24/3/08

Oh my word,

what happened to the cute angelic little puppy that came into our home a year ago?  She’s turned into Catherine Tate’s teenage character, Lauren.  Is she Bovvvvvered?? No!

 

Tilly is just about grown up now, she’s around 16 months old.  She has never filled out, so we think maybe there’s some lurcher in there somewhere.  She still goes to obedience training every Monday where she is doing very well, however as soon as we walk out of the doors is it back to dragging us down the street.

 

She has developed a love / hate relationship with every dog she meets now.  She either loves them to the point of rolling on her back and wetting herself, through to absolute hatred and wanting to attack just about everything.  We’re working hard on these issues and we’re doing ok.  It will just take time.  If we are out walking over fields and she is off lead, we just turn in another direction if we see people or animals ahead.

 

She has been attending agility training for 4 months now.  Generally she’s doing ok (if only she’d stop barking and listen!), but we’re not getting far with the see-saw.  In fairness she’s only seen it a couple of times, but even with a tiny tilt she is terrified.  This is quite surprising for a seemingly bolshy, fearless little girl.

 

I have the opportunity to take Tilly to Crufts as part of the Dog Agility Rescue Demo Team this year.  It is so exciting to be doing something you love on such a big stage, without having any of the nerves that go with competing.  Tilly will be going round an agility course whilst the commentator reads her background story.  I don’t fancy the chances of the audience being able to hear her story over all the barking!  I am also taking my other dog, Milo.  He is taking part in the ‘Weave Challenge’, which is a team relay through around 30 weaves and always gets the crowd going. 

 

Tilly had her first family Christmas with us.  She had more presents than me!  She soon got the hang of opening them and then started on Milo’s too.  Thankfully he has become pretty laid back since we’ve had her.  She enjoyed her Christmas dinner and joined the rest of us in having a nap in the afternoon.  At least she wasn’t the present this year!

 

Tilly had another new experience last weekend, we went and stood at Sainsburys for 2 hours collecting money for Leicester Animal Aid.  It’s the first time she has really interacted with children and she was a star, very quiet and gentle with them.  I was really proud of her.  She does have her moments!

 

I’ll be sure to update you on how we get on at Crufts this year.

 

Beccy x

 

10/7/07

Well it has been a while since my last write up.

 

I’ve been a pretty busy girl.  I have had my first season, and apparently it will be my last, cause I’m going to be going to the vets in a couple of months to be spayed, whatever that means.  Being in season wasn’t much fun because it meant that Milo got to go out and about without me, and being the nosey kind of girl that I am, I felt I was missing out.

 

I have managed to get to a few agility shows with Milo.  It looks like great fun, I’d love to join in, but mum keeps me on a tight rein, which I think is really unfair! I’ve really grown up, which you can see from my picture.  People are finding it hard to tell me and Milo apart, but it worked out OK for us when we went to a local fun dog show organised by the Retired Greyhound Trust.  I won my first rosette when Milo and I won the Best Matching Pairs class.  The lady who judged it thought that we were related because it is unusual to get two cross breeds so similar, but I was keen to point out that I’m a lot younger than my big brother.

 

I have had four agility lessons so far.  It is great fun and I concentrate really hard.  So far I have done the tunnel, some small fences and a baby A Frame.  Everyone is saying that they think mum will struggle to keep up with me but my main aim is to give Milo a run for his money.  Mum says I will do better if I shut up and concentrated, but where is the fun in that?  Mary Ann at Aslan agility had a fun fundraising morning last weekend.  I almost won the quickest recall in ‘temptation alley’, doing it in 2 seconds, but I was pipped by a collie who did it in 1.7 seconds.  Still, not bad for a baby eh?  I’m doing really well at obedience training, I try my best because I get rewarded with sausages or cheese.  It’s quite easy really.  I really like everybody and most of the other dogs there.  Mum is going to enquire about me becoming a Pets as Therapy dog.  I don’t know what she means, I don’t need therapy, I’m just a lively young pup!

