The Week That Was.......

Monday - slog up Headlands in the hope that the wind and rain will make the two evils want to come home after the first hundred yards,  Totally forget a Weimaraner does not do sensible! With every step I take I get the sensation that old Lucifer below is trying to grab my boots and drag me down into the mire that is the fallow fields at the moment.

Am rewarded by Tilly rolling in not only rotten potatoes but something so dead I did not want to get too close just in case it attached itself to me Alien like.  Tried to wipe Tilly down with Flash wipes before she made my van smell

Tuesday - went on the beach to avoid the rotten potato and dead thing rolling problem.  Used Flash wet wipes on Tilly to try and get rid of the dead fish and bird poo smell obtained by rolling on the aforementioned before she stank my van out

Wednesday - staggering along sand dunes to avoid rotten potato, something dead, bird poo and dead fish rolling problem.  Used Flash wipes to try and rid of rabbit guts and dog vomit (don't even ask) smell obtained by rolling on the aforementioned before she stank my van out.

Thursday -  the weather is so foul that madam decides she does not want to get out of bed, ours that is not hers.  I think the above picture explains her general opinion of my attempts to drag her out, buy drag her out I did.

Back down the beach.  Tilly nearly gets me a telling off  some observers of the awful weather in the comfort of their car by running straight off the beach slip way and doing a splat dog impression on the sand approx two to three feet below.  Pretended that it's not only my dogs that can't hear in the wind and rain, but me also as I am lacking the time and patience to explain this is normal behaviour for Tilly and I gave up having kittens a long time ago at her attempts to break her neck.

Five minutes into my attempt at doing the horizontal Time Warp against the elements, Tilly decides to about turn and run back to the van as the rain is disagreeable to her today, which sort of makes me wonder what was wrong with Monday, Tuesday and Wednesdays rain?!

Friday - Vet day for Hector.  Only speed once, cut up two taxi's and run one amber light (they go amber before red in Jersey - not amber before green) and give one disgruntled driver on his mobile the bird (the raised finger to those wondering) before safely reaching vet hospital.

Good news, after fine needle aspirations his lumps are confirmed as nothing to worry about.  I knew that as Les told me they die with them rather than die of them, but hey I would rather know before they kill me of stress wondering if they are nothing.  Only down side is that his eyes are deteriorating due to age.  They are also as scratched as hell due to his hunting capabilities.  My vet picks him up to put him on the table so he can give his undercarriage a good looking at and tells me that Hector is one of only four big dogs he would do that too without the worry of a bite and two of those are his - just the little things like this make you burst with pride.

Hector confirms the vet's opinion that he is super fit by dragging me out of the surgery head first resulting in the double doors being given a Glasgow kiss on passing.

Jersey European Agility Festival

Saturday 30th April through to Monday 2nd May 2011

St Martin, Jersey, Channel Islands

web: http://www.jerseyagility.co.uk/

email: festival@jerseyagility.co.uk

tel: +44 (0) 1534 769661

Come to the beautiful Island of Jersey for an Agility show and a holiday



Greedy Dogs - Horrid Owner!

Two days of  beautiful sunshine have been followed with two days of heavy showers.  I've had to time our walks to avoid a soaking and I have not been too successful.  The two evils have either run back to the van leaving me soaked, refused to get out of the van leaving me soaked or tried to gain shelter under the golfing brolly with me - leaving them soaked :-)

Today I time my morning walk perfectly.  It was windy and looking very bleak over the headlands towards France, but it was dry.  We took advantage of this by meandering back along the public path via the blackberry bushes.   A lovely walk in the wind is perfectly rounded off by a feast of berries according to Weimaraner logic.

I will never tire of watching the way my two delicately nibble at the ripe berries, avoiding impaling their tongues on the thorns or the accidental ingestion of an unripe berry.  For a breed that has the eating habits of a dung beetle (or is that just mine?) watching them balance on tip toes always makes me smile.  Unfortunately it does not always make others smile as well.

