Sonic 10 weeks!

 

Oh dear! Sonic is 10 weeks already! I can't believe how fast the time shooting by, although Brooke has joined her new family two weeks ago, I just can't get back to my old routine! The excuse is I now have Sonic! Hehehe ... the lounge is still messy, full of dog toys and some newspaper just in case Sonic wants to go toilet while I am not fast enough. Generally he has been very good with his toilet. He hardly mess on the carpet but we still try to teach him the garden is where he should have his toilet. He gets extremely excited whenever I let him out to the garden, he will charge around like a lunatic and always find something to play with, so whenever he is out, there is no way he will think of toilet. The weather has turned cold again, so I can't stay out too long in the garden for him to calm down ...

Sonic had his 2nd puppy vaccination on Friday. My usual vet Kevin is on holiday, he won't be back until two weeks later. Although I feel more comfortable with him but I won't want to wait for another two weeks to get Sonic jab. We saw a lady vet that I have never seen before; for the first time, I feel like turning back. I don't feel comfortable with her. Anyway, she asked me some silly questions such as "what sex is your puppy?", I told her he is a boy; then unexpectedly, she went on to check he got "willy". WHAT? As a normal routine, she checked his ears, eyes, teeth ... but hello, how can you check a puppy's ears with the puppy's back facing you? For all the time I went to my vet, I have never seen they done it this way. And, she is not gentle with Sonic! Luckily he is a tough boy and didn't bother by her. I won't go in detail on how she injected my puppy but this is the last time I want to see her. Just as she finished the injection, she said to me: your puppy is very nervous, you need to get him socialised and you cannot do that after 48 hours! WTF! Sonic was busy exploring every corner in his confident self while we are waiting and we even play tug with people and animals around and she told me my puppy is nervous? I can only shock my head in disgust! I am really wondering where her qualification comes from!! Or is she said that as a standard format to every dog owner?

I agreed to do a home check for a friend that involved in Sheltie Rescue. The home is in London so I thought it would be great to take Sonic for a day out. We traveled by bus/train/underground ... he wasn't bother by anything. He is an inquisitive little chap. We stood outside Sloane Square Station for about 15min, he was so busy exploring the surrounding and not fazed by anything. He certainly attracts a lot of attention; nearly everyone wanted to say hello to him. He was alright at first but he soon get very bored about people stroking him and right into his face. All he wants is to chase the pigeon and watching all the trishaw ... and chase the "flying" rubbish. He definitely is not a cuddly boy!

He was a very good boy meeting the 13 year old sheltie. We went to the flat where they live and he walked in like he own the place. He explored every corner like a dog should. He and the sheltie were playing nicely and it was so good to see how he cope with every new situation. I am very proud of him.

After the home check, we went to a busy market nearby. Again, more people cooing over him. Basically we just stood there for everyone to say hello to him. I can see that he really got fed up after 20min, so we decided to leave the market and take him to Hyde Park.

It was the Football Champion League yesterday in London, so there were tons of supporters from Manchester United and Barcelona around everywhere. They were singing, shouting, screaming ... very noisy. I am watching Sonic to see if he is stressed about them but Nope! He was quite happy and was busy checking everywhere. We saw some tame squirrels, they came up to people to ask for food and we were amazed how they actually climb up a man's trouser if he ignored them. I would be very scared of them. At one point, when Colin was holding Sonic, a squirrel came so close to me that made me jump! I guess this will be the heaven for Sing, Saturn, Sizzle and Seagull. They love chasing squirrels!

Sonic saw the squirrels for the first time in his life, he was shaking in excitement while I was holding his lead. I know I want to let him go to chase them but I do not want to upset the people that fed them. Soon, the people's gone, I let him go ... hehehe ... the natural instinct is CHASE! He is so close in getting one of them! Then, he was placed in the pigeons. He looked so confused, he don't know which one to go for! Maybe I should get Sizzle to teach him how to chase the bird!

here is a compilation of photos we took yesterday in London and a couple of clip of him playing:

Happy 10 weeks birthday to Sonic & sister Brooke!

