[NAGDU] Update on my new dog.

[Sharon S]

Hi all, well I have finished my official training with Sherlock. We signed
off on the paperwork on Wednesday and are now going without trainers.
However, we aren't going totally solo yet. The trainers have asked for a
while longer we go out with another person to make sure we are safe. This is
fine with me for now because all the places I plan to go in the next few
weeks I will need someone to drive me there so they can watch us walk into
the place.

My two boys have settled in sharing my bedroom. I have a small sunroom off
my bedroom so at the moment there is space for them to move around. Not sure
how it will go in winter when I don't want the door between the two rooms
open because it gets too cold for that. With Sherlock I was putting him on a
tie down cord to start with, but I haven't used it for the last few nights,
and it doesn't matter. With Sherlock I have found that once he is on his bed
he is there for the night. So, I just have to make sure he goes on his bed
and not onto Rolo's. To start the night Rolo sleeps out in the sunroom but
at some stage he normally moves into the bedroom and onto his bed. The other
night I hadn't put sherlock onto his bed and he was lying in the doorway
between the two rooms. There was no way Rolo was going to try and go past
him so he stood there and gave a short bark to let me know he had a problem.
Once I moved Sherlock onto his bed Rolo was happy and could go to his own
bed. Both boys love their stuffed toys but they can only have them at night
or when they are shut in my room. This is because the family dog destroys
any stuffed toys or ones with squeakers. So far Sherlock hasn't chewed any
of the kids toys which is something we have had problems with Rolo doing but
Sherlock just carefully carries them around in his mouth. Today my nieces
were over and they had been drawing with chalk in the backyard on the paths
and was asked to pick up all the chalk when they had finished with it. Later
on after Sherlock had been outside he came back in and dropped something at
my feet, of course it was a bit of chalk. Mum asked the girls about it and
they said they had cleared it all up but they must have missed a piece. My
niece also put sand on top of Sherlock without us knowing but later when I
patted him I could feel it all through his coat. My niece told us she had
put some sand on Sherlock but she had washed it all off afterwards. Of
course I could feel there was still sand on him and I told her this but she
just kept saying that she had cleaned it all off no matter what I said. So I
had to find a comb that would get it out of him. My nieces can be a bit over
the top with the dogs and Rolo just lies there and takes it. Sherlock puts
up with quite a bit but at times he looks confused about what they want him
to do.

Well probably should try and get some sleep now since it is almost 3am.

Talk later.
>From Shaz.
Canberra, Australia.