Beach and Pooped!

Beach Fun

A Few More

Re-united still!

Re-united!

Bank Holiday Bonanza!

What a bank holiday little Rohan has had.

Rob's parent's have been visiting for the weekend so he has had lots of added attention.

He let himself down of Friday with lots of weeing indoors but has redeemed himself since.

Yesterday he went to visit his mum, sister, and brother. He had an amazing time, You can't know whether they recognised each other but they were definitely happy to play together.
It was really surprising that they all looked so similar. You can see from the photo's that it was lucky they all had different colour collars on.

He spent a bit of time exchanging licks with his sister Scout but the majority of time was spent play fighting with brother Murphy.

He also had a bit of time with mum Barley as they disappeared off to the tree together. Rohan showed his naughty streak by running off with the chew and refusing to give it back to any of them.

Afterwards I took him to meet Isla, my brothers 7 month old retriever. Luckily he had burnt off his energy playing with his family so it was a bit more sedate despite Isla's best attempts. He met Horses and sheep and was more than happy to receive a lick from a very big horse. the young cat was a different story he wasn't sure about it at all.

He was noisy at bed time on Friday again so we tried something new last night and stayed with him until he went to sleep. It worked a charm and we didn't hear a peep until just gone 6am. Fingers crossed it wasn't just a fluke because he was so tired!

Today we took him to Boulmer to have a little walk on the beach and he loved it. especially chewing the seaweed.

There were only two other dogs there and he was very respectful and sat down when they came over to him. Which is a great sign.

There are lots of pics and I can only upload five per blog so the next few will just be photo's.

Is it Rohan or John Claude?

I got Rohan a neckerchief yesterday. He looks slightly more French than Cowboy but he seems to like it!

He had a good day with Oscar, Oscar finally gave him a nip in the morning and after that he followed him around like a lamb and Oscar pretty much gave him a bath with all of the licking he did!

Rohan is sitting on my knee as I'm typing as he is a bit spooked by the cavity wall insulators , I'm not sure whether its the noise of the drill or the face that keeps appearing in the windows!

His biting is calming down a bit which is great and I have started training him with hand signals rather than just words and he is picking it up brilliantly.

Rob's folks are visiting this weekend so we will see how he behaves with visitors in the flat all of the time.

I think I'll call him mini me!

Poor old Osc! Rohan is in love with his big brother and would not leave him alone all night.

Oscar as always was brilliant with him and put up with a lot when he would have been well within his rights to bite Rohan back.

Spending so much time with Rohan made me forget just what a big dog Osc is, Rohan walked under his belly!

Rohan wasn't afraid of Osc at all he even pushed him out of the way to get to drink from Osc's bowl and shared a carrot with him. I'm so relieved they're going to be buddies.

They had a great time together and Rohan really expelled some energy so we had a nice peaceful night.

Fingers crossed they get on as well when they spend the whole of today together.

Spoilt, Spoilt, Spoilt!

We are over run with toys for Rohan, most people that visit have brought him a gift. I think he is starting to expect it now!

My mum was puppy sitting this morning and when I got back Rohan was lying on the new rug that she had knitted him. ( see the photo's) It has his name written on and everything. She has also managed to teach him roll over!

He slept through until 6.30am this morning. He is quiet when he goes in the cage during the day but he is still making a racket when you first put him in at bed time though. still there has been a huge improvement.

Toilet training is picking up as well he definitely heads for the door. You just have to be quick off the mark.

We're off to the vet's for his second jab in an hour, lets see if he is as placid as our last visit or if he remembers the needle!

We're going to introduce him to Osc tomorrow night as we need to spend the day there on Thursday and I want to get some of the excitement out of the way first.

I'm not sure how Rohan will react as he hasn't been near another dog for two and a half weeks. Osc is a big softy so they should be fine.

On Monday we are taking him up to meet 7 month old Isla, and also hopefully dropping in to see his mum and sister, I wonder how they will react?.

Starting Over

Rob and I had a bit of a puppy parent meltdown this morning when Rohan didn't go to the toilet outside but immediately when we brought him back in and then wouldn't stop biting when we were playing with him.

We felt as though we hadn't gotten anywhere in the past two weeks, then my dad came to visit.

