Month: June 2017


Jun
2017

DOGA.

categories: Oscar, Winterwonderland, Zara

Today is International Yoga Day! And because I love to include my furry loves in as many of my daily activities as possible I thought I would explore the Doga craze.

Many of you may laugh and think how on earth does this happen. There are two main ways you can practice Doga. One, where you take the yoga class and your pup happily watches on, and two, where you and your pup perform the moves together. Now I absolutely love practicing yoga and since my two rascals Oscar and Zara are always around me, the obvious thing would be for me to include them. Without me realising it, we practice option one on a weekly basis so I thought I would try option two and see how things go…

Yoga in itself is a wonderful thing to practice, and the thought of including my pups for extra stress relief and fun is a fantastic idea. I am not sure I would take the two of them to a Doga studio-even though the thought is wonderful. My two would run around and cause complete chaos wanting to play with everyone, Zara would lick everyone to death, and we would all get banned within 5 minutes-haha. So practicing Doga at home where all three of us are comfortable and happy is the perfect choice for us.

Doga offers an extra bonding session between you and your pooch and it should be fun for both of you. If your pup isn’t into it today then leave him be, let him watch! Never force your pups to do anything they don’t want to do.

Benefits of DOGA include:

Extra stress relief

Increases the bond between you and your pooch

Gives you added extra quality time together

You are guaranteed to laugh

Good exercise for you both

Puts you in an instant good mood

It is said to help calm hyper dogs, so lets see if it helps Zara

As with any exercise there is always risk of injury so only do what your body allows and what your pup allows.

Here are a few very simple moves you can do with your pup:

Downward dog:

Get your pup to lay on his tummy or stand up if he wants to, and you do the downward dog move over him. If he looks up at you just gaze into his eyes.

Chaturanga:

Lay your pup on her tummy and just stroke her back in long slow strokes.

Heart-to-hound Mudra:

Have your pup sit in front of you while you sit cross legged behind her. (I sat in front of Zara because she is a little too big for my arms to reach around her-haha). Place your one hand on her heart and the other on your heart; Breathe and enjoy this connection.

Puppy Paw Mudra:

Get your pup to lay on her stomach with her front paws extended outwards. You then kneel down behind her and place your arms over hers and rest your head on her back.

Inner dog Mudra

With your pooch laying or sitting, rest your forehead on his. Just stare at him and enjoy being so close.

Savasana:

Get your pup to lie on her back and stroke her belly with long slow strokes.

Wheelbarrow:

With your pooch standing in front of you, stand behind him and slightly lean forward; gently pick up his back legs, supporting his legs and joints with both hands! Just let him stretch his torso then gently lower his back legs.

Our sessions seem to fall to pieces and we all end up in a chaotic mess on the floor but I have laughed and Oscar and Zara have had fun which makes it a success in my eyes! We hope you have as much fun as we did. Enjoy being in the moment with your furry loves.

Thank you for reading.

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Jun
2017

Losing Valentine and Duchess

categories: Valentine and Duchess

On 24 May 2017, our family suddenly changed. We lost our two beautiful bunnies. The heartache is unreal and I miss them beyond words! It’s a pain I don’t wish upon my worst enemy.

“Whoever said it’s just a bunny, has never loved a bunny” Valentine and Duchess meant the world to all of us.

I remember bringing these two fluff balls home and introducing them to Oscar. It was love at first sight from both sides. I never taught Oscar how to behave with them, he just knew. He knew to be gentle, he knew not to chase them. We would spend hours in the garden together just relaxing, watching Valentine and Duchess get more confident and explore different parts of the garden. Oscar would just lie there watching over them like the protective big brother. They would run around inside, binky up the passage and take cover under the bed for much needed naps. I very quickly learnt their personalities… Valentine was very shy, but he loved showing me how much he loved me by binkying all the time and enjoying my tickles. Duchess lived up to her name, she was ever so lady like in her ways. She ate like a lady, hopped like a lady, and slept like a lady. When she showed me a binky I knew my two fluffs couldn’t be happier. Zara was still getting used to the idea of these two fluff balls hopping around. She would just lie and stare at them through the window of their play room. They of course were not intimidated by her size and would pretty much just sniff her and hop on by.

