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Online Diary 2007 June |
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The online diary started life as a blog of my strange 'other life' with the dog. I wanted to record some of the experiences that I had as a first-time dog owner. To access the archive, click on the appropriate month. The most recent articles are listed separately. You are most welcome to send comments about any of the articles. Record your comments via the Contact Me page. WHITSUN HOLIDAY PART 1 - 'THE THRILL
OF THE CHASE' Life is just about idyllic for Beattie on holiday in the Lake District. Why? Well, for starters, she has undivided attention and company 24/7. Then she gets out on the fells every day on longer than average walks, with all those high-level views she loves. And, finally, she sleeps on the bed - her own version of heaven! In fact, its extremely hard to get her moving in the morning. She's extremely reluctant to leave the comfort and warmth of the bed for her early morning walk up the hill. Mind you, those early morning walks are a good opportunity for me to assess the mood of the day. From the top of the road I can see several of the Northern Fells; Blencathra, Carrock Fell and High Pike. Depending on the visibility, I can usually gauge whether I'll be rushing out on to the hill or having a more leisurely morning. On our return to the caravan site, Beattie will be thoroughly awake and eager to chase any of the local wildlife. At least, to the end of her extender lead, or else there would be carnage amongst the local rabbit population! She will even give chase to the poor robins, and, worse still, the hens that live on site! One afternoon, I had just prevented her from decapitating a rabbit, when she suddenly hared off in the opposite direction after a chicken I had not seen lurking in the long grass! I was too late! With a horrible sound of squawking the hen ran off, pursued by the dog until she was brought up short by the recoiling of the lead! She came back with a mouthful of feathers, which she spat out as she trotted back happily towards me. I'm sure she was grinning with pleasure on getting the better of me, for once! On investigation, I found many more feathers on the ground where the incident had happened. Hoping nobody else had witnessed the event, I marched her back to the safety of the van before she did any more damage! Back To post a comment click here
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from sablonneuse
WHITSUN HOLIDAY PART 2 - 'A DOG FOR
ALL SEASONS' Beattie came into season while we were away. Of course, I had been expecting the event sooner or later. SH told me that her dogs came in at fourteen months. Still, it was rather a shock to be told by A that she had found blood on the duvet when I had taken Beattie out for her early morning walk last Thursday. I had asked SH if there were any signs to look out for before she came in and I was told that Beattie would be a bit dopey a day or two before she started. When I thought back, Beattie had been in a very funny mood yesterday. She did not seem at all keen on going for her walk and kept hanging back at the end of her lead - most unlike her, she is usually forging ahead. There were hurried texts sent to AT to ask her advice. 'Don't worry', came the reply, 'She is not ill! Just keep her on a lead and don't let her come into contact with other dogs.' Well, since then, Beattie has been pretty good at keeping herself clean. On our return, I telephoned AT who gave me more detailed advice including telling me that Beattie could not come back to training until her season was over - about three weeks. 'But you can still train her at home,' she added! She will still be in season when I take her away again the week after next. But, at least by then it will nearly all be over! Back To post a comment click here Comment from Tracey Lilly
WHITSUN HOLIDAY PART 3 - 'BONE TREAT'
Dogs love bones! I give Beattie a butcher's bone most weeks and she gnaws away on it very happily for an hour or more. Last week we went out for a meal one night and I came back with a lamb shank bone for her as a treat. I attached her lead to the tow-ball of the car and left her to it. After a while, I happened to glance out of the window and noticed she had broken off the end of the bone and was trying to crunch it up, but it was obvious that the bone was stuck awkwardly in her mouth making it impossible for her to chew. I went to her aid and found that the bone was lodged between two of her teeth and the roof of her mouth. I tried to shift it without success. My task was not made any easier by Beattie herself, as she thought I was trying to steal her treat! A came out to assist and I held her jaws apart as A tried to remove the bone. This was a serious situation as she could have choked to death if she had swallowed the bone! We decided it a job for a vet so I went to put my shoes on while A looked after Beattie. I was just tying the laces when A shouted that she had managed to remove the bone. She decided that she would have to do something even at the risk of hurting Beattie. What a relief! There was no doubt in my mind that A had saved Beattie from near disaster. That would be the last bone she would have for a while! At least, for the duration of our holiday! Back To post a comment click here