We "nibbled" round the corner to be faced with a rather cross looking man waving his margarine tub in our direction.  I was thus informed "I've watched you let your dogs eat all the berries along the pathway.  Besides being greedy it is not hygienic for others that might want to collect some".  You know I have just experienced one of the most awful school Summer holidays of shitty dogs and their shitty owners with their shitty kids (and in some cases I do mean shitty) invading my enjoyment of peaceful walks so I think I can be excused for my retort of "well I have to let them feed on the bushes on the way back because they wee all over the bushes on the way out" and yes I did point to the direction he had come from as the said bushes of the "on the way out" in discussion.

The look on his face more than made up for the one Hail Mary I owe him above.

Having said that, and before anyone can say I give dog owners a bad name, I did get my come uppance. 

Upon watering my two when back at the van I automatically went to throw the residue water over my shoulder like I always do so I can put the bowl back dry.  Shame I did not do a finger to the wind check as, yes you guessed it, I ended up with a face full of water blown straight back via the wind. 

Divine intervention me thinks as God has probably got a handle on us Weimaraner owners by now.......

Normal Service Restored!

Not blogged for ages.  Not sure if its lack or time or inclination or maybe just no brains left after suffering the summer with my two!

We are still a bit worried about Hector and his "quiet" moments, but me thinks he is still as mentally alert as ever and still capable of actions showing just what a turd he can be.

August brought Jersey and the Battle of Flowers as per usual and as per normal, it didn't rain on our particular parade - out of interest, if anyone is bored, perhaps they can tell me when it actually did, if ever, do the latter on Battle of Flowers day.  Anyway, I am drifting as I am given to do, so back to what I was saying....with Battle of Flowers comes the highlight of the bored off on school holidays little darlings of Jersey, the fairground that visits our shores on Peoples Park.  As  a result said area becomes a den of inequity for a fortnight but I really am not even going to start going there!!

On Sundays Hector and I partake of  a leisurely walk with my mum from her abode to said Park for a mooch and a spot of fresh air.  It is Hector and my time with "granny" who, in Hector's eyes, is nothing other than a treat dispensing machine that can be mugged.  The fairground was in the process of clearing up and the rides being dismantled ready for their ferry trip back to whence they came.  The fairground people are a colourful breed as are the choice of mutts that they leave wandering about under the pretence of "security".  Their living areas are located towards one end of the park and fenced off by means of plastic sheeting.

Upon my mum, Hector and I walking past this living area arrangement (do you know that they actually have full sized washing machines that they use outside of their caravans!) one very large and dirty looking GSD decided to do a Clint Eastward and ask Hector to make his day by barking at his precious treat dispensing machine....errrrr sorry I mean my mum.  Please remember Hector has just passed ten years of age, is minus five teeth - two of those his canine grippers - and has more lumps than my Sunday dinner custard.  In short, I went mental as I thought my precious darling was going to get savaged albeit after my mum.

As it was, Hector chose not to make this manky curs day and instead he took off after him, easily outpacing him, the result of which was a body slamming into the ground and an exorcist growl right down his left ear hole.  Sort of spoil my histrionics a bit as I had to change gear and pull my dog off of the poor hound that I had just been screaming at the owners to stop from savaging my "old harmless boy".  Being the soil of the Earth type of people, not only did the fair people applaud Hector but the owner of the defeated GSD actually offered in jest (I hope) to buy my dog because he "sure as hell landed my bugger one".  I am sure this episode went a little way to invigorate my boy somewhat as he pulled me back to my mum's with a tail that was showing a little high in attitude for my liking

A clear case of if you don't have the balls to finish what you start then keep out of the old, gummy, cantankerous Weimaraners way because he sure as hell will finish it for you!

That was Sunday.......I'm not finished yet

Wednesday, with it being hot again, I chose to walk through a lovely valley called Waterworks Valley for the reasons that don't need stating when wanting to walk somewhere cool with your dogs.

