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Thursday 31 January 2013

31st January

I got rather carried away yesterday with the GPS tracking collars and did not tell you about Rosie.

Rosie was 'helping' me as I 'poo picked' the top field when I saw her looking at Buddy in the paddock below.
I am not sure if I have mentioned Buddy before, he is an old Labrador who belongs to an American lady who lives on the other side of the hill. Whenever she is away visiting the States she leaves him with the Foreign home-help and he invariably escapes and comes looking for any bitch in heat.
  He had an encounter with Bo-Bo several years ago and although Bo is now spayed and there are no entire females, he still calls in when on his travels.
It is quite annoying and very difficult to get close to him and catch him as his mind is only on one thing!  His back legs are beginning to go, yet he seems to have survived wandering loose for years, even regularly crossing a main road.

 Over the years I have let several of my dogs meet him and even if they are not normally good with other dogs they never have a problem with him. He must give off a testosterone charged 'I am only interested in one thing,' type scent because they all just sniff and then come away.
Because of this I had no worries about Rosie going over to see him but as I watched she did take off towards him but instead looked at me. She was checking with me to see if she had my permission to go.
 I am a bit slow on the uptake and as I have said, I had no problem with her approaching him but I realised she was giving me an opportunity to direct her, if I ignored her now why should she listen to me in the future?                  
I called her back to me and she came immediately, away from Buddy! I was so proud of her. What a great dog to check with me before she did something and I almost missed it!  Now the first steps of her coming away from other dogs was in place and it all came from her.

She did meet him later when he was in the garden and she was very submissive and came away when called.
What a lovely moment!

30th January

Still January! My, it's a long month.
It was good to be back catching up with some of the million jobs to do, after my course at the beginning of the week.

It seems I never told you about the weekend at the end of last year when one of the Spaniels from the farm went missing.
 They are mother and daughter and cannot be allowed out loose together else they take off, sometimes rapidly and go hunting in the woods together, eventually returning, muddy and exhausted after a few hours. The problem is avoided by keeping one on the lead whilst they are out and being careful not to leave the door open.
This has rarely, if ever, occurred when the lady of the house was in charge, but a fairly frequent occurrence when responsibility lies with the governor. We have been used to keeping an eye out for the wayward Gals and covering, on occasions, to protect the Gov from an ear bashing.
This happened when the lady of the house was away for the weekend.
I had walked the dogs on the Friday evening but it wasn't until the Saturday, when we were in the middle of lessons that we learnt  they had taken off soon after the walk and only the younger one returned.
By the time we heard they were already beside themselves with worry and had been searching all morning.
Jessie and I looked when we had a break and it coloured the whole Saturday, but by the time we went home  in the dark, there was still no sign.
Still nothing by Sunday afternoon, hope of a happy ending was fading.

Then at 6pm a text to say she had been found safe and well!

Apparently she was caught in a fence by her fur! Someone found her and rang the number on her tag.
Here, as people used to Staffords, we did struggle a little and lose some respect. To be out for two nights when you were only caught by your fur! Can you imagine any self respecting Staffie doing that?
However, the joy and relief that she was safe and unharmed was what really mattered.

As a result they invested in GPS tracking collars. Which have been a huge success and on a couple of occasions when they have escaped they have been tracked in no time with someone on the laptop and another on a mobile following directions.
Until last week when Bo-Bo returned, without her collar and it could not be tracked. That was an expensive collar to lose.
Spending as much time there as I do I kept an eye out.
Then, this morning, I was told although they could not track it they had located the last place they had a signal for it. This indicated it was somewhere just through the gate, on the left, in the top field.
 Rosie and I set out.
This was roughly where the last signal was, it must be near a fence or a thicket. I checked the stock fence at the side, there were lots of rabbit runs under thick cover, a good place to lose a collar. Rosie had charged up the hill and was the other side of the fence in the woods. I walked up to her, how had she got through?  There was a space under the stock fence and lying there one GPS tracking collar!  Undone but otherwise intact.
I had been feeling fed up but it is amazing how immensely satisfying something so seemingly small can be.

