Entries from October 2008
The area where we mostly walk is part of the ancient chalk grassland of the South Downs in England. Once a year, as part of the land management scheme, the grass is mechanically mown and transformed from rough scrub grassland to short, stubby roots.
Knowing Georgie’s fondness for rolling, it will come as no surprise to learn that she always makes a bee-line for the areas that have been freshly cut. Here are some photos from today and yesterday of the process.
Georgie and Jessie having their daily workout – what a fine set of teeth!
Nothing like freshly mown grass to set the pulse racing.
P.S.
Goodbear asked what kind of bird is flying in the background. I’ve zoomed in a bit. Anyone know?
Categories: England · Sussex · dog walks · dogs · dogs playing · golden retriever · pets
Tagged: dogs, England, natural areas, South Downs, Sussex
No wonder we’re always short of socks.
Categories: Wordless Wednesday · dogs · pets
Tagged: dogs, Wordless Wednesday
I don’t blame our dogs for our messy house – probably it would be messy without them. But I do recognise that you need to keep on top of it. If not, there’s a danger that ‘the mess’ will get on top of you.
My husband and I have no routine with the cleaning. Usually it’s done when I start moaning about the state of the stairs, or the lounge carpet, and I moan most when we have people coming over. For me that’s the best motivator.
We are quite an unconventional couple in that we don’t really have specific jobs that either of us do. We both muck in and do what we can, when we can. But if I know someone’s coming round, I feel it reflects on me if the house is dirty or at best messy. Mark doesn’t see it like this. If he has time, he’ll hoover; if not it’ll have to wait.
Dog hair is the most obvious visible sign that the house needs cleaning. It gets everywhere as you’d expect in a house where the dogs have few barred areas. Our bedroom used to have an ‘open door policy’. But that’s stopped since we got so fed up with having a hairy duvet!
Here’s Georgie in the ‘good old days’.
We have a dog gate on the bedroom now and our bed is for us only. It took a while to re-educate them, especially the youngest one, Jessie, but now they lay with their noses poking through the bars waiting for morning when we’ll all be reunited again.
It does get me down when the house needs doing. I get irritable and cranky and usually Mark picks up on it and will vacuum the lounge when I’m out.
Here’s a particularly bad day when Jessie got hold of some tissues!
Jessie used to fight with the hoover, barking madly, trying to grab the end of it. Now she follows us round, stepping carefully out of the way, interested but not agitated. When I do the stairs, she’ll always sit one step above the brush, moving up as I complete each step. Jessie likes to be involved in everything!
So I accept having dogs is a messy business but of course I wouldn’t have it any other way. We do our best to keep on top of it, throwing covers over the settee, brushing the wooden floors as often as we can, changing the newspaper under the dog bowls. None of our friends have complained yet but they’re probably being polite! Our house undoubtedly has a rich canine aroma but I prefer not to think about that. Having a house that smells like a kennel must be dreadful. Obviously ours doesn’t . . . does it??
Categories: dogs · housework
Tagged: cleaning, dogs, housework
“Dogs are our link to paradise. They don’t know evil or jealousy or discontent. To sit with a dog on a hillside on a glorious afternoon is to be back in Eden, where doing nothing was not boring — it was peace.”
- Milan Kundera (Czech Novelist, Playwright and Poet, born in 1929)
Categories: Dog Quotations · Quotations · dogs
Tagged: Dog Quotations, dogs, Milan Kundera, natural environment, Quotations
Can I be of service?
Photo of Georgie taken today on our morning walk.
Categories: dogs · golden retriever · gundog · pets
Tagged: golden retriever, happy dog, pets, photography
This was East Sussex in the UK this morning on one of our local walks. It’s been such a beautiful day and we haven’t been to the woods for a little while (on account of Georgie eating something nasty and getting very sick). So we all enjoyed the change and kicking around in the Autumn Leaves (cue song . . . )
Both dogs love to drink from the base of the trees. Here’s Jessie having a quick break from important explorations.
