I asked a couple of the kids in my daughter’s class what they were wanting for Christmas this year and amongst the Barbie this and the Hulk that were a couple of ‘cachorros’. Puppies!
I wonder how people who work at the animal shelters feel about Christmas. With the pens heaving and not a square inch to squeeze in one more four legged soul it must be very tempting to wave a few fur babies off as Christmas presents. But the animal rescue volunteers know very well that many a Christmas morning’s furry bundle turns into Easter’s mangy stray dog or street cat.
What they want to see is not the temporary respite of a little more space in the shelter but the dogs and cats in their care going to forever homes where they will never be abandoned or neglected again.
I have mentioned Sharon Haslam from Happy Tails who visits me regularly to help me keep Tito under some semblance of control. Sharon also works with K9 Tenerife to ensure that the dogs who are rehomed from there settle in and is available for further support if needed by the new owners.
If you are considering getting your kids a pet for Christmas, I’d suggest holding off until the festive season is well by. That puppy or kitten that stole everyones’ heart on Christmas morning will have peed on the floor once too often or clawed the new speakers to bits by Valentine’s Day. The luckiest of them will find their way to a shelter while the rest will swell the ranks of abandoned animals on the streets of Tenerife.
You’ll have your pick of great companions and instead of paying a fortune to the breeder you can give a welcome donation to the shelter and put some money towards Sharon’s excellent dog training services.
While we can see that Tito is growing quickly he is with us all the time so it doesn’t really register just how big he is getting. At 51/2 months he now tops Skye (our Boxer) by a good inch and a half and there is still possibly another four months growing in him.
In the first picture, Tito has already been with us for a few weeks and had filled out quite a bit. At puppy appointments even the vet laughed out loud when he managed to put on seven kilos in one month.
I know people who walk their dogs at the crack of dawn or in the wee hours of the morning because their pooch has ‘issues’ and they are afraid of what will happen if their path should cross with another dog. My own sweet Skye has occasional problems with other females because I probably under-socialised or over-protected her when she was a puppy.
I don’t want to make the same mistake with Tito and I don’t want him confined to sneaky walks in the dark scurrying for home if another dog is sighted on the horizon. Also with a dog of his size (even now never mind at full maturity) it is vitally important that he be rock solid with all kids and completely trustworthy in the presence of other dogs. I don’t want him hauling me down the street or taking off after a cat or across a busy road…
Not only does Sharon very quickly get to the point and demonstrate the exact body language, word or action needed to communicate to Tito what I expect of him, I also find her highly entertaining. I can even forgive her for looking quite striking when she strides up and down showing me how to get Tito’s attention for a respectable heel. while
when I try the same manoeuvre I look like a demented hobbit.
In the last few meetings she has also managed to train my kids and my mother. The whole concept of body blocking is quite liberating when you are five foot nothing and suspect the kids are already wearying of me herding them to bath and bed instead of just telling them what to do. Now all I need to do is practice my body blocking Him Indoors into the kitchen and I might get the dishes washed for me once in a blue moon.
Well, Tito’s trainer, Sharon, paid a visit again yesterday. She caught me on the hop as I had it firmly in mind that she was due today. Luckily she called me about something else first which gave me time for a quick tidy up (throw everything behind the sofa) before she arrived.
The kids and I walked across the park with Tito to meet Sharon and on the way back she commented that he was doing much better. It might sound silly that I was getting pulled along behind a four month old pup but Tito is the size of your average four month old buffalo already so he is quite capable of barreling me off my feet.
It’s quite reassuring to have Sharon in my corner. Tito is going to be a huge beast of a dog and with two small kids I need to know I am in control of him at all times. Perhaps because I am aware of this, I tend to tense up when I am trying to get Tito to walk beside me. The poor pup is yanked back into position every two steps and that is definitely no fun for him or me. So my homework is to learn the art of the loose leash.
The main job of a dog trainer is not really training the dog. It is getting basket cases like myself into line and showing us how we can train our own dog. Yesterday Sharon threw in a couple of hand signals which work beautifully on the kids too. Now all I need is a command that would have every one else in the house doing their share of boring housework and I would be walking on air.
You too can have your dog and kids trained in no time. Give Sharon a call on 699109837.
No, I’m not talking about the Huntington Beach Bad Boy, although our own Tito could be just as daunting. We recently became the proud owners of a young Presa Canario. He’s a lovely boy but dearie me, he’s growing fast. At just four months old he already has enough power to drag me down the street so with visions of this great brute of a dog, steaming down the road with me trailing behind him I contacted Sharon Haslam, a dog trainer and behaviour consultant.
Happily Sharon’s initial assessment of my baby is that he is unlikely to turn into the Hound of Zoltan, though she had some firm advice about the need to have him neutered in eight months or so which had my husband squirming uncomfortably in his seat.
Sharon also does pet sitting and dog walking and can be reached on 699109837
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