Monday 28 January 2013

Monday 28th January

We heard from several of our owners over Christmas who adopted their dogs some time ago. One of them was Lilly. Lilly was a stray and was quite insecure.



We thought you would like an update on Lilly we have had her now for coming up to four years in April 2013. She is sat looking at us as we write this e-mail with a contented look on her face. Lilly can now be left at home unattended uncrated  for as long as it takes us to do the weekly shop  lazing around on the sofa with the radio for company. Her tail constantly wags now which was a different story to when we got her, she was nervous until she realised she was here for good and would be part of the family. She also barks on occasions which took longer than we anticipated, she knows she can bark and she wont be told off. Thank you once again for pairing us with Lilly.
Attached are a few photos of Lilly taken by my son, some with our Son and Grandson

Very best regards Jean & Des McGuinness









28th January

The snow has gone! Washed away completely by the rain on Saturday night. We did not get snow on Friday night, it fell as rain and we were able to return, somewhat tentatively, to lessons on Saturday.
 The water supply was also restored during the morning, so life returned to normal and fields to green.

Angels fluid lump is gradually starting to recede and she enjoyed a good game of ball today.

I am on a First Aid At Work course for the next two days, I am not sure how that will impact on the blog!

Friday 25 January 2013

25th January

It is pouring with rain as I write this, not Staffie weather!  It should mean the end of the snow though and although very wet underfoot, we have the promise of sun tomorrow and I should be able to work.


Look out for our new weekly blog on our Facebook page ... starting soon.


Wishing you all a good weekend.

Thursday 24 January 2013

24th January

I really don't know about this weather. It has continued to thaw and the roads are clear and also dry in places but there was snow in the night which settled, in some places. There was snow on my car this morning and a fresh covering over at the ponies, in places, in other places patches of earth are beginning to appear. It was definitely thawing all day, but we have no water still. I see ponds are still iced over with snow on top and disgruntled ducks standing around.

At the farm we still have a lot of snow, in places, and water is not running from the well but can be drawn up from it manually. The owner slipped and fell into the well cutting his head when fetching water for the yard this morning. I had just enough water in the bottom of the kettle for my morning coffee, I don't know how they are managing in the house. So for all those whose only concern is reaching the local supermarket and who think the crises is over, spare a thought for us, conditions this morning resembled some remote back post.
 On top of this the family at the farm had to say goodbye to their 13 year old Collie, Daisy. She had liver cancer and had been very poorly for the past week. She was three quarters Border Collie and a quarter Lassie Collie, and one of the loveliest dogs I have ever known, so gentle with children and puppies, it has left a big gap there despite the remaining two Spaniels.
Bo-Bo one of the Spaniels


This evening Kate brought Jesse to see me as she was passing. He looks fantastic. He and Rosie enjoyed a run together. It was great to see him, now eight months,  remember he is still looking for a home.

23rd January

The snow on the ground has been steadily melting for the past 36 hours but continuing to fall from the sky!
Because this is not 'significant,' or likely to 'cause disruption,' it has been mainly ignored by the Weather People. It is however, grim. It also means it is messy under foot again. I am hoping for a days work on Saturday, it is forecast to be up to double figures by Sunday, meanwhile, since it started last Friday, I think it was only Monday that it didn't snow.


Saffy and Simon after a Snowy walk.

Lexus finished his course of Antibiotics last night. He did his usual miraculous recovery in the snow last week, suddenly lurching forward and nearly pulling me off my feet and once off the lead tearing down the garden before standing at the bottom gate demanding to go further.

He is showing signs of growing older though. I noticed today, when he came in from his walk, that his tongue was sticking out through that toothless mouth. Ah well! It comes to us all eventually.
In his youth.






Meanwhile a change from snow photos.
One of the original Saffy and Simon and two of Jesse with Smudge. Smudge stayed with Kate after Christmas and Jesse and she got on really well.







Jesse, Smudge and friends.






