How can two dogs be so different with their toys?

Cookie, our Chocolate Lab has been with us since he was a puppy of just 12 weeks.  You can imagine as new 'puppy parents' we spoiled him with toys of every type: squeaky, plush, tuggy, chewy....you get the idea!  That was just his indoor collection.  For out of doors we had flying discs, ball slings and anything else we thought he would fetch.  Of course they are certainly not as attractive to chase as your garden variety stick and while Cookie loves to run after thrown objects, for a retriever his 'bringing back' skills leave a lot to be desired.  While he certainly has favourite toys, which I will talk about later, he seems to like different things for different reasons.

Cookie

Maddy, our Lab/Collie cross, has been with us since she was approximately 4 years old and while the shine of new puppy parents had slightly faded we spoiled her with toys just as much as we had Cookie.  The only difference is she really had no interest in them, until recently.  Indoor toys were largely ignored and same as Cookie she prefers a stick to chase outside...as well as squirrels, a habit that took a long while to break!  Even though it has been more than 4 years we have finally found a toy that peaks her interest and gets her to play.  Maddy has discovered a long-tailed Cuz toy is very much to her liking and she will 'possess' it and squeak it for ages.  It also doubles as a pillow when she is at rest...very cute indeed.  We aren't sure why this toy above all others has done it or if it is simply a matter of persistence.  Of course it does ever so slightly resemble a grey squirrel..........????!!!???

Maddy

Until recently we never really had to worry about jealousy over toys but now that Maddy has a favourite we wanted to be sure that no disharmony ensued.  In fact we have adopted a stance where the toys actually belong to us, the people, and we allow the dogs to play with them when we choose.  That isn't as cruel as it may sound; it gives the doggies boundaries and teaches them which toy goes with which dog.  Since Maddy can tend towards dominance over Cookie this approach has seemed to work.  Maddy will occasionally allow Cookie a sneaky play with her Cuz but she gets it back from him when she thinks he's had enough.  Cookie on the other hand would happily share his toys with the world.

Cookie's favourite toys of the moment are plush and squeaky and he alternates between a polar bear and a duck.  When he first gets something new he will carry it around for hours, wagging his tail proudly and whimpering with delight.  He is always so grateful when he gets a gift from his people.  But this little angel wasn't always so good with his toys.  From puppy up until about age 2 his first instinct was to rip a toy to shreds as soon as our back was turned.  Unfortunately this included the biggest toy of all a leather 3 piece suite, but I digress.

It took a lot of patience, trial and error with Cookie to get him to the point of now treasuring his toys rather than eating them.  We had to develop lightening quick reflexes and eyes in the back of our heads to quickly snatch toys away the moment it looked like he was going in for the kill.  Even toys that are billed as indestructible are no match for a determined dog and his teeth as we found out.  Although both dogs are now mature we do not allow them to play with toys unsupervised so that we can control potentially destructive play and to ensure they don't accidentally swallow any bits that could result in such play.

I am not sure if Cookie and Maddy have developed such a different relationship to toys as a result of either nature or nurture.  It isn't really possible to draw a scientific conclusion as they came into our life at very different times in their lives.  However, in Maddy's case it seems it is possible to teach and old dog new tricks!





    

Keep your dogs away from the Easter chocolates

Over this Easter season we can get easily carried away with all of the chocolate goodies on offer. We treat the kids, we treat ourselves and we think why not treat the family's best friend! After all how bad can a little piece of chocolate be for the dog? Well the truth is it can be very bad for our furry friends and in some cases fatal. Chocolate contains theobromine, a naturally occurring stimulant found in the cocoa bean. Theobromine increases urination and affects the central nervous system as well as heart muscle.

Dark chocolate contains far higher levels than milk chocolate but that doesn't mean milk chocolate is danger free. Once a dog tastes chocolate they will ever after crave it and they won't be able to differentiate between dark and milk!

I felt compelled to write this as our household went through a chocolate trauma over the Christmas holidays. My partner and I returned from a lovely lunch in town to find an empty gold box and chocolate wrappers strewn across the dining room floor. 500g of Dark Belgian Chocolates, minus a few that had been eaten, were now inside one or both of the dogs. We couldn't tell as neither were showing any signs and we hadn't caught them in the act.

We got straight on to Google and with the help of this amazing calculator
http://www.askavetquestion.com/chocolate_toxicity.php we knew it was an immediate trip to the Vet.

They were given drugs to make them sick and therefore get any toxins out of their systems more quickly. We were convinced that Cookie, our Chocolate Lab was the culprit, after all his favourite party trick is stealing things from the counter tops. As it turned out it was Maddy, the Lab/Collie cross, who had in fact eaten all of the goodies as she is the one who got sick...wrappers and all. Thanks to the vet nurses for dealing with all of that.

In the end all turned out OK as we acted quickly and made sure they were seen by a Vet. We took turns staying with them through the night to make sure no other symptoms occurred. That was one expensive box of chocolates, both emotionally and financially! I'm still tempted to load up on the Cadbury's Creme Eggs but you can be sure I won't be sharing with the furries.

Back to Work

What a great Easter weekend we had but now that’s over and today we all had to go back to work.    Our business is all about selling pet products via the internet and work from a warehouse/unit which means the dogs get to come with us every day!  Work is a brisk 34 mins away from home and on the way we go through a park which pleases the dogs very much!  When we get to work the dogs have their own jobs to do such as meeting and greeting anyone who gets within 100 yards of the building and when it’s sunny, they guard the entrance.



They both get a wage each day of a few dog chews and they seem very happy about that :) 

Oh well see you again soon!

Welcome to my blog

Just to say hello to anyone who drops by and to let you know I plan to use this blog as both a record of my own experiences with keeping pets and to give you an  insight  into some of the products I like and sell.

First let me introduce the family furballs

This is Cookie (Chocolate Labrador) and Maddy Golden Lab/Collie cross.

Chester

Chester is like myself, very interested in Fishkeeping.

Wacko

Sadly Wacko had to be put to sleep last week but he is still in our hearts and still very much a part of our family.  I will at somepoint share my experience of  losing our beloved friend but the first post is not really the one to do it.

I also keep fish and had experience with many different types over the years.  I currently have just one tank with Zebra Plecs but di have as many as 40 tanks at one point!

Anyway thanks for dropping by and see you again soon x