Hello all,

Well Sally is now 26 weeks old and is 33.5 kgs (just under 5 1/2 stone) so she is maintaining a steady increase in weight.

We had a bit of a health issue last week - Sally had terrible diarrhoea a week last Tuesday, she had been a bit loose in the evening but at 2 am (why do these things always happen at night?) I heard her whining at the bottom of the stairs and when I went down she had had diarrhoea from the front door to the back door and in the kitchen, all up the walls and kitchen cupboards. Took me ages to clean it up. When the morning came I rang the vet who advised me to take her in. Helen (our favourite vet) gave her a good examination and weighed her and asked if she picked things up when outside and I said OH YES as she will pick anything and everything up. I spend more time with my hand in her mouth taking stones off her than anything else. So anyway she gave her an injection of anti-biotics and some tablets to take for 3 days, I just waved them under Sallys' nose and she ate them like a good girl. The diarrhoea soon cleared up that day and she has been in great forn ever since. Unlike me who started with diarrhoea on the Wednesday and it lasted a full week. I thought it was the eggs, they were the only things that Sally and I had eaten in common, but I have since heard that there is a bug going round so that must have been it.

We have not really done much over the last couple of weeks but we have got ourselves into a nice little daily routine.... Neil gets up between 7 and 7.30 and sometimes Sally will get up for a wee but not always. I get up at around 8 and take her out for a walk straight away, sometimes she will wee on the walk but mostly she will wait until we get home. When we get back we will both have breakfast then at about 10 am I will go to work and leave Sally to sleep for the morning. 9 times out of 10 she be ok alone but occasionally there will be accidents in the house or she will scratch at the kitchen wall, like yesterday. I will come back again at 1 pm to let Sally out and give her lunch and then take her to the office with me for a few hours. She is learning to settle better there and will often fall asleep in either mine or Neils' offices. Sometimes Christine, who works for us, will bring her dog, Holly, in and they will play together for a while before they both fall asleep. Later I take Sally home and either Neil or I or us both will take her for a walk before her medicine and her evening meal. During the evening she will sleep and play before going to bed at 10 pm. She still has mad moments where she will run round the lounge, hallway and kitchen like something not right, she runs at full pelt with ears back and eyes wide like all the hounds of hell are after her and then she falls onto the floor panting. She loves chewing knucle bones which I get fresh from the butchers every week.

These are the only photos I have of her this week so here are a few of her mum, Athene and dad, Samson.

Athene

Samson

Well that's it for this week - we will be going to the caravan again on Friday, good weather has been forecast, so hopefully we shall get out a bit, will let you know.

Bye for now

Sally, Johanna and Neil.

Hello everyone,

Sally is now 28 kg, she has put on 4.2 kg over the last 2 weeks.

We have another momentous episode to report - Sally had her first public poo on Saturday. Hopefully this will be the start of the end of toilet training. Neil took her out for a short walk at about 9 am as we were taking the touring caravan to Barnard Castle for Neils' mum and dad who were staying there for 2 weeks so we would be in the car for 2 hours. Sally as usual was so good in the car - she falls asleep before we get to the motorway for at least an hour and then she sat in the middle of the back seat looking out of the windows. On arrival at the caravan site I took her for a stroll down a track thinking she would be desperate for a wee but it took her over half an hour of sniffing before she finally had a wee. While we were there a family came by with a dog and Sally just sat still while this 8 month old Hungarian Vishy something called Laslo bounded all around her. The woman commented on how quiet and calm Sally was and I was so pleased.

After we had left the lane we met a couple of ponies in a barn and Sally did not flinch when we heard a dog barking like she usually does so she is getting better. By the time we got back to the caravan everyone had set it up and got lunch ready, following which we set off back to our caravan in the lakes through Kirby Stephen and Kendal. Once we got there Sally slept for most of the afternoon after her lunch and later we walked down to the lake and back. It was such a lovely evening we all had out tea outside after Neil had got back from shopping including a load of bedding plants.