I was alerted to oncoming horses and quickly recalled Tilly due to the fact not only does she have such a high prey drive she can be prone to chasing anything that moves, she also has a terrible habit of screaming at horses and frightening not only the four legged ones but their two legged riders.  We were faced by two ladies, one on a absolutely beautiful Appaloosa that every child dreamt of owning and riding back during their cowboy and Indian dream days.  This lady stopped and dismounted as she wanted to speak to me about the two "lovely dogs so beautifully controlled" (yeah she probably needed glasses and was a bit deaf).  My first thought was "shit" as I really wanted to move on as I could feel Tilly starting to shake from the tail upwards and when the shake reaches her ears that's when she starts to scream.  I have no need to describe to a fellow Weimarener owner the sound or outcome of such a screaming session so you will understand my trying to bring the conversation with tonto pronto!

Just as I was rounding up on the description of the responsibilities of owning a Weimaraner I noticed her horse was a bit fidgety.  I also noticed her still mounted companion's eyes wandering towards the back of her friends horse where Hector was lingering.  I have no worries with Hector around horses as a rule.  Should of learnt by now that this dog was bred to break rules.  Hector was quite happily cocking his leg up against the poor horsey's back legs.  Doing one then the other!  I think the poor horse was suprised as well as if that were me I would of utilised my powerful legs for sending into orbit one disrespectful grey dog.

What was just as bad was the fact the little sod refused to come back to me and decided to try and catch the dragon flies from the stream to change the conversation he knew was coming.

Again a case, me thinks, of a Weimaraner having the final word.

The above has removed the rose tinted glasses with which I have been viewing Hector's recovery through.  I think I can now return to gluing the "he is NOT my dog" sign back on when out with him.

Mind you, Tilly has started to show disturbing turd like behaviour of Hector's proportions by drinking the raspberry flavoured vodka I was soaking my gold chain in to clean (someone told me it would work honest).  Although I do not advocate any of the above behaviour as anything but irresponsible on my behalf, I did notice that instead of tormenting me during the afternoon until her second walk, Tilly was unusually sound asleep in our bed until "daddy darling" came home from work!

Dentals and Mentals

Not only has the sun come out these last two weeks but so has my poor Wontis' teeth!

Nature has given us both a nudge to acknowledge it's passing of time by realising that Hector is in his Autumn years.  He has been licking his lips a lot these last couple of months and although he has been the unwilling recipient of anti biotics and anti inflammatory, his lip licking remained.

His teeth are virtually flat.  A nasty habit of stone carrying has rendered them so.  He will inflame me by wandering off, the proud owner of some new ball in excess of five pounds worth, just to meander back in to sight carrying a stone.  He even resorts to standing waist deep in the sea just out of reach of a collar grabbing to remove said offensive item.  It is a habit that now, at ten years of age, has brought home all its negatives.

My vets are absolutely brilliant and I did not have to take him in to surgery until it was his time to go in.  This stopped him languishing in a cage from early morning till early afternoon when he was operated on.  Of course, this only gave me more time to worry and fret as us owners do.  Would rather have sent Colin to the dentist than my Wontis LOL

I was more uptight than usual due to my vet impressing on me that this was going to be quite major surgery as dogs teeth are not as easily "pulled" as human ones.  Least to say after two and half hours under anesthetic he had five teeth removed.   Two top canines and two lower back teeth and one tiny little front tooth that he broke as a puppy and should, by all rules of nature, fallen out before he reached adulthood.  This was Wednesday last and we manged to pick him up at 6.30pm the same day. 

