The Joy of Walking

I really love walking, but in no other circumstances would I have gone out for an hour this morning in the horrible driving rain except to walk the dog.

I'm so glad I did, walking is my favourite thinking time, and I came up with two ideas for articles to pitch and a children's story to try on the kids later. Bill enjoyed meeting other dogs and chasing their sticks and balls, and of course harrassing their owners for treats. He even managed to find some poo to eat - what a great morning out for us both!

Can a dog have Prada-Willi Syndrome?

We've all had a lovely few days, and although Bill has been generally well behaved (he's such a lovely dog) there have of course been more 'incidents' in his dietary preferences. This week he has eaten - two play nappies, a tupperware box, several loo roll tubes, a Management Times magazine, two footballs and stolen many pieces of toast out of the kids hands. Not to mention being found on the dining table (all four legs) investiaging an empty glass of milk.

The toys we've bought are popular, but clearly never going to replace the joy of hunt for 'real' food. He's off for his booster jabs in the morning - hopefully he'll forgive us, and the vet.

Spend, spend, spend

Well, I've just been to our local pet store, and boy have I bought some stuff... in the hope that we can keep Bill entertained and not so food obsessed (and to keep our toy stocks at their current level). We are going to trial a 'Kong Extreme' with some peanut butter in it, as the ball you put little treats in doesn't seem to take him more than two seconds to empty.

We are also putting a few other ideas on a trial, so will let you know what works and what doesn't.

New baby has fitted seamlessly into our home and I don't think G noticed any difference so we're all good on that front. We all went to stay with family last week and Bill was generally quite well behaved, and settled in nicely with his doggy cousin. There was just that one (or two) incident when he climbed onto the dining chair - front legs on the table in case some birthday cake had been left there...

In the dog house

Well, Bill is back on the naughty list as he has eaten G's baby doll. She doesn't know as yet, because we've managed to distract and the kids were at nursery all day today. I'm not one to shy away from the realities of disability, or to shield the children from disappointment but I think seeing the mauled remains of 'baby' would scar G for life! The kids have coped so well with the loss of many toys already, but this just seemed a step too far.

I try hard to avoid the big supermarkets, and worry about them taking over the world... BUT there are times in life when the ability to buy a kids toy late a night becomes a necessity. Let's hope they have one...

Here we go...

This morning was Bill's first visit to the vet, I'm not expecting it to be his last! They suggested a 24 hour fast which (once we'd stopped laughing) has been commuted to a rice and scrambled egg diet in the hope he feels better very soon. He had a lovely walk in the woods and today has mostly eaten edible things - just one attempt at a plastic boulder from the kids castle.

Here's to a calmer outlook all around.

The story so far...

So, Bill arrives and is lovely. We have a great load of foods, toys, photos and a kind letter from his puppy walkers with lots of handy hints about Bill. He settles into our less than regular routine very quickly and is great fun to have around. However, there is a tendancy to eat ANYTHING, really anything. On day one he eats the widest variety of the kids things including (to name just a few) a plastic flower hair band, a Happyland policeman, two play nappies and a pot of Sudocreme.

Over that first weekend, he consumes 2 CD's several more plastic items from the sandpit, another hair band and most of our post. Please don't think that we leave items in stupid places or as bait. We care very much for his wellbeing and are very careful what is left out - but he has the most amazing gift of finding dangerous things to eat...

It's only going to be a weekly update of Bill's adventures. The rain has been a real nightmare this week, but as Bill is more interested in short bursts of speed over very long walks we have managed a few great trips for him.

Second Time Around

We lost our amazing retired Guide Dog in October, it a was sudden traumatic and incredibly expensive experience, and we said we probably wouldn't do it again for some time.

And then... we did some dog sitting for a friend and remembered all the fun of watching the kids and the dog playing in the garden, and sent an email to the Guide Dogs to say we'd like to go back on the list again. Waiting for the right dog for the family can take up to two years, so we weren't expecting to hear back any time soon.

And then... a phone call came to say the perfect family dog to meet all our needs was looking for a home - and Bill arrived. A very young dog, who was withdrawn from Guide Dog training as it clearly wasn't for him.

We now see why! He's has a lovely temperament and lots of great traits, but is a real handful. People keep asking how we're all getting on, so we'll let you know here.