Exploring by Car

Not feeling at my best today so short walks for the guys. This afternoon Steve took me out for a short run in the car to find a suitable place to stop for the Bryngwyn Slate Trail .. I have been stopping on the road in Rhostryfan and unloading there, though it's a quiet road it's still a road. A friend had told me to try by the kennels in Carmel .. and yes bloody great, ideal place to stop and join the path. I could see a house, I wondered if it's the same house I came to from the other direction? With a bit of luck tomorrow I'll be up to investigating further! 

Looks like the same house in both photos doesn't it? 

Over The Rainbow

Which end shall I dig? 

Here We Go Again

My stomach is churning over, Loki has got the shits again. This is now the 4th time since the weekend of the 20th of October. I wouldn't be so worried if it didn't all feel so familiar. He obviously has weight loss and his mood has not improved. Steve says I'm over reacting and I know he's right, there could be dozens of reasons for this but when you've lived through the nightmare you can't help but worry it's going to happen again. My last port of call is now to start him on the sensitive diet and hope and pray this works. As crazy as it sounds I'm actually scared of going to the vets with him, of course I will if this doesn't work,  this is my last ditch attempt at trying to sort the problem myself.
As I said in an earlier post, what doesn't make sense it that he has diarrhea for one motion then the next is normal, that's not the way it's suppose to work. If they have diarrhea then they are loose until the bug is clearer or the bowels have healed .. not loose, normal, loose, normal .. that's just not right! Oh hell now I'm thinking the worst again .. There's nothing more to say, I'll up date over the next few days. 

Late Walks

Guess who went twice today then?

With a dentist appointment this morning I had to postpone my walks till this afternoon. I struggled, but I managed it. It's funny how mostly I'm great in the mornings but I have such an energy slump in the afternoon. I was catching up on the support group earlier this week and reading about the amount of sleep SAH survivors feel they require. Of course it's individual with some needing a 12 hour night and an afternoon sleep, but in all the cases on the site everyone needs an afternoon sleep. Only a few where like me and suffering from broken sleep or disturbed sleeping patterns, but everyone, no matter how many years since the SAH still suffered from fatigue. A small price to pay for surviving I guess!  I remember the nurse in Walton telling me that as I recovered I should aim for 7 - 9 hours of sleep a night, any more or less is generally unhealthy in a adult. She also said that I should never try to push myself through the fatigue doing that will make me ill, I've tried it, it does! So now it's time to sleep x

When there's no cage space to travel - You have to take a seat!!! 

Breakfast With The Big Guys

Another change of routine for Perry, he's now been taken off kitten food and will be eating with the other cats. Three on each side of the work top in the doggy kitchen, utility .. whatever you want to call it. He's next to Choo who also eats like a pig, in Billy's old spot ... and Junior also eats on this side these days, though it was always Tia's place! Of course I'll have to watch Perry doesn't steal, Junior and Oliver are often slow and Jamie rarely finishes a meal. (Honest!) Perry did finish first today and went straight into the next bowl, but I stopped him and rather than face a battle I ended up taking him into the kitchen with me. I think like Choo  he'd eat till he burst. Hopefully he'll get the hang of it soon and possibly Junior and Isla will "advise him" that stealing is not acceptable!!! 

Walk Two And Three

Walk One

Another stunning Autumn day and a walk by Talysarn lake for Jezi and Nico.

Sadly I forgot it was half term .. yes it was busy there! 

All Boys

Dexi and Blade -Respect! 

Last night we had tension and change within the house hold. Loki and Ross have been getting on well for months now but the last few days Loki has been extremely moody. At first I gave him the benefit of the doubt thinking that he was feeling off colour, but last night he bit Ross and that is not something I'm willing to accept. At times Loki is such a moody unpredictable character and I just can't make him out. I'd sooner know what I've got than be guessing who he is today. Ross is quite an idiot, but he's always the same, Kaiah is a handful, Ziva is spiteful but that's who they are; you never know which version you're going to get of Loki, he's quite a complex character. I still think it's to do with his position in the pack, I still think he's promoted beyond his abilities and when Ross is in one Loki doesn't know how to deal with it so he bites him. It must be so confusing for Ross, if we are unsure which Loki we have today then how the hell is he going to figure it out? Loki will run and play with him one day and then the next he's moody and aggressive towards him, but I hasten to add only towards Ross.

Loki and Ross 

To stick up for Loki, if Ross left him alone there would be no issues, but Ross insists on going over to him and doing the submissive spinning in front of him and licking at his face, and this really annoys Loki. It is normal submissive behaviour, Dexi did it to Blade as a youngster. Though Dexi was always submissive to Blade,  I'm sure he did grow out of this behaviour as a young adult so I can only hope Ross does too. It's easy to call Ross away when you are out with them then it doesn't escalate, but lets face it we are not always standing outside with the dogs are we? My only concern for the future really is that as Ross continues to mature he will be less accepting of Loki's unpredictable nature. In my opinion Ross has the stronger character and one day he may think I'm not taking this crap from him and then we may get a full blown fight on our hands. That's really the last thing I need. I've kept several males living together over the years and I can't ever remember being in this position before, I just wish I knew the right way to manage it and I wish I knew why it's escalating again.

Perry Loves Jamie 

Last night I bit the bullet and evicted Perry out of the kitchen. I moved his litter tray and bed to the doggy kitchen, that gave him access to 2 rooms over night as well as the company of the other cats. I know the other cats are in and out at night, but hopefully he'll eventually get the hang of the cat flap and come and go as he pleases too. He's a little young yet so I won't be showing him or encouraging him to use it though. Last night I forgot to close the doggy kitchen window at dinner time and Perry had gone out after dark .. he didn't come when I called him and I must have been looking for him for .. all of 10 mins before he turned up! I know, that's nothing but I do worry. With the evenings drawing in I must remember to close the window earlier now!
Talking of missing, