Today it's going to snow. It was forecast and there are already little fluffs of it occasionally drifting down from the sky. Now that it's light I can see the clouds are absolutely packed with white stuff just ready to burst out like an over-bashed feather pillow in a pillow fight.
There is nothing quite so magical as dogs when it snows. Especially the moment when you open the door and they realise the world has turned white and soft. You can see their momentary hesitation in the doorway, the crinkle of their noses and widening of their eyes as they try to work out what has happened.
Then they tentatively put a paw out as if they are testing to make sure they wont sink and then they leap. And leap, and bbound and run and smile and bark and roll and leap again.
Snow and dogs is a great combination as long as the dogs stay toastie warm of course but I've never come accross a dog who dosen't love it.
And today I'm going to miss it as I'm off to the Country Living Show in the SECC Glasgow with my freinds in the village, where I will try not to spend any money and will be envious of Other Half who will be here with the dogs in the snow...
Friday, 21 November 2008
Ouchhh!
Poor Henry had a bit of an accident earlier today.
We were in the house laughing at Molly bombing around the living room at 200mph which was extremely funny when we heard a sort of dog sreaming noise from outside. After a moment of looking at each other asking 'What on earth was that?' Other Half and me ran outside to see what the matter was.
Poor Henry had jumped the fence which seperates the grass in the garden and was holding his front leg up and crying in pain. He had really hurt himself but we couldn't work out what he had done as he was so frightened that it was difficult to hold him still to have a look.
It seemed he didn't want to walk so Other Half lifted him over the fence and then I carried him into the house where we could take a better look and calm him down. He was so frightened and making little whimpering noises as I carried him in.
Once inside we realised that he had somehow scraped the inside of his front leg almost right down to his paw. It's really deep and has pulled the fur off but not actually cut his leg, it's more like a really bad graze. It also seems that he has bruised it quite badly as he's limping on it slightly.
He will be ok, just rather sore for a few days, although I think he'll most likely have a bit of a scar which will be a shame but at least he's going to be alright and he's been cuddling up to me on the sofa for most of the evening for extra special Henry cuddles which are lovely.
We were in the house laughing at Molly bombing around the living room at 200mph which was extremely funny when we heard a sort of dog sreaming noise from outside. After a moment of looking at each other asking 'What on earth was that?' Other Half and me ran outside to see what the matter was.
Poor Henry had jumped the fence which seperates the grass in the garden and was holding his front leg up and crying in pain. He had really hurt himself but we couldn't work out what he had done as he was so frightened that it was difficult to hold him still to have a look.
It seemed he didn't want to walk so Other Half lifted him over the fence and then I carried him into the house where we could take a better look and calm him down. He was so frightened and making little whimpering noises as I carried him in.
Once inside we realised that he had somehow scraped the inside of his front leg almost right down to his paw. It's really deep and has pulled the fur off but not actually cut his leg, it's more like a really bad graze. It also seems that he has bruised it quite badly as he's limping on it slightly.
He will be ok, just rather sore for a few days, although I think he'll most likely have a bit of a scar which will be a shame but at least he's going to be alright and he's been cuddling up to me on the sofa for most of the evening for extra special Henry cuddles which are lovely.
Monday, 17 November 2008
Dog Walk Chaos
Yesterday we took all three dogs for a walk. Although Badger hasn't had his second injections yet we think he is pretty safe around the farm but for the next two weeks all dogs are confined to close quarters.
We decided to walk down the long track and as sometimes happens some holiday makers came along to park up and look at the view. As we got closer to the car we thought we'd better scoop Badger up as he has a habit of going under the cars on the driveway and we didn't want him to get run over if the car decided to move off.
Badger was in a particularly playful mood and wasn't wanting to be caught so we scurried about trying to catch him while Other Half held on to Henry and Molly's extending leads. When we finally go hold of Badger we looked up only to find that Henry and Molly had their heads and front half of their bodies in the open window of the car!