 

I’m not chewing so much these days.  During the morning I have a stuffed kong and a box filled with newspaper with biscuits hidden in it, to keep me busy.  We go for a walk at lunchtime and then we settle down with a pig ear to keep us quiet.  For the rest of the day I lay in the spare bedroom window watching the world go by and waiting for mum to come back from work.  Then I get really noisy because I know we must be due to go for another walk – usually to the fields where we get a really good run around.

 

This weekend we’re off to Wellingborough and then the following week is Bretford.  I’m looking forward to the time when I can join in too, but in the meantime I’m quite happy to go out and about for the day socialising.

 

Come and say hello if you see me out and about.

 

Tilly x

14/4/07

I’ve been a busy girl since I last wrote.
I have been on holiday for a week to Exmoor.  It was brilliant fun, especially going to the beach and chasing the tennis ball.  We stayed in a little cottage in the middle of nowhere, which was happy to accommodate Milo and I, but given half a chance I’d have chased the chickens and sheep, but mum wouldn’t let me.

 

For the first 3 days of our holiday we didn’t meet any other people on our walks, even when we were walking along some beautiful coastal paths.  I did a lot of running with Milo and then spent the rest of the time sleeping.  Exmoor was great because they allow dogs just about anywhere.  We had several trips to coffee shops and pubs and I was a very good girl. 

 

My puppy training has been going well.  Mum says I’m easier to train than some of the other pups there.  I do have a crush on a handsome collie though and sometimes I like to wander. 

 

I went back to Leicester Animal Aid at the weekend – only to visit though because mum was helping behind reception.  Keely, who is the manager there said “hello Milo” when I walked in.  I had to point out that I was Tilly and she said I had really grown.  People are starting to find it difficult to tell Milo and I apart other than when we stand next to each other.  I had a great day at the centre, socialising with all sorts of dogs, people and children.  Mum took me for a ride in the car to the police station to collect a big white boxer dog that had been picked up as a stray.  The owners came to collect him from the centre in the afternoon and said that the dog was actually deaf.  We had another little stray brought in during the afternoon, but this one was micro-chipped so the owners were called.  They had been really worried and said they were coming straight over to fetch him.  When they walked through the door, it was one of the Leicester Tigers rugby players and his girlfriend!  They gave me some fuss, aren’t I a lucky girl?  He was really lovely and clearly adored his little dog.

 

I’m still being a little tinker at home on occasions.  I got locked in a bedroom when mum was at work, I panicked so I started pulling at the carpet.  There is a big hole in it now – oops.  I also managed to get onto the work surfaces in the kitchen and scoff a quarter of mum’s birthday cake – the clever part of it was that I managed to shut the kitchen door so I didn’t have to share with Milo!  I’ve killed an oven glove, several empty plant pots, chewed through two leads and a harness etc etc…The joys of being a puppy.

 

At the weekend I’m off to a couple of agility shows with Milo.  They are his first shows of the season.  We’re at Dogs on Top on Saturday (where mum is going to enter me in a fun dog show class) and then Spring at Shuttleworth on Sunday.  I can’t wait to be able to have a go at agility myself, but it is still going to be a few months yet.  It is nice now that the days are warmer and lighter.  The conservatory doors are open all the time and I can come and go as I please.  Life is pretty good!

15/3/07

Hi Tilly here again
 

This living at home is a blast!  I’m loving it. I’ve been home for nearly 6 weeks now. and my feet are well and truly under the table now (as well as in the bin, on the settee etc…)

I’ve been having lots of new experiences in this time.  I have met some ‘little people’, who are more my height.  I tend to bark at them first and then I jump up for fuss and attention.  I’ve attached a photo of me with mum’s cousin Sophie, who is 11.  She’s lovely, I really liked her, I wish she’d visit more often.  Milo says I should be careful about meeting strangers but I love it, he’s just a wimp!  I’ve also been to this place called ‘training’.  My first visit was a couple of weeks ago.  I was the last one there and when I walked in, I was a bit nervous so my hackles went up, I pulled like a train and I barked my head off.  Mum called me an ASBO queen cause all my new partners in crime were pedigrees that were all sat there quietly concentrating on the treats they were being offered.  Mum said she was embarrassed.  I think I redeemed myself because I was really good when I had to work.  I did all of my sits and downs.  This Monday my Dad took me and I did recalls too, he said I was the best in the class but I think there’s a touch of bias there.

