Leo The Lurcher

So much news! So little time!

2012-10-27T14:12:00.000-07:00

Whooops! I've been a bit slack on the old blogging front lately! Sorry about that. So much has been happening (not all Leo related) from the living room fire breaking to trying to sell a Smart Car! I don't seem to have had two minutes to myself! Things are back on track now - Smart Car just literally driven away by it's new owner and gas fire being fitted on Friday - Phew!!

Leo has been a bit of a mixed bag since we last spoke. Ups and downs doesn't cover it!

First the bad news. Leo has taken to weeing in the bedroom when left alone. Something we're working on, though the shop next door has been having renovations done this last couple of weeks so not coming down too hard on the lad. At the moment we're assuming that he's getting spooked by something. I'm seriously considering getting a camera set up to spy on him when I go out.... I'll have to keep you updated on progress on this one as we go. Hoping we can nip it in the bud. I read many blogs and forums about dogs, puppies and rescues and I am thanking my lucky stars that it's just the wet stuff - I read some real horror stories about much, much worse! Taking on a rescue dog isn't necessarily all fun and games, but I can vouch for the fact that you get out what you put in!

As we said on our last post, we have been concentrating on recall. And boy has it paid off!

I still wouldn't feel comfortable letting Leo run loose with unknown dogs around but with dogs I know are lovely (or even better at the moment, no other dogs around at all) he's getting on brilliantly!

Here he is with his new friends in Beaumont Park. Little Boo, the poodle cross at the bottom the pic flirts like crazy with boys so they'll chase her lol!

We haven't been off lead all the time though! SInce our last post we've been on a few day trips out - with lead on!! I don't think I'm ready to let Leo off the lead in he deep dark woods just yet.

Leo has learned to love water - as soon as he realised there was ducks in there it was a challenge getting him out!

I haven't really got time to blog more today but I will try upload more during the week. I just didn't want you to think we'd fogotten you!

Leo the learner!

2012-09-30T12:07:00.000-07:00

This week we have been concentrating 100% on recall work. Leo's new 8 metre lead arrived - I honestly think it has helped - that extra 3 metres gives him plenty more room to stretch his legs a bit more and means we've had the chance to try calling him from further away whilst still keeping him safe. He's doing brilliantly - just got to work on him coming back when there are other dogs around. He's far too interested in them - in a nice way!

I let him off lead for a few minutes up on the meadows yesterday morning seeing as there were no other dogs for miles and no cars etc. (Plus he'd already scared all the crows off when we arrived) . He was marvellous - he barely left my side. So much for letting him off to run about and let off all his energy while I just stand there!! He got about 5 metres away from me ONCE and came back perfectly. We will try again another day. The wind has got up a it since we tried. Wind spooks him a bit. Not that he's out and out scared, just gets him giddy.

Not a real stone circle - one made by the quarry up the road lol

This week I've also used my new PROPER walking boots - superb investment! We've been off the beaten track alot this week and Leo loves it. We've found lots of little paths that all lead back to the woods or park and it's great. In this hideous weather I think they should be the top of every new dog owners shopping list. Forget bones and toys - boots are best thing you can buy yourself if you love your dog!

One thing that I did find strange was walking along the main road. On a previous walk down there I'd assumed that Leo was a little skittish because of the traffic. With his history with cars I thought maybe the sound of some of them was scaring him. However, this week we went along the same road and the only bit he was scared on was where there was ivy ad other plants hanging over a wall over his head. His fur was standing up and everything - it took me some time to convince him to walk under them. A bit odd. I will continue to monitor...

Leo must be settling in properly now - he's started letting me do silly things to him:

And he loves having his teeth brushed! He's also taken to being dried off with a towel when we go out in the rain. Which in Britain is no bad thing. Getting caught in rain here happens alot... sigh...

