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Post Info TOPIC: Zak Fostering Diary
silverhippo


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Day 11 – Friday 11th August
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Day 11 – Friday 11th August
Nothing much to report this morning.

…

(Graham takes over writing)

We haven't been saying much about the afternoons, mainly because Claire's at work then, and she does most of the writing.

Today was pretty typical. I got home at lunchtime, and both dogs rushed to greet me. Tara is always the first to calm down, so she gets fusses first. That reminds Zak that he is supposed to wait for me to call him, so he sits down, and then can have his fuss.

Afterwards, I walked the dogs. Maybe one day I'll trust them enough to walk them both at the same time, but for the moment Tara goes first, then Zak. They both behave so much better when it's just one dog, one human. Any more and they pull. I think it's showing off.

Tara had a fair bit of energy today, so we walked for about 45 minutes. On the other hand, Zak was quite glad to be home after about 20 minutes. He doesn't have Tara's stamina - yet. Both dogs then slept for a couple of hours.

Around four o'clock, both Tara started to get restless. Normally I'd play with her in the garden for a bit, but this evening we're going out, so she got a second walk. When we got back, Zak had woken up, so he got a walk too.

After that, I tried to concentrate on cooking dinner. The dogs had other ideas, and had a little argument over who would sleep on which rug. I've no idea who started it, but a quick shout sent them both to their own beds.

A few minutes later, both dogs shoot up and ran to greet Claire.

(Back to Claire)

…

I can see that as he becomes more settled Zak's table manners are slipping. Tara knows that she does not get any off the table treats unless she stays on her bed while we are eating. Zak was doing this, but he is currently going through a phase of standing as close as he can get and begging. Eventually (as it wasn't working) he went and lay down. As soon as we had finished though he was up again and would do a sit, but not a down. Tara liked it though as she got his bit as she was behaving well.

…

After our walk we went into the garden to play with the ball. I went out with Zak as Graham had a couple of things to do before he cam out. Playing did not start very well as the first thing that Zak did was to run up and grab my hand and the toy before I could even throw it for him. I didn't manage to keep hold of the toy so he ran round the garden with it. He did stop and drop it when asked so I decided that we would try it properly and managed to throw the ball for him a couple of times. The last time he didn't go after it so I went and picked it up. At that point he charged right at me and started pulling on my sleeve. I changed hands and put the toy out of reach and tried not to get worked up. Just saying no each time he went for the sleeve. He was getting more insistent and growly when Graham arrived in the garden. As soon as Zak spotted Graham he stopped instantly. That gave me the opportunity to get hold of Zak's collar and send him for a timeout.

…

We were in Edinburgh for the evening (a leaving party) and when we came home Tara's bed was in bits with stuffing everywhere. This of course will have been caused by Tara as it happens every time we go out in the evening (she manages the morning without doing this). I am starting to wonder how many times you can stuff the filling in through holes and hide it under the blanket. I would remove the bed when we go out for the evening but then she finds something else to chew (never her toys) from the work surfaces.

High Points:
Starting to get a routine during the day.

Low Points:
Playing with Zak in the garden.



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silverhippo


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Day 12 – Saturday 12th August
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Day 12 – Saturday 12th August
Things are never simple. This morning's walk was to Kenneil and we decided to try both dogs of the lead at once. We chose a big grassy area with no one else around. Tara was already off the lead and behaving well. I made Zak sit and then took off his lead and said "on you go". His first reaction was not the best as he grabbed me round the arm. He then ran off to play with Tara. To start with he ran across the field with Tara charging after him. At this point we started to worry that he was scared of her until he stared to get too far ahead. He looked behind him and slowed down so she could catch up. They played like that for a while and then started the rough play that we had seen in the garden. I did a recall, calling for both of them and was astounded when they both did the recall straight away and both sat in front of me for their treat.

We put Zak back on the lead and continued our walk letting him have a paddle in the pond and say hello to the other dogs that we met.

…

Back in the garden and we had more hedge cutting to get done. Despite (or possibly because of) being tired, both dogs spent loads of time in rough play. Ater a while of separating them, timeouts and getting no work done we gave them the bones from the other day back to keep them distracted. Zak to start with was not sure about his and he left it and Tara did the classic put it with my bone and stand over them both. Graham told her off and gave Zak the bone again. He again was not sure so I pulled some of the meat off it and fed it to him at which point he got the idea. Each time I came down the steps I went up to Zak and made a fuss of him to get him used to the idea that we can be near and touch him when he is eating. I got a couple of curled lips but nothing more. This gave us peace to get some more gardening done. As the dogs were starting to lose interest removing the bones went with no problems.

…

I then left for Edinburgh and girly shopping and pyjama party with some friends.

…

(Here, Graham takes over writing the rest of today's entry.)

After Claire left, the dogs had a pretty normal afternoon - sleeping till four, then being restless and dominance battles. I played with Tara in the garden for a while, then put her in, and played with Zak. We all had fun, although Zak didn't like being inside when Tara and I weren't. He kept whining.

After dinner, I walked the dogs, then mowed the lawn, leaving the door open so that the dogs could wander into the garden if they wanted. Tara went to sleep, but Zak was wandering around the garden. As I was tidying round after mowing the lawn, Zak decided he was scared of the lawn mower. He had a growl at it, then ran at it snapping. I told him to leave it, so he had a growl and snap at me instead. I got hold of him, and he had a timeout.

After that both dogs behaved - largely sleepy, and were very welcoming when Claire returned from her night out.

High Points:
The dogs playing well together.
The great recall from both of them.

Low Points:
Arm grabbing.
Growling over the lawn mower.



-- Edited by silverhippo at 16:15, 2006-08-16

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silverhippo


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Day 13 – Sunday 13th August
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Day 13 – Sunday 13th August
Well today was the GALa and getting up after a late night was not easy, but I managed it and we arrived at the park at 10am. I got left to hold both very excited dogs as Graham moved chairs. Thankfully this was not for too long as most of the setting up had already been done by the early arriving volunteers and my sister and partner had turned up as well. Graham even managed to take Tara round some of the agility course while it was quiet. The woman running the course managed to get her over jumps and the weave, so we were impressed. We had a wander around and bought some stuff and then settled down to run the welly throwing stall.

