New Old Beginnings

Thursday has come and gone and so has Drago the Lurcher. There were tears and sadness as we let him go, but also relief that we can get back to some semblance of normality now. I’m sure he will find a loving home who can offer him a garden he can run in and can be there with him 24/7 until he adjusts to being left alone without being destructive. It’s upsetting that it didn’t work out but life isn’t always perfect and sometimes the dog just doesn’t fit the household. We’re going to move on from this now and accept that we won’t even consider having another dog until Frodo is no longer with us (a terribly sad thought 😢).

As Ian had the rest of the day booked off work we decided to go and look for some wedding shoes for him in Solihull. In typical male style the first shop we went into yielded ‘the ones’ so we had a wonder about, bought some bits and bobs we needed, like a new jacket for Ian (after Drago ripped the last one to shreds) and some pectin as we want to make some jam this year. I also got a new woolly bobble hat for winter and I can’t wait to wear it, it’s so comfy and warm! I love winter clothes and being all wrapped up from the weather!

After we were all shopped out we went home and had some time to kill before our wedding meal menu tasting later on that evening. I decided to finish off some rings I had already started and I was pretty pleased with the results for my first ‘solo’ attempt at it.

My first solo efforts!!

Later on we got all doled up and set out for our menu tasting. I won’t got into too much detail on here about what we had except to say that everything was amazing and we had a fantastic time. We even chose wine to go with the meal, how grown up do I feel! All in all this was a looooong day and I retired to bed gratefully, and maybe a little tipsy!!

Friday was a jewellery day for me, and I made two more rings, this time with mounted stones. There were a few issues along the way, especially with soldering, but the first one came out pretty well and I’m really pleased with it. The second one had ended up way to big for me, but I think I’m just going to bite the bullet and resize it to fit me as the turquoise stone I’ve set in it its lovely.

Malachite on a plain polished band

Turquoise on a heavy hammered band

After Ian finished work we decided to go to Ikea to get a new rug as ours has basically curled itself up into a cocoon and was driving me crazy trying to straighten it out. The cafe was calling as usual and we indulged in some fabulous puddings, mine was, as always, the apple pie. I bloody love that pie!! After wandering around and picking up loads of stuff before we even got to the items we were looking for we realised that Ikea really know how to sell you stuff you never knew you needed. We found our new rug, purple this time, and a couple of lamps to replace the one Drago broke. We also got the obligatory candles. I swear it’s impossible for me to walk through that shop without putting at least one candle in my bag. We got home throughly knackered and after putting down the rug and sorting the lamps out went straight off to bed.

Saturday deserved a lie in, and so we had one. We finally emerged from the house at lunchtime and went and did a few chores, like taking the old rug to the waste tip. The sun had come out so we stopped at our local for a drink on the way home and enjoyed the sunshine. As it was so sunny we thought we should pick the fruit for the jam and collected loads of plums, damsons and elderberries from our garden. I’ve been saying for the last two years that we should use the fruit as it’s such a waste to see it left on the trees and now we actually have! We washed, pitted and chopped all of the fruit (except the berries) and following two separate recipes made our jam. It tasted nice and is all sealed up now in pretty jars so fingers crossed it’ll keep. As luck would have it we had twelve jars and it made exactly enough to fill them all!! Such a coincidence as the recipe didn’t say how much it made, just how many it fed!!

After a yummy tea of a Higgidy quiche, new potatoes and salad I was exhausted and fell asleep pretty much straight after we had watched Dr Who on TV. I love this show, and always have. I can’t believe it’s still going all these years later, but I’m so glad it is.

So that was the last few days. Busyness, updating phones etc,etc have kept me from blogging more frequently so sorry this was a bit of a monster!! Today we’re off to pick up Ian’s suit after the alterations have been done and then back to Mom and Dad’s for dinner. Happy days 🙂

Our last full day with Mr Drago…

This day is going to be equally really long and too short. Today is the last day that we will have Drago with us before he goes back to the Dogs Trust to find a new family tomorrow morning. He’s been an angel (mostly) the last day or so, although he did poop in the house yesterday and then eat it before I got chance to get to it. I think he was trying to save me from clearing it up!! The dogs did have another fight yesterday evening, so if for nothing else then this is reason enough for him to be returned. Frodo is far too old to be having to scrap with a lippy teenager!! So for our last day I’m planning nothing, just to sit and enjoy the company of two animals and hope that all goes well for his last day.

