There has been much hilarity in this house over the last few weeks, mostly caused by the dogs, Henry and Badger being the main suspects.
Firstly though we had yet another episode of the toe, I took Badger for his one year check up and innoculations and we discovered two lumps in between two toes on both front feet. Not good. Still, I felt optomistic, surely the vet could just remove them and although the prospect of driving back and forth to the vet with a sore poorly dog for a couple of weeks wasn't a great thought at least it would get it sorted. The trouble was it turned out not to be quite that easy, Badger went in for a couple of X-rays and it turned out there were five or six little lumps in both front paws and this might mean having more toes amputated and it dosen't take a rocket scientist to work out that a dog can only have so many toes removed and then it would have to be a leg removed and if that's going on in both front feet then removing both front legs just wasn't an option, I'm sure you can work out what that option would be.
So we got referred to a specialist way up in Fife, to cut a long story short the fantastic lovely amazing specialist vet said that the lumps were something that happen in puppies and once they are past 12 months they should cease to form or grow and everything in Badgers feet had most probably stabilised. However they did find an absess in his foot where his toe was removed in the summer so they sorted that out, gave me some anti biotics and sent us on our way. I could have cried with relief, I honestly wondered if I was going to be bringing him home.
Since our visit to Fife Bdger has become the most happy, friendly and affectionate wee pup. He had turned into a grumpy, growly, bad tempered dog who no longer wanted to go in the car, had stopped us stroking him, would completely freak if we tried to touch his toes or legs and it was beyond me what to do with him. I think I'd describe him as smiley now!
On to the hilarity, since Badgers trip up north he has become more mischievous and has joined forces with Henry to create as much havoc in the house as possible. In order to keep this contained I've dug out lots of toys from Ferg and Bons days and Molly, Henry and Badge are like little children in a toy shop with them.
The first toy was a ball which you put treats into and it has a recordable switch where you can put your own voice and talk to the dog every time it moves the ball to get the treats out. Molly had played with this a couple of years ago but I took it away when we got Henry in case they fought over it. Amazingly she remembered what to do with it straight away, never underestimate the power of a greyhounds brain! When Molly stopped playing with it I turned the sound bit on and Henry really freaked, it was a recording from my ex and Henry never liked him much and so he pounced on the ball, it flew up in the air and the recording bit flew out accross the room and hit the wall. you couldn't have made it up in a film, you could say we won't be hearing from my ex again hahaha!
The next side splitting event came from Badger, he has a football which was an outdoor toy but has made it's way inside and Badge has slowly chewed a massive hole in it. He drags this ball around all over the place, putting it on your lap when youre wearing nice clothes, bringing it upstairs and placing it gently on your pillow and waits patiently for you to play fetch the moment you wake up and are faced with a slimey big thing right in front of you. Last night he discovered that the hole is now big enough for him to madly shake the ball and have it slap all around his head. How he does this and stays standing up or even concious I've no idea but once he'd done it the first time he kept on doing it, adding wee extras like slapping it against your legs or climbing up on the back of the sofa while youre watching tv and suddenly shaking it against your head to make you jump.
The ball got revenge though as mid shake it went right over his head and suddenly we had a football headed dog running about the house, attempting to look as though he really meant to have it on his head while trying to work out how to get it off before bumping into anything. It was so funny that we couldn't help as we were laughing too much which is probably a bit bad but it was so funny that even the though of it while I'm typing this is making me laugh.
So that's the madness for now, will be back soon with more...
Wednesday, 9 December 2009
Saturday, 7 November 2009
Timberdogs
Today I decided to chop some of the logs that I bought a few days ago. If it's a nice winter or autumn day, chopping logs is quite a nice occupation, it's all sort of rustic and homely and gives you an immensely good feeling when the logs are all stacked up by the fire. Strangely, when I have lots of coal, lots of logs and lots of oil in the tank I feel quite wealthy, it's a good feeling, no matter how much money there is in the bank.
So, while chopping the logs the dogs have to of course get involved. This means hanging around me, sniffing logs I'm picking up and then progressing to sniffing the big log that's used for chopping on and then even more dangerously, sniffing the log that is being chopped. They then all hng around me while I piled as many chopped logs into my arms and took them inside to stack beside the fire. Whilst stacking them, all three dogs watched intently as every log went down and the next was places beside it. I was then followed back outside to start the process all over again.
