Out with little, in with large.

As usual our subject matter is dogs, but I'm sure you'd spotted that pattern.

The recent sunshine we're having here seems to be bringing the "Fair Weather" dog walkers out of the woodwork. The Dene and the beach are almost littered with dogs and owners, some of whom should think about putting some effort into learning to control their dogs and teach their canine family members to recall, but I won't start a rant on this post.

The little puppy Kodi is healing very well and growing fast. Soon he may have little to show of his physical injuries, however he looks like he has the starting of a fairly dominant nature and other behaviour which already make him quite a handful. Some of his traits may suggest the possibility he was taken from the litter to soon.

But, things in our house have changed some what. Kodi is no longer staying with us, he is with other experienced dog owners as his new foster home, as we have taken in Josh.

Josh is a little bigger than Kodi. At a year and a half old he is already a very large dog who is fairly dominant and needs a firm hand. He's with us for a short time while a new home is sought and a medical complaint he has is being investigated. Josh has a lump on his back currently which has been tested by a vet and they believe it is nothing serious and it will go down on its own. He will be visiting the vet again tomorrow for further examination.

Currently we're actively looking for a very experienced home for Josh as he will need a handler who has the time and effort to put in to training.

Be Everywhere!

So Dave says I've been falling behind on my posts in a major way.... so with that kick up the back side I have dragged my "lazy" backside off the floor where i had positioned my self between puppy Kodi and grouchy Loki so i could "supervise" any "interaction"... but first let me tell you about my schedule.
My ferrets have been ESCAPING!!! they have been in the same space for over a year now and I have never had a problem so I have never had to make any changes... then Flash (white) was found doing a balancing act on the wall that runs all the way down the street.
Found where she was getting out... a hole too small for Enzo (brown) and fixed it. Problem solved...

A couple weeks later Enzo is no where to be found and after frantic searching I peer over the wall into the neighbors yard to see him trying his hardest to climb back to me... after a little breaking and entering I managed to get him back. though he had dug up most of their plant pots in the process... couldn't figure out how he got out.... and he seemed to stop so I grew lax.

Neighbors alerted me to my ferret on the wall, and as soon as I put him down he climbed straight back up... Busted Enzo!

then the lecture about how I should have been watching him began and how they could only go out if they were "closely" supervised... yes boss.

In the mean time I am up at 6am every morning to attend to the pitiful whinge-bag in my kitchen.. no, not Dave.. at this time he is already out on the morning walk with Loki and Duffy (give the man his credit where credit is due). Kodi needs rushed out side for his morning ablutions then fed then entertained till he is tired enough to go back to sleep which gives me enough time to eat and dress then it's off to work with Kodi and Duffy in tow.

After a non stop morning, Lunch hour consists of me eating in a hurry so I can take Duffy into the Fields for his walk and then taking Kodi out for some socialization and exercise before going back to the grind of non stop work till five when I pack up the pups and head home.

Once home I feed the little ones and put him to bed before picking up Loki from the in-laws and taking him and Duffy for their evening walk, by the time I get home Dave is cooking supper (bless his soul) which gives me time to "supervise my ferrets" then eat and then the puppy is up and HYPER.... after an Hour of play and eat and poop I put him back to bed... whew!

So now I have 1 precious hour before I have to wake the puppy and see to it he is fed, watered, pooed, peed, and tired before I can collapse on my bed at 10.30pm. On top of this I have websites to update, a charity party to help plan, a social life (HA!), and a marriage. I was going to rant and rave about how I am expected to be everywhere at once, how I am supposed to shadow the puppies and ferrets every move and also have consideration for poor Loki's depression over his house being terrorized by Kodi-zilla.... but I am to tired.

Update: This pic was taken right after his scab had come away, since then it has healed amazingly fast. Kodi saw the vet today and they are impressed with how well is sores are healing and even gave him his 1st injection which means his time with us is short. In 2 weeks time he will be put up for adoption and find himself a new home.

The face that belies a MONSTER!

We're finding that our little house guest Kodi has quite the attitude for a puppy who is a matter of weeks old.

Duffy is still for the most part enjoying his time with Kodi, even if he's getting a bit of a taste of what he give Loki most of the time. He's finding the backs of his legs and his ears are getting given little or no respect as Kodi gives a surprise bite now and again.

Going over older photographs I have found some of the very first shots we took of Loki before we adopted him. Considering he was over a year old when we adopted him he's still grown and changed in shape quite considerably.

Not another foster puppy!

I have a few points before we start.

1: Yes this one will live!

2: No we are not keeping it! NO! We're not!

A dog walker in Newcastle came across a bundle of cubby fluff about half the size of a house cat but with a bit more meat on his stubby bones, who had an unfortunate wound on the top of his little head. They brought it to a local vet who gave it a nice monk-esk hair style, cleaned the wound and passed it on to the RSPCA. So the unnamed puppy arrived at Westfarm Kennels where it spent a night waiting for staff to come in the following day.

Tuesday morning, I took a call from Jaime starting with "Its another one of those days... where I ask you if I can bring home another helpless animal"... I was already compiling a list in my head of reasons not to have another, squeaking, clawing, smelling, biting, sleep depriving kitten in the house. Only to be told of the puppy... and being a sucker for a dog hard luck story, home the puppy came on Tuesday night, on the condition, Jaime was on pee and poo duty.

Various names were put forward for the puppy most of which related to his less than flattering looks, but Kodi (short for Kodiak Bear) was settled on as it seemed quite appropriate for his chunky stature.

Kodi is sleeping through the night in a crate in the kitchen, going to work with Jaime during the day and when he's home in the evening he's the most stressful thing in Loki's life. Duffy on the other hand is fascinated, he is keen to play with the puppy but we have to be careful not to let him get to rough, Duffy is a fan of batting with his front paws and the last thing Kodi needs is another bump on the head.

What would you do?

Its not something I've really contemplated before but, what would you do if you saw someone appearing to abuse a dog?  How would you react?

Its the first time for me and I don't know if my reaction was right or wrong.  I won't go in to detail of the incident but my reaction was to shout once I'd seen what was going on and the face to face confront the individual while making a note of registration plates from their car and physical descriptions before reporting all details to the RSPCA once I got home.  I would confess part of me wanted to give them a taste of what I'd just seen them do, but having my own dogs with me kept me from being more irresponsable and I wanting to make sure that the incident had not cause them any distress.

Ok my rant is over... on to something a little different... which I'm sure Jaime will be blogging more about in the days to come.

We're updating again!!

We've haven't been updating for a little while, mainly because we have been lazy.  All thats changed, thanks to a having quite a few dog related matters to write about and a little pestering encouragement from an individual... you know who you are ;)

Sunday 31st May 2009 - The K9 Academy Sponsored Dog Walk. 

Thirty owners and dogs set out on the walk from Seaton Sluice to Tynemouth Priory.

In costumes ranging from Cowboys to Cruella de Vils.  The weather was very much on our side and I'm pleased to say almost everyone managed to make it the 6 miles to the Priory.

Some of the benefits of doing a walk like this are to help make people aware of the club and help raise funds for new equipment and development.  The only down side was the side effects from a stomach bug needing me to lenghten my own personal walk a little with frequent pit stops.