15months to debt free - I hope

jwil

Plans sound good

ladyholly

MIA yesterday as I went to the panto with dgds. It was a really good night and probably the best one we have seen in the 20 odd years I have been taking them. They have told me they are taking mme next year so we will see what happens.

Shopping in the afternoon and thans to Mr T clubcard vouchers I only spent £25 and in the morning the PO was open so I could send the parcels. Shame I forgot to pay the council tax so will have to do that on Tuesday.

I have started a car pot to cover exes for next year. This year if needed it can come from the general savings account. I only put in £30 but it will need to be more than that each month to cover everything but small steps and it is a start. I will have a look at how much the insurance and car tax is and then an allowance for repairs, MOT etc. For me budgeting is going to be a gradual process as my concentration is quite poor so cant do it all at once plus it is a novel concept in this house to have money ready for annual exes.

Quiet day today after being in and out yesterday but I must pop to Li** in the morning to get some flowers. I alway buy yellow flowers for new year in memory of my Mum whose birthdat was New Years day. Why yellow?  Her favourite season was spring and to me yellow is the colour of spring.

I think thats enough rabbiting from me for today. Happy News years eve for tomorrow.

jwil

Happy New Year to you too  

ladyholly

Walked to Lidl but cheated and got the bus back. Flowers sort of arranged and will be placed in the middle of the table tomorrow when the Christmass tree is put away. It is on the table as we werent sure how C would be with it. 1 load of washing done and then when I went in the bathroom I found Mr LH had put more in the basket. It will wait until after tomorrow as I dont do laundry on new years day. On the way I called in to the vet and paid the last of the insurance excess for the little one. We are now completely straight with them. I have put it on the credit card but only because I thought I may as well get a months free credit while our money is earning a tiny bit of interest. It will be paid in full when the bill comes which will be a novelty for us.

C was really good on his walk this morning until he saw a cat and then started barking and trying to get to it. Then we saw a friend with their dog. He sat beautifully at a distance and waited for them to pass and then started barking when he had gone.. He ha learnrd the "watch me command" so we can generally distract him for a minute or two and sometimes it works but if other animals are involved he will often go back to spinning and trying to see where they are. Pouring with rain when we went out at lunchtime so a shortish walk especially  as there was an off lead dog chasing a ball which is a big trigger. I am trying to just take him out the front of the house when there are dogs playing and bringing him staight back in when he barks and plays up but am not having much luck as people are tending to walk their dogs at different times at the moment. Hopefully we will be able to do it more when everyone is back to work and normal routines start again. We are not lokking forward to fireworks tonight as he is very noise sensitive and will possibly be very stressed. We have put his crate in the lounge covered in a blanket and have some medicine to give him a bit later. Hopefully he will be ok.

Nothing else tonight  except A VERY HAPPY NEW YEAR TO ALL.

Sun_Addict

Sounds like you are making progress with C even though it’s very small steps forward. I hope he’s ok with the fireworks, thankfully my dog and cats don’t bother about them. 

Happy New Year 🥳

ladyholly

He definitely isn't ok with fireworks. He is very noise sensitive and lots of noises upset him. Just waiting for midnight. It has been bad already.

NeverendingDMP

Good luck for the rest of the evening.  We have a collie pup and so far this is one of the few problems we are not having with him but I feel for you. Fireworks are so noisy 
What do you do for the watch me command if you don't mind me asking. Ours wants to jump at anyone and everything. Attention junkie that he is!
happy new year x

ladyholly

Watch me me starts with getting their attention. A treat waved under his nose nose usually works then hold the treat near your eyes as you want the  dog to look at you. When the dog is focusing on you say watch me.Then try to hold their attention for as long as is reasonable.  Second or two to start with and give the treat. We are up to about 30 seconds on a good day. Gradually omit the treat. It only lasts for seconds but that is largely  enough to distract him.  I have started to use watch me as we are walking as he spends so much of his time watching for birds flying, cats dogs etc. It is not going especially well at present but I am sure he will learn.

For jumping up at people I am not sure what current thinking is but I turn my head away and make myself as boring as possible. With  non dog people a simple no and distraction should be enough.

Remember Collies are a working breed and need constant stimulation. If yours is from a working line he /she  will need a job. Our first collies job was to carry a slightly deflated football when on a walk which he could then play with. Our second was content not to have a job  but we think C will need one which we  havent found  yet but something will turn up.

If you aren't familiar with collies it is worth reading up on them because their needs are quite specialised or as a behaviourist friend said they arent dogs they are collies. They are highly intelligent sometimes more than their owners but can be very sensitive. They like routine which I appreciate if you have a family or work may be difficult but if you can establish one it will help with training.

I hope this helps. I am not a trainer or behaviourist but read up a fair bit on training and breed characteristics. It is also worth having a look on U tube for training tips and even more if you can find good classes local to you. Qalified trainers are a god send but be aware they do not need to have qualifications to set up as a trainer and classes are a good way to meet other dog owners who you can use to help train your pup. We are struggling a bit because up until now we had our little one who was brilliant at teaching new dogs and keeping them in order. We now have to do it ourselves without her. The saying goes you need a dog to teach a dog and we have always found this to be true.

Sorry this is so long winded but if I can help further let me know.

ladyholly

After a very unsettled evening and night C is now asleep lying beside me while I write this. He woke us both up at about 4.30 am needing to go out and was bouncing so I have got up so at least one of us gets some sleep ( I didnt go to bed until gone 1am and it was about 2am before I got to sleep so if I am writing rubbish more than usual its because I dont function well on very little sleep. I will no doubt sleep later tucked up of the sofe with my blanket. My only tasks for today are  putting Christmas away and cooking dinner.

I will be looking for the sounds downlooad on u tube or  similar so we can work on the noise sensitivity with him before next November. He even reacted to the Macaques in the dynasties series that was on the other night . Perhaps ear muffs would help.

Sun_Addict

Oh poor C. Hope you have a chilled day and manage to get a nap later.