Sammi No Ears

Doesn't she look funny!

Now she does look like her mother did at the same age! 

This evening so far she has brought a worm and a slug into the living,

Just waiting to see what comes in next!

A Change A Foot?

As we returned from the top field yesterday afternoon a fight broke out between the bitches. There was no doubt it was Tali who caused the tension that started the fight, but I'm not sure if it was her who threw the first punch.(so to speak)
It was such a nice afternoon and we'd been sitting in the top of the field. As Sammi was eating mud, grass and more mud I'd popped her on a lead. As we decided to return indoors Mikey ran off with Tali's toy,  immediately putting her "In one!" For a reason best only known to herself she took it out on Ziva  and gave her that "look," Ziva hit the deck. A few paces forward and they had words, but sadly this time a fight broke out between the two of them. Luckily Sammi was still on the lead and I was able to pass her over to Steve and run down the field to try and sort it out. Mikey ran home (A reaction I've seen before from a male when bitches fight)  and Asha hovered making it harder to break it up as she occasionally joined in. It felt like it went on for hours, but  in truth it was only minutes before I was able to pull Ziva away and screamed at Tali to back off. I must admit I was harsh on Ziva as I felt at the time that it was only right for me to back up Tali, after all Tali is still top dog ... I think!
As I think back, only a week or two, there was a spat between Asha and Tali over a toy. That has never ever happened before, the two have always adored each other and though it was something and nothing it did happen. Why? Yesterday Asha seemed to be backing her daughter and not her mother. Why? Though Ziva has always had more respect for Asha than she has for Tali she has never questioned her authority, so why now? There is no doubt Tali is getting older and slowing down, are the other girls now picking up on a weakness that only they can sense? I guess time will tell.
Now I have all the ifs and buts going around my head. If Mikey hadn't taken the toy then Tali wouldn't have got into a strop, If Ziva had taken her own toy with her then she'd have probably gone off in the other direction. Thank god that puppy was on the lead ....
No one is really hurt. Luckily two bitches of equal size with good coats have manage to do little damage. Tali does have a couple of puncture wounds in her leg, but having cleaned them they really are not deep and don't warrant a vet check. In the dog world there really isn't much worse than bitches fighting, it's a whole different league to males having a scrap. Bitches fighting are just horrible!
After the fight we put all the dogs involved in their crates for a couple of hours and even fed them in there before bringing them out together again. Though feeling tense we decided to try our best to behave as if nothing had happened and carry on in our normal routine. Though it's been a long time since we've had bitches fighting here one thing has always stayed in my mind. Unlike dogs, bitches hold grudges and there is always a few days/weeks of tension to come.
So how is it here today? Strangely quietly and uniquely after a fight, without tension. There have been no dirty looks or growls and grumbles between the girls .... to be honest other than it's unnatural quite,  it feels like nothing has happened. Tali is a little stiff, and I do hope she's not harboring a quite grudge for when she's feeling a 100% again. I fear that if the old girl starts trouble again she will be the one getting seriously hurt.
So where do we stand now? We are going to hope it was just one of those things, a one off tiff, a bad day in the office... after all there has never been any trouble between them before. What will I do different? Only one thing, I'll make sure both girls always take their toys with them in the fields as well as on the walk and hope it never happens again!

Just Two More ...

I always regret not having photos of myself with my dogs. So many generations have passed and no photos of us together. Though I hate having my photo taken it's worth it to have these memories to treasure. 

With Jezi, Finlay, Nico and Isla cat

With Tali, Ziva, Sammi, Asha and Mikey

Love These ....

Are we ready .. all together say .... George Michael

Love it 

Not much chance of Sammi looking at the camera with Isla joining in!

Anyone Want A Mucky Puppy???

Fun This Socialising

Thanks to Ann and Fern for their time today, Sammi had the most fantastic time. A run around the garden, a try and the agility tunnel and then splashing about in the stream with the lovely Fern. Puppy now sleeping conserving energy to give me hell this evening!!!!

Click on the photos if you want to see them any larger :)

At This Age - Well There Or There About!!!

Lledfegin Camri (Nikki -1993)

Blanik Astra (Seffe -1996)

Blanik Deeanna (Krizzie 2000)

Stud Dog?

Last night I had a call from a lady wanting to use my dog at stud. After saying how beautiful he was and how ideal he would be for her bitch she referred to him as "Urses." I got suspicious and told her I didn't have a dog of that name. I tried to give her chance to come up with the name but she was unable too. I told her I have two dogs, Danko and Georgios ... she apologised and said it was "Danko" (Nico) that she was interested in. She then went on to tell me that the bitch was booked in for Hip Scoring next month, I told her she would need to do the elbows as well. But then she told me the bitch wasn't KC registered. I asked her if she had a pedigree for the bitch, she didn't know what that was! I ask her why she should want to breed from an unregistered bitch? She said because she has a lovely character, everyone loves her and she wants a pup out of her. I tried to explain that as she had no history for her and knew nothing of any hereditary conditions that could be in the pedigree that this would be unwise. She said but I'm having her hip scored ... I explained there was so much more to it than hips and told her about haemophilia and epilepsy ... she said she would have the bitch tested for those too ... I then took the time to explained why that wasn't possible. She was a very pleasant lady who thanked me for my time and advice; but I have since found out that she has now contacted another person involved in the breed, she also and for the same reasons said NO! So obviously I wasted my time, not a word of what I said has made a difference!

Today's Adventure ...

