Toy Thief!

Woof!

Just a quick one to alert you to Igaboo, the toy thief. She stole all my toys and I had to fight to get them. Here's my evidence. Ooooo that naughty Igaboo!

Puppy Kisses and Love

Dexy Do Dah Dog

x x x

Micro-Pup

Woof!

hello again, today I have exciting news, I got microchipped today! And for the record, I did not enjoy it one bit.

It all started off with a routine visit to my vet to check my little puppy, baby teeth, as they are coming out, and whilst we were there Igaboo decided it was time for me to be chipped. The whole process took less than 30 seconds to do, but I did feel a little bit uncomfortable whilst doing it, Igaboo had to hold my body and then hold my head to one side whilst the mean (she's not nice anymore) vet lady put a needle in my nape and inserted the chip. I did squirm and whelped a little bit but as soon as it was over and I had a big cuddle from Igaboo, I was right as rain again like nothing happened. And then the biggest surprise, as we checked my teeth, another one fell out! I now only have one puppy tooth left, so soon I'll be a big doggie!

Igaboo thought the worst part was the needle, she don't like needles and nearly fainted and felt sick she told me, and she weren't even the one having it done! As we were walking home she promised to give my tooth to the puppy tooth fairy who will give me something special for it, and guess what?! When we got home I had some special puppy milk and even pate for my poorly teeth to munch on. I like the puppy tooth fairy, she doesn't make me have injections, or chips, or anything!

Other than all this I've been chilling really, the weather means my walking regime has changed a bit so I'm not out whilst it's too cold in the early morning and night, but I do have my coat now to wear, keeps me very warm and dry out in this November weather. I'm going to be pampered now with a bath and some cuddles to make up for my turmoil earlier, but the way I'm whizzing around the house you'd never know!

Puppy Kisses and Love

Dexy Do Dah Dog

x x x

Abused? Moi?

Woof!

Hello all, I'm a bit vexed today, well a lot vexed. Today some mean, evil person reported my owner to the RSPCA, reporting I was abandoned and mistreated. Igaboo was not happy. Enough said. The RSPCA are a wonderful charity that receives no government funding yet still venture out everyday to save animals in neglect and nasty places. We both love them, and help them by volunteering at rescue centres, sponsoring other pups and kits, and also donating to the charity, and although Igaboo was angry and upset about the visit, she understood they were merely doing their job and making sure I was ok, trouble is, by being reported falsely caused these two nice inspectors to be effectively wasting their time with me when they could of been with a real emergency.

Igaboo suspects who may have reported her, and maybe even understands their reasoning, but fundamentally she knows it was done through spite and malice. It was a horrible moment to open the door to them and nearly caused a full panic attack in my owner, but after letting them in, they were able to give me a cuddle and soon realised there was nothing wrong. Igaboo had to answer a few questions about how she looks after me, what she feeds me, how often we go for walks, as well as showing them around our home to prove I have a happy, safe environment, which I do! Igaboo would hate to lose me, and just the thought was enough to put her in tears, but the nice people from the RSPCA reassured her that she was doing a great job with me, except maybe giving me one or two extra treats than what I should have, but then noted on the amount of exercise I have, so maybe it's not too many treats!

So we passed our RSPCA inspection, something Igaboo would never like to have to do again, she loves me more than anything else in the world, and everything she does is in my best interests. Maybe the person who reported us was seriously concerned, maybe they have a problem with Igaboo, or maybe they are just horrid, who knows, but if that person is reading my blog biscuit about all their work today then at least you know it had a positive outcome, and I'm all well and fine, so please, stop worrying about me, Igaboo does a fantastic job, and worries enough for me so no else need to.

One lovely thing of our visit from them was whilst they wrote the notes and such, Igaboo was sitting with me on her lap, and looked down at me and said something, and I looked back up at her, the lovely thing was the reaction of the officers. They said how lovely we looked just looking at each other, pure innocent love between a pet an their owner. It really made Igaboo smile to hear a stranger, let alone an animal welfare expert, say such a lovely thing. So yes, me Dexy Do Dah Dog is fine, I'm safe, I'm happy, and the only thing I'm at risk from is being spoilt! Now just to calm Igaboo down with some cuddles, she is very angry, I'm much too young to repeat what she is saying!

Puppy Kisses and Love

Dexy Do Dah Dog

x x x

Black Ops Dexy

Woof!

The name's Do Dah, Dexy Do Dah, and this weekend I have been involved in some super secret things, so much so I now think I'm a spy dog! It all started when Igaboo wanted to go out, but also wanted to spend time with me, so how do you solve that? Well you sneak me in places I shouldn't be, luckily I'm only little and can fit into many small places!

