W/C 9th August 2021

Monday 9th August

Jay went back to work today after 2 weeks annual leave. Dembe and i have slipped back into our normal pre holiday routine. In fact we slipped into it a little too well and slept on a bit.

Dembe has a walk booked with Martin from Happy Dogs this morning which I am sure he will enjoy as he will be able to catch up with his Happy Dog mates. When Martin brought him back he told me he was limping intermittently whilst on the walk. I contacted Jay to discuss it and then Jay rang the vets and managed to get him booked in for an appointment for later on in the afternoon. Dembe is very cuddly and no limping seen in the house.

Dembe was taken to the vets at 16.15, he was weighed and is a whopping 36kg the heaviest he has ever weighed. During the last two weeks it seems his Labrador brain has finally been switched on and he is trying lots of new foods that he has previously ignored! So we no longer have such a fussy eater.

He was very well behaved in the vets but sadly they couldn’t replicate the limp. The vet has said that she can’t feel any swelling / heat or crepitus in any of the joints. So at the moment she is unconcerned and thinks that it is possibly a muscle strain. He is to be rested for a couple of days and started on some anti-inflammatory medication. We are to start that tomorrow.

Dembe is absolutely fine in himself, eating, drinking, jumping around and being the usual bouncy Labrador he is. So we aren’t too concerned. If his limp doesn’t resolve then he will need to have an x-ray and we will go from there. To ensure he rests I have cancelled his walk with Sophie from Creature Kind on Wednesday.

Tuesday 10th August

Today is the first day of Dembe’s medication. I mixed it in with his breakfast and he took it with no issues. That was a huge relief. We will be watching him closely for side effects such as sickness and diarrhoea, blood in his urine or stools. It is always terrifying for us when we start him on any kind of medication having one dog in the past have his kidneys destroyed due to medication and another who started passing blood in his urine just a few hours after a dose of medication. For the most part I like to try and treat the dogs as naturally as possible but sometimes that isn’t always necessary.

Dembe is quite content to just sleep a lot of today, he is always happiest when we are all home together. He is ensuring he is topped up with Daddy cuddles and he is following me around everywhere to the point where I have almost fallen over him on several occasions.

There is no noticeable difference in his behaviour now he has taken the first dose of medication which weirdly is a relief as had there have been I would have felt terribly guilty as it would have meant he had been in pain and unable to tell us.

Jay took Dembe out on the common for a short walk this afternoon and I stayed at home as we were waiting for a delivery. When Jay and Dembe got back to the carpark there was a Creature Kind van parked beside us. Dembe refused to get back into our car and kept running to the back of the creature kind van waiting to be let in. Jay had to practically carry him back to our car and load him in.

This evening Dembe decided to raid his toy box and pull out his smallest toy, Sam’s baby. This was given to Dembe when he was a tiny pup, by his biggest fan Sam. Dembe loves the tiny beany baby and will carry it around in his mouth very carefully.

Wednesday 11th August

Dembe had a short lead walk first thing this morning. Jay is on a late finish today so Dembe will get several lead walks and a short common walk before Jay leaves. Jay took Dembe to the common around 9.30am and as they got themselves ready for the walk Martin from Happy Dogs pulled alongside, they said a quick hello and then, Dembe and Jay went for their walk.

Day 2 of Dembe’s medication and again I have to say no difference at all in Dembe’s behaviour. So I am now left wondering was he in pain or is he in so much pain that the meds aren’t touching it. The mummy guilt with this pup is strong. Dembe is fine obviously! I just don’t think he was actually in pain. We shall see it is probably too early to tell.

In the afternoon I decided that I would paint the skirting board upstairs it is something I can do sat down. Of course for the first time ever Dembe managed to get the Frenchic Trim Paint in Parchment down his side as he lay on the landing whilst I was painting! Thankfully the paint came off with some soap and water even though it was dry by the time I found it. Mind you the colour was so close to his lightest fur colour it was quite well matched.

Whilst I was painting I gave Dembe a venison leg to chew on, he stripped it right down to the bones! He really enjoys a good chew. I got 10 venison legs for less than 20 quid and as they keep him quiet for an hour or more I see that as a bargain.

Thursday 12th August

We are up early today as we have a friend visiting. Dembe hasn’t seen V for ages so it will be interesting to see how he gets on with her. I am sure it will be fine as she loves dogs and she has know him since he was a tiny pup.

He was very excited when V arrived and leaping around all over the place. I got him a deer leg as I knew that he would be more interested in the deer leg than V. He stripped it clean within an hour but the action of chewing calmed him right down. As soon as the deer leg was stripped he was all over V sitting on her lap, licking her ears and generally demanding attention.

After V left Dembe was absolutely shattered as he hadn’t had his usual morning nap! It was only 30 minutes later and his dad came home for lunch and took Dembe around the block. It was a very quiet afternoon.

Dembe was starving hungry today as he was all out of sync with our early walk. He had his dinner at 4pm.

This was day three of his new medication, again no change in his behaviour. He has all the way through used his left leg to push off when getting up off the floor, I think he is left handed. There is no difference with how he is getting up to how he was getting up last week which was normal and no hesitancy. No limping at all around the house and his movement is fine.

Friday 13th August ( unlucky for some )

Day 4 of Dembe’s medication, again no massive changes in his behaviour nor any minor ones. He is still as cuddly as ever jumping around and acting like a loon.

This morning he had a walk with Martin from Happy Dogs. He said he would try and capture it on video if he saw Dembe limping but as he had 5 others dogs with him it might not be possible. When he brought Dembe back he said the limp was much less pronounced today and he thinks like we all do that it was possibly a muscle strain. He said he is only showing signs of a limp on uneven ground. Looking back Dembe had an episode of high energy and rough play on Sunday and came away from that with a graze on his leg. So perhaps that is what has caused his limp to flare up again?

Dembe came into the house when Martin dropped him off and then sat at the front door whilst it was wide open and I was chatting to Martin and never once tried to escape and charge out of the house. I would have never have got away with that with the Weimaraners. Mollie would have taken herself off on an adventure and would have rocked up 30 minutes later wondering what all the fuss was about. He amazes me constantly with what a well behaved boy he is.

He got in from his walk grabbed his carrot and gave it to em then he climbed on his favourite place on the sofa and fell asleep! The sign of a good walk.

Dembe and I went upstairs in the afternoon for a lie down. I managed to get some photos of him lying on my face which he what he always does when I have a migraine.

Dembe was ever so pleased to see his dad at 4pm when he finished. He was starving hungry again! He has a belly like a bottomless pit at the moment.

Sitting nicely in the kitchen as there was cheese!

Saturday 14th August

Today will be Jay’s second late finish of the week, can’t complain as he rarely is late on a Saturday. Today Dembe has a walk booked with Max from It’s A Dogs Life. He really does love his walk with Max and her dogs.

He was a bit huffy when Jay went to work as I think he thought he wasn’t going to get a nice long afternoon walk. So he went mental when Max’s van pulled up outside. He was really good with Max considering he can go months without seeing her. He was loving having a cuddle before they left and trotted off down the drive with her and jumped into the back of her van.

Photo Credit Maxine Pannell It’s A Dog’s Life

Dembe had a fantastic time on his walk, no sign of a limp reported by Max. I asked her if he had been a good boy and she said “isn’t he always”. It always makes me burst with pride as he is such a very good boy and mixes so well with other dogs and humans.

