buddyboy

The laptop had to go to hospital for a few days so I could sneak on via the work pc to catch up but not really post. The TV event went very well tho on the beach that morning China found a dead seal to roll on, then transferred the odour to Jed and Reg on the way home so those 3 had to have a shower ...... but it meant 2 pristine white dogs ready for their appearance so that was ok - until we got there and took them for a walk in the park, where they had a good run around then Madame found a stinky, muddy ditch to wallow in. Out she came black to the armpits - then she lured Jed into it with her! So 2 smelly, black sludge covered mini hippos!!! Had to obtain a bucket of water to wash them off - so much for me being cool, calm and collected - ended up soaked but at least they were only slightly off white for their debut, and I managed to dry off as well. Anyone who saw the clip - I would like to point out that the heavy breathing was China near the microphone, not me! Poor Bo was most unhappy at being left at home - he is fine if one of the other Bigs is with him but if it is just him and the Littles he get very sorry for himself. Jan called in for a couple of hours and he spent the whole time on the bed under the worktop and refusing treats! VERY un-Bo..... if there are more events I will have to take him with me - the Littles will be fine at home and if he has to be left in the car I can padlock the tailguard and leave the boot lid up with the solar fan on full blast for him.

Does anyone watch Vets Klinic TV? My Jed and China will be on it on Wednesday for the Deaf Dog Network! Sadly the brain kicked into gear AFTER I had offered their services and it dawned on me that means I will also be on it to hold them - meaning I now need emergency liposuction, facelift and wardrobe. http://www.vetsklinic.co.uk/

Amy you (and your mum and Louie) are stars as you ALWAYS get the stand sorted in the Wales area for Oldies Club - regardless of whether it anyone is helping the thing we all notice is that you 3 WILL be there come rain or shine.

On a lighter note - I did a Murtle last night (desperately hoping I remember who it was correctly!!) I went to a Belly Dancing Class!!!!!!!!!!!!! Very small group, very friendly people and thoroughly enjoyed myself BUT guess which part aches today?? Wrong!!! My ARMS! The others were doing graceful, sultry tempress arm movements and I think I probably looked more like a windmill in a gale

That is a great picture Yantan but I am a little confused.............. how many hands do you have? I can see a left and a right but what is clicking the camera button???

Good luck Phebe.. How about this for a GENUINE name for a group within the NHS - the "End of Life Team". I kid you not - I have rung them to check! My mother is a cantankerous control freak who does not believe in showing emotion (unless an animal is injured) - she said to me she had received a call from someone on behalf of this team and could not believe the name. She is terminally ill - she has known for a long time and has come to terms with it. She even jokes that she will not be around for certain events but this really set her back. She is determined to not give in until she has to (we are sure that bullying my father is what keeps her going) but she said this really upset her and I agree with her that there is no reason to rub people's noses in their situation. The team helps with things like a bath lift (you do not have to be terminally ill to need one surely). One of her support workers is employed by the team - and she is very pleased with what he does to help. I rang the team and the lady was extremely apologetic - they hate the name and are careful to not use it but sometimes the people who actually supply the services are not so tactful. The powers that be have said that they should use the name to be "Open and Honest" - I have said I am more than happy for one of them to contact me to explain to them in simple words how soul destroying "The End of Life Team" can be for someone who is determined to carry on as long as possible.

Jed says thank you everyone - he is rather happy to be considered gorgeous! He especially sends his love to Wispa who I believe he rather liked when he met her! He is my big deaf boy who does flyball demos, is a Pets as Therapy dog, and is now waiting for his call up to be the blood donor for the surgery if needed (since his friend lost her leg to cancer and cannot do it any more). Houndwoman - yes I do have some arnica (but where?!?!?)

Jed says thank you Phebe - it is true he is a big softy but it is ALWAYS Jed who gets the unprovoked attacks. Whether it is because of his size or the fact he has black patches over both eyes or what I do not know. He does now make a lot of noise and rumbling when it happens but luckily it has not turned him into one of those "I will get in first" dogs. Jed Last night - very swollen This morning - thanks to tea tree oil and the fact the skin was only punctured in a couple of places and scraped in the rest. Swelling gone down a lot (but still there and SORE!)