It's funny how dogs watch your every move with such instense interest sometimes. I was once told that although us humans spend quite allot of time watching and learning about our dogs, we will never equal the amount of knowledge the dogs have about us, they watch us all the time and know our every move even before we know it, that's how while thinking about taking them out for a walk as soon as you've finished washing up will mean that you'll come accross the dog bouncing about wanting to go out as soon as you've pulled the plug. Dogs are fab, really fab and although mine sometimes drive me nuts they all look angelic laying in front of the log burner which is currently roaring away with the chopped logs and a bit of coal inside.
So, while chopping the logs the dogs have to of course get involved. This means hanging around me, sniffing logs I'm picking up and then progressing to sniffing the big log that's used for chopping on and then even more dangerously, sniffing the log that is being chopped. They then all hng around me while I piled as many chopped logs into my arms and took them inside to stack beside the fire. Whilst stacking them, all three dogs watched intently as every log went down and the next was places beside it. I was then followed back outside to start the process all over again.
It's funny how dogs watch your every move with such instense interest sometimes. I was once told that although us humans spend quite allot of time watching and learning about our dogs, we will never equal the amount of knowledge the dogs have about us, they watch us all the time and know our every move even before we know it, that's how while thinking about taking them out for a walk as soon as you've finished washing up will mean that you'll come accross the dog bouncing about wanting to go out as soon as you've pulled the plug. Dogs are fab, really fab and although mine sometimes drive me nuts they all look angelic laying in front of the log burner which is currently roaring away with the chopped logs and a bit of coal inside.
Friday, 6 November 2009
Chicken Feed
Yesterday while cleaning out the chicken house I noticed Henry was being unusually quiet. Whenever I do anything with the chickens they tend to hang around me like a big chicken gang which Henry really wants to join.
After half an hour I went back into the garden to do something else and saw Henry emerge from the store where the sack of chicken corn is kept. What made him look so suspicious was that he was trying to keep his mouth very still while little bits of corn fell out the sides! He honestly looked like a wee boy who had been caught eating sweets and was trying to look like he wasn't eating anything. When I went into the store he'd tucked in to about an eighth of a sack.
Now why on earth would a dog want to eat chicken feed? I do feed him honest, even though he is a skinny dog, but chicken feed? I just can't see anything remotely attractive in it for a dog apart from the fact that the chickens eat it so therefore Henry wants it.
What I do know is that this is going to make for some interesting poop scooping later...
After half an hour I went back into the garden to do something else and saw Henry emerge from the store where the sack of chicken corn is kept. What made him look so suspicious was that he was trying to keep his mouth very still while little bits of corn fell out the sides! He honestly looked like a wee boy who had been caught eating sweets and was trying to look like he wasn't eating anything. When I went into the store he'd tucked in to about an eighth of a sack.
Now why on earth would a dog want to eat chicken feed? I do feed him honest, even though he is a skinny dog, but chicken feed? I just can't see anything remotely attractive in it for a dog apart from the fact that the chickens eat it so therefore Henry wants it.
What I do know is that this is going to make for some interesting poop scooping later...
Saturday, 17 October 2009
Blog Holiday
Sorry I've not posted anything for so long. It's been a mad few weeks and it was quite nice to take a blog holiday, until yesterday when I decided to catch up on all the blogs I followed and I realised how much I miss this and all of you.
On the toe front Molly has recovered very well. It wasn't an easy ride, she couldn't go out for three weeks and Molly is the kind of dog who watches the clock for the minute she is going for a walk and then leaps up and bugs you until you take her. However we made it through and she is now on shortish walks that are getting longer so very soon she will be up to speed and back to normal.
Over the last few weeks Henry's sense of humour has increased greatly. I had some shopping delivered one day and while putting it away I went to answer the phone, once off the phone I put some washing in the tumble dryer and carried on putting the shopping away. It wasn't until later that day that I discovered the bread wrapper, a container for a ready meal and a packet of toilet rolls at the bottom of the garden.
Then last week I made a chocolate cake, this is a rare event for me and I'd made it really chocolately and put lots of chocolate findant icing on the top. While waiting for the icing to set I put it right at the back of the kitchen work surface - this is somewhere that is relatively dog proof, until now - and went off to do something else. After a couple of minutes I heard a crash in the kitchen and shot through to see what was happening. Henry had climbed on one of the chairs, knocked a load of plastic containers off the work surface and pulled the cake to the edge. Not only that but he had licked the lovely fondant icing completely off of one half of the cake. Needless to say the cake ended up being a dog treat over the course of the next few days, I'm not sure what this teaches them but after all that hard work I wasn't going to throw it in the bin!