When he came home Dembe was very hot, when they left it had been overcast and stuffy. Whilst out the skies had cleared and there was brilliant sunshine sending the temperature soaring. They had to find some shaded area’s to walk. Dembe was panting heavily so I took him outside and hosed him down with some tepid water and got his cool mat out. He was more than happy to lie on that and I also put the fan on.

Sunday 15th August

We have had a quiet day. Dembe woke up at 6am and Jay took him up the common whilst it was nice and cool. They came back up to bed and no one woke up until I stirred at 09.45am. Our longest ever lie on with Dembe! He was still fast asleep when I woke.

Today is just going to be Dembe cuddles and catching up on the usual household chores.

W/C 19th July 2021. HOT, HOT, HOT!

Monday 19th July

The UK is currently experiencing a bit of a heat wave at the moment so it is important that all dogs walks are done in the coolest part of the day. Jay took Dembe out for an early lead walk before he went to work. Martin from Happy dogs picked Dembe up at around 9.30am. It was already quite warm so Martin walked the group in shaded areas, unfortunately that area didn’t have a good enough signal to do a Facebook live. When Dembe got home I hosed him down in the back garden. Martin told me what a very good boy he had been.

We had got up incredibly early ( for me and Dembe as we like a lie on, after Dembe has had his first walk of the day), we were up at 6.30am. Dembe was starving hungry straight off the bat which is unusual for him. He really isn’t the typical greedy Labrador and is an extremely fussy eater. It was so unusual I took a photo and sent it to Jay to prove to him Dembe was having an early breakfast.

I managed to get some sewing done today, whilst Dembe slept after his happy dogs walk. When I went to take some photos of my finished pieces Dembe couldn’t help but get involved in the process.

During this intense hot spell we are having at the moment Dembe has taken to lying on the patio flag stones in the shaded part of the back garden.

To help cool him off in the afternoon I filled up his paddling pool.

He enjoyed this immensely, he loves water and goes crazy when the hosepipe is out. As a result of his love of water and the heat at the moment we have bought Dembe a spinkle mat which is coming tomorrow.

Tuesday 20th July

It is as hot as Hades! When Jay walked Dembe on the common at 4am it was already 17 degrees centigrade.

I found two ticks on Dembe, one on the front of his chest and one in his armpit. He was a very good boy and let me remove both of them using the tick removing tool I bought from Amazon. He did however run up the stairs with his carrot after they were removed. It seems that he thinks we can’t get him when he runs up the stairs. Martin our dog trainer has said that is more a Golden retriever type of behaviour as they are sensitive souls.

My phone just refused to focus properly on the tick so this is the best I could do. Both ticks were of similar size. Both sites where the ticks were removed are lightly swollen so I shall keep an eye on them. Mollie our eldest Weimaraner was the same when she had ticks remove the skin would swell slightly where the tick had embedded itself.

Thankfully he did forgive us for removing the tick!

Dembe’s sprinkle mat arrived at around lunch time. We got it assembled quickly and put it outside for him to have a play with.

When the jets were on he refused to go anywhere near it. So I turned the jets off and he was more than happy to play in the water that had collected in the bottom. I turned the water back on to put the jets on whilst he was on the mat he was fine with that, thank goodness.

Dembe had lots of little walks to the shaded lane that is very close to our home. He took full of advantage of Jay being home and must’ve had about 6 walks today.

Here he is looking as gorgeous as ever!

Wednesday 21st July

Dembe woke up just before 6am, on waking I gave him a cuddle and discovered another tick on his chest near his front leg. He was very good boy and allowed me to remove it from him cleanly using the tool. We think he is picking up the ticks from the lane as it is used by Foxes and Hedgehogs. I have checked him all over several times today to ensure I haven’t missed any. I have gone online and ordered some rose geranium oil to apply to him before he goes for walks as this is supposed to be as effective as Deet at keeping the little critters away. For the minute I have used some peppermint oil on him to put them off as this is effective too.

His paddling pool needed cleaned and filled so we had a laugh with the hosepipe and the crazy dog again! He does love the water.

Due to the heat I cancelled Dembe’s walk with Sophie from Creature Kind, she had just emailed me to discuss the situation, she offered to take him out earlier but as Jay was on a late shift it wasn’t worth it. He was actually ok about not going out. The heat was so oppressive that he was quite happy to just have cuddles on the sofa with me.

Jay popped home at 5pm and gave Dembe a walk around the block, it was soooo hot. We hosed him off before the walk and then again when he came back. Dembe was more than happy for an early night and we were up in bed by 7pm.

Thursday 22nd July

It is still crazy hot! Dembe is having a very early walk on the common and then Jay will walk him in the shaded lane at Lunch time and then again when he gets home from work. It is too hot to have Dembe running around being a nutter, although to be honest he has slept most of this last week due to the heat and I don’t blame him.

This afternoon I took Dembe on to the shaded part of the patio and practised getting him to sit nicely with a huge bag of treats beside me. I also used the opportunity to give him a quick groom as the hair in the house at the moment is just bonkers. It has never been this bad ever! There are huge great rolls of hair appearing out from under furniture even though the house is vacuumed twice a day at the moment due to all the bloody hair! Honestly how he isn’t naked is beyond me.

I know I am biased but I really do think that he is such a handsome boy. I know every dog owner says that about their dogs but he is just gorgeous. I am utterly besotted with him as is his daddy.

Dembe is going absolutely crazy for Cottage cheese and petit filous deserts – both human foods, which he can have a little of sometimes. He loves the cottage cheese so much that I have been letting him have the last dregs in the tub. Until now he has never stuck his nose fully into a food container or carried it around. We laugh because Frankie our Weimaraner, who sadly passed away two weeks before Dembe came home with us used to do exactly the same. It is so sweet to see him doing stuff that the other dogs did. He makes us laugh when he races into the kitchen when he hears the Fridge open just like Willow used to. Willow was so bad if she heard a kitchen timer go off she would race you to the kitchen LOL!

Friday 23rd July

My goodness what a cuddly boy Dembe is being today, I cant bend down without being kissed and I can’t sit or lie down without being cuddled, brought a toy or kissed to death. He has managed to lick my eyeball 3 times today!

I had a lie down on the bed and he couldn’t get close enough to me for a cuddle.

It was slightly cooler this evening than it has been all week so Dembe was much more active. He wanted to get me lots of toys out and have me play with him for ages. I don’t mind as it was lovely to see him more comfortable rather than struggling with the heat.

After having a massive play session he then crashed on the lounge floor and went to sleep!

Sorry this week has been a bit shorter than normal. We are having a new boiler fitted on Monday so we have been getting the house ready. We will be doing the final prep on Sunday which would be my normal day for writing up his diary, hence why it has been done earlier. Hopefully it will go smoothly.

The next two weeks Jay is on holiday so I shall be taking a two week break from Dembe’s Diary and will catch you up August 9th 2021.

W/C 5th July 2021

Monday 5th July

Dembe had been doing really well over the weekend and he had stopped limping, so on Sunday I contacted Happy Dogs to let them know he would be ok to be walked. Sadly though when Martin brought him back he was limping again. Martin said he was limping from the minute he jumped out of the van. It isn’t as pronounced as it was but still not good. I decided to cancel his walk on Wednesday with Sophie at Creature Kind and give him a week of proper rest. He only had those two walks booked this week anyway so he isn’t missing much.

We have been continuing with his supplements and he likes them, so that’s good. We crush them up in a pestle and mortar and then sprinkle the powder over his meals. They seem to be doing the trick and he is definitely not limping around the house. The issue is more noticeable when he gets up after being asleep as he is stiff. So we shall keep an eye on him this week. If he isn’t right by next Monday we shall take him to the vet. He has only been limping since last Thursday so it is 4 days that is not enough for a sprain or strain to heal.

