Saffy - 31/10 - 11 Weeks old

Went to Ring craft. we didn't go last week but saffy seemed a lot more confident this week.There was a football game on the pitch by the community centre and last time we were there she looked a little worried about it but tonight didn't take any notice.
She was happy to get into the hall and immediately said hello to the dogs standing by the door. Lexi the Collie puppy was there and we haven't seen her for nearly 2 weeks. Saffy is now taller than Lexi who is a month older.

I stopped to talk to Anne Lexis owner and wasn't watching Saffy. When I looked to see what she was doing she was nose to nose with a huge mastiff. She was not intimidated by his size. As he was fawn with a black mask I think she thought he was just a rather large Malinois.

We did two classes and Saffy was quite happy being gone over appart from trying to lick the judge. She still can't stand still for very long unless i an holding a lump of cheese for her.

While we were there a Chinese Crested came towards us and Saffy looked very interested in him I think she thought he was a rabbit or something similar. then she sniffed him and she looked so surprised. as if she really couldn't believe the strange looking animal was a dog.

Saffy - 30/10 - 11 Weeks old

I have had to move the water bowl outside as there is a certain little dog in this household who not only stands with her her two front feet in the bowl when having a drink but has now decided it is fun to dig in the bowl. The kitchen floor gets soaked. Went up to the pond again this morning. It was busy as it was a fine morning. Lots of dogs to meet. Saffy looks pleased to see people and says hello to them. A lady with two dogs stopped to say hello to Saffy. She kept saying to Saffy "no I haven't got any treats" as Saffy sniffed her hands, so I handed the lady some treats to give to Saffy, and she gave them to her own dogs and didn't give any to Saffy. Saf looked rather confused. I probably did too. Catherine and Pete came round this afternoon. Pete sat on the floor and Saffy kept jumping on him and washing his face and ears.

Saffy - 27/10 - 11 Weeks old

Saffy and Casey went for a walk round the woods today. we met several people who all thought Saffy was lovely. Saffy liked them too. She met several dogs and she had a great time playing with a border collie puppy. spent some time playing around other dogs an in strange places. while she was playing with the other dogs I called her a few times and as soon as he came to me I sent her back to play with them again. People were very impressed with how obedient she is.

this evening I went to have a shower and Saffy followed me into the bathroom. There was an empty loo roll in there so I gave her that to play with as she does love them. Then I put the shower on. We have a wet room and Saffy walked into the shower area and looked up as the water hit her ears. she didn't know what to make of this at all. kept jumping in and out of the water and looking up and biting at it. She did get rather wet.

Saffy asleep on my shoes with her tongue hanging out. Her head is still wet from the shower.

Saffy - 26/10 - 11 Weeks old

Took Saffy to the pet shop this morning to weigh her. She is now 8.3kg so growing well. not surprising as she has really decided she likes food. She follows me out to the garage when I get the meat out for the following day and she bounces about trying to see what I am getting. and then dashes to the dog food cupboard to watch me put it in. She is very excitable when it is meal time and dances about until I give her meal. She is going out for a walk round the block every day now and id getting much better at walking on the lead. She still tends to get under my feet a bit but it is improving. While we are out we stop every now and again and practise doing sits and downs and giving paws and she is able to concentrate very well now. Saffy and Amber play together quite a lot and it is lovely to see Amber playing with Saffy so nicely. Amber loves playing tug and tugs very hard, I struggle to hold her sometimes but she plays very gently with Saffy only pulling hard enough so Saffy can hold the tug. Ruby gets Saffy to chase her round the garden. They go round and round in circles and then change direction and go the other way.

Saffy - 24/10 - 10 Weeks Old

Went for a walk this morning round the big field down the road. Dora came too. Dora kept going off ahead. Saffy followed but couldn't really keep up. When Saffy was going to Dora I would call her back to me, then she would go back to Dora again and I would call her again. Saffy comes galloping back and hurls herself at me. She does like a treat when she gets to me but I think letting her jump up and giving her a big fuss is more of a reward. I am also marking and rewarding eye contact and attention on me. She does watch me a lot and I am going to keep encouraging that. When Dora goes off Saffy is not quite as confident and she sticks very close to my legs getting between my legs and I nearly fall over her.

