Dogs, children and people trainers

I love dogs, I love all animals (apart from Snakes which I have a mega phobia of). The picture here is our lovely Boxer dog Tilly.

We specifically got a Boxer as they are great dogs to have around children. They are boistrous, friendly and fun. Despite their look they are extremely friendly.

Dogs have personalities which reflect their owners. They are pack animals and respond well to a pecking order. They quite like being at the top of it as well. That is often where the trouble starts. In our household, we love programs such as "The Dog Whisperer". If you read the synopsis, it says that he's a dog trainer. Nothing could be further from the truth. He's actually a people trainer.

The sad thing is that many of his customers only get taught how to be a proper human being, because they have an unruly dog, which requires training. It's rather like programs such as "The House of Tiny tearaways". I always laugh when I see Tanya Byron on TV. She was in our NCT group when we had our eldest daughter Maddie. Her and partner Bruce (who is an actor on the Bill) were in the same boat as us then, starting the journey of Parenthood. I was reminded of this when we found a card from Tanya, congratulating us on the birth of Maddie. Strangely enough, I wasn't really keen on the idea of having children. Being a Rock and Roller, I enjoyed a fairly hedonistic lifestyle and didn't want to tone it down. I wasn't that chuffed initially to learn I was going to be a Dad. I've always been one to take my responsibilities seriously though, I've never once missed a band rehearsal !

Over the years, I've grown up. Once I got used to the idea, I realised that I needed to change my ways. I'm as proud as hell of my kids. When my eldest became a national swimming champion at the ASA age group championships last month, I was chuffed. All of that hard work really has paid off. It's the little things as well though, the shared Ice Cream, pointing out the North Star and how to locate it. These are the things which make life worthwhile. If anything I regret that commitments of work mean I've not seen enough of them growing up. Maybe they've seen too much of me growing up though.