PUPDATE. 1 YEAR ON!

Humphrey Update.

Well it has certainly been a long time since I posted a update.

So long in fact that I have moved out, and Humphrey has become quite the traveller.

Since April finished, Humphrey has officially finished his puppy classes. He was certainly quite the character throughout but he loves his puppy friends. Spending the majority of each session trying to get to all of them, particularly, Milo, Buddy and Hazel.

He then had a lovely hot summer at home, his swimming pool became his favourite thing and resulted in him being banished to the garden. Eventually however, he managed to burst it, and it died a graceful death.

Just after the summer ended and a cool autumn set in, I moved out into my own home and my parents bought a camper van, Humphrey was whisked off in the camper on his first trip to Spain.
I am reliably informed he had a great time and loved the beach and swimming.

I have witnessed him swimming in a lake at Bedgebury forest and concur that he loved it. He is such a character.

He is still an absolute monkey and his favourite thing to do is to steal things he knows he isn't allowed and run off with them. Yesterday this was Dads SD card for his in car dash cam. Little tyke.

He recently had his first birthday and is now a fully grown 16.5kg dog. He's a chunky monkey.
He loves his ball and his toys, tug is one of his favourite games.

I dont know what else to say about him but he is absolutely smashing!!!

Rach.

Photos available on his Facebook page

Puppy Classes - Part 1

Well,

Aren't I doing well with the updates. I regailed the story of Humphrey's first puppy class to my parents in Spain and promptly got told this is hilarious! Write a blog post! So here it is!

Lets start with our day shall we. I took Humph's for a late walk as I didn't want Frank to make an appearance during class. Fail from the moment I thought that! I decided to take him down the old railway line - It's been sunny so it will be nice and dry... WRONG! Humphrey found the muddiest, yuckiest puddle at the side of the track, I said NO! he looked at me, thought about what I said, and went in head first, and came out BLACK!!! Sods law as I gave him a bath yesterday! So further down we went and I found the clean(ish) stream and made him paddle in it! Yes!! Slightly cleaner! But not clean enough and a second - underbelly only - bath when we got home!

Dinner eaten by both of us it was time to get Humphrey ready, collar back on - No Problems! Lead on! Humphrey decided now would be an appropriate time to play chase! - I thought we were going to be late! Luckily, we were on time!

CLASS IS IN SESSION!
 WE walked in and were obviously last to arrive! I instantly noticed Humphrey's twins!!! Albeit it slightly smaller versions! I'm secretly thinking to myself - by god Humphs you better be better than them!

I took my seat - next to a small pug! 14 weeks old! By the name of Lily! My first mistake! Lilly was quite clearly the flirt of the group! She showed Humph's her bottom and he was hooked! Oh No! Thankfully Lily did the same to Barney and Hazel (Humph's twins) but neither of them were as taken in as Humphrey was!

Session begins and Hazel is chosen to demonstrate first, can she show a good sit! Oh yes she can! (BALLS) please don't pick Humphrey, I'm not sure he'll listen! The first 3 dogs then went up! All of them could sit and stand! Next step - Down! Uh oh - I know Humphrey can sit but he's not once done down! This is first time for us - God I hope he can do it! Out of the first 3 dogs only Odie, a small Jack Russell - Didn't get down, Apparently its harder for dogs with Shorter legs - excellent - Humphs may look big but hes a short arse too!

And we're up - Sit - Yes good boy ! Stand - Yes good boy! Down - You know what Rach - I think I'll just squat - half go down - Trainer said treat him and just make sure he goes lower next time - and turn hand over so he cant see the treat - Tried it! Yes!!!!! The boy got down!!! Next Sit and stay for 5seconds and 10 seconds - Yes! Can't touch us we're the dream team - I should NEVER have thought this!  From that moment on - Humphrey became Frank! The entire time we were sat down he was playing with his lead, chewing my hand, eyeing up Lily, trying to sniff Barney - who just sat still next to his owner and watched on - show off! Trying to sniff Hazel - who was mostly like Barney but gave the occasional sniff back. And then barking at the trainer and Cora on the other side of the room - who thankfully was talking back!