Drago enjoying his last day of comfort on the sofa.

Sit and enjoy the company of two animals and wait for ANOTHER package to be delivered though. My jewellery making/silversmithing goodies arrived yesterday and everything was fine except a ring gauge I’d ordered which was plastic and not metal. I need a metal one for hammering the ring form true so I’ve returned the wrong one and ordered a heavy metal one suitable for the job I need it for. And maybe a couple more stones. And some more silver. I can’t help myself, I’m so excited to start and there is so much I want to make and learn. I’m waiting for a prospectus from the School of Jewellery at Birmingham University and I’m hoping to start a course next year if I’m well enough. There are also part-time courses at Leamington so I’ve got a couple of options. Exciting times ahead!! I’ve sent Ian out to get me some Butane gas for my blowtorch so hopefully he’ll find some and then I can get cracking once the household dog population reverts to one.

I suppose I’d better do a bit of exercise as well this morning as I won’t get chance tomorrow, so I’m going to get my bike and the turbo trainer out and have a bit of a pedal to burn off some of these extra pounds I need to shift. It’s funny how easy it can be to lose weight when you don’t really have any occasion to, but as soon as there is a reason the pressure makes it so much harder. I’m sure I’ll get there anyway, I’m sticking to 1200 calories or less a day and trying to exercise so all being well I should be fine by the time the wedding comes around. Fingers crossed!!

The sad time and date is set

Today I called Dogs Trust as I was told to chase them if I hadn’t heard anything by today. After waiting on hold for what seemed like an eternity I was told the only time they could take Drago back was 10am on Thursday. I accepted. Now I’m filled with relief and sadness at the same time. He’s such a lovely dog and I wish more than anything that we could keep him, but once our decision had been made last week we promised ourselves that we wouldn’t change our minds and we both know it’s for the best. I’m just going to try to enjoy having some Drago snuggles before we send him back and hopefully he’ll find a lovely family who have a bigger house, a completely fenced garden and who won’t have to leave him at all. I’m sure he’ll be happier in the long-term, even though he seems to have made himself very comfortable here. I’m currently perched on the edge of the sofa with the two hounds taking up most of the room!!

In non-dog related news, Ian found his wedding suit on Sunday so now we’re very nearly all set. It’s coming around so quickly and I can’t wait! We went around to see the lady who is making our wedding cake so that’s all sorted too and we have our menu tasting this week so pretty soon everything is going to be in place and we can (try to) relax and enjoy the run up!!

Patience is not my biggest virtue and I’m waiting for a delivery from Cooksons Gold of some jewellery making equipment. I’m desperate to get started and have something creative to keep me occupied though the day. If I end up being any good at it I might even open my Etsy store up again and see if I can sell any of my creations. I’ve also been looking into part-time jewellery making courses and thing that this might finally be the direction for me to take. The problem I’ve always had is that I want to do EVERYTHING!! I want to paint, and sculpt, make christmas decorations, restore furniture, make jewellery. It’s never ending!! But there seems to be so much scope in silver-smithing that I’m hopefully it will satisfy my craving for new things and prevent me from getting bored. Anyway, I’m still waiting. Hopefully I’ve got a DHL and a Royal Mail delivery coming today so it’s doubly exciting!! In the mean time I’m going to watch some horror films, chill out and drink lots of tea. Sounds like the best way to wait to me.

A day at home with the boys

I was pretty much dreading yesterday. All day at home with both dogs and no chance of getting out for some respite to help quieten my racing mind. Things actually went better than expected in the morning, Drago went out and did his business in the garden instead of the house. Well he did except for one enormous wee that he decided to unleash in the hallway just as I was about to get into the bath. Thanks Drago. They were good as gold while I was in the bath though so I did end up getting a chance to chill out and have a relax after all.

