TG being himself.

Another picture with his best buddy.

Recently when AF and PL went for a short holiday we decided to leave TG with his wonderful 'friends' in Pets at Home. TG loves to stay with them as they have a large paddock that he can play in with up to five other dogs. TG has an exhausting time and sulks for at least a week when we bring him back home to his life with the 'oldies'. 

TG likes to roll in cow poo. Not sure whether it's the particular shade of green he turns when covered in it or the disguise of the subtle smell. Either way it ends in tears with a bath.

TG has decided that towards the end of his walk with PL or AF it is essential to find a stick to toss, chase, chew or carry. Sometimes this can delay the end of a walk as every time TG drops or loses the stick there is a certain amount of doubling back to find it.  Then more tossing, losing and retracing our steps. TG enjoys the game even PL or AF don't.

PL & AF take a bag of treats on walks with TG. Sometimes cheese or meat scraps but TG was particularly delighted with a liver, egg, flour and garlic mixture that came highly recommended by another dog walker. The house was filled with a delicious aroma during the cooking and TG loves it. His other doggy pals on the fields are equally addicted. Never has the whistle been so effective!!

As an alternative playful ploy to the stick TG will take his lead in his mouth and 'worry' it as he and AF get near the end of the walk. Yet another ploy to delay the end of his walk.

There are lots of large holes in the garden again. The grass is taking a hit and my poor flower beds are being turned into bomb sites. We might have to install a sandpit?

TG needed his regular dose of worming tablets. Given the recommended dose it could be that he is a large horse and not a dog after all.

Minus his 'bits'.

With 'lampshade' after his operation.

AF and PL were not quite sure what difference it would make having TG castrated.

• better behaved? NO!
• walking to heel? NO!
• more obedient? NO!
• coming back when whistled? NO!
• keeping clean? NO!
• changed his character? NO!

• Still the same old TG!!! YES!

 TG is still up to his old, and some new, tricks.

TG has:-

•  taken a liking to eating the crotch out of black lacy knickers sorted ready for washing.
• dug huge holes in the garden as if planning an escape. AF not happy when he digs the flower/vegetable beds; PL very unhappy when he makes holes in the lawn!! (It could be a badger.)
• chased the deer at the top of the hill again resulting in another visit from a VERY ANGRY MAN threatening all sorts of dire punishments.
• learnt to stealthily and delicately extract individual tissues from the box, test them for taste then destroy the empty box.  

 

Joy of joys for TG, AF and PL, our EGs has been to 

stay with us for two weeks.

TG has the best time ever with EGs running, rolling, throwing, catching, cuddling and just being together with a real friend.








It just got better when our ED (mother of EGs) and EGd came for a weekend with TG's best doggy pal. Lots of doggy games including a Tug of War with poor, battered Pheasant. 





TG is having to settle down again with the 'Old Folks' PL and AF until his 'holiday visit' to his special Pets at Home friends. More of that later.

Not making friends and influencing people.

TG continues to wend his merry way through life. He accepts the ups and downs of it all, just enjoying each day as it comes.

AF can make TG tremble by showing him the comb - an essential part of our daily life. PL and AF have an agreement with TG that if he is in his crate then we can't get him so at the first hint of a grooming session he dives in there with a 'na na na na naaa' look. No ill will on his part just a clear statement that he does not want to be 'messed about' with. 


TG has found a new wonderful game. It has all the advantages of being messy, quiet and very annoying to AF and PL as he systematically empties boxes of tissues. He's like a child. Each tissue is a new and wonderful thing that pops up demanding to be plucked delicately from the box, torn up, then hey presto there's another one. Endless fun.


AF and PL are fighting a losing battle with 'THE NOSE' at the moment. 

Up the hill from the house there is a delightful walk through woods, fields, the odd stream and winding paths. The deer like it also. Just the place to hide in until flushed out by a rushing scent hound who has, foolishly, been let off his lead. No amount of whistling will break TG's concentration as he finds the deer and gives chase.