Welly throwing was a fun thing to run, people seemed to have fun. More often than not the welly went in completely the wrong direction. So we had wellys going up in the air and landing behind the line (graham having referee qualifications can run backwards well). Wellys going sidewards. Wellys going beyond the far line and onto the path. It was hilarious and slightly scary at points. The furthest throw for those interested was an amazing 127 feet.

It was a great day and there are probably too many things to mention. Mainly it was great to see so many of you and your dogs.

As there were four of us we also managed to enter the dogs in lots of competitions. Tara got 3rd in sight hound youngster and Zak took 2nd in both Greyhound male and Brindle.

When it was quietening down towards the end I gave the agility a go with Zak as well. He also can be bribed to do jumps and the weave. He of course is better at the weave than me as the second time I managed to tie him to it with his lead.

Interestingly we noticed that Zak had learnt another new trick, when someone came up to see him he would have a fuss and then sit in anticipation of a treat. Partly he was doing this as anyone who asked if they could feed the dogs a treat was asked to make him sit first. That way other people help reinforce the training we do with the dogs.

All day they were both very well behaved and loved all the attention.

…

Home again and everyone is exhausted, it is amazing how well behaved doggies are when they are tired.

High Points:
Fun GALa

Low Points:
Having to get up early after a late night.



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silverhippo


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Day 14 – Monday 14th August
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Day 14 – Monday 14th August
After the weekend you would have thought that the dogs would be too tired to play, but it would appear that they have their energy back. More rough play this morning, they were playing the 'can I get your head or neck in my mouth' game. This always looks so rough but I don't think that it is anything other than rough play. Sometimes I think I have two boisterous teenagers in the house. If it gets too rough I send them both to their beds, which I had to do this morning.

…
(Graham takes over writing)

The afternoon went pretty much to routine, although with a second walk just before dinner. Zak decided to wait until I was part way through making pizzas before climbing on the couch. Tara took exception, and that started a dominance battle. A little scolding and being made to lie down calmed both dogs, which is encouraging. Maybe they were tired after all.

(And back to Claire)
…

This evening we had friends round to visit the dogs. After a very boisterous greeting everyone settled down. I think that our friends don't really believe that Zak is a problem dog as he behaved very well all night. Both dogs begged for pizza and garlic bread, but there was no stealing. So we all managed to have a fun and relaxing night.

High Points:
Dogs showing our guests how well they can behave.

Low Points:

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max


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RE: Zak Fostering Diary
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Your last post LOW POINTS: blank ,  sounds encouraging, lets hope the trend continues. Have to say the diary is compulsive reading keep up the good work.  Nora 

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silverhippo


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Valerie wrote:

Claire


Biscuit often runs in a frenzy in the garden (mostly after his long walk) and it defo winds him up.  He runs in wide circles, sometimes with his bottom tucked under , like a prawn.  As he passes you, he gives quite a fearsome bark, and will sometimes escalate into jumping with mouth open to bite.  We stand our ground quietly, but if he is winding himself up or trying to use his mouth, we just turn our backs and walk into the house.  Biscuit hates exclusion, and he usually stops immediately we leave the scene.  We see him as definitely challenging us to be "physical" with him i.e. chase me RIGHT now, cos I say so.  We do play chases in the garden with him, but he knows it's on our terms and rules, and if we don't like how he is playing, we let him know by showing our backs and walking.


Not sure if this helps.




We also try to ignore this behaviour or turn our backs on him. I have to be a bit careful that I don’t get an arm grabbing dog in the middle of my back at the moment, or my bottom nipped. He normally does calm down quite quickly if ignored. The problem can be dealing with it if he has managed to get hold of a sleeve and is working himself up even more. So far with both of us we have managed to cope. I am more worried that he tries this with someone else, not that he has shown any sign of it with our friends in the garden and he does not get off the lead when out unless there is no one else around. It is just the potential that worries me.

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Valerie


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Claire


I understand completely your concern, as I have it too.  It's just it sounded so much like Biscuit, because despite his cute beard, he can be a real thug when he wants, and he will deliberately nip, as he does a flying leap past!  It was much worse in the early days, which I put down to him not being socialised, so he is going through all his puppy things later in life.  The real downside of this, as with Zak, is that you have a fully grown dog's weight and teeth flying at you, and even Biscuit is 5'4" on his back legs, so it can be a bit scary.


Shouting at Biscuit (No, stop etc) seemed to wind him up worse, and when they are full of adrenaline, they can't even hear you.  With sheer slogging consistency of our behaviour, Biscuit is getting there in terms of learning unacceptability.  I would never let anyone play with Biscuit unsupervised because we know he has the potential to be a bit thuggish.  Most of the time, he's very sweet, and we try to play chases with him when he has a toy in his mouth, which at least keeps his mouth closed!


It must be very frustrating, but I do think you are getting there with Zak, and I'm sure he has never had such a good home and care, it's just that even when you treat them like kings, they can act like brats.  I've had a good smirk to myself when the Biscuit fan club says how cute he is, and that day he's been hanging off my sleeve!!


I'm sure you'll get there, and I think you're all doing a great job.



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silverhippo


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Day 15 – Tuesday 15th August
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Day 15 – Tuesday 15th August
(Graham does the writing.)

This morning was a bit rushed. We hadn't managed to crawl out of bed quite early enough. My fault for hitting "snooze" on the alarm instead of getting up immediately. The dogs seemed to notice the rush, and were pulling a bit on the walk.

The afternoon was dominated by Zak climbing on the couch. He seems determined to secure himself a more comfortable place to sleep, and thinks if he is just persistent enough, he'll win. He's in for a shock.