I am a bit worried with how he will cope with not going out with a dog walker this week as some weeks he is out 4 times. I had reduced it back this month as a bit of an experiment to see if he needed it. He will be 3 years old in November and although he still has his mental activity periods he is more than happy to lie around and sleep. This is the week I shall find out if I can keep him calm and less mobile. Wish me luck.

Thankfully his extra treats arrived this week, as long as he has something to chew on he is a happy boy.

Tuesday 6th July

Dembe didn’t start fussing for his breakfast until 8.30am but first we piled into daddy’s room. It is our morning routine when Jay is on a late or day off that Dembe and I go in and wake him him. We all lie on the bed and chat, Dembe always brings us his blue dinosaur. He has this weird thing where he will have a cuddle with us for ages and then all of a sudden he will jump up and run down to the end of the bed. Jay then has to take the duvet of his feet, Dembe then gives Jays foot a sniff and sometimes a lick. Then he comes back up to the top of the bed again. It makes us laugh every time he does it. We have no clue why he has to check Jays feet!

I was busy chatting away to them both when I suddenly heard them both snoring!

Dembe has had his usual lead walks during the day, Jay has just made them shorter rather than doing a walk around the block to ensure he keeps his leg rested as much as possible.

Again he has spent a lot of the day sleeping and hasn’t seemed that fussed about not having long walks. If we could have got away with it we wouldn’t have taken him out at all but he point blank refuses to use the garden to go to the toilet.

Wednesday 7th July

Jay is on a 10.30-7.30 shift due to the football, normally he would have been late night. Dembe is certainly spending a lot of the afternoon looking for Sophie. I feel sorry for him but he really must rest, there will be other walks.

He got a bit barky around 6pm but it was ok he still settled down.

He is not showing any signs of a limp now and is just a bit tentative when getting up. I had a look at my phone to discover when he last had a limp. It was back at the end of April. I am wondering if we didn’t let him rest it enough and that is why it has flared up again. Having checked his legs numerous times there is no swelling, no heat and he isn’t taking his leg away from you when you examine it. It is his left leg.

Thursday 8th July

We came downstairs to this today

Dembe didn’t notice Cleo on the sofa until we came back in with his breakfast. He went mental it was the first time I have ever heard him growl. He was barking and growling and all his hair was standing on end.

To ensure Dembe hasn’t been a pain the bum for our neighbours I have spent as much time as I can in the lounge with him so he doesn’t stand at the front window barking at every noise from outside. He has spent a lot of the week curled up on my lap ( as much as a full grown Labrador can be on its owners lap ). By staying with him he has been much more settled .

Dembe now lets us know when he wants to go out for a walk, he stands by the front door. If his blue lead is hanging up he will nudge that with his nose. He doesn’t bark or whine he will just stand facing the door. He usually starts to do this just before Jay is coming home.

Friday 9th July

Oh my goodness Dembe didn’t wake up until 6am for his morning walk and then didn’t wake up until 10am for breakfast. He only woke up because I was stirring otherwise he would have continued to sleep. It was really nice to have a proper lie on.

Despite sleeping on until 10am Dembe was still more than happy to spend the majority of the day dosing. Jay was on a late night so that suited me fine, he popped back at 5pm to give Dembe a walk around the block.

Due to having his breakfast really late Demeb wasn’t hungry for his dinner until gone 6pm. Normally he starts begging by sitting in front of the fridge any time from 3.15pm onwards.

He likes eating his dinner in the lounge! Spoilt pup. He polished off the lot.

I managed to capture him licking his lips after he had finished his dinner. Every day we are seeing an improvement in Dembe. He has started running again on walks now.

Saturday 10th July

Today I saw Dembe running and he has no signs of a limp at all. I also saw him walking up hill on the lead after his walk again no limp. This is fantastic news. So hopefully he will be able to resume walks with his dog walkers this week.

Sunday 11th July

We are having a lazy Sunday before the England match this evening.

Have a good week.

W/C 28th June 2021

At some point very soon I will be forced into switching the blog over to blogger as WordPress have a limit on how many photographs and videos you can have on a personal blog before they want you to pay £80 a year for the next amount of storage. I don’t have the money and I already pay £36 a year for this site. I am hoping to slowly migrate each post and it’s photos over to blogger and will eventually be able to shut this one down. There will be plenty of notice and when it happens I will provide a link each week so you can read and see the updates about Dembe.

Monday 28th June

Dembe had a walk booked with Martin from Happy Dogs this morning as Jay was on his usual early shift. The weather was so grotty there was no video or photos. He was on and off the lead today, he decided today that instead of running in the opposite direction when Martin called him back he would sit and refuse to move. Well at least he likes to keep us on our toes.

This photo of Dembe taken a while back was used on Happy Dogs Facebook page on Monday. We were chuffed to bits that Dembe and Blue’s photo had been chosen for this.

We were watching Tv whilst we had our Dinner and Dembe was utterly fascinated by the Labradors on the TV.

We have all been invited to a wedding at the end of July, Dembe received his very own invite. So I decided to get him something dapper to wear for the occasion, his very own Tux

Tuesday 29th June

As usual Tuesday is the Daddy and Dembe love in day! With the heat at the moment he is spending a lot of time lying on the floor either on the cool stones of the patio or on the laminate flooring.

This evening our friend Bungle ( aka Adam aka Mr Start, Sophie’s husband) came over to watch the Football as England were playing in the Euros. Initially Dembe was really barking so I initiated some calm giving to get his energy levels to drop. I was just doing exactly what we had been taught at obedience training. This worked brilliantly and he calmed right down.

He was utterly fascinated with Bungles beard and kept licking it and trying to bite it. Bungle has a very bushy long beard so it was something Dembe hasn’t encountered in a while! He kept lying across Bungles lap and trying to get hold of his beard. When he wasn’t doing that he was getting as close to him as possible on the sofa or lying on the floor with his head resting on his feet. It was very sweet to see.

Wednesday 30th June

Jay is on a late night so Dembe has had several walks before he has gone into work. It is very hot and humid again today so Dembe is sleeping a lot and not as active as usual. He comes to life in the evening when the temperature is cooler.

Sophie picked Dembe up just before 2pm, he was so excited to see Sophie from Creature Kind that he ran straight out and hopped into her van greeting Polo his best chum with lots of tail wagging. It is really lovely to see these two greeting each other.

As you can see from the photo’s Dembe had a wonderfully muddy time! Thankfully when he came home he was clean as a whistle thanks to some strategic swimming implemented by Sophie. He was absolutely shattered when he came in and went to sleep for 30 minutes before eating his dinner and then dropping back off to sleep/

Thursday 1st July

Dembe had a walk with Martin from Happy Dogs this morning. Unfortunately Dembe had developed a limp so his walk had to be cut short and was mainly on the lead. Martin gave him a full check over and could find no obvious problem as to why he was limping. He checked all his pads, his wrists and his elbows. There was no heat coming from any of the joints and no swelling.

I checked again when he came home but could find no issues. It is an intermittent limp and very subtle so I am keeping an eye on him and trying to limit jumping, running around like an idiot etc.

Martin took this lovely photo of Dembe and Chester together today. He said Dembe was very good boy on his walk.