Then we tried look - This one was done sitting down and Humphrey mastered it instantly!!! Good effort!

Then 'come' - Barney was chosen to demonstrate - I distinctly remember his owner looking panicked at our puppyless session - for this week her dog to be the best behaved - in her words, she said this was unusual and a one off and he was most definitely showing off! (IF HE ISN'T A PAIN NEXT WEEK THEN I'LL BE UPSET!)

Barney obviously did it perfectly - and then because Humphrey was whining and barking - he was chosen next - off he went with Lesley - he did it right and got a treat and then came back and turned into Frank again! Sod! Now it was our turn.

We were told have a treat in our hand, call the dog and run backwards, then treat with one hand and grab the collar with the other. Now earlier on Cora was being a bit noisy so she was given a rawhide to chew on whilst we were waiting  - this was left on the floor  - at the end of the hall where I was stood - Lesley let go of Humphrey - he came running to me all happy and then at the last minute - sprinted off towards the chew! Balls! Off to the other end I went and he did it - Phew! Who left that bloody chew there! You're making my dog look bad!

Then it was Lilly's turn! Now thankfully - Lily didn't even look at her owner - off she went saying Hi to all the boys - Humphrey's attention was gone again! Frank wanted to pull, tug and be a general ass! Oh no!

Then she demonstrated leave it! One for us to work on and made us do everything again - this time though down had a 10 second wait on it as well! He mastered the lot! Thank god.

Overall he performed well when we were actually training - just didn't like sitting and waiting! to be honest neither do I. Although I am mostly just glad Humphrey didn't shit on the floor! 

A run down of the dogs at class - my first impressions of them

Barney - A cocker poo - the same colour as Humphrey but a fair bit smaller - The SHOW OFF!! (his owners words - just seconded by the rest of the group.

Cora - A black lab - Yappy to begin with - calmed down and Yappy towards the end - turned out she was whinging because she needed a poo! 

Buddy - Black Cocker spaniel - playful  - full of energy - just wanted to be on the go and you could tell

Odie - Jack Russell (I think) he was small and dinky - a bit whingy - concentration not there at all times

Hazel - The other cocker poo - Could do everything - Not quite as good as Barney - The wannabe show off - but occasionally distracted

Lily - The flirt - Didn't give a damn what was happening at training - just wanted to Distract Humphrey and flirt with him, then leave him high and dry when she flirted with someone else!

And Humphrey - Did really well during training - got a bit impatient and barky - definitely in the middle of the pack - room for improvement and practise to be done!!!

and I am done.... that was a long one!!!


Bye from Me and Frank!!

Doggy Disaster

Just a short post this time round, one I had to share.

It is still just me and Humphs at the moment, he is still very snuggly and clingy, I think our bond is just stronger and I am his new favourite!

Yesterday, however, I could have killed him, don't worry though I didn't! Instead I tried to attack him with a hose, and failed! But eventually, I succeeded in giving him a bath!

The little terror had his first encounter with Fox Poo!! I was just mindlessly throwing a tennis ball for him when he became instantly disinterested in it, choosing instead to roll around on the floor! I walked over to see what he was doing and to retrieve said ball to find the Fox Poo completely squashed and Humphrey sat next to it looking like an exceptionally proud rolling pin!

Hose out! Dog ran away! So I locked him outside whilst I ran a bath, and was subjected to his wails wanting to come in! I then had to sneakily shut the utility room door and let him in to that. He still tried to run but I had him cornered and straight in the bath he went! His attempts to escape failed and I had him collared quite literally, by the scruff of the neck! He submitted to the fact that it was bath time and sat quite nicely. Although I had to keep hold of the scruff to make him do so! A few quick changes of hands, and surprisingly good one handed bathing skills. And Humphrey was at last free of the poo.

