Laxie through the Looking Glass

[Laxie]

Three cheers for woop woop - thats my girl

 

Woop Woop = Lily obv.  When we first got Lily, Sarah was little and didn't know how to whistle for her.  So she'd put her fingers to her mouth as if to whistle, but instead of whistling, she'd shout "Woop woop".  For the longest time Lily wouldn't come to any of us unless we did as Sarah did.  According to the vet back then, Lily thought Woop Woop was her name!   

[Laxie]

They were given run of the house last night.  Cassie stayed put with me.  Lily went on a wee walk about.  I swear, she must have been a ninja in a previous life.  She got in, tore the ashes apart without a sound, got out and was pretending innocence in the girl's room this morning.  


This was Lily yesterday complaining that we don't need a walking stick...we have her.

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"Wasn't me"

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It's abso pissing rain outside right now.  Washing her with the hose would be a punishment to me as much as it would be to her.  In fact, I think the bitch is starting to like the hose FFS.  Off to the bathroom we go.  Power shower at the ready.  She's gone too old to jump into the bath herself.  This should be fun.  Cover me...I'm going in.

[The_nun]

LoL, just look at her face, she really knows she has been a bad un.

[RED-DOG]

Dogs can't equate bad behaviour with scolding/punishment unless they are caught in the act.


The contrite/guilty demeanour is simply a reaction to your body-language and tone of voice.

[Laxie]

Dogs can't equate bad behaviour with scolding/punishment unless they are caught in the act.


The contrite/guilty demeanour is simply a reaction to your body-language and tone of voice.

Yeah yeah yeah...I know.  Lily hasn't a clue why I'm cross when she's caught after the fact, but no harm to keep her on her toes.  Mightn't do anything for her training, but keeps me sane...kind of.  lol 

Still haven't attempted her bath.  None of the kids were home to help me get her in the tub earlier.  They're home now, but I've gone all comfy on the sofa.  Gathering up the motivation for what I can promise will be a messy washing. 

"Has to be done."  Will keep saying that to meself until I'm sick of listening to me talking and get round to actually doing it.  Talking to yourself is a good thing.  I rarely argue with me.

[RED-DOG]

Dogs can't equate bad behaviour with scolding/punishment unless they are caught in the act.


The contrite/guilty demeanour is simply a reaction to your body-language and tone of voice.

Yeah yeah yeah...I know. Lily hasn't a clue why I'm cross when she's caught after the fact, but no harm to keep her on her toes.  Mightn't do anything for her training, but keeps me sane...kind of. 

Still haven't attempted her bath.  None of the kids were home to help me get her in the tub earlier.  They're home now, but I've gone all comfy on the sofa.  Gathering up the motivation for what I can promise will be a messy washing. 

"Has to be done."  Will keep saying that to meself until I'm sick of listening to me talking and get round to actually doing it.  Talking to yourself is a good thing.  I rarely argue with me.

Lol 

That's a great (and very honest) reply Dawn. 

[Laxie]

Well, the rain never stopped so we had use the bath tub for Lily's ash wash.  Sarah made the mistake of showing her the doggy shampoo before we got started...and Lily ran for the hills.  Ok, not 'hills' really.  Don't have those in our house.  But man oh man, she sure ran.  

Kitchen table was shoved around, chairs went flying and we were laughing the whole time as Sarah and I tried to get hold of her.  Got there in the end.  Much to Lily's dismay.  Once we landed her into the tub, we had to wait for Lily to 'balance' herself.  She was never known for being graceful, God love her.  She flopped about so much, we were both soaked by the time she was settled.  I was lucky there was water left in the tub for her bath.

Sarah the took photos this time...much to my dismay.  Had to leave a few out of the thread.  Not suitable at all.  lol  

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We tried to convince Cassie to hop in, but she wasn't having it.  She stayed put on the hall floor waiting for us to finish with Lily, showing up just in time for the 'good girl' rubs after.

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Must remember to put a chair in front of the fire guard tonight.  Please don't let me forget.  My hands are turning to prunes with all this washing, ffs!  




 

[Rod Paradise]

"Has to be done."  Will keep saying that to meself until I'm sick of listening to me talking and get round to actually doing it.  Talking to yourself is a good thing.  I rarely argue with me.

Can't get a word in?

