Megadog.
Meet 'n' Greet
Ringcraft Day! Phoenix was invited to a meet ‘n’ greet at the Ilfracombe and District Canine Society, with a view to joining in the ringcraft training a little later on. We were warmly welcomed by Maria and friends, to an extremely busy dog and people packed town hall, where ringcraft practice was already in full swing. This wasn’t a quiet gathering or bohemian soiree, more like a full on dog-fest with over 30 canines and fifty people.
We were there for two hours where both Phoenix (and us) engaged in non-stop chin and tail wagging (respectively). Notable meetings for Phoenix included a gaggle of King Charles Spaniel puppies, a truly enormous dog Weimaraner, a lovely maternal long haired dachshund, various golden retrievers and a plethora of Staffies. All of whom were very happy to get to know Phoenix.
We had a high level of excitement all throughout the evening but Phoenix calmed down by the end of the evening. Extreme doses of dog seem to be working already.The other notable event of the evening was meeting the first (and perhaps only?) person to know what breed Phoenix was. He came over and said “I used to look after 12 of these”!
Emancipation Proclamation.
Heeling on the Common
Phoenix is eleven weeks old today. It’s quite hard to get your head around the fact she’s only been on the earth for less than three months. It feels like she’s been with us forever (in a good way – well, mostly!).
Perhaps even more importantly, Phoenix is now allowed on the ground and can socialise with other dogs. Something that both we and she were desperately keen to get started with in order to desensitise her to other dogs, and learn that not every dog is an exciting puppy-like playmate (although some still will be, which is always a bonus in life).
With this in mind, after following the usual morning routine of clicker training and heel walking at home, we headed out for Torrington Common to see what canine introductions we could rustle up for the little’un.
To begin with, Phoenix was excited but “contained” and walked very closely with us without too much prompting. She met an extremely playful Malamute with whom she had a great romp for five minutes or so. Next up was a grumpy collie who also taught her a crucial lesson about canine etiquette (i.e. not all dogs are puppies and not everyone wants to play). 😦
More Heeling on the Common,
Finally, amongst a rather sparse showing, were a pair of Chows who despite their reputation as being the dogs most likely to eat their owners*, turned out to be relatively friendly and of course extremely fluffy. Everyone enjoyed a good sniffing session. Later in the day we went back and met eight dogs who gave Phoenix a kaleidoscope of different reactions from gentle playful Clumber Spaniels to a snarly Black Labrador who we gave a wide berth.
Yet More Heeling on the Common.
Overall, a pretty intensive day for Phoenix but mission was definitely accomplished in terms of canine socialisation V.1
*this was quoted in an episode of Pushing Daisies and is of course untrue.
Full On Wrestling Match!
Puppy Gurus Day! This was the first time we took Phoenix to her (our?) obedience class. Unfortunately, her vaccination status is such that she’s still not able to be let on the ground with other dogs. However, she was able to “mingle” with the other vaccinated puppies in class.
She started as she meant to go on, by submissively urinating on the floor in front of an ultra-bouncy collie. It was all a little frustrating because her lack of contact with other new dogs means that she “over-reacts” when she does finally get to socialise with the canine kind. All our previous training obviously gets filed away somewhere in the deep recesses of her doggy mind.
Hopefully, this is something that will improve rapidly after tomorrow when we can start mixing her with the general dog population. On the plus side, Phoenix did (eventually) remember how to sit, lie down and stand after bribery with garlic laced liver chunks (yum!). Ultimately, she was more interested in meeting and greeting the other five pups. Roll on tomorrow and the biog wide world….
Howl, Howl and Howl Again.
Sling Shot.
Bit of a nightmare night last night – we have got into the habit of letting Phoenix sleep on the sofa with us, and then when she’s put to bed, she’s too rested to sleep and starts howling. Which she did for quite some time. Our books all say different things about what to do. Some say to ignore it, some say to comfort her. We tried ignoring and that didn’t go down too well. Tim got up and comforted her which settled her, but poor old Phoenix had a bad night overall.
The overall problem is Phoneix’s waking/sleeping schedule is out of sync with ours. Whatever we try to do to keep her awake later in the evening, she still crashes out at 8.00pm and then wakes up at 5.00am (with a toilet break in between).
This week the ringcraft and training courses start so hopefully that will allow us to alter her routine and get everyone synchronised…
Phoenix also has an itchy paw, we had a look and couldn’t find anything but it’s annoying her.
Good training session in the kitchen today: we’ve found that limiting the space helps to focus her more and stops her wandering off to chew random objects. Like us.
Fan Club.
On the Town.
Big Day Out today. We took Phoenix (by sling) into Torrington where she was spoken to and touched by about twenty people. She saw lots of machines, cars, lorries, and a few other dogs too. Lots of cooing and comments of “adorable”. Somebody else stopped us in the street by saying “I had to say ‘Hello’ to her, I couldn’t help myself”. Somebody else asked “Is she a Visssla?” then wandered a way saying “I thought so”, before we could vigorously intervene…
We also carried Phoenix down to the river and she went in up to her waist – boldly striding into the fast flowing and quite deep water, quite merrily. We knew that WHVs had an affinity for water, but this had not really been demonstrated in the way she looks disapprovingly at the rain and generally turns her paws up if we have to take her out in the wet.