Rohan gets very excited when my folks come to see him, maybe because he can smell their dog on them or maybe he just senses they are dog people and that they adore him. He immediately goes into best behaviour mode. When I complained to my dad about the toilet training he said we were expecting too much from him that he was just learning. Rohan didn't bite my dad at all, sat when he was told and rolled over for tummy tickles. When my dad gets down on the floor with him Rohan fly's around like a mad thing but doesn't bite at all when he jumps at my dad just licks.

It made me think that there was no reason why Rohan can't be like that all of the time and maybe its Rob and I. ( you think!)

Looking back on the blogs I think my first mistake was reneging on the idea of the pen for the toilet area. Just because it didn't work on the first day I let him go where he wanted so I don't think he has made any clear connection as to what we want him to do while he's out there.

We also haven't been focused enough on leaving him alone. I love it when he climbs on my knee when I'm sitting on the floor for a cuddle but get frustrated when he tries to lie on my feet wherever I go. How can I expect him to know the difference?

So Sunday 24th August. Two weeks since we brought him home and we're starting again.

Whenever he gets over excited and bites we tell him no and provide a toy, if he continues we put him in the hallway until he calms down. Instead of getting louder and embroiled in a pushing match.

We're taking him out to the pen to toilet every hour, after a meal, after waking, after play. Praise and a treat when he goes. If he goes in the house we tell him no and take him out.

When he falls asleep we are taking him to his bed, sometimes closing the gate door, sometimes leaving it open.

Instead of filling the crate with soft bedding he has his bed and some newspaper for accidents, this way he will understand the meaning of his bed rather than where he eats or wees at night.

In the two weeks we have had him Rohan has learnt basic commands, to walk on the lead to greet people sitting down. He is calm around children, and has passed a myriad of socialisation situations with flying colours. I know it is early days but he doesn't seem to have an aggressive bone in his body. It is easy to forget this when he wee's again on the carpet or howls like you are hurting him when his is in a fleece bed surrounded by toys with access to food and water.

We have to keep reminding ourselves that how Rohan behaves is in direct response to the boundaries, limitations, and training Rob and I set. Obviously his own personality plays a huge part but only by staying focused and maintaining consistency will Rohan be able to be the fantastic dog he is meant to be.

The pic of him in his bed is Rohan sleeping happily in his crate an hour ago, without protesting, being shut in or wanting to be with us instead. Small steps but milestones none the less!

Battle of Wills

Mr. Rohan is trying to test out who's in charge. He is a willful little monkey especially when you are trying to get him to stay off something he wants.

When he gets over excited he just launches himself at you and his teeth are sharp!. He is becoming very familiar with the 'time out' spot. It is definitely just Rob and I that he is testing as if anyone else tells him to stop he does it.

His training is coming along well but I am aware that he will only do it if he wants to, I can say off until I'm blue in the face when I'm trying to get him to let go of the scrabble box but if I have a treat in my hand he suddenly knows exactly what I mean.

When he isn't having his naughty half hour he is a joy, very sweet and cuddly. He also slept until 7am this morning. We just have to keep working on him not making a fuss at all when we put him in his bed.

Toilet training is going okay but its only because we take him out we need to work on him associating going to the door when he needs to go. Rome wasn't built in a day and I'm sure it won't be long before everything clicks. ( hopefully!)

By George I think he's got it!

Apologies for no blog yesterday. Time just disappeared and I didn't get a chance to log on.

He had a terrible night really unsettled on Tuesday night and had toileted in his bed again. Despite having gone outside just before we put him in the cage.

Yesterday day time he was good all day he definitely has the hang of his lead now. I'm sure once he gets outside that will change but he's cracked walking around the flat. He has even started walking to heel off the lead on the off chance there may be a treat in it for him!

He is still biting a bit but I'm starting to introduce the word gentle which he seems to be taking in.

We've also started to walk away from him as soon as he bites at all which calms him down straight away.

To be fair to him he is only doing it when he is over excited so he is definitely improving.

Last night he barked for about ten minutes when he first went in and for about 20 minutes about 11.45pm and then we didn't hear a peep out of him all night and I went and got him up about 6.30am to try and get to him before any noise started and he was awake but just lying chewing his toy. It seems mad to be excited about such a little thing but we were very proud parents... and he hadn't gone in his bed at all. His first clean night!

