06 Oct 2007 Bosun is 85 weeks old today... one year and thirty three weeks old!
29 Sept 2007 Bosun is 84 weeks old today... one year and thirty two weeks old!
Bosun has matured well and is most times out in the yard without being restrained. He loves to run and chase a ball and likes to go to the paddock to visit the horses. He will chase deer off the property but does not stray far, although he will cross the road to chase them. The neighbour's puppy dog comes to play with Bo... she is never invited but is always welcome! Her owners are finding she is a little Houdini.. always escaping no matter what they do! Bo loves her and she loves him! They romp and play together and have great fun.
22 Sept 2007 Bosun is 83 weeks old today... one year and thirty one weeks old!
15 Sept 2007 Bosun is 82 weeks old today... one year and thirty weeks old!
08 Sept 2007 Bosun is 81 weeks old today... one year and twenty nine weeks old!
01 Sept 2007 Bosun is 80 weeks old today... one year and twenty eight weeks old!
25 August 2007 Bosun is 79 weeks old today... one year and twenty seven weeks old!
18 August 2007 Bosun is 78 weeks old today... one year and twenty six weeks old!
13 August 2007
This afternoon we collect Bo and Jaxx after we arrive back from Calgary. Both dogs are delighted to see us and appear to have had a good week away from us.
As it turns out the cage is not needed which will make futue visits to the kennels much easier for us as all we have to take will be the dogs (bowls and food are provided by the kennels).
11 August 2007 Bosun is 77 weeks old today... one year and twenty five weeks old!
6 August 2007
Today Bo and Jaxx go to the kennels for a week while we tour towards Banff, Lake Louise and Calgary. The kennels are just a ten minute drive away from our farm. The dogs have no cages to go into but are allowed into the home of the owner of the kennels and interact as one of the family. We actually take Bo's cage along for him, as we have no idea how he will cope without it, so it is there should it be needed. (The last time we took Bo away without his cage he was a menace all night!! That was a year ago!)
4 August 2007 Bosun is 76 weeks old today... one year and twenty four weeks old!
29 July 2007. New Halti
My daughter brings a Halti collar for Bo and we try it out. It is marvellous! No more tugging on the collar! The halti goes around Bo's nose and the lead attaches to the collar and to the Halti. Now if Bo goes where I do not want him to go, or tugs, or misbehaves in any way, all I have to do is to pull on the lead and then correct with the Halti. He is a quick learner and soon we are walking without him pulling in any way, or needing only a quick correction. The Halti makes walking Bo a real pleasure! Now I can cope with both Jaxx and Bo if I choose to walk them both at the same time which before was a night mare as Bo would want to play with Jaxx regardless of the fact that Jaxx might not want that! I can really recommend Halti collars!
28 July 2007 Bosun is 75 weeks old today... one year and twenty three weeks old!
Today he meets my daughter for the first time and loves her immediately and she him!
21 July 2007 Bosun is 74 weeks old today... one year and twenty two weeks old!
14 July 2007 Bosun is 73 weeks old today... one year and twenty one weeks old!
7 July 2007 Bosun is 72 weeks old today... one year and twenty weeks old!
Today Bo has his yearly check up and also the follow up visit after his operation.
July 8
Bo has now had his stitches removed. He was at the vets yesterday, Sat 7 July, to have his stitches removed and his yearly checkup. He was very excited to be at the vets where he gets good attention and kept ‘talking’ to the receptionist!
When it came time to have his temperature taken he was not keen and kept moving his behind away from the thermometer! So out came some cheese from my pocket which I placed between my fingers for him to find and he let the thermometer be put where it was needed!
I did the same when it was time for the stitches to be removed. I asked him to get down, show me his tummy and then I produced the cheese! While the vet undid the stitching Bo was kept amused searching for the tiny bit of cheese!
He was good having his injections too. It certainly paid having cheese bits in a bag in my pocket! I must remember that next time we go to the vets!
2 June 2007 Bosun is 67 weeks old today... one year and fifteen weeks old!
9 June 2007 Bosun is 68 weeks old today... one year and sixteen weeks old!
16 June 2007 Bosun is 69 weeks old today... one year and seventeen weeks old!
20 June 2007
It is Wednesday, early evening (June 20 2007) and Bo and I have been sitting in the library quietly while I read. I leave to go prepare a meal and Bo reluctantly follows. I notice he is very involved with licking his fur. I think he must have siome twigs entangled in it so I get the brush ready to give him a grooming and help with his problem.
However, on beginning to groom I look at the offending area…under his right armpit. There are no twigs there. In fact there is NO SKIN there either! It is red and open. He has somehow torn himself open. The wound is the size of the top of a tea cup. BIG!
The first thing we do is get a collar for him. We have one in the basement from when he had his operation to neuter back in October last year. The collar then was used to stop him licking his wounds. We figure this will prevent him licking it. He lets us put the collar on but he doesn’t like the inconvenience of it. He bangs into things. He can’t get into his usual resting places. He doesn’t settle.
