21st November 2009

We went to Wilmslow Agility show today. Ruby did really well getting a 10th place in Combined 1-3 jumping.
Saffy enjoyed herself but we are still looking to get that elusive clear round with her. THe good news is she got her weave entries and did two sets of weaves correctly but she just knocked a couple of poles in each run.
Lily and Milo came along for the experience and had a great time. as there were lots of people to talk to .

17 November 2009

I took Lily and Milo for a walk on the golf course today. The sun was shining and it was really nice to be out. Milo wore his coat as it is still a bit chilly. He has nearly grown out of it.
















The puppies love playing on the golf course as there is so much room to run and play. I like it because there is no mud.




























It makes a really nice backdrop for photos. Here is Lily looking quite grown up.

03 November 2009

I am off work this week catching up on all the things I have been too busy to do. Yesterday and today I have been gardening and have taken down a couple of large conifers that made the garden look dark.
Of course the dogs love to help out.

Ruby absolutely loves stripping bark from wood. She eagerly waits for me to cut off a branch or dig up a stump, then strips the bark and adds the stick it to her collection. I do wonder if Ruby has beaver in her ancestry. She can strip the bark from a large log in just a few minutes
Lily is not really sure what her mum is doing but is willing to help.

Daisy, Milo and Lily all wondering what Ruy finds so interesting about sticks.














Lil getting rather caught up in the branches.

02 November 2009

I am way behind updating the blog. Life is pretty hectic at the moment. Chilli is still with us although he is now called Milo as it was a bit confusig having two dogs called Lily and Chilli. Daisy and Darcy is bad enough.
Here he is wanting to come in from the garden












And having a snooze with his mum Darcy.














Last weekend I went to Midland Counties breed show with Saffy. The first time We have been to a breed show for over a year. Saffy was rather puzzled as she couldn't find any agility equipment anywhere. She was very well behaved considering she is so out of practice. She came second to her sister in her class.

17 October 2009

The weather is still dry but getting colder. One of the big differences between the Malinois and the Bostons (well apart from the size, the colour, the length of the nose....) is the coat. Bostons have very short fine coats with no undercoat which means they feel the cold. Belgians don't seem to mind how cold it gets. Although the Malinois have short coats they have lots of thick undercoat to keep them warm on the coldest day.
So this morning I took Lily and Chilli on an expedition to the local petshop to look at coats. It took a while to get through town as Lily insists on stopping to talk to everyone. She loves people especially children. Chilli hadn't been to town before but soon decided it was fun to talk to all the people too.
We got to the petshop eventually and started trying coats on Chilli. Lily kept getting in the way but then she noticed the rabbit hopping round the shop out of its cage so that kept her attention long enough to find a coat to fit Chilli. Then it was Lilys turn. She doesn't need a coat but her body is similar in size to the Daisy so I could be fairly sure that if a coat fitted her it would fit Daisy, and we got the next size up for Darcy who is a bit bigger than Daisy. On the way home Chilli got lots of attention because he looked so smart in his new coat.
Don't they look nice all kitted out for the winter.














Lily wanting to get in on the action















Bostons don't like sitting on cold hard floors so Chilli often makes use of Lily as she is nice and warm and comfy to sit on!

10 October 2009

We are still having some lovely dry weather so while we can still use the garden I decided to get some of the agility equipment out. I haven't had the tunnel out for ages. Saffy immediately claimed it as her own and stood in the entrance to stop anyone else going in it!












Lily and Chilli are both not really sure what it is but think it looks like fun. Once I persuaded Saffy to go through the tunnel properly they both followed her through several times.

09 October 2009

Poor Lily had a bad day today. we went for a little walk round the wooded area near the house. There is a little wooden bridge which goes over a very smelly stagnant pond. There is not much water in it and it is covered in duck weed. This can make it look like solid ground. Unfortunately I forgot that poor Lily had not been here before and she didn't realise that there was water under the green stuff so she stepped off the bridge and discovered the pond. She quickly scrambled up on to the nearest tuft of marsh grass and just sat there.
The water is not very deep but as I didn't have my wellies on I really didn't want to wade in and get her out. after a lot of calling and cajoling she finally manged to find her way back near enough to the bridge so I could reach her and pull her out.
Unfortunately for Lily when we got home I really didn't fancy carrying s smelly dripping puppy through the house to the bathroom so decided the quickest way to get her clean was to hose her down. She really didn't like that at all, but soon forgot about it once she was clean and dry again.