Longing for last weekend...

We had just about the best weekend ever last weekend (just a pity I didn't take enough photos, but I guess this is what happens when you have too much of a good time). It was one of my very best friends' birthdays and we all went to Pringle Bay to celebrate. What a great place for dogs!

Salavador had so much fun, he only woke up on Tuesday night - he was pretty much a blob from all the activity until then! 

The house we stayed at had no fence around the yard. If you've ever been to Pringle Bay you will know why there aren't any fences around the yards - there's just no need for them. Think tiny coastal town, basically deserted for most of the year and dirt roads. Salvador also had the pleasure of spending the night with lots of people and his friend, Suki the Airedale Terrier who is certainly his match when it comes to energy levels.

He was obviously first to rise the next day and I would say the highlight of the weekend was our walk to the beach (no leads required) and swimming in the lagoon right on the beach. 

If ever you need a pet friendly weekend away, I highly recommend Pringle Bay!

Licks & Kisses!

xxx 

Winter Warmers

Although you might revel in the idea of sitting in front of the fire while watching whole seasons of your favorite series this winter, this might not be your dog’s idea of fun (unless you have one of those very relaxed and sleepy dogs like Salvador’s friend, Jameson)

I’ve decided to round up some fun things to do with your dog during the winter months and here they are!

Rainy day walks

Now, I know while your sitting all comfy-cozy, in front of the fire, every fiber of your being is kicking against this, but taking your dog for a walk in the rain might just be the best thing that happened in his or her day! It’s really not that bad. Pull on that coat and open up that umbrella – no doubt you’ll be the only one under it. Salvador loves nothing more than getting wet and mucky!

Treasure Hunt

Instead of feeding Salvador the usual way, I sometimes hide his food all around the house. He loves this game so much, because sniffing around is his favorite past-time (all dogs love it!).

Obstacle course

Gather all your brooms, mops, chairs, step ladders and build an obstacle course. You can guide your dog around it with treats and lots of encouraging words.

Stair climber

Are you lucky enough to have a set of stairs in your house? Use these to up the normal fetch game by dropping the ball down them. Exercise for the day done!

Teacher-teacher

Find yourself wishing your dog was more responsive to those basic commands (sit, heel, stay etc.)? Why not use this time and the confines of your home to practice these?

Play date

If you have children this is probably your worst nightmare – as if organizing your human child’s social life is not enough…but seriously though, if you have a friend with a dog that lives nearby and your dogs get along, you could use this time to catch-up and let your dogs have a play date.

These are but a few fun ideas to keep you and your dog busy this rainy season. Have fun with it!

Licks & kisses!

xxx   

Purina Puppy Chow Add - a sweet treat for you because I have been horrible at keeping this blog going...

Purina Puppyhood


Hi all,

I really hope you enjoy this lovely, heart warming video as much as I did! It is possibly one of the cutest things I've ever seen, apart from the time I laid eyes on Salvador as a puppy...

There really is no excuse for me not posting anything for such an extended period of time...I will have to go with the old excuse where I rant on about how busy I've been (Okay so I've been REALLY busy! I've taken on a second job, I hardly have time to go to the doctor to get a tiny shard of glass taken out of my foot, that I managed to get lodged in there on the dance floor at a wedding - don't even ask AND all of this has been the main cause for Salavador not having that many adventures to write about the past few months...) So there, that's pretty much the gist of it.

Lots have been happening in the life of young Salvador, although he is now a very mature 30 something in dog years, I've recently been told. It's a rather strange sensation when your dog child starts outgrowing you in age?! I don't feel that he has calmed down at all though. He is still very much a high energy pooch and constantly demands being faffed over.

An exciting thing that has happened recently is that one of my very close friends got a puppy - your late 20's will do that to you. She is an Airedale Terrier called Suki and she is simply adorable! Salvador thinks she's marvelous. It possibly has something to do with the fact that they both have some things in common, like having wild and out of control coats and they both like to run at extreme speeds with no means of slowing themselves down, even if that means they have to use some object (unfortunately this usually ends up being another dog or person) to do so for them.
The other great thing about Suki is that she lives in a tiny little beach town called Betty's Bay that is basically dog heaven! We were there for lunch last Sunday and we started off with the dogs having the best time on the vast, mostly empty beach. We then went and had a little rinse in the nearby lagoon - because it was on the way home, therefor we just could . The rest of the day was spent at Suki's house which is just below the mountain and has all the free space a dog could want without us worrying about them getting in the way of a car etc. All-in-all a great day in a great place!