On a good note, Henry has stopped barking madly at the chickens. I can't remember if I said that I got four lovely Lavender Araucana hens, they are very beautiful and posh, in fact they are too posh to lay an egg so have become more pets than functional. For the first few weeks Henry barked at them non stop but thankfully now he has begun to get used to them and only barks if they are right by the fence. I think there is no doubt he'd have a chicken dinner if he could get through the fence but at least the barking has stopped.
Badger is doing well too, he had a bath last night which is a major event, but he is now adorable and fluffy and so cute looking. He's still a pest though with all his collie-brained habits like never ever keeping still but at least he is a clean pest now!
Well I'd better get on and go to work and I promise not to take a blogging holiday again for a while.x
On the toe front Molly has recovered very well. It wasn't an easy ride, she couldn't go out for three weeks and Molly is the kind of dog who watches the clock for the minute she is going for a walk and then leaps up and bugs you until you take her. However we made it through and she is now on shortish walks that are getting longer so very soon she will be up to speed and back to normal.
Over the last few weeks Henry's sense of humour has increased greatly. I had some shopping delivered one day and while putting it away I went to answer the phone, once off the phone I put some washing in the tumble dryer and carried on putting the shopping away. It wasn't until later that day that I discovered the bread wrapper, a container for a ready meal and a packet of toilet rolls at the bottom of the garden.
Then last week I made a chocolate cake, this is a rare event for me and I'd made it really chocolately and put lots of chocolate findant icing on the top. While waiting for the icing to set I put it right at the back of the kitchen work surface - this is somewhere that is relatively dog proof, until now - and went off to do something else. After a couple of minutes I heard a crash in the kitchen and shot through to see what was happening. Henry had climbed on one of the chairs, knocked a load of plastic containers off the work surface and pulled the cake to the edge. Not only that but he had licked the lovely fondant icing completely off of one half of the cake. Needless to say the cake ended up being a dog treat over the course of the next few days, I'm not sure what this teaches them but after all that hard work I wasn't going to throw it in the bin!
On a good note, Henry has stopped barking madly at the chickens. I can't remember if I said that I got four lovely Lavender Araucana hens, they are very beautiful and posh, in fact they are too posh to lay an egg so have become more pets than functional. For the first few weeks Henry barked at them non stop but thankfully now he has begun to get used to them and only barks if they are right by the fence. I think there is no doubt he'd have a chicken dinner if he could get through the fence but at least the barking has stopped.
Badger is doing well too, he had a bath last night which is a major event, but he is now adorable and fluffy and so cute looking. He's still a pest though with all his collie-brained habits like never ever keeping still but at least he is a clean pest now!
Well I'd better get on and go to work and I promise not to take a blogging holiday again for a while.x
Wednesday, 2 September 2009
More Toe Problems
You couldn't have made this one up. We have more toe problems in our house.
Time it's Molly, gorgeous, peaceful, silky, loving Molly who does nothing wrong, is never irritatingly bouncy or loud and just wants to be my friend. She was out for a walk with Other Half and tried to catch a mouse in the hedgerow. As she pounced she yelped and Other Half noticed her toe was at a funny angle so he brought her home and when I looked at it I decided it must be dislocated so we put it back into place and called the vet. No answer, hmmmmm, we called again and still no answer so I called her medical emergency line and they said to call the vet. Aggggghhh! I tried the vet one more time, got no answer and decided to assess the situation.
There was no blood, she seemed quite calm and un-bothered by her toe, and although she was hopping it wasn't stopping her from moving about and scrounging in the kitchen so I decided to strap it up, doing what the vet had done to Badgers toe, popping bits of cotton wool in between her toes, wrapping more cotton round her foot and bottom part of her leg and then bandaging over the top of that, except I didn't have any cotton wool so we had to use extra soft toilet roll instead.
Other Half had the job of taking Molly to the vet the next morning and it turned out that she had broken her toe. This was a bit of a shock to say the least espcially as we'd manipulated it back into place! So she had to stay in for the day and get it set and cast. Poor Molly, she is the most careful, dainty greyhound you'll ever know.
