What's a Cavachon?

Any idea?  Does the name give any clues

Could it be something dental?  Cavity prevention?

Or may it is a member of a group of giant robots, the leader or the cavachons?

No, neither of these things, its a type of dog.  A first generation cross between this:

And this:

And it potentially looks like this:

All together ............... awwwwwwww

The idea of first generation crosses sort of makes sense and baffles me at the same time.  Hybrid or designer dogs!  The first one was the labradoodle the idea was "to combine the low-shedding coat of the Poodle with the gentleness and trainability of the Labrador, and to provide a guide dog suitable for people with allergies to fur and dander".  Of course the random nature of genetics means that not all labradoodles have the poodle coat.  That's just the way it goes in the genetic lottery.

Because poodles don't shed and come in small and large they have been crossed with lots of other breeds to try to get non-shedding dogs:
Goldendoodles - Golden retriever + Standard poodle
Spoodles - Springer spaniel + poodle
Cockerpoos - Cocker Spaniel + Poodle
Cavapoos - King Charles Cavalier Spaniel + Miniature Poodle
Lhasapoo/ Shihpoo - Lhasa Apso or Shih Tzu + Miniature Poodle
Bichonpoos - Bichon Frise cross Miniature Poodle

I very much wish they would not use the poo part of poodle, it's just silly.

The Bichon Frise is also a non/low shedding dog, it has a really soft wool coat so another ideal dog for crossing.  This gives us:
Cavachon - Cavalier King Charles + Bichon Frise
Wechon - West Highland Terrier + Bichon Frise
Shichon - Shih Tzu + Bichon Frise
And I'm sure the list goes on and on.

All the breeders claim low shedding.  Many claim a healthy dog. 

My bafflement comes in when you see the prices.  These mixed breed dogs sell for at least as much as pure breed, kennel club registered pedigree dogs.  Some breeders charge extra because they don't shed.  In that case buy a poodle or a bichon frise, they don't shed either!

Many breeders will give you the 5 generation pedigree for your mixed breed dog.  Just like you'd get for a pedigree pup, not sure I get it.

And here they lose me completely, many claim these crosses are more healthy than their pure bred parents.  Pedigree dogs get pedigree problems.  Years of breeding to get the desired type has led to genetic problems in all breeds that I can think of.  So breeding too different breeds could give you healthier pups or in the genetic lottery your pup could get the genetic problems from both parents. 

In addition some of the hybrids are badly thought out.  Take the Pugalier, cross between the cavalier and pug.  Both breeds have short noses and to some extent protruding eyes, so guess what the Pugalier will have, breathing and eye issues - tick.  Both breeds have neurological issues suspected to be genetic, lets put money on the pugalier having something similar.  Cavaliers have bad hearts, definitely genetic, mix that with dodgy pug breathing and the mix doesn't sound good.

So where do my mixed feelings about mixed breeds lead.  Many are really cute dogs.  Many don't shed, yeah for allergic dog lovers and yeah for less vacuuming.  Big boo for the price, no way can I see the logic behind the high costs.  And my advice.  If you buy a pedigree dog look it up and read about the pedigree problems, they cab be heartbreaking and budget breaking.  If you buy a designer hybrid dog look up both breeds and prepare yourself for the possibility of the pedigree issues from either parent.

And here for fun are my favourite mixed bred names:
Bolonoodle
Chilier
Ewokian
Hug
Poogle
Schweenie
Snorkie
Go on have a guess what they are, my Cavaliers may award prizes!

Mrs M
:0)

Sasha's Agility Pictures

Last weekend we all went to a charity doggie day.  Sasha's agility club were doing a demonstration and one of the lovely ladies had a great camera to capture the action. 

Enjoy :0)

Star had a try at the "have a go agility" and was, well a star!  Negotiated a way to take both to classes so she can do the training.  Next time hopefully will have pics of both pups.

Sasha and her little pal also won the waggiest tail competition aided by the generous application of popcorn :0)

So she doesn't feel left out here's a quick Star pic:

Eau de Parfume

Woof to all the blogger dogs out there, Sasha here with news on my new perfume.

Today at the beach I found a fantastic new smell and can bring it to you for the bargain price of one chicken wing per bottle.

You doggie types will love this new perfume, it suits all occasions and is a really good strong stench.

So I bring you from the furry girls perfume house ................................ Eau De Dead Crab

Place your orders quick before mum baths us!

January 2011 Sucked

Just thought I'd share that.

