A dog and his boy

Tangent adoring Rowan

Progress!

Willow is finally acknowledging Rowan's existence!  I think she has realised that he isn't going anywhere.  Over the last couple of days she has come up to him and sniffed his head (with us watching like hawks!)

She still looks displeased, but at least Willow is beginning

to accept that Rowan isn't an hallucination.

Rowan for his part is not that interested in the dogs, but he does occasionally stare at them for a while.  I think it's more to do with the contrast of black and white than any intrigue by them as animals. 

I'm surprised by how much Rowan is growing, and he has already outgrown a few of his clothes.  I don't think he's going to be in the Moses basket for much longer either...

Having a bit of a workout

Snow day!

Being the sheltered pleb that I am, I don't watch the news (local or national) so I was quite surprised to wake up and find a couple of inches of snow outside (I'd have been more surprised had it been inside).  Having lived in Aberdeen for 6 years, the snow wasn't exactly an impressive fall, but for England it was a decent smattering worthy of a blog post.  I was particularly excited since it was Rowan's first snow day, not that he'll remember it.  Gareth and I wrapped him up in copious amounts of blankets and a wooly hat knitted by my Mum, and took him into the garden for a quick photo shoot.

 Gareth was worried that Rowan would

be in the cold too long, hence the

worried expression.

A brief pose before heading back indoors.

 I enjoyed the snow today as I didn't have to go out in it.  I have Reynauld's disease, so whilst I appreciate the aesthetics of a nice snowfall, spending any amount of time outside in it inevitably ends in my fingers and toes becoming very painful.  However, as Gareth didn't have to go in for his morning shift, I did brave the weather and take the dogs out for a brief run whilst he looked after Rowan - we decided he was probably a little too young to take out in the snow, so I enjoyed a quiet walk with the dogs alone.

Willow enjoying baby-free time.

The problem with having a mostly white dog in snow.

Rowan does have the kit for snow, and we do take him out in cold weather, but we decided today was a tad too cold. 

Rowan's snowsuit.  He'll grow into it.

Dogs and Rowan

When Rowan was in hospital, we left a bit of muslin in his cot and brought it home with us after a couple of days.  We let the dogs sniff it so they could get used to Rowan's smell before we brought him home.  Willow wasn't in the slightest bit interested, but Tangent was fascinated (in a waggy tail, happy sort of way, not a predatory 'thanks for the snack' way).

So, when we finally brought Rowan home, the dogs' reactions to him weren't a surprise to us.  Willow essentially pretended he didn't exist, sulked for a couple of days and pretty much ignores him (although we have caught her having the odd surreptitious sniff of the Moses basket).

Unimpressed Willow.

 Tangent, however, is really taken with him.  He watches the Moses basket and stares at it intensely when Rowan makes any kind of noise.  He also sits close to the changing mat when we change Rowan's nappy, and also by the playmat.  Although I think the latter is more because he quite fancies the playmat as an epic dog bed, complete with awesome dangly toys.

 Tangent, Gareth and Rowan relaxing.

Obsessive Tangent.  We hope they will be good

playmates when Rowan is older.

An annual event: The dogs' bath

Well, actually the title isn't quite true since their bath was a year overdue anyway, and they usually get bathed every 6 months.

So, the dogs are the latest victims of pregnancy nesting, and they were subjected to a cleansing.  I decided to bath them before we moved as I didn't want the new house smelling of wet dog.  I also wanted to bath them before I got too big to be comfortable hunkered over the bath for long periods of time.

I managed to convince the dogs to climb onto a stool and jump into the bath themselves so I didn't have to lift them.  I'm surprised they did, although Tangent would've legged it if the bathroom door wasn't closed.

Tangent on the stool I used to get him to get in 

the bath himself.  Although it looks like he's stood

on some gallows 

'I thought you were cool, man'

Misery: Ilustrated

I forgot how tiny Willow is beneath all her fur!

 

Shiny, sparkly dude!

Super glossy Willow

Leigh Woods - September

We got the dogs out to Leigh Woods for the first time in ages a couple of weeks ago.  Gareth and I have missed going there too, so it was nice getting out beyond the local green to air the dogs.  Between Gareth's ridiculous shifts and my returning pregnancy tiredness, we've struggled to get out and do things lately.  We did manage to go and see Three Men in a Boat which played at the Tobacco Theatre last month and we both enjoyed that.  I read the book many years ago and found it hilarious.  I was intrigued as to how they would work Montmorency into the production!  A plastic dog ornament was the answer.

 Obligatory stand-in-a-tree shot #1

 Obligatory stand-in-a-tree shot #2

Willow looking deliriously happy about being

back in Leigh Woods 

Tangent waiting for us to catch up

What happens when you go too far ahead of the pack?