The worst part of having fluffy family members is by far the day they leave you. Losing Valentine and Duchess was such a shock, it happened so quickly! Our vet tried absolutely everything she could to save them. For now I have left their play room exactly as it was the morning we rushed them to Dr Sally. They had the best time running through their tunnels, playing in their ball pit and relaxing in their castle. I will never be able to replace my Valentine and Duchess and I would never want to but I do know that I can give two more bunnies an amazing life, and I will when the time is right and I feel content enough with making that decision.

I have the most beautiful memories of Valentine and Duchess which I will treasure forever and ever. I have thousands of photo’s and videos which I have gone through over and over, laughing and crying at the same time. My heart is hurting and I know it’s ok for it to hurt but I am at peace knowing they are free and not in any pain.

Binky free my sweet loves. I will never stop loving you, ever!

Thank you for reading.

 

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Jun
2017

Puppy School: Our experience so far

categories: Zara

On Sunday 7 May we enrolled our not so small puppy Zara into level one of puppy school. I am not sure who was more excited, us her pawrents, or her! The entire drive to school was filled with severe bouncing around and howls out the window as if to say “dad please can you drive faster so we can get there faster” haha!!

Our first attempt at puppy school was back in September 2016 when Zara was just 12 weeks old, but there was a sudden parvo outbreak within the area and being the neurotic pawrents that we are we pulled her straight out until she had completed her full course of puppy injections as advised by our vet. Fast forward to January. We were very hesitant to let our now big bundle of joy out the safely of our own garden. We slowly began with puppy socialising, and took Oscar with so he could have some fun too… Well, little did we know that when we walked into the social ring with our two gorgeous babies that all hell would break loose!! Oscar and Zara became gangsters of puppy school. The two of them ganged up on everyone. We were of course horrified! We tried this for quite a few weeks trying really hard to get them both to settle down and play with the other pups in the ring.

On one particular Sunday the teacher came to us and said perhaps we should try next week with just Zara, we of course said ok. We knew Oscar could be a grump at times but we could not believe Zara’s behaviour. The next week came and we took Zara alone… The difference was mind blowing! She was suddenly this happy go lucky pup who played with everyone! It turns out when she has her brother with her, she knows she is the biggest pup around and of course Oscar is her back up!!

 

The next step was to start level one of actual school and so on 8 May our training began… From the very first lesson Zara became the teachers pet, always stepping forward to volunteer how good she can be. The teacher was amazed and so were we at how quickly she learns what is being asked of her. Zara is extremely treat driven and will do a handstand for you if it means she gets a treat, which makes training her an absolute breeze. Of course training isn’t only one hour a week, I worked very hard practicing what we had learnt each week and by week four Zara was even surprising herself. We can successfully sit, down, paw, sit slightly on her back legs, stay, steal, circle and just be outright cute! Everyday we practice what we have learnt so far and Zara absolutely loves it.

 

I would most certainly recommend puppy school to any new puppy parent! Not only does your pup interact with other pups and people but the two of you get to connect on a different level together. You get to learn more about your pup and you get some extra quality time together. Our pups want to please us all day everyday and training is a wonderful way to connect on that level.

Here are some tips on choosing the perfect puppy school for you:

 Visit the school without your pup before hand. Observe the goings on and see how things take place. If you like it enough then take your pup for a visit and see how she reacts. Notice if she is afraid, happy or excited. Listen to your pup!! If she is not happy then move along. Training is all about her and she needs to be happy and comfortable in her training environment.

 Don’t be afraid to ask a million and two questions!

 Ask what their rules and regulations are. If you are not happy with any of them challenge them and ask why they implement that rule.

 Speak to the teachers, ask about their experience. Ask how long the school has been going.

 There are many different training methods out there, find one that suits you the best and find a school that uses it too. (Our puppy school uses clicker training and only positive reinforcement training)

Which ever puppy school you decide on make sure you are one hundred percent happy with everything! It is a fun and exciting time for your pup so have tons of fun with her. A well trained pup is a happy pup šŸ™‚

Thank you for reading!

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