I moved into the new year feeling optimistic, the end of 2010 wasn't the best but I had high hopes for 2011. But

My gran after spending 2 months in hospital died last Wednesday afternoon. She was 85 and had a good life, we have a close family, I'm the only one who has moved away. She had a good life and had told everyone not to be upset about her. The infection she had wasn't clearing up and the only real option was surgery. It was very high risk but she got through the operation and seemed to be better but the infection had spread and there wasn't anything they could really do. She had signed a do not resuscitate order before the surgery in case her heart failed, she wasn't the type to be content sitting in bed so maybe this is better than something long and drawn out. It's a strange feeling because I am so far from my family nothing has changed for me but I can't help feeling sad.

My little dog, the red furry one, Star is in season and did a spectacular Houdini escape act earlier this week straight into the paws of a giant mixed breed monster. I shouted at him and he ran away with the little tart chasing him down the street. Me following after, when I caught her and was carrying her back the dog was chasing me. Must have looked like something from Benny Hill. I'm pretty sure he didn't get her but I have to wait three weeks before the vet can check. The dog has been hanging about outside with little Star sitting on the window ledge watching him and crying to get out. It's like some really wrong canine Romeo and Juliet.

I have had a stinky cold and a kidney infection for the whole of January, two courses of antibiotics to shift it. I'm feeling better now but somewhere I've lost a few weeks.

Work is awful with the treat of redundancy hanging over the majority of my colleagues, it is looking more and more like they will be closing two of our four sites so the mood isn't great.

Add to that the general January grey days and lack of funds it has been a crappy month.

So here's to February, the real New Year. I'm thinking in song lyrics, "Things can only get better" and "The only way is up, baby!"

On the positive side my antidepressants are clearly miracle drugs, I am coping with the January blues and I'm optimistic that things will improve.

I will be back with a happier post soon!
Mrs M

The furry girls 2011 declarations

We spend January 1 walking through our lives, room by room, drawing up a list of work to be done, cracks to be patched. Maybe this year, to balance the list, we ought to walk through the rooms of our lives... not looking for flaws, but for potential. ~Ellen Goodman


I was talking to the furry girls about New Year's Resolutions.  I try not to date a resolution, this year I have two goals, I started one on Boxing day and the other on 29th December.  If you have decided to do something why wait until the 1st of the 1st 2011?  The furry girls however decided the resolutions were good.

I suggested the following options:
1) We will not chase children!
2) We will eat our doggy dinner when it is put down.
3) Sasha - I will not roll in stinky dead animals or smelly piles of unidentified poo.  This is not perfume!
4) Sasha - I will give up my 6 a year slipper habit, shops think mum has a slipper fetish.
5) Star - I will stop stealing underwear and hiding it in odd places around the house. 
6) Star - I will accept that I am not Princess of the Universe, just Princess of this house.
7) We will stop leaving snot marks on the window
8) We will accept that the basket is our bed and the big comfy bed is mum's

They disagreed and decided the following were better:
Both:
1) Grow opposable thumbs so that we can help ourselves to food in the kitchen
2) Perfect the sad doggy face for getting extra food
3) Get mum to take up less of the big bed so we can stretch out.
Sasha:
1) Prepare marketing plan for a new range of perfumes, eau de fox poo will make me millions
2) Kill all slippers, they are evil and must die.
3) Steal all Star's toys and pull the stuffing out.

Star:

1) Prepare plan to take over the universe, I am a Princess you know.

2) Steal all underwear and hang in the most embarrassing places

3) Get more cuddles

Mixed up Christmas

The furry girls and I have arrived back in our calm home after the Christmas extravaganza. 

First just to mention, I got a pan set for Christmas.  People seem to think this is the equivalent of a husband buying the wife an iron but I'm happy with my pans.  The set I had allegedly had heat resistant handles, this was a lie.  The handles were sort of painted black, they always got hot but when the paint layer washed off they got worse.  The dogs think cooking involved doing a dance around the kitchen before plunging your hand into cold water.  I love my new pans, my blistered hands will be most grateful.

Anyway, my Christmas was mixed up.  My little brother and his girlfriend went to her house first so I decided we couldn't open presents without him.  This was selfish, I didn't want my brother to have presents to open when I didn't.  So we got up and looked at the presents sitting all pretty in their Christmas paper.  Had breakfast and then went to my Gran's house.

We have gone to my Gran's on Christmas morning every year of my life.  The whole of her family still go every year to exchange presents, some stay for dinner.  This bit wasn't so good.  My gran got out of hospital on Christmas eve but during the night she had been ill and was really unwell while we were there.  I got to go and see her and she looked very old and very sick.  She could barely speak or open her eyes.  She ended up going back into hospital later in the day because she was so bad.   It made the day a bit sad and a lot of us had a tear or two.  I visited her in hospital before I came home and she was much, much better.  I think coming home was too much, she was only allowed out for two days because it was Christmas, the hospital let her make the choice and I think she pushed herself too hard.  They have found that she still has some infection in her bowel but we don't know what they are going to do yet. 

