a leading question

For a long time now I have been meaning to write a post about dog leads.  In fact, I meant to do it before all the owners of the Riemu gang had already been out and about with their new puppies.  And I certainly intended to do it before they had already bought 4 or 14 new leads.  Yes, I said 14.  Maybe that's just me, though.

One of the reasons I am only just getting around to it is because the topic of dog leads is a big one.  Huge.  First there is the choice of material - fabric, nylon, leather, something else.  Then there are choices of colour, length, width, round or flat, different types of clasp, or no clasp at all.  Some will have matching collars, some will not.  The permutations are quite endless, but over time you will likely develop your own personal favorites or, like me, you will find different leads useful for different purposes.

Here are a few from my own personal collection - some are new but most are older or much older than new, as you will see, and they are in varying cosmetic states.

First up, these leads are the sort of thing that work well with a brand new puppy.  They are made of woven fabric so they are soft on your hands, not too heavy for the puppy to drag around by its neck, and will last as a puppy lead for many weeks.  They come flat, as shown, or round.  After the puppy grows out of this sort of lead, it's also very handy as a show lead, if you are so inclined.

Tuuli's puppy lead (left), brand unknown, kindly supplied by her breeder in Sweden.*

Neka's show lead (right), brand unknown, purchased from a stall at a show many years ago.*

Next up is a selection of leads I have acquired over the years.  The first 2 are quite short in length, the 3rd is one of my favorite leads and a daily go-to.  It's long, soft and extremely versatile and it has a convenient metal ring through the handle that I use to clip the lead around my neck when the dogs are running free.  I have also been known to clip two of them together, end-on-end.  I bought it at a stall at the Ladies Kennel Club show in 2006 and I have it in 2 colours.  I so wish I could remember who supplied it because I would like several more of them.

Lead 1 - provenance unknown

Lead 2 - brand unknown, purchased from Pets Corner pet shop with matching collar

Lead 3 - see above

Do you recognise this lead?  If you do, get in touch!

Another of my favorite and most versatile leads is this one, a double-ended "Softex" lead purchased from Mekuti.  Let me say, it wasn't cheap as dog leads go.  However, it is extremely useful and, as the name implies, it's easy on the hands.

It has a trigger hook clasp on each end and several metal rings along its length for adjusting the style and length you prefer.

Doubled up to its shortest version

Double-ended with one large clasp and one small

Can be used like a traditional straight lead with loop handle.














It's most useful variation, though, and the reason I bought it in the first place, is as a training lead to stop young (or older...) dogs pulling on their lead.  Here is baby Tuuli learning to walk nicely on her lead with the Mekuti attached to her collar and body harness.  With a very strong and stubborn puller I would attach one end to the body harness and the other to a head collar. 

In additon to leads with clasps, you can also get what is known as a slip lead.  This is a kind of all-in-one collar and lead where the lead attaches to itself using a ring that it slips easily through (hence the name).  When the dog is walking calmly, not pulling, the smooth lead slips through the ring to create a loose collar.  When the dog pulls, the leads slips back to pull the collar tight.  Some slip leads have a "lock" that will control the amount the collar will open when slack.

As a rule, I don't recommend slip leads for normal use.  To operate correctly, the dog needs to walk on only one side of you so that the lead sits on top of the dog's neck with the ring end looping up from under the dog's chin.  If worn the wrong way around, the collar can simply choke the dog without the ability to slip back through the ring.  Also, there is a danger that a determined, clever dog can actually slip out of the lead altogether.  I've known one or two clever Lappies to do just that very thing.

We use this lead just for the convenience of taking the dogs out for a quick comfort break, as they don't normally wear their collars when just hanging around the house.  Rather than going through the rigamarole of buckling collars back on and then attaching leads to collars to nip quickly outside, we simply pop the slip lead over their heads and out we go.

Slip ring and "lock".



















Have you heard of a training line?  Well, this is an example of a training line.  It's made by Clix and is a lightweight very long lead used for training recall and other behaviour where you need control while allowing your dog to feel he is free to do whatever he wishes.  This one is 10 metres, but they are available in different lengths.  It has a trigger hook at one end for attaching to the dog's collar and nothing at the other end, although you can get training lines with a loop handle at the end. 

