Ziggy the Groodle - His own Blog



First Days (Photo taken 13th Jan 2010)

We picked Ziggy up in January & he was our first Dog.

He was an unknown, it took a lot of searching the Internet to understand what type of Dog he was?  We eventually found out he was a Goldendoodle from an owner in Canada who'd posted their own Dog's picture on the Goldendoodle web page.  They can also been known as a Groodle, and I'm sticking to that name cause it's easier. ;o)

The reason we didn't know his breed or much of his History! (which I know is a buying 'No No') Is because he was rescued from a family who couldn't look after him and they thought he was a Golden Cavoodle.

So will add & bring up to date his own Blog here on the journey from that first day to today. The realisation days, the good days, the bad days, what not to do, what works best & of course Cesar Milan....

The tables below will add key areas where we've learned and feel are important to bring a new dog into your home.
 Change @ Home (Photo taken 14th Jan)

The first thing we notice, was it was like having a new born baby in the house, only different. Where with children a secure hi-chair and a decent DVD, you can get 30 minutes of your life back, with a Dog @ start it was watching him every second without knowing what he would do next.

Also at first Ziggy just followed me around the house all the time, it was like having a shadow, it was stressful, if you see your house as somewhere where you relax, it wasn’t a relaxing place to be, he was always there.

Also the toilet aspect of Ziggy at the start was very difficult.  He was a young puppy in a new environment and was nervous he couldn’t last very long.

On top of new owners living on egg shells watching the dog at every second to avoid a present or a puddle we too were nervous, Ziggy of course picked this up which made him more nervous, and vicious circle.



Difficult Times (photo taken 5th Feb)

I must admit a good chat with the vet & friends who have previously owned dogs, gave us a good insight on what works and what doesn’t. We admitted we were struggling with Ziggy, so we just looked at the areas that were giving us the most concern/stress and with friends & the vets, we broken down how to fix some of these. We also picked up a lot of tips from the Dog Whisperer.

For example, the following you around, if you do need some time to yourself, lock the dog in a small room with food and water for a couple of hours to get that peace and also show who’s boss. This worked for us, as we didn’t realise you could this when in the house, we’d only locked Ziggy in the utility room when we left the house. If they howl, bark, Caesar told us to wait behind the door and shout their name or hiss to tell to stop so they know that is bad behaviour when in that room.

Toilet training, was probably the mostly stressful aspect of owning a dog, I look back now and realise the mistakes we made, but toilet pads what you thought would help the vet told us to get rid of straight away. The dog should learn to go to the toilet outside in a designated place, the pads just confuse the dog. Praise is probably the strongest things you have and being aware the signs your dog is telling you too. Okay I know being in the back garden at 4am whilst your dog squats for a dump and praising him may not be something you envisaged, but you’ll not know how good it feels when it’s the garden instead of the hallway.

Routines (Picture taken 5th Feb)

One of the most important aspects and sometimes @ the start you feel they are tough routines, but they are needed.

First one was key areas in the house for Ziggy, from the start he's had a large pillow, and this has moved around the house over the months, finding its place in the office and has stayed there for a number of months. But we find it good that Ziggy know where he needs to go, say when I'm working, or if we need him out of the way if for example we are getting the kids ready for bed.

The other is a storage/holding place for the dog, as I’ve talked before about the Utility room, his food & water bowls are there, you can place the dog in here. Also for you need to leave the house, or if the dog is naughty or you just want some non Dog time. Ziggy soon learned these and it’s amazing now, if I’m leaving the house to pick up the kids from the school he now knows he goes straight to the Utility room, sometime without being asked, when he does this (without being asked) he’s treated with his favourite bread stick.


Other Routines (photo taken 7th March)

Other routines are the day to day ones, I spend a lot of time in the house due to working from home, Ziggy is now in a very relaxed routine with me. After breakfast and the hustle and bustle of the children going to school, I start work in the office, Ziggy will sleep most of the morning on his pillow or sometime at the bottom of the stairs. Around 11:30 to 12, he’ll wake and ask for a walk, head on your lap, etc. I take him for a walk we walk anything from 1.5 to 3 miles, of course he’ll do his business. We both return for lunch, I’ll continue to work whilst Ziggy will sleep again. His afternoon routine is slightly different in that it will be broken up with playing with his toys. Again another key thing to have a few toys to chew on and play with, to stop him from getting bored. Then it is more sleeping before I leave to pick up the children. Another key during this routine is being aware of messages Ziggy is trying to get across, bored, tired, need some love I need a dump, etc.

Then it is the evening routine, with the family there this is a different routine, key one is the children are never lower than the dog even when they are playing with him. He can never jump on a sofa or a bed and very important he never begs for food from the dining room table when we are eating the evening meal. With children he always gets a few scraps and he knows to wait, it’s then the evening walk again anything from 1.5 to 3 miles, and then we find all Ziggy does is relax and sleep through the evening and through the night, amazingly he can sometime go 11 or 12 hours without using the toilet over night.

Another good tip is if you can before you leave your dog in the house (& you know it’ll be a long time) is to try and take them for a walk to tire them out, allow them to sleep some of the time they are in their room.


Children (Photo taken 1st April)

Probably one of the toughest areas we've had to deal with, and ironically it's been with the children not Ziggy.  Hope my 5 year old, has took to the Dog like a 'Fish to Water' and it is rather cute watching a 5 year order Ziggy around, and watch him obey, she knows all the key words and great to see her confidence with Ziggy.

Zak on the other hand is another story, he's seen Ziggy as a Play thing, which is understandable for an 8 year old.  It's just now Ziggy still sees Zak as a play thing, something to jump on and play fight with

Sleeping (Photo taken 6th May)

Something where we listened to the advise but didn’t put into practice, but something we are comfortable with. For Ziggy he started life off sleeping @ night in our bedroom in his green basket.
Sleeping.

But eventually he moved on his own accord to either the top or the bottom of the stairs. 

Only recently he's started to sleep on the futon in my son's bedroom and he seems to prefer this to other places in the house.

He does though seem to change where he sleeps depending on how Hot it is, so when it becomes hotter in the Summer he'll sleep on the wooden floor.

Oh like children, he's an early riser and almost like clockwork, he always seems to wake up and come in our bedroom @ 7am each and every morning.

Key Indicators

Will add some more, but some key things we've learned as you move to a good routine with your dog.  The indicators away from the routine that can tell you key things about your dog & what he's trying to tell you.

Key Instructions

Like the books say, simple 1 worded instructions that are clear & authoritative.

Quirks

There are a few for Ziggy, the funniest is change on his walks and 'Workmen' signs.  When walking past any roadworks where they have the Men @ work sign, he'll always bark @ it.  Like he'll bark @ any house with a new 'For Sale' sign or really anything that has changed from the norm.  Recently he barked @ the junk someone had left @ the side of their house, they were having a bathroom refitted and Ziggy took great pleasure in barking @ their old throne.

Other Photo's as Ziggy Grows