Things changed at dinner time though. I’ve always fed the dogs separately to avoid any issues over food but they have both been in the kitchen with me while I prepare their bowls at every mealtime. Today though something must have snapped and I had only just reached down for one of the food containers when all hell broke loose and I was in the middle of a full on dog scrap!! I tried to get out of the way but managed to get my hand bitten in the melee. It wasn’t a bad bite, I was lucky really, but it shook me up and made me realise we had definitely made the right decision to return him for re-homing. The dogs were a bit wary of each other for the rest of the afternoon, and after speaking to the Dogs Trust on the phone I was advised to keep them separate for a while before meal preparation and feeding. Pretty obvious stuff I suppose but as they’d been so good together before I hadn’t even considered that waiting for the meals might be causing a problem. At tea time I duly kept the dogs apart while I prepared and then fed them and was hoping that would solve the problem as everything went smoothly. Unfortunately when I took them both out into the garden to go to the loo after their tea it all kicked off again so I’m not quite sure how to deal with this one. How long do I have to keep them apart after meals or will they just do it again as soon as they are back together? I think another phone call to Dogs Trust is in order. I just wish I could take him back now. It’s going to be hard enough giving him up but the longer he’s here the more attached I’m getting to him, even though he is a bloody devil. He’s certainly made himself comfortable anyway!!

Is this sofa for me?

Mom and Dad called in for a cuppa just as Ian was getting home from work so we all had a chat and the dogs behaved themselves very well. Drago let both Mom and Dad stroke him, so if nothing else we have managed to expose him to more people in the time we’ve had him; this will hopefully make him a bit less nervous when he does go back to the Dogs Trust. Once Mom and Dad had gone I was feeling very worn out so I went up to bed for a lie-down, a rare luxury since Drago has joined our family. Pretty soon I was fast asleep and the next thing I remember is being woken up by Ian holding a Chinese takeaway menu!! Heaven!! He went off to pick up our dinner, I came down and we ate it while watching a bit of trash TV then we went back up to bed at 10pm, thoroughly done-in.

I woke up a 5am this morning, partly because I slept so much yesterday and partly because I was so excited about doing the jewellery making course today!! Yay!! I can’t wait!! One whole day where I get to do something that I enjoy without having to clean up wee or poo or deal with fighting hounds!! Absolute bliss!!

Getting manic with the hound

It’s been a few days since the difficult decision to return Drago has been made and they have all been pretty damn hard. I managed to get an appointment to have my hair re-pinked on Wednesday and thought getting out of the house for a while might do me good. Unfortunately waiting to leave for my 1:30 appointment proved too long so I set off at about 11 and decided to go and buy some cigarettes and hit the pub for a couple of hours. Now I gave up smoking over twelve months ago so this was a MASSIVE set back for me, and a huge warning that all is not well with my mind. After purchasing a pack of twenty I tried my local public house, but they didn’t open until midday. How embarrassing trying to get into a pub, alone, before it’s even open. Oh the shame. Anyway the good old Bramley Cottage always seems to be open and halleluia it was!! Five minutes later I was sitting outside, smoking, drinking a pint and listening to Maximo Park through my headphones. Cue self loathing photo’s posted to Facebook and concerned comments from friends and family. At the time I just felt like absolute shit and I couldn’t think of a better way to deal with the turmoil in my head. Obviously smoking and drinking isn’t actually going to solve anything but at the time it seemed like the most wonderful idea in the world. Just before my appointment I headed to a local cafe and got a coffee to try to perk me up a bit and I arrived early planning to sit and chill in reception for a while, drink my coffee and get my head together. It was not to be, Jodie, my fabulous hairdresser was practically ready for me so we cracked on with the process 🙂

The foils are in

Medusa!!

Cooking!!

It took quite a while because my hair never plays nicely but I ended up with very bright pink hair which should fade to a lovely pale pastel colour 🙂 Head and Shoulders at the ready!!

So in the end I felt pretty good at the end of Wednesday, I had pretty new hair and I had started to come to terms with the decision that we had made about Drago. Especially when I saw that he had chewed the corner off the vintage coffee table I had spent weeks restoring!! ARGHHHHH!!!! He’s such a sweet dog usually but what a bloody monster he becomes when I’m not there with him.