On Sunday we had a very lazy morning watching Cesar Millan on DVD - we all think he's great. After lunch I planted the pots up and then later we all went to Hawkshead, across the lake.

Sally and Neil in Hawkshead. This was the first time Sally had been anywhere with a lot of people and dogs around and she was fantastic. She sat and watched as people walked by and calmly walked by other people and dogs, even one that barked at her.

In amongst the crowds. Everyone said how lovely she is and commented on her soft coat.

Sally enjoying some ice cream in Hawkshead mmmmmmmmmmmm.

From Hawshead we went over to Tarn Hows. We had never been there before and I was surprised because Neil has been pretty much everywhere in the Lakes, but we shall definately be going back there again. It is a long time since I have been in such a beautiful idyllic location. There is a 1 1/2 mile walk around the tarn (which was originally 3 before a dam was built) with some slight gradients but nothing too much and we just took our time wandering round this beautiful lake.

Neil and Sally at the tarn.

........And with me.

Sally exploring the lakeside.

Making friends with a spaniel near the tarn.

Meeting a 'Belted Galloway' cow.

What a LOVELY day we all had and after our lovely walk we went back to the caravan for tea, and a chew on a bone (for Sally) and a nice rest (well Sally slept for most of the evening).

I would put more photos of the tarn on the blog but it takes ages so if anyone wants to see more let me know.

Well that's all for now.

Bye Neil, Johanna and Sally.

Hello all,

Here is another update on Sally as we have reached another milestone - she has just had her first public wee at last yipee!!!!!!

Neil and I had been shopping at Booths in Lytham this morning and as it was a nice day we took Sally for a walk along the beach for the first time. She really seemed to enjoy this and trotted along quite happily smelling everywhere and seeing other dogs - we even saw a brindle Bullmastiff dog who was huge but they were walking away from us and faster than we were going. When we were near Fairhaven Lake we met a couple of little terriers that wanted to play. It was on the way back along the grass that Sally just stopped and peed to great praise after.

Exploring the beach.

Making friends.

But Sally has not been all good this week. When I came home at lunchtime from work on Friday Sally was in her bed under the stairs and came to me very quietly so I thought she had been there all morning and praised her ... then I went into the lounge to a scene of destruction. She had managed to get 2 DVDs off the shelf (which she had never bothered with before) - one of them was in 2 pieces and the other just had the case chewed; she had chewed the corners off a little table in the shape of books; she had got a little cardboard charity box and chewed that and there was small change everywhere - I don't know if she had eaten any - I wouldn't put it past her. So now she will not be allowed to stay in that room when we are not in.

Here are some more photos taken in the last few weeks when I have not had my computer .....

Sally sunbating on my lounger at the caravan last weekend.

Sally likes plenty of cushions under her when she sleeps.

Having a taste of Neils' ice cream ...

and my ice cream...

Swan ..... what swan? Don't think Sally had seen the swan until it hissed at her then she turned and ran back up the bank.

We were visited by my sister, Ellen on the 15th April bringing a card for Neils' birthday and meeting Sally for the first time.

Sally wasn't happy with her bed under the stairs so she moved it into the middle of the hallway ... needless to say, it is back undr the stairs now.

Barking at Neil cleaning the outside of the caravan.

Helping me sunbathe.

Now it's Neils' turn.

At last where she should be ... oh yeah!!!!!!!!!

This is how Sally likes to sleep - at first she had a cusion under her but now she just sits on the couch and hangs her head over .... or on her back like this ...

With John and Thelma.

Well that's all for now. Will put another post on next week

Bye for now.

UPDATED

Hello everyone - well at last I have my computer back and am online. It seems ages since I last posted news of our Sally so here goes with all the news ....

Sally is now 21 weeks old today (Tuesday 21st April) and it is 9 1/2 weeks since we adopted her (is that all - it feels like we've had her forever). We have had so much fun over the last few weeks with her and it is amazing how she is developing her own personality and character.

