Gentle Giant Clicquot

Clicquot (named after champagne) is a 70kg Newfoundland (Terranova) who loves to swim, sleep and receive as many cuddles as possible. She was born in Wales and we’re very thankful to the breeder ‘Sandbears’ for helping with the transition from the UK to Mallorca. Clicquot’s father Tyler is a UK/USA best breed Champion.

Clicquot receives a lot of attention when walking on the beach or sitting guarding our art gallery in Pollensa. She has a large fan club in Majorca due to her large presence. Quite often she is recognised walking the streets or drooling over someone’s dinner!!
She is very fond of children and loves to play. Her biggest present to everyone are her wet, sloppy kisses!! With the help of her webbed paws she is a very strong swimmer, this particular breed is used for water rescue. Despite her enormous size she has a very calm demeanour hence her nickname ‘The Gentle Giant’. Thankyou Mary Petley

Photos of your pets

My name is Snoop and I am 6 years old. I have just migrated from the UK to Majorca and love dipping my toes in the water, all foods and cuddles.. sent in by Sarah Hargest.

Donna Brown sent a picture of Chester (r) and Daisy(L) who were good friends until Daisy very sadly passed away in the last few months, she is sadly missed by all the family. Rip Daisy.

Bengal Cats: Merlin and Kubla Khan

Descended from Asian leopard cats, the domesticated Bengal cat’s coats resembled that of the wild cat and are flecked with gold which shimmers in the sunlight. Bengal cats have webbed feet and swipe their water bowls before drinking, usually all over the floor. My two really preferred to drink from the running water of the kitchen tap, perhaps they thought of home as their tropical forest and the tap a waterfall. Highly intelligent they also have brilliant memories meaning they were hard to trick and impossible to medicate. They hated being in the car and would howl and yowl as if something terrible was happening. I pity the pet transport that brought them from Scotland to Majorca! Bengals are amazing at jumping and making it to the top of a cupboard to lay in wait was no effort to my boys. A quick swipe to catch you hair was enough to get you in the habit of checking before walking past.

Merlin liked to sit on the edge of the bath when I was in it and ‘fish’ for toes! Bengals can be trained like dogs and can learn basic commands, indeed Merlín was great at playing fetch until we introduced a border collie who was also good at it. Khan preferred to watch. They can learn to open doors with handles, turn light switches on and off and then tell you all about it. My boys were loud. They seemed to answer you when they wanted a chat and welcome you home with a bunch of cat questions and demands for dinner. Affectionate when they wanted to be they both loved to sit on your knee and take up all the room on the bed. Merlín was 13 when he died two years ago. Khan was 15 when he died this week, the house is very quiet and it will be a while before I stop looking for him. Named after a poem by Samuel Taylor Coleridge I hope my boy Kubla Khan finds his Xanadu, I will miss him, I miss them both.

Quick tips for Puppy Potty Training

(Joachim Sommer: FB: perrocador. info@perrocador.com)

For some puppies it is easy to get used to not urinating or defecating in the house.
Others need more guidance. Our recent addition to the family, Bob, was having “accidents” even when he was older than 6 months.

The important things to remember are:

· The dog NEVER does this out of spite or because they are “dominant”.

· A young puppy needs to pee or poo give or take half an hour after drinking or eating. You can set them up to succeed by managing food and drink (the latter may be difficult on Majorca in the summer) and going out with them straight after their meals or when they drank.

· Re-inforce them heavily when they do their business in the “right” places.

· Get them pee pads. If they struggle learning you can take this outside with you so they can pee in a “known place”. These pads usually are made of plastic covered paper but there are even real grass pee pads available.

Lasty and MOST IMPORTANT:

· Never, yes NEVER, punish the dog when they did the “dirty business” in places you don’t want, as punishing them for this has a very high probability that they learn it is bad for them to pee or poo in front of you, so in the future they may only do it when they are alone and most likely in places we don’t want them to.
As with so many things in dog training patience is the key to success.