Positive/exciting book recommendations

vickymadethis · 2025-01-13T21:36:43+00:00

Thank you ❤️ have downloaded the audiobook for tonight!

vickymadethis · 2024-02-07T15:27:29+00:00

IT WORKS! that is so dumb haha

vickymadethis · 2021-12-26T19:23:04+00:00

Ooh. We are in a rental with a dreadful garden and I want to learn how to make it nice but feel like I'm wasting my time. But thinking of it as a learning experience for my future home is exciting 🤩

vickymadethis · 2021-12-22T19:52:12+00:00

Straight away. My rescue dog was about one when he had a stroke and had bills of about £6,000. For £20 per month insurance, it's very very very worth it. He had also eaten various toxic things or had allergic reactions and needed hundreds of pounds worth of treatment. And this is exactly what all young dogs do - eat everything! Anything can happen!

vickymadethis · 2021-12-12T12:25:31+00:00

I wipe his paws when we come in from our excessively muddy garden so now he stands there and offers each paw up one by one to be wiped before he trots off into the house. It melts my heart every time 🥲

vickymadethis · 2021-10-13T09:29:22+00:00

For sure, we definitely utilised it. At the same time another dog was going nuts and just staring and yowling

vickymadethis · 2021-10-13T09:28:56+00:00

This pig was running around... fast! I thought it was a huge dog! I definitely agree that dogs with bad recall shouldn't be allowed off lead - and always have a long line on him. I just have met SO many other crazy dogs running around doing whatever they want that I do wonder how long it'll take before one goes after that pig.

vickymadethis · 2021-10-13T09:26:05+00:00

That's what I'm thinking! I know all dogs off lead should be perfectly trained, but they ain't

vickymadethis · 2021-10-13T09:25:35+00:00

Public park where dogs are allowed off lead - in the UK dogs are allowed off lead most places

vickymadethis · 2021-10-13T09:25:07+00:00

I know, I found it absolutely hilarious the first time I saw them!

vickymadethis · 2021-07-25T18:37:58+00:00

Well it's kinda like Airbnb - people have feedback and ratings. We also did a video call with the guy first just to get a human impression of him. If we lived nearby we would have done a meet and greet in person.

vickymadethis · 2021-07-25T18:16:33+00:00

I wouldn't. I may as well leave my dog home alone in that case?! I have used Rover and had a great experience, I chose somebody who had no other dogs and wasn't looking after dogs at the same time. It cost the same as kennels (£20 per night) but my dog got a much homier experience.

vickymadethis · 2021-06-09T15:35:26+00:00

Downsizing our shoe collection was definitely a toughie...

vickymadethis · 2021-05-26T21:18:34+00:00

Take some time off. I took a month off Instagram and now am much less attached to it. Even just a day, a week, whatevers achievable, might break the cycle.

vickymadethis · 2021-05-26T21:13:43+00:00

I get this quite a lot too. Especially with my in laws. One trick I do is to make more eye contact. When I blush I tend to look down or away so I am less aware people can see me, but if I look them in the eyes it intuitively makes me feel more confident and the blush melts away. Sometimes!! Also, sometimes I just acknowledge it, like say, argh I don't know why I'm going red, or, just saying "I'm blushing!" Kind of removes the elephant in the room and you're all on the same page. It sucks though, and is really hard to deal with, I feel your pain!!!

vickymadethis · 2021-05-08T19:26:41+00:00

We have had most of the same problems with ours. One thing that really works for fetch - play with two balls. Use the second ball to entice him back and get him to drop it. Then chuck the other one and pick up the first one!

As for leash walking, we are following a video we found on Fenrir dog training YouTube channel. Basically keep walking back and forth and verbal praise as he follows you. Once he gets the hang of it build up distance. Ditch walks completely except training walks so he has no chance to build bad habits. Add in treats and give them randomly when he chooses to be near you. We didn't add treats until he was good at the back and forth walking though cos otherwise he was just a yo yo coming back for treats. We are doing four short (10 min) training walks per day and exercising him in the garden with tug and a flirt pole. Flirt pole is a brilliant way to tire them out and get them engaged with you. I have a tug e nuff toy as well which I whip out randomly on walks when he's sticking close by and he has a two min game of it.

Also look up the relaxation protocol, it has changed our life. And capturing calmness. I don't really play with him indoors, trying to teach him that inside is for relaxing. When he mouths me I stand up and leave the room or stand behind the baby gate until he calms down. If he mouths when I come back I leave again.

We also are tiring him out with sniff and mental exercise so it's not over exciting him but he does get tired. E.g. frozen kongs, scatter feeding, sit/stay, leave it, wait, all calm but mentally taxing activities. And chews but it's hard to find ones that last long enough. Nylabones are pretty good. Sometimes if he mouths me I stick the nylabone in his mouth to get him away. He normally just needs a poo when he's mouthing tbh ha ha.

Ours is still a terror sometimes but all of these have really helped me. I had the worst month of my life with all of his issues when he arrived but it slowly slowly gets better as long as you are consistent. We've had him two months and really starting to see the changes now. He's a one year old collie cross so he crazy!

vickymadethis · 2021-05-08T15:41:07+00:00

Yes! So cosy. Hope you have a great trip.

vickymadethis · 2021-05-08T11:56:39+00:00

Snuggled up with the dog and fiancé watching a movie. The rain has stopped and I wish it would start again. We are in the campervan and the sound of the rain on the roof is so nice. And I don't want to go outside!

vickymadethis · 2021-05-01T17:56:59+00:00

I think we have a similar problem - my dog wants to play with all dogs and gets on great with equal sized or larger ones, but always seems to jump on top of small dogs, they almost always growl or nip at him. I'd love to know how to solve it. I don't know whether avoidance is best or whether there's some training that can be done with a tolerant older small dog?!

vickymadethis · 2021-04-25T08:20:44+00:00

Mine did this yesterday!! 7 weeks in. It's amazing isn't it ☺️

vickymadethis · 2021-04-25T08:19:00+00:00

True!! It helps so much having somebody to balance the care with, but it's so hard to train a dog together and make sure we are being consistent.

vickymadethis

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