Tuesday 22 January 2013

22nd January

Today has been a slightly odd and very cold one.
I gave my eldest daughter a lift to work in Dorking. The roads were clear but lots of snow in the fields on either side. There and back is a lot of driving for me and I struggled with concentrating and irritating  my Sciatica.  At one point I commentated on a strange smell but it was just momentary.

Over at the ponies we were pretty iced up and slippy. The tap in the yard did not thaw and a kettle was needed to get the outside tap at the house running even mid-morning.
I removed packed snow from the ponies feet and scattered rock salt on the ice as well as ensuring everyone had enough to eat.
I became aware of an unpleasant gas like smell. I mentioned it to the cleaner and she said it smelt like oil and we checked the oil tank for a leak. Then the water stopped. A burst pipe? All the water at the farm comes from a well.  By now I needed to go leaving the lady of the house the concerns of no water and a possible oil leak!


I negotiated the back route to Pets At Home only to find the Wainrights food comes onto special offer tomorrow, definitely worth waiting for.
Once home I caught the end of a news report on the radio,' ...  coming from France, residents as far inland as Tonbridge in Kent have reported a smell like rotten eggs.'   Aha! It wasn't me or the oil.
Indeed it was a chemical leak from a factory in Northern France producing a Sulphur like smell reaching Kent, Sussex and Surrey.
At least I have one sense that is not fading!

The water turned out to be a frozen pipe near the well, thawed with kettles and horse blankets so at least we had water for the night but despite the rising temperature the yard tap did not thaw.
As I started the evening stable duties it began to snow and Rosie and Angel had a walk in a blizzard. Visibility was poor as I drove home.


So that was another day gone.
 Last night I had to visit the bathroom, downstairs, in the wee small hours, freezing cold, all five dogs were curled up fast asleep and every one snoring as only Staffies can.

21st January

Snow pony!
It now feels as if we have had snow for ever, it is in fact four days, which, I suppose is quite a long time.
 The roads here have remained passable, the worst time was Friday lunchtime when I called in at the vets.
 It snowed on and off for most of Saturday, stopped overnight, and then snowed again on Sunday.
Despite the forecast it was only touching on freezing this morning and later we had some sunshine, in all a very pleasant day. The snow, however, remains on trees as well as on the ground and although there is no more significant snow forecast, with the temperature due to drop, it is likely to be here for a while.


Snow on my cherry tree.

Angel had her stitches out. Her Seratoma  had returned, but unlike Friday, it was Jane who saw us. She said that exercise made little difference, removed the stitches and let the fluid drain out over the surgery floor! Apologies to the squeamish among you, one way to start a Monday morning, I actually found it less disturbing than the 'syringing' and it looked a whole lot more comfortable for Angel!
 Jane warned that it could come back but to 'just ignore it,' as it would eventually 'settle down.'

Angel in the snow on Friday.





Saturday 19 January 2013

19th January

Staffies in the snow!

Jesse and Lara

Jesse with Lara and Moose

Boycie and Christine



Christine writes :-  Boycie was like a hyperactive child when he saw the snow this morning and I have attached a few photos.  Pity he won't keep still long enough to get a nice close up!
 
He is desparate to play with Harry, the Shetland, but Harry is not amused and ignores him completely.



 ... and Rosie.



18th January

Well the snow certainly came!

Dave managed to get to work long before it started.
 I did the school bus run at 8am and it had just started with a light covering.
 I then went straight to the ponies with Rosie and Angel on board.
I had been there half an hour when my son's friends Mum said she was on her way to the school to pick them up! Most of the schools closed by lunchtime.
I sorted the ponies out.
 Rosie loved the snow charging around.
Once I had finished, and become rather cold, I needed to call at the vets as Lexus was out of his anti-inflammatory  tablets. First I had to uncover my car! I used a broom to brush the snow off but as fast as I brushed more snow covered it!
My car at 11am

I thought I would be the only client calling in at the vets, but James the nurse told me they had done ten consults, including boosters, and all the operations had gone ahead too. They were incredulous that people had carried on. We decided it was because the snow started after people were up, had they woken up to it things would have been different.
Angel enjoying the snow

As I was there I asked them to look at Angel. They drained some of the fluid from the wound. Apparently I have been doing the wrong thing and she needs to be kept as quiet as possible with just short lead walks.