My bother and his girlfriend didn't have their children this year, they were both at the other parents.   This lead to the decision to give my mum the day off and go out for lunch, a first.  It was really nice but not the same as your mum's Christmas dinner, I suppose everyone has their own way of doing it. 

After lunch it was home for presents!  Obviously I got my pans.  I also got perfume, some nice bath things and some choccies!

My favourite present (I got on Christmas eve) was from Mr Midnite, a lovely chunky charm bracelet and the first charm for my new collection.  I think he may have had a little bit of help picking out just what I would like.

But, and prepare to be jealous, the ginger furry girl Star got the best present ever.  She got her very own bright pink doggy handbag, complete with squeaker.  It is so cute.  This isn't quite the same but it gives the idea.  I'll snap her with it and post soon.

NB.  Pictures have been stolen from Juicy Couture, go and see their lovely things at their lovely website.  Of course they don't ship to the UK so if you want some you need to be inventive, scour the Internet until you find a place that will ship or (I'd avoid this option if you can) pay the prices charged in the UK.

My family had a really nice Christmas even though we were worried about my Gran, it was lovely to see everyone and spend some time together catching up.  I hope you all had happy holidays with your families. Now onwards to 2011.

Ho ho holidays?

Here comes Santa, here comes Santa, tra la la la la.

Just wondering how many people out there dread the whole Christmas thing?  I'm not a total Scrooge about to have a big downer on the season of goodwill but there are bits of it that I find really hard.

Today I went with best friends boy and girl and their two boys to see Santa.  Had a lovely day out, got home and ended up watching a Christmas movie on TV.  All very nice and sentimental but by the end I was crying.  Perhaps I forgot my antidepressant this morning? 

It made me think about the things I do because it's what is done rather than because I really want to.  In the years when I have really struggled with depression the holidays are torture.  I always have to paint on the happy face so that my family don't realise how depressed I am.  Even on years when I feel OK there are bits of Christmas that I find hard.

Take the work Christmas night out, last year I left really early because I felt like an outsider watching a bunch of mad strangers.  Partly this will be because I only drink with people I am very comfortable with, even then its not often I have more than one or two drinks.  Drunk people are either funny or, more often really annoying.  I was home by 10.30 watching TV with the dogs.  The year before I ended up crying then smoked?  I've never smoked in my life.  Woke up next morning feeling like I'd been licking an ash tray, rubbish night.  Most years I end up sitting next to someone I don't have much to do with and I have no idea what to say.  I end up just feeling worse and worse until I give up and go home.

This year I decided I wasn't going, that way I won't not enjoy it.  But then I ended up feeling guilty because people kept asking me to go and wanting to know why I didn't want to.  So now I'm going! 

Christmas eve, every year we go to the local pub carol singing night, it's OK but I don't know anyone so I go with my parents and sit with their friends.  I always feel like I'm about 10.  I'm an intelligent adult, I have conversations all the time, I'm actually hard to shut up but with my parents and their friends I can't think of anything to say and feel totally out of my depth. 

The Christmas bit itself I like, I think I'm pretty good at presents and like to buy people stuff they will like.  I enjoy the whole giving and receiving bit.  I like the dinner and the crappy TV, I like seeing my family.

Boxing day is another big family gathering, this can go either way.  Mostly its a great laugh but sometimes I feel out of it and like I don't belong.  Because I don't see my family often I get a lot of questions: Do you have a boyfriend? Are you courting?  Did you never want to get married?  Did you not want children?  Excuse me, 35 not 65, I'd like to think I've still time to get round to these things.  This year I'm a bit annoyed because the dogs aren't allowed to go for the party, my aunties have taken their dogs along for years but now the decision is that their dogs might not like strange dogs?

I think really I'm just not good with large groups especially if they are people I don't know too well.  I think this is something I've always had a problem with and probably why I hate parties.  I'm not antisocial I just feel really uncomfortable in these situations. 

So entering the holiday season with mixed feelings I'm thinking about the people out there who dread this time of year.  Seeing everyone seemingly so happy surrounded by family and friends can be heart breaking when you don't belong to that world.  Here's hoping everyone has the holiday that is right for them even if that's sitting watching TV with your furry friends.

Asbo dogs and snow

Some of you may be aware of the severe weather conditions that we have been experiencing in the UK.  For those of you that have real weather let me say we have had a bit of snow, you know a few flakes, just enough to get the ski resorts open.  Its about 12 inches of snow in my part of Edinburgh, more on the outskirts.