I bought Leo a bone which he absolutely adored. He's never shown any food issues until that, but as you can see, he was not keen on me stealing this off him:

We then had a SCARY moment on Saturday night (typical of our dogs to do weird stuff at really inconvenient times....) He dropped what was left of his bone behind the sofa. It must have got caught in the dust (Sorry Leo - mummy is better at cuddling than cleaning) and he inhaled a nose full. He starting dong this retching/sneezing/coughing. I felt so scared I couldn't even finish my meal. Because he'd been eating a bone earlier in the day we were convinced he'd got something stuck in his throat. We prised his jaws apart to try see but could see nothing.

He settled down after a few minutes and I did the one thing you should never do when someone's ill - started googling symptoms!

I found lots on something called a "reverse sneeze" - and after watching a few clips on youtube I was fairly confident that this was what Leo was suffering - probably as a result of breathing in a mouthful of sofa dust. I found an article from a vet who said that if a dog had something stuck in his throat he'd be really uncomfortable.

Leo was by now sound asleep so I was a little easier with the situation. On Sunday morning he was fine and we've had a couple of lovely walks.

He met a nice little greyhound lurcher girl up on the meadow who was, according to her owners "a bit timid". She did let hubby stroke her and Leo must have sensed that she was a bit wary because he didn't throw himself at her like he normally does. Lovely girl. I think we need another dog like that because calm dogs do seem to have a calming influence over Leo. He is quite good at sensing the boundaries. He manages to be giddy with giddy dogs but knows when to step it down a gear for ones who are a little wary of him. If anyone has any hints on how to get the worlds most friendly dog to just walk past another dog without bowing down to play with them PLEASE let me know. 20 minute walks take an hour because we have to stop to bow to every dog we see. It's impossible! As much as I love having a dog that is friendly with other dogs, it would be nice to be able to just let him know when it's appropriate and when it's not. Any advice appreciated...

We did set off driving to North Yorkshire in the new car to let Leo stretch his legs up on the country lanes up there. We got as far as Grassington and the rain was POURING so we stopped for a toilet break and came home lol! This was Leo's first time in the new car and he was on the back seat with a waterproof "hammock". As usual he was fine (I don't know why I worry about this boy really) and settled down really quickly. Although I think the cover was a bit slippery and he moved a foot every time we went round a roundabout. Next investment will be a fleecy one I think... so the poor lad doesn't wake up on the other side of the car that he fell asleep on!!

We haven't tried the 40 foot long lead this week - the rain and wind has kept getting up and I don't want to spook him again while he's doing so well. We will return to it though!

The whirlwind that is Leo

2012-09-23T08:46:00.001-07:00

The lovely Leo is certainly finding his feet - quite literally! They are often a source of amusement to him - I'm not sure he realises that he's actually the one controlling them sometimes!
We've decided that we are only going to blog once a week from now on - unless something magical happens. Basically we are having too much fun to log on any more often! Either that or I'm busy tidying up after him...

Since our last update we've been making lots of progress - though at times it has seemed like one step forwards and two steps back. I am now sporting some cracking bruises on my knee and wrist thanks to Leo getting a bit spooked on the field with the long lead. We bought a long lead to try and improve his recall. We took him out one day and he was absolutely fine. The next day - mayhem! Snapping at the lead - and me - though I think I was in the way a bit :( Not fun!!

For now the long lead has gone up on a high shelf out of sight until the wind drops a little, I've ordered a new 8m flexilead so we can practice a little more from further. Leo is getting really good at recall now though - today and yesterday he responded even with distractions from other dogs, horses, sheep etc. I am really pleased with him! Not confident that he'd do it from a distance yet but everyone has to start somewhere. He does seem keen to keep me in view all the time though which is great. If he goes through a stile before me he does wait very nicely until he can see me again before setting off again. Won't be long now!

Leo literally LOVES the world. The only thing I've seen him snarl at (apart from the long lead) is an advertising hoarding at Carcraft.... no idea why but he was not keen!

In fact it's a runnig joke now that these one hour walks could actually fit into twenty minutes if we didn't have to stop to say hello and play with everyone and every thing we meet.

He can spot another dog from a mile off. Rather than walking up to it nicely he stops dead, watches, then bows just like this until they come over and say hello. THEN he pounces as if that's the signal for playtime to commence!