Firstly I went into London to sniff and snuff around Westminster, those politicians smell fishy to me, I also made friends with a couple of coppers, they were very nice and had a pooch too! Amber was a huge doggie, and very well trained, I had a play with her, well, we made it look like play, but in fact she was divulging some important info on sausages and bones, I will never reveal her secrets! London was good fun and I got snuck into many places where doggies aren't allowed, we got caught once, but I turned on my Dexy charm and we were off for our next adventure!

I've also been practising the art of ambush, o it's such fun! I've been hiding behind my big toys, or behind doors waiting for Igaboo to walk past and then- Dexy Attack! I don't actually attack like a monster, I instead go in for the cuddle, or maybe even the sausage, ahhhh, sausages, if only it was a safe world for them we could all sleep easier at night, but whilst my beloved sausages are in peril I shall search, sniff and snuff them all out and save them....for my belly. I've also been trying out my ambush skills outdoors, especially in long grass, the other park doggies watch me like I'm a weirdo, but they'll be sorry when judgement day comes and they are not prepared as I am. I'm very proud of my ambush skills, I mean, I just disappear into my surroundings, my only question is how does Igaboo always find me? It's not like I'm a bright gold against green, actually, not too sure about that, I'm colour-blind!

Other missions I've been doing is internally monitoring, I've learnt to climb as well as a mountain goat and can get onto the front windowsill, so now when Igaboo goes out on a personal mission without me I can sit and keep guard for any sausage bandits, that's me doing it in the picture, I don't know why Igaboo finds it so funny on her return to see me there, does she not know of the dangers of the world?! She is a bit ditzy and forgetful, maybe the enemy is using mind wipe techniques on her? Maybe that's why she forgets her keys in the door all the time, luckily due to my new advantage point I can alert agent Igaboo to her silly ways, she really must stop doing that or the sausage bandits may get me, not that I'm scared, I'm just only brave behind closed doors!

I also went round a few friends houses and practised my black ops skills there too, managing to open doors and break into other rooms to suss out some sausage munching, when my interviewee refused to concede some sausage, I tried some dirty tactics, sitting on their lap, licking their chin whilst they tried to play a silly computer game, although the game was giving me new ideas, need some camo uniforms and a big gun, but how would I fire it without thumbs? I'll check with intelligence for that, anywho, after clearing their areas I was off back home on the bus, but never relaxing, o no, I kept my eye on everyone on the bus, you never know who could be an agent! On getting home I had to survey the area to find any suspect morsels, none to be found, until I go to inspect my food station and find some yummy pate in my bowl, just a quick check for tampering and it was safely filed away in a secret location (my belly).

This morning I had my latest mission, sneaking into Tesco to have a full English breakfast with Agents Igaboo and Spencer, I got snuck in via a large bag and was hidden under the table and fed sausages and bacon, this was a very important mission, I had heard rumours of a Tesco- Sausage bandit alliance, but due to the taste I think they're alright, it was all going well and to plan until I broke my cover and dived under another table when I saw a piece of sausage fall, could this of been a message to the enemy, or simply carelessness, either way, Dexy Do Dah was on it. Unfortunately blowing my cover meant my other agents needed to evacuate the canteen, exposed identities could be dangerous, on leaving I interrogated those bananas that wear pyjamas that always seem to be loitering outside Tesco, sad to say, they gave me the slip!

That's my secret missions for now, I have a few more to do today, I'm going to a special celebration for other brave people who without them we wouldn't have our country and freedom like we do today, Igaboo's Great Grandfather served in both big wars, and so we are going to investigate a remembrance ceremony, hopefully I'll get some good tips off the real hero's, and I love poppies, mine looks really pretty on my collar. So lets keep all this secret sausage for now, and I'll warn you that this blog biscuit will self destruct in 5 seconds...... not really, the most dangerous thing you have to worry about with me is an ambush of puppy kisses!

Puppy Kisses and Love

Dexy Do Dah Dog

x x x

Doggie M.O.T.

Woof!

Hi y'all! Wow what a busy week I've had, been out lots and been doing lots to grow up healthy and strong, one important day was my pamper day where Igaboo joked she was putting through an M.O.T.! I had a very special day where I went to the dog grooming parlour and also popped into to see my nice vet lady for a general check-up. I'm nearly 5 months old now so Igaboo felt I needed to, especially since I had big first this week- I lost my first puppy tooth! My main canine tooth on my left side has gone, it's a bit weird and made eating hard to begin with, and also a tad of drooling, but my owner made a special pate for me and said it was the doggie tooth fairy, you humans are so strange with your little traditions.