To those of you who live in tropical climates (or London who I know can't handle snow)  we have experienced a short ice age, the country has ground to a halt with airports closed, trains disrupted, schools, colleges and nursery's shut and the roads blocked.  Edinburgh's buses using their super powers have ran thoughout the freeze.  We have had hail stones that reminded me of the opening of The Day After Tomorrow and have been invaded by an army of dodgy looking snowmen.

The Asbo dogs have been enjoying the snow so I thought I'd share some of their snowy moments:

Star and Sasha in the snow!

Shooting Star

When you have wee legs you have to bounce through the snow.

Digging a snow hole

Star, such a poser!

Observe that snow doesn't stick to red fur.

Quick Dog Interval:

Snowy Tree

Cool Icicles

Back to the Dog Shots:

Flying Furry/Snow Ball

See what I mean by Snowball?

Can't be comfortable but if you can get them off they would be great for throwing!

This week has been fun apart from the car, the street has been blocked all week but finally I decided to dig the car out, 40 minutes spent clearing snow off the car and digging it's wheels out:

Only to find that it won't start, flat battery I think.

Hope everyone is safe and warm, have a great weekend :0)

Halloween Dogs

A Vampire and a Witch

Ghostly Goings On Part III

I used to love horror movies until I started living on my own.  Then I realised that it is far too creepy, the final straw was after watching The Grudge.

I went home feeling a little bit spooked, had a cup of tea and went to bed.  My little dog at the time curled up to go to sleep on the floor next to my bed and I started to drift off to sleep.

Suddenly the furry muppet was in the hallway barking and I was wide awake with my heart pounding in my chest.  Initially I was going to employ the universal defense against spookiness at night and hide under my covers.  But The Grudge had already prepared for this.  In the movie a lady is followed home by the ghostie and hides uses the cover defense, rather shockingly the spirit creeps under her bed cover and drags her to her doom.  So I sat up and put the light on, small and furry returned to her bed and settled down.  I waited for my heart rate to return to normal so I could go back to sleep.

Later when I had gone to sleep muppet got up and headed for the kitchen.  She started another round of furious barking waking me up in a state of heart attack inducing panic.  I was nearly in tears, shaking as the adrenaline surged round my body.  I put the light on and crept out of bed although anyone with ears would have been able to hear my heart banging.  I tip toed through the hall and into the front room, flicked on the light and saw nothing.  Onwards I bravely went towards the kitchen thinking this is the bit in the horror movie where the stupid teen dies horribly.

Once at the kitchen door I flicked that light on to see something a lot like this:

Yes, my cavalier laughing her furry little socks off at the success of her scary story.  I'm sure her cavalier friends all had a laugh when she told them about her clever trick!

PS, That's not Sasha laughing, it is the fabulous, wonderful Looby who I had before Star and Sasha.  A dog renowned for her wicked sense of humour.

Threats and abuse for the ASBO dogs

It's now 5 and a half hours since the latest ASBO dog incident and I'm still pretty upset and stressed about it.  I thought I would share the new installment for anyone still reading.  Sorry to bore you all but they are my babies and this mess is doing my head in.

So just before 4 today the dogs were fast asleep and I needed to go outside for a minute.  As soon as I opened the door the girls appeared and made a break for freedom.  They needed the toilet and shot down the stairs to go out (0 to peeing in less than 60 seconds).  I followed them and once toilets were finished I shouted them to come back in, no chance the taste of freedom was to much.

Typically in a toast falling butter side down way the little fur balls ran straight down the path to scared boys house.  Star was actually going into his stairs, I think she was planning to visit.  I didn't see the kid but of course his dad was hanging out of the kitchen window smoking and immediately started shouting:

"You've been told"
"They got out, I'm taking them back" I replied, I think quite politely
"If I see those dogs again I'm going to kill them"
It then descended into him swearing and threatening me and the dogs. I told him I was going to call the police and he said go on then and I'll tell them how you f**king dogs are terrorising my son.

My neighbour (from the flat opposite mine in my block) heard him shouting and walked along and started having a go back at him, she said that the dogs were not threatening or aggressive and that he should deal with his son's phobia.  He turned on her and said

"Have you got children?" (Yes, two son's in their late teens / early 20s)
"You've got grandchildren, how would you feel if they were frightened"
My neighbour responded, "they aren't frightened, anyway you have a dog yourselves."
"We haven't have a dog for years, since before he was born." Was the blokes response.  "You should mind your own business."

I walked back home with my neighbour, Star under my arm and Sasha following.  She has told me before that the kid that is so scared is actually a bully, he pushed her husband's grandchild over and stole her shoes.  I see where the kid gets his bullying habits from. 