He has met some lovely doggies who will happily let him jump all over them bless him! In particular he has met a lovely 13 month old rough Jack Russell girl called Ruby a couple of times. It's hilarious watching them take it in turns to pin each other down! Ruby's daddy always has a pocketful of treats too which means he seems to get caught up in the mayhem a bit too :)

We were going to go to a fun dog show yesterday afternoon but Leo was like a transformed dog in the morning so I didn't want to ruin that by surrounding him by barking pups! He walked beside us, waited at the kerb nicely, crossed roads quickly, came to his name from the full stretch of the lead every time... the thought of him turning into a woofing bouncy hound for the afternoon was too much to bear for me so we gave the show a miss. Maybe next year we'll be more ready for the shows.

This dog is literally taking over our lives. In a good way. We're in the process of swapping the car for one that will more easily accomodate him - whilst he fits snugly in the Smart Car and settles down nicely, we're always a bit worried that he is sat right over the engine in it and that we can't fit much more in there when he's in too! In time for our next holiday we will have much more room to pack more treats and toys for him :) oh and maybe some luggage fo us too!

We have discovered a HUGE network of of footpaths, fields and woods that we never knew existed - right on our doorstep. Leo loves them (no surprise there!) and they're fairly easy on us oldies too. I've invested in some proper sturdy walking boots in anticipation of a soggy Autumn - sad but true I'm no longer the sort of girl that has wardrobes full of short skirts and high heels - these days it's waterproof trousers and chunky boots. Ahh still, happy days!

This morning there was a major panic - we couldn't find Leo's Kong!! I looked high and low! Everntually it turned up, under our bed! Along with a small collection of socks that Leo had obviously decided to save for later....

He does still have a bit of a foot fetish. My furry boots are the most desirable thing on the planet and Hubby's trainers are the tastiest... putting socks on in front of Leo is impossible. I wish I could read his mind and know why they are so appealing to him!

Leo simply has to carry something home after his walks. It doesn't really matter what, but preferably a bottle of some description. This week we've brought home an empty milkshake bottle, an empty water bottle, a paper cup, a coke can and an empty Dairy Milk wrapper. Oh and his long lead as you can see in a previous picture. Fortunately we live near a school so there's generally lots of litter for him to choose from thanks to all the horrid children! He doesn't seem to want to chew them or even seem that interested in their contents - he just wants to carry them! Hopefully we may be able to harness that talent in future and maybe I won't have to bother taking a handbag everywhere....

Also this week we have seen a noticeable reduction in Leo's chewiness. He did destroy a charity collection bag that someone popped through the letterbox, but other than that he's mostly been interested in his own things. We have made it a bit easier for him by moving things out of his way - mainly shoes. However, he definitely seems to be getting the hang of what's chewable and what isn't! We've put a mail box up on the fence outside so from today there will be no post for him to chomp on and stocked up on the rawhide bones he's so addicted to. As I write this he's stretched out on his duvet, blissfully licking away at a Kong stuffed with frozen peanut butter. Definitely makes life a bit less stressful knowing that you can pop out and not have to worry that he's merrily destroying things!

The odd things is he's started taking things upstairs when we're out. The two cushions that Hubby has in his armchair have found their way onto the bed three days running. So has one of my wellington boots... Leo has even managed to take one cushion out of it's loose cover - absolutely no idea how. The cushion and cover remain completely unscathed and there's not a mark on either of them. I'd love to see how he's doing it! Getting it back into the cover is a right task so I have no idea how he's managing to get it out. I may set up a webcam one of these days to see what he gets up to.

This is just one of the beautiful views that I've managed to catch thanks to Leo. Having a dog is the best way of getting to know your local area. It's ok to walk down random footpaths and feel safe and not look like a total loony when you go back the way you came after all!

I was reading the posts of a Facebook friend this week who was sadly having to say goodbye to her boy after 12 and a half years together. It made me sad for Blue and the fact that he never got to experience alot of the beauty that I get to share with Leo up here. I'm glad that we got to spend such fun times in Cornwall with him though. And the mad times we had up to our knees in mud being chased by cows in Gomersal before we moved here! And I'll always remember the look on Blue's face when we saw a zebra in the field the week the circus was in town! At first I was thinking that we never got to have much fun with Blue because of his fear aggression and age. But the more I thought about it the more I started thinking it was just a different kind of fun! Blue much preferred a 4 hour snooze on the sofa to a hike through the woods that's all.

