Carbón's Big Adventure (aka Labratour Part IV)

Looks too hot for me I be looking for the nearest swamp or wood. Boys look so happy, tired happy and content xxx

 

I really love the way you write

 

Me too @Emily_BabbelHund is a pro

 

Heh, heh - Carbon and Paul are not yet posers. I've got to work on Carbon's 'wait' command as essentially if I try to walk more than 2 feet away from him with the camera, he just follows me. I never realised how 'top model' Brogan was until I've tried taking photos of other dogs!

 

Ha ha, Brogan must have taken lessons from Tyra herself - he had the "smize" down pat ("smizing" is when you "smile" with your "eyes", for those of you who never got carried away watching America's Next Top Model on a Friday night

 

He certainly did. I could angle him into the sun, tell him to wait and just walk around him snapping to get the best shot. The only drawback was when I wanted to start making videos, it was a total failure - if I had a camera in my hand pointed at him, he simply wouldn't move. He'd learned his modelling lessons too well!

Big moment for Carbon - after a couple days of "What the heck is this mush?" he's now eating his home made breakfast and dinner with relish! Last night was chicken, courgettes and apples. This morning white fish, broccoli and apples. Yum!

Just because, here's one of my favorite of Brogan's supermodel posed shots in his last year - at the central square in Lucca, Italy.

 

Photos and scenery are beautiful! Carbon and Paul are really enjoying themselves and so do you!

Just out of curiosity......why do they have a double leash?

 

Such gorgeous boys

I’ve got to say.. while Carbon is gorgeous, Paul is the star of the show for me. He’s so so cute! I hope he gets his happy ever after xx

 

It's a hard to beat a Bodeguero for personality and style, that's for sure. But he's also about 10x the work of Carbon, who is just sweet and laid back and does not try to eat my hair while perched on the top of the sofa.

Old foster dog security trick. Clip one end of the leash to the harness, the other to the collar - if either the collar or harness break or the dog slips out of them, you're still holding on to a leash that is attached to the dog.

Carbon is already just on a normal harness attachment - he's not going anywhere. Paul I've still got trussed up with both - he'd run, plus he's already chewed through two harnesses and ID tags, the little sausage head.

 

Too hot for me too, but there's nothing like a beautiful coastal path, particularly with two happy dogs!

Carbon's definitely got the 5* treatment - he's eating better than I do!

 

What a gorgeous place for walkies! Given that our snow is only just now starting to melt, that sunshine, green, and blue looks like heaven to me!

(And the dogs are pretty cute too )

 

Everyone keeps saying that it looks too hot, but it was actually still jacket weather - 17C and really windy. In about two weeks it will be an inferno at the wrong time of the day, but right now it's perfect.

 

I owe a big Carbon update, but as it looks like the sun MAY be peeking out and therefore we may need to run outside and bask in it before it disappears again, here's what I've got for now.

First of all, this didn't turn out too well because my poor old camera's microphone is apparently going the way of the lens...into "giving up the ghost" territory. If anyone has a great camera that does decent still photos plus video/audio, could you send me a PM? I think I need to branch out into the world of GoPro or the like to join the modern age.

Anyway, I digress. This video was SUPPOSED to be the sound I hear constantly around Carbon - even in his sleep! - which is the 'thump, thump, thump' of his tail. That's not quite how it came out, but it's still a few seconds of Carbon looking cute with his perpetually happy tail.



And this morning we went to the beach and while the weather was not the best (reminds me of the foggy beach back home in California), there were tons of people out as it wasn't raining nor were there torrential winds, both of which have been a thing in the last week. Lots of horse riders out as well and I was curious to see how Carbon would do. Remember, he went ballistic the first time I walked him and he saw cows. Well, he couldn't have cared less about those horses and we got within a few meters of them. Seriously, what a super star this dog is in terms of temperament.



What continues to be an issue is KEEPING HIM GOING on walks. I spend half my time saying things like, "You can do it!" and "Let's go" and "Up, up, up!". Poor baby. This morning we walked for about 20 minutes and then I just gave in and sat down in the sand with him for a rest. He loves sitting on my lap and just having a massive cuddle right there in the sand as we watch the world go by. I love it too, but continue to worry about a puppy of 16 months old having so little muscle tone. On the bright side, I am starting to see a whisper of a waist on him, his coat is glossy and not flaky anymore and his teeth are looking lovely and white.

So I guess I just have to be patient as he builds up stamina. He's doing really well with his all-natural home-cooked diet, so hopefully that, along with the walks, will work their magic.

On the other hand, I do wonder how much he is 'working me'.

Example: last week we were in Vejer (I'll post photos of that trip later) and we saw some people taking photographs. They were moving in strange ways and bending this way and that to get the shots they wanted. Carbon started barking at them - "Watch out, foster lady, there are scary humans there who might hurt us! Alert! Alert!". So we stood there and did some LAT work with lots of praise and yummy treats. Me: "Oh, Carbon, look at those nice people" (treat treat), "Aren't they so nice?" (treat treat), "Let's go look at those nice people a little closer." (treat treat) "Oh, yes, such nice people".

Yes, the "nice people" looked at me like I was out of my mind, but hey...it worked. Carbon was looking at the nice bendy people like they weren't trying to kill us and in fact were the source of wonderful dried chicken. Magic!

So what happens today?

There are two people on the beach doing yoga. All sorts of bendy and weird (to a dog) poses. Carbon sits and stares at them. I CANNOT get him to move. Frankly, it's a little embarrassing. These people are on the beach, trying to enjoy their yoga time, and here is this big black dog staring at them, then staring back at me and then staring at them. He WILL. NOT. MOVE. Not even with all the usual phrases and encouragement from me that will usually get him up no matter how tired he is.

Then it clicked with me. "Bendy people" = treats. Yoga people are bendy. He was waiting for his treats.

This is a SMART dog.

 

Hmmmmm ...

It may not be a stamina thing? He may be doing the ‘sitting still and taking it all in’ having lots of Thinks About Things, as pups do at about five months old? With him having been kennelled at that stage maybe he’s going through it now?

 

That's very interesting! I'd not at all thought about that possibility. It would make sense as he is very much a young puppy in a grown body about many things.

What's your strategy then during that stage? Just kind of let them set their pace and take everything in?

 

Just to say , I love him

 

PS. just realised this made it seem I was asking for an actual camera - what I meant was RECOMMENDATIONS for a camera.

 

Nothing wrong with his hips or heart?

 

Yes, I stand and wait quietly until they move on, and treat then for moving on. Mollie needed lots of Big Thinks. Keir not so much


.

 

Not that they found at the shelter. I'm trying to sort out a visit with another vet who comes highly recommended for his approach to Leish and will ask him to take a second look at his heart and hips as well. Miracle Miry (my rescue friend here in Spain) thinks that Carbon isn't getting the appropriate treatment for his Leish and that is making him feel tired. So it could be that as well. I don't want to push him too hard until I'm 100% sure it's just muscle tone, as the shelter vet thinks.

We're going out again now for the second walk of the day. I will give this a try. I really think you are on to something. It could be a combo of physical things but also have this 'baby stage' aspect. Let's see what happens!