I called the police when I got home and they said they would send someone out.  After an hour or so two police women arrived on my doorstep.  I think I was pretty honest.  I explained that their kid is terrified of dogs and that they had scared him once by running up to him, this was when the dad had first abused me.  From then on I had mostly kept my dogs on leads but there was a second incident when I let Star off because a toddler wanted to walk Sasha.  That led to them complaining to me and then calling the police.

I explained that I understand he is frightened and have done my best to avoid him by taking the dogs out the other side of the house and keeping them on leads most of the time.  I told them that I let them out without leads first thing in the morning (6 to 6.30am) and late at night because I think it is unlikely that the child will be out.  I also said that they are going to daily training classes because I am aware that they don't always listen but that they are not in any way aggressive or threatening. 

I also said that the problem was partly my fault because since the dogs were small I have allowed them to play with the local children and that now they love children and always want to play.  The dogs don't understand that this one child is frightened. 

I said that this was an accident and that I went to get the dogs straight away.  I told them I was annoyed with the dogs because they didn't come when called but that I didn't intentionally let them run around.

I am really annoyed with the dogs, £300 and counting plus getting up at 6 and spending loads of time on training for them to totally ignore me when it matters.  At the classes they come when called every time.  So frustrating but it is because they saw some children and wanted to play.  I need children distractions at the class.

I said to the police that I feel as though this family are now watching me and that I have seen them watching out of the window when I am going back and forwards to my car.  The kid runs away when he sees me regardless of whether the dogs are with me or not.  He shouts for his mum and she comes to the window and watches me.  The dad stopped one day when he was getting in his car and watched me go from my car to flat before continuing with what he was doing.  I think this is harassment.  Added to this the threats on Star and Sasha lives I am totally fed up with the whole situation. 

I have lived here for 7 years, I loved it here.  I get on with my neighbours, it's quiet, pretty central, good bus route, near work and my flat is great.  Now I just want to move but I can't afford to.  If I was renting I would just move but I have a mortgage and have pretty much just finished updating the flat.

The police said they would speak to this guy about his threatening behaviour and attitude.  They agreed that I am doing everything right and thought that letting them off their leads when the child is unlikely to be out was acceptable.  I hope that getting a warning from the police will stop him but I suspect it will make him worse.

I have a number of thoughts and suggestions from people some very unreasonable:
- My brother says he will come up with a borrowed Rottweiler and sit outside the guys house to see if he says anything.  When he sees him he wants to ask if he is going to come out and kill his dog.
- My dad would like to come up and have a chat with this guy.
- Mr Midnite is going to start taking the dogs for walks past their house and see if the guy has the guts to say anything to him (hasn't so far).  I don't want to wind Mr Midnite up with this because although I never see it he has got a temper and I don't want him getting in trouble.
- Boy best friend has said he will come round and walk the dogs.
- I am considering getting a Rhodesian Ridgeback or similar as a body guard for the wee ones.  Try killing one of the without a shotgun.
- There are numerous rough and dodgy people that I know for my dark years who would happily show the guy what it's like to be frightened to go out but I'm not the type to do that sort of thing.
- I am thinking of asking my dog trainer how much it would be to do a session here because the dogs act differently near home to anywhere else that we go.
- I am going to start keeping a note of anything that happens (most of the events are blogged anyway) and if it doesn't stop now I am going to find a lawyer and see what action I can take.
- I am going to make sure all my neighbours know that he has threatened to kill the dogs.  I don't see why I should keep my mouth shut when he was yelling his intentions out of the window, all the kids heard anyway.

I have to say if anything happens to my dogs I will be devastated and I will never forgive this family.  There is a good chance I will bite the child myself.  My dogs might be a bit excitable but they are friendly and harmless.  We haven't done anything to deserve this treatment. 

So angry about this whole messy situation I just really don't know what to do.  I think I need to speak to my doctor because this sort of stress could easily make me ill.  I have been OK recently but I stay that way by avoiding stress and too much of anything.  I deal with stress at work by keeping my home life calm, I do so many things and avoid a lot of other things to keep calm and balanced.  I've cried loads today, my dogs are a lot of the reason I can cope and I can't stand the idea of them getting hurt or taken away.  I am probably starting to sound like I am over reacting but I am feeling like I can't go out without this family watching me, waiting for another mistake so they can attack.  Am I getting paranoid?

Asbo dogs in sheep attack

This is the video I took on Star and Sasha's first full day living at my house:



Please note no sheep were harmed in the making of this film. 

The noisy one is Star, she is always very vocal in her play flights with Sasha.

Beach dog

Star and Sasha said I should write this cos their paws are too big to type.............ok, ok, I know they can't talk or write but if they could then this is what they would make me write:

Yesterday we headed to the Edinburgh version of the beach. It is actually a river bank but so close to the river's mouth it is very beach like.  The girls had a nice run around and splash in the water.  When we were leaving the beach a little Yorkshire Terrier (puppy) dashed up to us to play with the girls.  He was very taken with Star and started to follow us along the beach.  I looked around but couldn't see anyone obviously looking for a dog.  I walked backwards and forwards for a while expecting someone to shout for the dog or for the dog just to get bored and leave. 