I let him go to get a towel, he jumped out of the bath and shook, without prior warning, soaking instead the floor, the walls and me! A cleaning job to do as well! Thanks Dog!!

Needless to say I have been watching him like a hawk outside ever since!

Not on my watch, pal! Although, unfortunately I feel it wont be the last time Humphrey encounters the smelly stuff!!!

😢

Oh NOOOO!!!!

Pure Evils after bath time!

Still unhappy but warming up!

The Sun is shining!

Either I am becoming increasingly worse at updating this blog, or there just isn't much Humphrey related news.

After the last blog entry both Dad and I have agreed to change Humphrey's name between the hours of 7 - 9pm, at these times he is known as Frank.

Although, we went to our first puppy class this week, it was for Humans only, and the trainer explained when they are in their Frankenpuppy hour, either we need to have something ready to distract them with, play their game of tug with them, or when they start using human limbs as bones squeal. I tried squealing tonight and *fingers crossed* we haven't had much Frank!!

In other news the UK has been quite warm should we say this week and poor Humphrey has certainly been feeling the heat, I ran a cold shower the other day and found him asleep in the shower tray afterwards. So I decided to buy him a paddling pool. When I put him in it he jumped straight out. Typical!! However he did keep trying to drink from it and when I was splashing kept trying to attack the water... a bit of perseverance and I think he may grow to love it.

I also took him for a lovely walk on the golf course today! He had a blast, and was in and out of muddy streams.... I guess his paddling pool is missing the mud!... he even chased another dog momentarily.. until I called him back because he had gone miles! I am 1. Impressed he came straight back and 2. Pleased he is learning to play! I think he is more confident with it off the lead. Dad tells me he is great in the mornings and has made some friends, but I haven't seen this yet and still have scars from the puppy party.

His training is still going well. He is a good dog and eager to learn but we still have to master a few bits. It will be interesting to see how he copes at his first Puppy Class on Monday night. I was in the car with him and Dad a few days ago - When Dad turned to Humphrey and said. "You had better be the best dog at that puppy class, don't let me down!" I think my response was something along the lines of - "you used to say that to Ben and I when we were at school." No pressure on me then because I have to take him as Mum and Dad are on their holidays in Spain.

Speaking of their holidays poor old Humphrey was a bit mopey yesterday! The parents caught the 6am flight from Gatwick and that meant waking up at 4ish. Humphrey heard them, barked and went back to sleep on my floor. But when he couldn't find dad when he woke me at 7am he was not a happy bunny. He was actually a little unwell the poor thing. But perked up a short while later.

I just look at it as bonding time for me. As I have now moved back home to save the pennies for a few months!

A few photos below of Humphrey this week. He is growing lots!!!!

Frankenpuppy

It is safe to say we have an absolutely gorgeous puppy! We are all totally in love with him, which is obviously brilliant. However, there are one or two hours every day where we don't have Humphrey, but Frankenpuppy!
Every dog owner knows exactly what I mean by this, it is the time when one's puppy is utterly out of control and bounces around the house like a maniac! Some people may call it 'Witching hour' either way Humphrey goes absolutely bonkers!

His normal Frankenpuppy activity of choice is to attack fingers and toes of the person closest to him, which at the moment seems to be me! I can not wait for him to lose the razor sharp puppy teeth because by gosh does it hurt! I try to distract him by throwing his toys for him, he just brings them back and uses them as a diversion to attack my hands again.... He isn't stupid by any means.
I have a photo below of him under my covers, following him attempting to attack my hands when they make scratching sounds under the duvet! He actually tries to dig through the duvet when I do this it is funny!

The second photo is him absolutely wiped out at my brothers house on Sunday afternoon! He had just  been playing tug with the rope toy, which as you can see is bigger than him, namely because it is for a large Rhodesian Ridgeback, Bruce. On the subject of Bruce I mentioned Humphrey and him were having a weekend together, poor Bruce did not enjoy his stay, Humphrey has too much energy for him. However, Humphrey is at least comfortable around Bruce and only gets scared when Bruce jumps at him to play! He even stole the tug toy, and Bruce's bone from him. Hopefully it won't be long before he is as comfortable around any dog. See Pupdate 2, 5 and 6.

