Puppy talk
My page!!
There should be a picture of me here but Mum can’t get it to work but she’s doing a gallery just for me because I’m cute.
Hello!
My name is Ifor and I am a Rottweiler puppy. Ifor is a Welsh name and means ‘Lord’ it’s pronounced ‘eefor’ but Mum says that sounds like eeyore, whoever he is, so it’s spelt with an ‘f’ but pronounced the English way ‘Ivor’. When Dad was little he knew a man who had a Rottweiler called Ifor who huffed and puffed like Ifor the Engine on a kids TV programme so that’s who I’m named after. I was born on 29th September 2007 which is my new Mum and Dad’s wedding anniversary so we can have a double celebration!!
I was born in Wales so I suppose that makes me Welsh. (hoorah) My doggy Dad is called Hamish and he is a pedigree Rottweiler and a Champion his kennel name is Saintlythans Highlander and you can see him on this website http://www.champdogs.co.uk/stud-dog/2669.html (I’m not clever enough to do a link but try control and click that’s supposed to do it). My doggy Mum’s kennel name is Thoughts of the Night and I think she’s called Tazmin by her family. I have 4 brothers and 5 sisters! About two weeks ago some people came to look at us they wanted a boy so there was a fifty fifty chance they’d choose me so I was very good and showed them how big and strong I am and they chose me!! Yippee.
On November 25th when I was 8 weeks old my new Mum and Dad came to fetch me and I travelled on my new Mum’s lap a few miles up the road where we stopped while they had some lunch (I didn’t get any!) They put me in a nice clean new bed in a big cage in the back of the car with newspaper to wee on, well I wasn’t having that so I squeezed out my biggest stinkiest runniest poo all over my new blankets!! That’ll learn them! Luckily my new Mum had wet wipes and new blankets for me and a bin bag for the pooey stuff so I was soon clean. I was introduced to Elys and Evan, Auntie Joanne, Uncle Jeremy and Grandpa David and Grandma Glenys who had come to meet Mum and Dad for lunch.They were suitably unimpressed with me although I think Grandpa David and me will be friends, mind you I do smell of poo.
I got home after a long journey and was given some tea and had a look round my new home I met up with Lucy who has big sad eyes and huge floppy ears she reminded me of my doggy Mum but she growled at me when I went to say hello so I’ll give her a wide berth.
I also met a big black cat called Socks who hissed at me and a cute kitty called Patsy who looks like being fun to chase round, there is another cat called Benny but she just sniffed my bum and ran away (charming!).
I was put to bed in my ‘cage’ with my newly cleaned bed with some fluffy blankets, Lucy was in a big bed over the other side of the room but I still felt very lonely and missed my brother and sisters so I cried and howled and cried and howled most of the night, my Mum came to see me loads of times but being cuddled by a human isn’t quite the same and she said I smelled of poo but that she did love me and that she also loved something called Sleep perhaps I’ll meet him tomorrow.
I felt a bit better the next morning and had my breakfast which I scoffed quick because I was very hungry. I was taken in the car to meet the someone called the Vet. I met Aunty Sue who’s on reception and then Aunty Vicky who is my vet, she checked me over and said I was fine and gave me an injection which didn’t bother me at all. I have to wait 4 weeks then have another then two weeks after that I’m allowed outside the garden on the lead yippee I can’t wait. I moved out of the cage today as it scares me and into a room inside the house away from Lucy and my new bed was there and some toys!! Yippee I have a blue ball and a purple ball that I can chase and just about pick up but they’re too big to chew, a chewy rawhide shoe which I am allowed to chew, a chicken flavoured nylon bone and a bacon flavoured nylon bone which are also to chew, a pink ‘kong’ which I can pick up in my mouth and carry around so I can fetch it if I’m asked, I’ve also got a knotted rag bone called a ragger which is soft and good for carrying around. I’m only allowed to have two at a time so it’s quite exciting to get a different one to play with every few hours. I also have a stuffed Rottweiler toy called Bruno, he’s soft and furry and although I bite him he’s quite comfortable to cuddle up to at night. Sometimes I when I climb on Bruno something pushes me from behind and I do something my Mum calls ‘horrid humping’ and my Dad calls ‘That’s my boy!’ I haven’t worked out why I do it yet and Bruno doesn’t seem to care after all Mum says he’s been in a closet for ages so perhaps he’s enjoying it now he’s come out!
