Boast post warning! So proud of my puppy. There was a red arrows air display today, and we had a houseful, plus day visitors with young children. We watched the red arrows on the cliff overlooking the estuary and the red arrows were close! And loud! Really roaring overhead so close you could almost see the pilots. And my puppy looked around in mild interest, then went back to his kong. Also ignoring the 10 year old patting his head far too hard and shouting “look Charlie!”, the 6 year old tugging his harness saying “come here Charlie!” and the 3 year old pulling his tail. What a star boy. When he got tired of the kids, he just sighed and shuffled under my chair for a snooze. And he didn’t jump up! (By the way, on the way to the garden, a total stranger in the street told me he was too young to be out for an air display, and I was mad to attempt it). I smiled and just walked on... 8)
Re: Proud puppy humum I love a good boast . Wow Charlie is truly an amazingly chilled boy. You have certainly exposed Charlie to just about every situation possible Julie, including litle children ;D Glad you ignored yet another 'dog expert' and did what you thought was best. Good for you. Charlie you are a great little puppy and I hope you were duly rewarded with lots of yummy treats Helen x P.S. Please train my Charlie please ;D
Re: Proud puppy humum [quote author=charlie link=topic=2337.msg22208#msg22208 date=1377206424] ... I hope you were duly rewarded with lots of yummy treats Helen x [/quote] Oh yes, chicken was heavily involved... ;D - so he then didn't get dinner! He took a dim view...I honestly think I'll just stop feeding him meals, we need all the food for our adventures. I think I might be so pleased because of the "expert advice" - it did make me worry, but I shook it off and told myself I had every reason to think he'd be fine.
Re: Proud puppy humum Hooray, well done!!!!! [quote author=JulieT link=topic=2337.msg22205#msg22205 date=1377205877] (By the way, on the way to the garden, a total stranger in the street told me he was too young to be out for an air display, and I was mad to attempt it). I smiled and just walked on... 8) [/quote] We got this all the time at the fireworks with our dog. People were actually really rude. I guess a lot of dog owners are clueless about the effect of loud noises on their dogs and probably deserve to be 'educated' by others, but not every Red Arrow-attending dog owner is in that category! Our Red Arrow equivalent is called the Roulettes. Hot air balloons are another thing that can freak dogs out but I'm sure that all the work you have done with Charlie will come to the fore should you ever encounter one! Canberra is a big hot air ballooning centre, so in spring, summer and autumn we have them over our house daily, often fairly low. Obi is not worried by them but the ducks go bananas!!!! Poor ducks missed out on the desensitisation program...
Re: Proud puppy humum Boast away Julie....you deserve it,you have put the work in with Charlie and you are getting it back in success,he's a lovely dog.Take no notice of unhelpful opinions,he is probably really envious that you can enjoy your dog in so many situations ,maybe he has one and he can't.Charlie is a lovely,confident,well adjusted fella and you should be very proud x
Re: Proud puppy humum Thats great Julie, big well dones all round and pants to the stupid person who said he was too young, the younger the better , bless Charlie
Re: Proud puppy humum Thanks all! Came down to earth a little bit this morning (pride before a fall...) when we had to walk down a new street and my lead walking training failed due to a massively distracting HEDGE! Sigh... hedge distraction training plan drawn up... (love it all really ;D ;D ;D).
Re: Proud puppy humum Whoop, whoop! Ok, my final post (ever, promise, you are all so good to tolerate me on this subject) about fireworks and air displays - it was SO important to me though. We watched the fireworks OUTSIDE in the front garden, as usual, with a glass of wine. I was prepared - no fewer than 3 kongs lined up in an egg box. A treat bag full of kibble and sea biscuits. An emergency pack of cherry wood smoked turkey (very smelly). Fireworks start. Give him a sea biscuit for the first bang, then a small kong with 20g of chicken and kibble and a sea biscuit jammed in the top to make it difficult. Not a peep out of him for the rest of the display... turkey and unused kongs back in the fridge. Rachael, thanks for the tips, Nicolae would have been proud of the results of the shared experience - I would never have done this without you saying it was perfectly do-able. Now, thanks to David and Lady's shared experience, we are moving on to sheep as we haven't done those very much....so at least you'll get a break from me and loud noises!
Re: Proud puppy humum Well done Charlie and Julie....and thanks for the tip,re the egg box....I can use one of those to stand the kongs up in the freezer to freeze!
Re: Proud puppy humum Yes, egg boxes and kongs - work great (depending on size of kong). Here is a pic of where we are staying (taken by my Dad with a pan setting - which is why the sea slopes up alarmingly at the left hand side ;D) red arrows by JulieTandCharlie, on Flickr
Re: Proud puppy humum Wow - that looks fabulous!!! That's wonderful news, to hear that Charlie sailed through the fireworks display ;D Great work!!! Yes, Nicolae would have been very proud of your young boy Also, I love your use of the egg carton as Kong stand.
Re: Proud puppy humum It is a lovely place. Here it is in the dark! fireworks by JulieTandCharlie, on Flickr
