Satanic Separation Anxiety

Heyy, 

Last week I was dreamily gazing out of the window at the setting sun awaiting my new arrival and now I sit here and listen to him cry and winge as we try and attempt one of the hardest things about puppy ownership - Training. Little Frankenstein (made by mistake and pieced together from two different breeds of dog - Jack Russell Terrier and Toy Poodle) has been somewhat of a little horror this week in terms of separation anxiety. Whilst his time alone is arduous, to say the least, I look at other owners we know and their animals as I am glad we don't have it that bad! 

A quick Google of Dog Separation Anxiety come up with hundreds of helpful pages with useful tips, tricks and hints on how to have a happier pup! One website, in particular, I have referenced for a bit of help has been PetMD. Their article on "Five Steps to Preventing Dog Separation Anxiety" has some really great information that I think would be helpful for all levels of Dog momma out there. 

Separation Anxiety can show itself in animals and in humans, however, for man's best friend this could develop if left into a psychological disorder of hyper attachment that manifests as barking, crying, urination, defecation, and other destructive signs when the dog is left alone in the house.

Veterinary behaviourist Lisa Radosta from PetMD recommend to ignore and not pay attention to your dog when he follows you or your family around the house. "Many attention-seeking behaviours, including dog and puppy separation anxiety, can simply be corrected by ignoring them." 
I have done this pretty much from day dot, just simply because I want to get in through the door, put down the bags of shopping or kick off my shoes and down my laptop bag before even saying hello to the animals, Mr. Warehouse is exempt from this of course!

The article continues with "hiding all departure cues from your dog so that he or she can’t begin to associate them with your departure". 
This is difficult as for us it is not leaving the house that seems to be an issue, although we haven't yet heard any complaints from the neighbours, but itis night time and the routine surrounding that my fiance and I find difficult. Everything seems fine, up until we leave the lounge and leave him with his blankets, toys, chewy things and play stuff. You would think he would be entertained but our little Frank just isn't happy when it comes to bedtime! Howling and crying were the first problems, but then, after looking after friends dog's for a few nights last week, he really learned how to use his lungs and has even started scratching at the inner lounge door, which we have tried to train him out of doing, but it is hard. 

Avoiding having a meltdown was another point in the "Five Steps to Preventing Dog Separation Anxiety" from Lisa Radosta at PetMD. Keeping your dog from having a full-blown emotional response is difficult as we are finding. However, the Veterinary behaviourist says that he "should not be following you to the door when you go to leave. Instead, put him in his crate with something really fun to do, well before we are getting ready to leave or go to bed." Coupled with this the article carries on to say that we should, in addition, confine our dog in his crate for 10 to 15 minutes a day when at home. The problem we have with that is that I don't want to crate train Frankie and neither does Mr. Warehouse by the sound of things. They are ugly and space eating but also I am not sure that they actually help, I feel it is the lazy ladies answer to training and only makes for a less family feel of owning a dog. Obviously, I understand it is helpful but whilst crate time can be fun and never used as a punishment, I just feel that for us as a family, not to say that is wrong, it's just not right for us. 

Top Tip we haven't tried yet is the treating method, which, in itself seems pretty counter-productive. Veterinary behaviourist Lisa Radosta from PetMD recommends associating our departure, be it night time or otherwise, with something wonderful, like rare dog treats that he only gets at that time of day. We have however started the task of always asking Frankie to sit before we interact with him and this includes leaving as well. This will hopefully in time set up a predictable, structured relationship between us all and help him to understand how to get attention from us in the best way and by doing things we want him to do like wee's and poo's outside and staying put when told to do so. 

Training other than the whole night time routine seems to be going OK though as he now knows his name and comes back most of the time when called, he knows a little on how to play fetch and catch, knows the command down or no, although little most toddlers and puppies, sometimes selectively hears what he wants to. I am sure we have made the right decision after the hell of the first few nights, but only time will tell how much of a clever little boy we have. 

