SPEEDO

Sometimes life starts going a little bit too fast, like one of those old go-carts that your dad built for you made out of orange crates, an old kitchen chair and some pram wheels.  The bit of hairy string that he put on for steering burnt the palms of your hands as you whizzed sideways down a hill, but atleast the pain took your mind off the fact that there were no breaks.  For the last two weeks my life has had no breaks and even the dogs have been hairing about like nutters.  They have been off after rabbits and twice I lost them in the back field, just as I thought that I had cracked it with their training.  The thing about a sight-hound  is that they never stop looking and they never stop seeing, especially the little white bob-tails of rabbits as they dash off over the hill.  The worst thing is after a couple of days of running off I have to go back to lead walks with them for a while and thats no fun for anyone.  What is a running dog if it can't run?  Still, I walked them for five miles today and they have been cockroaching on the sofa with more than the usual intensity the whole day.  Mac only slid down onto the floor to allow his tongue to dangle in his food bowl and lazily chew down some food.  It looks as though we might all need a rest....

Dog Blanket

Nothing is so bad as a bad cold that creeps up on you and then makes you feel like you have stepped on a rotten bit of  wood and  accidentally fallen down a ten foot mine shaft.  As most mums will tell you, this normally happens to you after you have just spent a couple of weeks nursing husband/children through their own veil of snot.  There's normally no time at all to give in to a colds demands which  are:  lie down; eat nothing; drink loads of tea; sneeze a lot; watch Downton Abbey;  feel very, very for yourself.  I've not have the time to do anything but the latter but my dogs, bless their hearts, have been in full sympathy with me since the sneezing began and when I did get to sit down and a hot water bottle and a Star Wars blanket weren't enough to warm me up they willing obliged by give me a big warm canine hug.  The fact that they have a combined weight of 70 kilos was a bit of a challenge, but I appreciated the gesture.

All My Babies......

John Bradshaw's book 'In Defence of Dogs' is turning out to be a good read.  His basic premise is that domestic dogs are not wolves and therefore don't operate according to the 'dominance' behavioural model favoured by folk like Cesar Milan.  According to Bradshaw, a dogs prefered social model is the family group with a mother, father and siblings.  A dogs behaviour, he argues, centres around acts of co-operation and through thousands of years of domestication the dog has become hard wired to want to be and co-operate with humans.  So when I tell everybody that I am Mac and Kizzy's 'Mum' I don't feel like so much of a nutter now I can back it up with a bit of science!  See what the Guardian says about it at:  http://www.guardian.co.uk/books/2011/jul/24/in-defence-of-dogs-review

New Years Day

Happy New Year to you all - hope you enjoyed the Christmas festivities.  This morning I walked the dogs early and the it seemed as if the whole town was still in bed.  Lucky me - I saw the heron flying to her roost in the marshes and the angry buzzard who shouts at me every time I go past his tree.  Mac and Kizzy were in a fine mood, chasing each other madly up and down the hillside but came back promptly when I whistled knowing that I had  some corned beef in my pocket to celebrate the first day of a new year.  We are looking forward to another year of walks together!