Thursday was a bit different. I didn’t feel too bad in the morning and decided to get my bike and turbo trainer out and burn off some energy while creating loads of feel-good endorphins at the same time. I did thirty minutes hard graft and then my torturous abdominal workout and jumped in the shower. I felt pretty proud of myself, and the dogs had behaved well too. However, after getting out of the shower I discover wee, poop (half-eaten. Ewww) and more destruction and basically thought fuck this, I’m off to the pub again. This time I took the devil dog with me so I knew I wouldn’t get home to who-knows-what. Unfortunately walking to the local meant I could drink more, and after about a pint and a half I decided to ask a couple of girls about my age if I could join them. I NEVER do this normally, I’m very shy and reserved around new people unless I’m either manic or pissed, but I’d seen them come in with their horses which were hitched at the top of the car park and I’d noticed them riding around the area so I thought they must be local. We got talking about Drago and he made friends with them both, although he did freak out when I left him in their care while I went to the loo!! It turns out they keep their horses just around the corner and the stables are managed by the same guy who ran the riding school I learnt at when I was about 7 or 8!! They invited me to go down to the yard with them and said I could hire one of the guys horses for a few quid and go riding with them. Awesome. I’ve got her number too so I can give her a text and see what happens. A travelling guy also turned up with his horse and wagon and was very admiring of Drago. They all thought I should preserve with him as he was such a lovely dog and suddenly I was having second thoughts. It may have been the two and a half pints of cider influencing my judgement though!! Before I knew it time had passed by and Ian had left work and was on his way home. As I was walking home my parents passed me on the road. They had just come back from holiday and were popping in to see me and found I wasn’t there. They turned around and I met them back at home and we had a cuppa and a chat, by then Ian was home too. I was pretty half-cut I have to admit so I can’t quite remember what we talked about but once they had gone I somehow managed to help make dinner and then promptly fell asleep!! What a day.

This morning I’m feeling more positive but still unsure over Drago. His house training is coming on much better now and if we’re prepared to have a bare house then the chewing would hopefully stop eventually. The only problem is the fencing issue. I just don’t think it’s fair to keep him either tethered or on the lead at all times, and there is just nowhere for him to run. If it wasn’t for that I think I might be reconsidering but we need to do what’s best for us and Drago and unfortunately that means going back to Dogs Trust and finding a family who have a really secure garden that he can run and play in. I’m going to miss him terribly, even though he is a monster, but maybe in the future we can re-think and have a look at getting something smaller so the fence issue isn’t a problem. I’m getting ahead of myself again now, I need to just deal with the fact that Drago’s going instead of avoiding the issue by planning other things.

Talking about other things, I’m taking part in a jewellery making workshop tomorrow at the shop in Alcester that made my engagement and our wedding rings! They’d had some last minutes cancellations and were offering the places for a workshop to make three silver stacking rings!! I’m so excited!! I’ve made my own jewellery before out of loose bits and pieces but never moulded metal before so I’m like a little kid at christmas!! I don’t know what I’m going to do with myself today other than maybe taking a long bubble bath to relax and then maybe having a go at the ironing pile which grows bigger by the day. Ian will be home at about 3:30 so I don’t have too long to wait and hopefully I’ll have a better weekend than the last couple of days have been.

A difficult decision to make has been made.

So I’ve made a very hard decision. I can’t cope with Drago and he’s going to have to go back to the Dogs Trust. My Bipolar symptoms have been getting steadily worse since we picked him up and I can feel myself beginning to spiral downwards in a way that is frightening for me. I just can’t leave the room for five minutes without him toileting or chewing something and the stress of it is making my anxiety levels rocket. My normal solution – to go upstairs and lie down quietly for a bit – is out of the question as this just makes him worse!! I know over time he will improve but I don’t think my sanity can wait that long, in fact I think another week of this would be really bad news for my mental health.

Ian phoned the Dogs Trust number when he got home from work, but the Kenilworth centre that Drago came from was already closed so someone is going to phone me tomorrow to discuss it. I’m dreading this, as I know they will judge me and I hate using the phone anyway, but when we took Drago on he was a quiet, shy, nervous dog and nothing at all like the Tasmanian devil he has turned into whenever we leave him. Even at night-time he won’t settle, and Ian has even slept on the sofa a couple of nights to keep him happy

Maybe the last picture of Drago and Frodo together…

!! The toilet training isn’t going well either after a promising start. Now he refuses to go in the garden and then goes within five minutes of being back in the house. I’ve lost count of the amount of cleaning up I’ve done. The frustrating thing is that I’m sure all of these behaviour problems are solvable, but we just don’t have the time to wait before I lose my mind completely. It looks like my vision of having another dog improving my Bipolar and getting me out and about more was wrong after all. A hard lesson to learn. A very hard lesson indeed.

A successful defecation!

Well it finally happened, after taking Drago out after breakfast this morning he finally gave in and did a poo for me! I can’t believe this event has made me so happy!! And last night there was no destruction and no accidents! I’m touching wood right now, (I don’t want to tempt fate) but I’m hoping this is a breakthrough.