The big problem is that Zak's behaviour winds Tara up, and she misbehaves worse than he does. When she catches him on the couch she barks and bounces around, leading to dominance battle that threatens to wreck the house. This afternoon, Tara had three timeouts - of increasing length - and Zak one, plus he's been sent to his bed several times. I'd like to use more timeouts on him, but we've only got one timeout room, and Tara's roughness is probably worse than Zak's disobedience.

When Claire got home the dogs went wilder than normal. Jumping up, and refusing to be calm. I think they may have hoped Claire would be less strict with them than me. Not likely. Tara was especially bad, giving Zak a little nip on the back of one leg. Another timeout. This time Tara seemed quite sheepish when she emerged.

Unfortunately, almost as soon as Claire came in, she found out about a major problem at work. Curse of IT staff. Normally these problems are quickly fixed, but this one dragged on, and ruined the routine for the rest of the evening, distressing both dogs.

In the end, I walked the dogs alone. Zak went first, as he was behaving much better than Tara. Both of them behaved while we were out. Zak's walk was quite short - he started complaining of exhaustion almost as soon as we left the house. When I got back from Tara's longer walk, Claire and Zak were happily sitting on the floor together. Something had obviously upset Tara. She went from behaving well on the walk, to a monster. She charged Zak, and when told to leave him, she thought about snapping at Claire. Then she did snap at me, and pulled on the strap of the bag we keep the doggy stuff in. Zak hid behind Claire, and I managed to get hold of Tara as she tried to charge past me. Yet another timeout.

We spent what was left of the evening sat on the floor with Zak and Cisco the cat, ignoring the monster pup.

High Points:
Zak behaving in the evening.
Zak and Cisco having fusses together

Low Points:
Zak on the couch.
Tara's temper tantrums.



-- Edited by silverhippo at 10:51, 2006-08-18

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silverhippo


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Day 16 – Wednesday 16th August
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Day 16 – Wednesday 16th August
Not a lot to report again this morning, a small amount of Tara thinking that she might steal Zak's food, but not doing so when told no.

…

(Graham takes over writing.)

The dogs had behaved while I was out this morning, but were less good when I had to nip out later. Claire's having endless troubles with her car, so I had nipped to the garage so they could have a look. When I got back, I found that one of the dogs (probably Zak - Tara knows better) had jumped on to the surface, and managed to slightly turn on one of the gas rings. I let the dogs into the garden, turned off the gas, and opened all the windows and doors. The house stank! Thankfully I wasn't gone long, but we really need to keep Zak off surfaces. Next time could be very dangerous.

After that fright, we had a repeat of Zak's campaign for a seat on the couch. Today, Tara was much better behaved. Maybe all those timeouts yesterday did some good. I was able to discipline Zak without Tara's interference, and he had several timeouts. Not sure if it has done any good, yet.

(Back to Claire.)

…

We had a nice walk this evening; Zak needs a bit more practice of his on the lead recall though. When we let Tara off the lead we always do a recall with a treat to remind her how it works. She runs up and sits in front of me and then gets the treat and told 'on you go'. We have also started doing this with Zak as well but with him on the lead. Graham runs up with him. Zak so far has not learned to stop in front of me so I get a dog in the middle who then falls/lands on the floor and sits. Very funny but not quite what we want.

The one draw back about this walk is that some of the locals have these off road buggie things and mini bikes. We chose a different route to where they were but later on in the walk they came round a bend towards us. Graham had Zak on the lead behind me but Tara was on the path ahead. Thankfully she saw the first one and came running to hide behind me. I called her and put her on the lead. The guys were being quite responsible as they did stop as soon as they spotted us and turned the engines off as we went past. I just have the feeling that these things and community woodland walks don't mix well. I was also worried that Tara would go for the lead one as she really hates these things. When she was a puppy we were on a walk when a teenager on one of these mini bikes decided that it would be funny to drive at her up the path. She went mental and tried to charge him back snapping and trying to grab him off. It took ages to get her back and calmed down. She could so easily have done the same thing today so I was very pleased when she behaved so sensibly.

Both dogs were very snugly this evening and really enjoyed having a long grooming session. It is really noticeable that Tara needs brushed, but Zak needs polished with the brush. He was so calm that I decided to do his teeth, gel on finger technique. I got all the top teeth done and then gave him a treat. I will do the bottom ones another day.

High Points:
Snuggly grooming

Low Points:
Zak on couch.



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silverhippo


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Day 17 – Thursday 17th August
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Day 17 – Thursday 17th August
We had a very nice walk this morning with little in the way of pulling. The dogs got to see some of the dogs in the back gardens we walk past though Zak did bark at one of them. Thought the dog in question often barks itself and runs around excitedly. As I don't want Zak doing this I made him walk on while Tara got to say hello.

…

This afternoon has been pretty quiet, mainly because the dogs haven't been allowed in the room with the couch. Peace through shutting one door. We'll need to deal with the problem eventually, but it's postponed for now.

Instead, they've both been arguing over beds. Every time I go into the kitchen at least one of them is on the wrong bed. Frequently both. They've been very quiet about it, just slipping on when no one is looking. I'd let it go, but sometimes one of them gets upset at not being able to use their bed. So I've been patiently moving dogs on to the correct beds. When they're both at it, I do wonder how much point there is, but it'll probably save tears in the long run.

About five o'clock I took both dogs into the garden. We all wandered peacefully down to the bottom, then Zak shoot off back up the garden, with Tara in hot pursuit. A moment later, Tara reappeared, now being chased by Zak. This went on for about ten minutes, with each dog taking turns to chase or be chased, stopping sometimes to box. Eventually, Zak gave a little yelp, and I told Tara to leave him. Both dogs lay down, panting. I don't think Zak was hurt at all, just tired and had enough.

…

When I got home I was pleased to here that the dogs had behaved well and decided that as we were having tuna for dinner so could they. It certainly seemed to go down well. The evening walk on the other had did not go so well. We did our usual recall when Tara first got off the lead, which she did perfectly. Zak also looked about to do a reasonable one when Tara ran at him, at which point both dogs got snappy Zak because she was scaring him. I waved the treat around and continued to call the recall. Tara then sat and was put back on the lead and I made Zak sit and gave him his treat.