With the heat it has been relatively easy to keep him off his feet, we have had a very cuddly rest of the day. I have ordered some Maxxi Flex+ from amazon for him. This stuff is incredible for healing and natural pain relief. It is £30 for a bottle of tablets ( luckily they had a £2.00) off voucher. I used to give these to Frankie all the time to treat his Arthritis as he got older and I would give them to all the dogs whenever they picked up an injury and it would help them enormously. They are coming tomorrow so I am hoping they come early enough for me to get two doses in to get him on the mend.

Friday 2nd July

Dembe is walking a bit better today but he is still quite stiff when getting up from lying on the floor. Still it is an improvement from Thursday afternoon. As he is such a clumsy bugger I am pretty sure he has just sprained something. I don’t run to the vets with stuff like this as long as he isn’t showing any signs of pain. I don’t like the vets using metacam on my dog(s) as we have had issues in the past with Frankie ( rest in peace) who would pee blood after a metacam injection. So I always tend to treat naturally wherever I can as you dont know with metacam if there is a problem until they have been dosed with it.

Today we have two plumbers coming over to give us quotes for the new boiler, we have got some jumbbones for Dembe to distract him and stop him barking. Thankfully both plumbers are ok with dogs and one of them has met Dembe before when he serviced our boiler last year.

Jay is on a late night so Dembe had an early morning walk and then a bigger walk at 9am followed by two smaller walks so he went to the toilet before Jay left for work. He still refuses to use our garden. His limp is still intermittent but better than before. I have a lazy afternoon on the sofa to keep him resting as much as possible.

Dembe’s supplements arrive around 18.00 hours so I try him with a tablet straight out of the bottle to see if he will eat them. They are supposed to be chewable but the Weimaraners were suspicious of everything and would never eat stuff like that straight out of a bottle. It would have to be hidden in pate and the like. Dembe surprises me by eating the first and second ones straight out of the bottle. The third gets hidden in a dairylea triangle and eaten no issue.

He is asleep early this evening and stays up on the bed with me tucked up tight against my left leg just like Frankie used to do.

Saturday 3rd July

Well what a difference with taking that new supplement, it was always the same when I used it on the Weimaraners you could see a difference within a few hours. Dembe is walking much easier and is no longer stiff when getting up from lying down. He only had one dose last night. This morning I crushed up the tablets in my pestle and mortar and add them to his breakfast. He eats the lot and is looking for more.

I was fixing a friends very cherished cuddly toy this morning whose back had come apart along the seam. A very quick fix. Sadly Dembe thought that the toy was for him so I am having to hide it all the time so he can’t get to it and get it covered in Dembe slobber! As you can see he was keeping a watchful eye on me as I made the repairs.

When I woke up this morning Dembe was on the bed tucked up against my left leg, which now seems to be his preferred way of sleeping. If I hadn’t woken up at 8am he would have still been snoring his head off at 9am. He really doesn’t do well with Jay’s early starts. Jay let me know that he was definitely walking better today.

I am still keeping him quiet and not having him running around like a loon. I don’t want the supplements masking any pain and then him causing further damage.

You can tell he is feeling so much more himself today as when his dad pops home for lunch Dembe launches off the sofa and grabs his carrot from the toy box to present to his daddy. He is walking around parading it with no sign of a limp which is fab news.

We will keep an eye on him for the rest of today and tomorrow. We will decide tomorrow evening whether or not to go ahead with his booked walk on Monday morning as I don’t want to cause a flare up and more damage. If he is still limping on Monday we will get him checked out at the vets.

W/C 21st June 2021

Monday 21st June

Dembe had a walk with Martin this morning, the weather was pretty grotty so there is no video to share with you but there are some great photos .Dembe had a fab time and there were plenty of zoomies with his mate Shadow who is 13 but acts like a puppy.

Dembe was on and off the lead today, he was a bit naughty starting a new thing of when being called back sitting down and refusing to move. A strange one as he doesn’t do that with us or any of his other walkers.

We had a cuddly afternoon, he spent much of it on my lap and then on the floor lying at my feet.

Tuesday 22nd June

It was a daddy and Dembe love in today as it always is when Jay is home. Dembe was most put out when his dad had to go out and get a new tyre put on the car without him. Jay was playing with the dog that was at the garage and Dembe went crazy sniffing Jay when he got home.

Wednesday 23rd June

We are wondering if there is a female dog in season near us as Dembe has been giving his bed a hammering the last few days. Normally his humping takes place in the evening just before bed time, the last couple of days it has been happening throughout the day!

Dembe has several walks before his dad left for work today. Dembe and I are both confused today as Jay is doing a 12-9 instead of a 1-10 shift so we keep thinking it is an hour later than it is.

Sophie from Creature Kind collected Dembe around 2pm for his walk and he was very excited to see her.

That last photo is a particular favourite of mine as I can imagine Jasper and Polo looking back and saying “what is that idiot doing now?”

He had a fab time on his walk and was starving when he got home, polishing off a huge dinner.

Thursday 24th June

Dembe was pretty knackered this morning after his fun time with Sophie yesterday.

He had a walk booked with Martin from Happy Dogs this morning.

If you have Facebook you can see the video here – https://www.facebook.com/415343231815686/videos/392157245549889 He had a lovely walk with his mates.

We had a quiet afternoon with lots of cuddles. I haven’t been very well this week and Dembe has altered his energy levels accordingly.

Friday 25th June

Dembe had a walk with Martin from Happy Dogs this morning, it was just him and Lily out on the walk this morning as they were the second group.

Dembe loves all the dogs he walks with but he has a huge affinity for other Labradors.

Whilst Dembe was out I cleaned out his paddling pool as it had gone a bit green and I always make sure it is kept scrupulously clean due to Dembe’s habit of ignoring his water bowl and drinking out of that during the summer months.

He was a very tired pup today and he spent much of the day sleeping on the sofa or having cuddles with me. He was very excited when I put his car harness on ready for when his dad got home and took him for a walk up the common.

We bumped into some friends we hadn’t seen for a long time Hilary and Wayne. Dembe was very pleased to see them and there was no barking as he remembered them from when he was a puppy. They adore him and always made a fuss of him when they saw him. They actually recognised Dembe and then us!

We use the Slow Ton harness as that is one of the few on sale in the UK that has been crash tested.

Saturday 26th June

I didn’t wake up until 9am this morning, Dembe slept nest to me all night which is quite unusual for several reasons. With the heat of the summer Dembe has been sleeping downstairs for the first part of the night only coming up at around midnight / 1am. When he has come up he has slept out in the hall rather than on my bed. Last night he slept on my bed resting up against my left leg. Normally he would have woken me up anywhere between 7.15-8am to demand his breakfast but when I woke up he was still fast asleep beside me.

I gave him his breakfast as soon as I got up, he polished it off

This afternoon he is out with Maxine at It’s a Dogs Life, for a walk, Jay was supposed to be at a family wedding today accompanying his mum but she decided she wasn’t well enough to attend. As we had Maxine booked we decided to go ahead with the walk anyway. Dembe was pleased to see her and couldn’t wait to get into the van!

He had a lovely time with Maxine on his walk and she said he was a good boy. He has obviously had a fantastic time as he has come in and plonked himself on the floor to cool down after having a huge drink!

W/C 14th June 2021

Monday 14th June

Today was Jay’s first day back at work after a week’s holiday. Dembe was a really good boy and slipped back into our usual routine. He was waiting by the window for Martin to arrive.

Dembe was a good boy on his walk today. If you have Facebook you can see the video that was taken using the link – https://www.facebook.com/415343231815686/videos/501349931204932 Martin said he was a bit sulky to begin with being on the long lead. But that soon wore off and he had a good time and settled down quickly.