One final thing - I managed to find a special doggy toothbrush and toothpaste for Leo. We thought we'd have a proper go at it last night. Last week I'd had a little go with a sample that the vets gave us when we took him to meet her and one of my old toothbrushes! It sort of worked but it was a bit awkward lol!

Last night we did it properly with a blob of his vanilla toothpaste and his fancy toothbrush. I think it went quite well considering! At first he was a bit wary but I swear by the end he was actually enjoying it. We'll have another go next week ;)

Leo The Limper

2012-09-12T14:09:00.002-07:00

Ok, so the title of this post is a bit misleading. Leo has a limp when he fancies it - but let's be honest, he has one leg a fraction shorter than the others! When he walks slow it more manifests itself as a little wiggle in his walk. When he runs you wouldn't know at all! When he is running at that middle speed, he bunny hops!! He is using his damaged leg more and more. This week he's even started standing on his hind legs with his paws on the worktop (not behaviour I'm encouraging,but it's nice to see that he can!!)

Leo's x-rays from before surgery (ouch!!):

Leo's x-rays from after the surgery:

As you can see it was a NASTY break. The pin that you see through his bone in the second image was actually taken out two weeks early too because the wriggly monkey managed to pop it so that it was poking through his skin :(

Looking at Leo and his absolute zest for life makes you realise that you have to grab life with both hands. To think that this little darling was almost put to sleep because of his injury and because no one claimed him is heartbreaking. It makes you realise the work that the Dog's Trust do and why it matters - thank god they stepped in.

Anyway.... on a lighter note. We have had more fun since we got back from Ipswich. Leo is a bit naughtier than before. I think the penny has dropped with him that we are here to stay and he's now trying to establish his position in the heirarchy a bit. He's started woofing (he has a pathetic "wwhhhhuff!" of a bark so I have to try really hard not to snigger when he's trying to be the tough lol!) when I am putting his food in his bowl. If I ignore it long enough he does just lay down and shut up though which is good.

And, speaking of lying down, we have been incorporating a hand signal into his "down" command and tonight he did it from just that! Sitting is still a problem. As you can see, Leo finds it more comfortable to be sitting on something raised:

This weekend we also had a walk around Newmillerdam. We'd aimed to go to the Sculpture park at Bretton but the car park was sooooo expensive that we turned around in a huff!
Leo got to express his hatred for birds:

And also met a new friend or two:

Now that he's a bit firmer on his feet I've ordered him a 50foot lead. Once that comes we can practice recall training on the field behind the Avenue some more. We had a go at it properly in Beaumont Park tonight with just his 5 metre extension lead and a pocketful of treats and I have to admit he did quite well.

Lead work is quite hard because when we brought Leo home he wasn't allowed long walks so I think that's what's making it a little more challenging to introduce him to it - maybe it would be different if we could have done it all from day one. He doesn't do so bad considering.

Other things we have learnt this week:

I bought Leo a new toy that I have nicknamed "Bottle-Fox". It's basically a stuffed toy fox, without the stuffing. Where the stuffing would go, there's room to put an empty plastic water bottle. There's a squeaker in it's head and tail. Leo has played with it every day since Saturday (5 days and counting now....) and it's still in tact! I did have to put a couple of stitches in where I ripped the price tag off and tore it (!) but Leo has not damaged it at all. This is new ground. Leo "The Dark Destroyer" normally takes a chunk out of everything. I wonder if Bottle-Fox can last a week.....
It is official - Leo can literally get comfy anywhere:

Also, we have learnt to move EVERYTHING when leaving Leo unattended. This week he has shredded two books and suspiciously rearranged some other things. I came home yesterday dinnertime to find my umbrella dragged from the hallway to the living room and the teddy that I keep in the bathroom was in the hallway. Maybe he's been reading up on Feng Shui?!