We weighed her last night and she was 24.8 kgs (4 stone) and approx 20 inches high (almost her full grown height) and half her full grown body weight. Sally has put on 17 kgs (over 37 lbs) since we adopted her which is equivalent to 4 lbs per week. Neil says she will be about 8 stone when grown, she will certainly be bigger than Katie, our last dog.

Her sense of smell and taste have developed more now to the extent that she will not have food with limestone powder and cod liver oil in so we have to give it to her in a syringe which can be a very messy job. Neil holds her sitting on the floor and holds her mouth open and I squirt the mixture down her throat little by litte. But she always gets a nice treat after.

A couple of weeks ago she started losing her baby teeth and her adult ones are coming through fast. This results in her play bites being slightly less painful and she can still be very boisterous and biting at times. One thing that has helped with this is getting her fresh bones to chew on and she loves them and will chew them rather than us. When she gets too much we just isolate her in the her playpen or outside. We have now had the gates put on so Sally can stay outside on her own safely without wrecking the garden or swallowing something she shouldn't, as she still wants to taste everything.

The gates have helped a lot in toilet training and now Sally will often go to the lounge door and look back at us to be let outside. But she will not go to the loo outside of her territory yet despite going for plenty of short walks, she will always hold herself until she gets home. Neil has just taken her out this evening for 20 minutes and she could hardly wait to get home to pee. After saying this she does still have accidents in the house, especially when we are not in. Its like she has not realised yet that she has to hold it until she can be let out. It is the same at work, despite being taken out frequently she still has accidents .... but we are getting there (I think!!!!)

At least she is continent in the car where she is good as gold, even for short journeys she will curl up in the back and go to sleep. When we go to the caravan in the Lakes Sally will be asleep before we get on the motorway and wake up just as we turn onto the road leading to Windermere where the caravan is.

First view of the lake.

Sally loves being at the caravan and certainly makes herself very much at home. there. Again she can go outside onto the decking on her own and she loves to lie in the sunshine (just like her mum). We have started walking her down to the lake where she meets different people and is being socialised with other dogs especially Ellie a golden lab belonging to some friends of ours, Mark and Karen, who have a caravan on the same site. This weekend she met a swan for the first time but didn't get too close as it was hissing at her.

Meeting Ellie for the first time.

She has also made friends with another golden labrador called Holly who belongs to Christine who works for us in the office and brings Holly with her. Today I took Sally to work at 10 am and the two of them played together for 2 hours before we forced Sally to go into daddy's office where she soon fell asleep for 4 hours solid, it must have tired her out completely all that doggy playtime.

Hello everyone.

Well I still have no computer so I am using Neils' to bring you all up to date with our Sally as I know there are a few friends out there who really look forward to reading about her antics.

She was 18 weeks old on Tuesday, 31st March. She is now 21 kgs ( just over 3 stones) after being weighed weekly at 16.2 kgs, and 18.3 kgs last week and she is now 19 inches tall, taller than the coffee table which is a problem as we can't put anything on the table now!!!!!!!!!!!

The Sunday before last we took Sally up to the caravan for the first time, just for the day and she seemed to enjoy it and behaved herself really well, so last weekend we went up on Saturday for her first overnight stay and we all had a great time. She likes to play outside on the decking and and knows to go to the loo out there so she is caravan trained and car trained now - just not house and work trained yet but we are still working on that one.

Peering out through the decking outside the caravan.

With me on the step to the caravan.

Sally likes to be able to go out when she wants to with no lead Freedom ......

Her ears still are not right but at least they are both equal now and we are still working on them daily!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Having a nice seat in the sunshine after Neil got up - she's very good at doing that!!!!!!!

And after all that playing Sally makes herself very comfortable on the sofa .... I think she likes it at the caravan .....

Hopefully my computer will be fixed soon and I can posd loads more pictures...

til then bye for now ................