And Georgie in a classic Retriever pose – on her back in the leaves having a good old rub in the dirt!
Finally, Jessie notices something move in the trees – I just caught her before she raced off.
The leaves in the house were proof we’d been there today. I’m still pulling bits off Georgie’s tummy!
Categories: Autumn · Sussex · The Fall · UK · dog walks · dogs
Tagged: Autumn, autumn dog walk, autumn leaves, England, fall, Sussex, UK walks
These are the dogs in our life at the moment. They’re all dogs that Georgie and Jessie have happily sniffed and given the paws up to – they’re our special doggy friends. We’ll proceed alphabetically so as to avoid any accusations of favouritism!
Off we go . . .
Ajax the Rhodesian Ridgeback – Georgie’s first boyfriend
Alfie the Deerhound – even though we haven’t seen you for a while
Alfie – Jessie’s handsome brother (left of pic)
Bailey and Holly – there’s a lovely photo of these two on ‘Saturday Sunshine’
Bella the Staffy
Benji, Ludo and Oliver the Whippets
Bobbie and Drizzle – their mum gets the ‘Services to Dogs’ prize
Bollie the Lab – lives near us and gives us licks on our evening walk
Bonnie the Cavalier cross – come and stay anytime
Bonnie and Paddy – dad gives out yummy biscuits
Buffy, Grace, Sky and Toya – best trained Springers I know
Buzz and Eddie the Jack Russells – whose mum tells outrageous stories!
Doris and Eva – and we’ll never forget Tinny
Dylan and Gracie the Weimaranas
Harry the Springer – barking mad like his Dad 
Hector the Golden Retriever – Grandad’s dog (middle of pic)
Hollingsworth the Patterdale cross – Jessie’s sorry for snapping at you when you took her ball
Hope the Dalmatian – and Jessie’s special friend
Jack the German Shepherd
Jackson the Labradoodle – Georgie was his first proper girlfriend
Mungo – paws up to our beefy, big-hearted doggy pal
Olive – Jessie’s spiritual twin
Penny and Tia Maria
Phoebe the Cocker Spaniel – Georgie says sorry for growling when you tried to eat her dinner
Poppy the Springer Spaniel
Poppy the Shih Tzu cross
Tara the Golden Retriever – she visits us from Switzerland
Tia and Beau the Rottweilers
Twix the Chocolate Lab
Tummy rubs and doggy treats to you all. Thanks for making our dog walks so much fun.
For more dog names take a trip to our website
Categories: dog names · doggy pals · dogs
Tagged: dog names, doggy pals, dogs
When I was a little girl I used to play hospitals. I had Jemima, my life-sized doll who had trouble walking; Tiny Tears who had trouble peeing; various teddies with a whole host of problems; and our Poodle, Chloe, if she happened to come by. I used to line them all up along the wall (not Chloe) and carefully inspect each one.
I was reminded of my game when I found ‘Little Dog’ earlier today. This is one of Georgie’s favourite toys and while Jessie zooms around jumping up and down after a tennis ball, Georgie is delighted to have ‘Little Dog’ gently pushed along the wooden floor so she can bring it back for you.
Well, no longer I’m afraid. This was ‘Little Dog’ after five minutes with Jessie.
I put him quickly on the top shelf, smuggling him past Georgie making as little fuss as I could.
But I was sad. For a start, ‘Little Dog’ wasn’t even Georgie’s toy it was mine – and he was so cute. Not a dog toy at all but the sort of thing you put on your desk next to your computer to make you feel ‘at home’. Mark had probably bought it for me as a romantic gesture, I can’t even remember now, but heh, there are more important things. I’ll let it go.
Next to ‘Little Dog’ is ‘Pig’, also on the top shelf.
He’s got a gash behind his ear where Jessie threw him round regularly in preparation for dinner.
‘Tesco’s upstairs on top of the chest of drawers having lost an ear a while a go.