I must now leave you as there is a fire in the other room and I want to go and sit in front of it before I have to mentally prepare myself for this coming week - bless the public holiday smack bang in the middle of it!
I'm planning on getting the glass removed from my foot tomorrow so that Salvador and I can go running in the mornings (you'll no doubt hear about how that went for us that in the near future).
Later!

Licks and Kisses
xxx

Happy Valentine's Day - Playing in parks with giants!

 HAPPY VALENTINE'S DAY EVERYBODY !!!

Salvador had some extra love added to his breakfast yesterday - I decided that this day of love called for some brown rice and homemade Peanut Butter Biscuits on top of the daily helping of dry food (which Salvador seems to be getting a bit bored of, but more on that later...). 

After breakfast we went to Keurboom Park where we met these guys!

How amazing?! (I've always wanted one...)

Salvador has never seen a Great Dane before. The closest animal to this size he has seen is a horse...so I was slightly worried about how he would react to them. I also know that he strangely dislikes large skinny dogs in odd colors (ie Weimaraners and German Short haired Pointers) with eye colors ranging in shades of yellow to green (ie the same breeds as mentioned above...). These two giants had both, but I think he realized that though he might have the guts to take on before mentioned breeds, he wouldn't stand a chance with these giants. 

Have a lovely weekend!

Out and about #1 - Twigs with Beans, Harfield Village

As previously promised, Salvador will be going on more outings this year. It's relatively easy to take him to restaurants where we live as pretty much everyone here has a dog (or 5...), so in general restaurants around here tend to be very lenient in terms of bringing your dog for breakfast, lunch or dinner. I guess it also helps that most of these places have outside areas.

I started off on my daily internet browse the other morning, only to realize there was no internet that morning...Whenever this happens, I become very despondent and soon after I remember that I could just go to Twigs with Beans and use their free wifi facilities while enjoying a coffee - problem solved!
They have a lovely outside area that is most certainly pet friendly, the coffee is amazing and so are the multiple breakfast/snack options. What's more is you can even buy lovely garden plants if you fancy a spot of morning gardening!
Salvador loves it, firstly because they allow him to be there in the first place and secondly, because it's on street which means lots of foot traffic (of a human and dog nature), which in tern means interesting sniffing opportunities.

Follow the link above for directions!

 Have a great week!

 

HAPPY 2015!!!

Happy New Year all!! Here's to a fantastic year filled with adventures, dog walks and so forth.

All of the season's greetings aside, this year started off on a bit of a wobbly leg for us. We got home on the 1st of the new year, to a freshly ransacked house...This was obviously very upsetting to both us and Salvador, as I'm sure he felt this would never have happened, was he here to protect his property. I'm sure the smell of intruders still linger in his always busy nostrils and as a result he is now even more on guard than before. Literally NOTHING can go past our house, front or back, without him alerting us. It's not great being slightly more paranoid, as one tends to be after these incidents, and suddenly waking up to a manically barking dog at 2am...but then I stick to my theory that I don't think anyone would have broken into the property if Salvador was around, because he would have been on high alert the moment someone entered the garden. Yet another reason to get a dog!!

As far as New Years resolutions go - I'm not sure if we have that many. I have however decided that we will be taking Salvador along to restaurants more often. Now not all of us are lucky enough to do this, bit living in Cape Town, in a mostly pet friendly suburb with loads of on street dinning delights, this is definitely something we are going to start doing.
In fact, we took Salvador and his friend Jameson to a lovely, laid back place called The Stall in Franschhoek today and I was pleasantly surprised at his good behavior. This being said, he was exhausted when we got home, as I think trying to behave all through lunch, at a foreign place with so many new smells, just took its toll on him mentally. He handled himself well though.
There seems to be many places around Cape Town that is relatively dog friendly - I mean it's probably always going to be hard to find a place where they literally beg you to bring your dog along(I'm not sure if one can be sure of the cuisine at such an establishment...), but there are definitely some that would sooner ask you if you would like a water bowl for your panting pooch, than chase you off hungry. We will be checking out some places this year and with Salvador's help I'll inform you of the good ones!

