Training Class

Today I practised walking on a loose lead. I can do it really well now and I have learnt not to pull Ruth when she is walking beside me. Then we had to practice weaving in and out of cones. I liked doing it very much especially when Ruth went fast and we had to run in and out of the cones. Some of the other dogs kept running when they’d finished running in and out of the cones but I didn’t. I sat down nicely and waited for my treat – when I'm really good in class, Ruth gives me treats, I heard her say to Eric that they weren't really extra treats but part of my normal food
because if they give me too many treats on top of my food I'd start to get tubby – but they’re still yummy treats to me.
After the cones we had to do something really weird. We had to practice Ruth meeting an old friend with a dog and chatting to her and me having to sit still and not jumping up to say hello. Later when I went to see my next door neighbour, Simon, who is very poorly I didn’t jump up. I just gave his hand a lick.

Washing

Ruth has spent ages teaching me to ‘bring it here’. I bring her keys and her shoes and socks and washing out of the washing machine and lots of other things. Anyway today she was hanging out the washing and she got me to go to the peg box and pick out a peg and bring it to her so she could hang out the washing. I had to do it lots and lots of times until all the washing was hung out. Then Ruth said I was very good – the best puppy in the world – and took me for a walk down by the river.

SEASIDE X 2

Because Ruth and Eric liked the beach so much we went back again today. This time we went to Clacton on Sea. I ran up and down the beach and got to meet some other dogs. Then Ruth put on my special Canine Partners coat and we went on something called a pier. It went far out to sea and had a fairground on it with lots of loud noises and lights. I was very brave and the lady in charge of the dodgems gave me a cuddle and said what a lovely well behaved puppy I was. I’m glad Ruth doesn’t drive like the people in those dodgem cars.

SEASIDE

This morning we went to West Clacton and I got to dig in the sand. I dug lots of holes – digging in sand is easy peasy. I dug one really big hole and then I sat in it.

Ruth was a bit scared of the waves – because they come in very fast. I showed her how to run away from them.
I met two tiny little dogs called chiquahas in the beach café. They were so little the two old ladies they were with had them in what looked like handbags and they just had their heads poking out. I hope Ruth doesn’t try to put me in her handbag because I’m a bit too big to fit.
When we came home I got to play for nearly a whole hour with a bigger puppy from the farm. His name was Zack.

PS Eric put this photo of me into 'Puppy Wars' on the internet and I got 78% of the cutest puppy votes.

CAR

Today we went on a long long long car journey. So long we had to stop a few times to stretch our legs. Ruth made sure I was OK in my car harness and had lots of toys to play with on the back seat and some treats to eat if I got hungry. Finally we got to where we were going – a farm. When we got there an old dog came to say hello but when Ruth wasn’t looking he snuffled one of my tripe sticks. I didn’t mind really especially when he showed us the way down to the lake with the fish in it.
Later on we went to pick up Eric from Colchester station and then we all went to sleep in our little farm cottage.

CANINE PARTNERS CLASS

There was only me and Eden at the beginners class today so Lorraine let us do some fun things like run through the plastic tunnel and weave in and out of a line of sticks and we even got to jump through a big hoop – just like the dogs at Crufts. Then we had a rest and Ruth gave me a tripe stick. Eden got one too. We love tripe sticks.

After our rest the older puppies arrived for the more advanced class and Lorraine said because Eden and I had been so good we could stay. I got to practice bringing back a TV remote control and a mobile phone and a purse and also how to take socks out of a box. And I learnt a new game called tug-tug that’s going to help me take off Ruth’s coat for her by pulling at her sleeve.

At the end of the class we got to work with the other puppies’ people. I worked with Dora’s person, who is called Ronnie. Dora’s very sad because she loves Ronnie very much but soon she will have to leave her and go to live with someone else.

Station

Went to Bedford station today, there were lots of exciting things
called trains there - some of them whizzed past me very fast and I was a little bit scared but Ruth gave me a cuddle and a puppy stick and I soon felt better. Ruth walked me up and down the platform and took me into a strange little room called a lift - every time the doors opened we were somewhere else. When I get a little more used to trains, Ruth says she is going to take me for a ride - hope it is to
somewhere nice - perhaps I'll see Eric there - he goes off to the station everyday.
He must like stations a lot.

Door Training

At puppy class today we practiced going through doors and gates. They told me I should let my person go first and follow them through the door. I tried telling Ruth that I'm really important and should always go first, but she explained that my person may be in a wheelchair and we couldn't both fit through at once.