After we had walked for a while we decided to let Tara off again and she behaved very well. At one point we decided to have a run with Zak so having done this once and decided that my trousers would fall down if I did it again Graham had a go. He decided to run back the way we came and Zak got a bit upset and bouncy but was OK coming back towards us. Graham tried this a couple of times and Zak got the idea that going the other way was fine. So we ended up with an exhausted Graham and a smiley Zak.

As we were heading home we go up a very steep bank and Tara had gone ahead and Zak wanted to run up the bank so we ran (Zak helps a lot) to the top. At the top Tara turned round and they had a bit of a play/boxing match. As it started to get rough Graham and I told them that that was enough. At this point Tara started nipping Zak, primarily going for his back end and face. Graham and I shielded Zak. He ended up with his bum nearly between Graham's legs and me crouching over his front. Tara once she could no longer get at him thought about having a go at us and took a while to calm down. Again she was put on the lead and ignored all the rest of the way home. We appear to have Zak as the non problem dog and Tara being the problem dog at the moment. She appears to have some problem with us and Zak running.

Once home Zak was given a large tripe stick as he was so well behaved. I was making a fuss of him while he ate when he decided to growl at me and Cisco who was sitting near by. So I made him take a time out. After the time out I put him through his paces, sit, down, leave while the treat is sitting in front of him. This time I decided to try something new and when I said on you go I kept hold of one end so he had to chew it with me holding it. We had no growls and I could take it off him and give it back fine. After doing this for a while I let him alone to eat it in peace. When Graham walked right past him on the way to the kitchen there was no growling or even a look round from Zak.


High Points:
Dogs playing together in the garden
Holding a high value treat and no growls from Zak

Low Points:
Dogs on wrong beds
Tara increasingly becoming our problem dog instead.



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Teresa


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RE: Zak Fostering Diary
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fascinating diary, thank you.  you are doing so well with Zak.


What's the issue with the separate beds?  our two swap and share and don't argue over beds.  do Tara and Zak argue? 



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silverhippo


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daves_mum wrote:


fascinating diary, thank you.  you are doing so well with Zak.


What's the issue with the separate beds?  our two swap and share and don't argue over beds.  do Tara and Zak argue? 




Tara has a bed that she got at Christmas that she thinks as hers, Zak discovered that going on Tara's bed wound her up.  This taught Tara that he could be wound up if she went on his bed.  Not sure which bed which dog wants these days and even if we should or shouldn't try and intervene.  We also have rules that the dogs are not allowed on the couch in the study (as that is Graham's seat).  They are also not allowed on the cat's bed.  This gives the dogs the idea that beds are personal.


Recently though they have both on occasion been spotted on the same bed.  Zak thinks that he wants to be a cuddly sleeper, Tara is not so sure, but she may be coming round to the idea.


Claire



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Teresa


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Ah I see, thank you.  Aren't they funny

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silverhippo


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Day 18 – Friday 18th August
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Day 18 – Friday 18th August
Not too bad this morning, all three pets were snuggly. We even got to briefly see Zak and Tara sharing a bed. As Tara was tired (as was I) I sat on the edge of her bed to fuss her and she leaned in to put her head on my lap. Zak was standing next to us and decided to cuddle up to Tara on the bed as well. Tara was not sure about this, especially when he wriggled backwards to be closer to her. She just pulled faces but he seemed happy so I continued stroking them. Cisco also joined us, though he would only stand next to us for his fuss.

…

(Graham takes over writing.)

This afternoon was wet, and that upset the pets. To start with, three morose animals tried to sleep until the rain was over. Zak was on one bed in the kitchen, Tara and Cisco the cat on the other. Of course, as soon as I went to get a camera, Tara and Cisco both stood up. "Us being cute and cuddly and friendly? You can't prove it, no one will believe you..."

A little later, Tara had moved into the living room with me, and Zak made the mistake of getting up for a drink. Moments later, Cisco was in the middle of Zak's bed, and Zak was standing there, bemused. Rather than dare argue with the cat, he went and curled up on Tara's bed. She didn't notice, so I let it slide.

Cisco dashed outside during a brief lull in the rain. He was back in ten minutes later, but by then, Zak had reclaimed his bed. Cisco stalked around grumpily for a while, then I heard a loud growling from the kitchen. I went through to find Cisco growling at Zak, I think trying to get Zak to give up his bed. Zak was very good, and didn't move, although he did look bemused. When I didn't shoo Zak off the bed, Cisco eventually stalked off.

…

The weather didn't improve much this evening, and the dogs were getting restless. We decided to pull on waterproofs and walk down to the local shop. I stayed outside with the dogs, while Claire nipped in for a bottle of wine. It wasn't raining too hard, so we decided to take a longer route back. What a mistake! The heaven's opened, our waterproofs proved inadequate, and we all got home soaked and miserable. Tara is pretty tolerant about being dried, but Zak has yet to learn that the towel is his friend.



High Points:
Pets getting on well



Low Points:
The rain (we all hate it)



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Gail


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RE: Zak Fostering Diary
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No offence, because i personally hate the rain and Neo hates it more than me, but it was lovely to see that your latest "low point" was about the weather rather than the dogs....definate progress!!


You are doing a fantastic job



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silverhippo


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Day 19 – Saturday 19th August
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 Day 19 – Saturday 19th August
(Graham writing.)

This morning was surprisingly dry and bright, so we took the dogs for a walk in Blackness woods. Before you reach the woods there's a large, open area. We were fairly early, and no one else was around, so we decided to let the dogs off the lead for a run. Last time we'd let Zak off (last Saturday, day 12) he had a grab at Claire. This time he just shot off to run with Tara, much to Claire's relief.

Claire did a couple of recalls with the dogs. The first one worked well. Tara apparently thinks she might get both treats if she is faster than Zak. The second one was a lot slower, as both dogs were distracted by playing. We'll need to work on that.