Still love the boy though! We are working harder than ever now on reinforcing the "rules". Me & hubby have a stash of treats on us constantly at the moment, so we can reward Leo when he does something that we want him to realise is good - even i that's just laying down quietly while we're on the phone or something. Been doing a lot of reading up and positive reinforcement makes more sense than punishing him for things we don't want him to do.
It's a learning curve for all of us but hopefully we're heading in the right direction. Now that we now Leo is healing nicely and his legs are getting stronger (you can actually feel the difference in his legs) we will be starting obedience classes in a couple of weeks. Now THAT should make for an interesting blog post.....

Leo the Legendary :)

2012-09-06T10:41:00.001-07:00

Where do we start!?
Since our last post Leo has been a legend, pure and simple!
We spent 3 nights in Ipswich this week, staying at the new Travelodge (yes, some Travelodges take domestic pets for an extra £20 surcharge - bargain!). Obviously we set out on this trip with some trepidation. New family, new house, long car journey and holiday might not be such a great idea for a rescue pup. But we needn't have worried at all. Leo was the perfect hotel guest - much better than whoever was in the room above us who I suspect had brought their pet elephant...)
He settled straight into the swing of things,even telling us he needed outside, which was a major worry for us.
It turns out all the waitresses in Ipswich ADORE Leo! There wasn't a bar, cafe or restaurant that didn't make a fuss of him . Leo loves nothing more than a fuss. We think because he was on crate rest for all those weeks at the Dogs Trust, his volunteer visitors would come into his kennel and play with him in short spells to keep him as active as they could whilst his leg was healing, now he literally expects it of EVERYONE! Which is fortunate because most people seem quite willing to give him a tickle or two.

Leo smiling on the marina

Leo troubled by so many people on wheels. Pushchairs, bikes, skateboards and scooters baffled him for the first day!

We spent an afternoon at Jimmy's Farm which is just outside Ipswich. I can highly recommend this for anyone visiting the area. Absolutely idyllic setting and beautiful animals. Leo lapped it up. He was perfectly well behaved, even when a goat took a bit of a disliking to him. Poor love jumped a mile! Still, I'd rather he learnt through a wire fence that not all animals want to play with him lol!

He wasn't that fussed by the piglets at all, even though they did all run over to us. Great to know he doesn't seem to have much of a hunting drive.

Leo was impeccable when two little girls asked if he was nice, desperate for a stroke of that irresistible sleek fur. Leo just lay down and let them stroke him gently, we even put the lead down, he was so busy being spoilt rotten that he never noticed! The girls gave him a couple of treats for being so good while we chatted to their mum and dad (we find ourselves telling Leo's story quite often because people literally stop is in the street to admire him!) The only problem then was convincing him to stand up again when we were ready to walk on - I think he'd got quite comfy there :)

In fact Leo gets comfy pretty much anywhere as you can tell from this picture taken outside the restaurant at Jimmy's Farm.... believe it or not there was a peacock strutting around the courtyard while this was being taken and Leo couldn't have cared less. He was more than happy to take the weight off his paws whilst we enjoyed a coke with ice!

On the second day we drove up to Felixstowe. Turns out there's miles and miles of beach and dogs are allowed on some of it, so why not! Leo wasn't too convinced by the moving water... we're going to take him to some still water over the weekend as it might not be quite so overwhelming.

Leo decided he'd had enough halfway across the heathland by the Fort and just plonked himself down for a rest. This boy really loves a good lie down no matter how impractical...

The marina at Ipswich is set up a bit like Spain, with rows of cafes and bars on the front. All of which we were welcomed to sit outside. Isaacs On The Quay is the big one, with rows of picnic tables, parasols and patio heaters outside - lush!

Leo's unique sleeping position of either on the table or along the bench didn't put the waitresses and door staff making a fuss of him....quite the opposite in fact...!