When he came through the door I could see a very small tick on his eyebrow trying to bury its head in. I managed to find the tick remover and get it off before it attached itself. Martin said he had picked 3 off Dembe’s head before he got into the back of the van. He said it is Dembe’s habit of shoving his head into the bushes when he has a poo means he is getting more ticks. I also think it is because they are so bloody rampant this year. Having had dogs since 2003, 2009 was the last year ticks were this bad and poor old Frankie kept getting them all over his face. He was another one for shoving his head in bushes!

When Jay came home at lunch time we were having a catch up and when we looked up Dembe was on the small sofa by the front door.

We couldn’t stop laughing. He loves his baby carrot as much as his full sized one. I washed his big carrot today as it was starting to look a bit grubby from where he drags it out into the garden. Thankfully he doesn’t seem as keen on dunking his toys in his paddling pool this year as he has in previous years.

Due to how hot it has been Dembe has been sleeping downstairs for the first part of the night and then coming up to bed with me around midnight.

Tuesday 15th June

Dembe was full of beans first thing this morning and was demanding that we have a game of nudge with his football. The patio is nice and cool first thing in the morning as it is in the shade.

He also wanted to do zoomies but alas there isn’t enough room in our garden to do that. I think that is why he likes Nannies house so much.

I changed the battery in my chromebook this morning, when I took the cover off I found bloody Dembe hair inside it.

When we went out out with Dembe this afternoon we bumped into Beth and Sophie from Creature Kind and Dembe didn’t know what to do with himself he was so excited. He was running around in circles like a crazed beast. He hadn’t seen them for 2 weeks and had clearly missed them! It wont be long and he will be out with them again…tomorrow.

This evening Dembe decided that he would turn the whole toy box out to find a toy he rarely plays with.

We call this Toymageddon!

Wednesday 16th June

Dembe was up early for his first walk 4.30am, which didn’t impress either of us! I am sure it is because the mornings are so light now that he is waking up earlier. Jay hasn’t had to use a torch in the morning for weeks. He started fussing for his breakfast at 06.45 but I just rolled over and he lasted another hour before starting again.

We have had a new runner arrive for the kitchen and it has the Dembe seal of approval as he keeps going out and lying on it regardless if we are out there with him or not. Which means he really likes it.

Sophie from Creature Kind came and got him just after 1pm. He was very pleased to see Sophie and ran down the drive and hopped straight into her van.

Dembe had also missed his mate Polo! So it was lovely to see the photo’s of the Wednesday gang back together.

A really lovely photo showing how much Dembe and Polo enjoy each others company. I don’t think they could get any closer to each other!

When Dembe got home I gave him a hose off in the garden as he was a little bit grubby and he was hot. As Dembe was out early today on his walk Jay popped back at 5pm to walk him around the block, I knew Dembe would want a wee as he had drunk loads after his walk. It would be unfair to expect him to go through from 3pm until 10pm with no toilet break.

Thursday 17th June

Dembe had a walk with Martin this morning, he was a very good boy on his walk today. So we are hopeful we can move him back to being off the lead. He was an angel today. If you have Facebook you can see the video here using this link – https://www.facebook.com/415343231815686/videos/187202806653837

He was knackered after his walk this morning and had a big nap for the rest of the morning.

He was quite content this afternoon to lie out on the rattan bed on the patio whilst I sewed in the kitchen.

He went in and out the paddling pool this afternoon as well. It is very humid today and Dembe is struggling with it.

Friday 18th June

Jay is on an early shift today so Jay took him around the block rather than up on the common. Unfortunately his latest trick is to refuse to go for a poo on a street walk so he was desperate to get out by the time Martin from Happy Dogs arrived. Bloody stupid dog.

He was 50/50 on the walk today. Martin allowed him off the lead for some of it as initially on the lead he was doing really well. Now instead of running off into the distance if he doesn’t like the direction change he is sitting down and refusing to move. Why is he such a twit at times? All I ever have is the adorable soppy boy. Martin said he will keep working with him.

If you have Facebook you can see the video using this link – https://www.facebook.com/415343231815686/videos/965916977497594

He was very tired after his morning walk and slept on the small sofa beside the front door for a couple of hours.

I wasn’t very well at all today so spent much of the day curled up on the sofa. Dembe was following me everywhere and was very clingy. I wasn’t even allowed to use the bathroom without him barging in.

Saturday 19th June

Jay is late night today, so Dembe’s first walk was around the block. yet again he refused to go for a poo. This dog is such a bloody diva. He got me up just before 8am and then Jay took him for an hours walk on the Common at around 8.30am.

They had a lovely walk on the common, as they were walking and chatting with a couple of women who were walking the biggest German Sheppard that Jay has ever seen. He said that Dembe was very wary at first but the dog was a gentle giant. He was really funny as he refused to fetch a ball if it was thrown in front of him. The ball always had to be thrown behind him if he was going to fetch it!

We received some sad news from our friends today that their 15 year old Cairn Terrier had passed away in her sleep overnight. She had been going blind and deaf for sometime but I imagine finding her in her bed this morning must have been a dreadful shock. At least it was peaceful and none of them had to go through the trauma of taking the last trip to the vets. I know they will be devastated and my heart goes out to them. I cried as I read the message.

Dembe has been pretty tired today but then he has had 4 walks this week with dog walkers, it isn’t just an hours walk there is also high energy play and brain training going on. So he has been very tired happily dosing away for a few hours at a time. I can’t believe he is going to be 3 in November where has the time gone?

I managed to catch him mid yawn this afternoon. He was a very good boy whilst I did some sewing.

His daddy popped home at 5pm, Jay said he was having a bad day today with tomorrow being fathers day. So I am finishing the blog up early so I can concentrate on him tomorrow.

Dembe’s fathers day card and present for Jay arrived this afternoon so we have wrapped them up and got Dembe to tell me what he wanted to put in the card for his dad.

I am so pleased that Jay has such a good bond with Dembe and that he is both of ours dog. He loves us both equally. He is the first boy dog we have had that has done that. Normally they favour me.

Until next week, stay safe xxx

W/C Monday 31st May 2021

I’m actually going to start on

Sunday 30th May

It was very warm today and we had all the windows of the car open for a few hours before we made our way down to Jays mum’s for the day. Dembe would be meeting up with his puppy pal Darcy and then having a long walk on Dartmoor.

It is safe to say Dembe loves his Nannies garden. Jay and I were inside talking to his mum whilst we could see Dembe so excited that he was doing Zoomies in the garden by himself as he sprinted around the garden! We were laughing at him as he was just so happy. He had a really lovely play with Darcy who has become less bitey as she has got older. After an hour in the garden, Jay put the hose on both the dogs as it was getting warm and then they set off for their walk to the Tor.

We were quite surprised when both dogs were still on the go when they got back from their 6 miles walk. Dembe was fixated on Darcy’s tennis ball and was following that around the garden. They were both really well behaved.

When we got home at around 5pm that evening Dembe came inside the house and jumped up on the sofa. He fell asleep immediately and didn’t move for the next hour he was so tired he didn’t even want his dinner.

Monday 31st May

Today is the Whitsun bankholiday and the last bank holiday before the last one of the year in August. We were having a lazy day after our trip out yesterday. I had quite a nasty migraine overnight, Jay and Dembe were knackered after their long walk.

We measured Dembe today for a new car harness as he has outgrown his old ones. It will be coming tomorrow, the size that is coming is the largest one they do and should be able to be made bigger than what he needs. I like this brand of harness as it is one of the few in the world that has actually been crash tested. It is called the SlowTon Harness and is available from Amazon ( I am not receiving anything for this recommendation it is just the one I found after researching harnesses)https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B07DQGFG2C/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o07_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1 this link will take you to it on UK Amazon. We went for the green tartan version as Dembe has a nice Racing Green leather collar.