After a few minutes of running around, Zak was starting to look tired, and Tara was being a bit snappy. Neither dog would do a recall at this point. I managed to get Tara close enough to grab and put her back on the lead. Zak took longer - he kept running round us in circles. Claire eventually got him back, and he spent the rest of the walk on the lead. Recalls are going to take a lot more effort.

The rest of the walk went well, spoiled only slightly by a bloke racing around on a motorbike. The dogs didn't seem too bothered, although we kept them on a short lead just in case. He'd made a right muddy mess of the path, though.

...

After lunch we took another hack at our overgrown hedges. Sometimes I wish we just had fences. The dogs were quite tired, and happy to lie around on the lawn with their bones. Tara had a go at nicking Zak's bone, but she didn't argue when I took it off her and gave it back to him. Tara is gnawing away her bone at a rate of knots. Zak is much more delicate, scraping the best bits off the surface.

After they got bored of the bones, the dogs played in the garden. Thankfully no arguments! Zak found an apple that had fallen from the tree, and was tossing it about. We were a bit worried one of the dogs might try to eat it, as it wasn't nearly ripe. So Claire went and fetched two decent apples from the house. Tara demolished hers in minutes, while Zak played with his. I don't think he quite gets the idea of eating them - he seems to prefer treating it as a toy. The apple did vanish when I wasn't looking, so presumably someone ate it.

The larger hedge cuttings proved popular dog toys. At one point Zak looked like a little, mobile tree. Wish I'd had a camera on me.

...

Andy (who helped run the welly wanging stall at the GALa) is turning thirty soon, and today he had a celebratory night at a very dog-friendly pub (the Caley Sample Rooms on Angle Park Terrace in Edinburgh). The staff provided bowls of water, and kept coming over to fuss the dogs, and feed them treats. Both dogs enjoyed the attention, and the buffet that was laid on. Given all the distractions, they were pretty well behaved, until Tara worked out where all the sandwiches and sausage rolls were coming from. After that Tara kept pulling at her lead, trying to get over to help herself. Thankfully, Zak was much better behaved.


High Points:
Zak doing better off the lead
Good at the pub


Low Points:

-- Edited by silverhippo at 08:54, 2006-08-23

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Day 20 – Sunday 20th August
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Day 20 – Sunday 20th August
This morning was spent tidying the house as we were having visitors who would arrive early. The dogs find the process boring so have slept or looked bored. Unfortunately when we decided that it was time for a walk it was raining. Neither dog likes the rain, and they were a bit disappointed that they did not get the usual long Sunday morning walk.

When we returned our visitors had arrived so the dogs were all excited and were a real pain while I tried to dry them and wipe feet. Our visitors are Graham's cousin Alex and her fiancι Ross. They are visiting from England so I can take measurements and talk fabric with Alex prior to starting her wedding dress.

...

Alex and Ross both like animals, and Alex has six rescued cats. I think that Ross prefers dogs and he certainly spent a lot of time playing with Zak and Tara. Once the dogs had stopped showing off (play fighting, trying to sit on peoples laps, etc.) they calmed down and settled on beds to be fussed and admired. Sometimes even on the same bed.

...

Alex and I disappeared into the fabric room to talk dresses, followed by Cisco who proceeded to try and sleep on every bit of fabric. Pets are not normally allowed in the fabric room.

...

Dresses all worked out, we cooked a meal for the guys so they could eat before the long drive home. The dogs of course begged. Zak is not a fruit and vedge eating dog, Tara and he were given a mushroom each which Tara enjoyed but Zak spat back out.

...

Once lunch was over Ross was making a fuss of the dogs before leaving and was nearly mouthed by Zak, until I stopped Zak. This is the first person other than us that Zak has done this to. This is something I have been noticing with Zak, if you make a fuss of him he gets excited (in a sexual way). Not having had male dogs before I am not sure how normal this is, especially in dogs who have had the snip. Once Zak is excited in this way he is very likely to mouth you or growl and want to engage in the type of rough play that involves grabbing you. This appears to be getting worse at the moment and we have noticed this happening a lot. He doesn’t have to have a lot of fuss either before this happens; just a tickle behind the ears does it. As Ross was making a lot of Zak he nearly got the full force of problem Zak, but I stepped in, explained and took Zak away and he calmed down. Any ideas on this one guys? Will he grow out of this, is it normal (do we have a horny teenager in the house)?

...

As the dogs had missed out on their Sunday morning walk we took them over to Kinneil. Unfortunately as soon as we stepped out of the car it started to rain. Not the normal kind of rain, but the kind that comes down in sheets and bounces back off the ground. We walked under the pine trees for a while as that was like walking in heavy rain rather than being battered by rain. The dogs were less than impressed, Tara behaved well and was off the lead the whole time. Zak wanted to run around and kept pulling on the lead. Once we were half way round it stopped raining and the sun came out. When we got to the large grassy area it was quiet so we decided that Zak could have a run as well. Graham made him sit and let him off the lead. At that point Zak jumped up at Graham grabbing for clothes and missed so grabbed for the bag with toys/poop bags in. He managed to get the flap of the bag pulled and then let go and ran off. The dogs went galloping round playing and boxing and then things started to get a bit rough. We tried the recall but both dogs were ignoring us. This went on for a while and Zak started to feel that he was losing and wanted to come to us but did not want to let Tara catch him. They had been getting closer and closer so Graham grabbed Tara and then Zak came back fine.

...

Later on we decided to give them some tripe sticks, and we had no growling or any problems, so we all settled down to have a lazy Sunday evening.


 


High Points:
Dogs very friendly with our visitors



Low Points:
Dogs playing too rough and ignoring commands
Zak getting too exited and mouthy



-- Edited by silverhippo at 09:40, 2006-08-23

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FAJ


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Just a wee aside..... mushrooms are toxic to dogs. Another one of those strange foods that nobody would ever have thought could do them any harm! Like onions.

Sounds like things are going well and the dogs are finding their feet together.