Patsy Kat comes into my room and we have a really good chase and play game, she can climb on the chairs and I can’t reach her but it’s fun trying and when I do catch her she spits at me a bangs me on the nose with her paw, so I’ve learned to be gentle and pretend to bite her. She can get out when she wants to as well. She had her head in my treats bag and fell backwards of the windowsill yesterday, she didn’t hurt herself but what a result, we both got to scoff all of the liver treats, well done Patsy Kat!
I have a red collar which my old Mum and Dad gave me and I have a little tag with my name on now, it’s a bit annoying because it jingles on my food bowl and I try and bite it. I have a small lead which I’m put on and every hour or so we go outside and do ‘bits’ this is where I get to chew all the flowers and sniff the grass and then do my ‘bits’ on the lawn, afterwards I’m allowed a few minutes on the lead having a play and a sniff at everything then we go back in.
I’m supposed to hold on until we go outside and mostly I do but there is some newspaper on the floor and I go on that if no-one is around to take me out or I forget to ask. Sometimes I do a wee when Mum and Dad are there and Mum says that my aim isn’t good and I go on the floor apparently it can’t be too bad because Dad does it as well sometimes and Dad just says ‘That’s my boy!’ I sleep a long time at night now, I know it’s time for bed when Mum turns out the light and sits in the chair by my bed and we have a ‘quiet’ time she rubs my tummy and massages my paws and she checks my ears and even puts her fingers in my mouth, this teaches me that it’s nice to be stroked and that I’m good to let people put their hands in my mouth without biting, if I forget and do try and bite Mum lets out a yelp which frightens me and I stop as I know it was like the sound my doggy Mum made if I hurt her by biting when I was very little.
Every couple of hours or so we do training. Mum has a ‘clicker’ which makes a funny sharp clicking noise when she presses it. She doesn’t speak to me at all she just has a small smelly bit of liver treat in her hand which I follow with my nose because it smells so good, I’ve learned that when I do something good like sit then she clicks and I get the treat. I watch her hands and she makes different signals for different things, it was hard at first but now I can do a good sit, I can fetch my toys and take them to my bed, I can get into my bed when asked and I can also do a move called ‘dead dog’ where I lie on my side and stay still. Dad does the same training with me and he puts some words to the signals and I know what ‘sit’ and ‘down’ mean now. There’s also a word called ‘NOOOOO’ which seems to apply to most things that are nice so I’m not sure what to do when they say that!! Mum is working on getting me to do a roly poly and give a paw. I’m usually very tired after doing a few minutes so I have a big sleep afterwards. Dad is out at work a lot so Mum does most of the training at the moment but when Dad’s there I like it better because I pay more attention to him as he is the pack leader, Mum comes next then Grandma Shirley who lives in a house in the garden,then the cats and then Lucy and then the chickens and then me, in other words I’m bottom of the pack at the moment but that’s the way it should be.
I met the chickens this morning, Mum took me on the lead when she let them out, they’re bigger than me and make the most ridiculous sound I‘ve ever heard, they’ve got two very spindly legs with some sort of spiky stand on the bottom to hold them up I didn’t bother them and they didn’t bother me thank goodness, Mum says that when I’m older and I’m playing in the field I mustn’t chase them so I have to meet them when I’m little so I get a peck and learn to stay away.