The lead that everyone uses, for better or for worse, is the flexi lead.  Flexi is actually a brand name but has come to mean any of a type of spring-loaded, adjustable-length retractable lead.  They give freedom to the dog and a minimum of control to the person.  I'm both a fan and a detractor of the flexi lead.  Yes, I use them, but I'm extremely careful when I do.

This one, my favorite, is a Flexi brand.  It has a rubber handle for much better grip (customised by Keskiyo as a puppy, as you can see) and a flat tape lead.

Flexi leads are also available with a round cord lead, as shown here - don't buy that type!

These leads can be convenient, but they can also be dangerous.  Especially with a cord instead of a tape.  Especially with a strong dog on the end.  And especially with a strong herding dog on the end.  What do dogs do when they meet?  They turn round and round each other.  On a flexi lead, that turning motion can actually wrap the lead around a smaller dog's neck and when the bigger, stronger dog then runs or jumps in play, the small dog can be seriously injured or even killed. 

And what do herding dogs do when they meet people?  Frequently, they circle round them too, thus wrapping the lead around people's legs.  Like I said, it can be dangerous.  So, whatever you do, don't buy the cord flexi lead!  That cord is lethal around necks, legs, fingers, everything it touches.  The tape is a much gentler and safer construction altogether.

Finally, here is a lead of gorgeous quality, beautiful colour, appealing material and with a dose of sentimental value thrown in for good measure.  It's a rich russet leather lead, hand made with a brass trigger hook and a charming inscription.

Thank you so much to Jane & Mark Treasure for this lovely, thoughtful and completely unnecessary gift!  I love it!

* If anyone recognises the brand of any of these leads, please let me know and I will gladly give credit.  And probably buy more of them!

Tuuli on the table

In the general clear-up after the puppies left, the grooming table was leaving the house en route to its regular home in the garage.  Before it departed, I quickly set it up and popped Tuuli up there for her first proper brushing.  She has had occasional gentle introductions to the brush while dozing on the sofa, but had never yet been on the table or had an all-over brush and combing.  Her fur is starting to grow now, and it's about 1.5-2 inches long all over, so brushing her is not exactly onerous yet.

As you can see, she was perfectly content up on the table with no sign of nerves at all.  In fact, I would go so far as to say she actually enjoyed it.  When the time came to do her belly, she was most accommodating, which is more than can be said for the other dogs in this house normally.

When she was finished I noticed Neka queuing up for her turn.  Before I had the opportunity to lift her onto the table, though, Keksiyo quickly hopped up via the sofa.  Dogs love the pampering and one-on-one time that goes with grooming and squabble over who gets to go first.

As you can see, Keksiyo is looking pretty raggedy at the moment, as he's coming to the end of a major moult.  He needed serious grooming, so after quickly grabbing this snap, we moved the table outdoors so that I could brush an entire dog-sized pile of fur out of him.  It doesn't seem possible, but today I could easily brush that much out again.

chew chew

Puppies chew.  And bite.  But mainly chew.  This is a difficult stage for people to survive with their new puppies - especially the young human members of the family.  They don't know how to avoid getting bitten, and those tiny teeth are like razors.  But bite and chew the little dogs must - they are learning about how to (and how not to) use their mouths, they are strengthening their jaws (a necessary activity for a dog), and they are growing new teeth, so they need something hard to chew on to relieve the pressure and pain.

Razor teeth?  These puppies?

Or these?














YES!


I always advise people to have lots of different kinds of toys.  First of all, have a few soft stuffed toys lying around - when an over-enthusiastic puppy clamps teeth on a young (or older) hand, a soft toy stuffed into the puppy's mouth accomplishes two different useful things: stops the child getting bitten while at the same time it teaches the puppy what he is allowed to chew on without hurting him the way it would if a hard toy was jammed in there.

Then there are the actual chew toys - harder items for serious chewing.  Have lots of different ones and swap them daily so that the puppy doesn't get bored with them.  There are literally hundreds - possibly thousands - of different products on the market for this purpose.  Some of them provide food as well as a good chew, like tripe sticks, bull's pizzle or stuffed Kongs.  They don't last long.  Others are food-like and although longer lasting, will also disappear relatively rapidly without actually providing much in the way of food, like rawhide, pig's ears or hooves (hollow ones with no stuffing)*.  Then there are the tough chews that have no food value.  The benefit is that they last longer, the drawback is that the dog is less enamoured of non-food items.  Some examples are Nylabones or hard rubber or plastic toys like empty Kongs.