Card

Eric painted my paw and then helped me press it on a card for Ruth. It was for something called Mother’s Day. Ruth liked my card very much and gave me lots of hugs and Eric lots of kisses.

Dogs

Now I've had all my injections, I'm allowed to go out more and see other dogs. I like to go for walks by Kempston river and at Marston Moretaine. I like to say hello to the people and other dogs a lot but I always run back to Ruth when she calls and then she gives me something nice like a puppy stick.

Andrex

I was watching the television the other day, and I saw a little puppy just like me playing with a toilet roll. Eric and Ruth thought it was very funny, but when I did the same thing they didn't seem to like it very much - why is the puppy on the TV allowed to play with toilet rolls when I'm not ?

Canine Partners Class

I can now do all these things well: come, fetch, bring it here, stay, sit at the side and in front, down, stand, shake hands and give. Next I’m going to learn how to help a person take off their coat by pulling at the end of their sleeve and also how to take the washing out of the washing machine.

Car

I wish I could ride up in the front of the car with Ruth. Perhaps then I
could play with the radio like Eric does, but Ruth says that even big
puppy girls like me must wear a special harness and travel in the back
seat of the car where they are safe and can have a nice sleep. I don't
know what she's talking about, when I'm in a car I'm too excited to
sleep, there is so much to see out of the window, plus we are usually
going somewhere nice.

Pub lunch

I must be a really big girl now because they're let me go in a place called 'the bar'. I couldn't see any bar, just lots of men and women eating and drinking.

Ruth said that generally little ones aren't allowed in grown-up places like bars, but because I was wearing my special purple helper jacket, I'm allowed to go almost anywhere.

Stinging grass

Ouch ! Went for a loverly walk this afternoon, I was having so much fun running up and down and chasing sticks. I was having the best time until I walked through some funny looking grass that made my little paws all itchy. I tried to be brave, but Eric and Ruth had to bathe my feet and put some white stuff on my paws to stop the itching.

I was so brave, they gave me lots of my favourite puppy chews - so it wasn't all bad.

Puddles

I went to a forest walk this morning and had the best time ever, I got to chase sticks and jump in and out of lots of big round wet things that Ruth called puddles.

I got so dirty I needed a bath when I got home. Didn't like the bath, but loved the puddles.

canine partners training class

Today I went to the class with other dogs that are training to be helper dogs. I got to play with my friends before training class.

At canine partners we practiced walking on our leads. Ruth said I was walking really well because she was giving me lots of treats all the time. to keep my attention

I got to see a really big funny looking dog that Ruth said was called a pony. Ruth said he eats grass, not puppy food like me I'm glad because he was so big that he'd eat all my puppy chews in one go.

Bank

I went to a nice place today called a bank. It's were people line up to pay something called money in. Not sure what the bank does with it then - perhaps they could buy lots of puppy chews.

Everybody said I was really clever and well behaved because I queued up just like everybody else. The lady behind the counter said that they don't let puppies in banks but because I looked so smart in my little purple jacket, they'd always make an exception for little puppies like me.

BOWL

This evening I discovered if I take a bowl to Eric and Ruth they'll fill it up - at last they're learning what I want them to do. I got given some of my favourite goats milk. I might try it again tomorrow.

PRE-PUPPY SCHOOL

Pre-puppy school day! I met lots of new puppies but my favourite was Alfie. He’s a cocker spaniel and very little – even though he’s older than me. He’s been trying to train his people by biting their calves but it hasn’t worked so far. We got to practice walking on a lead and sitting and down. And then we learnt leave because some puppies grab their treats instead of waiting politely like me.

After class my brother Elmo came round to visit and we had a wild time. He helped me do some more digging in the garden for Ruth and Eric – hope they appreciate all our hard work.

DIGGING

All my digging is making Ruth and Eric’s garden look much nicer. I’ve now made lots of lovely mud hills and holes.

Eric brought Ruth some flowers home and she was very pleased. I’m confused because when I dug up some purple and white flowers in the garden and brought them to Ruth, she didn’t seem to want them as much as Eric’s flowers.

NEXT DOOR

Today was Ruth’s birthday and their wedding anniversary so they went out and I got to go next door. Hooray! I’ve been trying to dig a hole in the fence so I can go next door whenever I feel like it. A drop of rain kept landing on my head from the guttering when I was in their garden. It made me run round and round. I tried barking at the rain to tell it to stop landing on my head but it didn’t.