Hazel's diet

For those who didn't know, Hazel has been on a diet since May. She has been running beside the bike for at least a mile a day, we have cut down on her treats and been practising our agility more often. These two photos were taken less than two weeks apart, but a difference is visible even between these two (and I look pretty different, too!)
Hazel and Bramble are also being weaned onto a raw diet, which they aren't too keen on at the moment- instead of wolfing it down like they should, they sniff it, give me an evil look and then back away. However I am reassured that after a while they will learn to love their new foodies.
I'm super happy with her progress, she looks amazing at the moment and hopefully it can only get better- her stamina is great and she is putting on muscle daily. Watch this space for more of Hazel's diet updates!

Swing-time!

Yesterday the dogs and I went to the children's swing park near our house. It has a big fence around it and I'm pretty sure dogs aren't allowed in it, but there weren't many kids in there so I thought it would be safe to let them in, and they loved it. There is a little climbing trail with a bridge to climb over and stumps that they jumped along, as soon as they finished going round they would run back to the start to do it again! Once they felt they had done enough running and climbing, they started play-fighting- at this point I thought it was time to leave (the last thing I wanted was for an over-protective mother mistaking their playing for aggression!)
On the long walk home the heavens opened and we got drenched in rain- brilliant! But apart from having two sopping-wet and grumpy pups, it was a good day!

Mum-style

Today we had agility lessons, and where I usually run the dogs and my mum will pretend to be interested, today she decided she would have a go running Hazel. She wasn't actually that bad considering she'd never done it before, I was preparing a hole to bury myself in with embarrassment but  she sort-of knew what she was doing. I guess she had been watching me running the dogs all these years after all.
Later on today I got the video camera out and finished off the filming for our newest YouTube video, 'Helpful dog tricks.'
I have attached the video to this post (see, I'm getting good at this blogging malarkey!), so everyone can take a look if they so desire.
I'm off to watch Doctor Who now with the dogs curled up next to me!

Today the dogs and I went to Moors Valley Country Park. Unfortunately, dogs aren't allowed off lead around the children's play trail, however we managed to make it fun for us! On the main path there are many tree stumps, which are a nuisance as people trip over them constantly, but for the dogs they are a super-fun obstacle course. Hazel and Bramble whizzed around with us- Bramble leaping over the stumps, Hazel almost leaping over but bottling it at the last minute and running around them, it couldn't be more exciting for them!
Instead of following the main path the whole way, my mother and grandparents decided it would be fun to have an adventure, so we all snuck off past a sign that said 'no entry'. Soon enough we realised why it said 'no entry', as we were ankle deep in bog! There was a bit of shouting, couple of falls and very muddy shoes, but I'm proud to report we all made it out of the bog alive, although only just for a few of us!
After our little adventure Hazel and Bramble had a photograph with the Gruffalo in the picnic area (Silly doggies, don't you know? There's no such thing as a Gruffalo!) and we went home.
You'd think the dogs would be tired after this, right? Well, they still managed to chase the bike for over a mile this evening when we took them out for their evening run, and I'm pretty sure they could've gone for longer! Crazy girls, there's no wearing them out!

My ferocious temper

For those of you that truly know me, and there are very few, you will know that I have had the most brutal temper-tantrums when become angry. Honestly, its so bad I had to go to the doctor about it, because my parents were so worried, but the source has yet to be discovered- perhaps it's just a combination of teenage hormones and an irritating family (although I feel the family part holds most of the blame!)

Although I can control myself now, when I used to get angry I would shout at anythin
g nearby, which was often the dogs. Looking back, I feel terrible for them, but at the time I know it felt like it was out of my control.
Despite having shouted at them, the dogs would always come back to me and with wagging tails and smily faces, eventually calm me down. That was the worst part, because I would shout at them, yet they would always forgive me. I used to say to Hazel 'If I shout at you, bite me, because I will deserve it', but because of her beautiful nature (and arguably her inability to understand the human language), she never would, she never showed the slightest form of aggression towards me.

Even now, if I ever become stressed and horrible to be around, when anyone else would want to be miles away, I know that Hazel and Bramble will be next to me. That's a dog's nature, they forgive and try to help.

So I ever say that it's wrong to shout at your dogs, know that this is from my own experiences. If they've eaten your socks or had an accident in the house, it doesn't help. I have found that not only are my dogs more happy to learn new tricks, they also learn faster now that I can control my temper. To train a dog you need to understand them, to understand a dog you need to show them compassion and kindness.