Anywho, I had my visit to the groomers, which I both liked and disliked, it was lovely being pampered for the day, but being left in a strange place with people I didn't know was a bit unsettling. I had the full puppy treatment and got shampooed and blow dried, had a hair cut, a manicure and a general tidy up with my eyes and ears. The parlour was even good enough to express my anal glands which is necessary for a pooches health, but I'm a lady so I'm a going to go back to the pampering things! My owner was swoon over when she came to collect me and found me sitting behind the glass all spruced up, and the groomers were even so nice to put a matching pink bow on my collar to finish my look! Having a thorough clean was fantastic as I was in need of it, especially my nails, something only an experience owner should attempt to remedy, and the best thing is I came out smelling like a blueberry! Being at the groomers was a fun but weird situation for me, and because of this I fell asleep on the journey home when I normally look out of the bus window, little did I know we weren't on our way straight home...

That's because my next stop was the vets, which actually I quite like, I love attention you see, and they are all so nice there to me and give me cuddles. I only went in to have a check-up and to make sure my first lost tooth was ok, I also had another injection (even though Igaboo promised no more for another year) to defend me against another nasty disease called Parco. Whilst at the vets I had a good once over and everything about me is perfect, except my ears. Due to the shape of them it is easy to get dirt and dust in them and this had built up and gave me some waxy ears, nothing major or painful, all I have to do is be good and let Igaboo give me ear drops, which I like now because I always get a treat afterwards! So now I'm nearly 5 months I know I'm all healthy and vaccinated for all I need to be and I also have my appointment booked to be microchipped soon, o it's so hard growing up into a big doggie!

Puppy Kisses and Love

Dexy Do Dah Dog

x x x

Dexy Does... Stay!

Woof!

hello, another exciting addition to my Dexy Does... series today, one you'd think was simple, but is actually quite hard for a pup to grasp, and that is the art of stay. The trick of stay is a helpful one to command, it can stop a pup getting hurt, put more control in an owners life, and also provide a helpful tool when an important task is afoot! The only reason it's one of the hardest to learn is because of the lack of an instant reward like with most other commands, so a pup must learn to do it all by oneself, so expect it take longer than other commands for me to understand.

Tone of voice is the key to stay. Igaboo, my owner, only uses a strict tone when she commands it, whilst other commands are more friendly toned and higher pitched. She started by doing room to room, so she would go into the kitchen, tell me to stay there and then walk into the lounge, every time I followed her she put me back and tried again, eventually I learnt to stay, making sure I knew sit was essential for this too. Once I leant the basic notion we moved on to more advanced training which involved asking me to stay in the park and her walking away and calling me from a distance and also getting me to stay on my cushion when Igaboo goes out without me to stop me rushing outside too. Like always, patience is the key, try and try again and your pup will learn, just remember the command should be firm and you should only just say the command word and no other gossip!

Training stay with two people is a lot easier, one person can hold poochy and one can command, it's easier because obviously your pup can't escape and not stay, but also because you can reward your pup on the right behaviour at the time. The only trouble with this method is the fact when your pup is expected to stay by themselves, you may find yourself needing to top up their training to ensure they know how to do this too.

So that's it for stay, it all depends on your pup's personal intelligence, and it's definitely one that younger pups will struggle with due to their need for company and hyper ways. Igaboo remembers the first time I stayed properly without any effort, she was going out and just before she left she asked me to, and I did, she was so proud and happy but couldn't show me, so when she came back I got a super treat of some posh pate and cuddles! I stay every time she asks now, I wonder why...

Next time on Dexy Does... I shall be looking at baths, a worry for some pups and owners alike!

Puppy Kisses and Love

Dexy Do Dah Dog

x x x

Dexy Says Relax!

Woof!

Hi again! Today I'm going to be having a sniff and snuff around the subject of hyperactivity, that's when I run around and around like a fruit loop, woof needlessly and can be quite the destructive pup! Hyperactivity may seem like you're dog is happy but in most cases it can be because your pup is bored or not being fulfilled in some way. I use to be hyper most of the time, but now I have certain triggers or points of the day when I go a lil loco!

You may wonder why it's necessary to quell hyper behaviour, I mean, what's wrong with a mad puppy?! Well yesterday my owner was on a Disney film marathon after getting Beauty and the Beast to watch, all well and good, but unfortunate to her the film ran into my hyper time! Igaboo works hard to obtain a routine for me, and at certain times of the day it is madness time, where I'm encouraged to run and play and be my usual fruit loop, if I'm like this at other times she will ignore the behaviour until I calm down, but because her relax time had crept into my mad time she couldn't watch her films until my needs had been addressed. That's why it's good to be in a routine with your pooch, without one, you'll find it very hard to relax and sit back with a cuppa tea without a dog scooching about and ultimately annoying you. It's also not fair to have your pup expect something like a good playtime for an hour like usual and not provide it, scatty behaviour on your part will lead to scatty behaviour on my part!