Eventually I gave up and sat on a wall.  Every where I walked the terrier followed (quick flashback to Mary had a little lamb there) so I didn't want to go back to the car in case the dog went on the road.  Sasha wasn't very impressed with the stranger but Star thought he was ok.  We sat for a while but no one came.  I realised that there was a ID tag on the terriers collar so tried to get close enough to see it. I could then call the owners and either get them to come find him or I could take him home.   Every time I reached for the dog he moved away.  I called Star over to me and the little Yorkie followed her, I managed to get hold of his collar and was just trying to read the tag when it bit me.  Not a bad bite, it was only a young dog so not a very big mouth, but he broke the skin. 

After that I didn't really know what to do I had been stalked by his small dog for 40 minutes by this point and it was getting cold.  I was just thinking about taking it to the police station as a lost dog when a foreign guy came towards us shouting something.  The dog ran over to him and he just turned and walked away.

So the girls and I came home and I clean my dog bite.

Just occurred to me now that my little dogs who have never touched anyone are ion more trouble for being friendly than that little dog is for biting someone.  Makes no sense.

Asbo Dog Update

First a quick quiz, spot the difference:

Yes that's right, there is no difference, both dogs pictured here have been accused of anti social behaviour. 

Another:



Did you get it, the four breeds pictured at the top are banned in the UK under the dangerous dogs law.  The two dogs pictured under them are known to be great family pets!

So enough of testing your knowledge of dangerous doggys and on to the sad tale of the asbo cavaliers!

We have been very good going to asbo rehabilitation 5 days a week and the girls are trying very hard.  They are starting to learn to socialise with other dogs without getting too nervous and they are getting really good at the obedience things.  Star has some attention deficit issues but Sasha is fab.

At home we are not having the best time.  Every time I see that child he runs away screaming for his mum regardless of whether or not the furry fiends are with me.  Tonight he was on his scooter when I drove my car into the car park. He scooted up the road shouting for his mum.  She then comes to the window and watches me get out of the car and walk to my house.  This is repeated every time I see him.

On a morning she is quite often at the kitchen window smoking when I get back from asbo school, she always watches us even though the child isn't outside.  Her husband was heading to his car one day when I got home and he stopped and watched me park, get out, get the dogs out and walk to my house before he went back to getting in his car.

Last week I had a few days where I decided I would park at the other side of my house.  This car park is on the main road near a bus stop and I never park there.  When I moved in seven years ago I decided the back car park was better, it's nearer my flat and off the main road.  But for 3 days I parked at the other side to avoid this family.  Then I decided that I'm not going to let them change the way I live, I've done nothing wrong.

Today I noticed there is a long scratch down the side of my car, can't help but blame the child.  Paranoid?  I don't know, maybe.

They are making me feel pretty uncomfortable but I don't know if there is much I can do about it.

Anyway spotted these fabby doggy t-shirts:

Do you think they make them small enough for Star and Sasha?

Police called for Asbo Doggies

Thank you for all your comments on the last Asbo Dog post, it is causing me quite a lot of stress and reading your views is helping me laugh at the situation and see that maybe the authorities will be reasonable about my side of things. 

Today we had the community policeman at our door.  I told him I've had them on the leads for the last week and explained that the kid is irrationally frightened just by the dogs being here.  He was OK about it all and just asked me to keep them on leads.  After he'd gone I thought of lots of questions, typical!  I called the police communications centre and confirmed that its OK to let them off their leads at training classes and away from this child.  I said I didn't want to get into trouble if I have them off the leads at the beach or elsewhere and this family happen to see me.  That would be unlikely but you never know. 

Anyway I was going to tell you about the training classes:

Week one of the intensive asbo dog rehabilitation is over. The 5am starts have been challenging. You may have noticed a reduction in my blogger activity, that's because even though I'm going to bed earlier I am a bit tired.


The good news is that the furry demons have been trying really hard at dog school. They don't really like Marco the Mexican trainer very much at the moment because he is mean.

I used to take the girls to puppy classes but was only allowed to take them one at a time. The class was always really crowded with 40 plus dogs in a Scout Hall. Individual attention was obviously limited and with a small cute dog I suspect I was low priority compared to showing someone how to control their giant beast. I could always get both dogs to do everything in puppy class but away from there it wasn't so easy.

With the new classes I get four one to one sessions outside with both dogs. As Marco says dealing with two dogs together is my reality so there is no point training them individually and then not knowing how to deal with them together. There are also group classes but with work I can only make one a week.

