Arnold has been a little poorly over the last few days (again!). I never knew a puppy could poop so much, I thought the kids were bad enough (when they were babies that is!). It all started about 3 or 4 days ago with yet another upset stomach. We thought, 'oh well, revert back to the old rice and chicken routine and maybe change his regular food'. Ready to put this plan into action yesterday morning we got up to find poor little Arnold wouldn't leave his crate. Believe me, this is not the puppy we know and love as his early morning tactics normally involve toe biting, leg licking and general yampyness!
After enticing him out of the crate we discovered that he was having terrible trouble walking and knew a swift trip to the vet was in order. After being looked over the vet said he had a temperature. She gave him a couple of jabs and told us to rest him and bring him back the next day.
He returned to the vet today and although he's still limping and has slept a lot, his temperature has gone down very slightly. The vet seems to think that he may have just had some kind of viral infection which caused his joints to ache. He has more antibiotics and anti-inflammatory's to take over the weekend and we're to take him back mid-week if there's no improvement.
It's so horrible watching him in this condition as he's just not our little hyper puppy at the moment. As much as the jumping and nipping drives us mad, I'd much rather have that than a pupster who constantly sleeps and looks very sorry for himself indeed :(
Friday, 22 October 2010
Thursday, 21 October 2010
Classic Christmas Cardmaking
[caption id="attachment_157" align="alignright" width="150" caption="Papermania Classic Christmas Papercraft Kit"]
[/caption]
I absolutely love visiting nearby Barnet Hill Garden and Leisure Centre to search through there massive collection of craft materials. The problem is I have to restrain myself as I would end up spending a fortune otherwise! On my trip there last week they had a great selection of Christmas goodies one of which was a 'Papermania Classic Christmas' papercraft kit. I don't normally buy kits as I prefer to buy all my craft accessories seperately, but this one really caught my eye and was also really great value for money.
I felt my first creating session didn't go badly at all and I've put a few pics below for you to judge for yourself :)
[slideshow]
[/caption]I absolutely love visiting nearby Barnet Hill Garden and Leisure Centre to search through there massive collection of craft materials. The problem is I have to restrain myself as I would end up spending a fortune otherwise! On my trip there last week they had a great selection of Christmas goodies one of which was a 'Papermania Classic Christmas' papercraft kit. I don't normally buy kits as I prefer to buy all my craft accessories seperately, but this one really caught my eye and was also really great value for money.
I felt my first creating session didn't go badly at all and I've put a few pics below for you to judge for yourself :)
[slideshow]
Wednesday, 20 October 2010
Arnold, tooth and another general day!
Well A has been back to the dentist today. Think he forgot that he was going to shape her tooth up though as he didn't touch it. He basically just treated the visit as a review but said he was very happy with it. He really has been so caring and compassionate about the whole situation we couldn't have wished for a better dentist. Even said he'd had sleepless nights over A and her poor tooth!
Returned A back to school only to fetch her an hour later as the school's electric had gone off (much to her satisfaction). We came home and due to the unseasonably cold weather today it only seemed right and appropriate to treat ourselves with a nice big cup of Hot Choccie topped off with marshmallows and sprinkles mmmmmm
Arnold had his second week at puppy class but I don't think he was too impressed tonight. He's generally seemed a little under the weather all day really and then tonight he just didn't seem to have the energy to fend off the other puppies. This resulted in him being bitten quite roughly a couple of times and him turning agressively on the puppies involved. In hindsight maybe we should have kept him off 'puppy school' this week, but hey, you live and learn.
Returned A back to school only to fetch her an hour later as the school's electric had gone off (much to her satisfaction). We came home and due to the unseasonably cold weather today it only seemed right and appropriate to treat ourselves with a nice big cup of Hot Choccie topped off with marshmallows and sprinkles mmmmmm
Arnold had his second week at puppy class but I don't think he was too impressed tonight. He's generally seemed a little under the weather all day really and then tonight he just didn't seem to have the energy to fend off the other puppies. This resulted in him being bitten quite roughly a couple of times and him turning agressively on the puppies involved. In hindsight maybe we should have kept him off 'puppy school' this week, but hey, you live and learn.