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Day 21 – Monday 21st August
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Day 21 – Monday 21st August
Well I though that this morning was going very well with both dogs being very sleepy and snugly. Unfortunately that did not last. Zak was laid on the floor in the study and Tara started pestering him and trying to play. He did not want this so we stopped her.  I think that we are going to have to take more of a stance when it comes to doggy interaction.  We took the dogs for their morning walk, which seemed to calm Tara down. I suspect she was impatient, and taking it out on poor Zak.


 


 (Graham takes over writing)

...

This afternoon was fairly quiet. The dogs enjoyed a peaceful walk each, and were fairly calm until after dinner.

As usual, after everyone had eaten, we took the dogs for their main walk. When we reached the woodland, I let Tara off the lead, and Claire did a recall. Tara came perfectly, and got her treat. Claire then called Zak, and we ran over together, with me still holding Zak's lead. This is becoming quite a normal way to start our walks.

Tara doesn't seem to approve of Zak running, or getting treats, or something. She had a snap at him, trying to get behind him and bite his bum. Claire had brought along a little atomiser spray to spray Tara if this happened. The spray was not powerful enough and Tara did not even notice it. I pulled Zak in close, so Claire and I could protect him, and Claire managed to grab hold of Tara. I fussed Zak while Claire told Tara off, and put her back on the lead.

After that the walk was fairly calm. Zak got to sniff around and set the pace, while Tara was kept at the back, however much she tried to pull. Towards the end she managed to twist and wrench the lead out of Claire's hand. I saw Tara go shooting past, dragging her lead. I managed to get a foot on the end of the lead, so she didn't get far, so another row for Tara.

Throughout all this, Zak was behaving very well.

Zak's good behaviour didn't last long. When we got home, Tara was quite docile, so Zak tried to take advantage. He kept picking fights with Tara and jumping on the couch. When Claire told him off, he had a little growl at her too, and wouldn't get off the couch. Eventually, Claire half pulled, half carried him off the couch, and into the toilet for a timeout.

We decided that what both dogs needed was a good training session. While Zak had his timeout, we took Tara into the garden and did a series of sits, waits, and recalls. Then we did the same with Zak, and finally with both in the garden at once.

The training session did seem to calm the dogs down, and tire them out. It's still a bit worrying how wild they've both been today.

...

I took the dogs for their last thing at night walk. I had just picked up one of Tara's giant poops, when this loud, gruff voice shouted, "If everyone did that." I looked over, wondering what I and the dogs were supposed to be doing wrong, to see an old bloke with a collie, waving his own poop bag at me. "It would be bloody brilliant," he finished. As he walked on, I smiled and gave him a thumbs up. Sometimes there isn't anything else to say.


 


…


 


(Claire voices some thoughts on the day)


 


Today has been one of the worst days for a while.  Now there is also a lot going on in Graham and my lives at the moment and we were already stressed due to serious family health problems.  Possibly the dogs are picking up on that as well, but today I find myself quite stressed by the dogs behaviour.  I had hoped that by now they would have calmed down with each other and we wouldn’t get this constant poking at each other in the house.  I am especially worried about the points where one of the dogs decides to get the upper hand over the other as these can get quite rough.  The only way I can see of dealing with this is to get very strict and stop the dogs doing this maybe with the plant sprayer.  I think that in most areas we are making good progress but if the dogs can't learn to play properly we still have a huge problem.


 


High Points:


The dogs are calm during the afternoon



Low Points:
The dogs are still arguing over who is top dog.



-- Edited by silverhippo at 14:09, 2006-08-24

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Day 22 – Tuesday 22nd August
Today was another very ordinary morning; we seem to be slipping into a nice regular routine.  The same was true for the afternoon.
…

When I got home Tara seemed particularly pleased to see me and wanted loads of fusses. Zak was a bit huffy as I would not make a fuss until he had sat. Both dogs were good while we had dinner but were a bit impatient afterwards to go for their walk.

Today I am more prepared. After the ineffectiveness of the small spray I have figured a sensible way to take a plant mister on walks. When we got the community woodland, we did the usual recall with Tara. She then almost instantly went to try and bite Zak on the bum. I was ready with the plant spray and a couple of sprays later and she had the idea that this was not going to be allowed so wandered off to sniff things. Zak then did his recall with no problems. The rest of the walk was fine until near the end when Tara thought about doing it again but having noticed that I still had the plant spray she decided not to.

Once we got home we decided to do some training with the dogs in the garden. We started with a recall for both dogs which worked well. We then sent them off to play in the garden. At this point they started playing a bit rough and I noticed that Tara was not doing her usual mouthing. I think that being sprayed earlier has made her think that it is not allowed at all. This was great apart from the fact that Zak took this as an opportunity to get the upper hand and actually became rougher with her. We tried the recall but Tara just fled up the garden and managed to wrench a leg. As soon as she got near Graham he stopped her to look at her leg. At this point Zak decided that he would now do the recall and returned to me. He then wanted to chase Tara again but we sent him for a time out. This incident does worry me slightly as he can be very rough when he thinks that he is getting the upper hand.

I checked Tara's leg and there was no damage and she soon forgot about it when the treats came out. We then did some further training with her. Sit, down, recall, and down stays. All of which she managed perfectly. We then let Zak out and ignored him for a couple of minutes. We gave Tara her rawhide for being good and to keep her occupied as we took Zak into the garden for some training.

Zak did his commands fine, apart from the down stay and as this is the first time we have tried this he is just learning. We even managed throwing a stick (so he was excited) and then giving him a treat when he dropped the stick on command.

Back in the house and Zak was also given a rawhide and was initially fine and happily chewed away while being fussed. On trying this a second time he ignored the treat and started growling and then snarling when told no. He was sent for a second timeout and was not given the treat back.

While he was on his timeout I groomed Tara to remove the sticky burs that she had managed to gather. When Zak was let out I also groomed him as he had calmed down nicely.

High Points:
Tara appears to be learning that nipping Zak is unacceptable.
Zak can do sit, down, recall (unless distracted), and almost a down stay.

Low Points:
Zak getting a bit more pushy in a couple of directions.