Because we are outside there is unlimited space for walking to heel instead of being stuck in a line between other dogs. We mastered two dogs walking to heel in the first session, a major victory for me. Session two we mastered stay and walk away, Sasha could do this but Star wasn't keen so it took a bit of effort. Now I can leave her for minutes and she hardly moves. I can sit them both separately or together and leave them and most of the time they don't move until I say so.

Day three we instantly mastered down with Sasha because she could do it already. Star is really resistant to this but I think we will get there soon. They both got the idea of them staying while I keep moving really quickly. Sasha them moved on to a new game. I tell her to sit and stay them leave her. When I get to where I want to be I call her but once she starts moving I stop her with a Stay/Sit command, clever little Sasha got it on the second go. Marco said he has had dogs that took months to get this.

Day four, lots of down, Star still doesn't like it! She is like a pop-up dog, you put her in the down position as soon as you leave go she pops up to sitting. She did catch up with Sasha by mastering the Here - Stay/Sit idea.

Bear in mind that it was only last Sunday that these dogs were totally out of control !!!!!

If anyone has seen the Dog Whisperer TV show they will know that it's all about establishing yourself as leader of the pack. Macro seems to follow similar ideas to the dog whisperer. It's really surprising how quickly I can see a difference.

Next weeks classes are at 6.30 instead of 6 so I might be awake enough to blog a bit more.

Here's a snap of the girls out causing trouble :0) 

Asbo Cavaliers

For those that don't know here in the UK if you are really naughty but not quite a criminal you can get an ASBO - Anti Social Behaviour Order.  The wealth of knowledge that is Wikipedia gives the following information:

"An Anti-Social Behaviour Order or ASBO is a civil order made against a person who has been shown, on the balance of evidence, to have engaged in anti-social behaviour. The orders were designed to be imposed after minor incidents that would not ordinarily warrant prosecution. The orders restrict behaviour in some way, by prohibiting a return to a certain area or shop, or by restricting public behaviour such as swearing or drinking. In the UK, there has been criticism that an ASBO is sometimes viewed as a badge of honour by youth. Many see the ASBO as connected with young delinquents."

Well recently doggie ASBOs have been introduced - See here


Follows will remembers that my evil demon dogs have been terrorising the local children.  You remember the evil doggies:

Well following last weeks excitement we had a further doggie incident.  Having kept the little monsters on their leads all week and walked them away from the house as much as possible I thought it would all blow over.  Not likely.  On Sunday scared boy was playing outside my house.  Clearly I have to take the dogs out so every time I took them out he ran away down the street.  My neighbours invited me to join them outside but I couldn't because of the dogs so we went out in the car instead.

Later in the day I took the dogs out and scared boy wasn't there.  My neighbours grandsons were there and wanted to play with the dogs.  The youngest (about 2 to 3?) wanted to take Sasha for a walk on her lead so off they went up and down the path because he isn't allowed past the end of the buildings.  Yes, I let a 3 year old walk my scary dog!  The others children were picking Star up and cuddling her (lucky she didn't go savage and tear their wee faces off)  so I took her lead off so I could go with Sasha in case she pulled the toddler type child.

Of course you see where this is going, scared child turns up on his bike, sees the dogs and peddles away at high speed.  Star takes off after the bike running a long way behind him for about 20 metres before she got bored and went to see one of the other neighbours.

I came back in the house and there was a knock on the door.  Scared boys mother telling me that my dogs are out of control.  The children had followed her upstairs and were listening.  She said that my dogs had terrified her son and he had cycled so fast into the block entrance that he has broken the door, she is going to tell the council and they will bill me because its my fault.  Not sure thats going to happen?

She then said those dogs are huge to a child.  The 3 year old behind her said "no they're not, they're tiny".  I had to bite my cheeks not to laugh.  I told her I would keep them on their leads but pointed out that he still runs away when they are on their leads.  She wasn't really happy with that and said if I'm not going to do anything she would get an anti-social behaviour order.  I'm not really sure what she hopes to achieve by that?  The children behind her were saying that they like playing with the dogs and that the dogs are nice.  She said her son doesn't think so, the children's response, "well he's stupid".  More cheek biting.

So now I'm waiting to receive some sort of letter from the council about my anti social behaviour for not controlling my dogs. 

I did call the council to ask what I should do.  They asked the following questions:

Are your dogs aggressive?  No, possibly the most submissive dogs ever.

Have they ever bitten this boy? No.

Have they ever bitten anyone? No

Do they growl at children? No

Have they knocked anyone over or caused damage to property? No and just mine.