Tuesday 1st June

The hot weather is continuing and despite the forecast of rain tomorrow we have got Dembe’s pool out for him so he can have a play.

He was so excited all he wanted to do is eat the water from the hosepipe. We also got out his cool mat so he can chill out – literally.

Dembe’s car harness arrived at 11.30am so we were really pleased it had arrived before Dembe’s next car journey. It needed barely any adjustment and is very easy to get on and off.

Dembe was asleep very early tonight.

Wednesday 2nd June

Today is really weird as Jay is on an early shift and not a late due to the bank holiday, also Sophie from Creature Kind is on Holiday so Dembe has a walk booked this morning with Happy Dogs.

Sadly Dembe was very naughty on his walk today, he decided for the first time ever to run off and disappear. Martin had almost got to the point of having to ring me to tell me Dembe was missing when he emerged from the bushes mouth covered in frothy saliva. I was mortified that he could be so naughty, especially when the boy I know can be a bloody angel. I told Martin that for all future walks Dembe has to be on a long lead. I wouldn’t cope at all if we lost him or if he fell pray to a dognapper. Until he realises he is not in charge on walks he will have to be on the long lead.

For the rest of the day Dembe was rather meek and mild knowing that he had well and truly pushed his luck. Sadly due to the events of the last few months we haven’t been on his training consistently if at all and like a child when the rules aren’t enforced they take full advantage. Things are going to get quite tough for him over the next few days as we revert back to his training and doing it consistently.

I ordered Dembe’s food on Monday and that I arrived today, he is very happy with his Highland Essentials. As the food was being tipped into his food storage bin it dropped on the floor and it was like watching a game of Hungry Hippos! As he is such a fussy eater I was very surprised that he even looked at it.

His stomach has been making some awful noises this afternoon, god knows what he was eating in the bushes when he went on his adventure.

Thursday 3rd June

Well this is really going to throw us all out as Jay is late night, normally that is Wednesday. So on Dembe’s first walk he had a walk around the block and then for his second walk Daddy took him up the common for an hour. They had a fun time although by the time they got back the temperature was really beginning to rise.

I was pretty poorly today so did little more than lie around on the sofa.

Dembe was a good boy for me today and just enjoyed having cuddles on the sofa with me. He was ecstatic that his treat box arrived this week. I get a treat box delivered every month as it provides him with different treats. He has got more adventurous and thinks nothing now of chowing down on a hairy rabbits ear or puffed pigs snout!

Jay popped home at around 5pm and walked Dembe around the block for 30 minutes before returning to work. I managed to convince Dembe that it was time for bed at 18.30 so I could have a good rest upstairs. He is very good in that regard.

Friday 4th June

Dembe has a walk booked with Martin this morning, although he seems pretty chilled and not bursting with energy this morning. I think the heat is getting to him. As agreed Martin had him on a long lead. If you have Facebook you can see the Facebook Live Martin from Happy Dogs recorded

here https://www.facebook.com/415343231815686/videos/2919510708337627 . Martin told me that Dembe was not impressed to be on the lead and was quite sulky as he wasn’t happy that he wasn’t getting to do what he wanted. He carried on that sulk when he came home!

He soon forgave me and gave me a huge cuddle, crawling onto my lap and staying there for 30 minutes or so.

With the heat he was quite tired and spent a lot of the day sleeping. I had implemented the new training regime getting him to sit and stay, to wait before doing things. The duck treats I got as a free gift with his dog food have gone down really well. It seems he will do anything for those.

This evening he lay on the floor to cool down in the evening and used his Carrot as a cushion.

Saturday 5th June

Another warm day and the last day that daddy is working before his weeks holiday and the daddy and Dembe love in can begin.

W/C 19th April 2021

I will be honest and say straight off the bat that yet again I have failed to keep Dembe’s diary up to date. It has been a hard week and I have been poorly for a lot of it. I will however get his dairy out and put in front of me every day to ensure it’s completion. I will add in anything that I might remember from a particular day!

Monday 19th April

This week starts Dembe’s mammoth week of walks due to Daddy’s shifts this week. In total Dembe is booked in for 6 walks.

Dembe’s first walk of the week is with Martin from Happy dogs. If you have a Facebook account you can see the Facebook Live video by clicking on this link https://www.facebook.com/415343231815686/videos/750403032287107

Dembe was out with his favourite older woman Shadow! He adores Shadow and you would never believe by the way she runs around that she will be 13 soon!

Dembe came back suitably knackered so that allowed me to get some sewing done. He decided to guilt trip me for not having 100% of my attention on him by going out in the garden and looking back at me.

If I am sewing he will either take himself off upstairs or he will lie in the garden looking back at me.

He was knackered after his walk and went to sleep relatively early. He made me laugh when I got up for a wee as he was fast asleep with his head on his dinosaur all 4 legs up in the air. Unfortunately as soon as I moved he rolled onto his side but it is still a funny photo.

Tuesday 20th April

Dembe is happy because his dad is home today, I am not sure how he is going to take Jay doing a night-shift tonight.

As Jay needed to get a nap in this afternoon so that he would be able to stay awake during his shift we took Dembe out earlier than usual for his afternoon walk. This was fine as Jay would be walking him several times in the evening to ensure he would be ok whilst he was working. The plan is for Jay to come home at 5am tomorrow morning and walk Dembe. His last walk this evening will be 10pm. So he will have actually had more walks out of it.

When Jay went to bed I fully expected Dembe to go up to bed with him like Frankie, Mollie and Willow our Weimaraners had done when they were alive. Dembe decided to stay downstairs with me. I was doing a little bit of sewing. Dembe went out into the garden and sat in his favourite chair. He looks huge in it this year!

He really does love his garden chairs bless him!

Dembe spent most of the evening downstairs with his dad unsure as to why he was refusing to come up to bed like normal. It really threw him. When Jay went to work Dembe went in and slept on his dad’s bed. He was obviously missing him loads. Normally when it is just me and the boy he sleeps in with me. When we are both home he will move between the bedrooms sleeping in the room where he feels he is needed most.

Wednesday 21st April

Jay popped home at 5am to give Dembe a walk around the block, before he came home at 9am. Dembe decided after his walk at 5am to sleep downstairs on his dad’s dressing gown. He really didn’t like his dad not being here overnight.

Today Dembe has two walks booked today, one in the morning with Martin from Happy Dogs and one with Sophie from Creature Kind. If you have a Facebook account you can see Dembe’s walk by clicking on this link https://www.facebook.com/415343231815686/videos/170439948286425

He was pretty tired after his first walk of the day and went to sleep pretty quickly after coming home which I was happy about as it meant he wouldn’t wake his dad up.

I think Dembe forgot his dad was home as at 1pm he went to the window and saw his dad’s car on the drive and started barking like mad. I had to quickly get him to be quiet so he didn’t wake Jay. I didn’t want him to get up without having a reasonable amount of sleep. When Jay came downstairs at 2pm Dembe was beside himself with excitement that his dad was home.

At around 3.30pm Sophie from Creature Kind came in to pick him up. He was very pleased to see her as he knows his Wednesday walk means he will get to see his partner in kind Polo the Labrador. As always Sophie has taken some brilliant photos of him and his friends. The first photo we got from Sophie was sent whilst he was out on the walk.

