You can't teach an old dog new tricks

You can't teach an old dog new tricks....that's me not Tilly. At dog training class yesterday we were reminded they're not pups anymore and it was down to some serious business. I came away from the session feeling quite disheartened. There were only four dogs in our class plus the trainer's dog and the trainer told us the missing owners had Covid. Two of the dogs are coming on in leaps and bounds, the other one is new to the course and this was his only his second lesson. I was told that Tilly isn't capable of achieving her bronze award yet and sadly I have to agree. Walking on lead she still pulls although wearing the Gencon head collar helps a lot. Control at a door or gate, I've always struggled with this as she simply will not wait. As far as the stay on lead for one minute is concerned there's no chance, once I move away from her she charges towards me as she really does have separation anxiety. The trainer said all dogs like pepperoni but Tilly refused a piece from her and the game was seeking a piece form under a plant pot and the dogs had to find it. I'm afraid I let Tilly down as I couldn't remember which pot the treat was under and the trainer said I'd confused Tilly.

Tilly has done well in other respects but as I've been told she is very treat dependent. Yesterday I was  told the problem isn't Tilly it's me, she has me wrapped around her paws and I do agree. Before I was leaving the hall the trainer assured me she will get there and I think she saw I was feeling low at that point. The course doesn't feel like fun anymore but we'll keep practicing at home and forget the bronze award and I'll see how I feel about taking her to training next week.

We've always had dogs, hubby and I grew up with dogs and my mother-in-law used to show dogs all over the UK. We've had dogs all our married life except for last year which was unavoidable due to our circumstances and the pandemic. We've never taken a dog to training classes before, never needed to so I suppose I am letting Tilly down but we have a strong bond with her and we love her so much.

Anyway, after all the rain of the previous days the sun was shining in the afternoon and so we took Tilly to Eirias park to let her have an off lead run. She never goes far away from us but I put her back on lead as we got near to the lake in case she went charging after the birds. There's a sign warning about the water quality so I definitely didn't want her going in the water. The grass was quite waterlogged but that's not surprising considering the amount of rain we've had. It's raining heavily again this morning but I'm in good spirits so no worries.

Raining cats and dogs

There's no let up in the bad weather this week. We got soaked by the rain on Wednesday but I had wanted to go visit the castle even though it was closed but I was wanting to see something I had been told about but not seen for myself but now mission accomplished.

Yesterday I managed to take Tilly for a walk between downpours without getting wet. It's raining hard again today so much so that the satellite signal was lost and the television  screen went blank. So it's the perfect day to print out a couple of Eunice's photos of Tilly. one intended for my photo wall and one to go inside my dog journal.

 

 

So my photo wall has gone from this

                                                                                      to this

             

to this and I'm very happy now although I did tell hubby his cushion was upside down as that's where he sits but too late now.

You may also notice  I have had to put Tilly's old dog tag on. I'd bought her a new one just two months ago and wrote about going to buy it here but it looks almost blank now as the engraving was extremely poor. I returned it to the kiosk but as I didn't have the receipt they wouldn't exchange it and asked if I had a bank statement but unfortunately I paid cash. I have complained to their head office and they say as a gesture of goodwill they will send me a voucher to use in their stores but it won't be for another dog tag!

The television is back on now and there is a Coronavirus update with more misery, restrictions could return to save Christmas.

A meal for us today

My friend Eunice called again yesterday before she set off for home and we had another lovely chat. She takes such good photos I asked her if she would mind taking some of Tilly for me and she has emailed some smashing ones and I'm very happy and will be printing some out. I asked her if she knew how long we had been blogging pals for and I've suddenly remembered I had shown her a clip from the Welsh news of when the harbour bridge was officially opened and that was back in 2013 so that's at least eight years.

Today I have been to buy a Colin the Caterpillar cake for an upcoming birthday and I thought why have an ordinary caterpillar when a Spooky one would be even better!