He cried for two nights and three days thanks to the anesthetic.  All my Weimaraners have done this and it usually works in our favour as the vets can't wait to get rid of them once fully recovered due to their vocalisation.  I won't describe the guilt as we all know what that is like (raised eyes) at the sight of our precious hounds all baggy eyed and wobbly legged.  Our worry of Tilly proving feral at his disadvantage proved not necessary as she just wanted to be with him to the extent she even gave me the evils as was positive I was the author of his ills, which I was or certainly was feeling like

Anyway, after six days of spoiling and restricted exercise he got the all clear to go ahead for normal turd behaviour to resume, which he duly did by doing a double backed half pike somersault in to the undergrowth on the headlands and going AWOL for ten minutes.  He just had to re assert his in charge status above us mere humans :)

Levity aside, it has been a reminder by nature of his age, something we tend to forget due to his despot behaviour.  It has also given both Hector and I plenty excuses to languish a bit longer in bed having cuddles, something I will not be taking for granted so much in future.  It has been awful to see his mouth so swollen and full of stitches, but I am just grateful I have my Wontis back

This is a wonderful article about how brilliant it is when a re-homing goes right.  It really needed to be shared and I think the picture says it all as Neo is jumping for joy!



What Did I Do?


(A Weimeraner– eye view to rehoming)



Well, I’m really not sure where it all started. As a young chap, I had nice food (French I believe!), a comfy crate to sleep in at night, and someone to come in at lunch time to walk me. Then, I had some different food with lots of pretty colours – hey, as long as I had food, that was fine with me! My Mum & Dad loved me very much & we had loads of cuddles, especially in the evening when I’d sit on Daddy’s lap! I really didn’t like being left on my own, and tried to tell Mum & Dad this by crying when they went upstairs or left me on my own. I found it helped to take my mind off my loneliness if I had something to chew. For some reason, the chews I found were not things I should have tried to chew. They were things called kitchen handles, kitchen units, and my favourite, skirting boards! But, they were there and they really did help to take my mind off things. Then, Mummy’s tummy started growing – it was very odd, and my walks seemed somehow to get slower. Then there were lots of conversations between Mum and Dad about me and what they were going to do. Sometimes there would be water running from their eyes and they would be very upset – I got really worried that I’d done something really awful. One day a really nice lady who smelt of lots of other dogs came to speak to Mum and was really interested in me too. We went for a walk together which was lovely, and she was so nice.

Lots and lots of time seemed to pass, and more and more boxes appeared in the house and more and more things seemed to disappear. This made me so worried that I needed to find more chew things to try and take my mind off it – but it didn’t help. Mum and Dad kept getting water running from their eyes, and it would get worse when I tried to play with them or tease them into laughing. I was getting really, really worried by then.

Then, one day, we got up really early, and Mum & Dad were in a very strange mood, and kept cuddling me. Some people I hadn’t seen before came to speak to Mum & Dad, & they too smelt of lots of dogs. Things got stranger from there in! We went for a walk with these people, and they walked with Mum, Dad & me for a while and then one of them disappeared. She came back shortly after with one of her dogs – a Weimaraner like me! – It was great fun to walk with someone else, and it was a girl Weimaraner too! Shortly after, yet another dog came to join in with our walk – I hadn’t had so much fun in ages! We then went back home and Mum & Dad’s eyes were really leaking badly by then. I was so worried that I’d done something awful, and was very upset. Then Daddy asked me to get into the new people’s van (he’d never asked me to do that before). Before I knew it, the boot was shut and I was next to my new friends, the girl Weimaraner and a couple of other dogs. I must say, they were all very friendly, but it was very frightening. I had my own water bowl in the cage in the van, and I really think the water smelt funny – the others said it was a rescue remedy that made it like that, but I still don’t understand why you’d want to rescue water, but hey, it tasted OK. Anyway, that was the last time I ever saw my Mum & Dad. I was very sad for a while, but I started chatting to my new friends, and they had such stories to tell that I soon forgot my worries. We arrived at a farm that we were to stay at for a few days and my new friends and I flew around the garden there for ages, I hadn’t had so much fun for ages. Perhaps these new people wouldn’t be too bad – they seemed very friendly.