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Just a little update to say that we have not dropped of the face of the earth. I have just not had as much time for diary writing this week as we are going on holiday tomorrow. This will be Tara’s first holiday (apart from trips and over night stays at my parents), and I am not sure if Zak has been on holiday before. So this should be an adventure. We have a self-catering cottage in the Pennines booked. I will try and take loads of photos and update you all on how it goes.



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Hope you all have a lovely break in the Pennines. We certainly look forward to seeing the photos,


Em and Chad xx



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OK, prepare for a load of updates from before our holiday.  Mainly written by Graham as I have been lazy about the updates.

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Day 23 – Wednesday 23rd August
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Day 23 – Wednesday 23rd August
Having decided to be a bit more pro active in stopping the dogs playing too roughly I had to spray them both this morning. Tara was fine but as soon as I sprayed him Zak decided to curl his lip at me instead. As he had stopped the chewing on Tara I was lowering the spray, which seemed to calm him. I hope that this is not going to be an increasing problem with him.


...


(Graham takes over writing)


The dogs were quiet again this afternoon. I'm beginning to think that they know Claire's only home in the evenings, so they're saving their energy for when everyone is together.


One benefit is that Cisco is much happier to be inside. He's spent much of the day sleeping in sight of dogs, although not on the same bed today. Apparently on the rug right in the middle of the floor is currently prime territory.


...


Claire was greeted as usual, and we settled down to dinner. Both dogs are pretty good these days, lying quietly on beds until we finish eating. Cisco, on the other hand, was being a monster. Constant wowl, wowl, and rubbing at legs. We threw him out in the end. It comes to something when your cat is worse for begging at tables than your dogs.


After we'd fed the dogs, we took them for a walk at Kinneil. Towards the end we managed to find an open space with no one around. Since both dogs had been behaving very well, we thought we'd try letting Zak off. While I undid the collar, Claire distracted him with a bit of cheese. Zak didn't even notice we'd let him off. After a couple of treats, Claire told Zak to go play. He bounced slightly, wondering if he should grab at a sleeve, but didn't. Instead he ran off.


For a few minutes, the dogs ran around together, with Zak slowing down any time he pulled away from Tara. Then Zak got tired, and Tara got snappy. She currently seem to see any sign of weakness as a signal to be very dominant. Zak soon came back to us for protection, and I grabbed Tara, and put her back on the lead. We really need to teach the dogs to play more gently. I'm always worried that one of them will get seriously hurt.


...


Eventually both dogs fell asleep. Tara in the kitchen, Zak upside down against the sideboard in the living room. That's a position that Tara keeps getting in as well. It doesn't seem to matter where the dogs fall asleep, eventually they roll over, and they're propped against the sideboard, legs stuck up in the air. If Tara gets in that position, she's stuck. One of us needs to slide her out into the middle of the room before she can stand up again. Zak just kicked off the sideboard. Clever little man.

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Day 24 – Thursday 24th August
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Day 24 – Thursday 24th August
When I first came down stairs this morning Tara was very fussy and wanted to sit for ages with her head on my lap. I managed to sit between the dog beds so I could fuss Zak at the same time. Now they have had breakfast doggies are a bit restless and I have spent a bit of time chasing them round the house in an attempt to stop them arguing.


(Graham takes over writing)


So much for my theory that the dogs are quiet until Claire gets home. Tara has been a monster today. Pulling constantly on the lead while out walking. Constantly poking and mouthing at Zak in the house. She's been shouted at so many times she may now think her name is "bad dog", and has endured several timeouts.


Peace finally descended around half four. I don't know whether Tara's finally decided to behave, or if she's just exhausted.


(Back to Claire)


As it was a nice night we decided to have a walk around Linlithgow lock. We managed the first off the lead recall fine and Tara ignored Zak while he did his which was just as well as I had forgotten the plant spray. We had a nice walk with both dogs behaving very well until we were nearly back to the car. Zak had stopped for a poop so I called Tara back to me as she was a bit ahead. I had intended to do a recall when I got her attention. I am not sure what Tara though but she came charging back at full speed and went strait for Zak (the usual trying to nip him on the bum). I went in to protect him and got grabbed by the sleeve. She let go and came in again this time nipping me on the arm. Not sure if she meant this or whether she was just trying to get at Zak. Graham grabbed her told her off and put her on the lead. Zak and I continued the walk with lots of praise and cuddles for him as he was behaving very well. Graham followed on making Tara walk to heel the whole way. I completely ignored Tara and continued to do so when we got home. We mad a lot of fuss of Zak and ignored Tara the whole evening and Zak got her usual privileges. First through doors, allowed on the back seat of the car while she went in the boot (they don't both fit in the boot). It seemed to work and Tara was very subdued all evening.


In light of this incident and the fact that it both scared and horrified me I have decided that the problem is the rough play. I think that as she plays very roughly with Zak she does not know that this is unsuitable behaviour and we have only being stopping them when it gets too rough. From now on we are not going to allow any poking by either dog and absolutely no rough play. This really is a huge setback for us as I felt that we were starting to make progress with Zak, but Tara's reaction to him is getting worse and her behaviour is slipping drastically. Hopefully the new policy of zero tolerance to rough play will bring things round. But at the moment I honesty feel like crying in frustration and wonder if we are ever going to have a point where the dogs will play fine together.


High Points:
Zak is behaving very well.


Low Points:
Tara's increasing bad behaviour.

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Day 25 - Friday 25th August
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Day 25 - Friday 25th August
Today, Tara's behaviour has been very good, if a bit subdued. Seems that being ignored and Zak getting precedent worked, at least for the moment. The evening walk went well. Tara didn't think about snapping, and came back when called.


When we got home, the other shoe dropped. Tara being subdued meant Zak thought he might be allowed to poke at her. Nothing really bad, but it meant an hour or so of "Zak leave", "Zak on your bed", and a couple of time outs.


Why can't both dogs behave at the same time?

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Day 26 - Saturday 26th August
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Day 26 - Saturday 26th August
Tara's known for a while that weekends are different from work days, and has expectations. If we get up a bit later and take a bit more time over breakfast, she anticipates a more interesting walk. Are we meeting up with the GAL greyhounds, family, or friends? Or are we going to an interesting wood somewhere, so she can run around and chew sticks?


