Finally it arrived, the day we could go down on the ground, I know we have been on the ground before, but this time its different, because we could go down on the ground ANYWHERE! How excellent it that!

Sorry a bit rude of me, not to reintroduce myself, it’s Roxy and I guess I should explain how this major event has been able to come about. It’s all because we are now covered by our vaccinations.

HANDLING EXERCISES

Sue and Deb started to play some different games with us, nothing is straightforward with them, apparently they were desensitising us to being touched and getting us ready for being examined by the vet in preparation for our visit for our vaccinations.

I know this could sound complicated but in reality it was pretty easy and really nice for us. All that happens is that you have to be able to let humans look at your ears, eyes, paws, teeth, basically every part of your body. Not only do you get to be the centre of attention, but the icing on the cake is you also get a nice treat for sitting still. The most complicated thing about this whole process is spelling the word, desensitising!

VACCINATIONS

All this learning was to prepare us for the vaccination injections. Sue has been telling Deb about that she has seen a lot of dogs that have been frightened about going to the vets, because this vital early preparation hasn’t been done.

But when the three of us went for our injections we had a really good outing, because of this early preparation. The vet looked in our ears, eyes, etc. Listened to our heart and even gave us a nice treat, as for the injection I don’t really know when this happened, it might have coincided when I got an extra special piece of liver, yum!

Now you might be interested to know that there is a new addition to Paw Notes, Raven she is our half sister, at the moment, we don’t see her too much as she is so small. Not only has she been out with Sue and Deb but she has had the added bonus of going to Puppy Class run by Derek Williams from the Cheshire Canine Centre, held at Hillside Veterinary Centre, Nantwich.

I did get a chance to chat to Raven about this and it sounds a really excellent idea. These classes offer the opportunity of being able to experience having these handling exercises being done by the vet, in his surgery before you are old enough to be vaccinated.

Richard Pescod MRCVS, Chief vet and practice owner says that if all puppies were lucky enough to have access to the correct training resulting in the positive experiences like we have had, all dogs would be easy to handle and examine, making regular vets visits stress free.

So at last, we are on the floor and we are off free to roam the world, no more being held (bet Sue and Deb are glad about that). Well we might not be being held but we do have this lead and collar to think about, so I guess strictly speaking we are not totally free!

GETTING USE TO LEAD AND COLLAR

Sue bought us an unexpected present the other day, we always look forward to our chews and toys, but this time we couldn’t eat them or play with them, and apparently they were for us to wear. I heard Sue call them lead and collar sets.

When we first looked at them we couldn’t work out how we were going to wear them, however we didn’t have to think about that for long, because whilst we were being given a tasty treat we were trying our collars on. We then had a really good play time, I didn’t really notice wearing mine, although occasionally I did have a little scratch, because it simply felt different.

Thinking about it every time our collars went on we know we were going to play. At first wearing our collars and playing didn’t last that long, however Sue and Deb must have noticed that we wanted to play for longer as these play sessions gradually increased. Now I just love it when my collar is put on because I know it means fun, but also my collar is different from the boys; Shooter tells me that it is a lot more snazzy, which it should be, because being in training to become a member of the Cheshire Dog Display Team, a girl needs to look her best!

However the tricky part came when we were introduced to the lead, apparently we need to be able to keep up with you and explore the places you want us to go to, not the other way round, hmm, I guess the lead is for you to lead us not us to lead you.

I haven’t got enough time to tell you everything that Sue and Deb did to help us to get used to being on the lead. However I do remember that all of the sessions only lasted for a short time, involved lots of play and encouragement and at first the lead was just clipped on to our collars and allowed to trail behind us, with it being occasionally picked up whist we walked a few paces next to them and getting a big reward for doing it, making it a happy and positive experience.

EXPLORING THE WORLD FROM THE GROUND

Doing all of that fun training getting use to being on the lead at home and in the garden was really important because when it came down to it (literally) to going out and being able to walk on the ground it meant that we didn’t have to worry about the lead and collar.

Let’s be honest, ok we had been on the ground in the house and in the garden, we have even been in these places wearing our collars and leads, but to go down on the ground in a town, ohh boy is that different! It was really quite strange, whilst things sort of seemed familiar; it was totally different at the same time. We have been used to being carried and seeing things from up high, now just take a minute to consider the changes that we were experiencing, just imagine getting down and crawling along your local High St, the world looks a completely different place.

So you can imagine how proud Sue, Deb and Derek were when we went Christmas shopping around Warrington Town Centre. All that hustle and bustle, feet, legs and tempting carrier bags full Christmas goodies. Lots of people to meet and legs to weave in and out of, so many people stopped to stroke us, it was just great.

So with all four paws down on the ground, my brothers and I can’t help but wonder what new adventures will come our way.

Love Roxy