Monday, 18 October 2010
Help a sick child
Just came across a great site online http://www.postpals.co.uk/
Post Pals is basically a service that allows the public to send mail, e-cards, gifts etc to children with chronic illnesses. You are able to view the children and read about their life and illness. Each of their pages gives details about the things they like and their interests along with information about their family, siblings etc. Interestingly, it mentions that it's a nice idea to send post to siblings and parents as they need as much support as the sick children do.
Reading through some of the stories is very moving especially on the news page where you hear of family tragedy but it certainly makes you put your own problems into perspective.
I will be off to buy some nice child-friendly writing paper within the next few days and look forward to sending my first letter.
Post Pals is basically a service that allows the public to send mail, e-cards, gifts etc to children with chronic illnesses. You are able to view the children and read about their life and illness. Each of their pages gives details about the things they like and their interests along with information about their family, siblings etc. Interestingly, it mentions that it's a nice idea to send post to siblings and parents as they need as much support as the sick children do.
Reading through some of the stories is very moving especially on the news page where you hear of family tragedy but it certainly makes you put your own problems into perspective.
I will be off to buy some nice child-friendly writing paper within the next few days and look forward to sending my first letter.
Friday, 15 October 2010
Small dog syndrome!
Arnold had his first meeting with the rather large Arthur the Airedale today!
We met up at his house and Arnold went in his usually barky, jumpy, boisterous self but that soon subsided when he realised he'd met a much, much bigger dog indeed. He tried his best with his loudest bark but it was just no match for Arthur's big loud WOOF!
They played in the garden and then Bella the Lurcher came to play too, although being a girl she really wasn't interested in all their childish games :). Arthur was so good with him - he could of quite easily knocked him over but played lovely.
We went on a long walk (well, long for Arnold) and ended up having a coffee before walking back to Arthur's house. We even met Toto the Cairn Terrier while we were out but he wasn't feeling particularly sociable today, although he did let Arnold have a little sniff! Bella, Arthur and Toto walked in a lovely straight line next to their owners whilst Arnold zig-zagged from side to side, doing double the journey to everyone else!
Poor Arnold's shattered now and has gone for a well earned rest. Bet he can't wait for the next meeting.
[slideshow]
We met up at his house and Arnold went in his usually barky, jumpy, boisterous self but that soon subsided when he realised he'd met a much, much bigger dog indeed. He tried his best with his loudest bark but it was just no match for Arthur's big loud WOOF!
They played in the garden and then Bella the Lurcher came to play too, although being a girl she really wasn't interested in all their childish games :). Arthur was so good with him - he could of quite easily knocked him over but played lovely.
We went on a long walk (well, long for Arnold) and ended up having a coffee before walking back to Arthur's house. We even met Toto the Cairn Terrier while we were out but he wasn't feeling particularly sociable today, although he did let Arnold have a little sniff! Bella, Arthur and Toto walked in a lovely straight line next to their owners whilst Arnold zig-zagged from side to side, doing double the journey to everyone else!
Poor Arnold's shattered now and has gone for a well earned rest. Bet he can't wait for the next meeting.
[slideshow]
Thursday, 14 October 2010
Cardmaking
I took up the hobby of cardmaking a couple of months ago and am now completely hooked! My initial plan was to try scrapbooking but seeing as I had all the bits and bobs I thought I'd throw a few cards together and I'm now much more into this then I ever thought I would be.
I have an odd afternoon every now and then, surrounded by all my crafting kit and find it really therapeutic. A's took an interest too and has had lots of fun also making cards. I wasn't the most creative person when I first started out but with a bit of practice and a little help from various magazines and websites, I can see my cards are slowly getting more creative.
The only problem is, there are so many crafting goodies on the market to choose from you can end up spending a fortune! You really have to sit down and think about the kind of craft technique you want to use and then look at which tools/gadgets would be most useful.