December 1st
Hello today is my first morning waking up in the back conservatory where I started off, Dad has made some wooden barriers so I can’t chew anything or get stuck behind the washing machine, or even worse in it. I have the whole place to myself and there’s a really neat cat flap that I am small enough to get through back into the kitchen so Mum has had to lock it. I’m still not sure about where I should do my bits and pieces so I missed the paper and went on the floor again, Mum says I’m like Dad when I do that and she tuts when she’s mopping up. I have been given a new playmate a huge toy called Daffy duck he’s bigger than me but all soft so I can’t chew his nose off like Bruno’s, I dragged Bruno through some wee and Mum says he smells so he has to go in the washing machine but from here I should be able to see him go round and round!! I had a bath yesterday as I keep slipping over in my wee and I smelled horrid, it was fun and I was in a big white bath I got a huge cuddles in a big warm towel afterwards and a new clean black collar while my red one is being washed
December 2nd
I had a really fun day today, I played a lot and was trained and I've completely learned the signals and commands for sit and down. Lucy and I have a bit of a game in the garden now but I have to be on the lead in case she squashes me. Daffy duck is my cuddle buddy and we sleep together. I still have to go on the paper during the night and sometimes during the day but numbers 2's are always outside. I'm being trained in dead dog and roly poly at the moment but Mum wants to get me to speak and do a show dog stand.
December 3rd
My old Mum Sara phoned today and spoke to Mum who has corrected the number of siblings I have and my Doggy mum's name which was wrong. My papers still haven't come from the kennel club but when they do my new Mum and Dad can choose which of the registered names I can have. I think they are all to do with Liverpool football club. Today I've been running round like a loony and I'm very tired so Mum has restricted my exercise and training today. I'm probably not going to write here every day and may just update when there's something new to say.
December 4th - 7th
This week has been lots of fun although the weather has been horrid so every time I go outside I can't stay out long because I get very wet and cold. I have been doing some training with Mum and Dad, one of them calls me to them and I get a treat then the other calls me over and I get a click and a treat if I go straight to them. This is called 'come' and I'm quite good at it but I get easily distracted I run off to explore the garden. They ahve taken the wooden barrier down between me and Lucy now so we are together all the time, I know when I am annoying her as she woofs at me and sometimes growls if I pester her too much. She puts me in my place and I know not to bother her too much. I have discovered the cat flap and can get into the house through it so Mum has to lock it. She went out the other day and forgot to lock it so I climbed in and had a really good run round the house with Patsy Kat, when Mum got back we were both fast asleep strtched out on the lounge carpet. Shewasn't cross because I hadn't chewed anything or done any poos or wees in there. I think Lucy was glad of the rest. I've started to realise that I can be naughty and try to rush indoors into the kitchen when Mum opens the door and I run round the conservatory like a loony and bark at Lucy which she's not terribly impressed with! I am growing loads, Mum took some photos of me to make some Christmas cards to send and I look quite cute. bruno and Daffy are both in the wash so Mum's given me Sylvester cat to cuddle up to and I'm dry at night now so hopefully he won't get too covered in wee!