Drago’s approach to waiting for breakfast

Frodo’s approach to waiting for breakfast. Greedy beggar!

I have moved practically everything I can out of Drago’s reach and we put up some more shelves in the lounge yesterday so we can still have a few decorative bits on show but way out of reach of the hound. He’s already chewed numerous coasters, broken the head off one of my horses, chewed a recipe book and chomped on a wooden elephant. I’m taking no chances now! On Saturday we had popped to the pet shop and into town to collect my new specs (YES!!) and returned to toileting of both varieties and chewing of items so we decided we needed to take more preventative action. I know we can’t stop him chewing but we can make sure there is nothing important anywhere that he can get to. The toileting will improve in time (hopefully!) as he becomes more toilet trained and realises that when we leave we’re always going to come back. And I still don’t know why he prefers a coaster to chew instead of a lovely kong!!

So yesterday after all of the shelf-putting-up we decided to take Drago along to our local pub and have a drink in the beer garden. The thinking was that he would have a walk first to tire him out and then be in his own space but still in an area with other people, hopefully becoming accustomed to this gradually and learning how to socialise with strangers. At first he was very stressed, there were a few children running about and he found it all a bit worrying, but after a while it quietened down and we moved to a table that was furthest away from the couple of people remaining. He settled much better then and I think after doing it a few times during quiet periods and continuing to give him treats while he’s there he’ll get used to people in a gradual way. It’s so hard to get a dog who’s terrified of people to lose that fear, it takes a long time for Drago to trust anyone usually (except my Mom who had kisses the first time she met him!) so getting him used to several new people at once is very difficult for him.

Today is going to involved trying to fix a new bike shelter we got yesterday from good old Argos. (We also got a new kitchen bin, I know I shouldn’t get excited about this but I’m just so happy to have a bin that actually works and isn’t falling apart!!) Anyway I’m going to try to attach the bike shelter to the fence so it’s more stable. This will mean I can have my bike and the turbo trainer near to the house so I can get back to my fitness regime more easily. Having to trek up to the shed isn’t much fun when the garden is so massive and I REALLY need to lose some of the weight I’ve put on since starting these bloody antipsychotic meds. Yes I feel better and more balanced but if I get fat there is no way on this earth that I’m going to take them. Meds that make you fat + eating disorders = very unhappy and unhealthy Heather. Plus I have my size 8 wedding dress to fit into so although I’m sure it’s fine now, I can’t afford to put on anymore weight and I want a ‘comfort window’ where I know it’ll fit perfectly. After all of this shelter fixing and exercising I might even dye my hair again, it hasn’t gone as purple as I’d hoped and I want a more extreme colour change. There may be pictures later, but for now here’s a lovely one of me with no make-up and one of the pairs of my new specs.

New specs!! Bloody love them!!

Losing faith but trying not to….

So today was a mixed bag. I think I still had a ‘pissed off hangover’ from yesterday’s psych appointment. The morning started ok, Drago went and had a wee outside, but wouldn’t poop outside or on his morning walk so I came out of the bathroom to an accident again. I managed to dye my hair, but I’d got the mix wrong and it was so pale you couldn’t even see it so I ended up doing it all over again. Dying my hair is not my most favourite thing so this wasn’t a good time for me. I did get the ironing done without scaring the living daylights out of Drago with the board so that was a bonus. Thankfully Ian finishes work early on a Friday so he was home just after 3pm to help with the hounds.

At 4:30 we set off for the doctors as Mr Q had an appointment with the nurse to have his ears syringed and I wanted to watch (I’m weird like that). Plus I was getting cabin fever being in the house and needed to get out for a while. We cleared everything Drago could munch out of the way and crossed our fingers. The appointment was over in a jiffy and now Q could actually hear again we decided to celebrate by having a very quick drink in our local. It was so nice sitting outside and just having a few minutes to relax and not worry about toilet training or destruction. There would be plenty of time for that later.