A student gave me this cute dog as a Christmas present just after we got Georgie as a puppy. I always start with the intention of not giving these cute cuddlies to my dogs. But somehow they spot them and do the whining thing that I really do try and ignore.
Finally (there’ve been others but I don’t want to upset you anymore than I already have) we have Arundal who was bought specifically for Georgie from a second hand shop.
She loved Arundal and took it everywhere with her for almost two years. If she was getting a bit rough, Mark or I would pick Arundal up, stroking it and say ‘gently, gently’. She now knows this word and will go from ‘teeth’ to ‘tongue’ on hearing this command. But one day we let Arundal down and we weren’t there for him. The unthinkable happened. Georgie took Arundal’s eye out and the stuffing followed. Jessie got involved and here they are looking very contrite on the landing. It was a sad day and Arundal has been in the cupboard ever since.
I’m not sure what it is about cuddly toys and dogs. Maybe it’s a maternal instinct that makes some dogs so happy to carry a pink furry pig around in their mouth. But in my experience the toys always have the same fate. Watch your dogs and never leave them alone with a toy like this while you go out. ‘Little Dog’ will probably never leave the toy hospital and this is a sad ending for one that has given so much pleasure over the years.
Categories: dog toys · dogs
Tagged: cuddly toys, dog toys
October 19, 2008 · 1 Comment
I’m thinking, if I ‘put out’ new camera vibes into the ether, the universe might pick them up.
Isn’t that how it works? I think about my new camera (Canon Powershot A550 – thank you Goodbear), talk about it, write about it, imagine using it and then by some miracle it appears in my Christmas stocking.
But there are so many other more important things we need that my new camera will probably slip down the list – after new DVD player (old one’s just conked out), paying our tax bill, new Gortex trainers for dog walks, new suit for Mark . .
Yesterday I went on one site and the blogger had a ‘Tips Box’. Out of curiosity I clicked on it and it went straight to a Pay Pal site. Wow! What an idea! Very cheeky and pretty full on – she had a monetising ethos alright. I’d be too embarrassed to do that – it’s very un-British after all!
So until we start having some spare cash (what a lovely thought), I’ll continue dreaming about the Point and Shoot, 7.0 mega pixels , 4x Optical Zoom camera that would really fit nicely into my bag that goes everywhere with me. And it’s not that expensive – about the same price as a big food shop, maybe minus Mark’s wine and my cider.
Sorry Kodak Easyshare, but I think your days are numbered.
Categories: Christmas presents · cameras
Tagged: camera, canon A550, canon point and shoot, Christmas
Weather report: brilliant sunshine with a fresh feel but no thermal vests just yet.
We met a lot of our friends today. Sometimes we can walk and not see a soul, but today the weather was good, the timing was right and lots of familiar canine and human faces were about. I’m going to introduce you to a few.
Well by now you probably recognise Georgie – she’s sitting with Drizzle, a Shepherd/Collie cross whose litter mates were all named after the weather!
Next we have Drizzle with Bobby, adopted brothers and best of friends – very handsome chaps don’t you think?
Bailey, the Boxer/Mastiff star of my Brown Dog Names page, has recently acquired a new sister. Meet Holly, the Spaniel Cross, a delightful new addition to the pack who loosens Bailey up and loves to roll in very muddy puddles.
Doris, a Collie/Labrador cross, is one of our doggy veterans, mellow and very well behaved. At nearly sixteen she still keeps up on her walks and enjoys life as much as ever.
Finally a couple of group shots with Georgie on the right of the first one, and Jessie on the left of the second one. Kind of sums up their personalities with Georgie backwards-in-coming-forwards and Jessie just the opposite! The Weimaranas are Dylan and Gracie by the way.
It was a lovely day for dog walking today and everyone enjoyed it – two legs and four legs alike 
Categories: dog walks · dogs
Tagged: boxer-mastiff cross, dog walk, dog walks, dogs, shepherd-collie cross, sunshine