Now, Zak has worked out the difference too. With two impatient dogs, they can wind themselves up a little more, and getting them to wait patiently is harder, and doesn't last as long when (if!) they do settle down.


Eventually, we got everything organised, despite the dogs' help, and headed over to Linlithgow Loch. This was a return to the scene of Tara's crime on Thursday night, and this time she behaved an awful lot better, despite being pretty over-excited. There was one slight problem, when Zak went down to a stream for a drink. Tara seemed to think this was her private water, and snapped at him. We told her to leave him, and she did. After that, she behaved again. Maybe the new tougher policy is working with her.


On the way home we stopped at the local farm shop, leaving the dogs in the car for a few minutes. When we got back, Zak was happily curled up on the driver's seat, and determined not to budge. Claire had to drag him out. We need a dog guard - not for while we're driving, but for when we have to leave them in the parked car.


After lunch, we tried to get some gardening done. Zak decided to prove that two dogs can't both behave at the same time, and wouldn't leave Tara alone. Tara was still worried about getting into trouble, and was quite subdued. She wasn't even really fight back when Zak was grabbing her. It took several timeouts to convince Zak that just because Tara was behaving, it didn't mean he could be a bully instead.


In the evening we headed over to Claire's parents. Up till now we've been travelling with one dog in the boot, and one on the back seat. Instead, we tried putting the back seats down, and putting both dogs in through the boot. This should give the dogs more room, but as they weren't used to it, we started off with a few little arguments over who was going to lie where, standing on tails, etc. Hopefully they'll get used to it before we go on holiday, and we need some of that space for luggage.


We stayed overnight, which gave Zak a couple of new experiences. First time he's visited Claire's parents, and first time he's slept anywhere else since we've had him. At first he was a bit excited, being around new people. When we made no move to go home, and he noticed we'd brought his bed, etc. with us, he started to look worried. Perhaps he thought we were going to leave him. When it was time for bed, he did whine a little, but wasn't too much trouble.

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Day 27 - Sunday 27th August
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Day 27 - Sunday 27th August
By six-thirty on Sunday morning, Zak was awake, walking around and rattling doors. I dragged myself out of bed and into clothes, and went to check on him. That woke Tara up, so I walked both of them, then borrowed my Mother-in-law's computer until everyone else surfaced.


Zak was quite wound up at being in a different house. He wouldn't settle, and kept trying to find out if the rules were different now. Nothing really bad, more mischief like trying to steal off surfaces and pulling on his lead.


When everyone was ready, we headed for New Lanark, to walk along to the Falls of Clyde. Since it was a nice day, the path was quite busy, and is quite narrow, so we kept both dogs on the lead. Tara didn't seem to appreciate this, and pulled almost constantly. Zak seemed much happier, except when Claire spent too long taking photographs. Zak did end up quite exhausted though, so we turned back when we reached the top of the falls. I suspect we'd have walked further if we hadn't had Zak with us. Hopefully his stamina will improve, so he can keep up with us humans.


When we got back to New Lanark, we had ice creams. The dogs sat very nicely, and begged. And begged. Of course, it worked - we're soft when they're being good. While we are ice cream, a family of tourists asked if they could pose for a photo with the dogs. I don't think they'd ever seen a dog as big as Tara before. Neither dog seemed to know what was going on. These people don't have ice cream - why do I need to sit nicely next to them?


We headed home for dinner - crispy shredded duck from the local Chinese takeaway. I'm not sure whether Zak and Tara liked the leftover duck or the prawn crackers more!

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Day 28 - Monday 28th August
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Day 28 - Monday 28th August
I had the day off work today, which seemed to please the dogs, even if they were still tired from the weekend. I took each of them from a fairly short walk at lunch time. When I was walking Tara we met the same little dog twice, both times he was snapping and growling at her. Tara decided to ignore the unfriendly midget, which was pleasantly mature of her, and the other dog was on the lead, so no problems. Zak did rather better. On his walk, we met another greyhound rescuer, unfortunately without her dog. Zak was much admired and fussed, which he always loves.


After the walks, Tara was a bit grumpy - poking and mouthing at Zak. I gave her a couple of timeouts, and she'd calmed down before Claire came home.


After dinner, we took the dogs along to the community woodland. All went well, until we were nearly home. Tara and I had got ahead, mainly because Zak kept stopping to sniff. Claire and Zak ran to catch up, which Tara seemed to think wasn't allowed. She snapped at Zak, so I told her off. This provoked her to chew at her lead, and grab my sleeve. I'm not having that, so I took hold of her and scolded her. Then straight home, into the garden, and obedience drill for Tara, while Claire fussed Zak.


After both dogs had done their obedience training, we let Zak have a run in the garden. He sprinted round in circles, but no hint of jumping up or grabbing. Lovely to see him playing without badness!


Our final job of the day was to give Zak a bath, something he's learning to tolerate quite well. The only real problem is getting him as dry as he'd like afterwards. He doesn't think I do a good enough job, so he spent the next half hour rubbing himself on furniture, trouser legs, and anything else he can find.


As Zak had been good in the bath, we rewarded him with a pig's ear. He was very good while eating it, not growling even when I stroked him. When he'd finished, Tara went over to see if he'd left any crumbs. Zak snapped at her. He got a timeout for that. He'd been good all day up till then, shame he had to spoil it.

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Days 29-32 Tuesday 29th August to Friday 1st September
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Days 29-32 Tuesday 29th August to Friday 1st September
The rest of this week was a bit of a blur, to be honest. We were busy getting ready to go on holiday - packing, arranging for neighbours to look after the cat, and so on. Zak didn't seem to bothered. I'm not sure he's aware enough of the routine yet to notice every change. By the end of the week, Tara was very suspicious. Where were we going, and did she get to come too? This was the first proper holiday we've had with either dog, so a new experience all round.


Beyond that, the week was pretty routine. The dogs went on walks, misbehaved a little, but not badly.

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