'Til next time, Love A.Lou xx

The Bride Bible

Afternoon All, 

Lying in the sun on my newly purchased sun lounger I was enjoying my garden far more than I ever thought was possible. Obviously, I knew from living in a top floor penthouse apartment I would relish having a garden of any sorts. Then, when I moved downstairs to my ground floor flat I excitedly planned parties and patio barbecues on my new outside space. Soon however I grew tired of the Courtyard garden I had and longed for some grass and maybe a shed. Now I have it I wonder where and what I will want for next, however as I spent my long Easter bank holiday in the sun, Pooch by my side and with the noise of Mr Warehouse's gaming in the background I delved deeper into wedding magazines and planning books. 

Following on from last weeks blog post, I have taken great joy in trawling the wedding planning website "Hitched.co.uk". This got me thinking and after some more research found tonnes of wedding websites dedicated to giving the best advice possible to a successful big day! Scrolling through the websites, blog posts and articles online (in-between cocktails and trips indoors to make said cocktails) I came across some more helpful tips and tricks from "Brides.com". 

Top advice from "Brides.com" comes in the form of crafting. They say that it is essential to remember that you’re not in this alone! After all, a wedding is the coming together of two people and their friends and families so take your bridal party, family members and maybe even your fiancé and ask for their help. Be sure to delegate some tasks to take some of the load off of you. Have you got a friend with flare, a crafty cousin or a baking bestie? If yes then rope 'em in too and get your address book to be your vendor list. I can almost guarantee as in our case you will have someone who knows someone and no doubt they will be able to give you not only a genuine quotation but also maybe make a little more of an effort or even do you a freebie if you're lucky! People love to help and in my experience as soon as I started discussing wedding planning, friends, family and associates were throwing themselves at me to offer up services or names of people that could help. 

I would summarise that most people nowadays be the cost of a wedding and probably keel over from a heart attack. If however, they have not succumbed to the shock then I would imagine they would think that the DIY could be a cost-effective way of creating your dream day on a budget. Doing it yourself can add some nice personal touches too, just don’t go overboard or you’ll end up with more work than you know what to do with. Feel free to go the DIY route with things that can be done well in advance, like favours, table numbers, etc. For things like flowers or food that need to be done close to the wedding date, professional help is best, however, I have decided myself to cut down on costs entirely and make all of my bridal parties flowers and arrangements myself. I have chosen to do this on the basis that the boutonnieres for the groomsmen and best men and the bouquets for the bridesmaids and maid of honour can be kept as a gifts. I also happen to have a bunch of faux flowers that I have picked up along my way through wedding buying, most of them fairly inexpensively on ye olde Facebook Marketplace. 

Another interesting take on modern wedding etiquette that certainly didn't happen in either mine nor Mr. Warehouses parents time was that of social media. Whether you want to broadcast your wedding to the world or have an unplugged wedding, the strategy is important. Hashtags, signage and photo booths are a great way to get guests posting on social. If you’re more private, include signage about an unplugged ceremony or have the officiant make a quick announcement before proceedings begin. Mr Warehouse and I have yet to have the discussion as to whether we would like people to hold off posting until we have, although I am almost certain that he will tell me I would be a major bridezilla by asking people not to post before I do. I love the idea of having our wedding just for those that are there in the moment and not having mobile phones in your face, just like so many generations before us. However, that being said I also enjoy the attention and the fact that my wedding would be broadcast to my following on social media including old school friends that I no longer speak to, ex-boyfriends that could have been and maybe a few enemies along the way would fill me with great joy. 


It seems that organisation is key when planning your own wedding, and I think that this will be especially true, if, like us, someone is on a shoestring. There are so many balls up in the air at once, you need a way to keep track of everything. My advice - Spreadsheets. One of the many wedding planning management apps or programs out there can help and places like "Hitched.co.uk" and "Brides.com" both have helpful budgeting tools. I suppose though that I will just remember that even with the most meticulous planning and organisation system, there is bound to be some chaos from time to time. 

Whatever happens, the control freak inside me says I should probably try my best to plan ahead and not be too hard on myself when the inevitable happens on the big day. however, we've still so much left to plan and the plenty of time to do it in a very much doubt that there will anything left till last minute.

'Til next time, Love A.Lou xx