Dembe was pretty tired after two walks today, which suited us fine as we were both knackered as well! Sophie said that Dembe was an absolute angel. Twice she had to recall him from an enjoyable past time such as playing chase with another dog and he came straight back to her, She was very proud of him.

Thursday 22nd April

Today I had to get up early as we were expecting the delivery of our new TV ( our old one had developed green lines through the centre of the screen on Tuesday morning). I had a text last night that I happened to spot when I went to the loo, that delivery would be between 8-12. Dembe also has a dog walk booked today as Jay is on an early shift. He was not at all impressed at the fact my alarm went off at 7am and I got up.

He really isn’t a morning dog and he doesn’t like early starts at the best of times!

We came downstairs to find that daddy had been messing around with Dembe’s toys whilst we were asleep. It made me laugh but Dembe doesn’t like things being out of place and started barking at the toys until I removed the hats. Once the hats were off he was fine! Weird dog! He once went crazy because I had dropped my comb on his bed and it shouldn’t be there.

When the TV got delivered Dembe took a real dislike to the delivery driver. I have never seen him so wound up about anyone. He was barking like crazy all his back hair was stood up on end. It didn’t matter what I said he was having none of it. I was really glad when the delivery was over as that was when he stopped making a fuss.

Dembe had another walk booked with Martin from Happy Dogs today if you have a Facebook account you can see it by clicking on this link https://www.facebook.com/415343231815686/videos/290886989327518.

He had a really lovely time and was really well behaved.

This was both mine and Dembe’s activity levels on Thursday. I was really bad with a gastritis flare up so I spent the day on the sofa.

Friday 23rd April

For some strange reason I woke up at silly o clock this morning. Dembe was not impressed with having two early morning starts on the bounce.

He has a walk booked with Martin from Happy Dogs again today due to the timing of Jays shift. If you have a Facebook account you can see his walk here by clicking on this link https://www.facebook.com/415343231815686/videos/1117470382092828

When Jay finished his shift this afternoon we took Dembe out. When Jay got back to the car he asked me if I had noticed Dembe limping at all during the afternoon, which I hadn’t. He hadn’t walked back to the house from Martin’s van limping either. As it wasn’t too bad we have decided to rest him over the weekend with just short lead walks, as he wont go to the toilet in the garden. I also got some joint stuff off Amazon for him which will be coming tomorrow.

He is limping on and off this evening. He is managing the stairs and jumping on and off furniture so I am not overly concerned but will be keeping an eye on him.

Saturday 24th April

I woke up with a horrendous migraine at 6am, Dembe was sleeping beside me with his head on my face as he always does when I have a migraine. I took my migraine cocktail and went to sleep for a few hours. I came downstairs at around 8am when Dembe was having his breakfast.

Dembe is definitely walking better this morning and his limp is much less. I ended up going back to bed at 9am as I was feeling so awful. Dembe came up with me and slept all morning.

I had to come downstairs at 11am as Jay was going to work for a late shift. We had booked Max to take him out today but I had to cancel as I didn’t think it was in Dembe’s best interests to have a long walk on a sore leg. So I just have to hope that he settles and isn’t too manic today due to not having a long afternoon walk.

So far today he has been very good. We have had a few incidents of barking and being a pain but they have stopped after a few minutes and he has gone back to sleep.

W/C 15th February 2021

Monday 15th February

Dembe is very sleepy this morning after getting up early with his dad, as Jay is on an early shift.

He got very excited when his dad came home for lunch, Jay got brought the giant carrot toy as a gift that he could look at but not touch. He had been very patiently waiting for Jay to arrive home at lunch time. He took up his dad watch position from 12.45pm.

The treats I ordered for Dembe arrived today. I got Dembe some dried goat sausage as he has had goat before and really enjoyed it. He hates it. Every time I give him a bit he spits it out looking at me like I have given him poop on a stick. It was expensive as well so I am gutted. I will give it a few days and then try him again with goat sausage. He is such a diva.

I managed to record him performing the sock trick. I was sat in my stocking feet as I had taken my slippers off. Dembe came up and started nibbling at the end of the sock and took it off. So I captured him doing my left foot. He loves doing the sock trick.

Tuesday 16th February

Jay was day off today, so as usual I have to watch the daddy and Dembe love in that goes on. As Dembe only gets two whole days a week with Jay unless he is on leave from work. Dembe likes to make up for his absences by getting in as many cuddles and love as he can get on those two days.

Whilst I was doing my physiotherapy exercises Dembe came in and settled on the bed keeping an eye on me.

I always take ages sorting myself out in the mornings getting ready to come downstairs. Dembe is always very patient and waits for me whilst I get ready. He just settles down on the bed and dozes whilst keeping an eye on me.

We had a lazy day after the stress of the weekend.

Dembe and I had an early night

I am gutted that this photo is so blury as it would have made an excellent TOT – tongue out Tuesday photo!

Wednesday 17th February

Well to throw us all out today Jay is on a 9-6 and not a late night. Plus Sophie from Creature Kind is on holiday, so Dembe won’t be hanging out with Sophie and her crew. I did book him in with Martin from Happy Dogs today as he is very used to going out on a walk on a Wednesday.

Dembe got picked up a little after 10am, for some reason my notifications when Happy Dogs are doing a Facebook live got switched off so I missed the video. You can see the video here if you have Facebook, https://www.facebook.com/415343231815686/videos/445680469889515. He had a fantastic time, he loves going out with Shadow. He has a bit of a crush on the older ladies.

Dembe was knackered after being out on his walk with Martin

I tried to get a photo of Dembe with his cushion that we were sent by Anne-Marie and Eddie, he wasn’t impressed.

We had a quiet afternoon as I came down with a migraine.

Dembe kept me company on the sofa, lying on me and getting me to hold his lambs tail so he could chomp down on it.

Thursday 18th February

Jay is late tonight which is unusual for a Thursday. I am sure that will throw me out all day. As Jay is late we decided to do Dembe’s walk differently. So when Dembe woke up at 5.30am instead of taking him up onto Woodbury Common Jay walked him around the block. Dembe was more than happy with that and as soon as he got home came up and went to sleep on my bed.

Then an hour after Dembe had his breakfast, Jay took Dembe up to Woodbury Common. He had a really good run around and met lots of dogs and had a play with them. He is such a little social butterfly! He has a better social life than either me or Jay.

He was a bit unsettled this afternoon. He kept going to the lounge window and looking out. He also decided that he wanted to go and sit on his favourite chair on the garden. He would sit out there in all weathers if he could. Strange boy.

Just before 5pm Jay popped home to take him out for another walk on the common, so that he got out and stretched his legs. He really enjoyed his run around and settled down very quickly for me this evening.

Friday 19th February

We are experimenting with the days that Dembe gets his professional dog walks on. I have noticed on the days that Jay has done an early shift, Dembe can be a bit fizzy with all the pent up energy he has because he only gets a 30 minute walk before Jay goes to work. So today Martin from Happy dogs is taking him out. It will catch Dembe out completely as he is not used to seeing Martin when daddy is on an early shift.

Dembe got picked up nice an early by Martin. He had another fantastic walk with his girlfriend Shadow. You can see the video from the walk https://www.facebook.com/415343231815686/videos/756596268589857

He was pretty tired fro the rest of the day. I was having a quiet day as I wasn’t feeling particularly well. Dembe as usual adapts his energy levels to how I am.

This afternoon he decided to treat me by jumping up on the sofa and dropping his lambs ear on my arm. My job was to hold it whilst he chews it and I get paid in saliva!