We also had a lovely walk in the Winter sun along the river around the bottom of the garden. Phoenix is fantastically attentive and trots quite merrily alongside you as you walk. No pulling on the lead at all. She’s walking to heel really well. All the books say this is a tough nut to crack so we’re very pleased that Phoenix has managed it so quickly in such a distracting and stimulating environment. Stuffed kongs all round.
Diet and Recipe Tips.
Head Shot.
As we previously mentioned, Phoenix is going to be kept on a raw food diet. We decided this following lots of reading and research about the dubious animal and vegetable by-products that make up even the highest quality commercial feed, and all the glowing testimonials from owners of German Wirehaired Pointers, many of whom raw feed their dogs. We have a chest freezer full of “goodies” some of which are too big for her to eat at the moment but she’ll graduate onto shortly. For now, she’s having 75% meat and 25% veg for most meals and the meat alternates between puppy tripe (mmm tripey kisses!), beef and kidney and minced whole turkey.
Every four days or so we make up a pulped vegetable mix, portions of which are mixed in with the meat for each meal. The recipe for this is broccoli stems, cauliflower leaves, greens, sorrel, cucumber, red peppers, whole apple, a couple of carrots, all of which are rich in Vit C. We then add two Vit C tablets, a tablespoonful of organic peanut butter, two caps of cider vinegar and dessertspoon of olive oil together with a little water to turn it into a paste. The whole mixture is then pulped because dogs can’t digest cellulose, and the pulping action breaks down the cell walls releasing the nutrient within. This provides a multitude of minerals and vitamins and, happily, Phoenix loves it. It also smells good enought to have on toast.
Oh, and a daily teaspoon of Green Ark’s Natural Green Food Supplement which comprises powdered kelp, alfalfa, nettle and parsley. Bursting with essential minerals.
In addition to all of that she has two chicken wings every other night. A couple of whole eggs (shell included but broken up) and a banana a week. All of which she absolutley loves. Many more meaty bones will no doubt follow as her jaws get even bigger…
Nipping, Mania and Buffy.
Side Profile.
We were warned by Tracey that things get worse before they get better. Phoenix has been quite “nippy” over the past few days so we’ve stepped up the rewarding all good behaviour routine. She now knows “Sit” and “Stand” and is learning “Off” (to get off the furniture).
She has to be monitored and offered things to do all the time she’s awake, otherwise she gets bored. So we keep trying new things with her and make sure the plastic bottles keep a-coming. Luckily, Phoenix is sleeping a lot and is also easy to calm down. The manic episodes after the evening meal have begun, but we’ve found getting her to sit and then rewarding her, brings her back down to earth again. It must be frustrating having all that puppy energy but not being allowed to romp around outside for longer the ten minutes at a time, as otherwise your legs go wonky and your hips fall off. It’s the Uber-Suck as Buffy would put it.
The Language of Pooch.
Today, Phoenix met Indi again. Phoenix is under socialised with other dogs and hasn’t learnt canine body language/etiquette yet. She has the rather unfortunate habit of staring dogs directly in the eye, which is a bit of a no-no. So, spending six hours with Indi was useful because she was taught a few things about hanging out with her compadres.
Some canine dos and don’ts. (OK, mainly don’ts)
DON’T climb on top of a larger, slightly grumpy dog who happens to be lying down at the time.
DON’T bite the tail of a larger, slightly grumpy dog who happens to be lying down at the time.
DON’T stare at a larger, slightly grumpy dog who happens to be lying down at the time, she will just ignore you, or get up and walk away, then ignore you leaving you slightly bewildered.
DO take notice when another dog growls at you, it probably means trouble.
This Cat Does Not Want Your Friendship…
Tulip.
Back to the vet’s on the 20th for the second and final vaccination. More cuddles, biscuits and general fuss made of her. The vet checked on Phoenix’s ears which were giving off an odd smell. Appears to have been a very mild infection, the ear drops cleared it up in 48 hours. This means we can take Phoenix out properly for short bursts in a weeks time. Hurrah! No other problems reported.
Midge - Furry Anarchist.
Phoenix has discovered the joy of pushing open the bedroom door – she’s not allowed in either bedroom, but the door of the main one doesn’t close properly so she’s learnt a new exciting game of “push open the door and try and steal an item of clothing off the bed and chew it to smithereens”. It’s like a little explosion of happy, wagging life everytime she does it. It doesn’t help that this is the cats hang out, and they are most put out by this wagging interlocutor. Solution: a hook and eye to keep the door secure during the day.
Midge (she who must be obeyed, top cat and all round East End bruiser feline) is becoming increasingly bold around Phoenix. So far we have had two swipes and a number of guttural whines from cat to dog. Phoenix knows the cats mean trouble but they are just oh so irresistible. This will only end in tears. Mark my words. Why are the bad ones always so fluffy???
It’s OK the Washing Machine’s Safe.
Puppy Gurus Logo.
The first Puppy Gurus training session. This was for human companions only. We left Phoenix on her own for two hours which is the longest she’s ever been left so far. We’d been building up periods of isolation from a couple of minutes up to about half an hour. We’d heard tales of dogs left alone destroying sofas and gnawing washing machines in half so were unsure what to expect.
In the event, she slept through the whole period and was just waking up when we got back and starting to tuck into a chicken wing.
Tracey gave out a lot of info, which has to be read and will be tested next week. Nobody mentioned homework…
Belatarr Hungarian Wirehaired Vizsla. 