When we arrived home it was like a whirlwind had been through the lounge. Everything was off the windowsill, pot plant included, coasters had been chewed, my decorative bowls had been carried across the room and chomped. The telephone had been knocked askew and an ornament shoved down the back of the cupboard. The only positive was that there had been no accidents. After cleaning up the destruction I was feeling pretty dejected. What had I taken on here? I thought I’d moved everything out of his reach but obviously we aren’t going to be able to have anything at all below 5 foot off the ground if we didn’t want it to get eaten. I understand that  Drago only does it because he misses us and wants us home so gets up to mischief, but he had loads of toys for chewing so I just don’t know what else I can do. Both dogs have Kongs but I haven’t tried them with them together yet as Frodo is VERY protective over food so I don’t want to come home and find they have been fighting. I suppose I’ll have to try them out together while I’m here to supervise. Also I blame myself for having a quick drink in the pub and think if we had come straight home from the doctor’s surgery maybe he wouldn’t have done it. I know this is ridiculous and he probably did it all in the first ten minutes of us being gone, but I can’t help but feel guilty.

After feeding the hounds we took them for their evening walk and again no poop from Drago. He seems to only go when there are no distractions at all, which for a Lurcher doesn’t leave much room for opportunity!! He seems to go better for Ian though, and he managed to get him to focus on the task in hand a bit later on. Drago started showing signs of needing a wee in the evening and I took him out. No joy. After being back inside for 5 minutes he started pacing again so Ian took him out. Again no joy. He came back in and literally 2 minutes later peed up one of the cupboards!! I despair at him!!! After this I started to feel even worse. I couldn’t even toilet train a dog. I just wanted to go to bed and cry, but if I did that I’d have to go on my own as Ian couldn’t leave the dogs to come and sit with me. I felt trapped in my own home by an animal that I chose to bring into my house. I felt stupid for thinking that I could cope with this and even contemplated taking him back and saying I couldn’t deal with him. Then I felt cruel for thinking it. My brain was all over the place so I lay down on the sofa and slept, the only way I can switch off.

Bedtime came and we went upstairs and before long the whining and noises of destruction started. I was so tired I just went to sleep through it and didn’t realise Ian had been downstairs with them again while they settled and slept until he came to bed at about 1:45. Poor Ian, at work all day and then kipping on the sofa to appease a restless hound. He really is the best.

This morning I came down just before 7 and found another destroyed coaster. They must be particularly tasty or something!! I took them outside, Drago did a wee, which was great and then they came in for breakfast. Frodo is getting very possessive of his food and growling which isn’t like him at all. I fed Frodo in the kitchen and Drago in the lounge rather than outside as usual as getting past Frodo’s feeding spot in the kitchen was proving difficult (it’s only a very narrow galley kitchen). This worked ok until I went into the kitchen to pick the food bowls up and realised that Drago has pooped on the only space on the entire carpet not covered by plastic mats. Typical. I think it was because Frodo was aggressive though so I wasn’t angry with him. I’m never angry with him for going inside actually, he doesn’t know yet what is expected of him so it would be unfair to tell him off for something he doesn’t know is wrong. Positive reinforcement is definitely the way forward!!

After breakfast they had both settled down, Frodo on the sofa and Drago in his basket so I decided to see whether I could sneak back up with a cuppa to type this. I thought I was onto a winner until about 5 minutes later I could hear the tell-tale sounds of naughtiness and came down to discover Drago chewing yet another coaster!! What is wrong with this dog?! He has bacon flavoured chew toys but he prefers an old coaster!! So anyway, now I’m downstairs and the chances of me and Mr Q having a cuppa in bed on a weekend morning are looking pretty slim, for a while at least. Maybe I’ll try to sneak back up again now their both asleep…..

A day of two halves

Well the Psychiatrist appointment went as expected. He glossed over the fact that the last time I saw him I told him I was self-harming, suicidal, having extremely violent thoughts and hearing voices that weren’t mine and instead just said that it he had put in his letter to my GP that I appeared less anxious. Nothing about the fact that he did absolutely bugger all for a patient obviously in crisis and asking for help. He’s a complete tool to put it politely. The outcome is that I will be kept on his books and in secondary care and put on the waiting list for secondary psychological therapy. This list is 12 months long so I’m basically flying solo until them. What an absolute load of shit.

