He might make a show dog yet!!!

Me and my dad took Oscar to a fun dog show today!!! We nearly didn't go because of the rain,but where the show was,2 minutes away,there was only a small shower and it was sunny!!!

So we went and i had a great time. I nearly got Oscar a fleece jacket from a local resue groupe but it didn't fit him :-( But i still gave them a donation anyway!

I entered Oscar in 4 classes,
- Best small dog
- Best handled by a lady
- Gundog/working dog
- Dog the judge would like to take home

 He came 3rd in the small dog one,despite trying to sit on the judges lap!!
And he came FIRST!!!! In the best dog handled by a lady!!! he did get distraced by a man with chips behind us in that one but the judge said that she would give it to us anyway because she likes us the best!!!

The judge was really nice too! She said that me and Oscar should go to more shows because he was a lovely dog and she also comented on how obedient he was and she loved the fact that he did tracking!

Waiting for our turn in the ring!

It was a battle of wills to get his nose off the ground,and if it wasn't on the ground it was steering his body to the nearest burger or dog!  But with some persuading and a little, a lot, of ham and treats! I even used chips at one point because i got a bag!
But he was fairly good once you got his nose off the floor!

Standing,waiting to be judged.

He is supposed to have his tail up,i know  but each time a held it he tried to sit down!! It was quite funny really. Tail up,arse down!!

Working for ham! Oscar not me now!

It was a nice day. Oscar enjoyed it too......i think????? He finally got to sniff some dogs which didn't try to kill him!!
And at the end of it all this is what i got..........................

........................ A tired,knocked out doggie!!!


Well,thats not all i got,or should i say Oscar got!!

2 rossettes,1 trophy and a bag of dog food!!! I won't be using the dog food so i think i will give it to the wspca!

Might i also add that Oscar did pee on my leg while we were waiting to go on!! But he needed to go,so what could i do other than laugh!!! It was on my boots though so i didn't walk around with wet trousers for the day!!!


I am very chuffed with Oscar!! (despite the fact that he peed on me!!):-)

SUN....... That big bright dot in the sky!!!

Its here!!! The Sun has arrived!!!! Its about time too! 
While I'm happy its here its more of a disadvantage for me,and for most dog owners really! I can't say that Oscar is too pleased with the heat,but then again are any dogs?

Do you see that? The sky its BLUE!!!!

We went for an early walk this morning but it was cut short because of the damm horse flies! Would the little feckers ever get away from me!While i got very happy with Oscar recently regarding recall, he has,as of today,taken a step back and is now back on the long line,but its a shorter one so we didn't jump too far back!

hello! Can i have a treat now?

It got quite hot after the walk so Oscar wasn't in the mood to do anything at all! I even brought him inside to do some recall training but even then he was so slow and the exercises became pointless really. 

Trying to make training fun and entertaining is hard when you have a dog which is showing absolutely no enthusiasm no matter what sounds you make or how fast you run! Maybe its just the heat but its still not easy! 

While i didn't plan to do agility today,Oscar had different plans and used the tunnel for his own comfort and leisure! 

Its the wrong way up,but it looks cool!

Keeping Oscars water issues in mind and the nice hot sunny weather outside i took it upon myself to try and cool Oscar down,make shift tiny swimming pool box style!!!

There was only enough water to cover his paws but Oscar wasn't too pleased. He didn't show any visual pleasure at getting in and out of the paw deep box of water but he did get treats for doing it so maybe he will be a water loving dog soon...............????






Something that was a little more Oscar style was using Ice cubes to cool down,so he got some and had a little more fun with them than he did in the box of "deep" water!

I also made Oscar an interactive toy today,its what i like to call 'the bottle tipper'! And the best thing about it is, that it was FREE!!!!! 

It took Oscar a little time to figure out what to do with it,and i still don't think he has figured it out but as soon as he has i will get a video of him doing it.