Most of the time when PL or AF takes TG up there we keep him on the lead but occasionally TG looks beseechingly at one and he's away. 

Last weekend there was such an occurrence leading to TG being left on the hill, to all intents and purposes, never to be seen again chasing deer into the sunset. After much to-ing, fro-ing and searching by PL, TG turned up in the garden.

Suddenly there was an angry knocking on the door with a VERY ANGRY, previously friendly, woman demanding that TG be severly beaten and locked away for ever. "Had she had a gun to hand" she said "she would have shot him!!!". Oh dear!!
For her it had been the 'Bambi' memory I guess. When Bambi's mummy is shot, then brought down by a pack of dogs leaving little Bambi all alone. Many, many apologies later she left. Difficult to explain that TG is flushing out the game so that the person with the gun can take a pot shot at the deer helpfully 'scented' out by the scent hound.

It will be some time before TG is let loose again on that particularly stretch of local countryside. Shame it's a lovely walk.

TG is committed to digging holes in the flower beds, veggie patch and precious lawn at the moment. AG has re-barked large areas of flower bed and pathway in the vain hope that TG will be deterred. LOL as they say.

Enough complaining already. TG is great fun and we enjoy having him around the place. He has been  hors de combat  recently as we have had him castrated. A week later, with the lampshade round his head removed, he appears to be the same old TG. AF hopes it will stop TG chasing  women, PL and our neighbour are rather more sympathetic. 
 

A scent hound!!

• TG is officially a fully fledged scent hound now. He carefully followed the scent of another dog round four sides of the field to end up back with me as I chatted with the other dog's owner. What a clever boy.
• Taking him into the surrounding woods can be a bit of trial as his special 'scenting skill' takes him far, far away. Sometimes it's a long wait until he comes back.
• TG went on his holidays again last week. He disgraced himself a bit by stealing a yoghurt off his 'carers' worktop. Probably my fault as I give him my empty yoghurt pot to lick out every morning.Oooops!!
• YGd(Youngest Granddaughter) has discovered TG's weak spot that can send him into his crate jolly quick smart. YGd just blows a raspberry at him and he melts away. Clever her I think.
• AF has purchased a new, larger, halti for TG. Now we have less of a struggle to get it on his nose for his walk.
• TG is not a fan of the brush and comb. An expensive solution was to buy a new vacum cleaner to pick up the dirt and spare hair left on the carpet. 
• TG has the unfortunate attribute of spreading 'dog gob' up the walls when he shakes his head, beard and ears. Not good!!!
• TG still doesn't understand why getting muddy on the fields deserves a hosing down in the garden when he gets back home.
• TG finds 'big dogs' (horses) quite intimidating soTG and AF often take an unexpected detour when TG prefers to flee from, rather than pass by, the big, brown beasties.

One year old!!!

Recently a friend asked if we would have taken on TG if we had known how big he was going to get. Who can tell? When you buy a dog as a puppy you're not quite sure how big their going to become but you have the opportunity to train them in your ways from the start. On the other hand when buying a dog from a Rescue Centre size is less unpredictable but behaviour is very uncertain.

We knew that TG was going to be bigger than breed standard and had some idea of his potential size. He is bigger than any dog we've had before but we have had the opportunity to train him from the start. His training has gone OK, he is great fun, really good and we wouldn't change him or anything about him. He is the happy, fun-loving, amusing, thoroughly nice dog that it said on the tin.

There are inevitably hiccoughs. Recently we have lost him four times up in the hills near the house. He just sneaks off, then you see the deer running across the field, then you see TG following in hot pursuit. No amount of whistling or calling can break his concentration - it's his nature as a scent hound to follow the scent of large game. I have left him behind, come home, then walked back to meet him coming down the hill when he has either lost the scent or the deer has gone to ground. We have had the telephone call. "We have your dog. He's in the front garden looking lost." and have gone to collect him. 