Forgetting about the total bollocks that the appointment was, my boys did me proud. Drago had no accidents in the house and went for a poo both out on his walk and in the garden and asked to go out for a wee again. I can’t believe how quickly he’s coming on. I was so worried about leaving them for the first time but all they had done was get some little wooden elephants off the storage unit and given them a bit of a chew and pulled frodo’s jumpers off the chair. I was quite frankly amazed!! I still felt crappy from my appointment so I decided to make cupcakes. There are no pictures I’m afraid (even though I decorated them better than I’ve ever managed before) as they didn’t last long enough for me to think about photos!! I finished making them just as Ian got home from work and by the end of the evening a dozen chocolate and vanilla cupcakes were no more!! It’s so strange, I haven’t baked for ages but since Drago has been here I’ve made a baked cheesecake and cupcakes. Maybe he’s helping me get my mojo back!!

Bedtime led to some whining again as we went upstairs and left the boys, and after hearing a crash we came down to a broken lamp. We’d left the lamp on for them as a nightlight and I think Drago was trying to jump up to reach over the dog gate into the kitchen and had knocked it off. It was totally destroyed so no more nightlight for the pooches!! There was also a tiny bit of wee on the floor nearby, but I think this was probably caused by fear when Drago smashed the lamp and scared himself. This morning he seems fine, has been out for a wee, had his breakfast and is curled up fast asleep in Frodo’s basket. Frodo of course is on the sofa, also fast asleep. This pedigree thinks that he’s too good for a basket and will do anything to be on the sofa, even if it means shoving people out of the way to make room for him!! I think this pooch has been spoiled!!

Today is going to be a chilled out day. I may dye my hair again, more purple this time rather than bright cerise and then I’m going to finish watching the horror film I started yesterday but paused to make cakes!! Cakes come before horror every time!! So I’m hoping for a good day. I’ll take Drago for his morning walk in a minute (Frodo is too old and stiff to manage two walks a day so he’ll just come later) and then hopefully he’ll settle down and sleep for a bit. He usually does so I might even get some ironing done, although I haven’t introduced Drago to the ironing board yet and I’ve a feeling he may be a bit frightened of it so we’ll have to see. So that’s my exciting day all planned out. I’m so glad I don’t have anything vital to do and I can just potter about with my boys. Perfect.

My first day alone with the boys…

So no poomageddon for me this morning, but a couple of wees to be cleaned up which I am more than happy to do after yesterday’s messes. There were several, all lovely and loose and green. I know, too much information, but if I have to deal with it you can hear about it!! What we did find was a tin of tuna, punctured several times by Drogo’s teeth, a tin of sweetcorn and one of chickpeas which were untouched (obviously not a veggie dog) and somehow he had managed to get the huge Mason and Cash ceramic water bowl off the work surface in the kitchen and into the lounge. How he carried it and managed to get it off the side without breaking it is a mystery to me!! A few rabbit treats were also gobbled but all of this naughtiness will be ending soon as I’ve ordered a dog gate to stop the terrible pair from getting into the kitchen when they’re unattended. No more midnight snacks for you, boys!! Drago’s quest for treats knows no bounds, he managed to jump up, grab Ian’s jacket off the coat hook by ripping through the hanging loop and then proceeded to rip open the pocket from the inside to get to the dog treats that were in there!! Luckily it wasn’t his best jacket!

On a more serious note, today is my first day alone with the pair of pooches and with house training and cleaning up accidents it’s hard work. I have to be so careful with my disorder to ensure that I don’t get stressed and get lots of relaxation and that isn’t so easy with a one year old Lurcher who will eat anything he can get his paws on!! I don’t even know how I’m going to manage to have a shower as Drago is like my shadow and he follows me everywhere!! I think I’m going to end up with the door open and two dogs observing me!! I’m sure when he gets more confident he’ll be much better, and once he’s house trained it will be so much easier. It’s just getting to that point that’s the hard part. I know that having Drago and Frodo to look after will help me with my Bipolar; having to look after dogs that completely rely on me for everything forces me into action when I would normally just be lethargic. This is great, but I’ve got to watch it doesn’t take too much out of me and wear me out. It’s such a fine balance trying to do enough to keep my mind stimulated and not thinking horrible thoughts and overdoing it and causing a meltdown where I can’t do anything. I’m so used to Frodo who is laid back and easy going at 12.5 years old so this is a whole new challenge.

It’s tiring work being this naughty!! (and cute)

Frodo chilling on the sofa with Dad

So far so good anyway. I’ve been alone with the hounds for approximately 75 minutes and so far no accidents or incidents. Fingers (and everything else) crossed that today is a positive day and Drago finally masters the art of creating poomageddon outside!! Keep ’em crossed for me!!