If it wasn't such a shock it would have been really funny (well actually it was quite funny) and I ran up to get them down and the occupants of the car were really nice about it, despite the mud that Henry and Molly had put all along the window ledge. I had Badger in my arms and the lady in the passenger seat immediately wanted to stroke him and while she was doing that I realised that Badger had got his undercarriage slightly coated in cow poo at some point of the walk so there I was trying to be very nice about the dogs and thankful that they didn't actually jump in and hoping no-one would notice the smell of cow poo which was probably transferring itself from Badger to the nice lady.
By this time Henry and Molly had started to whine as they wanted to get moving so we made a hasty retreat along the track.
I thought that the problem with walking three dogs would be about getting tangled in leads and dogs going off in all directions but it seems that there is more to it than that!
We decided to walk down the long track and as sometimes happens some holiday makers came along to park up and look at the view. As we got closer to the car we thought we'd better scoop Badger up as he has a habit of going under the cars on the driveway and we didn't want him to get run over if the car decided to move off.
Badger was in a particularly playful mood and wasn't wanting to be caught so we scurried about trying to catch him while Other Half held on to Henry and Molly's extending leads. When we finally go hold of Badger we looked up only to find that Henry and Molly had their heads and front half of their bodies in the open window of the car!
If it wasn't such a shock it would have been really funny (well actually it was quite funny) and I ran up to get them down and the occupants of the car were really nice about it, despite the mud that Henry and Molly had put all along the window ledge. I had Badger in my arms and the lady in the passenger seat immediately wanted to stroke him and while she was doing that I realised that Badger had got his undercarriage slightly coated in cow poo at some point of the walk so there I was trying to be very nice about the dogs and thankful that they didn't actually jump in and hoping no-one would notice the smell of cow poo which was probably transferring itself from Badger to the nice lady.
By this time Henry and Molly had started to whine as they wanted to get moving so we made a hasty retreat along the track.
I thought that the problem with walking three dogs would be about getting tangled in leads and dogs going off in all directions but it seems that there is more to it than that!
Sunday, 16 November 2008
Isn't blogging great?
Ok this is a post by me about blogging and the unexpected delights I've found in it. Over the last week of so I've clicked on the odd 'Blog of Note' at the top of the Blogger page and found some really fab blogs, the first was Back Porch Musings which is just wonderful and all about decorating and interiors. It's just like buying a really expensive magazine but without the expense or ads.
From there I found Catherine Holman Folk Art, a style I've always loved and adored. Catherine's blog led me to Nie Recovery, this I clicked on purely out of curiosity for the logo and found the most heart breaking and ongoing story of a beautiful family, the parents of which have been seriously injured in a plane crash earleir this summer. Looking at the photos of the family happy together before the accident makes it such a terrible thing to have happened.
Then on Friday night through Back Porch Musings I found Cape Cod Memories (Beachy) and oh my, clicking on this one is like spending the day somewhere truly peaceful and beautiful and once you've read it all you feel just like you've had a lovely holiday somewhere. This one is definately my favourite at the moment
So the moral of this post is about how great blogging is. It starts from a purely nosey begining right up to feeling you've found new friends even though you'll probably never meet them. And most of all it's stopped my bad habit of sneaking expensive interiors magazines into the shopping trolley!
From there I found Catherine Holman Folk Art, a style I've always loved and adored. Catherine's blog led me to Nie Recovery, this I clicked on purely out of curiosity for the logo and found the most heart breaking and ongoing story of a beautiful family, the parents of which have been seriously injured in a plane crash earleir this summer. Looking at the photos of the family happy together before the accident makes it such a terrible thing to have happened.
Then on Friday night through Back Porch Musings I found Cape Cod Memories (Beachy) and oh my, clicking on this one is like spending the day somewhere truly peaceful and beautiful and once you've read it all you feel just like you've had a lovely holiday somewhere. This one is definately my favourite at the moment
So the moral of this post is about how great blogging is. It starts from a purely nosey begining right up to feeling you've found new friends even though you'll probably never meet them. And most of all it's stopped my bad habit of sneaking expensive interiors magazines into the shopping trolley!
Friday, 14 November 2008
Routine
One of the most important things in a dogs life is routine. And strangely since Badger arrived we have adherred to a very strict routine. So much so that it's actually becoming boring.