As it has been a couple of weeks since I blogged about him, I should provide some updates!

1. Jabs are all done and he is a fully fledged member of the dog community, regular walks are a must! 2. He is still a wimp. (More on this later)
3. I have been home for 4 days on this occasion and we have not had one interior wee! He did pee on the floor at my brothers house, but to be fair to him, he went to the back door and none of us noticed, can't blame him, blame us! He is so at just going to the back door, he just lies down next to it and waits! Clever little man!
4. He starts training soon! Don't get me wrong, he knows sit, is almost house trained, he can give his paw and he does come (when he's not totally engrossed in something else) But he needs some work and the trainer he is going to is also a behaviourist and he is so scared of so many things we just want to see how we can combat this.
5. Behind the sofa is no longer his only hiding place. The poor dog! This is an extension of number 4, but the parents are having a new kitchen put in, brave with a 15 week old puppy, I know, and the poor thing is spending most of his time hiding in their shower! It is the furthest point away from the kitchen he can possibly get, but he actually sits in the shower tray!! This brings me back to number 2. He is a wimp!
6. Still a wimp... he went to his first "puppy party" today! A collection of 5 puppies on this occasion at his vets, all still under 6 months old! He spent the entire hour hiding behind my legs and trying to get up on the bench next to me. There was another puppy 'Teddy' who had a similar temperament but just as Humphrey plucked up the courage to say hello to him, Teddy decided he'd had enough and bared his teeth! I could tell Humph so desperately wanted to be involved as the tail was wagging and he seemed to be itching to get into the middle, but the two bigger dogs started bouncing around him and boy did he wail!!! I felt a bit guilty to be honest as I didn't want to overwhelm him! But I also want him to understand dogs are ok! He did get weighed at the vets though and he was 8.85kg now! The big chunk! Putting on approximately 0.5kg every week!!!


He has certainly grown into a gorgeous boy!!!

That's it for updates this week!

It is hard when I am not here all the time, but I will be soon, and then it is a week of just Humphrey and I whilst the others go to Spain!

For now, farewell!

P.S. Humphrey has a Facebook page.

Just search The Amazing Exploits of Humphrey Clumberdoodle on Facebook!

Planet Humphrey!

It's Week Four with Humphrey now! He is an absolute character and we spend a lot of time laughing at his antics. Right now he is running around in circles with one of his toys! Complete and utter nutter!

There isn't much to say this week so only a short entry as Humphrey still isn't allowed out! He has had his second jabs and we are just waiting for a few days until we unleash his craziness on the world! He will be allowed out just in time for Bruce to come and stay at the weekend! Poor Bruce, I fear this will be the first time he doesn't enjoy his stay here, as when he left on the last occasion he was whining at us to keep Humphrey away! However, hopefully Humphrey might learn to mellow out a bit with Bruce here, if not I fear for Bruce's sanity! I am sure though that Humphrey will start going on various adventures once he is allowed out! I am trying to arrange a meet up with some friends I know have dogs and he is booked in for his first puppy party on the 27th March!

Training wise he is still doing well, we don't need him to do all sorts of tricks, but sit is definitely on the "mastered" list, he comes for some of us but doesn't listen when Dad calls him! He is now learning to Stay/wait and to give his paw. 'Stay' is the most important as he was still trying to run for it out of the front door. So now if the door is being opened he sits and stays for a little. We just have to increase the length of time now and then work on moving out of view! He's also starting to play fetch with his toys! Because he is half spaniel we are trying to make Bang the command... (I did not choose this one!) He will get the duck if you throw it..but have another toy to distract him with if you want the duck back!

