4 down- 2 to go!!!

A man and his dog!!!

That's the first four weeks over for Frank. Hopefully now, only two more to go before the plaster comes of and life starts to return to normal. The doctor has told him that he has to start using the leg more, hence photo yesterday at Musselborough. He is trying to use walking sticks instead of crutches despite the fact that I told him he will be putting stress onto different areas. He certainly suffered for it last night!! However, he did really well- in spite of Flyn who thought it was great fun to keep up running interference in front of his long-suffering guvnor.
We have had some great birding days in the past here and have enjoyed watching the antics of the little owls that frequent the area but there has been no sign of them on our last two visits. We did however see Smew off shore as well as widgeon, curlew, shelducks godwits and other assorted waders that we still have trouble identifying on the reserve.
Ghillie and Flyn had a great time playing chase - each other and the seagulls on the nearby pond. Ghillie swam and swam but the gulls ignored him and just moved further out of the way. I suppose they are so used to dogs; in fact I think we saw more breeds of dog than we did species of birds around the pond and parking area. Thankfully most people are sensible enough to stay away from the actual reserve area. Ghillie also had great fun with his 'safestick' a bright orange 3 feet long piece of rubber with rounded ends that I bought for him at Crufts. He really loves it  but I am going to end up with the muscles of a shot-putter...it is no light weight to throw.


Guess who's feeling better!!!

 He is certainly getting back to normal. The parvo results show he is clear thank-goodness. It is an impossible situation as he has his nose permanently glued to the ground and if his immune system is really poor, there is no chance that he is going to avoid picking up anything that is around. I can't wrap him up in cotton-wool or curb his natural instincts, - he is a munstie after all!!! I still have to take him back to the vet's for blood tests re his pancreatic enzyme levels which will be sometime this week.

After spending a few hours at Musselborough, we trundled on down the coast with the intention of  stopping off at Aberfeldy Bay to see what was flying around. However, when we got to the Longniddry Bents it was obvious that the tide was so high there would be little to see. So we stopped for coffee and just sat for a while and watched the wind surfers and the sea pounding the old concrete defences along the shore-line.


An extremely breezy day on the East Coast of Scotland.

 I took the dogs off for another run risking getting swept off my feet and getting soaked by the spray which even kept Ghillie at a distance from the waves. I certainly had some colour in my cheeks by the time I got back to the car....and slept like a log last night.

On my last blog, I wrote about the many species of birds that had put in an appearence in our garden this year including two redpolls which have become regular visitors. Just after the last blog, we had an exceptionally cold and windy couple of days with snow showers blasting through but thankfully not settling. These winds brought a phenomenon to our garden not seen before. We had a flock of redpolls and siskins descend and we were quite sure that there were at least a couple of very pale arctic redpolls amongst them. At one stage we counted 29 redpolls on the ground and on the feeders. It was a one-off event and they stayed around for most of the day. We could only assume that the high winds had driven them south. Life around the feeders is definitely quieter now that the weather has warmed up although the gold finches are still consuming copious quantities of niger seed.

Well having lost one of my front teeth to an abcess at the end of last week, I returned to the dentist this morning for a final scale and clean of the few survivors. I was very proud of myself as this was accomplished without a local anaesthetic although with one or two yells. Hopefully, I won't need to go back again until my 6 monthly check-up.

I was very relieved that Frank dissuaded me from making a 600 mile round trip last weekend in the stupid belief that I could do something to avert a confrontation between people who I thought were my friends and members of a club of which I was a founder member. Thankfully no incident occurred. Deliberately ambiguous and misleading information was posted on facebook for reasons that I cannot fathom and which since, seem to have given rise to amusement and delight from those involved. I have steadfastly refused to get involved with the politics that are out of all proportion, in what is a numerically small breed of dog, in this country. This whole incident seems both immature and irresponsible and is seriously making me think that maybe I should just stick with my border collies. I had hoped to see signs of bridges being mended for the sake of our lovely dogs, but I am now left sadly wondering just where it is all going to end.