 

I had an absolute riot when I met Aunty Heidi’s puppy Ruby.  She was at Leicester Animal Aid at the same time as me but I don’t remember her.  She’s so naughty she makes me look like an angel.  We ran around and around the garden jumping on each other and rolling round.  Dad shut us in the conservatory for 15 minutes because he said we were “too much” and he needed a “time out” from us!

 

During the week the nice lady, Myra, who walks Milo and I during the day took us out and I was a nightmare.  I barked at everything and everyone that moved and I don’t think she could wait to get me home.  My particular target is a big Staffie who we always seem to pass.  He seems just as excited to see me and the lady that walks him struggles to keep control of him.  Milo kept rolling his eyes and

 

tutting because he said I was spoiling his walk.  As a result I now end up walking in the evening to this big place called Tesco and hanging around outside getting used to all the different sounds and people.  I’ve got a bit better.

 

I’m getting used to my routine during the day and I’m destroying fewer things (note from mum:  this is because everything is now on a shelf or safe behind a cupboard door).  I did have a bad day last week though.  I managed to get into one of the bedrooms which usually has the door shut.  When I pushed my way in, the door closed behind me and I couldn’t get out.  I really panicked and got scared.  As a result I shredded the carpet and underlay near the door, chewed a teddy, pulled the washing off the drier and emptied the dirty laundry bin.  I kept asking Milo to let me out but he was too busy laughing and enjoying his peace and quiet, not to mention my Kong toy. 

Luckily Myra let me out because she was worried that I wasn’t greeting her at the door when she came in.  When mum saw the mess I’d made when she came home from work she nearly had a turn but she wasn’t cross with me she was more annoyed with herself. 

 

Anyway, apparently I’m going on holiday next week.  I’m not sure what that means, as life can’t get any better, but we’re all off to Exmoor for the week.  Its going to be exciting apparently, with new places to explore and sniff.  Mum and Dad have even found some pubs that we can go to in the evening.  Hooray for dog friendly holiday homes and bars.

 

I’ll be back in touch with a write up and some pictures no doubt.

27/2/07

Beccy's version

Tilly is a cheeky monkey and hard work at times, but we wouldn’t be without her now.

 

I was helping behind Reception when she was brought into Leicester Animal Aid, I couldn’t believe the resemblance to my dog Milo.  She was a jet black cross breed with a little white patch on her chest just like him.  I had thought for a little while about having a second dog, but didn’t expect to find one just yet.  I’d just bought a house with my partner and he was just getting used to sharing a house with me and one four legged friend, let alone two.

 

Tilly looked terrified when she was brought into the centre and I took some pictures on my phone of her in a kennel.  She looked bewildered.  I could not understand how a puppy of 12 weeks could have been roaming around as a stray in the first place, let alone not have been claimed by her owner.  If LAA hadn’t stepped in on that day, the chances are she would have been put down.

On the way home, I rang Rich and told him that there was a mini Milo in the kennels.  The reaction I got

 

was not what I expected.  He said “shall we go and meet her then?”  I was expecting a least a little resistance.  I think Milo must have lulled him into a false sense of security as to what owning a dog was like – Milo’s such a good boy!

We picked her up a couple of weeks later after having been to see her a couple of times and having taken Milo to meet her.  She was sick in the car on the way home but travelled very quietly, which I was relieved about.It took her about 10 minutes to settle in to our home.  She had a good sniff around, then promptly fell asleep on the rug by the fire.  She seems to have had no problem with her difficult beginning to life, maybe she knew this would be her forever home.  I’ve never had a puppy before and she is hard work at times.  The first couple of nights were a challenge with her crying, barking, messing and trashing her bed in the night (we were warned by LAA that she does this when she’s annoyed).  After a couple of nights of this we tried her in a crate, upstairs and close to Milo.  She’s really taken to this, so we’re all now getting a decent night sleep.