Early Morning Routine
The dogs wake around 7.30 to go out for a pee and a general snoop around the garden. Badger gets his breakfast. All dogs go back to bed until we have breakfasted and showered etc.
Mid Morning Routine.
Henry plays with Badger. Badger Plays with Henry. Molly watches and adjudicates where needed. All dogs go back to bed.
Lunch Time.
All dogs look through the kitchen door while we eat. We go out for a walk, unless we have sideways rain and wind which no-one likes.
Mid Afternoon.
All dogs go back to bed.
Late Afternoon.
All dogs eat dinner, go out for a wee, then go back to bed.
Early Evening.
All dogs watch us having dinner. All dogs go back to bed.
9.30pm
All dogs wake up and start running around having play fights, barking, growling, rolling about the floor.
10.30pm
Same as 9.30pm
11.00pm
I give up and go to bed leaving Other Half to it.
Somewhere in the middle of my slumbers, Other Half settles the dogs, sends them out for a wee and all dogs go back to bed.
So pretty much all our dogs do is just eat, sleep and wee and play. Not a bad life eh?
Early Morning Routine
The dogs wake around 7.30 to go out for a pee and a general snoop around the garden. Badger gets his breakfast. All dogs go back to bed until we have breakfasted and showered etc.
Mid Morning Routine.
Henry plays with Badger. Badger Plays with Henry. Molly watches and adjudicates where needed. All dogs go back to bed.
Lunch Time.
All dogs look through the kitchen door while we eat. We go out for a walk, unless we have sideways rain and wind which no-one likes.
Mid Afternoon.
All dogs go back to bed.
Late Afternoon.
All dogs eat dinner, go out for a wee, then go back to bed.
Early Evening.
All dogs watch us having dinner. All dogs go back to bed.
9.30pm
All dogs wake up and start running around having play fights, barking, growling, rolling about the floor.
10.30pm
Same as 9.30pm
11.00pm
I give up and go to bed leaving Other Half to it.
Somewhere in the middle of my slumbers, Other Half settles the dogs, sends them out for a wee and all dogs go back to bed.
So pretty much all our dogs do is just eat, sleep and wee and play. Not a bad life eh?
Badger Watching
The latest craze for Henry is Badger watching. Other Half decided that Wee Pup should be named Badger as he is black and white and looks a bit like a badger. I got the wildlife book out to check and there is a similarity I must admit.
So when the opportunity arises Henry will drink Badgers water, eat his food and generally keep a close eye on his new friend.
Some of this vigilance turns into knocking his new friend over and rolling him about like a football, very strangley Badger seems to love this and never seems to get scared even when Henry grabs his back leg as he walks away and drags him back. It's really funny to watch but was quite scary to begin with as Henry has rather huge teeth.
Hery has also taken possesion of one of Fergus's favourite toys, a large furry bone. Ferg loved this bone and never ever chewed it or tore it. henry has made a large hole in the side and is intent on removing the insides to throw them about the living room. I have of course done my best to stop this and do intend to sew the hole up but the bone is now all dog slebbery which makes that not such a nice job, and to wash it forst would probably mean blocking the insides of the washing machine.
The arrival of a new pup has certainly livened things up around here, not that they were quiet in the first place. Molly has started to play, both with Henry and Badger and she's started to do a really crazy thing which we have called 'trolley bumming'. This involves running round and round so fast that she becomes a bit of a blur, while that happens her back end gets lower and lower to the ground so much so that it seems she much have trolley wheels on her bum to facilitate this!
Wednesday, 5 November 2008
Ssssshhhhhh...
It's very quiet here. It's half past seven in the morning and I've decided to take action about the constant dog goings on around here.
Henry is in on it too and he came up to get me at 6.50 this morning and we sneaked downstairs without waking Other Half to let Wee Pup outside for a pee. We then gave him his breakfast, took him outside again just in case and then put him back to his bed.
He's still there. And is quiet.
Bliss.
Henry has gone back to bed too (Molly didn't get up) and I'm just checking my emails for work while enjoying the quiet.
Henry and I are thinking about slipping Other Half a sleeping potion to keep him in bed longer so that the house stays nice and quiet without Wee Pup constantly moving and disrupting anything.
