In this long delayed update, we have news of a different kind.

A new addition to the family has shown an apptitude for, unsurprisingly, water.

“Mitzie”, is a Newfoundland bitch, who’s mother died when she was just three weeks old. Having been sort of maneouvered into taking her in, she is now an established part of the family. The story goes something along the lines of…
“Bob, my friend has a wee problem with one of her dogs.” laments my wife.
“OK then, let’s go see what can be done” I replied.
On arrival, I find my wife immediately picking up a small ball of fur, parking herself on the sofa, amid lots of cooing and “Ahhh’s”. Her friend, in the meantime, brings in a Mastif, as I was just settling into the other sofa. I say “brings” loosely, as she was being somewhat “dragged in by him.
Ths Mastif, a large breed, was displaying dominant signs as he looked at me sitting there. Getting up, I also displayed more dominant behaviour to him. This appeared to do the trick. Sitting back down on the sofa, the dog then also got on the sofa and attempted to dominant the area.
As I had already established I was superior to him, a simple command for him to get off the sofa was sufficient to have him lying down on the floor.
“You’ll do”. She delightedly exclaimed.
The story behind this, was that the Mastif didn’t like men, and was possesive of the sofa I was sitting on. It would’ve been nice to know beforehand, but my ability had just been tested.
Was this the problem dog?
No!. The problem was this puppy currently being mothered by my other half. No mum and no “teacher”, how was she to learn to be a dog?
Simple answer really. She just will.

Long story short, she came home with us, and Dash, a Bearded Collie bitch, along with the other dogs, will show her balanced dog behaviour.
Since Mitzie is now of an age where she can establish her character and display her talents, it is proposed she will be trained up as a water rescue dog. As many of you are aware, the Jeep has had many functions of late, rescue equipment on board, etc. Now, we hope to have the ability for the rescue of people in trouble on water in the not too distant future. Several schools exist for this very purpose, and we will be enroling once these clubs are researched further. For now, a picture or two…

Recently, a couple of friends brought me two Jack Russell terriers for a two week holiday. Their owner had to go into hospital and I was told these two characters had a few issues.

As it turned out, the only main issues were that neither one would answer to name, they attacked other dogs and pulled violently on the lead.

Within the time it took to drink a cup of coffee, the answering to name issue had been resolved, much to my friends’ amazement, and we were well on the way to solving the attacking problem.

By the end of their stay, it can proudly be said, that both dogs left relaxed and with entirely new attitudes. Not only making life easier on the owner, but also for the dogs themselves. Advice and exercises to follow were given, and as I last heard, all were living happier lives in the pack order.