 

While I was on the retail park I bought some Christmas cards and gift wrapping paper and decided to go for a coffee with hubby. You may remember about three months ago we had an embarrassing time with Tilly when we went for something to eat. She was on the seat, on the table and she landed in and overturned a bowl of water and we made a hasty retreat. Hoping we wouldn't be recognised we returned to the same place and although it was much busier this time we were lucky enough to find a table for two which meant Tilly had to stay firmly on the floor. So not only did we have a welcome cup of coffee we actually stayed and enjoyed a meal and Tilly was as good as gold. We were well impressed with her, what a difference three months make.

Tilly the explorer

Just a few photos from my beach walk with Tilly down at the harbour now that the footpath is open again and all the dredging machinery gone. She enjoys being off lead and checking out all the obstacles. At training we do dog parkour and although she does try her best in class with two paws on some things and four paws in other things she enjoyed checking out all these new things on the beach much better. Big boulders and very big sticks to sniff at and climb over. She's loving her new adventures.

 Oh no, there's some dark clouds overhead, best get home for lunch

Friends with treats

 

You may be wondering why I am posting a photo of teacakes and  crumpets. Well, they are a very kind gift from my blogging friend Eunice, you may know her from her Life In The Mouse House blog. I've met Eunice a couple of times before while she's been on her camping trips in my neck of the woods. I've also met Eunice's son who works for Warburtons and he actually made the teacakes but not those actual crumpets. I like to order a toasted teacake when I have coffee mid-morning when out on a walk and when the opportunity arises. Hubby is partial to crumpets and cheekily asked if she'd bring some with her but he was only joking :) Eunice had planned to surprise me a couple of weeks ago but the fuel "shortage" happened so she thought it wise not to run off the petrol she had in her tank. This week she phoned to tell me she was coming to visit me which I thought was lovely. She's staying on a campsite for the weekend just five miles from where we live and we'll see her again before she returns home. What a lovely lady she is.

I'd been to the dog training this morning and briefly met Millie again. She had to drop out of the last puppy classes as she'd been poorly and is doing the course again. Tilly is now in the beginners class so Millie and Tilly's paths only crossed briefly but it was nice to see her again. Tilly was praised today and it's clear she is learning fast and is far less excitable than when we started classes with Millie at the beginning of August.

When I returned home I'd had a questionnaire delivered from Macmillans about my cancer treatment and it took me just over half an hour to complete it and I'm happy to help them help others any way I can. I'd just sealed the envelope and was about to ring Eunice on her mobile when she pulled up outside the house. I've now met little Snowy and she's a lovely little dog and although I've met Poppie before it was nice to see her again . Of course Eunice has now met Tilly who was happy to have a tummy rub, that's Tilly's way of bonding. Forever friends :)  

 

Out and about and meeting and greeting

It's been quite a pleasant week weather-wise although it's definitely getting chillier now. I don't go far with Tilly on her daily walks but I have taken a few photos during the week. On Sunday we went to the harbour only to discover the footpath was closed because large diggers are carrying out work on the annual dredging, shifting loads of sand to make it easier for boats coming in and out of the harbour. So Tilly and I walked across the bridge, strolled along the promenade only for us to have to wait for the bridge to go back down again so a boat could pass underneath. I know the dredging work will be going on for a week or two now so we have to vary our walking routes.

 

 

 

 

 

We've been to the park and met Tilly's two cockapoo friends but Tilly is slightly afraid of them running around at high speed and didn't join in the fun which is the result of her previous encounter with the big dog that harassed her so much. We've been to see the horse and have actually seen a couple of people who were giving him a drink of tea poured into a plastic jug from a flask as apparently he really enjoys a cup of tea they told me, to say I was very surprised is an understatement. We also spotted the strange looking sheep in the nearby field. they are not always there.

A couple of houses are decorated ready for Halloween The house in the first photo is all lit up with flashing lights once it goes dark in the evenings. It's not something we've ever done for Halloween but it's nice to see others getting into the spirit of things.