 It wasn't an overly active day and Oscar spent most of it like this,

And just a quick update on the raw diet before i go. 

Oscar is loving it! The salmon oil we got is crap though,but not to worry,i will be getting a better bottle the next time! Oscar wont,however,eat his vitamin E tablet by himself so its the manual way for that I'm afraid! Thank god it's only every other day that it has to be done!  Sardines in tomato sauce for breakfast tomorrow,so lets see what he thinks of those. I can't say that I'm a big fan of fish though,unless its cod and in batter,so i don't think i will enjoy opening the tin tomorrow at all! 

On big difference on the raw is the amount that Oscar drinks. He doesn't drink half as much now,usually he would be finishing a bowl a day and thats not including what he drinks outside,but now he doesn't even finish half the bowl. 

Other than that though,no major improvements,but its early days yet.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

We took the plunge!

Yesterday we took the plunge into Raw Feeding!!! And we wont be going back!
Oscar had some beef mince for breakfast and he didn't really know what to make of that.He has had raw meals before but never minced meat,but he ate it anyway so it obviously wasn't too hard for him to handle!

He had a chicken thigh for dinner and he really enjoyed that! He even had some attention from the cat who was curious as to what he was chomping down on! And for some bizarre reason Oscar ate outside,it seems as if he prefers to eat his bones outdoors..........Strange Dog! Hehe!

Dinner! Yum,Yum!

Waiting to be released to eat

Yum!

All is going well so far and Oscar seems to be enjoying it to!
We have a freezer with nearly 1 months supply food in and 2 boxes and 1 bag of fruit and veg in. Not to mention the vitamin E and salmon oil in the cupboard  and the box of Dorwest Keepers Mix on its way to us too! So we have lots of food for Oscar!

Meat, meat and more meat!

Fruit and veg!

 We kind of got crappy salmon oil though,but i didn't know so it will have to do for now. When its empty i will get the other one i wanted,the more expensive one!  I also hope that the butchers can help me out a little by getting me in some stuff,i asked them a while ago but they never got anything in for me. I suppose i will just have to ask again but this time for not as much stuff,just the stuff i need,no offal or anything this time.


I'm just hoping for some good weather now! Its about time that the sun made an appearance!

A lovely day at the Beach!!!

I had a great day at the beach yesterday with Oscar! I love people on the beach,they don't stop to pet your dog and they don't make a big fuss they just keep on walking,and ignore your dog! Just what i want people to do!
Here is the beach we were at,

I think the cloud in this photo looks like a turtle with rabbit ears!

It was a fairly nice day so that made it even better but it did rain and get darker when we stopped for lunch.

Oscar was very good! He was so good that i let him off the long line for nearly the entire walk,only putting him on the lead when dogs and young children came!! It was like a switch had been flicked in his head and he was on good behaviour mode or something!
Honestly you wouldn't have thought that he was a dog who had trouble with recall! He could be a mile in front of you(obviously i didn't let him get that far) and you could say his name and he would come back to you! Even from other people,new people he had never seen or smelled before in his life! Dogs were his weak spot though,he just couldn't resist trying to engage in play with each dog he saw! But luckilly there weren't to many dogs there!
Here are some shots of oscar,

The first few steps of freedom!

A successful recall! With a lip lick on the side!

Embracing the waters edge!

The recall thing was amazing! I was over the moon,even more than i was with the last breakthrough!
But what i havn't quite decided is good or bad yet is Oscars new fear,Jellyfish!! Yeah,dead jelly fish aparently are very scary! And there we lots yesterday!
He barked at some and the funniest thing was when he sniffed one,jumped back and then growled at it and ran off! It was so funny to watch and he was serious,i know his barks and that wasn't a messing around one!
But by the end of the walk i think he was over his fear,well at least enough to sniff one and actually ignore them when he walked past!

