Vinnie -walking. And hot housing.

Vinnie's training is progressing remarkably fast! He's a smart, eager to please little puppy, although it's fair to say that I haven't had a dog for 14 years now, only a cat, and they aren't exactly obedient. This evening after dinner it was a beautiful balmy evening so the kids took their scooters and I took the baby in his pram and Vinnie on a lead and we went off to do some exploring in our new surroundings. The dog just walked tonight, instead of stopping and having to be dragged, he eagerly trotted along and only sometimes had to be dragged away from the most interesting of smells. We had our first encounter with other dogs and Vinnie behaved like a perfect gentledog whilst the other ones were being rather naughty, barking and whatnot. Then he came across something delicious, and didn't growl or protest at all when I opened his mouth and took it out. Then when we were nearly home, about four houses down the street I took him off his lead to see what he'd do and he trotted along contentedly, smelt a few things, and then ambled amicably into the front yard!

He's also doing "sit" now. Every time we feed him he sits. He's not quite up to waiting yet but that's going to be our next training command. He is doing brilliantly with the food aggression and eats out of my hand or with someone's hand in his bowl every feed. This evening I took him into the y ard to do a wee and he knew I had a treat so he was doing "sit" right in front of me all exaggerated, so that he could have his treat. The toilet training is coming along ok ... could be better, but given hos fast he's done everything else it's not going to be too much of an issue.

I bought some pet mince for Vinnie today and he refuses to eat it. So does the cat. But you'll be pleased to know that the Ladies of the Lawn loved it. The cat remains firmly in charge of the dog, but we've seen Vinnie taking more of an interest in The Ladies and rounding them up into their shed. They are still laying so we've decided to monitor the situation closely for now but take no action other than disallowing the dog in their shed.

We're hoping to find the time to get out in the green house tomorrow and plant some seedlings, I'm also hoping to plant more seeds so our bok choy and lettuce crops are aplenty through the summer. We also need to plant the fruit trees but we're not sure where we're going to put them, Possibly in the unused front garden, rather than in the back garden where the Ladies of the Lawn will possibly eat the fruit, and where the kids play.