In other news Tilly has started the new term at dog training classes. She's now enrolled in the beginner's class and will be working towards her bronze award over the coming weeks. There are many more dogs in this class and apart from one very vocal one Tilly seems alright with most of them. The trainer did say that Tilly is very treat dependent which she is but praised Tilly's recall which is very good and I have no trouble at all calling her back to me. We're working on the meeting and greeting others and it's a shame she had that setback in the park when she was doing so well. The wait command is a very important one and Tilly needs to practice that as she can't get out of the front door fast enough for her daily walks.

Dogs and things

 

I bought another cockapoo ornament on Friday, I just couldn't resist it even though it's another thing to dust.  Just to put in in perspective it's the puppy alongside the grown up cockapoo which I bought a couple of months ago and I think they look very cute together.

I have to include a photo of Tilly watching me as I take some photos, she's completely missed her doggy mat on the sofa. I have to say at nine months old she hasn't grown as much as we thought she would although I suspect there may still be time for a growth spurt.

 I thought it was high time I printed out and framed a couple of photos to add to the living room walls and this corner of the room consists of our last dog Annie at the top and my daughter's four dogs past and present and of course one of our young Tilly.

Now this next photo really amuses us, a black Tilly against our red carpet and we think she looks just like Gnasher so I found the perfect place for this photo just above a few hubby's Dandy and Beano collectables. These may not be the best photos of Tilly but they mean a lot to us.

In and out, out and in

Hubby received a letter the other day offering him his free flu jab at our doctor's surgery and inviting him to phone to book an appointment. He was quite fortunate that he was only number eight in the phone queue with just a ten minute wait hanging on to the phone and given frequent updates  as the length of the queue went down. So when he booked his appointment hubby asked if I could have my appointment at the same time as his but was told that as I hadn't received an invitation letter then the answer was no.

I haven't always taken advantage of the flu jab and didn't have one last year as I was still having hospital treatment and feeling quite unwell at the time. Anyway today hubby arrived for his appointment and asked again if the wife could have her jab as she was eligible but not a received a letter. Unbelievably they said they could squeeze me in. So hubby had his jab and came out to tell me I could go in and have mine. What on earth was that all about as both hubby and I were in and out of the nurse's room in under a minute with hardly anyone in the waiting room at the time. Bureaucracy gone mad.

We decided we could take Tilly for a run on a different beach today but unfortunately the tide was in. The lifeboat was out though and I managed a photo just before it reversed back in the lifeboat station. I don't know if it had been out to sea but it was nice watching it go back in.

1st day of October

I'm always pleased to see the first day of October when dog restrictions on our beach are lifted. Dogs are not allowed on the beach between the 1st of May and 30th September. Last year was different of course and we were without a dog for eleven whole months and it was hard as we have always had at least one dog at home and at one time we had three dogs. 

Tilly woke me up at about four o'clock this morning as she wanted to go outside and woke me from a dream. I dreamt that I had re-homed her to a man but I didn't know who he was and he'd said he had two dogs but I didn't see them in my dream and I had a cry that I'd made a dreadful mistake and I missed her terribly. How weird was that, I usually don't remember what I dream about.

It's been a miserable week, very wet and windy but the sun came out today and one of my patio roses is in full bloom which is rather nice.

So I took Tilly down to the beach but first we have to negotiate a lot of pebbles put down years ago as part of the sea defences but Tilly didn't seem to mind walking over them. I let her off lead and she ran and ran and had the time of her life. This is the first time she has been off lead when not in an enclosed area but as we had the beach all to ourselves I had no worries at all. She ran into the sea and I think it gave her a bit of a shock but no doubt she will be back in again as both cocker spaniels and poodles love water and we know how much she loves the water in the padding pool in the garden. Some hastily taken photos but as she barely stopped for breath they're not the best but she certainly is one happy little cockapoo.