Re: The pupmobile Well, we had a good day - not yet at the heady heights of going to the common (how my life has changed... :) but progress. Charlie had a not great day - a bit stiff. We know when he gets like this to restrict him to a few pee and poo outings only. But we trained for the pupmobile, all the same. The workbench is working, rubber mat now secured with cable ties. Second rubber mat secured under the crate to cover bumper as we had an alarming moment when it moved as Charlie got out and he was tempted to jump (which would be awful, very dangerous for him), then we spent forever working out how we could secure mat under crate so it didn't catch in tailgate...and getting a safe routine worked out to guard edges of bench, plus getting him to stand still on bench. But sorted, getting him in and out smoothly now. Did a few trips round the block - all cool. Relaxed dog. Great. Right, so long as a client doesn't pop up with another unexpected thing...house full of builders follow instructions..dog walker turns up...we should hit the common tomorrow...
Re: The pupmobile Yeesh you are doing house renos? Yikes!! Glad you are getting things sorted out. Sorry Charlie was sore - does he get like that a lot? I was wondering about that, I mean, it must hurt him at some level to move, right? Is he still on the painkillers?
Re: The pupmobile I second the 'yikes' about the renos. Julie, you are a lady of steel!!! One day you will be able to just sit back and relax and know that you truly deserve it. Great to hear that you've got the pupmobile fully operational
Re: The pupmobile The builders have been waiting to finish this one room for a while - plaster off to sort out some damp. It isn't too bad, but meant I had to move Charlie as he can't stay in the area where the builders are. I've got old rugs and lino down in the dining room (which is really my work area) and his pen set up in there. He loves it, closer to the action. They were due to paint the kitchen too, but I've just told them to leave it - I can't face the mess. So, we got out in the pupmobile tonight. I can't say it went well. We walked half way across a small field, and back to the car. It took 30 minutes. He went nuts. I had my wonderful, wonderful, sensible and experienced dog walker with me and thank goodness. We had to take it in turns to hold him (he was on his thick, padded, back fastening harness, of course - again, and thank goodness). I honestly don't think I've seen a dog so badly behaved on a lead before. Anyway, we weren't really walking. We were progressing forward in the time it took us to stop and stand still. At the very end, we managed 3 x 10 steps of loose lead walking, with a cheese lure. Part of me wants to cry at such dismal progress, and part of me is happy that we managed something at the end. Honestly, you would have thought this dog hadn't had one minute of training in his life. There were a few dogs about, and lots ran up to us, so one of us stood with cheese trying to get Charlie's attention, while the other took dogs back to their owners. Our harness and lead was yellow but that didn't seem to register with anyone. I'll have to see whether Charlie is any worse, in terms of his leg being stiff or looking more painful in the morning, before we decide whether to try again. He has his bad days, but we can't really connect these to anything - they don't really seem to correlate with him walking more than normally or things like that. Hopefully, as we had him on his harness, and he was just jumping around on soft, short grass, we'll be ok. He is still super excited, even after calm down time in the hall with a frozen kong. Hope he'll settle soon.
Re: The pupmobile Oh dear tough day If anyone can turn your 3x10 steps into 3x20 and then 3x50 and on and on it's you
Re: The pupmobile A huge well done for putting all those plans in place, because you did make important progress today and it could have been so much worse!!!No, it doesn't sound like it was a fun walk at all... but those 3 x 10 steps are the first and necessary steps to longer and better walks, and you will get there. You may not be on the training schedule you originally envisaged for Charlie, but at the end of this all you will have a happy and well adjusted dog with the ability to cope with pretty much anything! I think you probably already can cope with anything. Clare
Re: The pupmobile I totally agree - you made some great progress and next time it will be better. Well done on achieving the 3 x 10. That is a lot better than I thought Charlie might have managed, I confess! It must have been so incredibly exciting for him - you did so well to get his attention at all.
Re: The pupmobile Tomorrow is another day... : Tomorrow is water treadmill day....let's see if we do any better with that.
Re: The pupmobile Water treadmill is bound to be better. Things he can do rather than things you have to say no to.
Re: The pupmobile I told OH he had to give Charlie a good talking to about his behaviour....Charlie seems to be listening, at least. Charlie gets a telling off by JulieTandCharlie, on Flickr
Re: The pupmobile Such an intense face, so adorable I hope Charlie enjoys the water treadmill and I look forward to hearing about how it went
Re: The pupmobile A lovely photo. Julie, I have my fingers crossed for the water treadmill. If Charlie can get some exercise, I am sure it will help both you and him. xx
Re: The pupmobile Hope today's adventure goes well x Charlie's so scrumptious, give him a hug from me
Re: The pupmobile Are you sure Charlie is listening to your OH in that picture?? I think he's hypnotising him... Clare
Re: The pupmobile [quote author=ClareJ link=topic=3952.msg47032#msg47032 date=1389688960] Are you sure Charlie is listening to your OH in that picture?? I think he's hypnotising him... Clare [/quote] Of course, you are right. : Charlie is Obi's understudy too...
Re: The pupmobile [quote author=JulieT link=topic=3952.msg47035#msg47035 date=1389689134] Charlie is Obi's understudy too... [/quote] Nope. Charlie's no understudy. Just look at him. He's a leading man in his own right... Clare
Re: The pupmobile Well, the good thing is that after that severe talking-to, your boy will be perfectly behaved on his next outing. Not sure which boy, but one of them will be.
