Tommy update

Janet returned yesterday to see how we were getting on with Tommy and his training. Phew - we got a pat on the back each, including Tommy.
He has been much happier and when Janet came into the house, he didn't even bark at her; he actually looked pleased to see her.

So, we progressed to seeing if we could let Lotte loose with him for a while outside. Armed with a supply of home-made water bombs - (before we get reported to the RSPCA, this is just a small amount of water tied up in a nappy bag) - we let her loose and when she went near Tommy, if he growled, we threw a water bomb towards his feet. This stopped him straight away. Lotte stayed out of his way most of the time and as it was pouring down with rain, Tommy really didn't want to do any more of this - he doesn't like getting his feet wet or spoiling his hair !! He just sat down. Tim and I have to do more training with this before Janet returns in 2 weeks.

More progress inside - Tommy came into the lounge with us and Janet and behaved. He even went up to Janet and took treats out of her hand - huge progress. Just one point he was a bit iffy when she waved her arm after giving us a piece of paper, but a quick "BAH" and he sat down again.
We now have high hopes for Tommy. It will take time with him, we know that, but Janet could tell how much more relaxed he was - huge steps in a short time. If you need help with your dog, you couldn't go to anyone better than Janet !!

New Babies

It isn't just our house that have had a new baby this year - my neice and nephew have also had their first babies. Kerry and James had a beautiful baby girl - Isobel Grace in April. Gareth and Anna had a grand baby boy, William Philip in June. They are both super babies.

Have seen Isobel a few times now and each time, she looks so mature for her age - she has deep reddish hair. Here she is at 3 and 1/2 months old looking very peaceful in her car seat. Gorgeous little girl.

3 generations - Granny Gill, Mum Kerry and Isobel

Here is my sister and neice with her.

Lotte hasn't met them yet, but maybe she will one day.

I spoke to Marita last night - Lotte's first Mum and one of her 3 Godmothers - and told her just how wonderful Lotte is. Lotte is the 5th dog I have had from Marita. I also used her dog, Tommy, who was Supreme Champion at Crfuts back in 1985 to mate to my Bliss, producing my soulmate and best friend Bruno, so we have a lot of connections there. Kizzy, TJ, Charlie and Tommy also came from her. Can't think of anyone else I would go to, to get a pup. Thankyou Marita. Great drinking buddy also. Carole, Marita and I used to have great fun at dog shows - even if we didn't take a dog !!

Lotte is a very happy puppy. I told her yesterday that there shouldn't ever be a day in her life when she is anything but happy and that I will do my best to make sure that comes true. Lotte is everything - fun, pretty - delicate even, stylish, energetic, bright, clever and loving. There is nothing in this World that could buy her. Charlie is fabulous with her - thank Goodness we have Charlie still to show her the ropes. She is a great role model.

I mentioned 3 Godmothers - the other 2 are Carole, who I introduced in an earlier post who is Maddi's breeder and great friend to us all and Karen, who we also call Aunty. The dogs respond to either Karen or Aunty (haha - we call her Aunty also !). Karen is wonderful with our dogs (and with us) - they love her to bits. Luckily she lives close by so we see more of her. Great drinking pal also.

I am blessed with good friends as there are quite a few more I haven't mentioned yet, but all of whom are wonderful in their own right. I am a very lucky person indeed.

Proof Maddi sent Lotte

Well if I needed proof that my guardian angels Maddi and TJ were watching over me, I got it this week.

We have had intermittent problems with moles in our garden, arriving from the cemetery next door and wrecking our lawn. Maddi loved mole-ing. She never actually caught one, but even when she was disabled, she would stand over a molehill for ages waiting for it to move (in her later life I was stood next to her holding her harness - great in my nighty, the middle of winter !!). She would then scrape at the soil and lay down, shoving her nose in it. Always ended up with a mucky nose.

Today, Lotte has done exactly the same - loved it she did.

So, you may think that any dog would do this and yes, some would. However, Lotte has also done something else that only Maddi ever did and at exactly the same place - in the kitchen, scraping at the same cupboard door Maddi scraped at and tried to chew the round handle. So, I say - maybe because I want to believe this - that Maddi has sent her and told her what her favourite places were to scratch, scrape and dig.

Oh and Lotte also loves to leap everywhere - takes off on all fours, ears flapping, just like TJ did at a similar age. Lovely !

Lotte speaking now

Hi everyone,

Mum said it was my turn to blog today.

I have been here over 2 weeks now and its great. I've got loads of toys. Mum puts them in a pile at night and every morning I run round spreading them all over the place again.

I had my second jab this week - I didn't even pipsqueak. Mum and Dad said I was a really good girl. They took me to the shop to get a collar and lead - hmm, not sure about this yet. It's pink with love hearts on. Mum said she's never had a girly girl before but she thinks I am - Hahaha - little does she know eh?
Oh and I met 2 other puppies and 2 poodles -I was the friendliest. These people holding them made funny coo-ing noises at me, a bit like our doves that I love to chase. Ah yes, forgot to say that I am great at chasing unwanted pigeons away.

I am ever so good at lots of things. I get down and sit when I am told to.  Well, why wouldn't you when you get extra cuddles for being a good girl? Mum says I run like a greyhound - silly woman - I'm black for goodness sake !!