If you ever feel like your dog is stressing you out too much, remove yourself from the situation; shout at a wall or punch the curtains, but don't take it out on your dog. They love you so much, and always will whether you shout at them or not- but they will never deserve anything less than your unconditional love.

Hello everyone!

Hello pals, and welcome to our new blog. I am pretty new to this stuff but I will try my best. 

Let me begin by introducing ourselves; my name is Jodie Forbes, I am 17 years old and these are my two crazy, gorgeous and fantastically clever border terriers, Hazel and Bramble. 

I'm relatively uninteresting and impressively unsociable around human beings, but around animals I suddenly become some confident and self-assured creature-magnet. After failing my life-long dream of becoming a vet, I currently find myself confused about my future and a little lost. I paint a lot and have considered a career as an artist, but, somehow, I just can't see myself in a beret! 

When I picture myself in the future I see a strong female explorer trekking through the Amazon, rescuing snakes and crocodiles and being loved by all (imagine a combination of Steve Irwin and Wonder-Woman), but in reality, the way I'm going I will probably be selling newspapers on street corners.

But lets be honest, the real reason you visited this page wasn't to listen to me whining about my petty problems, it was to hear about the two scruffy muttlets known as Hazel and Bramble! 

Without being labelled as an existentialist, it's always hard to know why you were placed on this Earth, but for a child who barked instead of spoke, a child who went round people's houses to play with their dogs, not them, and a child who begged their parents to go to pet shops to look at the dog products- my fate was written in the stars and life seemed a little incomplete without a dog. But when I was nine years old, and after my parents promising me a puppy of my own, I found a breeder online who had one little puppy left, who would become the Hazel that we all know and love. Without going into huge detail, the couple who had put a deposit down to buy her split up before they could get her (this must've been terrible for them, and whist I honestly can't feel bad about it, I thank them so much for breaking up when they did!) 

We went up to Surrey to visit puppy-Hazel, and my heart flipped, exploded and melted spontaneously when I first set eyes on her. On the journey home my parents told me not to get my hopes up, as we weren't going to buy her, but a week later I came home to Baby-Hazel strolling around the house. Turns out my parents were joking, and they had actually put a deposit down the day we went up to visit her!

When Hazel was nearly a year old my parents took her and me to our first dog show, it was only a little fun one, but when we won a second and a third rosette and then won the junior handling class I was completely over the moon. It may seem novel to people who go to shows every weekend, but this remains one of the proudest moments of my life.

After owning Hazel for just over a year, we joined an agility club, and when she was three years old I started training her tricks. In 2010 Hazel qualified for Crufts with me in Grooming. 

Four years later, Hazel met her boyfriend, Sid, and became pregnant with six puppies. With my mother away and the vet caught up in traffic, I had to deliver the first few babies. The first of these pups was little Bramble, the size of my palm and looking like a slug with the ears of a bat! Although we knew there were at least two more pups coming, we knew as soon as she was born that this was our Bramble. Once all six of the puppies were born, Bramble still stood out- instead of having black fur like all of the others, she was orange. Even my mother who was in Spain, upon seeing a photograph of all of the newborn pups, said 'I like the orange one!'

When she was only a few weeks old I discovered that Bramble absorbs information like a sponge, and after seeing her mother perform some tricks she just joined in, without me even training them to her. That is the massive advantage of having a homegrown puppy, everything they know stems from you!

Now, almost four years on, Hazel and Bramble have done very well in shows, having qualified for Crufts 2011, 2012, 2013 and 2014, winning first places twice in Groomer of the Year and in Freestyle to Music. We have also performed in the main arenas at Crufts, Discover Dogs and the London Pet Show, been on television, magazines and in newspapers. They even won us a holiday to Los Angeles (That last one got them lots of treats!) 

But because they compete in shows it doesn't mean they are no longer pets, they are the most cherished thing in my life and I will be nowhere without them, anything else is just an extra.

So now you know just about everything about us! 

We will try to keep you up to date with our adventures and post regular photo updates.

Jodie, Hazel and Bramble

xxx

*A dog's life is dedicated to its owner and everything they do is to please those they love (this isn't a discussion point, if you don't agree, quite frankly, you're wrong) and this couldn't be more true when it comes to Hazel and Bramble, they learn, they perform and they compete for me. If I ever forgot this I would become instantly unworthy of their love.*