Henry is in on it too and he came up to get me at 6.50 this morning and we sneaked downstairs without waking Other Half to let Wee Pup outside for a pee. We then gave him his breakfast, took him outside again just in case and then put him back to his bed.
He's still there. And is quiet.
Bliss.
Henry has gone back to bed too (Molly didn't get up) and I'm just checking my emails for work while enjoying the quiet.
Henry and I are thinking about slipping Other Half a sleeping potion to keep him in bed longer so that the house stays nice and quiet without Wee Pup constantly moving and disrupting anything.
Mad playing dogs
It's complete madness here.
Since the arrival of Wee Pup Molly has decided to become really seriously playful. Not with Wee Pup but just on her own. Henry plays on his own as well as with us and Wee Pup is currently enjoying almost constant attention from Other Half (he is meant to be his dog so he's taking full responsibility for everything which is really good).
So, the house is something like 'Doggy Daycare' at the moment. There isn't a moment when there isn't something doggy going on - it's not good when you are used to a peaceful life and right now I think it's just me that had a peaceful life.
On the up side, Henry has been a superstar with Wee Pup, he is tolerating him, looking out for him and running after him when he wanders off in the garden. It's brilliant although we aren't letting Wee Pup get too amourous with Henry as several times Henry has got a bit too rough with his big paddy paws and also Wee Pup has decided he needs to test his teeth on everything and we'd rather not have nasty recriminations.
Molly has been brilliant with him too, taking very little interest in him until he is scared or gets a Henry paw on top of him. She seems very caring about him which is so lovely.
On the Leaphound front, Henry has been making full use of the fence that I've had put accross in front of the grass in the garden. I put the fence up last winter as Henry kept bombing around the grass and started to wreck it. We are really exposed to the elements here and a bonfire on the grass takes two years to mend so a Leaphound tearing it up is almost terminal.
The unexpected advantage of fencing the grass off was that the dogs stayed nice and clean during the winter so I didn't have to clean the mud off their feet every time they went out for a pee so I decided to put the fence up again this winter.
The trouble is Henry has decided that this winter the fence is not for sectioning off the garden, its a hurdle for him to practice his Leaphounding with. He takes four steps out of the back door and takes off while accelerating at an incredible rate of knots before landing half way accross the other side of the garden.
This is instantly and fluidly turned into a rapid bomb around the garden, sometimes hurdling back over the fence and sometimes running so fast towards the wall or fence that it seems impossible for him to stop or turn in time before hitting it but with total skill he seems to angle his skids so that he never hits either of them.
Of course this all leads to major muddy paws which then have to be cleaned before Henry can come back in otherwise the carpet and sofa get all dirty. I wonder if the fence is going to be any use at all this year!
On a sadder note, it is exactly a year since I lost my dear old Fergus. I guess leaving me on the 5th November certainly meant he won't be forgotten and I had been anticipating today with more than a little sadness but now the day is here it has been fine, mostly I think due to Henry. He is so much like Fergus when he was young that it's sometimes easy to forget which dog is making me laugh, and today Henry and Molly have both made me laugh allot which has made me forget to be so sad.
Strangley though we ended up back in the vet where we were a year ago as while driving along the road we came accross a buzzard that seemed in a bit of difficulty. It didn't appear to have broken a wing or anything but was rather dazed so Other Half wrapped one of the dog blankets around it and we whisked it to the vets, only to end up in the same room as a year ago which was slightly bizzare. The bird was incredibly scary when the vet unwrapped him and I decided it might be a good idea to hide behind Other Half as he looked rather angry with me (the bird not Other Half). Anyway the bird has gone off to the wildlife hospital so I'll post if I hear anything about him.
As for Bonfire Night, well we are far to away from anywhere to be bothered by fireworks but we may be having some at the weekend, further up the track well away from the house. I think I may well stay in the house though, just to be sure the dogs are ok, although I'm pretty confident they will be fine but it's best to be safe than sorry.