During the evening he is restless. When we go to bed we put the gate up between the kitchen and the utility room as it is hot and would be too hot for sleeping in the utility room with the door closed. I put Bo’s cushion in front of the back door, a place he is happy to rest normally.
He doesn’t settle and cries on and off throughout the night. I wake a few times and take him outside but he doesn’t need to relieve himself so that is not why he is restless.
About 4am I get up and take him into the lounge with me and I rest in a comfy lazy-boy type chair. Bo decides to come and rest on my lap. We sleep fitfully for an hour or so and then I get up.
I take Bo to the vets for 8am when they open. As it happens I have an appointment for Bo for 6pm the same evening. However the assistant looks at Bo when she arrives and we decide that Bo needs stitches, that the tear is mendable and that they will somehow fit him into the morning schedule.
At nine thirty am we get a phone call to say that Bo is on the operating table right now, being stitched, and that he had to be put under full anaesthetic to work on him. While he is out they check for heartworm.
Four pm we collect Bo and see how his stitching job. We see how to change his wadding and he is bandaged to prevent him licking his wounds. We are pleased he doesn’t have to wear his collar!
Bo is pleased to be home and the other animals especially Jaxx who has been searching for Bo all day, are pleased to see him too.
Bo has a good night’s sleep . He has to be kept quiet for a few days so he is on leashed walks round the farm for a while.
23 June 2007 Bosun is 70 weeks old today... one year and eighteen weeks old!
24 June 2007
We set off for a week in the apartment in Vancouver. It will be good for Bo as he won't be able to run around due to lack of space! He will have leashed walks instead.
Bo sleeps on the patio in his cage (it is always left open for him so he can come and go as he pleases but he is secure on the patio as the gate is locked.)
30 June 2007 Bosun is 71 weeks old today... one year and nineteen weeks old!
5 May 2007 Bosun is 63 weeks old today... one year and eleven weeks old!
12 May 2007 Bosun is 64 weeks old today... one year and twelve weeks old!
19 May 2007 Bosun is 65 weeks old today... one year and thirteen weeks old!
26 May 2007 Bosun is 66 weeks old today... one year and fourteen weeks old!
Bosun comes out with me for a walk aroudn the field first thing in the morning and then I have been putting him in the area outside the stable and if the horses are not using the paddock then Bo has free run of it. He seems to like this as he can watch the school children walking down the road and also watch different people as they walk their dogs.
Another part of Bo's routine has been training. I either do this in the paddock or on the back field. I have a plastic bag in my pocket that contains very tiny pieces of cheese which Bo loves. Then we go over sit, down, stay and come. He is getting much better now in excitable situations. The other day he was on the back field with me and the people arrived to see to their horses. Bo really wanted to go and investigate and went half way across the field to them, but as soon as I called "Come B" he stopped, turned around and came back to me.
The next day we went to say hello to the horse owners and while we were outside the paddock, Sparky got very excited and Bo was eager to go in with him. I called him to me; he came and watche Sparky from the outside.
I still cannot trust Bo if there is a car in our yard that is about to depart, or if there is a car going past on the road or even if there are pedestrians and cyclists. I usually divert his attention and if that does not work then I asl him to "sit" and I hold onto his collar lightly if I think he is likely to bolt. I am hoping the day will come when he responds to instructions completely. He will stay IF he knows I am staying in the field with him. BUT if I make my way to the gate, regardless of whether I am staying or not, Bo panicks and follows me, thinking I am deserting him.
Bo has been in kennels for the last part of March and the begining of April. We went along on April 10th to collect him and he was as delighted to see us as we were to see him! We believe he had a lovely time at the kennels and enjoyed playing with the other dogs there!
7 April 2007 Bosun is 59 weeks old today... one year and seven weeks old!
April 12 2007. We collect Bo from the kennels at Ladner.
April 13 2007
Today I try out Bo's new collar. It is one that I got from my daughter in the UK that that she had used when training Blue. I was SO impressed with the way Blue was behaving that I asked her to get me a collar. It hadn't arrived in time for me so she gave me Blue's to bring back with me.
The collar has a section on it that holds scented citronella water or scentless water. It can be switched on or switched off. There is a control section that I hold. I press it once and it beeps. Bo is meant to do as he is told. If not I press the next button and Bo gets sprayed with the Citronella water. If by any chance he still does not respond then I press the next button and he gets another spray of the water.
Bo quickly realised that if he doesn't respond then he gets the spray treatment which he doesn't like. Hence his behaviour quickly improves! I believe it emphasises who is boss dog (ie. me!).
This device stops Bo pulling on the lead when he is out walking and I am hoping it will stop him chasing trucks. Time will tell!
This collar is called "Spray Commander."
14 April 2007 Bosun is 60 weeks old today... one year and eight weeks old!
21 April 2007 Bosun is 61 weeks old today... one year and nine weeks old!
28 April 2007 Bosun is 62 weeks old today... one year and ten weeks old!