We had a breakthrough with training today. Saffy Discovered she has paws! Ihave been trying to get Saffy to give me her paw for a while now. I have taught all the other dogs to do this by holding a really nice treat in my hand and letting the dog sniff and try to get the treat. if they fail to get the treat with their mouth they use their paw to try to get the treat and I click the paw movement. I have tried this with Saffy several times but she never attempted to use her paw. She would sniff and lick and then try sitting and then give up. She made no attempt to use her paw at all.

I tried a different approach today and placed a treat just under the leg of my office chair where Saffy could see it but not quite reach it with her tongue. She then actually used her paw to get the treat so i clicked that. We did this several times until Saffy discovered she could just go round the chair to get the treat.

I then put a treat in my hand and first of all lay down and the she tried her paw. a few more repetions and she was using her paw straight away to get the treat. After this I presented my hand in the same position but without the treat. At first she didn't give me her paw so I waited and a few seconds later she tried her paw so clicked and gave her the treat. We did this several times

Next session I asked Saffy to sit rather than lie down and presented my hand with a treat in and waited until she tried her paw again. It took a little while for her to work out that I still wanted her to give a paw even though she was sitting but again just a few tries and she was using her paw every time.

A few more goes and I was able to drop the treat so she would put her paw in my empty hand. then I changed rooms and started asking for her paw in other places in the house. each training session only involved 5-6 treats and only took a minute ot two.

Saffy - 23/10 - 10 Weeks Old

a very quiet couple of days as Saffy has got Kennel cough so is fairly limited in where she can go.
We did go for a walk round the pond yesterday as it was fairly quiet with not many people or dogs about. Saffy is not feeling ill as far as I can see, just coughing every now and then.

still training presents. I hold a titbit out and encourage her to touch it with her nose and sit by bringing her rear up to the front. This is so we can get a nice close sit eventually. I tend to do 3-4 of these every time she comes up to me at my desk. my office chair is really good as it is on wheels so easily rolls back a little way for the next repetition.

just started getting her to trot by having her follow a titbit. She will follow it across the kitchen. will work on getting her to follow it for longer distances and then experiment with head positions to work out what gait suits her for obedience. hope we can get a nice trot like Ruby has.

Cut her toenails today. She wasn't mad keen on having the front ones done. She fidgeted quite a bit. stopped after those were done and did the rear ones tonight. I sat on the floor with her lying down chewing a toy and she didn't mind me trimming the back ones.

We went for a walk round the block tonight on our own. Saffy wasn't quite as happy on her own as she is when with Dora. If a car came past she looked a bit worried and stopped to watch it. Will alternate taking her out with the others and on her own.
She doesn't pull on the lead but still tends to go round and round and get under my feet.

Saffy - 21/10 - 10 Weeks Old

Saffy went for her first proper walk today at Brereton. Dora came too. There were a lot of people out as it was a lovely morning.
Saffy bounced out of the car and didn't seem bothered about being in another strange place. She followed Dora about. There were lots of dogs about and Saffy said hello to lots of them and to several people.

She was quite confident meeting a Doberman, a Goldie, and lots of other dogs. There were lots of people walking round the pond and a couple of times Saffy started following other people but she soon realised and came to look for us.
I took a ball with us and threw it for Dora, Saffy joined in a bit but kept chasing Dora rather than the ball. I put Dora on the lead for a bit and Saffy did play with the ball then.

We went round to the shallow area and threw the ball into the water for Dora. Dora splashed in to fetch the ball and Saffy chased her only to find herself up to her neck in water. She looked really surprised. I forgot she wouldn't know about water yet.
After that Saffy was very careful to stay out of the water. (it hasn't stopped her drinking with both front feet in the bowl though)

while we were playing in the water there was a little boy watching us. about 2 or 3 years old. He said to his dad that he wanted to buy Saffy. Luckily dad said no. The little boy came over to stroke Saffy who tried to lick his face. She hasn't met any children this small before but seemed to quite like the boy.