Other reasons I could be hyperactive could be because something has spooked me- like the post, so we now have a box to stop me attacking those enveloped intruders, I can be hyper too if I haven't had enough exercise and a proper stimulating walk, so make sure I get both of those boxes ticked. Some pups are docile so you might not have a hyper pup to live with, but if you do just look for what triggers it and find ways to overcome it. I always get hyper when we have visitors, most people don't mind this, but some don't want a lil pooch jumping all over them, and some little people can be scared by me jumping at them, so whenever people pop over I get a hard rawhide bone which I show off proudly to our guests and promptly munch on it quietly on my cushion, although some of our guests like winding me up when I'm hyper but Igaboo always makes sure it becomes a structured game or activity that makes me learn and think, but more importantly calms me down.

Basic hyperactive behaviour can just come across as annoying or amusing to an owner, watching me run about in circles, chasing invisible cats, barking to thin air, but the most important reason to try and make it more structured is because I could really hurt myself doing it. My owner has watched me fall down the stairs, mistime jumps and also run straight into things, on all occasions I was whimpering and whelping but luckily it was nothing more than superficial, I also once got so excited that I tripped my owner when she was carrying a hot drink and both of us got a little burnt, I now steer clear of people holding cups! So just be careful with hyper behaviour and remember it may be fun to observe but it normally means your pup is unhappy about something and also could harm your pup as they rush about in their own mad mood.

By the way the picture is me in the middle of a manic episode, I like to dig the duvet until Igaboo's nicely made bed is one big mess!

Puppy Kisses and Love

Dexy Do Dah Dog

x x x

Happy Halloween!

Woof!

Hello everyone! May I wish you all a happy Halloween and hope you all had fun scaring each other and having yummy treats! I celebrated in many ways, I went on a spooky trail through some woods, went to a party and also took part in a Samhain ceremony. I did even have my own witch outfit to wear, but I found it much more interesting to chew and play with it, so Igaboo gave up on me wearing it, she also dressed as a witch for our party, I didn't like the face paint she was wearing because it wasn't nice to give her any puppy kisses! I did manage to behead a werewolf though at the party, very strange, found a human inside it...

Halloween is very fun, and I liked all the dressing up and things to play with, it's true meaning is deep in the pagan belief system which I enjoyed celebrating too, fundamentally though, in today's times it's all about being scared. So I am using it as a basis to look at puppy frights and how to help your pup to be a brave lil soldier.

A few things scare me, lots of things use to scare me, it's all about understanding what it is and to tackle it so I'm not scared any more. A big one that use to scare me was the sound of motorbikes, I would tremble every time one went past, so Igaboo and I spent time just walking up and down busy roads to get me use to the sound, I don't even notice them going past now. She says the trick is to not reward my fear, so whenever she notices I am scared by something she reassures me with a friendly voice, but no physical contact, this is because by petting me you will affirm that I should be scared and then I'll never get over my worries. When I was first brought home I was too small to climb the stairs properly, I remember I got stuck half way up one day and I found that scary, but all Igaboo did was sit at the bottom and encouraged me down, by making me stand up to things I am scared of will build my confidence and make me more independent. It all depends on your pooch's particular fears, but these are the best two methods of helping them overcome it, either expose your pup to what they fear until it becomes a background appearance or make them tackle fears head on to build up courage, which ever you choose make sure it is the safest option for the specific situation.

At the moment I'm a little scared by fireworks, I've never heard them before and my owner tells me it's common to hear them in abundance now. When I'm at home my owner always makes sure I have background noise in way of a television or some music, this is good to have as it drowns out the sound of any bangs outside. The real problem is when I'm out walking, whenever I hear one I go a bit skittish on my lead, I jump around, try and get Igaboo's attention, stop walking, and can pull off sharply. None of this is good because it could mean I could hurt myself whilst out, what my owner has taken to doing is to sing to me when they are going off and she slows down the pace of walking, having the verbal reassurance which is toned to be friendly and fun, and by slowing down I relax because it's all behaviour that means there's nothing to be afraid of. Igaboo does feel silly singing quietly to a dog, but then I've noticed her talking to herself all the time, but hearing your owners voice is always comforting.

A truly happy pup should only be scared of things that could cause harm to them, irrational fears and phobias will only hinder a pooch and their dog days. Some will take time to eradicate, some will go without trying, just always look out for triggers and nip them in the bud as soon as you see anything, and as for Halloween frights, well, we all like a good scare every now and again, just remember your pets, but then we do have to deal with you everyday first thing in the morning....

Puppy Kisses and Love

Dexy Dexy Doooooooooo

(Will do anything for a Dexy Snax)

x boo x boo x