One long-lasting non-food item that is more satisfying than the rest are antlers, which most dogs seem to be very keen on in spite of the fact that they have no food value.  While they were here, all the puppies enjoyed the antlers and would steal them from each other as a great prize.  Then Tuuli would jump in and take them away altogether.  Very popular, antlers.  As with all things, I hear that there are good quality antlers and poor quality ones that splinter when chewed.  Buy Stagbar antlers direct from Pure Dog for top quality.  I've never had a problem with them.  Lappies need size large or bigger.  Yes, they pretty expensive as far as dog chews go, but believe me they will last and last.  I still have the stub of one that is more than a year old. 

The best thing to give your dog to chew, in my opinion, is a fresh raw bone from the butcher.  They last a long time, always hold some fascination for the dog, and provide hours of entertainment and exercise.  Yes, that's right, I said exercise.  Enthusiastic chewing is very good exercise for your dog.

Notes:

*  I don't give my dogs rawhide because they are greedy, they love it, they don't take their time with it, and they are in danger of choking on it.  Rawhide softens when chewed rather than breaking off in little bits that are easily swallowed.  Therefore it poses a real choking hazard.  If you have a dog who will take his time, then you might be ok with rawhide. 

*  Supervise your dog carefully with all new chews.  Hooves in particular can be brittle and splinter into dangerous shards.  Once it has been chewed a bit, then it is likely to be safe.

And what is all this chewing in aid of?  In addition to jaw strengthening and exercise, there is the little matter of growing teeth.  Tuuli is losing hers faster than she is growing new ones at the moment.

Gummy puppy with tiny adult teeth at the front, one puppy canine in the top and very little else.

These are the only ones we managed to find.  The rest were swallowed or went up in the hoover.  Or Maija's coat.










One thing I have recommended to people for their teething puppies is frozen carrots.  The bigger the carrot the better.  Very soothing and satisfying for the puppy without much in the way of food value, as it just comes out the other end.  As it thaws, just stick it back in the freezer.

This didn't work with greedy Tuuli, however, who somehow managed to devour a frozen carrot as big as she was.  End of that idea. Maija as a young puppy, on the other hand, enjoyed many hours with frozen carrots.

So what is not a good chew?  The big-name, big-marketed so-called chew toys produced by the McDonalds of dog food.  These are NOT chew toys.  They are treats with a lot of calorific and fat value (without being actually nutritious food, that is).  They are Big Macs.  Or worse - they are McRibs!  They are treats.  Not daily chews and not toys.  Special occasion stuff only.  Included in this list is all the stuff sold not only in pet shops but also in supermarkets.  Dentastix, Jumbones, Bakers Dental sticks, Bonio-type hard biscuits, strangely coloured things (as well as no food value, these will have the added "benefit" of pumping your dog full of hyperactivity-inducing additives, preservatives and chemicals.  Yum yum.) 

Bones are best.  Antlers & bones.  And a few other things for added interest.

beating car sickness

On Saturday the puppies all piled into the back of the car with granny Neka and we made our way across Dartmoor to the vet ophthalmologist to have the puppies' eyes tested.  The tests were all fine (phew!) and so we wended our way the 50 minutes back along the twisty, winding moor road home.

There were many crunchy puppies at the end of it all.

While Neka did a great job of calming the young nerves during their first long drive and was very acommodating when it came to hoovering up any vomit, she didn't bother to clean off the puppies.  It's difficult to ascertain, but I suspect that they were all sick at least once.  And it turns out that Kiittaa (Hopea) is a bit of a drooler too.  Not in the same league as Minna was, but the evidence was there.

So I had the task of cleaning them all off when we got back.  Mind you, I could have saved myself a job because they have got soaked just out in the garden plenty of times since. 

There's no way to combat the sickness these puppies experience during this journey.  The little car visits I undertake during their socialising activities don't really prepare them for a long drive in the back of the car with no one to hold them still.  In older puppies, though, there is a tried and true method to cure the problem.