The dog is quite unrepentant however so we have stopped taking him on that particular walk at the moment until the deer go higher up into the hills. 

He loves to cuddle and despite his size will climb onto a convenient lap given half a chance.

Sometimes his habit of eating the junk mail can be useful but recently he ate one side of a Christmas Lunch menu that a colleague had ordered. It was really embarrassing for PL to have to ring the person and explain the situation - made even worse as the person had forgotten what he had ordered!!!

TG also ate the 'don't want it' side from a Boden order causing the use of lots of sellotape. The Boden staff must have had a laugh at the explanation for the state of the returned form.
We hope that TG's mum would be as proud of him as he is of her with her exceptional winning ways in the show ring that we read about. TG has a lot to live up to and, one year on, he is doing very nicely thank you.

Full of Testosterone.

Let me tell you the tale as PL told it to me.

"I (PL) was walking on the usual round and let TG off at the top of the hill. TG ran on ahead but disappeared behind the lake. I went looking for TG but he crossed the stream at the back of the lake and went into the garden of M.&L. I (PL) ran round into the garden of M.&L. only to see TG leave said garden, cross the stream, go round the lake to 'visit' with some doggy buddies. I caught up with them but TG ran off again before I could collar him."

Pause for breath.

"TG ran into the field adjacent to the one I (PL) and TG were aiming for. I called and whistled TG but when TG came back he couldn't get through the gate. I (PL) had to put down the umbrella and lead so that I could climb the gate. I caught TG and threw him back over, fortunately TG waited so we (PL and TG) went straight back home."

They (PL & TG) arrived back home soaked to the skin. PL dried himself and TG, who was  banished to the kitchen. TG and PL both then had their evening meal. 

The next day TG and PL went to the Town Centre to undertake various 'errands'. At the Post Office PL tied TG up to a sturdy, wooden bench. After a couple of minutes waiting in the queue a man rushed in to the PO.

 "Is that your dog outside?" "He's pulled the bench across the road!!!"

TG had single-handedly (or quad-pawdly) dragged the bench across the road, fortunately without causing an accident. It took the collective strength of PL and another man to carry the bench back. The story is reaching legend proportions in the town already.

 TG is having a lot of fun at the moment which means not a lot of fun for AF and PL. AF had to leave him on the hill alone again. TG decided that as he had had such fun before he would disappear at the same spot again. AF once again whistled and called him for 10 - 15 minutes but to no avail. PL once again went up the field to rescue him and bring him home!! Since then TG has not disappeared again but watch this space.

At the moment he is sick and bad again after eating 'goodness knows what' on the field. TG decided that a little piece of cooked chicken and rice would be just about right for his tummy.

Note to self. Make a vet's appointment for TG to be .....................



Disappearing dog.



Back for a treat.

Having good days and bad days.

Good Days.

Consistently coming back to AF when the whistle is blown.

Not jumping up on people.
Just being a dog.
Playing with other dogs but coming back to AF when called.

Bad Days.
Disappearing into the woods and not returning when whistle blown.
Throwing new plants and earth all over the garden.

Digging huge holes in the garden.

A 'sort of' sorry TG drying off in his crate.

Today is a really bad day. AF has had to come home without him.

TG was being very good. He was chasing various scents, as is his wont, but always coming back for a treat. Coming down the hill TG decided to follow a particularly delicious scent and he just vanished. AF stood for 10 minutes calling and whistling but of TG there was no sign.

It's a difficult decision to leave a dog behind but there was no choice so here I am, at home, without TG. Oh Dear!!

PL has gone to look for him and it's raining!!

TG is now back home only a little bit chastened after waiting at the top of the hill for someone to rescue him!!!

Earlier in the week TG was sick, diarrhea-y and feeling bad. A visit to the vet and £50 later he had perked up and was back to normal. How do dogs manage to do that?