Leo & Luigi

Joining in a game of fetch

Leo & Paola's foster girl Java

Leo & Sexy Stanley

On the way home we came via the beautiful Dunwich Heath to pay a flying visit to the lovely Paola and her pack of whippets. I'd recently "met" Paola on Facebook through her "iheartwhippets" page. She makes some lovely whippety based things which she sells to raise funds for Scruples Whippet Rescue. We stayed for a cup of tea (which I ended up wearing most of thanks to being caught in the middle of a whippety game of tag!) and a game. I think Leo was a little overwhelmed at first but he was soon holding his own and joining in the fun. Great to see him springing about like a proper dog. His big brother Blue missed out on so much fun like that because of his fear aggression. I don't want Leo to miss out on a single second of whippety fun!!

Since we got back we've had a "normal" day. We purposely left him at home alone while we did the food shop. If I'm honest I was dreading it - being away from home for 3 nights and with us constantly I was sure he'd rip the place apart. HOWEVER, Leo the Legendary was pretty much flawless. Ok... ok... we found a peg upstairs and the sticks from the air freshener were all over the place in the bedroom but that is pretty good going considering what I was expecting. To prove it wasn't a fluke we went out again a bit later for an hour. Phew, two in a row. To make things even better, next doors dogs appear to have been on a bit of a rampage this afternoon. While they'd been out Max & Roni had dragged leftover lasagne out of the bin all around the house. I overheard their mum on the phone saying "..... and there's cheese in the bed..." I couldn't help but chuckle. Keep it up Leo - you're doing me very proud :)
The worst part of "training" Leo is getting him used to being alone when he needs to - he's so marvellous that I want him with me all the time. In fact it's me that suffers seperation anxiety not him!

Still got a few days of holiday left.... I'm sure we can fit a couple more adventures in yet.... ;)

Good news at t'vetinary!!

2012-08-31T10:22:00.000-07:00

Hurray!! Went back to see the lovely vet at the Dogs Trust Leeds today - good news! He doesn't think Leo needs any more medication and the break in his leg is as good as it's going to get. He says we might find that changes as the "callous" that forms at the site of the break should start to dissolve over time. If we think he's hada tough day on it the vet says we can give him a kiddy aspirin to help every once in a while. We've called our vets and found out a price for hydrotherapy, which should give Leo chance to build up a bit of muscle in a nice, safe, warm watery environment and not putting pressure on him too much. Perfect!
Everyone at Dogs Trust was really please to see Leo again and glad that he is so happy. The lady in reception commented how lovely and soft he was (thanks B&M Bargains and your discounted anti bacterial wipes...)
Huge relief at Casa Clayton all round!!

Leo waits patiently for us to hurry up and get in the car...

This week Leo has been the perfect gentleman. Managed four hours in the house on his lonesome and only destroyed an empty box and a water bottle!! Unfortuately the water bottle he chose to nibble was the one at the side of the bed - cue some very quick mattress drying when we got home!! I'm sure he does things which he knows are going to have maximum impact :)

He's getting BRILLIANT at this lying down on command lark as well - did it twice at his grandhumans house this morning without really batting an eyelid. I'm so proud of the clever little darling!

Leo has a habit of trying to lay on our pillows - usually when our heads are on them at 3am! So as a special treat I've bought him his very own pillow. As you can see it has gone down very well. He's not spoilt or anything though you understand... ahem.

This week Leo has also taken delivery of his special new name tag - just in time for hils holidays. As per usual though Mummy misjudged Leo's size completely and it's a tad large, but it will do for the short term. Better to have him legal! I say short term, knowing me the poor lad will have that tag until he's 15 lol!

Still can't get a decent shot of his webbed toes. I'll keep trying.

Other fun things we have done this week include:

Rolling down a hill in Beaumont Park (unintentionally - Leo isn't the sure-footed mountain goat he thinks he is.)
Chasing peachy flavoured bubbles in the garden. Hours of fun for me, not sure Leo thought it was that good actually but I enjoyed myself anyway ;)
Came to pick me up from work yesterday - got to meet the lovely Fran and Polly (Polly: "I won't stroke him because my dog will go crazy" - that lasted about 7 seconds haha!)
Met a lovely little Yorkshire Terrier at the end of the drive - poor little thing was terrified as he'd had a scary experience in the park from what his owner was telling me. However, 5 minutes of Leo throwing himself at him and demanding to play he was bowing too. Maybe we should hire Leo out as a doggy therapist??
Leo is getting the hang of what this lead and harness thing is for. When we first got it we had to bribe him through it with a treat, now he's keen as mustard to get it on because he knows that when that goes on, we get to go somewhere good. Told you he was a clever boy.
He's still a bit nibbly on the old fingers when he's being tickled. He does stop when told not to but then sulks for 5 minutes. I expect we'll get there with perseverance with that one...