On a happier note.



51 WEEKS TO CRUFTS!!!

Well, that's it, over and done for another year. I always swear that I'll not go again, but as the tiredness recedes, the headaches disappear and my feet recover some semblance of normality, I know I'll soon be booking my accomodation for next year.
I have to say that despite all, I thoroughly enjoyed Crufts this year. I sat with Nicky and Erin Logie throughout the Munsterlander judging, and Nicky and I put the world to rights and were amazed at how similar our views were on the dogs entered. It was nice to see Ghillie's brother over from Belgium win the post grad dog class and his mum win the special working gundog bitch class. Erin did a magnificent job of handling Mo's Poppy; she is an absolute star and a teenager to boot, having attained the scarey age of 13 last Sunday.
I felt it was a shame that the winning line-ups of dogs were pulled out and presented to the least well populated side of the ring so that the handlers had their backs towards the majority of the spectators. Not only were most of us deprived of seeing the dogs in the line-ups, but we were also unable to take any photos had we wished to do so. I don't know whether it was decided by the Kennel Club or the ring stewards that the dogs should all stand in numerical order of entry and be so close to each other that it caused added problems for some handlers to stand and present their dogs to the best of their ability. 
I actually managed to see some of the obedience this year, both the inter-regionals and some of the bitch championships. I think it's such a shame that the television programmes show nothing of the obedience. I know it can be a bit like dressage in horses and only really appeals to those with a deep understanding of the sport, but what about showing something of the YKC or the good citizen obedience or even the World Cup which is more visually interesting with its hurdle and retrieve and directional retrieve.
I was glued to the telly for the BIS on Sunday. I thought it was a really fabulous line-up of group winners and I believe that for once they were all British although the Fox Terrier is heading for Brazil. Even during the gundog group judging, when just lying down, that wonderful flatcoat's tail was wagging non-stop. When he moved on Sunday night he was magnificent and I have never seen such a gleam on a dogs coat. I think that was a sight I will never forget and I was ecstatic when he won.
I left Crufts at lunchtime on Friday. Spurred home by dire weather forecasts of heavy snow, I did the trip in  four and a half hours, I think my best run-through ever, and that included a hold-up because of an accident and a blizzard over Shap. I am now waiting with baited breath for speeding tickets to drop on the front door mat!!
To say Ghillie went ballistic when I arrived home does not even begin to describe my reception. Frank had been an absolute star coping on his own. I think Frank, Ghillie, Flyn and myself were all glad to be together again. It might have only been two days but I think the dislike of separation is mutual between all of us. Ghillie has been a bit loose again which I think was due to stress as much as anything else. He certainly showed no ill effects on Saturday morning when he disappeared after deer, screaming his head off and, totally oblivious to my whistle. He has been under very firm control since, just reminding him that I am home and am 'she who must be obeyed'.

You really wouldn't believe how much illness he has; this picture of my beautiful boy was taken last week

This has really been a birding year so far. Frank's incapacity with his broken leg has meant days out with scopes and binoculars so he can sit and bird watch while I walk the dogs. By far the most exciting spots have come from our back garden. Considering that half the garden is given over to a little used kennel and a garage overflowing with junk, it is amazing the variety of birds that arrive at our feeders on a regular basis. I guess the garden area is only about 25 ft x 25 ft, but blackbirds nest every year in our back hedge and bluetits produce a brood every year in our nestbox on the side fence. Greenfinches used to be regular visitors but we hadn't seen them for some years so, I was delighted when I saw one arrive on the feeders a few weeks ago. This prompted me to rush out and buy some niger seed, which I know finches are partial to, and some new feeders. Within hours siskins arrived en masse along with several chaffinches. It was then that I noticed a flash of red and grabbing the binoculars was amazed to see that there were red polls as well. We had only ever seen red polls once before and never in the garden. Gold finches are now back on the feeders in force after an absence of a couple of years. Sadly I haven't seen the greenfich again, but maybe he comes when I am not looking. We have a full array of tits including my favourite longtails who arrive in a pack in both the front and the back garden. The other day, a sparrowhawk was sitting on top of the bird table and on Sunday morning a great spotted woodpecker was happily munching peanuts. In the front garden, dunnocks and robins are nesting in the woodpiles left when the trees were heavily pruned a few months ago, we are now stuck with the wood until later in the year!! I think we are incredibly lucky to have such a wide variety of birds so close to hand; trouble is, I am starting to think they are costing me more to feed than the dogs!!


