What your pet did to make you smile today!

I'm away for the week in the Gaeltacht. My bf text to say Pepper has been so bold since I left! Biting him, ripping things up and just getting into mischief. Apparently she's been pottering around trying to find me (probably not but I like to think so). I can't wait to see her tomorrow evening!

Mo has had a difficult couple of months. He's 9 months old and from the time he hit about six months he got far too strong for most people to walk him so his walks were shortened while we worked on loose lead walking. This meant less encounters with other dogs which made him anxious around them and he developed a verrry loud bark that came out whenever he came within 100 metres of another dog.

Last month we enrolled him in an obedience class to try and work on his general behaviour and hopefully help him make friends with the other dogs. The class was great but Mo was very anxious around the other dogs. He wanted to play but charged in barking like mad every time he saw the other dogs. We mostly had to work at the far end of the hall, away from the other dogs. By the end of the six week course he was able to quietly but nervously approach one of the dogs and sniff around a bit without freaking out or intimidating the other dog.

On these short walks we've worked hard at loose lead walking and I've been rewarding him every time he reacts calmly to seeing a dog or car.

Around the same time that we shortened his walks he started running off when let off the lead and his recall went out the window so we've also been working with a long line in quiet areas of the park to build up his recall.

This week we've had a couple of positive encounters with very calm quiet dogs who were patient enough to let Mo sniff around them without reacting and he has gotten noticeably calmer when approaching dogs.

Last night we decided to put some faith in his training and let him off the lead again in the local park. He ran around us in circles going absolutely bonkers and once he had let off steam we were able to call him back to us for big praise and treats. He even came back to me when he encountered a screaming jogger (who is apparently terrified of dogs). He then made friends with another dog and the two took turns chasing each other for about 5 minutes until Mo flopped down exhausted at our feet.

This was huge for us and for Mo and meant months of patience testing work finally falling into place.

Edit to add a photo:

Wiped out after a swim and a bath on Sunday. I haven't got many pics because he's too black to get a decent photo of.

Ra has been much improved on her new meds and has is trying to be her old self; following me to the kitchen to supervise the cooking and wanting to get up on the sofa again. She still can't walk more than about a few minutes very, very slowly so Friendly Neighbour loaned me a crate on wheels to take her out in. It's not ideal (I think it's intended for chihuahuas and the like), but I was able to bring my little one to walk on grass for the first time in weeks. She wasn't overly delighted to be in it but seemed to get the idea and enjoyed looking around as we trundled up and down the path.

mymo wrote: »

Bongalongherb, my dogs do the same thing every time we come home!
I think I inadvertently trained Oliver to do it as a pup, every time he picked up something he shouldn't chew, we swapped it for a toy and praised him. Now it's a kind of comfort thing, and every time we come home he has to find something to bring us! Tiffi just copied him when she came along.

Mo does something similar. He knows he won't get a cuddle if he jumps and having something in his mouth seems to help him stay calm.

It's funny to watch him search frantically for a toy when he sees us reaching for the door handle.

I've read that it can help calm an excited dog but he just figured it out himself. It could be a toy, a tea towel, a ball or even an empty coke bottle.

Take the dog out to the park in the car, you know giving him a treat, a long walk in this fine weather.

All goes well until we get home. Take off the seat belt, I open my door tell him to get out of the car. He's on the passenger seat standing there. I tell him to get out of the car and he just barks and growls in the seat. This goes on for 10 minutes until I walk around the car and open the passenger door and he hops out without a bother.

Im changing his name to Hyacinth Bouquet

Not last week but still makes me laugh to this day

I overslept this morning and woke up with Sammy nose-bumping me. It was just past his usual breakfast time, so I assumed I was in for a Simon's Cat scenario...but instead he lay down on my chest for a cuddle. When I opened my eyes again it was an hour later and he was still there!

Lily was having a snooze beside me on the couch. She meowed in her sleep, but her own meow woke her up :pac: She froze, with her eyes wide open, like "WTF was that noise?"

Funny how animals can be such creatures of habit. Our labrador is generally not allowed upstairs, and he knows this, though occasionally when either my OH or myself are home alone at night, we'll take him upstairs for company and he's in his element being up beside us. On normal nights when it comes to bedtime he goes to his bed and makes no fuss about it but now, when one of us is home alone, he will always chance his arm! I've been at my parents' for a few days at the moment; last night my OH said good night to doggy and went up to bed, only to be woken at 3am - Rocky snoring in the bed beside him!
I love how he has learned to open doors so he can sneak around the place, yet has never done it in front of us, so that we don't know he can do it :pac:

Phoebe (shihtzu) had a complete MELTDOWN at 2am last night, for the life of me I dont know what was wrong with her - maybe a bad dream? So I took her into the bed with me and we had a great ol' sleep she's just the CUTEST

We went on a day trip to the beach at the weekend and the poor dogs are just wrecked after it. Normally when I rattle their leads in the morning for walkies they completely lose the run of themselves, but today Phoebe just opened one eye and looked at me as if to say 'Eh NO' and Izzy tried to hide under the cushion in her bed. God help the dog walker later, she will have to carry them around