Now that he has lots (and I mean LOTS) of lovely toys and chews to play with he's sleeping alot more and is alot more relaxed in the day. He still has little games he plays with himself to keep himself awake - I think he's frightened he's going to miss something! He's alot happier with his food now as well - which is great because we know he'll do pretty much anything for a treat. Whilst he's still not as food-driven as his big brother Blue was, he will try anything once. He likes to nibble on the broccoli stalks after Sunday dinner and he goes back to his bowl after his dentastix after tea to make sure he's licked it clean now. It's actually a pleasure to eat around him. He's keen to see what you've got as you sit down to eat, but tell him once "no" and he toddles off for a nap or a chew of his rawhide until you've finished. Blue was very food driven and would watch us like a hawk throughout every meal. It's a bit weird having a dog in the house that doesn't really give a monkeys what you're eating!

Have to go now. Much packing to do for our little break.... time for a little nap though first......

See you all soon :) x

Chaos at Casa Clayton

2012-08-25T12:25:00.002-07:00

Today Leo locked Stuart out of the house :) - Stuart went out to bring the car into the drive and Leo pushed the door shut behind him! Cue emergency telephone calls to me and my mum who were out shopping in Huddersfield and mad rush to come home to let Stuart back in and assess any damage Leo might have done in the half hour he'd had the run of the house!
Guess what - when we finally got back in the house was fine! Leo had nibbled the end of a wooden stick in the air freshener but that was it! I'm much better at training dogs than husbands obviously!

Anyway, since my shopping trip with mum got cut short, Leo STILL doesn't have a proper bed of his own. He's currently sleeping between the bottom of our bed, a cushion saved from the old sofa and a Spice Girls cushion left over from when my dad worked at John Cottons! No prizes for guessing which he prefers...

I'm reluctant to buy a proper expensive posh dog bed just yet - Leo as I've mentioned before is a tad "nibbly" and he susses new things out with his mouth first! So we will be bobbing out to pick up a cheapie duvet tomorrow. He tends to sleep with his dodgy leg stretched out so I don't want to be curling him up into a basket type thing yet anyway.

This afternoon we took a little stroll into the park again and got caught in a hideous rain storm. Leo got admired by everyone, except a little old westie boy who wasn't impressed by Leo's boundless energy!
Saw a dragonfly laying eggs - I reckon Leo wanted to eat it. Lucky for Mrs Dragonfly he was on his lead...

Other highlights of today were:

Leo waking up with hiccups! I had no idea that dogs got them too! It was quite the cutest thing you've ever seen.
Leo being as fascinated with vacuum cleaners on TV as he is in real life.
Leo walking past two cats, but being determined to catch a crow!
Leo being disappointed and heartbroken that the squeaker from his squeaky toy doesn't squeak anymore.

He is currently fast asleep on the sofa next to me - though any minute now I expect he'll be hurtling round the living room. We've noticed this strange little burst of energy before bedtime. It's crazy but once you know it's coming it's ok lol!!

More soon :)

Progress!!!

2012-08-24T11:48:00.001-07:00

Well what a day! Although Leo has been pretty good at recognising his name from the start (in fact he responded to it from that first walk round the field at the Dogs Trust) we were a bit apprehensive about other commands. Because his leg was broken in such an awkward place we weren't sure if "sit" would be a reasonable request from him. Although he does sit voluntarily, for obvious reasons we aren't really keen on forcing him to repeatedly sit and stand on command. The downside to this is that "sit" is a really useful command for calming a dog down and controlling him - something that Leo could really do with.
Sooooo... after a couple of failed "sit" attempts in the garden this afternoon it became obvious that Leo was struggling with it. However, on the last attempt, he lay down! So I decided that we'd give it a go as "down" instead. It took a few goes, and I nearly lost my fingers a couple of times but here are the results:

Sorry that they're sideways :) I was so excited I forgot which way round the camera should be!

