Saturday 19 March 2011

What It Is To Be Three

Today is Calvin’s third birthday and he has been spoilt with toys and 2 free runs plus a trip to Pets at Home still to come. Unfortunately for him there have been no food treats this year, as I’m working on getting his weight down after I had to call Guide Dogs for a bigger girth strap on his harness. He doesn’t look obese in any shape or form, but he is over his maximum working weight of 38kg. I have Guide Dogs coming out on Monday to assess him.

With my puppy dog growing up right before me, it made me think what it means when a Guide Dog reaches their third birthday. Usually, it means they have spent two consecutive birthdays with their visually impaired owner. It means this is the longest period of time they have spent with an owner. It means the owner knows their furry friend like the back of their hand, likes, dislikes, habits and quirks. It means a dog should be settled. It means the dog is no longer a puppy. But most of all it means that the partnership that Guide Dog and owner share is rock solid, in the knowledge that they have many more years together.

5 comments:

Jen said...

Happy birthday Calvin! Three already? Waw!
He must be one very big dog! I don't mean overweight, just big in general. OJ is about 5 kg lighter than him and he's a big dog! His weight hasn't changed much at all since I got him, but the obvious change is in his muscles, particularly his chest. Its huge!

Selina Litt said...

The vet said his weight is fine cos he's a tall dog, but Guide Dogs disagree. The funny thing is Guide Dogs gave him to me over his ideal working weight of 35kg, as he was 36.5kg, but of course this was fine. When sitting he is hip height and I have long legs for my size. Everyone seems to comment that he has a big head too. He's got a distinct curve in after his rib cage and nobody has said he looks fat, which is the frustrating part.

Jen said...

Vets and guide dogs can have different opinions about ideal weight, but I think as long as you can feel his rib-cage without having to poke around, but it isn't sticking out either then you know he's ok. Vets sometimes forget about the importance of them being working dogs, and since pet dogs are often overweight they don't really notice.

Terri said...

No longer a puppy? Uma's still very puppy like, always wants to play and she hasnt calmed down yet, maybe she might just ever so slightly when she's 4 or

Uma's grown since i've had her too she used to be able to have her girth strap on 3 with wriggle room and now its on the 2nd to last hole and she nearly needs to go onto the last one. She is meant to be 33 and is currently 32.4 so not over weight though, she's just pure muscle like Calvin, she's never been overweight, my dad has problems holding on to her and god knows how i do it!

Selina Litt said...

No longer a puppy, but still puppy like yeah, Calvin is the same!

Calvin is super strong, but for the first time he pulled me flat on my face a couple of weeks ago. It was after athletics training, so my body was fatigued and I had no chance! It's just far too exciting for him when people are sitting on the floor!