..took us to Llanberis lake

My beautiful new puppy in one of my old haunts. In the early 90ies when I lived in Pont Rug this was one of my regular walks. I loved it there, especially out of season when it was quite. Today has brought back memories of the old gang ... Blade, Nikki, Pepsi and Sultan. 

Great times - Great dogs. 

Photoshopped only to removed the lead attaching Sammi to the tree! lol 

The Old Gang

Pepsi. Blade, Sultan and Nikki at the back

At This Age

We Looked Like This ...... 

Blanik Frankie (Tali) 

Blanik Georgette (Asha)

Blanik Hippy (Ziva)

And Now ...

Blanik Ivana (Sammi)

I'd love to go further back .. but it would mean digging out photo albums and scanning.

Shame!!!

As we were so close today we popped into the vets to weigh Sammi, she was 13.25kg, quite a jump from 3 weeks ago when she was 8.70kg. I've no idea how this compares with the others or the previous generations.... but no doubt I'll be having a look back.  

Paranoia

The silent puppy is not necessarily resting, relaxing or enjoying the view, its far more likely that she's pulling the draft proofing off the door, shredding a cushion or worse still, she gone! (Yep she has found another way through into the field.) Just normal puppy behaviour that keeps me on my toes and makes me smile. In the morning she gives her mother hell, hanging off her neck or biting her back leg, and when her mother's had enough and tries to escape she starts on her Gran ... avoiding her great Gran like the plague as she's the only one that will "tell her" and really spoil her fun!
But still, courtesy of the dear vet I'm paranoid. "Why is she quiet this afternoon? Did she limp then? Why did she do this? Why did she do that?" It's a horrible feeling, and when I'm "unclamping" her teeth off my jacket or screaming "leave the bloody cat alone" I know there is nothing wrong with her; but that seed of doubt is buried deep within and keeps nagging away at me . I'm glad it's not just me, Steve says he also feels the same, he's constantly watching for anything different from normal puppy behaviour. Really these people have a lot to answer for, he's not spoilt my enjoyment of Sammi, but he could so easily have done. But things are different, I am a little over cautious with her physically, I worry about her being knocked over, I worry when she's bouncing off the furniture as the sweet child was doing this morning!!! But as long as she's not completely OTT I do try not to stop her, I just worry about it!!! I know, I know spare my the lecture, I'm sensible enough (well mostly..lol) and I'm sure as the weeks pass we will return to normal,  that vet and his negativity will just be a distant fading memory. Just one more comment/observation .. had we seen a another vet that day life could all be so different!

The Princess

 Sweet Isla following us around the field,

Never has their been a more sweet, affectionate or demanding cat in my life. 

"You will pick me up ... you will cuddle me, I will sit with you!"

Carrying her to keep her out of Sammi's clutches!!!

Busy Blogger Day

But how the hell could I not include these photos?

Sammi on her first walk with daddy Nico 

I got just one chance and I'm over the moon with it.

Second attempts ... lol

Teaching her bad habits!!!

The Sun Shines On The Righteous

Oh Ok if it makes you feel any better we had cloud by 10.30 am too, 

but no wind, no rain and not cold. (Well by our standards anyway!!!)

First walk and the sun is still breaking through the cloud

But come on, paws up who spat on the lens then???

Ziva, Mikey, Asha and Tali

 The second walk, no sun and slightly spoilt by a guy with a ball and 2 Lurchers! 

You've got a whole fecking mountain...

Why did you have to follow me????

Jezi, Finlay and Nico

This was before Finlay rolled in sheep shit!

11.33 am - Edited post just to say .... Sunny again now 

Put that down, don't throw it at me!

Less Of The Old!!!!

This made me laugh , a friend found it on an online forum, discussing Kylie getting to No2 album spot: "She must be gutted it never made number one. All the hype,the 24 hour plugging of the album, talk shows, the magazine covers,TV interviews, radio plugs, newspaper articles,the voice and anyone else that would listen to her. She then looses out to an old bloke that has done zero PR for his album"

Sammi having a strop!

So yesterday morning she had a 10 minute walk "outside" the gate. Yesterday afternoon we took her out in the car and went for a little walk somewhere new. Last night I found that "alternative" and took her to Ring Craft. Bed time - is she ready to sleep? .... is she hell!!!!
You drown teddy in the water bowl, then you loose your temper with it, throwing the contents of the bowl over the floor just for fun! Simpes!!!

UPDATE - Full Deck

***There is now a picture of all the pups in the 3 months photos.***

Making The Most Of The Sunshine

Can you swim in that big puddle?

 Posing 

Chatting

Wake Up It's A Beautiful Morning!

Nico

Jezi

Finlay

 Ziva

Mikey and Tali

 Asha

Sammi first time in a new spot

That's My Man!

George Michael has beaten Kylie Minogue in the race to this week’s Official Number 1 album to score his seventh UK chart-topper with Symphonica.
It was an epic battle pitting chart legend against chart legend, and fan against fan, but only one star could emerge victorious in the race to this week’s Official Number 1 album…
According to the Official Charts Company’s sales data, George Michael’s Symphonica has beaten Kylie Minogue’s Kiss Me Once (Number 2 today) to the top spot by more than 20,000 copies, earning the former Wham! star his seventh UK Number 1 album.
“Thank You So Much!,” George told OfficialCharts.com upon hearing the news earlier today. “Symphonica is at this moment sitting at Number 1 in the UK, and it's so nice to be able to savour this wonderful moment. I am a lucky man!

3 Months Old Today

Bonnie

Sammi

Stella

Luna

Cal

Barney