Longtail tits on feeder before tree was pruned

 Well I guess that's it for now, need to go feed Ghillie......and the birds.

NEVER A DULL MOMENT

Catch me if you can!

Life is never dull in our household. I didn't realise how well I had trained Frank. I so miss my morning cuppa in bed, the great cooked breakfasts at the weekend, and the wonderful dinners he prepares when I am just too tired to cook. Now, I just have to get on with it while he scoots up and down stairs on his bum, hobbles around on his crutches or mostly just sits with his leg supported on a cushion while watching the cricket world cup. In the meantime, I have totally lost track of what is going on on Neighbours, (shameful confession!!!) while I wait longingly for the 1st April when, hopefully, the plaster comes off and a semblance of normality returns to the household. The only trouble is, he now knows that I know how to change a dead brake light, top up the oil, and check the tyre pressures on the car although, I have to admit, the blown fuses for the interior lights have still defeated me. It has taken 30+ years to train him, (he is no border collie), and I can't help but wonder if life will ever be the same again.
    I am so glad we have had a few Spring-like days so that I have been able to take Frank out to the coast for a change of view, (thus avoiding 'caged bear syndrome'). He has been able to do some bird-watching armed with his binnoculars and spotting scope while I have taken the dogs off for a mega romp along the beaches.


'Splish -splash'

I finally managed to complete the articles for the new Large Munsterlander handbook. They were a real challenge as I was trying to write from a factual point of view rather than a personal point of view. It also meant that I had to do some research as my memory of events from more than 40 years ago was not totally up to scratch. Not only that, but I then had to justify some of my facts and respond to queries from the 'ed' and rewrite bits here and there. It was actually great experience for me and I thoroughly enjoyed doing it. The worst part was sending the photos through; for some reason, I always have problems sending photos by email. I regret to say, I am still a luddite at heart. I also dragged my 'patient' down the road to take some photos of Ghillie tracking for the article on working trials. We hadn't done any tracking for a while and Ghillie set off at a rate of knots while I was still trying to sort out the tracking line. I got totally mixed up in it and how I didn't end up face down in the mud, I shall never know. Frank insisted it would have been a brilliant photo to demonstrate how not to.....

'I know there's chicken here somewhere'

Ghillie continues to improve after his latest illnesses, although I was shocked when the results of his faecal samples came back from the lab showing positive for parvo again. This is an almost identical scenario with last year when he also had a bad attack of parvo 3 months after his booster injections. This time it has been complicated by pancreatitis and none of the vets know whether the parvo caused the pancreatitis or whether the pancreatitis made him susceptible to the parvo. We are now waiting for the latest results from samples I sent to the lab on Friday. No-one seems to know whether he is shedding the parvo virus, or whether he is contagious, so we are trying to keep him away from other dogs at the moment. If anyone reading this has any experience with these issues which are even mystifying our vet and the vet school, I would appreciate any input you could send to me.
The final bit of bad news, although not a surprise, is that I have had the results of a genetic test carried out in the USA for Ghillie and he is affected with a condition that can give rise to stones in the bladder and the kidneys. My poor boy really doesn't deserve to have any more problems. You would never think he had anything wrong when he is out running, he looks so strong and full of life. Still we will keep our fingers crossed that we can stay on top of all these problems and hope that once again he will bounce back and continue to give us so much joy and love.


'Ghillie'