The boys were perfect - very proud of them! PLUS when I got home China had been a very very good girl as not only was there no destruction but nothing had been pulled off the worktops or dragged into a different room. High praise all round for my doglets. Not so good today - I got bitten! Not at the event but gave someone a lift home and their dog launched at poor Jed. Super Bo zoomed in and forced the dog off him (gets in between the 2 and pushes through) but the dog then launched at Jed again from close range - I put my arm across Jed's throat to protect him luckily so it was my arm with the bad bite and not his neck. BSL is a crock of poo - Jed is a big bullbreed who was standing quietly next to me when it happened, the dog that was intent on killing him is a collie which raced over and latched straight on to him ........

I was also going to suggest that - many people love dogs but feel that when they (the people) are elderly it is unfair to take on a new one (and do not want to take on an older dog full time). There are also people who feel they could not give a dog a decent home due to long working hours but would love to have one so they may be able to help with the exercise regime at weekends/evenings.

Well - not sure if this is a good thing or a bad thing! At practise apart from Bo diverting once on the first run both boys were perfect ............. so hopefully they will be the same tomorrow and it will not be a case of perfect in practise and idiots at the display! Sniggered a lot before practise - Brenda was not home so I let her lot out and they were rampaging round the field with mine (so boxer x pointer, boxer, staffie x, cavalier, jr x chi, labrador, collie and HUUUUUUGE 8 month old rottie x dobie). Bo the Staffordshire BULL Terrier X was happily thugging and running with the others when he realised there were some scary bullocks looking over the fence through the trees. Tail down, ears down, hackles up and ran away at high speed to a safe distance then turned and did the "I am ferocious" bark - which just drew more bullocks to watch so he was frozen to the spot terrified as around 12 bullocks were by then watching him (from around 30ft away the other side of the stock fence and hedge). Evil mummy was trying to keep a straight face and remind him that according to the Sun he is a killing machine.

so that will be pepperoni pizza with the pepperoni, cheese etc scraped off then???

Jed will very helpfully go and get the ball bucket wherever it is (including out of the trailer if we are setting up and are not quick enough for him!). He has very helpfully trained several of the dogs at practise in how to get the supposedly secure lid off it - tho sometimes he likes to just run around with the closed bucket in his mouth being chased by the others.

Anyone a gambler? I am trying to work out the odds of the boys doing a perfect flyball display at Carmarthen Showground tomorrow. Both have competed in tournaments BUT Jed - is having a phase of going up, getting the ball out of the box, looking for another ball, trying to get the boxloader to play. If the box loader turns their back he will very helpfully pick up the bucket of balls for them if the lid is on it or knock it over to help himself if the top is not on. The fix that worked last time we had practise was for the boxloader to walk away from the box completely and for me to have waved a ball on a rope in front of Jed before he set off (bear in mind that Jed is deaf so calling him back relies on him looking at me - and when he is being silly he knows to not look!). Bo - well, Bo is Bo!!! Best tournament was when we were held up in traffic, got to the ground just as the team went in to race (they saw us and gave his name to the judges), ran into the ring and threw him (almost literally) into running last - he just got on with the job in hand super fast and no messing around. At displays - loves to play to the crowd! Will do a couple of decent runs then grab the ball and tour the barrier so they can all see it close up and realise how clever he is! Jed HAS to be inline behind the jumps or Bo will go off to find him - including grabbing the ball and racing over to the parked car! Soooooooo - could be interesting!

good point Griff - umm the answer is no as I think it would be unfair to have the tyre men verbally assaulted by China and Reg giving their running commentaries on a) get in here and give me a cuddle and b) I may be small but I am FIERCE...... but then leaving the beasts at home does mean there is around 100kg difference to normal! (mind you, with me out of the car there is also a vast weight difference!) Amy - fingers crossed for you!