 

[Rod Paradise]

 

Amazing how a big strong looking dog looks incredibly sheepish and skinny when in the bath

Good luck to you with that big one though - the wee terrier we've got is enough hassle. I've had to change how I prepare for giving her a bath - once she sees the bath mats getting lifted she's straight behind the couch - and it takes a couple of us to move it. She hates the bath, loves getting towel dried though - annoying part is she now likes to go for a walk in the rain becasue she gets dried afterwards - sigh.

[Laxie]

By chance, we stumbled across a whistle.  One of those cheesy Christmas cracker jobbies.  But not from the cheap crackers with plastic stuff.  Oh no.  These were the posh crackers, so the whistle is metal...and green. 

Sarah blew the whistle in the house yesterday and Cassie perked right up.  Every time the whistle went off, Cassie looked like she was ready for something.  Today Sinéad tested the theory and sure enough, Cassie must have been trained with a whistle back in the day.  Blow the whistle and she'd take off.  Blow it again and she'd come right back.  It even works when she's in 'sniff mode' so we're delighted!  Up to today, Sarah and I were the only two she'd come to unless she really wanted to.  Now the lot of them can get involved...as long as they have the whistle. 

Meanwhile, Lily has come up with a new party piece.  She's decided the mat she's always thrown down on isn't nearly good enough.  Now she pulls one of the blankets off the sofa and throws down on that instead...even if one of us was hoping to use it.  Think I'll have to have another wee chat with Lily soon.     

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[Laxie]

Trying to get in touch with Mike the Vet.  This should be fun.  My first mistake was attempting to ring him before 4pm.  Although, maybe I should have phoned him by 1pm.  Yer never sure with Mike.  He's a bit of a pisshead to be fair.  Makes me look like a saint.  Depending on how things went the day before, you run the possibility of ringing when he's not up yet or ringing when he's already in the pub.  It could go either way, but neither way gets a reply.  There's a wee window when his belly takes over and he goes looking for food.  THAT'S when you must track him down.  I'll get to him.  Always do.  But man, he doesn't make it easy.

Mike is an odd character.  You'd nearly wonder is it a good thing to let him in charge of your pet when you first meet him.  But he's the only vet in the area who doesn't look at you like you have 3 heads for caring about an animal.  Most vets in these parts deal with farmers, so it's strictly business.  Keeping an animal for 'fun' doesn't make sense to them.  Mike is the exception to the rule.  He'll do everything he can to save a cat or dog when most would just put it down.  And he doesn't charge the world for his services either. 

When he lands, it's important to have a tin of beer and a shot of whiskey waiting for him.  He doesn't get down to the business of checking over the animals until he's finished the whiskey and the tin is half empty.  If you don't offer it, he'll stand there talking for fecking ages until it dawns on you why he's still stood there.  So to save time, just have it ready.

So why am I ringing Mike?  Two reasons actually.  I always get him to the house when we bring in a new pet.  He gives them their shots if needed and has a look over them to be sure all is well.  Also, we found another wee lump under Lily's belly and he must call to make sure she doesn't have the cancer back.  He took a huge patch of it out last year and it was a fluke we found it in time.  She'd just had her twice yearly shave down.  When her hair's fully grown, it's hard to spot these things.

She'll be grand either way, because it's only a small lump this time and may only be a cyst.  So win win.  As it turns out, he just phoned me back and will be calling to the house in the morning.  I've the beer in, but I'd better check the whiskey stock...just in case.

[Karabiner]

Only in Ireland Dawn....

Fingers crossed for lily.

XX

[Rookie (Rodney)]

Cassie must have been trained with a whistle back in the day.

Well, she wasn't - you've just got lucky.

[EvilPie]

Cassie must have been trained with a whistle back in the day.

Well, she wasn't - you've just got lucky.

Most dogs respond to a whistle Dawn but they don't necessarily associate it with recall.

If you want to whistle recall her then do it but if you don't make it clear to her that the whistle means "come to me I've got a treat for you" she'll just do random things.

[Laxie]

Cassie must have been trained with a whistle back in the day.

Well, she wasn't - you've just got lucky.

Most dogs respond to a whistle Dawn but they don't necessarily associate it with recall.

If you want to whistle recall her then do it but if you don't make it clear to her that the whistle means "come to me I've got a treat for you" she'll just do random things.

Good to know...cheers.  Sinéad says she gave them a treat each time they came back.  Lily just follows Cassie, so she luckboxed the treats.  Will make sure the kids know not to randomly blow the whistle.  Random isn't so unusual in our house, so this will be a new thing for all of us.