Poor little Indi

Well lots to update on! First things first, Indi has got a bit of a wound. Yesterday I took Indi and Ernie over my Nan's with her 7 dogs. I took them over the fields that are behind her house, and when we got back there was blood everywhere. Indi has split his paw pad and it looks like there is just a big hole in his pad. He's not showing that hes in a lot of pain, in fact he's hardly limped at all but we've bandaged it up and are keeping a very close eye on it. Of course it would happen to Indi.

Today we went to the closest sandy beach to us. The temperature has risen but the sun has disappeared now. Very frustrating weather! Indi is getting so much better around other dogs. He still barks like a mad thing but it isnt as aggressive as it used to be. I am so pleased with him. He barked at a westie today but didnt attack and did a couple of barks and then turned away and carried on.

So Spring is definantly on its way. The dogs are going out every single day now, so our minimum of 3 days a week is no longer in place. Were just building up our fitness levels back up to the levels I want them at ready for the days out at flyball comps and demos and the camping trips.

So for now a pic of Indi with his bandage, looking surprisingly happy. Yeah, hes always got a smile on his face no matter what:). And some pics from our walks today. I love my dogs:).

Fantastic doggies =D

Spring is sort of here, its brought the sun but the temperature and wind is still ultra wintery. We've been going for lots more long walks now that we have more time and the dogs are loving it =]. Yesterday we went to the nearest sandy beach to us (no pictures as it was a bit gloomy), the dogs had great fun and Indi is really improving in leaps and bounds. He is no longer barking at other dogs when on the lead, he does pull and stare but that is it. Its definantly an improvement.

We have been doing tonnes of new tricks. Ive started training Ernie to read, and he is picking it up amazingly fast! He can already distinguish the sit word, the down word and the beg word. We are working on adding the stand word as well, he is just so smart! Im also finally training him to lift his right legs up. Hes learnt left legs up, but never right legs up. He is picking that up really fast as well, looks like a new tricks video will be in order soon =D. Indi is also learning the 'close' command (heeling on right side) and is picking that up fantastically. We have done a bit of work on reading but it looks like thats going to be a much longer process than with Ernie.

Also in a few weeks were looking after a friends Basset Hound. He is a sweetie, but Indi's never met him before so I think it will be very interesting to see how he reacts. I think it will be a very good experience for him =D.

So for now some pics taken on our walks today. The sun was shining, but it was freeezing and blowing a gale. We still had lots of fun though!

Spring's first appearence

Yep, Spring has finally made an appearance. Usually I'm sad to see winter go because we never have a proper winter, but we've had more than just a good winter this year =]. As much as I have loved the snow, we are all glad to see the sun again and now we are going for tonnes more loong walks again. The dogs are back into there routine of an hour walk every day when I get back from school, plus the looong walks at the weekend and now the suns back we have plenty more hours of daylight and we have more time for taking photo's.

We now have two fields we go to after school, sometimes we go for our typical run round the field, or we mix it up and go to our 'new' field up the road and seeing as its always full of dogs its perfect for socialisation. I have a thing about taking the dogs to the same place over and over again, so now we mix it up even more.

Indi is getting so much better, I am so happy with him. Hes still nowhere near the stage where he can be let off-lead around other dogs but we are getting there. He now isnt barking at dogs on a lead hardly at all, I'm very pleased =].

Max is also going out more, just for a few minutes every now and then but its better than nothing. He isnt showing any signs of pain, so the more he doesnt the more he can go out. Its great to see his smile back when hes out, I really do love my crazy Maximus=].

So for now some pics from our walks. As you can see all the dogs are very happy the sun has returned, although Lola's decided shes not going to look at the camera =]. Indi & Ernie are just posers =D.

February

Well the snows all gone now and things are starting to warm up. We've been having plenty of rain, but in the odd bit of sunshine we did manage to take some pics:). We had flyball at the weekend, but it started pouring as we started training, so we went for a walk down the beach with my Nan's friend and her 8 Border Collies. Indi was perfect! He wasnt aggressive to any of them! Oh boy was I pleased with him! We still have a long way to go, but he is definantly improving.

Well Ive been very busy so not much to report. Dogs are going out more now as the evenings get lighter. Weve also found a 'new' field which has quite a few fields behind it where we've been exploring.

So here are some recent pics taken from different walks. Max has been out in amongst it but only for 2 mins. His hips are improving and we dont want to ruin that.

Oh and Lola's 6 now:).

Goodbye snow!

The snow has just about all melted now.

But here are some photo's from yesterdays walk. Yeah, school was closed again and now we have a week off so plenty of time to spend with the doggies:)

Even more snow!

Well when I said that yesterday will probably be our last snowfall of the winter, boy was I wrong! It snowed all night, and we woke up to absolutely tonnes of the stuff. Not as deep as it was before, but it was way better as it wasnt as fine and Ernie loved it a lot more. Schools were closed again, so as soon as the go ahead was given me and Ernie went for a really long walk that ended up lasting 3 and a half hours. Yeah, we were having way too much fun=).

Its going fast though, so I dont think it will last as long as the other snowfalls but were pretty lucky seeing as were the only place in the uk with snow for a change. I cannot believe how much snow we've had this winter, we've had one major snowfall every month for the past 3 months! We usually dont even get one major snowfall, so 3 in one winter is pretty awesome =).

Although I think the other dogs will be pretty happy when it gets a bit warmer, there not as big of fans of the snow. Ernie, however looooves it!

So here are some pics from our very long walk today. We had so much fun, I sure do love my crazy little Ernie =D

3rd snowfall of the winter

Well we had another snowfall today! We all knew it was coming, but seeing as we've had so much already we didnt think we could get anymore. So we didnt exactily get tonnes, but we got enough for a thick covering. It started while I was at school, and has been on and off since. Its been really heavy, stopped, really heavy again and stopped again. Its very frustrating as it just melts after one snowfall and then lays again, melts again and its just going on like that.

But me and Ernie got to enjoy a nice walk round the field and woods in it as soon as I got home from school. He looved being in the snow again, and so did I. As you can see from some of the pics we got caught in a bit of a blizzard, so much we could hardly see in front of us. We got a bit of agility training in at the little campsite though, and it was extra fun with the snow:). We both had great fun, and made the most of it seeing as its probably going to be the last snow we get in a while.

So here are some pics from our walk today, some of me in there as well as i have absolutely none of me with the dogs in the snow:)