My mum is calling this morning as I am taking flyer's to our local groomers and I have thought twice about taking him due to the number of dogs that are likely to be there.

Today's challenge is also working on getting him to settle on his own more.

I think he's definitely getting there he didn't grumble at all when I left him to go outside and spend time with the rabbits, (he normally whines behind the gate) when I came back in he was sat in front of the TV with his ears cocked listening to 'search for the no 1 family' on GMTV, I'm presuming he thought the woman squealing was a cat!

Power Cut

Rohan had a brilliant nights sleep I think we were heading on for a 7am lie in when there was a power cut in the street. The resulting alarms going off meant that our own Rohan alarm clock went off too.

He still did a wee at the back of his bed though. I've lined it all with paper for tonight to see how he does. His bed is on top so fingers crossed for a dry night.

Faye and Becki visited today and aside from being over fond of Becki's fur boots and fingers he wasn't too bad. I did have to fish his chew out of his throat which wasn't particularly pleasant, no more of those until he's bigger.

The most commonly used phrase in our house is 'Rohan off' he is into everything now and bounces around like Zebedee.

We did some cage training today and he's definitely relaxing more so hopefully by the end of the week we'll have cracked it. Although I do remember writing the same thing last week!

He started to walk properly on the lead tonight just around the living room but he's definitely getting it. Yesterday he just span around on the end. I'm only doing two five minute sessions a day on training so he doesn't get fed up so he's picking it up really quickly.
He's ruined the 'off' trick though as he knows its coming so gets into position before I have time to say it.

No photo's today but I'll make up for it tomorrow as we are out and about.

One step back ten steps forward

He didn't have the greatest of nights, he then refused to go to the toilet in the rain and I stood with him for an age , when I came back in he went straight in and wee'd in his bed and while I was cleaning that up he decided to do a poop in the other room. Not the best impressed!

However, we've begun rewarding outside toileting with treats and all of a sudden the penny has dropped, well not really he just wants treats but at least he's making the connection.

We've also tried a new approach to get him to enjoy being in his cage which will take a few days but fingers crossed it will help his nights in the long run. Just getting him to enjoy it with the door open, sitting next to him etc in an effort to get him to use it during the day rather than viewing it as a night time prison.

He was brilliant when I took him to pick up my flyer's, I was struggling to carry both of them so he sat in the box while I carried it top the car !

As he hasn't had all of his injections yet we took him to a little patch of grass near our doctor's this afternoon, other dogs don't go on it, so he could enjoy being on the grass in the sunshine. He loved it !

I'm sure he has grown twice his size in a week but he's still adorable!

Louise and Ali visited him tonight and he was really good only had a tiny nibble so I think we're winning on the biting front. Walking away definitely seems to do the trick.

Fingers crossed for a good nights sleep tonight!

Open House

Getting a new puppy is much like having a baby in a number of ways: sleep deprivation, poop and wee patrol, moving anything dangerous, and constantly taking things out of their mouths.

One of the best bits is the steady stream of visitors that little Rohan has brought to our home since his arrival.

Today he met Ang, Craig and their little baby James. The temptation to nibble those gorgeous little toes was almost too much but he was very good and even went to sleep on Craig's feet. which showed Rob and I that he doesn't do it to us because he can't bear to be apart from us, rather he just likes a head rest at nap time!

We also managed to reassure Ang that the puppy was called Rohan and not Ronan after the bloke from Boyzone. If he was getting named after anyone from a boy band he would definitely have been called Donnie!

Helen and Pete have just left, leaving behind possibly his favourite present yet , a monkey. He's sleeping next to it in one of the pics.

I can't believe he has been with us a week already it has flown by, I think we're settling into a fairly decent routine we just need to crack the separation anxiety which is my challenge for next week.

I'm also going to try and do a bit of lead work as well. He's fine with his collar but definitely not feeling the lead.

Tomorrow,, Lyndsay and Sam are visiting in the morning, Louise in the afternoon. In between I am picking up flyer's and taking Rohan to meet the lady in our local grooming parlour as she has kindly agreed to distribute some flyer's for me. Fingers crossed she offers to wash his stinky feet while we're there!!