Back on track....?
Poppy's latest weigh in was.... 4.46kg.
Hmmmm.
She certainly has a ... more 'open' appetite since spaying.
She will eat tinned dog food, and is well in to her kibble dispensor now.
And of course she has missed out on energetic exercise for over 4 weeks.
There has been a bit more treating too, 'get well chocolates' if you like.
Though when she had her season , what with water retention and lack of exercise being on the lead for 4 weeks, she did reach 4.8kg, which fell away nicely once she was 'back on the run'.
But the post spaying 'bloat' might be more difficult to deal with ?
Hopefully not.
I'm sure being able to run, tussle and play will be he key.
And of course less food in her bowl.( the bigger key probably).
Oh, less treats ! ( A MASSIVE KEY)!
Treat training.
Once again I look back 30 odd years to our dog Kipper.
He didn't have a treat cupboard in the kitchen!
He maybe had a box of Bonio buscuits which got handed out now and then.
Sure he did have our scraps, in fact for years after we lost him I never ate the last corner of any sandwhich I ate, that was always Kipper's.
He was a well behaved dog, did the basics and was mostly trained sans treats.
Fast forward 30 years and it all seems to be about treat training.
I admit that with Poppy this method got really quick results, tempered with the fact that Poodles are smart and learn quickly.
But, everyone ( not all but nearly ), in the park is wondering around with a bag of treats.
So many are lockdown dogs, all staring out around the same time and into treat training.
So many dogs, including Poppy run over to dog owners, sit down and wait for a treat.
This is really bugging me now.
I think the problem is not just this treat training method, which has it's benefits and is not entirely a bad thing, it's the volume of dogs doing it all at the same time, because of the plethora of lockdown pups?
Anyway, might have to start a coversation about this with the regulars in the park.
Today is tricky - re treats.
Mum back in the office, so Poppy a little bit quizical about the situation - stuck with Monkey boy.
I wiped her paws after the muddy park, but obviously not to Mum's standard as she went in the bathroom and looked at the bath. Three times now.
To take her mind of things, as she then stood by Mum's home office chair - usually sits on her lap whilst she works in the morning for an hour or so - I gave her a chew to take her mind of it.
Happily she is now having a sleep on the sofa bed behind me.
When she wakes I'm going to give her a poor quality groom ( brush ).
