Puppy Proof Fence

I left the house for a few hours yesterday to go to work and came back to find Mr L'Orange had completed a garden make over. This would definitely be classed as a rare event, so I had to make a big fuss and give lots of praise (bit like dealing with the puppy really!).

Not only had Mr L'Orange cut all the grass and trimmed the edges and done a general tidy up he had also built a fence around the herb garden.

Before - Bailey & I tending to the garden

This is to stop Dog A L'Orange digging amongst the herbs, trampling eveything and biting off bits of spring onion. We are hoping that we won't have to have the fence forever, just until he moves out of his destructive puppy phase which I believe lasts 2 years!

After - the fabulous fencing

Mr L'Orange has also erected some fencing around the veggie patch as Dog A L'Orange is trampling all the seedlings and we now have 2 instead of 32 spanish onions growing. He has also managed to pull out the carrots - naughty puppy!

What a professional looking fence Mr L'Orange!

No more puppy in the veggie patch now.

He has been smacked numerous times when he jumps into the veggie patch but clearly loves going in there when we are not around - he is actually quite into gardening (just like his mum) except he rarely helps and instead just gets in the way.

For every two weeds I pull out and place in the bucket, Dog A L'Orange manages to throw one back on the ground and never seems to tire of this game unfortunately.

Finally,  Mr L'Orange also added some protection to our Japanese Maple which Dog A L'Orange likes to chew when he gets the chance.

Protected for now

Dog A L'Orange - 9 Weeks

If our puppy was a child he would be hitting the 'terrible twos' at the moment, as he has suddenly become very naughty. He has mastered how to climb up the inside of his puppy pen (in the style of Spiderman) and then escape over the top which has lead to fun and games when we try putting him to bed at night.

In the pen, for now.

He has also started biting and chewing pretty much everything in sight, he has no real interest in any of his doggy toys and much prefers shoes, pegs, clothing, brooms and plants. Bailey's amazing sense of smell coupled with his huge appetite has led him to find a large bag of sealed dog food, rip it open and then eat half the contents. Mr L'Orange and I then got the pleasure of enjoying two hours of totally energised, out of control puppy who had eaten 10 dinner's worth of food in one go!

Last night was a major turning point, as Dog A L'Orange pushed our patience one paw too far. The puppy decided to do a poo in the house, on our carefully stored away rug. This was despite having just been out in the garden and being pretty much house trained.  

Mr L'Orange quickly told the puppy off and placed him outside as punishment, however Bailey seemed to think it was some big game and was still wagging his tail and trying to ram his way back through the door into the house, much to the anger of Mr L'O. So the rolled up newspaper came out a good deal more 'firm chastisement' which resulted in the puppy looking down, tail between legs and then running under the bbq cover to hide.

Cute looks - naughty behaviour

This dog is clearly not use to us being firm as he didn't want to come out from the bbq cover over an hour later! We did both feel sorry for wee Bailey but he did need to learn a lesson and hopefully one telling off will have been enough. 

Puppy classes start on Monday so it will be a good opportunity to get him socialising with other dogs and hopefully sorting out some of his naughty puppy behavioural issues!

Happily biting a stick

The new Orange arrival...

You can’t live in the country and not have a dog, so Mr L’Orange and I would now like to introduce our

newest family member, Dog A L’Orange!

Our 8 week old English Pointer, also know as Bailey seems to be settling in well to his new home and to my relief has not destroyed too much of the garden….yet! However I don’t want to leave anything to chance and I am going to erect some temporary fencing around the herb garden, veggie patch and garden beds just to be on the safe side.

The new puppy is very alert and pretty obedient (as much as you can be for a puppy!), he enjoys meeting new people and loves his food. At the moment, Dog A L’Orange is sleeping in a pen in the house until he has all his injections and can move to a nice comfy kennel in the garden (Mr L’Orange is sorting this out – expect some humorous posts in the near future).

The puppy has a habit of curling into anyone’s feet when he wants to go to sleep and is very cute. So far he whines a lot when left by himself anywhere in the house or garden, but we are hoping he will grow out of this very quickly as it is quite annoying.

You can expect to see lots more of Dog A L’Orange in upcoming posts on the Life A L’Orange Blog. Don’t
forget Orange Wine Week starts today and then there is heaps of good stuff on for the next 10 days if you are at a loose end. The full Orange Wine Week programme can be downloaded here.