After work I ran down to the vet and collected her and was greeted with some hilarity about our bad luck with toes, and out came Molls hoping along with a great big dressing on her leg, ot bothering about it one little bit. She hasn't even tried to chew it, she's that good so here's hoping I won't have another lampshade dog for another six weeks.
In the meantime she is to have absolute rest, this should be fairly easy, she is a greyhound, lazing around is their speciality, especially when her bed is in front of the log burner.
So here we go again, back and forth to the vet but hopefully this will be an easier ride, fingers crossed. x
Time it's Molly, gorgeous, peaceful, silky, loving Molly who does nothing wrong, is never irritatingly bouncy or loud and just wants to be my friend. She was out for a walk with Other Half and tried to catch a mouse in the hedgerow. As she pounced she yelped and Other Half noticed her toe was at a funny angle so he brought her home and when I looked at it I decided it must be dislocated so we put it back into place and called the vet. No answer, hmmmmm, we called again and still no answer so I called her medical emergency line and they said to call the vet. Aggggghhh! I tried the vet one more time, got no answer and decided to assess the situation.
There was no blood, she seemed quite calm and un-bothered by her toe, and although she was hopping it wasn't stopping her from moving about and scrounging in the kitchen so I decided to strap it up, doing what the vet had done to Badgers toe, popping bits of cotton wool in between her toes, wrapping more cotton round her foot and bottom part of her leg and then bandaging over the top of that, except I didn't have any cotton wool so we had to use extra soft toilet roll instead.
Other Half had the job of taking Molly to the vet the next morning and it turned out that she had broken her toe. This was a bit of a shock to say the least espcially as we'd manipulated it back into place! So she had to stay in for the day and get it set and cast. Poor Molly, she is the most careful, dainty greyhound you'll ever know.
After work I ran down to the vet and collected her and was greeted with some hilarity about our bad luck with toes, and out came Molls hoping along with a great big dressing on her leg, ot bothering about it one little bit. She hasn't even tried to chew it, she's that good so here's hoping I won't have another lampshade dog for another six weeks.
In the meantime she is to have absolute rest, this should be fairly easy, she is a greyhound, lazing around is their speciality, especially when her bed is in front of the log burner.
So here we go again, back and forth to the vet but hopefully this will be an easier ride, fingers crossed. x
Monday, 24 August 2009
New Arrivals
Henry, Molly and Badger have four new friends, they are one hen, one bantam hen and two bantam hen chicks. All the bantams are beautiful lavender aracaunas and the hen is a white aracauna. I've been after some aracaunas for about two years as they are the chickens who lay blue eggs which you very occasionally find in Tescos for an extortionate price and of course if I see them I have to buy them however much they cost because they are so lovely to look at. Aracaunas are also very hardy which is handy as it's very bleak here in the winter and you'd need to be a tough bird to withstand it.
So off I went at dusk last night to a wee small holding to collect my birds and instantly felt very bad as all the chickens there were housed in deluxe coops, one even had double glazing! Our coop is small and basic but I suppose it does the job although I think a few alterations might be in line before the winter comes in. After we'd caught the chickens, well, after I'd watched the lovely lady who I bought them from catch them, I trundeled home with them chirping in a box in the boot. It was such a lovely noise and quite funny as every time I hit a bump the hens made a sort of egg laying noise.
Once I got home I then had the tricky job of getting the birds from the box into the coop without any getting out to be lost into the night, this was harder than I thought as they refused to move and due to space restrictions I couldn't really get hold of them properly. However after a while I had them all locked up for the night.
Then this morning the alarm went off. I lay there groaning that it was early and decided to treat myself to 15 more minutes and after a couple of those minutes suddenly remembered the chickens. Oh no! Who's ridiculous idea was it to get chickens? I'd never get a lie in again! I dragged myself out of bed and still in my jammies pulled on a big fleece and wandered outside, all three dogs following and wondering why they weren't getting breakfast yet.
As soon as I opened the coop door out popped all the birds and they started pecking at the food I'd put down while making satisfied chicken noises. I have to say it was such a nice noise and a lovely sight to finally have chickens here that it was very worth while loosing that exra 15 minutes in my bed.
I shall of course report on our first egg.
