Be a good dog owner

....my routine at the mo includes a 45 min power walk with Lucky every night. Prob is I rarely go out until after 10pm and sometimes haven’t got back until after midnight!

Am going to take him in a mo and try and get an earlier night tonight. There is just not enough time in the day but whatever gets sacrificed it will never be Lucky’s walks!!

I’m now doing almost half the dog walking with K doing the remainder which suit both of us. Today I took him in the car to meet some friends and he was not best pleased – I need to do more short, fun trips so he learns the car is fine.

Also I want to start training him to run with me (and not jump at me while I try and run which is what he does now)!

I’m a really lazy kind of person.
I’d rather lie on the sofa than waste time walking around the park.
I barely walk my dog.
If I did, I’m either forced or I’m with my sisters…
I just hope I can give that much attention my dog needs from me.

...I’ve vowed to meet up with some friends regularly to get some exercise and as three of us are dog owners we have been bringing them along. I’m slightly put to shame by Lucky’s pulling and weaving on the lead antics but I’ll persevere! Lucky has enjoyed spending time with his doggy pals Charlie & Sonny and hopefully the socialisation will do him some good!

• Wash dog bed
• Clean dog’s room
• Tidy garden
• Create ‘play’ area
• Replace chewed toys/box
• Walk daily (K does this at the moment)
• Groom/bath more frequently

Three pairs of shoes in two days goddammit, including the only bloody designer pair I own! Grrrr.

Problem is I know it’s my own fault. One pair I left on the floor overnight – just too tempting (though he didn’t go for hubby’s right next to mine)! The two today though were up on a high shelf – he must have stood up on his hind legs to pinch them.

I hate being cross with Lucky it’s miserable for both of us. I held the remains of the shoe and shouted NO and he knew he’d done wrong and he skulked off. We’ve had cuddles since but I’m going to have to re-think the shoe storage – I just have nowhere else to keep them!

I do wonder how much of his recent naughtiness has been to do with the new baby. He has definitely been a little out of sorts since her arrival but I’m just not sure how to deal with it. Any tips?

Lucky was one year old yesterday! I can’t believe he has already been with us for 9 months – I can’t remember life without him! We bought him a few new toys as ‘presents’ – one makes a funny meow noise which he finds half scary and half intriguing!

I think he is really enjoying me being home on maternity leave. He really is such a lazy dog though – he loves snuggling with me on the sofa while I read a book.

I am a little worried how he’ll take to the new baby but hopefully he’ll soon get used to it – he is very tolerant of Jimmers!

Poor lil Lucky had his knackers (or ‘hairy plums’ to coin a cool Taz expression) snipped today – ouch! Poor thing is moping around feeling sorry for himself now.

I can’t believe we have to keep the big head cone on for 10 days – he can’t walk around without banging into things or trying to find a way to get it off!

Well we’re £120 worse off and have a sulky dog but hopefully we’ve done the right thing as good dog owners!

...a headcollar a friend lent to me. Not sure Lucky pulled any less but it didn’t hate the headcollar as much as a thought he would. Hubby thinks it helped with the pulling so we agreed to persevere for a while and see how we get on.

what to do if somebody tells me that i am a bad dog owner??