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from sablonneuse
WHITSUN HOLIDAY PART 4 - 'TICK
TROUBLE' After all the trouble that we had with ticks the week before our Whitsun holiday, I should have guessed we would have to suffer further tribulations from the little devils when we returned to the Lakes! The day after Beattie came into season, A found a tick on her during a routine inspection. We had been conducting these inspections every day since the problem had first emerged. The vet had said that 'Frontline' should keep the little beasties at bay, or at least they should drop off in a couple of days. We decided to keep an eye on her. The next day the tick was still there, its legs waving about demonstrating it was very much alive and kicking. I decided to take action. After all, the vet had removed two ticks using forceps. AT had told me that people used various substances to 'soften up' the tick - Vaseline and olive oil were supposed to restrict the air so the little beggar could not breathe, making resistance to forced removal much easier! We only had olive oil in the caravan so we poured on a little of this on to the tick. The results were not what I had expected. The oil seemed to spread out everywhere, but after a few minutes of waiting I used A's tweezers to seize hold of the body and gently twist it anti-clockwise as I had been told to do. I was amazed when the tick just came right out - all of it, the body, legs and head. What a triumph! I never expected the job to be that easy. When we found another tick the next day, I was full of confidence about removing it and set to immediately. Perhaps it was overconfidence, or maybe I did not wait long enough after administering the olive oil, or was it the I tugged too hard instead of twisting. Whatever the reason, this time only the body came out! Disaster! Feverishly, I tried to pull out the head, but it was hopeless. I knew this was serious condition as a nasty infection could follow. Luckily, we were returning home the next day and would be able to visit the vet on Monday. Postscript: I took Beattie to the vet, who removed the reminder of the tick using a surgical needle and he also gave her a dose of antibiotics, which seem to have done the trick. Thank goodness! Beattie has had enough excitement for one week - so have we! We need to go home for a rest! Back To post a comment click here
A CAUTIONARY TALE
'Before you go, can you put a new cuttlefish in the budgie's cage?' This innocent request from my mother nearly led to a fatality! How was I to know the budgie was a chancer, looking for any opportunity to escape. Freedom is a precious gift, but, for a budgie, escape into an unfriendly world, 'the other side of the bars,' is fraught with hidden dangers. In this case, the 'danger' waiting to pounce was Beattie! I opened the door of the cage with the cuttlefish bone in my hand. I had to attach it to the bars of the cage with a thin, bendable strip of metal. I reached to the back of the cage and as I did so, the budgie fluttered around in alarm before making its bid for freedom through the open door. Not realising the danger, I worked away to fix the white bone on to the bars. The next thing I was aware of was a squawk from the budgie, but it was too far away - not in the cage. I turned around just in time to see Beattie pounce on the unwilling victim and engulf the hapless creature in her jaws! I threw myself to the floor in an attempt to rescue the poor bird, but in that moment it escaped Beattie's clutches and fluttered away, only to be caught again a moment later! I grabbed Beattie's neck hard and she yelped, dropping the bird which waddled away to safety whilst I had tight hold of the dog. When I studied the bird to make sure it had not dropped dead of the shock, I realised that it had no tail, and glancing down at Beattie could see the long, white tail feathers hanging out of her mouth! Mother came in to see what all the commotion was about and I had to confess Beattie's crime. The budgie was very quiet, but seemed to have survived the ordeal. Mother put him back in his cage and shut the door. We reflected on the trouble that her bird has had with its tail. When she bought it a few months ago it had a fine tail, but a few days later mother telephoned me to report that the bird's tail had mysteriously disappeared! Had it pulled its own tail out? Nobody could account for the missing tail! Eventually it grew back - until yesterday! Now we will have to hope it can regenerate its tail for a second time. As for Beattie, her disgrace did not last very long. At least the tale had a happy ending. I telephoned mother later in the day and she was able to report that the bird was quite well and chirruping loudly once more. Thank goodness! Back To post a comment click here