He still loves being outside, He went out for the pre-bedtime wee the other night and each time he came back to the top step on command only to run away again when you told him 'Good Boy...'  I've attached a photo of him having brought in half the garden and choosing to eat it on the living room floor! The only way to get him to come in now if he doesn't want to is to go to the fridge and use the ice maker! He absolutely LOVES ice cubes and no matter where he is in the house, this is what he will respond to! He decided to play hide and seek with me earlier this week! Running into the lounge (out of bounds) and hiding behind the sofa in there! I have no idea how he got behind there so quick but he is a little so and so!!! It did amuse me until he pooed behind there later that evening! Stair gate is now back on the lounge door!

Toileting seems to have regressed however! A few wees and Two number two's in the house! Obviously we can't be mad at him and we have had to remind ourselves that he is a puppy and although he is great at going to the back door, there may be the odd occasion where he is so desperate he can't hold it!

We did have our second bath time this week, following a slightly muddy trip out! Once again we ended up soaked and Humphrey was not happy with either of us for subjecting him to the bath and then the hairdryer!!! He ran away when I tried to dry my hair this morning! Socialisation is a work in progress! He is still frightened of the hoover!
Other than that I have nothing else to add this week!

Hopefully once he starts going out there will be more to talk about and more to add to this!

Waiting at the vet!

I like trees!

Post bath time

I like yoghurt!

Week Three on the Homeland

To the few of you who may in fact read my rabble...

Apologies for the weeks off - I have to work and the other dog owners are leaving this blog to me, despite them requesting I create it! At least they are updating things on his Facebook page!!!

Humphrey has now been with us for two and a half weeks, and good lord it has gone quickly! He is full of character and is fitting into family life well.

Some Pupdates:
1. Crate training - absolute failure here, Humphrey eats in his crate and is forcefully put in there for short periods of time to allow us to shower, clean, or the occasional gym session. I have at times caught him lying in there of his own accord but the instant you shut the door the wailing begins and I guess you could say we are too bloody soft.

2. Other training - He's doing well here, he knows 'SIT' and "Come here" and 'Leave it' Not that he leaves it the little bugger that he is. The in house accidents are down to a minimum, no number two's and the odd wee if we miss the signature 'Widdle walk!'  He is now responding to a whistle if we call him and miraculously managed to spend some time off the lead on a short walk this week.

3. Socialising - Humphrey loves people, make a fuss of him and he will get seriously excited, bless him, however scare him and he runs away.
 - Things he is scared of... The Hoover! Umbrella's! Loud noises from the kitchen! Dogs running past him at high speeds! Obviously we are working with him to make sure these don't develop into large fears. He has spent sometime with another dog in the family, Bruce, Humphrey is desperate to play with Bruce (who is about 10 times his size) when he is still, Unfortunately Bruce doesn't bat an eyelid at Humphrey and isn't a fan of his outrageous levels of excitement. On the few occasions Bruce has shown willingness to play, Humphrey has run off and hid behind the sofa!

4. STAIRS - He has learned how to climb these, on a number of occasions when we have been unable to find them, he has taken himself upstairs and hidden away in my room! Needless to say the stair gate is now on until we can be 100% sure that he is house trained!

He has his second jabs this week and will be able to do a lot more socialising after this!

Humphrey is actually for a 12 week old puppy, incredibly well behaved, he is mostly chilled out and sleepy and will happily play on his own, as I am writing this he is asleep on the floor by my feet.

He loves all of his toys but mostly we have learned "Don't touch the duck" as the duck is his favourite toy.


 The only issue we have had is that he makes a run for the front door the instant it is opened. We almost lost him once as he absolutely loves being outdoors. Which brings me to my final point.

SNOW!!!!

The 'beast from the east' may well be Humphrey's favourite event of the year. Unlike any of our previous dogs who hated the cold and rain, Humphrey has had an absolute whale of a time in the snow, he loves it!!! So I attach a video for you to enjoy! Along with a couple of pictures to show just how comfortable Humphrey is in our home!

