15months to debt free - I hope

Flying_By

Sounding like good news on C and car front, a positive day for you and Mr lh going forward, hopefully.  Looking forward to hear what the behaviourist has suggested and hoping C knuckles down - he sounds too clever by half!  xx

ladyholly

Thank you all for your kind comments. It has been a day of stress today for us and C. This morning went fine. C walked fairly well although barked at some birds. Lunchtime comes and so does the thunder. Poor C went nuts trying to get out - he almost managed to open the front door. We hastily, well actually not that hastily as we couldnt remember how it unfolded, erected his crate again and got him in it so we knew he was safe from hurting himself. It is horrible to watch him and just as we were thinking about opening the crate door the thunder returned. He went out for a short walk when all was quiet but I think he is tired out from all the stress.

When the behaviourist was here yesterday she showed us how to remove him from barking at dogs by standing in front of him and gradually turning him around and walking away, when he did the right thing rewarding him by puttig treats on the floor rather than from our hand, she also suggested several games and activities we can do in the house so that he uses his brain a lot. She is supposed to be emailing us with details of all her suggestions as there was so much we dont remember it all. Some of the things we know but had forgotten and some others are new variations based on recent research and others are completely new techniques to us. She seems to know what she is talking about and C was good when walking with her and he even managed  a quick sniff at her very patient Rottie. Even better another dog appeared that the young lad with it couldnt control and C just sat and watched. I have come to the conclusion that a lot of the stress is coming from us especially Mr LH who isnt as patient as me. All we can do is try what we have been told and shown and see how we get on. We do need to get to the pet shop to buy one or two items which was planned for this afternoon along with the food shop but we couldnt go with C being so stressed so will be tomorrow or Friday depending on how long the electrician is here to hopefully put the light up in the bathroom.

Our stress was caused by the control for the boiler which decided to not work. It has been playing up for a bit but appeared to die completely so I rang the company that makes the boiler. I couldnt get them to undertsand (foreign call centre) that all I wanted to know was how to get a new one. All he wanted was to know what our maintenace plan number is. We dont have one as they are a ridiculous price and use a local company which is much cheaper. After lots of frustaration I did get a number out of him and tried to ring them but couldnt get through. Eventually went on their website and found they have dealers local to us so that is on tomorrows list as well. In the meantime Mr LH got the control working by hitting it hard. I suspect more in anger than trying to get it to work.  It obviously has a loose connection somewhere but as it is a sealed unit there isnt anything he can do with it.

Flying_By You are right he is too clever but when his stress levels rise he cant hear us and at the moment so much causes that stress. Reducing his stress is mainly what we are to work on for the next couple of weeks as until his stress is controllable is is difficult to train him.

I think thats enough for tonight at least it has been a NSD and I have had a small sale which i will post in the morning. Have a peaceful and stress free evening.

jwil

Good news about the car and the behaviourist visit.  Hope you can make some progress.  C Might overreact to your stress if he's been in a very stressful environment before.

ladyholly

Dogs react to any stress of the owner as they feel it down the lead.

Sun_Addict

There is a local man who always stops to chat to me and keeps me for ages. I try to avoid him sometimes, awful though it sounds. When my dog is with me she just barks and growls at him which hurries him along 😆

ladyholly

Hooray we have a  bathroom light and I wont have to try and wash my hair in the dark. Its hard telling the shampoo from the conditioner. He was a very nice young man and quick so we are happy tonight.

C seems to be more settled in the last day or two and he is now often sleeping on his side showing he feels more secure. Having shoved him in his crate during the thunder yesterday we were concerned he would see it as a prison but he has been in and out of it quite happily today. We leave the door open all the time unless he gets very stressed as with the thunder. He heard a noise he didnt like this afternoon and went straight in the crate so that was pleasing. It is hard to tell how his behaviour is outside as the weather has been so horrible i think he just wants to get home and out of the wet, I certainly do. On the other hand he doesnt seem to be looking up quite as much and sniffing the ground more but we will see. One of the games we have been told to do with him is hiding food for him to sniff out and to be honest he hasnt got a clue and isnt using his nose much at all. Very strange for a dog but I have just watched a tutorial and think I was expecting too much from him and need to go back a couple of stages. He enjoys having his ball thrown down the garden for a few minutes but I think the rain got to him this morning as he stopped going for it.

We went shopping this afternoon and left him at home on his own. He seemed to cope ok but was pleased to see us back. This was the second time he has been left but this was quite a bit longer, proabably about an hour and a half.

I am writing down all our spends this month to see where I should set our food budget as I think we are spending far too much but I will see. I know what I thing we spend but suspect I could be wildly out. I didnt get to the PO today so will go in the morning. I have bids on 3 items that all finish Sunday so that will be more stuff gone including a couple of our bits.

Must finish as a friend is due. Have a happy evening.

Blackcats

C choosing his crate sounds positive.  I feel happy at the thought of him sleeping on his side.

ladyholly

PO trip this morning to post 2 parcels. The one I didnt post yesterday and a sale from someone who offered nearly 3 times my asking price on an item and then paid very quickly. They must have been keen. A bit more for the present pot. I then went to the pet shop and got a couple of items for C that the behaviourist had reccommended. That was £25 so he is proving to be a pricey dog but I doubt either item will ever need replacing so over the years not too much. I also got his tinned food as it is heavy for me to carry and as I had nothing much it was sensible to get it today rather than Monday.

We have discovered C is very scared of the wind so was a bit panicky when out especially in the dark this morning. . He will have to get used to it in this area as we get a lot of wind. He is really starting to relax in the house and has really taken to the crate which we put in a different place to its original position when he first got here. One of the things we were told to do when out is to give treats on the ground rather than from our hand and that is going well as it distracts him well and obviously has to look down rather than for the birds. He also saw two dogs today and didnt bark or whimper and actually turned away ffrom them. He is a clever boy!

Nothing else to report chez LH so have a quiet night.

Blackcats

Clever boy and clever owners.

beanielou

That's amazing progress.