I always advise new owners to carry their puppies home on their laps rather than in a crate in the back.  There are 2 reasons for this.  One - having the reassuring presence of a human helps calm any travel nerves that can worry a puppy and encourage sickness.  And two - holding the puppy on your lap creates a physical barrier to the puppy getting tossed around too much during the car's movement.  Ok, 3 reasons: it's much easier to clean up the vomit so you don't have to live with it all the way home.

Luckily, you don't have to live with puppy car sickness forever.  The cure, as with so many other puppy ailments and socialising regimes, is to expose the puppy little and often.  So the prescription is many, many short and pleasant car journeys.  Many.  Minna, who still drools during car trips, was temporarily cured when she came to stay with us last year.  There were 2 or 3 10-minute drives everyday as I went back and forth to work.  I dragged her with me everywhere I went just to expose her to lots of short car journeys that she just doesn't get at home.  (Clearly her family are not the slaves to diesel that I am...)  I had an ulterior motive, of course - that drive to Scotland.  And it worked, there was not a drool in sight the entire trip to Glasgow and back.  Until she returned home, that is.  Oh well.

But it does prove the cure.

Here in Devon, the puppies have been preparing to leave home on their big adventures.  Pics tomorrow.  In the meantime, they have been having fun with Neka.

And they have been having fun with Tuuli.

And, in between rain and/or hail showers, they have been having fun in the garden too.

fun in the pen

Tuuli is now 5 months old and just as skinny and bald as ever a 5-month-old Lappy has been.  It's an ugly-duckling age for a Lapphund, but they always grow out of it and into the beautiful swans that they are destined to be.  Luckily.

Here she is having another little game with the puppies.  It's quite endearing how gentle she is with them.

big puppies - little puppies

Tuuli has had another busy week.  Has she been here a month already?  Or perhaps I should say only a month!

She has had several more visits to noisy town and city centres.  We had an unrestful few minutes sitting on a park bench watching a noisy digger do its thing.  We took a stroll through a street market and slowly along next to where the new John Lewis is being very noisily constructed.  All the while there have been many treats from strangers' hands and other dogs to meet too.

She has been to ringcraft a couple more times and her show stand is coming along nicely.  She will just about let the judge look at her teeth now.  Frankly, like her adopted granny Neka, she will do more or less anything for cheese.

She gets brushed regularly and has also had a bath.  Every puppy needs to experience everything you can think of that it might come across during its adult life.  A bath is one of those things, so every puppy should have a quick, gentle bath before the age of 6 months so that when the need eventually arises for a real bath, it won't be a complete bolt from the blue.  Tuuli took it all in her stride, especially compared to Neka, Keskiyo and Maija at the same age who all howled and cried during their first baths.

Next week Tuuli will spend a few hours in our local kennel.  Again, it's a way of introducing her to the idea of staying in the kennel, but she soon finds out that we will always come and get her again.  When she's a little older I'll leave her there overnight.

Kate & Jerome have very generously taken Maija to stay with them for a while so that we can concentrate on one less dog.  Maija loves to stay with them and play with Taika, Minna and her own sister Kaija from next door, so we don't feel too bad shipping her off.  Tuuli misses her ever-ready playmate, though.  She's had a game with Keksi and several with Neka, but the puppies are her favorites, and she plays so gently with them.

A gentle game with Brown Wolf

And another with Toes.

She even bring toys to the puppies to tempt them with.











In this photo you can clearly see her brand new bottom teeth.  She's really teething ferociously now and I expect those tiny pointy canines to come out any day.  I remember finding two of Keskiyo's stuck into my forearm at this age.

The puppies make for entertaining playmates, but Tuuli's favorite place is snuggled up with Keksi.  I worry that she will miss her big brown surrogate mum when Keksi goes home in a week or two.

worms & snails & puppy dog tales

Yes, I know it's supposed to be snakes.  And it's supposed to be about boys.  However, it's appropriate in this instance.

When Tuuli arrived she was enamoured of the grass - I guess it was novel after the frozen winter ground of Sweden.

Just look how small she was only 3 weeks ago!
















She still loves nothing more than a tuft of grass to carry, chew, toss into the air and play with.  Oh, and eat of course.  And if it has a great clot of mud on the end, then so much the better.  But now that the weather has warmed up and everyone has been mowing their lawns, I spend rather a lot of time extracting from her mouth wads of fresh cut grass the size of tennis balls.  How does she fit it all in there?