Until next time...

Humphrey's traits

Hello all,

Just thought I would do a little post about Humphrey's likes and dislikes, he is quite the little character.

1. All of Humphrey's toys must be in the same place, or similar at least! He likes them to be on the rug we have here! I dont know if anyone has seen the "maracas child" on YouTube, but Humphrey is exactly the same when it come's to his toys! If you squeak one and he isn't nearby, he comes running in and takes it off you and puts it in a pile with his other toys!

2.  Humphrey loves the garden! We have some bushes in our garden that he is in and out of all the time. He has learned to go to the backdoor if he needs the loo, which is great, but his first stop is the bushes next to our patio! He has been running through them, attacking the twigs and earlier I caught him trying to drag one of the branches off of the Hydrangea, I don't think he realised it was attached!

3. Humphrey hates his lead. As soon as it is on. He sits down! Now sitting down is obviously great behaviour but he needs to learn to walk on the lead!

Thats it for now,

For those who haven't seen it. I've attached the Maracas child as a link on YouTube!

Beginning Life on MARSh

I was born on Friday 8th December 2017, and on Boxing Day 2017 I first met my new family, Karen and Bob. I think they liked me and I certainly enjoyed their cuddles, they decided to call me Humphrey, a name I think suits me very well!

I know Kelly, from Sleepy Hollow Clumberdoodle's, took lots of photo's of me looking grumpy to send to Karen whilst I was still too young to leave my Mummy.

Fast forward a few weeks and I have certainly grown.

Karen and Bob came to pick me up on Saturday 10th February and I had a LONG journey home in the car. I enjoyed my cuddles with Karen the most during the trip, but I really didn't like it when they took me outside with the lead on. I just sat still and decided that I didn't want to move. Karen and Bob just laugh at me when I do silly things! When I got home I played with Bob, I didn't get to spend much time with him in the car because he was driving. I like playing games with Bob, he is good fun!

That night Bob and Karen tried to put me in a large cage, I didn't like it and I wailed. LOUDLY. So much so that I got Bob, the big softie, to come and get me, he let me sleep on his bed! I hope this lasts!

The next day Rachel came home, she is good fun too, I really enjoyed running around the garden with her! She has been trying to teach me to 'sit' and 'come here', I have been working hard but I don't always do as she tells me, as other things are just far too interesting. Later that day, I went and met Ben and Emily, and Bruce! Bruce is a very big dog compared to me but he just didn't want to play!

I met the vet on Monday and he says I am very healthy, He gave me some injections so soon I will be able to go on some lovely forest walks.

On Tuesday, Rachel gave me a bath, it was not fun! I cried and cried, and splashed and splashed! Rachel got soaked!!!  Then in the afternoon Rachel took me to her friend Hannah's House! Hannah has a big dog called Bailey! She is fun to play with, although I am still a little too small for chase and she scared me a bit when she ran past me. But it was fun, when I got home I was far too tired to play with Bob so I just slept all evening!

Wednesday morning started with noise, lots of noise, made by me! I got a bit too excited playing with Bob and skidded on the wooden floor when I was running around, I ran straight into the door frame. I squealed and woke Karen and Rachel up. Then Bob and Karen both went out so Rachel put me in my crate, I decided barking and crying was the best way to go until she let me out! I spent the rest of the morning playing and sleeping.

It's been a good first week with the Marsh family! My favourite things to do are to run in and out of the bushes in the garden! I like to attack all the loose twigs and leaves as well!
I also enjoy playing with my toys in the house, I have a few toys but they have to stay on the rug! I don't like it when Karen, Rachel and Bob throw them off the rug, so I go and get them and bring them back! Other than playing with my toys I like to eat the tassels on the rugs and blankets!
I've also learned sit and come here and I am learning to Leave it!

I can't wait for next week's adventures!

Good night all,

Humphrey Clumberdoodle xx

Meeting Karen

In the car home!

Nap Time!