When we stopped for lunch,about an hour and a half into the walk,we had gotten to the 'point' so it was as far as we could go. Anyway,it rained then so we had to seek shelter in a woods behind the beach. Oscar was tied up,i didn't want to lose him in the woods or we would never see him again! So he just sat by the rug,shivering in the rain,

I did offer him my coat,but he wasn't having any of it,he didn't even want to sit on the mat!

I did give him some of my chicken roll,just some chicken but my brother didn't eat all his so i gave him the chicken out of that too.
The actual roll part was for the birds but Oscar came over and sat next to me. I thought to myself that there must be a reason he left that spot over there and i was right,he stole the roll!!  So the birds went without!

Here is just a random picture of the woods from where i was sitting,

On our way back down the beach some seals appeared in the sea. (yes we do have seals in the seas in Ireland!)  So Oscar raced for the seals and then,he hit the water and froze. So there was no seal harassing that day! He did however walk right up to the waters edge and stare at the strange things bobbing in the water(the seals)

Seal in the sea!

Another seal in the sea!

On the hunt!

There were 3 seals in total,but poor Oscar doesn't like water,which was probably better for the seals anyway! But i obviously wouldn't let him harass any seals any day.

I think its time we adress this water issue,but i can't say Oscar was overly happy about it!
The last time we were at the beach he ran into the sea out of shere excitement but he soon discovered that the waves come in  as well as just out! So naturally he wasn't too keen this time but we found some calm water to try out!

Being careful!

At a comfortable depth

Getting deeper and deeper!

Not impressed at all! Just look at his face! Pure disgust!

So maybe the water thing didn't go so well,in the end even cheese couldn't coax him back in and he made a run for it out of the water! And he quickily lead the way to dry land,

 Well he made a stab at in anyway,he did go through the water to get to dry land,when in reality he could have just turned left at any point!

He still stopped and waited for us to catch up every now and then,even when escaping the dreaded water!

The day went well even with a little rain and oscar slept like a log that night too! And after our little water adventure i am in the mood to buy him a swimming pool! Hehehe,he will have no choice then but to swim or to swim!!  I will have to save for it first but the new treat pouch,collar and wood for agility stuff is on the top of my savings pile!

I will leave you with these photos of Oscar posing. Just as he does,he really is a poser! 

Home Sweet Home!

Well..............I've been back from Florida now for 1 week now!
What an interesting time it was,not as fun as the first time we went but it was still good! Went to lots of places and got caught in tropical storm Debbie for some of the last week(second week).
I didn't see to many dogs though,but i did see a husky,lab and some mixes usually in the morning,probably because it was cooler out and the sprinklers were on!(nothing nicer than a spray of a sprinkler on a hot day)

Oscar enjoyed himself in the kennels! He must have made some friends there,but i did hear him howling when we left and when we came to pick him up.  I got him some things in florida too. I got him a new toy,with 2 squeakers in and some grain free chicken treats,which he loves might i add! And he really loves his new toy too!

He was so happy to see us,he went crazy. He ran all over the place,he just wouldn't stay still so i had to put my camera on continuous mode to get this photo!

And of course i had to try out his new treats! They now go by the name of 'special treats'. Say those words and the tail wags and the ears go forward and he is over to you in a flash!

This was his first encounter with his new toy. It was an instant hit. He ran around with it for 15 minutes and then decided to play with me with it and then he even brought it to bed that night!
I didn't get a picture of that though,but i can assure you,it was so cute!





After all the madness was over and the suitcases were unpacked it was back to normal,well i suppose you could say that!

But we had a big problem at hand,and still kind of do.
We gave the Kennels the bag of Applaws and i kept a little box for ourselves. I presumed that there would be some left when we came back home and collected Oscar,but i was wrong. So we were,and still are,faced with the problem of having no applaws food to feed Oscar,bar that little box which ran out on thursday morning!
I ordered some applaws from the petshop but it would take 2 weeks for it to get here,and that just made the problem worse! So we had to get an alternative food for those 2 weeks. I chose Lathams Sensitive because it was the cheapest,fairly ok food that i could find. We could have gotten something like Arden Grange but we just didn't have an extra 30euro to spend on top of the 50 it would cost for the applaws in 2 weeks time.
I'll have more on this dilema later on!