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from sablonneuse Comment from Tracey Lilly
For a moment I thought Beattie was going to die! She was foaming at the mouth, retching horribly as if she was trying to get rid of something she had swallowed. What was it that had caused such a violent reaction in her? I rushed to her side and tried to prise her jaws apart to see what the obstruction was. A was filling a jug full of water. I thought she might not be in time and called her urgently. I really thought that her number was up and she was about to expire! A arrived with the water and unceremoniously, she tipped the contents into her mouth. Beattie did not like that at all, but it seemed to help a bit. I carried her into her crate in the kitchen and rang the vet. It was 6.30 and surgery was now closed, but, luckily, the vet was still there and I was able to talk to her. I described her symptoms and said that earlier in the day she had swallowed a piece of thin bone. Could she be trying to bring it up, I wondered. The vet suggested I wait for two hours, but I said I wanted her seen straight away. 'There will be a £75 call-out fee,' she told me. 'That's fine,' I replied. Whatever the cost I wanted her seen a.s.a.p. 'I'll see you at the surgery in 40 minutes,' the vet said. Meanwhile, A had telephoned AT, who thought that Beattie may have been stung by a bee. Whatever the cause, she would be seen now. As the minutes had passed, Beattie seemed to be getting less distressed and before we left she was very quiet, but was breathing normally without retching. We had to take her to the emergency surgery and on the way, A sat in the back to check the Beattie was all right. If she lay down, A called her to make sure she was still conscious! We had a 25 minute wait for the vet to arrive. I apologised for ruining her Friday evening as, by now, Beattie appeared to be perfectly normal! The vet was perfectly charming and said that it was no problem at all. She had been the vet I saw when Beattie had her first ticks removed, so she knew her patient. After an examination the vet decided her stomach was normal, but asked if she could X-ray her as a precaution. We waited anxiously for the result, but were relieved when the X-ray showed nothing in her tummy. The vet told us that the stomach acids in a dog can dissolve bone very quickly. Perhaps it had been a bee sting after all, or maybe something on one of the plants in the garden. Beattie had been nosing about in the flower border just before her spectacular antics! I was just grateful that she had recovered and did not even flinch when I was told the bill for treatment would be £221! 'Are you insured?' enquired the vet. I confirmed that we did have pet insurance, so at least we would recover the money. But that was not really important. Beattie was back! The silver lining for her was that the vet prescribed a diet of chicken and rice for the next 24 hours, so we had to call in at the supermarket to buy the best chicken breasts to cook up for her tea. At least she was very appreciative of her late night feast, when it finally arrived! Back To post a comment click here
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from sablonneuse Comment from Tracey Lilly
Beattie has always been a scavenger! Whenever I am preparing a meal she is always hanging around hoping to pick up the smallest morsel that might accidently drop on the floor. Yesterday she got more than she bargained for. I was baking salmon and ran out of pepper at a crucial stage. I refilled the pepper mill with peppercorns before finishing off the salmon preparation. As I carried the tray to the oven, Beattie nipped in to 'clean up' and must have eaten a peppercorn! The next thing I saw was her trying to get rid of the peppercorn she had crunched up. It was quite comical to see her using a paw to get rid of the last vestiges of this strange 'hot' food. I doubt even this experience will cure her of her scavenging ways! Back To post a comment click here Comment from Anonymous
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from sablonneuse
Photographs taken with a
Fuji MX-2900 Zoom or a Canon EOS 20D |
ARTICLES ARCHIVE 2007 ARCHIVE YEARS
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