 

Now that toileting is getting better (touch wood!), her new passion is chewing.  She has plenty of toys but it’s much more appealing to chew make-up brushes, hair scrunchies, slippers, rubber gloves, door mats….. shall I go on….!  Needless to say, our house is taking up a minimalistic appearance.  She lost four of her baby teeth in one night.  It probably didn’t  help that Milo was swinging her round on the end of a rope toy most of the evening.  Tilly has bonded with us really well, she loves everyone and everything, which is refreshing for me as Milo has a problem with strangers and I’m always aware of it.  It has definitely helped having Milo, and you can see her mimicking things from him.  She was with us for only two days when I first tried her off lead, and we haven’t looked back.

 

I’m really looking forward to what the future has to bring us.  She is already good at sit, down and her wait is coming on a treat.  Puppy classes start in a week, so I’m interested to see how she is getting on compared to other pups her age.  I think our biggest problem with be attention.  She’s just so nosey!

 

I’ll be sure to let you know how it goes……….

 

Beccy

13/2/2007

Hi there! 
 
I’m Tilly and I’ve been asked, along with my mum, to write a diary for the DARL pages.

 

I’m 18 weeks old now, and I’m on my 4th home.  I was born in a litter with some brothers and sisters probably, but I can’t remember much about it.  When I went to my first ‘proper’ home I jumped out of a cardboard box and was surrounded by lots of other boxes wrapped in paper.  Everybody loved me and made lots of fuss and it was great.  I got spoiled and sometimes it led to accidents on the carpet, but I was just a baby, I didn’t know the rules.  Anyway after a few days of this, I didn’t get so much fuss and kept getting shouted at, until eventually my people took me out for a ride in the car, and then I don’t know what happened but I was let out of the car and they went without me.  I was scared but eventually someone found me and took me to somewhere called ‘the pound’. 

 

It wasn’t as nice as my first home, but they fed me and kept my small room clean.  I had been there seven days and I was due to be ‘put to sleep’ I don’t know what that means but it sounds quite nice because I like sleeping, especially when I’ve been playing and running around.  A nice lady from Rochdale Dog Rescue picked me up in her car and took me on a long ride to Leicester Animal Aid.  She told me that they wouldn’t put me to sleep, but try and find me another nice home like the first one.

 

When I was there I was quite scared, but I got lots of fuss and they let me spend most of the day playing with other dogs that were there.  It was great fun and I made a lot of noise when I was put in my little room and left on my own.

 

I have a new mummy and daddy now.  They saw me and thought I was really cute.  They said that I looked like another dog that they have.  I met my new brother Milo a few times at Leicester Animal Aid before I went home.  He didn’t seem too keen on me, but I was only jumping on him!  I thought he’d join in.  He could be a bit grumpy but that didn’t stop me!

 

Anyway I’ve been in my new home for almost two weeks now.  I was called Pringle, but mum and dad keep calling me Tilly so I think that’s my new name.  I answer to it anyway and they seem pleased with that.  My brother is much better with me now that I’m at home with him, although sometimes he tells me I’m too much and he needs a break from me.  He tries hiding under the bed, but I’m smaller than him and I can still find him.  My mum says I’m a little monkey, which I think is a good thing cause she says it quite a lot.

 

Last week was really exciting, I saw snow for the first time.  It was really cold on my paws but when I galloped around the garden I didn’t notice so much, you can see how cute I look in my photo.

 

It has been a busy couple of weeks learning about my new routine and meeting lots of new people and dogs.  I went with Milo to his agility training session at the weekend, wow, it looks really exciting – I want to have a go, but they won’t let me cause they say I’m a baby.  In the meantime I just run around with the other dogs having a ball.

 

Well that’s enough about me for now.  I’ll be back soon.

 

Tilly