By the time I went back to the ponies in the afternoon the roads were clear.
Rosie had a lovely snowy walk, she was so good, interested in everything and charging around but never going too far away, so different to the anxious dog we took in a few weeks ago..

Rosie loved it!

It was still snowing though when I took the dogs out for their night visit to the garden, and my car door was frozen when I retrieved my hat from inside.

All lessons cancelled and more snow forecast for Sunday.

Thursday 17 January 2013

17th January

We have had Angel's results through concerning her lump. It was a Mast Cell tumour, but not strongly malignant, it has been fully removed with good margins, Jane the vet felt this was good news.
She does, however, still have lots of Serum fluid around the wound. Jane has checked this and says it sometimes doesn't settle down until the stitches are removed which will be Monday.
This photo was taken this evening. You can see what a huge lump she has and also some swelling under her tummy where it has drained down.
I must emphasise this swelling is fluid as a result of the surgery. The actual lump removed was tiny in comparison.


Tomorrow there was to have been another meeting of the Staffie Forum at Battersea Dogs and Cats Home.
It has now been postponed due to the weather forecast and the road closures following the Helicopter crash.
Many of the Battersea staff had trouble getting to work today.

I must admit I have spent most of my energy today preparing for the snow that is forecast for tomorrow.
The ponies have been brought down to a lower field closer to the stables.
The tap in the yard was just beginning to thaw as I came home. I did, however, manage one lesson. It looks unlikely at this stage that I will be able to take any lessons on Saturday.

Dave is on standby for Surrey 4x4 Response to assist the Ambulance Service and one Council.

Lets see what tomorrow brings ...

16th January

A very hard frost, which made things much better for the dogs, keeping them clean etc but no good for riding!
It would appear we cannot have everything.

The wretched wet weather has meant our garden has been under water or muddy for weeks, worse near the top so the dogs have to go through wet to find drier ground. It plays havoc with their paws and poor old Lexus has succumbed. He has been very miserable for the last day or two rarely coming out of his bed and struggling to walk barely making it to the garden before doing his business and then staggering back inside.
He would not let us look at his front right paw which was obviously the one which was very painful. That coupled with arthritis behind meant he only had one out of four working legs or feet, hence his difficulty moving!
So he had a visit to Auntie Jane who managed to persuade him to stay still long enough to discover a nail bed infection on his bad claw which he has already had treatment on and which is a legacy from his time in kennels.
When he had his nail cauterised 
He now has a course of antibiotics.


Angel is doing well and chased a ball a bit today. My Doctor friend said the fluid on her wound was called a Seratoma, as it is serum fluid, which sounds rather exotic.

Tuesday 15 January 2013

15th January


Well no more snow here today, not a bad morning but a cold day although it was quite pleasant in the sun around  two o'clock. Temperatures have now plummeted and it looks as if we are in for a very cold night.

I took Angel on a longer walk to see if keeping her moving would help with the fluid, she still has a lot around the wound.


I include the following link to the Blue Cross publishing the top ten breeds of dog they took in last year.
Top is Jack Russells but SBT's come a close second with an increase on last year.
I heard recently someone suggest that Akita's and Malamutes and other big Bull breeds were taking over from Staffies as the most popular (and most handed in dogs) but this seems to disprove that and we are still receiving calls and emails everyday asking us to take in dogs.
We took in four puppies under the age of six months last year, so there are still too many Staffords being bred.
I believe it is the breeding that needs to be tackled and somehow stopped.

http://www.bluecross.org.uk/1752-110830/blue-cross-top-10-dog-breeds-of-2012-.html




Monday 14 January 2013

14th January

Snow report :-

It started snowing here about 3am, exactly as forecast, I looked out and it was  quite heavy but not settling on the roads, only on the cars. There was a sprinkling on the ground in the morning but the ground was so wet it was not much but I did have to scrape it off my car. It continued to snow on and off until lunchtime when it turned to sleety rain, quite heavy for a time before stopping about 4pm. Though I see there is still snow on my neighbours car tonight.
Last years snow.
 Everywhere remains horribly messy and the dogs get filthy just popping down the garden.