Oh and I upset Mum as I decided I wanted to sleep with Charlie instead of Mum - well Charlie has a sheepskin rug to lie on and I thought she needed company. Not sure she agreed like, but I did it anyway - got to share my love out.

The vet weighed me this week and I am 7.85 kg, so have put on 2.15 kg in 2 weeks. I am growing up fast. I can't win though, 'cos Mum says she doesn't want me to grow up too quickly or lose my puppy breath but you can't be growing up and still have puppy breath as well can you ?

bye for now - got to fetch another toy to play with for Mum, to keep her busy. No peace for us pups huh ?

Tommy and his new Trainer

Yesterday, we had a dog trainer from Barkbusters to our house to give us advice with our Tommydog. Tommy has had "issues" since we got him and for the last 2 years that we had Maddi and TJ, he stayed in a separate half of the house to them which meant that Tim and I were split in two also. Well, sort of.

Well it is only 27 hours since Janet turned up to our house and already there is a minor miracle occurring. Tommy is already calmer, doing what he is told straight away and when a plumber came to the house today, he was angelic compared to how he has been.

I know it is early days and we both have to work consistently with Tommy, but it is actually exciting to think of what we might be able to do in the future with him. At first he seemed a bit frightened, but now we are seeing that he seems to be enjoying this and he is getting lots of praise with it also.

I have had dogs all my life without ever having a problem so it was hard for us to come to the decision to get more help for Tommy - we had tried a few things when he was younger and a couple of the people involved were not good at all and really unpleasant to Tommy. Tim was very sceptical. But he isn't now, not if you can get the right person and boy have we got the right person.

Whilst we only met Janet yesterday, she is returning in 2 weeks to do work more with us and I can only say that she is amazing. She clearly loves dogs and wants them to have good lives. I cannot praise her highly enough. Thanks Janet so much.

Lotte and more

Well we have had Lotte 11 days now.
It feels like she has been here forever.
I am so convinced that Maddi and TJ, my guardian angels chose her specially for us. She has the cheekiness and sense of humour of Maddi (plus she wriggles when she gets her face clipped !!) and the energy and spirit of TJ. She just has the lot, our Lotte. You can see her Dad if you follow this link:

Lotte's Dad 
Handsome isn't he ?

Yesterday Lotte decided she was hungry and would just help herself, then today she just thought I needed a reminder to feed her.

We do feed her - honest !! She loves her food thankfully.

I can't believe she has only been here 11 days. She was really quiet the first day but has since found her feet in a big way. Have I said how much I love her yet ?

Charlie is brilliant with her, but we still have to let her loose with Tommy - maybe need to wait until she is a bit bigger. Lotte is dead good at telling you she needs to go out and we have had very few accidents.

Oh and in case you have forgotten - I really, really love this little girl.

Loads left to tell you about the rest of our mob - the chickens, doves, garden etc. Oh and I bought some great wine this week - Majestics had it delivered within 24 hours. Just need to do my job now and start drinking it. Still have to introduce you to my niece and nephew's new babies. 
How much time have you got ?

My love affair with standard poodles

Ok, I have told you a bit about Lotte and there will be loads more to come about her.

Thought I should mention how I started my love affair with standard poodles.  Our very first poodle was a miniature called Pipi (see photo above). Mum and Dad were living in Scotland when she died. They contacted a vet in Edinburgh who told them of a 4 year old standard who was needing a home, so they went to see her. I was at college in Portsmouth at the time when I got the phone call to say Pip had died and that they had brought home a 4 year old called Maxine. She had been fed her fresh meat daily on a china plate, had cups of tea from a china saucer and had to have digestive biscuits each day.  She soon learnt !! Fabulous dog.

When I got home from College I met Maxi for the first time and there my love affair began. I cried every time I left home and upset Mum as she said I was only upset about leaving Maxi. A couple of years later, in 1980, I saw an advert in a newspaper in Portsmouth - "Gentle Giants for sale". That was when I bought Sami for £80. Then, when she developed hip dysplasia at 9 months old, the breeder gave me a pup from the next litter she had, so along came Gemma in 1981.
Gemma had pups in 1983 and we kept Bliss and Bruno - Bruno went to live with Mum and Dad but very sadly died at the age of 15 months from a liver defect. I had started showing the dogs by this time and Bruno was a super show dog.
I then mated Bliss, in 1986, to a fabulous dog who was the Supreme Champion at Crufts in 1985, Montravia Tommy Gun and so was born my soul mate Bruno.
Bruno was used occasionally at stud and in 1993, he was mated to Sophie, producing Maddi. This time also saw the start of my great friendship with Carole - Sophie's Mum.
We lost Sami in Sept 1995, Bliss in January '96 Bruno in February '96 and Gemma in May '96. Dreadful time. More about each of these later.
 I brought home Kizzy from my good friend Marita in April '96. In October of the same year, we got TJ from her and then in 1998, Charlie joined the family.

Almost up to date now; when we lost Kizzy to AIHA and cancer in 2006, we got Tommy 8 days later.
Then having lost Maddi and TJ within 4 days of each other last July 2009, we waited just a year to get our wonderful girl Lotte.

So there we have the dog family - photos will follow and more about the feathered friends also.

p.s. Lotte is having a ball in more ways than one !!