Many of the cards I've made so far have been decoupage. This is a method of layering images which then gives you a 3D effect. This can be very time consuming as most of the decoupage creations I've made have been cut out by hand. The Beatrix Potter ones in particular were tricky (especially Jeremy Fisher!) as the figures were quite intricate. My 
masterpiece so far has to be the decoupage Owl card I made for A's Brownie leaders when she finished back in the Summer (picture to follow soon!). Of course you can cheat and buy the pre-cut decoupage sheets which make life so much easier, but somehow not quite the same sense of achievement.
Hope you like a few pics of my handiwork so far :)
[slideshow]
I have an odd afternoon every now and then, surrounded by all my crafting kit and find it really therapeutic. A's took an interest too and has had lots of fun also making cards. I wasn't the most creative person when I first started out but with a bit of practice and a little help from various magazines and websites, I can see my cards are slowly getting more creative.
The only problem is, there are so many crafting goodies on the market to choose from you can end up spending a fortune! You really have to sit down and think about the kind of craft technique you want to use and then look at which tools/gadgets would be most useful.
Many of the cards I've made so far have been decoupage. This is a method of layering images which then gives you a 3D effect. This can be very time consuming as most of the decoupage creations I've made have been cut out by hand. The Beatrix Potter ones in particular were tricky (especially Jeremy Fisher!) as the figures were quite intricate. My 
masterpiece so far has to be the decoupage Owl card I made for A's Brownie leaders when she finished back in the Summer (picture to follow soon!). Of course you can cheat and buy the pre-cut decoupage sheets which make life so much easier, but somehow not quite the same sense of achievement.Hope you like a few pics of my handiwork so far :)
[slideshow]
Wednesday, 13 October 2010
Puppy Class - Week 1
Took Arnold to his first ever puppy socialisation class tonight at our local vets - what a fab way to spend an hour!
Keeping Arnold company was Monty the Norfolk Terrier, Henry the Beagle, Tinkerbell the Sprocker (cross between a Cocker and Springer Spaniel), Marley the Staffordshire Bull Terrier and Megan the Welsh Terrier............along with their respective owners!
The trainer spent a little time tonight telling us about 'puppy biting' and 'lead training'. We didn't feel we learned a lot as with Arnold being 16 weeks old we've tried most techniques already! We did spend some time handling other people's pooches though, in particular we were given Henry and Megan. I don't think the other owners knew quite how to handle Arnold excessive energy levels though!
The last 15 minutes all the puppies were allowed off their leads and had a chance to play/bite/hump/growl/bark you name it! I have to say we had a great time watching Arnold interact with the other puppies. He finally seems to have met his match in Marley the Staffy as he was equally as keen to bite, box and attack as Arnold is. Arnold seem to have a rather worrying attraction to Henry the Beagle but the trainer assured us we need not be worried at this early stage :)
All in all, it seems a good night was had by all and I don't think I've ever seen Arnold quite so shattered. He's sleeping peacefully in his bed my feet as I type and after tonights escapades, think he'll probably be there for most of tomorrow too!
Keeping Arnold company was Monty the Norfolk Terrier, Henry the Beagle, Tinkerbell the Sprocker (cross between a Cocker and Springer Spaniel), Marley the Staffordshire Bull Terrier and Megan the Welsh Terrier............along with their respective owners!
The trainer spent a little time tonight telling us about 'puppy biting' and 'lead training'. We didn't feel we learned a lot as with Arnold being 16 weeks old we've tried most techniques already! We did spend some time handling other people's pooches though, in particular we were given Henry and Megan. I don't think the other owners knew quite how to handle Arnold excessive energy levels though!
The last 15 minutes all the puppies were allowed off their leads and had a chance to play/bite/hump/growl/bark you name it! I have to say we had a great time watching Arnold interact with the other puppies. He finally seems to have met his match in Marley the Staffy as he was equally as keen to bite, box and attack as Arnold is. Arnold seem to have a rather worrying attraction to Henry the Beagle but the trainer assured us we need not be worried at this early stage :)
All in all, it seems a good night was had by all and I don't think I've ever seen Arnold quite so shattered. He's sleeping peacefully in his bed my feet as I type and after tonights escapades, think he'll probably be there for most of tomorrow too!
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