In true Staffie form they hate it, nobody was very keen to get up this morning but Lexus in particular made sure he went no further than was absolutely necessary to do what he needed and refused point blank to go on a walk. I have never known him so quiet!

A little update on Chloe.

 They have had to buy a metal crate for her as she learnt to unzip the very comfortable, cosy, material one they had!
Now you have to admit that is clever.

Angel's wound is healing well and looking less angry though she has got fluid around it. She went for her follow up visit at the vets. Jane took some of the fluid to check it was not infected but said it may not settle down until the stitches were removed which will be in a weeks time.
She is otherwise well, eating and happy but getting a bit frustrated at not being able to run.


Whilst at the vets I saw one of the cutest puppies ever! A little Terrier pup who was as wide as she was high.

Friday 11 January 2013

11th January

It is with great sadness that I inform you of the unexpected death of Anna-Lisa Browne


8/6/1976 - 23/12/2012
                                                 

Anna ran The Doghouse a dog training business with her husband Glenn.

Her vision was particularly to help rescue dogs and to sort out any problems so that rescue dogs remained in their new home.
 I first heard of Anna through her Agility classes. She ran a 'naughty' dog agility class for any dogs who were a bit tricky. My son and I attended with several of the rescue dogs. We also took Sandy on Anna's basic training course picking up some invaluable tips. We joined in some of  the group walks with Glenn and they also boarded our rescues when we were away.
More recently Anna's daughter Cheryl has been riding with me.



Today we attended a service to say goodbye to Anna and to celebrate her life.
It was packed with people standing all around and spilling out of the doors.A fitting tribute.
Here we learnt more of what we already knew about a gentle lady with a passion for dogs with whom she had a special bond and excellent skills.

She will be sadly missed.







Our thoughts and prayers are with Glenn, her mother Carol and brother Peter and her daughters Cheryl and April.

Thursday 10 January 2013

10th January

I am very pleased to report that Angel is feeling much better today and pretty much back to normal this evening.
As we find with most of our dogs who have an operation, it is really only the anesthetic that has any effect, apart from that they are fine.
She has been eating well and came to the ponies for the morning where she enjoyed a gentle walk and potter. At home she is back to her normal self, alerting us when Dave came home and just now, announcing that my daughter was back.

Here she is enjoying a fuss from Sam before he went to school ...



and having a potter at the ponies.



Here is Lexus at 10 o'clock this morning.

By this time he had got out of bed, been down the garden to do what was necessary, come in and had breakfast

and now enjoying a post breakfast nap!


It is a dog's life for sure!

Wednesday 9 January 2013

9th January

Angel has had the lump removed.

 It was a solid mass so they treated it as 'worrying,' and took significant margins and sent it off to be tested.
Poor Angel has a large scar and is understandably feeling rather sorry for herself tonight.

I must admit I had not thought it was going to be quite such a big deal, I noticed the lump when it first appeared and it was a tiny and did not change for some time. It certainly felt different to Saffy's lump and was nowhere near as big, yet now it seems 'Here we go again.'

We had just over £250 in the Reuben Account we can use to pay for the operation but it could end up costing more. Someone has already kindly sent a donation towards it, if you would like to give something towards it we would be very grateful, please mark it 'Angel's operation.'

She goes back for a follow up appointment on Monday and will need the stitches removing in 10 days. Until then she will be on lead walks.


Rosie enjoyed being the only dog with me today.


She is really doing well and can be trusted to run around with me when I am working with the ponies.
She is better in the house, we have decided she needs a strict routine and the excited jumping is getting better.
We tried another session of lead training today which went very well.






Here are some pics of her helping me with the hay, not bad for a dog from a third floor flat!