Sonic pup-date

 

So, Sonic is 9.5 weeks old now, where does all the time goes? Having him is another brand new chapter in my life! He is so different and "difficult" at the same time.  All these years, I brought home so many shelties and each one of them grew to attach to me; they follow me everywhere I go and they are like my shadow, never leave my side ... but Sonic, I guess being born here, he is so confident with all the surrounding and he is very independent. Brooke is different from him, she loves me and she like to jump on my lap whenever I get down on the floor with them, she will follow me everywhere ... just like the others.

I've trying very hard to get Sonic to "notice" me, don't get me wrong, he is very good with his name, he responded to it very well. He is not a foody dog, so our clicker training still didn't work out well at the moment. If I have a toy in one hand and yummy food in another hand, he will choose to play with the toy, whatever kind of toy that is! This is so much like my young Sing!

He is obsessed with CAT and POO BAG! He not only love our cat but also wanted to play with all cats he met at walk. I took him out last week to walk on the pavement and met a black cat. Unfortunately the cat was a little too friendly, he wanted to play with Sonic as well ... these two actually attracted so many passer by to watch them. I guess a lot of people still can't accept dog and cat can be friends! Whenever the cat is around, on sight, I will not get his attention but having said that, this evening, I managed to call him back from playing with the cat in the garden. A good sign, I hope!

His other passion is poo bag, whether a clean one or one that filled up with poo! I always have a handful of poo bag in my pocket, trouser pocket or fleece pocket and he knew it! If I am sitting down, he will come near me and pinch the poo bag from my pocket and run away. I can never catch him, he is so fast and cheeky. If I am standing up, when he saw the poo bad dangling out from my pocket, he will jump and try to get it. Believe me, he has spring on his legs just like his mama Samber!

As I have said, we done very little of clicker training, I am not rushing in teaching him anything. He is a very happy boy, a bit vocal, a bit bitey but very playful! I am enjoying him. He knew how to sit/down/touch and left & right. I think that is pretty good for him at this age. We do a lot of us racing each other whenever we are out and him charging up to me and grab his teddy tuggy! He loves this game. He is happy to chase anyone. We have him racing Matt & Rhoda (Brooke's daddy & mummy) at the Sheltie Camp. I think I need to work hard to get him to bond with me and focus on me only. He is a tug monster just like his daddy; I am working on the retrieve, he sometimes get it and most of the time DON'T! I guess he is only young ...

I still need to get his confident back meeting other dogs and people. He is still unsure after being "attack" by the Goldie last week. Sometimes, it make me thinks about this early socialisation! He was quite brave at the Sheltie Camp. There was a very nice Tervuren (Belgian Shepherd) Bertie at the Camp; he wanted to say hello to him all weekend but just not quite brave enough but by Sunday, he was getting closer to him. I took him to Pets at Home yesterday to buy some more toys (am I crazy?), we saw some dogs and he ran straight up to two Dachshund to say hello to them. WOW! That was so good, I was really pleased with that. We also saw some rabbits and guinea pigs and he was amused by them!

He absolutely loves the outdoor, he likes to go out with the big boys but he is too young to go out everyday ...

I noticed in the last couple of days that Sizzle finally "accepted" this little wild child, he will tease him and they both will bark at each other then ran away racing ... I am so worried about Sizzle as he has been jealous about the puppies. It is so good to see him playing with Sonic. Sipzie is still not very good with Sonic, I don't know why. She was an angel with Silky but never accepted this litter.

Sonic is also the only puppy that I can't trust OFF lead, all the others that joined us, I let them go off lead the first day I took them out walking and they always stay close by my side in whatever circumstances. Sonic is too bold and confident and I have no control over him YET! I have tried taking him out on his own, he was the same, he will run/walk away from me confidently and busy sniffing ... never really come back to me when called. I always attach a lightweight lead so I can catch him. Oh, another thing, I cannot catch my puppy! He would not let me catch him or he will never really come close to me ... I am working hard on this and this week, I can see the improvement ... he actually let me touch him! Jackpot! I have to learn to be patient!!

Sheltie Camp

We had a fantastic time at the Sheltie Camp this weekend. We used to go to the Camp every year but for the last three years, we've been away in Malaysia due to family illness. I really missed the training Camp. I was so glad that we could make it this year as it was such a good socialisation for Sonic to be able to. meet other dogs and people. The Camp is all about Fun, Fun and FUN!