Another thing we are working on this year is going for a well calculated, peaceful jog - now as you can see, I've underlined a bit there as this is a big block in the road for us. Our current jogs starts off with a bang - literally a BANG, as in the gun shot at the beginning of a sprint race, because we are bounding off at break-neck speeds! Somewhere midst all the pulling and jerking we then come to an abrupt halt in order to tend to some toilet business...it is towards the last 2 minutes of this mad sprint that we reach a stage of total bliss as Salvador gets a bit more tired, but before you know it we hit the front step and the chaos is over. As any of you who are keen runners can gather, this is no way to exercise, well not for me(I'm sure Salvador tires himself out quite a bit), so we will be tending to this issue in the coming months.

To end off this New Years post, I am glad to inform you that we will be able to stay on at our current address for at least another year! This comes as a great relief after we were told that the house we are renting is on the market, in which case there was a big chance that it would sell and we would be stuck in the horrible tumult of finding another pet friendly residence - one of the hardest things to do in this town! But we are definitely staying and couldn't be happier!!

HERE'S TO A GREAT 2015 !!!    

xxx

BREAKING NEWS - GERONIMO!!!

We have a little visitor! Although, after a little bit of investigation he might not actually be a visitor, but more of a permanent resident that has been overlooked for the last 7 months...
Meet Geronimo!

We found him casually strolling around our garden this morning! Although he seemed like he had some idea of where he was going - perhaps back where he came from, we eventually found a big hole underneath some plants in one corner of our garden which now raises some suspicions as to how long he has been living here.

I WOULD ALSO LIKE TO PUBLICLY TAKE THIS OPPORTUNITY TO APOLOGIZE TO SALVADOR FOR PREVIOUS OCCASIONS WHERE I SHOUTED AT HIM WHEN I FOUND HOLES IN THE GARDEN...

After feeding Geronimo some watermelon (for who knows how long this little traveler has gone without food and drink?!)I introduced Salvador to him. He was delighted!

I suspect that for some time now Salvador has been in desperate need of a pet. After following Geronimo all over the garden and then trying to communicate with him by howling and doing a few strange dust kicking maneuvers, he calmed down and now seem exhausted, yet contented with this new arrangement.

Happy Monday !!

Lick & Kisses

xxx

Sweet Sage

We had to say goodbye to cute little Sage today, our nearly 2 year old little visitor, and boy has it been an entertaining visit! I was not prepared for dealing with Salvador with a baby around, but in the end he didn't do all that bad! 

On Day 1 there was much excitement with the arrival of the new guest and their tiny little human. It took a while for Salvador to realize that he can jump up on her as he is most likely heavier than her. We decided to go to the beach, which went down well with both baby and pooch and the rest of the night was spent getting acquainted with the new guests. 

Sage and Salvador playing together on the beach

 On Day 2 Salvador battled to grasp the idea of sharing spaces (couch, room,everything etc) and his mom with the little new comer. As we all well know, Salvador is not that keen on sharing so he got a bit upset whenever little baby entered any of his areas - at which he would bark at her every now and then, but luckily he soon got over his territorial nonsense.

Very early on he learned that babies are a constant source of interesting foods (I can't even imagine what he has been eating for the last 3 day...everything from strawberries to baby formula) and followed her around EVERYWHERE, in case a morsel was dropped. 

All in all it has been relatively stress free introducing him to a baby. I can imagine that the thought of introducing a new baby to the family and its dog can be a daunting one, but I think it's something that will take a lot of time and patience. With a bit of both, it can be done!

Licks and Kisses

XXX

Sunday morning at Camps Bay Beach

Salvador and I went to the beach this morning with some friends. He's slightly down in the dumps because one of his best humans left the country last night for a brief work trip in the UK, so I thought the sun and sand might cheer him up.
This only being his 2nd time at a beach in his whole entire short life, he had a blast!

For some reason I thought that dogs were not allowed on Camps Bay Main Beach, but alas, I was very wrong! There were plenty of dog friends out early this morning and I'm telling you, there's no better way to start the day!

I'm slightly worried about how much he enjoyed digging massive holes though....and hoping this won't happen to our garden now...

Digging one's hole...

Protecting one's hole!