Since the arrival of Wee Pup Molly has decided to become really seriously playful. Not with Wee Pup but just on her own. Henry plays on his own as well as with us and Wee Pup is currently enjoying almost constant attention from Other Half (he is meant to be his dog so he's taking full responsibility for everything which is really good).
So, the house is something like 'Doggy Daycare' at the moment. There isn't a moment when there isn't something doggy going on - it's not good when you are used to a peaceful life and right now I think it's just me that had a peaceful life.
On the up side, Henry has been a superstar with Wee Pup, he is tolerating him, looking out for him and running after him when he wanders off in the garden. It's brilliant although we aren't letting Wee Pup get too amourous with Henry as several times Henry has got a bit too rough with his big paddy paws and also Wee Pup has decided he needs to test his teeth on everything and we'd rather not have nasty recriminations.
Molly has been brilliant with him too, taking very little interest in him until he is scared or gets a Henry paw on top of him. She seems very caring about him which is so lovely.
On the Leaphound front, Henry has been making full use of the fence that I've had put accross in front of the grass in the garden. I put the fence up last winter as Henry kept bombing around the grass and started to wreck it. We are really exposed to the elements here and a bonfire on the grass takes two years to mend so a Leaphound tearing it up is almost terminal.
The unexpected advantage of fencing the grass off was that the dogs stayed nice and clean during the winter so I didn't have to clean the mud off their feet every time they went out for a pee so I decided to put the fence up again this winter.
The trouble is Henry has decided that this winter the fence is not for sectioning off the garden, its a hurdle for him to practice his Leaphounding with. He takes four steps out of the back door and takes off while accelerating at an incredible rate of knots before landing half way accross the other side of the garden.
This is instantly and fluidly turned into a rapid bomb around the garden, sometimes hurdling back over the fence and sometimes running so fast towards the wall or fence that it seems impossible for him to stop or turn in time before hitting it but with total skill he seems to angle his skids so that he never hits either of them.
Of course this all leads to major muddy paws which then have to be cleaned before Henry can come back in otherwise the carpet and sofa get all dirty. I wonder if the fence is going to be any use at all this year!
On a sadder note, it is exactly a year since I lost my dear old Fergus. I guess leaving me on the 5th November certainly meant he won't be forgotten and I had been anticipating today with more than a little sadness but now the day is here it has been fine, mostly I think due to Henry. He is so much like Fergus when he was young that it's sometimes easy to forget which dog is making me laugh, and today Henry and Molly have both made me laugh allot which has made me forget to be so sad.
Strangley though we ended up back in the vet where we were a year ago as while driving along the road we came accross a buzzard that seemed in a bit of difficulty. It didn't appear to have broken a wing or anything but was rather dazed so Other Half wrapped one of the dog blankets around it and we whisked it to the vets, only to end up in the same room as a year ago which was slightly bizzare. The bird was incredibly scary when the vet unwrapped him and I decided it might be a good idea to hide behind Other Half as he looked rather angry with me (the bird not Other Half). Anyway the bird has gone off to the wildlife hospital so I'll post if I hear anything about him.
As for Bonfire Night, well we are far to away from anywhere to be bothered by fireworks but we may be having some at the weekend, further up the track well away from the house. I think I may well stay in the house though, just to be sure the dogs are ok, although I'm pretty confident they will be fine but it's best to be safe than sorry.
Tuesday, 4 November 2008
Fencing
This week we have been getting some fencing done as Henry being a Leaphound can jump very well. Despite this he decided to get some extra jumping in while it was going on.
This is all normal for Henry and usually happens at high speed and it's a very good idea to keep out of the way while he is doing it.
At one point he decided to use the fencing that was yet to be used and half way accross the grass as a hurdle which was really quite excellent to watch.
New Addition
We have a new addition to our household this week, a puppy border collie who was born in the barn next door. He's very cute but quite hard work and has made me realise just why I've always had adult or young dogs!
Henry and Molly are coping with him very well, from the first hour they have let him wander around in between all their legs and have only growled when he has tried to invade their space or climb all over them.
Wee Pup might be staying forever, we'll see how it goes but for the time being everyone is enjoying having him to stay - Henry was also wondering if Mossie might want to give him a tip or two to make sure he stays here!
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