Jazz - what are the reasons they give for you not having the bungalow? If you need a stairlift and there are no extra bedrooms surely it meets the criteria? Apparently I need to get the steering and suspension joints checked for wear...........sounds like the car is going the way my body is!

Ho hum - stocked up on medication for the girls yesterday. Cassie - heart meds and eye drops (forgot to ask for her frusemide, will get that on appt next week) + China now on heart meds. BOYS - pleeeeeeeeeeeeeease keep healthy! Plus China booked in for her booster next week, Cassie for another check up on her eye (thankfully looking as if not getting worse, realise it is never going to get better but if we can prevent further deterioration that is great), AND 2 new tyres needed for the car which will be fitted today. Come on car peeps - how come I have wear on the inside of the front right tyre and on the outside of the front left tyre? Tracking problems would mean both on the inside or outside. At least with my credit card Dogs Trust get a tiny proportion of the spend - the rate this is going I could feed one of their dogs for a year! I had bronchitis for the first time in many years earlier this year - forgot how awful it makes you feel, hope you are starting to get over it now.

Aha - I think the previous few posts may have cracked it - Gooster, you need to borrow Phebe's man magnet Subaru!!! I have been single for about 11 years now! I have a group of good friends and we go out for a meal every week, I was recently laid low with the dreaded lurgy for a few weeks and that is honestly the first time that I actually thought it would be so much better if I was in a relationship simply because I felt so awful so someone to look after me, tuck me in, bring me drinks, change the bedding etc would have been nice - but now I am better I have actually sat down and worked out that I would HATE to live with anyone full time again (a few days here and there fine but I need my space!), that I would not be able to do things on the spur of the moment, and more importantly - where would the dogs sleep?!!? But maybe it would be good to have someone share the drive/set up caravan/walk dogs/prepare food on the weekends away??? So - if anyone knows a tall (I am tall and for once I would like to be able to wear heels if I go out and feel small), middle aged man with a good sense of humour who would be happy to have a dedicated relationship but not live in the same house, then let me know - he must be a dog lover!!!

you are not that far from me (well, ok about an hour and a bit) - maybe we should meet up some time for walkies on the deserted beach! We met up with a lady with 2 labs today and that was the extent of the humans on Poppit this morning.

I went to B&Q to get some turf for the slope outside my office window which has just been revamped. Also wanted to look at trellis for on top of the back garden fence and a pot for my money plant which is growing fast. Sorted the turf and pot, trellis - nothing cheap and inspiring and it is not vital so left that and was looking at some rather large pot-bound bamboos which were reduced to 2 @ £20 from £29.99 and 1 @ (I think) £30 from £39.99. My friend works there and saw me looking - bamboo is one of the few things I can grow and I said to him I was wondering about one of them for the area at the bottom of the garden where there are 4 huge ones and a tiny one and a gap.............. he asked the supervisor who said if I bought all of them I could have them for £10 each!!!!! As she marked them down she realised that they were not all the same price but still honoured it - so there are now 3 large bamboos waiting to be planted when the rain eases off a bit! Not quite sure where the "spare" 2 will go but the garden is very long so probably somewhere down the side fence.

Young Archie seems to have a better social life than any of us!

Beautiful evening for flyball, first time we have "done" evenings since last autumn and only apart from Brenda (who owns the field we use) and me (and my boys are being silly so they have the pre practise and post practise run arounds but not actual practise) only one person turned up!!!! So Brenda's dog and his had a good session. Unfortunately it was so warm with all the running that China decided the best way to cool off was to jump into the horse trough - or rather the concrete square where the horse buckets sit - resulting in a boxer white as far down as her armpits and then thick black slime which absolutely stinks. Thanks China - who then managed to rub it onto the others in the car on the way home. All the beasts are good with birds in the garden (just as well as they share it with the chickens) but birds on the beach are intruders and have to be chased.

Not good to know that he is still eluding capture but good to know he is still happily surviving on his own.

There was a faint glow from the nightlight in the hallway, the girls did not even notice the flash going off in the middle of the night!

Good luck, you are doing an incredible job out there and we all look forward to updates