I'm also happy to inform you that Salvador was extremely well behaved towards other dogs - meeting and greeting everyone happily! Great improvement!

Licks and Kisses!
xxx

De Waal Park, Cape Town

Salvador came with me to work today and while I had a few errands to run, he patiently waited for his promised walk in De Waal Park in Cape Town.

Find your way there

The park is 12 hectors in size (ample space for energetic dogs) and it is a bustling meeting place for people and dogs from all around the area. A few main features is the Victorian Fountain (which Salvador saw as an open invitation for some swimming),

Victorian Fountain

Salvador testing the waters in the fountain

 Loads of beautiful trees and benches to relax on, paved walk ways,  lots of grassy space for dogs to run around on and to top it all off, the whole park is fenced off so your dog won't be able to run into the busy roads. These are only a few of the great features of this tranquil park.

A view of the playground in the park

Gorgeous views of table mountain

The park is open daily from 06:30 - 20:00 in Summer months and from 07:00 - 18:00 in Winter months and if you go late afternoon, you're sure to meet lots of dogs! We went mid day and it was relatively quiet, although Salvador made two friends and there was some serious shenanigans going on! 

Salvador and his new Lab friend

Salvador and his new Pekingese friend

 Most of the dogs we met weren't on leads, but it is obviously up to you. We will definitely be returning to this one!!

Starting from scratch (How I trained Salvador to be the semi-well behaved dog that he is today)

Sometimes one revels so much in the joys of having a new puppy that training and behavior takes a back seat - this is only natural as few people can resist a clumsy little fluff ball a.k.a. puppy. I was one of you when I first laid eyes on Salvador!

It is very tricky focusing on the task at hand i.e raising a well behaved dog, when confronted with this face...

But a little crash course on the temperament and behavioral traits of the breed brought me back to earth (this wake up call came in the shape of one of those Breed books you can get in the pet/animal section of most bookshops).

Salvador is now 18 months old and I recon he is a pretty well behaved young man, save for the occasional arrogance towards dogs twice his size and/weight at the weekly market (we are in the process of remedying this behavior with the help of Cesar Millan as inspiration - you may choose your own mentor). I compiled a little list of tips that I picked up from rearing Salvador for any of you new moms and dads.

Potty training

It is really not as difficult as it has been made out to be. Salvador almost always needed the loo after a sleep and after a meal so I took him to the same grassy spot every time. Do this every time, without fail and you've won 2/3rds of the battle. Sometimes mistakes happen and then I would just clean the area very thoroughly - scattering some bicarb on the spot after helps to remove the smell, as the smell is the thing that will most likely lure another attempt.

Bonding

I got Salvador a few days before I had to go back to work after Christmas holidays, but I was lucky enough to be able to take him to work with me. I think this did wonders for our relationship and he got to bond with other dogs, children and the car from the very beginning. We were literally never apart for the first two months of me bringing him home. Unfortunately I had to go overseas for work when he was about 3months old, but my neighbors, and owners of his very best friend, Henry looked after him so this was not a train smash.

Exercise

Weekend forest walks

Salvador is an extremely active dog and we are fortunate enough to be living on a farm (not for much longer though...) so we go on at least one walk a day. I try to go once in the morning and once after work and on weekends we work in a proper 30mins to an hour of walking. I'm also teaching him fetch at the moment. This is a great game for all dogs, but especially Spaniels since they are retrievers and therefor you are appealing to their breed characteristics. This game is also great for tiring them out. Salvador also LOVES water and I take him swimming in the nearby dam or in the neighbor's pool as often as possible. This is an amazing tiring out tactic and great for the joints! I will have to get more creative with excising once we move to the city...

Chew toys

If you would like to keep your couches and shoes intact, your best friend is the chew toy! When ever I go to the shops I take a little detour into the pet shop to stock up on hide, hooves etc. I find that Salvador would much rather chew one of those stinky little numbers than my shoes and trust me, this really works as Salvador has NEVER chewed a shoe in his life!

Couches are for hiding in and NOT for chewing!

The lead

I had a collar around his neck from a very early age so he could get used to the idea and whenever we went anywhere he had a lead on so he learnt very quickly. Be patient and gentle with this and if possible use a friend's experienced dog to lead the way.

Have fun with your new puppy and remember to stick by your rules - always!