I was asked to help assisting Indira teaching Agility on Saturday, so I thought it would be good to bring our caravan out first time this year too. This is Sonic's first camping trip and he was coping very well but he already learned how to escape from the "garden" too! There were a few campers before we arrived on Friday night, so it was nice and relaxing. All the dogs love to be outdoor. I think they were a bit surprised that we are NOT doing agility. Bless them! This made me more determined that we should take a break this year and have a holiday in Scotland!

The weather was kind to us on Saturday. It was dry and sunny, not too hot like they usually do at Sheltie Camp. After this weekend, I realised how much I enjoyed teaching people to something I like. We have quite a handful of beginners and another handful of baby dogs. I was so happy to see all the shelties are very happy and driven, they are all highly motivated too. Many of them have not done any agility before and some of them has done a little bit but they are all very good, I am so looking forward to seeing them competing in the ring, they will be all future agility stars!

I was amazed on how my boys and Sipzie behaved. I set up the agility equipments in front of our caravan. All the dogs were sitting in the garden, watching through the fencing but none of them actually escaped or even trying. Sonic is too young and busy with himself, the noise and excitement didn't bother him at all. He either played with his own toys or fell asleep but he managed to break through the insecure fencing a couple of times, not after me though!

some random photos I took on Sunday:

This is a very young Jaffa, I forgot how old is he. He is very tiny but very fast and focus. I think we all small people has to watch out for this agility future star!

 This is big blue boy Alfie. He is absolutely delightful, such a gentle giant just like my Saturn. He is very sweet. He is only 10 months old but already doing very well in agility and he is highly driven too.

 This is Bonnie, who has never done agility before but she enjoyed the agility fun we play with her. She is absolutely cracking!

 This is Indira's baby Crystal (10 months old), her mummy and daddy are doing agility as well.

 Jaffa learning the "target"

This is 10 months old Fiamma, coming all the way from Germany to attend the Camp. Also first time doing agility.

 Pippa, also first time taking up agility

 Dallas is about 17 months old. He is a big handsome boy. He comes all the way from Nottinghamshire to attend the Camp. 

 

 This is Gypsy. She is so teeny weeny and lightweight ...

 ... but Lesley make sure she tip the see-saw properly before she is allow to leave

 Gypsy weaving

 tiny little dot on the A Frame

 Texas also come from Nottinghamshire. What a handsome blue boy he is.

 Tigger's mummy is Sheltie Camp supporter, they come every year and I remember seeing Tigger as a baby at the Camp many years ago

 Chaser on the A Frame

 Chaser jumping

 This is handsome Roddie, such a happy boy

 Roddie weaving

 Roddie on the see-saw

We are so proud to have Matthew, a World Agility Open handler to train us on Sunday. Here is Matt instructing his student how to handle a sequence

 Gypsy was train to do Obedience before she started Agility

 Pebble doing "send away". Can you see the two markers of the shape of a sheltie? I forgot to take a picture of them, the other size is a full colour sable sheltie!

 This is our Obedience trainer Peter showing off a perfect heelwork with a baby dog.

 can't resist not to post this photo of Pippa.

 ... and Raji. One day, one day I will have a black & white sheltie!

Apart from Agility and Obedience, we also have Dog Fun Game at the Camp this year.

 A big Congratulations to 7 months old baby Silky for passing her Good Citizen Bronze on Saturday. She and Coco attended the Camp on Saturday with her mummy and daddy. Silky did a bit of Agility with me and I think she is natural. She just loved it. We did a bit of jump-tunnel-jump with her and before long, she is able to do jump-tunnel-jump on her own! What a clever girlie.

Silky and her daddy Sing

 I was really spoilt at the Camp. Silky came to cheer me up on Saturday and Brooke came on Sunday. Sonic was so happy to see his sister and Brooke was so happy to see him too, so she can beat him up again! LOL

This is Brooke kissing her mummy.

Mai handsome boy Sonic. I was wondering how to teach him to use the step to go into the caravan. Before I thought him, he already knew how to jump up the step and then hop into the caravan. Such clever puppy!

More pups-date later ... I am exhausted after this weekend. I have no energy to do anything for a while!