It's Buddy's birthday today. He is six years old, and I can't believe that the tiny black bundle we brought home, it seems like not so long ago, is definitely all grown up. Well, physically anyway, at heart he is still a mischievous puppy, and is still full of energy, and I wouldn’t have him any other way!
In the last year he has tried many things for the first time – agility, heelwork to music, and obedience classes and competitions, and taken them all in his stride. He has also passed his Bronze, Silver, and Gold Kennel Club Good Citizen awards.
I’ve just spotted in the news that John Schneider – remember him as the blond brother in the original Dukes of Hazzard show? – has had his two dogs stolen.
He had bought two puppies as Christmas presents for his children, and he had left them in his car, which was then stolen. Though the car has been recovered the puppies are still missing. The puppies are ten week old Yorkshire Terriers.
How many dogs do you walk? I’m usually accompanied by two, which I can just about manage, except when I have to juggle two leads in one hand, and open and use a poop bag, and at the moment avoid dropping my gloves in the aforementioned poop!
| Ollie and Dylan running Click photo for larger image and details |
Sometimes blogs should carry warnings. Last Saturday I was catching up with my blog reading, and was working my way through my “favourites”. I was bemoaning the fact that one dog blog I regularly read hasn’t been updated since mid-October, while I opened the next blog, which was Stephen Foster’s. (http://walkingollie.wordpress.com/) I found myself looking at a post titled Leaving Ollie, and immediately alarm bells rang.
Keeping an eye on dog-related news items is part of compiling DogCast Radio, and it seems there have been some unusual mishaps recently.
If you have a dog with a penchant for running away, the Retrieva collar might be of interest to you. I remember interviewing a representative of the company at Crufts 2008 and thinking what a well thought out product it was. Not only does it let you track your dog, it is tamper proof, and will withstand water should your dog take a swim while wearing it.
So not only will it help if your dog simply wanders off, but it should help cut down on the number of dogs stolen. And that can only be a good thing.
Hooray – it’s December! Deck the halls and all that! We’ve put our Christmas tree up, and explained to Buddy and Star that they mustn’t pee on it or try to eat it. They are actually outraged that our local pet store has sold out of dog treat advent calendars, and until more stocks arrive they have to make do with watching the smaller pets in the house receive their advent calendar treats, which isn’t quite the same thing at all!
| dog Click photo for larger image and details |
We have many photos uploaded to the DogCast Radio site, and each one, along with each comment is checked and approved by a one of us to ensure it’s relevant and suitable. The other day I came across one that immediately made my eyes fill with tears. You can see the photo attached to this post. It’s a bog standard shot of a Springer Spaniel, and it’s slightly out of focus, but that’s not what made me cry.
| Star whispering sweet nothings Click photo for larger image and details |
I love this photo of Star finally getting her man. She had been trying for ages to lick his ear, and he had fended her off and fought valiantly for ages. Then at last she wore him down and he gave in.
She’s just so intent on licking, and he’s laughing and squirming at the same time, it always makes me smile.