Week 5

Sally is now 15 weeks old, she weighs 15 kgs (2 1/2 stone) and is 43 cms (17 inches) high. She is just over twice the size now as she was when we got her just 5 weeks ago. Everyone comments on how quick she is growing and we can tell by comparing her height with the coffee table.


Today is quite momentous as Sally has had her first poo outside. I was determined to keep her out until she had been, but it was just the once. She is getting quite used to weeing outside now but won't do it on the street - she always waits untill she gets back to her home ground.
There is certainly no fear of walking her too much at the moment - she is very brave and adventurous when inside the house but very timid when out on the street, once she is past the driveway she will only go a few yards along the road and then with a lot of encouragement. She is very easily spooked and is usually too busy hoovering the floor trying to eat leaves (living and dead), stones, twigs and anything else on the ground, it's a constant battle making sure she does not eat anything and she is learning the command "Leave It!"


Other commands she has learnt are 'sit', 'shake a paw' and 'come' all associated with food.


Other new experiences this week are going out in the rain - she didn't like that much; the wind waking her up at night blowing things over outside - we didn't like that much but she soon settled when I went down. Normally she sleeps all night and just like a teenager has to be woken in the morning, she is usually up for about an hour before she is falling asleep again though.
We were out in the garden earlier when a cat jumped up onto the fence - I don't know who was more startled Sally or the cat, she turned tail and shot back to the door.


Something we have realised lately is that Sally loves men - not just Neil, his dad and brother but any man. When I was taking her for a walk this morning (Wed) there was a guy posting flyers and she went straight up to him, tail wagging like mad wanting to be stroked. Also when I took her to work later in the day she was all over the guys there and when anyone comes to the house she is the same.


Sorry folks - still no photos this week, need to get the computer over to Darwen to the IT guys, I was going to go today but Sally was asleep all morning and Neils dad was here this afternoon, so by the time he had left it was a bit late and I had to go to work for an hour.

Will make up for it next time hopefully!!!!


Bye for now...

Week 4

Hello all,

Sally is now 13 weeks old, weighs 13 kgs and is 16.5 inches high.

We had a fairly quiet week last week, with only Neils' mum and dad visiting.

Neil and I tried to take Sally for walks during the week but she panicked once we had got passed the drive (out of her comfort zone) and didn't want to go any further, so this weekend Neil got her a harness rather than a collar and we all went out together with me walking in front and on Saturday Sally managed to walk around the corner and was doing really well until she heard a dog barking which really panicked her and we had to go back home. On Sunday we did a bit better and got quite a way up the road but she spent more time sitting watching everything than actually walking. It is sometimes hard to remember that everything we take for granted is so new to her. She has met her first dog - a West Highland Terrier and they had a good sniff at each other and Sally didn't get overexcited but stood quietly, probably not knowing what to make of it. She has seen cars and cyclists on the road, families with young children passing near her - she wagged her tail and tried to follow them. But no matter how long we stayed out Sally did not go to the loo outside - instead she went as soon as we got back inside, I suppose this is the drawback of paper training first, we'll just have to catch her her early tomorrow and take her straight out.

This week we had an 'Andrex moment'. Sally got into the bathroom and managed to get hold of the loo roll and pulled it out to the lounge before I saw her - I couldn't help but laugh.

Now when Sally has her mental do's running all over the rooms she cannot get under the drawers anymore without banging her head on the bottom - she used to like going under them.

Sally is getting more used to being in the car now and is quite happy to be left for short periods with no problems.

We still keep taking her to the office for short periods but she can't settle properly, but she is getting more used to being there, so hopefully in a few months things will get better. We have got her a smaller playpen for there but she will not be happy to be locked in it.

No photos this week as we have had a server put in at work and the laptop has been configured with it so I can't find some things on it i.e. contacts for the Incredimail and the software for the camera. Will need to speak to the IT company on Monday.

Bye for now ....