Ruffy’s Last Blog :( . . . 24th January 2014

Hi, Ruffy here. I have nicked the keyboard from Bonnie this week as this will be my last ever blog. She doesn’t mind!

I have been living with Lady Human and Man Human for just a few months now, after MH brought me home one day. My owner was poorly and couldn’t look after me as well as before so I came to stay at North Downs Farm to work as a gun dog like I am trained to do!

I had always lived with my owner and never with other dogs, so it was a bit of a shock for me to have to share my space with Bonnie and Trevor when I first arrived. I was a little scared and I do regret biting them and scaring them, and bullying them when food was around.

This meant that during the day, I could not be in the kennel with the other dogs and had to stay in a neighbouring kennel on my own, where I could still see the others but not touch them. LH and MH had to go to something called ‘work’ which meant that I was left for various periods of time per day. This stressed me out as I didn’t understand where they had gone and I began to show different behaviours such as food aggression, running away and nipping.

Bonnie and Trevor did not understand why I was upset as they said that LH and MH always come back to let them out and play, but I didn’t believe them.

As I was so unhappy my old owner, who is the best and who I love very much, said that he may be able to have me back if he felt a little better, as I was obviously not suited to life here! I missed him very much and he missed me so I am packing my bags to go back home.

I like to think of my time here as a little holiday and although LH has been doing that weird crying thing a bit, I think she knows I will be happier too. I won’t miss her much, she used to try and fuss me which I did not like, just THROW MY BALL!

I think Trevor will miss me the most, as when I was not being nasty to him we enjoyed having a bit of a rough and tumble.

Anyway, must dash or I will miss my train!

Goodbye friends x x x
  Ruffy Becomes a BaDDog! . . . 16th January 2014

Bonnie here, as the most sensible of the group I thought I ought to report on the week.

I am currently resting after a day out shooting, I had such a fun time and Man Human said that I was ‘a little star’! The best bit is getting a big dinner at the end of the day, sometimes a deer heart! Lady Human says that is disgusting, what does she know?

Trevor and Ruffy both had training at BaDDogz this week, because they are not as good as me (yet).

Trevor

Trevor went to his usual class, Puppy Agility, which he gets very excited about. LH said that Trevor gets very bouncy in the car when he sees they are heading to agility, he is clever like that.

This week, the puppies learnt some more about tunnels, weaving and about standing in the correct position on the dog walk. LH tried to teach Trevor more about that on the horse box ramp (a poor substitute I say!) but he was more interested in the horse deposits left there.

LH also set up the tunnel that she got as a present for Trevor, but forgot to peg it down properly. Trevor thought it was much more fun to roll around in it across the garden, what a sight! Trevor looking ‘handsome’, according to LH.

Ruffy

Ruffy had his first ever session with Trudy this week. It did not get off to a good start, as Ruffy ran away out of the yard when LH let him out for a toilet break. LH got very hot and bothered running around the bridlepaths looking for him, and they were late for their lesson, oops!

I would never do such a thing! Ruffy and LH practised recalls, loose lead walking and sit and stay in the lesson. Although Ruffy told me that he knows it all deep down, he forgets himself as he is not used to LH. When they got home, he told me that he felt bad as he nipped LH three times in the lesson and made her hands bleed, but she knows he didn’t mean to hurt her and that she needs to distract him away from doing it. I was more angry about the fact that LH let him destroy yet another one of our toys in the process, when will she learn to save them for me to play with? 

  From the Ground Up . . . 10th January 2014

Anybody that shares their home with two Spaniels and a Border collie must be a little bit unwise; at least, that is what we have heard. So as to tell our story, and to mark our highs, lows, achievements and misadventures amongst the chaos, our blog will share our world through our eyes (or so the humans think). Let’s start with an introduction to us and our humans, who we shall fondly refer to as Lady Human (LH) and Man Human (MH). We enjoy hearing feedback from our dog pals, so let us know how we are doing along the way.

Trevor

The baby of the group, I am an agility dog in the making. Lady Human says that I am full of character and am a bit of a trouble maker, I think that is a good thing.

  Me (Trev) and Ruffy (my older bro) playing ruff!

I started going to Puppy Obedience classes with BaDDogz when I was just 10 weeks old, which has taught me the basics to move onto Puppy Agility; great fun. I like tunnels and weaves, and running as fast as I can over micro jumps. It is so exciting! It is great to see my friends each week, although I have to be careful not to knock over some of the smaller puppies in the group. This is me and my friend Ruffy having a play fight at home.

Ruffy

Born in Ontario, Canada, I made the trip to England when I was young, on an aeroplane. I am a five year old, particularly handsome, Springer Spaniel. I came to my new home here just two months ago, and I am now in training to be a gun dog like my pal Bonnie.

I am about to start a different type of training with Trudy at BaDDogz and LH, as I am too strong for her and don’t always do as she says. I think she just doesn’t understand me properly so I hope that our lessons help.

I love toys, especially if they are thrown into the sea, but I am not allowed them too often as I tear them up and try to eat them, or bark at the humans to demand my ball. I wish they would behave and throw it when I tell them to.

Bones are also out of the question after I swallowed one and cost a lot of money at the vets. Of course, I am worth it though.  

Bonnie

The eldest member of the group, I am an eight year old Springer Spaniel. My job is to flush out pheasants, which I am very good at. I am very quiet and trustworthy and can be very timid; in fact I am not sure I am really a Spaniel at all!

I am Man Human’s favourite, I can do no wrong, and don’t Ruffy and Trevor know it! I don’t like to play with them when they are being silly but sometimes I will let Trevor share my bed if he doesn’t smell too bad.

This is a photo of me when LH was being childish; I dislike her a lot of the time. Sometimes she gives me a bath.