In addition to grass, she has added worms to her list of desirable prizes.  I suppose there is the element of the first hunt and kill about it, but it's quite disgusting.  I've taken several live worms out of her mouth.  And she swallowed far more than I managed to get from her.

Soon it will be snail season and I've never yet met a Lappy puppy who didn't like crunching up snails.  Eeuw is what I have to say to that.  But they really love them - it must be something about the texture.  That combination of crunchy with a slimy centre is apparently irresistible.  Like Ferrero Rocher for puppies, perhaps.

Don't let your puppy eat snails.

Apart from the ick-factor, snails carry a lungworm parasite that can be life-threatenting to dogs.  And dogs can pick up lungworm even just from snail slime.  So, keep your puppy away from snails.  But I'm warning you now, it can be tough.

Like all worrying things puppy-related, though, it is something they eventually grow out of.

There has been plenty of socialising still going on, of course.  We graduated from town centres to city centre and had a lovely sunny afternoon in Exeter window shopping and getting treats from strangers.

Sitting in Cathedral Green people watching and listening to some excellent close harmony being performed by a bunch of students.

A bit overwhelmed by all the feet going by.

Not too sure about the stairs.  This is the same staircase that flummoxed Neka as a puppy.  But where I eventually had to carry Neka to the top, Tuuli was a bit more brave.  But then again, Tuuli has already negotiated the stairs at home...

It was pretty slow going at times.

Made it!

















At home, she enjoys playing with her new bear, a gift from the Collies down the road.

Tuuli's second week

Tuuli spent a lot of her time socialising last week.  We had several trips to various busy and noisy town centres where she could see and hear lots of traffic noise, lots of people, thundering lorries, screaming sirens, the works.  There was also plenty of opportunity for cuddles from all sorts of strangers.

Right here on our own doorstep she gets daily exposure to children as they play in the park or walk past on their way to and from school everyday.  She is getting accustomed to bicycles, scooters and various other wheeled kids' stuff.  But it's pretty slow-going on those things because they are extra-scary.

Mostly we walk Tuuli separately from the rest of the dogs.  She needs one-on-one training and attention at this age and we certainly don't want her picking up any bad habits from the others.  However, she had a few trips to the fields where she had the opportunity to run and play with the big dogs.

Mmmm - mud!  Or other even less palatable things found in Devon fields. 















She also had her first trip to the beach where we found out that she actually has plenty of confidence.  Plenty.  No problem for her chasing off after every other dog on the beach only to come back when she was good and ready.  Just like every other Lappy, it seems.  Cue the serious recall training next week...

Trying to keep up with Maija.

No fear of the water.


















There was also her first ringcraft class.  We don't have an available puppy class in this area, so I am making up for that with our own daily training at home and in the park as well as the socialisation and training opportunity of ringcraft.  She did brilliantly well there in the strange surroundings of a noisy village hall with so many other dogs. 

She took a bit of a fancy to a little Affenpinscher but really fell for the Afghan. He wasn't quite so keen, though, and kept his distance.

Learning her show stand.

Excellent trot already!

Tuuli's first week

Has it really been only a week and a bit?

Tuuli (formerly Fia) is part of the family already.  It's remarkable how quickly these little characters stake their claim on the household.  After a very short space of time it always feels like they've been there forever. 

She's been so sweet and easy.  She's far more cuddly than any of our others ever were and it's nice that she enjoys lying on our laps.  Until Maija invites her for a game, anyway, then all bets are off.

She is growing fast and losing her baby teeth, leaving blood on her chew toys and clamping her jaws around anything she can find.

She loves to play with Maija.

Or Neka.

 Or both.

She's also happy just entertaining herself with something from the toy mountain.  Things don't last long in the toy box anymore.

Bones are also good.

She will even occupy herself watching television if there's something good on like the report about hearing dogs.










We've been doing a little training.  She's already excellent at "sit" and pretty good at "wait".  We're mainly working on "stand" and "teeth" in preparation for her first show in May.  Everyday she has been having rather scary adventures from the socialisation calendar.  Walking in noisy, busy places, up and down the high street, through supermarket car parks, into shops.  She has been meeting loads of people and other dogs and she has made a friend of a 6-month-old spaniel called Daisy.  There are no available puppy classes in our area, but she'll be heading out to ringcraft this week for more training and some more of the all-important socialisation.