Dec 8th -10th
I'm growing really fast now and my legs are all gangly and get in the way, I have huge paddy paws on the ends of my legs that I keep tripping over. I've learned to give Mum and Dad a paw when they ask and I usually get a treat when I do, I'm getting quite lively and I'm being a bit naughty when I get the chance, I try and chew Mum's wellies and boots if she leaves them out and I bark at Lucy and try and bite her legs and she growls at me and sometimes she goes as if to bite me and barks and snarls at me to tell me off. She doesn't bite me but it scares me so I'm good (for about 5 minutes) I'm quite good with my toilet bits now and do both when I'm asked to, but I haven't managed to hold it all night and usually do some on the paper during the night. I seem to have lots of energy and run round and round a lot so Mum does lots of training and games with me to tire me out. I have been into the field on the lead just through the gate a couple of times when Lucy goes for a run round the field, I haven't had my second injection yet so I can't go anywhere outside the area of the garden, in about 4 weeks I'll be able to go out in the car and go for a proper walk. Mum's trying to stop me from biting her and my lead and I've learned to growl when I've got something in my mouth which is naughty but it's such fum getting Mum to chase me to let go of things!! especially when she's got a bad back and not feeling very well! I like having my tummy rubbed and often sleep upside down like Lucy does, I've learned not to try and rush into the kitchen when the door is opened but sometimes Patsy Kat is ther and I just have to chase her!! Mum is going away for a few days on Thursday and Dad is on nights so he's taking me in to work with him on Thursday, Friday and Saturday and I can meet everybody, he has a room where he can put me with floors that can be mopped. Mum was worried I'd escape but Dad laughed and reminded her that it's a custody unit so it would be pretty difficult, perhaps he'll let me be a Police dog for the night! Mum won't be here to update the diary and then they are off to Wales for a few days and Auntie Helen and Grandma are looking after me, I like Grandma she pats my head and I'm sure I'll be able to beg a biscuit when I'm older. I know my old Mum Sara and her boys read this page so I wanted to say a big woof hello to them and I'm being good (well most of the time) love Ifor xx
FEBRUARY 19TH 2008
Hello Mum's been busy and hasn't done the website until now. I'm a really big dog now I'm nearly 5 months old. I've been on loads of walks and to lots of new places. I've been going to puppy training classes and have learned to bite other dogs tails and generally be naughty. Mum sometimes lets me off the lead in the field now and I can run around with Lucy but I have to be acreful not to hurt myself so she shouts at me a lot! The weather is better now and it's been dry so I've been able to go outside lots more. I'm more or less house trained now and I only go inside if I'm desperate. Me and Lucy have ripped up two duvets in our beds and Mum is cross with us but it's great fun. My pictures have been updated to have a look at me now I'm sooo big and my tail is really long and gets in the way!
MARCH 18TH 2008
I've grown loads and loads in the last month. I can't get my head through the cat flap any more although I do try to quite often. I have an electric collar on now which stops me going near the boundary fences as it makes a funny vibration and then I get a small electric shock if I keep going. I still manage to climb through the bars on to Grandma's patio but I can't get back down so I wipe muddy paws all over ther patio doors until she opens the gate and lets me back down. I chase the cats even though I know I'm not supposed to but the kittens are bigger now and scram me if I get too friendly. I'm big enough to have a great time with Lucy and we chase and play 'chew the ears of the nearest dog' all day. I have found that I can bark and make sure that when Jim next door moves around Mum and dad know. I can also open the kitchen door and get in to eat the cat food then chase the cats round and go and kiss Mum as she is on the nearest side of the bed. I enjoyed being in kennels but I was very tired when I got back and had a lovley long sleep in my bed. I ate loads of sheep poo when we went for our walk. Dad has a dog whistle which he blows when he can't find me in the garden and I go running back to him, I usually get a biscuit or a treat so it's fun. I have dug some holes in Mum's raised veg beds and she's not very happy with me but there's nothing planted yet so I was just looking!
April 10th
I've grown another couple of inches in the last month and have got some furry plums which the vet says I have to keep until I'm 12 months old, Mum's not very happy but me and Dad are, it's a bit of a boy's thing! I've been with Mum to see the rugby a couple of times and met loads of new friends. I've helped build the new decking area and my friends Elys and Evan have taken me for a walk and I followed Evan everywhere when he was here for a week. I've only just recovered, I slept for a couple of days. I've been for lots of long walks in the field but I've eaten sheep poo so had to be put back on my lead. I keep getting stuck up on Grandma's patio as I can climb up under the rail but can't get down again, I've been in trouble for chasing Daisy the cat and I've knocked all the decorative boulders round the pond into the water. I've chewed the arms on both of Mum's wooden benches so she sprayed it with horrid tasting stuff but the rain washed it off and I chewed them again, I can let myself into the kitchen and steal the cat food but always get told off for going to find Mum and give her a big kiss in the night so she locks the door now. We have some more new hens and I'm very good and don't chase them because they peck me.