had any training, but if he gets some, i think he'll make a perfect pet.

my husband and his ears would like to extend a warm thank you to everyone who read this!

whatever happened to british bureacucracy?

we went to the RSCPA animal rescue home on saturday afternoon. a volunteer contacted us in the evening and arranged a home visit the next day. today, we received a call from the home to say we were approved, and they hoped to see us soon. obviously, i'll be there to check out a dog tomorrow morning.

are all charitable organisations this efficient? are they the ones that actually run britain? so many questions... but who cares? we're gettin' us a doggie! oh boy oh boy!

the beginning

with four toy horses, six soft rabbits and approximately 111 teddy bears, we thought our house was a little short on pets, so we went to the local RSPCA shelter to look at the rabbits.

so we walked past the dogs and looked at the rabbits and the hamsters and the cats, and i fell totally in love with a cheeky male who reminded me of my parents' old mog -- leo the dog-cat. the husband refused a bird killing machine, and i had to agree, we didn't need that in a garden as twittery as ours.

then we went back to the dogs. then the husband took our daughter back to miaow to the cats while i spoke to the dogs. then our daughter took me to miaow to the cats while he checked out the dogs. and then we went and arranged a home visit to see if we'd be suitable owners for a dog.

they got us connected with a volunteer with amazing efficiency, and we'll be vetted (heh) tomorrow. the toughest part was convincing our daughter that she wanted a dog rather than a cat or a rabbit. but if she can live without live bears or horses, she can probably manage without those. however, we've still got some work to do to make her consider something else than a brown dog.