Someone from the anti social behaviour department is going to call me back to discuss the situation.  I would quite like them to come out and meet my out of control scary dogs.  I suspect there would be some laughter.

Anyway, because I won't take any risks with my sweet, furry, demon dogs I have enrolled them in new intensive doggie training.  My logic is that if this family starts screaming about out of control dogs I need to make sure there are no opportunities for them to get evidence.  My dogs are pretty good but are excitable and do sometimes go deaf.  I spoke to a guy who does intensive 1to1 and group training and he squeezed us in by starting earlier than normal.  We are going to classes at 6am Monday to Thursday with a group class on a Friday night.  He agrees with my theory that if my dogs are really well trained then I can't be open to criticism.  Plus he thinks that Star needs to gain confidence when out because she is very nervous.   Two days in and we have improved walking to heel and Star has mastered stay (as in sitting where I put her for 5 minutes not 1 second) so I guess it's worth the massive amount of cash.  The 5am alarm is not pleasant though.

I must really love my dogs.

Lead and I will follow, or not

Just thought I would have a quick rant.

I have 2 dogs, I'm sure you have met them if you follow my blog.  They are cavalier king charles spaniels. Pretty much about the size of a cat, they are very friendly, overly so and this has caused me a problem.

Read more »

All about me!

Well Scrappy here are my answers, I had them before I saw your note so you get all the answers:

1. If you could spend the rest of your life doing only one thing, what would that be?

I think eating would be my first choice but that might make the rest of my life pretty short so I think i will go with reading while curled up in the sunny spot on my bed with the furry ones.  Is that more than one thing.

2. What is the best thing you can bake/cook: Umm cooking, baking yes I am aware of the idea.  I do good toast?  Actually I can cook a fab chilli, good lasagna, an African dish that I can't spell, I serve up a mean curry too but its from the local take away.

Read more »

The Midnite's go to Loch Ness

Last year for the furry ones summer holidays we went up to Loch Ness and explored.  It was a roasting hot week for Scotland, 27oC so we had to stay near water to keep the girls cool.  So we decided to catch the Loch Ness monster while we were there. 

Read more »

The dog in the kitchen

So for reasons that are now a mystery to me I offered to look after a friends dog for a long weekend. You will see soon that this is the reason for the slightly longer than normal gap between posts.

Poppy was handed over after work on Wednesday, I had met her a couple of weeks ago so we did know her. On meeting her I thought I had got confused about her breed, she is supposed to be a Cocker Speniel. This is what I though a cocker looked like:


Turns out that's an American Cocker Spaniel, they are the most common type of cocker so I googled Cocker Spaniel images and found that there is an English Cocker Spaniel:

Still not convinced that Poppy is strictly a cocker of either type but she's only a year old so perhaps she will turn into one soon.

Anyway to get to the point, not long after I got my two dogs a guy at work decided he would get a dog for the family. They decided on a spaniel and ended up with a cocker (?) spaniel. I had suggested going to puppy classes and gave them a dog training book I bought as a refresher when I got my dogs.

I have heard some stories about the difficulties he has had with Poppy, basically chewing things and some toilet training issues. When I offered to puppy sit I considered these things but I have dogs just out of puppyhood, I can deal with these normal puppy problems.

So the dog arrived totally stressed and bouncing off the walls. We (thats me and my furry girls) took her out for a long walk to use up some energy and give them a chance to get used to each other. Didn't really work, even at bedtime she was still barking and crying.

Following day I started with an hour walk, nipped home at lunchtime for a quick half hour walk and then after work took the three of them out on a trek. 3 hours walking and still this dog has bounce. My pair were exhausted.

Next day was similar but took them to the beach after work and let them race around chasing a ball, birds, waves etc. She was slightly more chilled after that.

Today has been roasting in Scotland, too hot for dogs. So, I filled the puppy paddling pool and took their toys outside so they could run around and splash in the water. I had planned a long walk tonight but the weather turned and we have thunder storms. So I've had a spaniel bouncing off my walls since about 6.30 when it cooled down.

My list of issues with Poppy are:
1) She bites, not savagely but when playing she uses her teeth and isn't gentle. OK all puppies do this but all my dogs have stopped before 6 months because it's something I just won't risk. Poppy is a year and she lives with children.
2) She either doesn't understand English or has only learned 3 words. I can get her to sit, come and she knows her name. She doesn't know stay, down, off, quiet, out, leave etc etc.
3) She barks if she doesn't get her own way
4) She doesn't understand signals from other dogs
5) She is seemingly impossible to tire

And the reason she is in the kitchen, she just bit my hand. Not badly but she has left marks. What did I do to deserve this? I tried to stop her from climbing over my shoulders to try to drink my cup of tea. How rude!

She goes home tomorrow, can't wait.