It wasn't all work today though - Leo found time for a little roll around the grass:

And even managed to let me take a close up picture of his webbed toes - though it turns out you can't tell they're webbed on a photo:

In case you were wondering, we suspect that Lovely Leo might be a whippet/Labrador cross. Cue lots of internet research to see what we can learn about whipadors! Labradors apparently have webbed toes which helps them swim when they were working with fishermen in Newfoundland originally. Leo's white "medallion" and white toes are also possibly a throwback to labrador origins. We've been told that you can have a DNA test done for about £50 to find out for sure what breeds your dog is composed of! Maybe one day...

Also, Leo seems to have a liking for sitting on legs and feet:

We noticed this already when we visited my mum and dads and he sat on my dad's feet - though I think it must be something he enjoys because he's done it twice to me today. He's such a lovely quirky chap :)

I'm really proud of him today. He's been a little star. I wonder if this is because he's actually getting to grips with the routine round here, or if it's because I made him listen to Classic FM this afternoon?

More this weekend... :)

Leo's Story begins

2012-08-23T13:51:00.001-07:00

Well, since spotting a cheeky looking black lurcher boy named Leo at the Dogs Trust Leeds Open Day on 4th August 2012, we had thought of little else. His forlorn little face with his bucket collar on looking so sorry for himself melted my heart.
We'd lost our rescue lurcher Blue a month previous aged 15. I was heartbroken. The house without a lurcher wasn't a home at all. I was a little in two minds about getting another dog. Was it too soon? I think in the end I had to conclude that I still had a lot of love to offer and Leo might fit the bill.

Leo was a stray who'd been hit by a car and suffered the most horrendous break to his leg. He'd been taken to Shepley Vets, but obviously as nobody's dog, they were reluctant to perform much in the way of surgery and Leo was nearly put to sleep. Thankfully the vet pinned Leo's leg and handed care of him to the Dogs Trust who continued his treatment. Leo was such a wriggly pup that he actually managed to pop the pin that was holding him together so it was taken out two weeks early.

We visited him again on Sunday 12th August (the day before my dad's 70th Birthday) and took him for a short walk onto the grass. I have to say he was a total gent, not bad on the lead considering he'd been on strict rest for so long and history as a stray.

Here he is looking proud as punch to be out on the grass:

The following Tuesday we attended an adoption talk with Debbie, the Dogs Trust Leeds manager, who gave us all the lowdown on rescue dogs and we were given a bag of the biscuits they had been feeding the dogs in the rescue centre and a few other leaflets and goodies. We were kindly given a copy of Leo's medical records (which were a bit of an eye opener I can tell you!) which I gave to our vet at Calder Vets Huddersfield. Here is Leo just before we went into the training room at Dogs Trust for the pre-adoption talk - this boy's a nutter lol! All the other dogs were laying there all quiet and lovely and Leo was desperately trying to wrestle his tag off!

Leo came home with us straight after the adoption talk. The first thing we noticed was how flippin' wonderful he was in the car! Considering the fact that he had been hit by one he was very keen to be in one!
Here he is looking quite relaxed in the back of the car:

Leo's first night went ALOT better than we thought it would - Leo slept soundly at the bottom of the bed, only waking at 1.30am - Stuart took him out for a tinkle just in case ;)

The best part of Leo is that he seems to be pretty much toilet trained. He's had a couple of accidents but that was to be expected. Otherwise, if he stands in the doorway and nudges the door we've a pretty good idea that he needs out.

So, what else have we learnt this week?

Leo nibbles like a puppy!! Usually when you are least expecting it! Must get a handle on that QUICK!
He likes chunks in jelly - NOT chunks in gravy.
He does not like eggs.
He likes horse poo, but it doesn't like him,
Leo will offer to play with every dog he meets, regardless of size, breed or age - fortunately so far this seems to be serving him well.
Kong Toys are our saviour!!

More next week :)