That first night with the new people was wonderful. I still got shut in a crate like I did at my house, but this one was HUGE, and it was in the bedroom with the new people and my new friends. It was so nice having company at night, I was so tired and happy I fell asleep straight away. In the morning, the new lady quietly took me out of my cage & she had a lead in her hand. I wasn’t sure what was going on, but it turned out she was taking me for a WALK! – Oh my goodness, I hadn’t been for a walk early in the morning for ever! It was wonderful to smell all the smells on the fresh dew, we had a fantastic time and I really hoped I could stay with these new people for ever. The pattern of walking, playing with my friends and going for drives in the van carried on for the next few days, I even started getting some really yummy food in my bowl which made my tummy feel loads better than the pretty looking food, and I didn’t want it to ever end.

My new friends said that when new dogs come into the family, they always stay so I should not worry, but I got really scared when the new people started packing things into the van. I thought that they were going to leave me too, and I got so upset. Imagine my delight then when I found out that they were never going to leave me and I was going to go for a long ride in the van, go on a big boat and start my new life on an island with more dog walks than I’d ever seen in my life.

The new people are my new Mum & Dad, I love them dearly, and more than that, I know that they really love me too. It’s the most wonderful feeling in the world. We’ve had good times - and bad, the worst being when my doggy friends had to leave us suddenly. My Mum says they are waiting for us at a place called Rainbow Bridge, and that they are very happy and have no pain now, for which I’m pleased, and I look forward to seeing them again someday. I now have a couple of new friends which I love very dearly, and I also have friends I have made doing this thing called agility. I’m told I’m very good at this agility business, I just need to concentrate. (What people don’t realise is that with so many wonderful things in my life these days, it’s very difficult to concentrate on just one of them at a time!) When you’ve been without, you just learn to appreciate all the great things in life that you never knew you were missing out on. I just feel sorry for all those dogs that will never know all the wonderful experiences that I have been through over the last year.

So, if any of you dogs are worried as it looks as if you are not going to be living with your Mum & Dad any more, don’t be worried, you too may end up with another brilliant new Mum & Dad and have more fun than you ever thought possible. Remember, these Mum & Dad’s choose you for who you are & what you can become, they don’t mind what you may or may not have done in the past. Give them a chance and they will give you a chance too. Life can be better than you ever dreamt.

All my dreams have come true over the last year – I hope yours do too!

Not an encouraging start to the week for me or the dogs.  These episodes of distracted moments seem to be increasing on my behalf and this one is right up there along with running my mum over and gluing Tilly's ear to her collar.

I had to take Hector to the vet and on my way to them I stopped at the garage to get fuel along with a bottle of screen wash.  I purchased the latter as there has been an article in our paper how those who use screen wash are less likely to get Legionnaire's disease from the water in their screen wash facility in their vechicles (I know, I know, likely hood of which is about 1,000,000/1 in reality)

As I do with most of my stuff, said bottle of screen wash was chucked on to the passenger seat of the van and off I set.  Our only dual carriage way on the Island is undergoing road works at the moment.  The tail backs are horrific and you proceed at a snail's pace, if moving at all.  It's quiet warm out and I was idly admiring the nice (ok, half undressed) workmen going about earning their daily crust on said road works when I reached across to get the bottle of water that resides on my passenger seat along with the rest of my "crap" that Colin so cruelly describes my articles of importance that live in my van.  I didn't look what I was doing as I repeat this action at least ten time a day.

I unscrewed the cap of the bottle and took a swig.  Just as well the traffic was stationary as I had to fling the van door open and bring half my stomach contents up at the side of the road.    I can tell you know why they recommend you use screen wash to avoid Legionnaire's Disease - it tastes awful and strips the inside of your mouth!  I had, stupidly grabbed the wrong bottle.  I was so humiliated as the nice men I had just seconds before been admiring were now trying to help me and must of thought I was having some sort of fit as I was dribbling bright blue liquid from my mouth.  It did not help that Hector and Tilly decided to put on their "lets audition for Hound of the Baskervilles" act on as the noise caused some people to wind up their windows.

I could hardly speak to the vet when I finally arrived and I am sure he must of thought I had lost my voice due to screaming at my two evils.  I wasn't going to correct him as it was not one of my finest moments I must admit.