So Oscar was happy with his presents and ,as luck would have it, on our second day back the sun came out and it was actually fairly warm out! So it was play time again for Oscar,but what he didn't know was that i was secretly taking photos of his wild moves!

Celebrating!!

Tumble down the hill!

And time for a rest!

Needless to say,the toy is definitely a hit with him!
Later on that day though,sadly,it rained! But duty still calls and it was off for a walk. Luckilly the Horses are gone from the 2 fields now,so we have our walking space back! Now,i haven't done recall training with Oscar since before Florida and he hadn't seen me for 2 weeks but that walk was when i had my most successful recall ever!
We had just stepped into the second field and we had gotten to a patch of long grass. Oscar just started going mad,frantically sniffing the ground and pouncing over the grass but what i didn't realise was that he had caugth the scent of a rabbit hiding in the grass. He suddenly raced off for the rabbit,nose to ground,zig zagging along and the long line slid out of my hands. So here i am,thinking about what to do,call him of chase him? I called his name he stooped on the dime raised his head and i said 'to me',his recall command,and what did he do............ he turned and bolted to me! To say i was over the moon is an understatement! He got a 'special treat',lots of praise and a treasure hunt.
We havn't done any recalls since because i know by the way he acts when i pop him over the fence if he is going to be in the mood for it today,and i like to make sure each recall is a success without using the long line. We still do games though which encourage him to stay close to me,which is just as important as recall.
But i can't say that he was too happy coming home soaking wet!

It was a tiring walk and play for him though,because he konked out in his bed when we went inside!

Right then,back to the food dilema!
So we got some Lathams,2 bags of it and Oscar ate it,well of course he would he eats anything! The problem now is that there is no applaws to mix it in with so what happened today,lots of lovely farts on the way home in the car(he was at the kennels from friday night cause of my mums birthday party and it would have been unfair to have him around with all the people) and a lovely poo when we got home,and i could only decride this poo as,well........slop!
At first when he had his first meal of it i thought he took to it ok,because his poo was fine,better than it was when fed applaws but i guess i spoke too soo because its not worse than when he was fed applaws!
I will have to make do with it for the next week or so. 
However i have some great news! I am so excited and delighted to say that................................. ........................ WE ARE GOING RAW!!!!!!!!!
Yep,you saw right,RAW!!! I managed to cancle that order for applaws and mum and dad are all for raw if its cheaper and better,so they gave me the go ahead to switch to a raw diet!  Goodbye kibble,and hello raw food! 
                                  "I'm so excited,and i just can't hide it!"

So things did,eventually,sort themselves out!

Well thats all i have about Oscar,but here are some photos from Florida!

squirrel!

Seaworld,Shamu Show!

Dolphin Show,Seaworld!

I really like Seaworld,its by far my favourite park in Orlando! But i loved Big Cat Rescue! I even got an internship offer there for 3 years time,when i am finished school and 18!  I went to see a 'pets ahoy' show at seaworld too and it was really good,it was a show with cats and dogs and pigs and birds and stuff and it was so cool and it really shows the potential of rescue animals because all the animals there are rescues from across america!
I also got to feed and touch dolphins at seaworld and it was great,i loved it!

So as you can see,i had a great time in florida and this past week has been pretty good too!

Hopefully i will be able to get some more updates done over summer! I am hoping to go to agility this week and the beach if all goes well so i should have some picture and stuff to mention! I really want to get back into the agility now,i especially want to get to some fun shows! And hopefully Orla will organise some walks for Oscar so that i can work on his fear of dogs(something he developed because of all the dog attacks on him and stuff) And of course i want him to mingle and make some buddies!