So off I went at dusk last night to a wee small holding to collect my birds and instantly felt very bad as all the chickens there were housed in deluxe coops, one even had double glazing! Our coop is small and basic but I suppose it does the job although I think a few alterations might be in line before the winter comes in. After we'd caught the chickens, well, after I'd watched the lovely lady who I bought them from catch them, I trundeled home with them chirping in a box in the boot. It was such a lovely noise and quite funny as every time I hit a bump the hens made a sort of egg laying noise.
Once I got home I then had the tricky job of getting the birds from the box into the coop without any getting out to be lost into the night, this was harder than I thought as they refused to move and due to space restrictions I couldn't really get hold of them properly. However after a while I had them all locked up for the night.
Then this morning the alarm went off. I lay there groaning that it was early and decided to treat myself to 15 more minutes and after a couple of those minutes suddenly remembered the chickens. Oh no! Who's ridiculous idea was it to get chickens? I'd never get a lie in again! I dragged myself out of bed and still in my jammies pulled on a big fleece and wandered outside, all three dogs following and wondering why they weren't getting breakfast yet.
As soon as I opened the coop door out popped all the birds and they started pecking at the food I'd put down while making satisfied chicken noises. I have to say it was such a nice noise and a lovely sight to finally have chickens here that it was very worth while loosing that exra 15 minutes in my bed.
I shall of course report on our first egg.
Saturday, 22 August 2009
Well Done Badger
Yesterday we went to the local agricultural show. After some thought I decided that Henry and Molly would be better staying at home but that we'd take Badger as he hasn't been anywhere in the car since his multiple expeditions to the vet which have made him hate the car - can't blame him really as every time he went in it for two months somebody hurt him at the other end.
We dosed him up with anti-sickness/nerves pills, took them all for a walk to wear out Hen and Moll and let the pills take effect for Badge then off we went. Once we were there I realised this was the first time Badger had been anywhere with crowds and lots of noise so I was a bit worried it might not have been the right thing to do but he coped with it as if he goes off to agricultural shows every week.
We wandered around for a bit to begin with and then started to meet people we knew, in fact the whole day turned into one big social event as everywhere we turned we bumped into someone else we knew and it was great having a good catch up with everyone from the village and surrounding farms.
Then there was an annoucment about the dog show and I suddenly thought why not enter Badger? So off I trotted, paid my 5op entry fee and stood in the middle of the field with Badger in the puppy class trying to look as though I did this sort of thing all the time (ok I know I did it a month or so ago with Hen but that was the first time since I was about 14!). Badger took an instant dislike to a very beautiful blue coated, blue eyed dog who was fairly close to us so I edged away before anyone of importance could hear this lovely cute pup growling like a wolf.
The judges made us walk round and round the ring and then run up and down - this was the hard bit as Badge pulls like a train when he's on the lead and I've got a dodgy knee so it could all have ended up in the infirmary. Then we had to stand in a big circle while they decided who had won, and guess what? It was Badger!!! So I guess that means we officially have the best pup in the area so I'm busting with pride for him, and this makes up for all the problems and stress we've been through with him in the last few months.
Well Done Badger!
We dosed him up with anti-sickness/nerves pills, took them all for a walk to wear out Hen and Moll and let the pills take effect for Badge then off we went. Once we were there I realised this was the first time Badger had been anywhere with crowds and lots of noise so I was a bit worried it might not have been the right thing to do but he coped with it as if he goes off to agricultural shows every week.
We wandered around for a bit to begin with and then started to meet people we knew, in fact the whole day turned into one big social event as everywhere we turned we bumped into someone else we knew and it was great having a good catch up with everyone from the village and surrounding farms.
Then there was an annoucment about the dog show and I suddenly thought why not enter Badger? So off I trotted, paid my 5op entry fee and stood in the middle of the field with Badger in the puppy class trying to look as though I did this sort of thing all the time (ok I know I did it a month or so ago with Hen but that was the first time since I was about 14!). Badger took an instant dislike to a very beautiful blue coated, blue eyed dog who was fairly close to us so I edged away before anyone of importance could hear this lovely cute pup growling like a wolf.
The judges made us walk round and round the ring and then run up and down - this was the hard bit as Badge pulls like a train when he's on the lead and I've got a dodgy knee so it could all have ended up in the infirmary. Then we had to stand in a big circle while they decided who had won, and guess what? It was Badger!!! So I guess that means we officially have the best pup in the area so I'm busting with pride for him, and this makes up for all the problems and stress we've been through with him in the last few months.
Well Done Badger!
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