You get 5 ticks feasting on you. Tan had an awkwardly

positioned tick right below his eye. I removed it intact, 

but it still looked irritated.

Tangent does not like the cold

For a dog that was born on a farm in North Scotland, Tangent is not a fan of being cold.  Luckily, he has a fleecy bomber jacket to both warm and humiliate him...

 Fine.  I'll pose nicely.  I guess it is kinda cozy...



Right. Enough's enough; it's coming off. 

I'd better get my Octopus after this.

Yay! Octopus! [Tangent's favourite toy/obsession]

Project in the pipeline

I have somewhat neglected this blog recently. I've been a bit caught up in my new blog and haven't really been up to much anyway! I decided to create a new blog as I realised I was taking life way too seriously. My sense of humour isn't always to everyone's taste, so I figured I would make a place for it.

I have a winter project I intend to start soon - dog booties! Not because I am some broody late twenty-something trying to make my dogs into surrogate babies, but because Willow's fur between her toes tend to get compacted with ice in this weather and I imagine that must hurt a lot!

The pattern for said project comes from an awesome book my sister bought me for my birthday:

Jumbo Yorkie - it's not for girls

My parents visited us last weekend and brought their two dogs, Molly and Flash. Molly is meant to be a Yorkshire terrier, but she looks like she was brought up on steroids. Look the size of her!

  My dad with Molly the mega-weight

 



I love Molly's unimpressed expression as Tan and

Flash play!

Bone of contentment

Tangent's expression couldn't embody the phrase "I love you so much" any better!

Hallowe'en

This year Gareth and I had planned on having a Hallowe'en party and invited several of our friends. Unfortunately, the closer the time came more of them were unable to make it (fair enough; our friends are dotted all over the UK, so it was a bit of a trek for them). In the end only one of our friends was able to make it. We still decided to have mini-party, as we are rather fond of hallowe'en!

Pumpkin pie with a pecan and gingersnap layer.

I also made up some maple syrup whipped cream (recipe for

pie and cream can be found here - although I would use

your own shortcrust pastry recipe as the one provided

was a bit stodgy).

Razor blade door hanging!

Continuing our 'Chop Shop' theme!

Taking 'raw feeding' to a new level!

Our take on 'Psycho'

The dogs partaking in the horror.

Ashton Court Estate

We took the dogs to a Ashton Court Estate a couple of days ago. I've heard about this place a few times from other dog people, but didn't quite know where it was. It turns out we drive past it on our way to Leigh Woods! It's very nice, and is exactly the sort of place (apart from moorland) that I've been missing since moving to Bristol - except for the golf course, but you can't have everything!

Dog bandana!

I had a go at making a dog's bandana last week. I made it from an old pair of Gareth's cargo trousers:

Burnham on Sea dog show

Willow and Tangent both had running orders for this show, so it was a bit of a nightmare and I wasn't quite as laid-back as I'd like to have been!

Tangent was very focused throughout hisround. Love that boy!

Tangent was 9th in the running order for Beginners (dog and bitch). The judge was very pleasant and didn't mind me training the round. I was very happy with Tangent today. He was very motivated for his toy, was very focused and generally seemed to be having a whale of a time! His heelwork is coming along (well, as long as we avoid left-turns!) and he's starting to work much closer to my leg.

He wasn't this close during all his heelwork,

but I thought I would show his best position!

He proved entertaining with the retrieve excercise as he initially brought the dumb bell to the steward, probably because she was closer!

Willow drew 2nd in the running order for Novice, but I decided not to work her in this class as she didn't really seem herself (I've decided that working two classes with her is asking too much of the old girl now).

I worked Beginners with her and her heelwork was ok, although she was working quite far in front of me:

Top: Willow miles in front!

Bottom: She wasn't really concentrating;

it looks like she's out for a jolly little walk!

She was quite distracted throughout this round, and ended up anticipating her recall. By the time it came to the retrieve she had lost the plot somewhat and toddled out after the dumb bell when I threw it, stopped, looked around and caught site of a dog in another ring she took a disliking to and bolted after it. Fortunately her instant downs are pretty ace so I yelled "Down!" and she dropped. I tried training the rest of the round, but by now she was far too distracted so I ended it there.

I was not disappointed with Willow, just how it went! I think she is definately past her peak with Obedience and considering the 6 year gap in shows, I was happy with her.

Willow once again distracted! Excuse my

vast ass - going by the position of all the

surrounding dogs it looks like it has its own

gravitational pull!

Well, next show is 26 September, and with plenty to work on with both dogs, I will not be short of things to do! I suspect that the next show will be Willow's last one before she is retired completely as her arthritis is getting quite bad. As such, I hope our last show together will be fun, if not successful!