Getting to Know You

November has been a busy month with mixed weather ranging from Storm Bert to hard frosts and even a bit of snow (although nothing settled here in Gloucestershire). Milo and Millie are getting to know us and us them. After a week or so of them sleeping on Daniel's bed at night we have encouraged them (with the aid of a child gate) to sleep downstairs and they have very successfully done so, only complaining for about 5 minutes on the first night - oh, and another night when Milo managed to break through the extension that had been added to the gate at four o'clock one morning so had a lovely time very excitedly licking everyone until we were all awake and had to be shoved down the bed to quieten him down. The gate has now been fixed! They seem to love their old beds that came with them and snuggle down happily as bedtime approaches, Milo in particular liking to be covered up so only his ears show.

The cold weather has meant new jumpers are the order of the day and Milo very proudly wears his and even asks to have it put on. Millie is not so keen and stands looking miserable if one is put on her so we think it will have to be very chilly before she is happy to wear it. We are not ones for having the heating turned up high but we have had to put the gas fire on in the living room on a couple of occasions and Milo and Millie seem to rather enjoy that! 

They are typical terriers and like nothing better than a game of tug - sometimes the noises they make sound quite violent and, like a naughty pair of children, have to be told off and separated until they have calmed down. On other occasions, butter wouldn't melt in their mouths and they are extremely loving and affectionate. Milo, in particular likes to play at Parrot-Dog and sits on the back of chairs to get the best view whereas Millie likes close contact and prefers a lap.

One of the main problems we have with them is they will both pull terribly on the lead and we have tried an assortment of harnesses and leads to try and overcome the problem. The best method seems to be to walk them separately so Daniel will take Milo one way and I will drive Millie up to the Common and they are both fine so we suspect it is a bit of rivalry going on when they are together. After they had been with us for about 3 weeks we decided to see what they would be like off lead so Daniel walked them both to a field about a mile away which we know is totally secure. When he was there he gave me a call and I drove to the opposite end of the field from where he was and entered it from the other end. Once Daniel could see me I started whistling and calling and he let them go - they instantly raced towards me and you can see from the attached video this first successful attempt. Unfortunately, they do not have a particularly good recall for general walking and love to charge up to other dogs. Having had Akitas who had to be permanently on a lead we know from first hand experience what a nuisance small off-lead dogs can be so we are making sure there is never anyone around when they are let off. A work in process!

We haven't seen Toby and Steph for a couple of weeks so they have had no contact with Misty, their Miniature Schnauzer. In fact she has been in doggy hospital for a couple of nights this week with pancreatitis and was very ill but is now home so Toby bought her round on Saturday. Initially there was a lot of snarling and barking but they quickly settled and, at one point, all three were sitting on Toby so actually not too stressful at all. We are hoping that the more they meet the more they will come to like each other so we will keep persevering. 

Settling In

 

Think Milo was feeling a bit cold this morning

Oh, there he is!

Millie fancied having a go at taking a selfie!

She's beautiful and knows it!

Saturday morning lie in - Milo draped across Martin!

I took Milo and Millie for a walk for the first time on my own. All went very well until we got back to the car...........!

.......put them in the car and locked it whilst disposing of poo bags when suddenly the car alarm went off. I never knew this car had one!!

Milo was not very helpful whilst I was trying to do some embroidery!

Introducing Misty

My younger son, Toby, and his wife Steph have a four year old Miniature Schnauzer called Misty so on Saturday we felt we should start to introduce Milo and Millie to her. We started slowly by meeting up on Minchinhampton Common and, after a few play bows and spins, we managed a very successful walk.

Today was a slightly different matter as we decided to bring Misty into our house. Bear in mind that Misty lived here for a few months whilst Toby and Steph were between houses and we have doggy-sat for them on several occasions so she thinks this is her home too. We started in the garden and it was not easy! Milo in particular was very shouty and he and Millie rather ganged up on Misty. It was all a bit tense and rather noisy although no teeth made contact - goodness knows what the neighbours thought. To calm things down we put Milo and Millie back in the house and, after a while, reintroduced Millie to Misty. They seemed to hit it off straight away and spent a happy half hour chasing each other round and round the garden until they gradually settled down and sat next to each other on Toby. Round two with Milo was not so good and the whole barking scenario was revisited until Daniel hit on an idea and pulled out the hose pipe. One quick blast was enough to calm the situation and was threat enough to stop the barking although they were all wary of each other.

As it was getting rather chill we all went back inside and Milo finally came close to Misty. Almost instantly he seemed to register 'it's a girl!' and his whole attitude changed. Peace and calm reigned and, although not best buddies yet, we are hopeful that after a few more meetings they can at least tolerate each other. 

New Beginnings

   

Just over a week ago Milo and Millie came into our lives.  For those of you that already know us, we have had big Akitas for the last 24 years and, as much as we love them still, it would not be sensible to have such a strong breed as we get older. My oldest son, Daniel, has always wanted Jack Russell and we have been looking for a good match for us for a few months. A dog rescue that I have know for many years posted Milo and Millie's story on Facebook and I knew the moment I saw them that they were the ones. They are 2 year old Jack Russell's and are brother and sister. They needed to find a new home after their owner had a life changing injury and it was a very difficult decision for their loving family to part with them although it was the right thing to do. We have promised to take good care of them and are looking forward to many adventures together.

As soon as we got home Milo and Millie decided that Daniel was 'their person' and follow him everywhere, sleeping in his room, usually in his bed with him. He has taken over the majority of the day to day care for them and walks them miles each day. They are quite strong on the lead but it is too early to consider off leading them yet so we have started a bit of training with them to try and curb this habit.

                      

Milo and Millie are both extremely affectionate and love nothing more than sitting on your lap for a cuddle. They are also very partial to licking any bit of skin they can find, including toes! They do tend to bark at anything they hear outside so we have found an old fashioned bell is a good deterrent when they start and we can't get their attention to stop.

 

In particular, anything animal related that comes on the television is very attractive to them and they lunge at the screen barking, especially if sea gulls or other dogs are involved! On Sunday morning Daniel was still in bed watching an old episode of Planet Earth. Millie was sitting up on her back legs watching the screen but as soon as Milo saw the snakes chasing the iguanas he launched himself on the bed and hid under the duvet!