He really loves it if you will hold his chew for him whilst he has a good chomp. The problem with the lambs ears though is they are covered in hair and they stink! He adores them so I just have to put my qualms to one side.

Saturday 20th February

On my google photos today it came up with photographs of Dembe when he was tiny!

It seems like it was only yesterday he was a tiny wee baby. He will always be our puppy.

Jay is on another early today, the weather is bloody miserable and Woodbury Common has turned into a giant bog. It feels like all we have done all week is wash dog towels and tumble dry dog towels.

Dembe is a very sleepy boy today

As I was doing my physiotherapy exercises in his dads room as that has the most floor space he came in and joined me settling down on the bed.

For the last couple of weeks Dembe has decided to sit on the stairs and watch what is going on in the lounge from that vantage point. He used to run up the stairs when he was attempting to get away from the nail clippers etc but now he goes up at any point during the day. He is very happy to be petted through the banisters and will even give you a kiss. He just likes being on the stairs, the funny little sausage.

I love all his little quirks. He is very funny about things being in the wrong place. This week I got a new bathroom cleaner, as there was no room on the shelf it was put on the floor in the bathroom. As soon as Dembe came into the bathroom he started barking at it. He is like it when out on a walk if there is something on the path that he feels shouldn’t be there. Travis our first Weimaraner was exactly the same. Once having a melt down over a bathroom towel being draped over a garden chair. Silly babies.

Dembe has had a rather lazy day today bless him!

Until next week!

W/C Monday 18th January 2021

Monday 18th January

Posing beautifully for me and then he did this

When I woke up this morning Dembe was downstairs asleep on the small sofa in the lounge. He was really shattered and I had to wake him up to give him breakfast at 9.30am. He isn’t an early morning dog. He had a huge breakfast.

As Dembe has been refusing to eat his Kongs ( he gets these when we have jobs where we want to keep him out of the way) I thought maybe he would try them with Brussels pate in. Yes I know he is a spoilt bastard. I used to do him ham and cheese Kongs but he steadfastly refuses to eat them now. He went crazy for the the Brussels pate. So at least I know have something I can put inside his Kongs and he will eat them. He does have expensive taste.

Jay nipped home for lunch and walked Dembe around the block. Dembe saw Ben next door for the first time in a few months and was doing the play stance and barking at him trying to get him to play. Ben was playing football with Dembe in the summer. He obviously remembers.

Jay finished at around 4pm and Dembe got taken straight up the common for a walk. He settled very quickly this evening.

A Facebook memory came up this morning of Dembe when he was tiny and loving to sleep with his head in Jays slippers.

He still likes sleeping on his dads slippers

Tuesday 19th January

Jay is day off today, he took Dembe out early and then again at 9.20am. He took Dembe up to the model airfield and met up with a colleague from work (observing social distancing) and his dog Whisky.

Initially Dembe and Whisky were a little wary of each other

However after 10 minutes or so they then started playing chase which as regular readers will know is Dembe’s favourite game

Apologies for the bad language at the end of the video, my husband forgets I post the video’s on here!

Both dogs were running around like mad for the whole 75 minute walk. We expected Dembe to be knackered after his walk but no he kept going and going.

Jay took Dembe out up the common again in the afternoon for a shorter walk. I am sure that due to Jays early shift he has lots of energy left over on a Tuesday after the Monday. Thankfully he settled down in the evening. I had a migraine so went to bed early and my pup came with me to keep an eye on me.

Wednesday 20th January

Dembe is being spoilt this week with 3 walks with professional dog walks. He has two with Martin from Happy dogs and one with Sophie from Creature Kind.

I got up at 7am and Dembe was not impressed, refusing to get up with me. He did saunter downstairs around 20 minutes after I got up and graced me with his presence.He brought blue dinosaur with him as well so looked ridiculously cute.

This one was taken last year but shows his blue dinosaur

He refused his breakfast this morning so went without. I have had to be quite hard when he starts messing about as he is such a fussy eater and will try it on. I am sure he would love ham, cheese and Brussels pate for every meal but it isn’t happening! I did discover later that it was the bit of chicken roll on his breakfast that stopped him eating. When removed he ate the lot!

He had a lovely walk with Martin from Happy dogs. The weather was absolutely awful as Storm Christophe had hit the UK so windy and rainy. He came back covered in mud but that was easily sorted with a hose down in the garden – I am talking about Dembe not Martin LOL!

After he has been out for a walk he likes to lie on my lap for a bit! Getting me damp from his wet belly.

He had a long nap after his walk!

Thursday 21st January

Dembe surprised us this morning by climbing onto the coffee table in the lounge. It is the first time that he has done this and out of all the dogs we have owned only Mollie climbed the lounge coffee table. Travis used to climb up on the table in the garden but never the one inside the house!

Of course as soon as I went to take the photo he started to come off. We couldn’t help but laugh at him as we were so surprised by him doing this.

Today he is going out for a walk with Sophie from Creature Kind and her crew. Whilst they were out Sophie sent me this photo of Dembe, which I now have as my phones home screen.

He loves having a swim on the common. Apparently he took every body to the pond so they could have a swim!

As you can see he has a wonderful time out on his walks. I swear this dog has a better social life than I do! He did however let himself down at the end of the walk by refusing to come back to Sophie. He decided to extend his walk a bit by running off and going to play with some smaller dogs. The dogs owner wasn’t impressed. I was mortified as normally his recall is spot on. Sophie was really good about it. Next week I am going to give her some cubes of cheese to take with her to see if that gets him coming back to her better. He is far too clever for his own good sometimes.

He was ravenous when he came in and had a huge dinner! No problems with him eating it.

As he fell asleep really early I managed to get us up to bed before 7pm.

Friday 22nd January

Dembe is being spoilt again today as he is having another walk with Martin from Happy dogs. He wasn’t massively energetic before Martin arrived.

When Martin arrived I let him know that Dembe had been a naughty pup with Sophie the day before. Thankfully when Martin dropped him back he said Dembe had been as good as gold. The relief! I hate it when he is naughty with people. As Dembe had been by himself for this walk Martin had taken him through some basic training, so recall, walking to heel off the lead etc so it was a really good mental session for Dembe as well. He wasn’t too muddy either, I was expecting him to come back pickled!

Whilst they were out Martin took some great photos of Dembe

Photo Credit Martin Pashley Happy Dogs. Dembe having a treat thrown to him!

Martin said that Dembe was fascinated with the helicopter going over head. I told him about the Chinook going over us when Dembe was a little pup and how he had been into watching aircraft ever since!

He was very tired after 4 long walks this week, 3 with professional walkers and one long one with Jay on Tuesday. He was starving today and demanded his dinner at 3pm which is crazy early for him to have his last meal of the day. He scoffed the lot without looking up and I gave him a huge dinner due to the amount of physical activity he had this week.

I think he was over tired as he was very unsettled and whingey for the rest of the afternoon. He did conk out at around 7pm and that was him asleep until 4am when Jay got up.

Saturday 23rd January

Jay was on an early shift today, unusually for Dembe he was raring to get out at 4am, normally Jay would have to drag him out of bed. When they got back Dembe raced back upstairs to bed with me.

After jay had showered and dressed, he came in and sorted out what toys needed to go downstairs, as over the week Dembe had brought up so many. He took down sprout and carrot. Around 5 minutes later Dembe went downstairs, picked up carrot and brought him back upstairs. Dumping him on my head.

As he was a such a good boy whilst I sorted myself out this morning, I got his fish toy out for him. His Auntie Heather bought this for him last year.

He has slept the rest of the afternoon and when he has been awake he has been exceptionally cuddly.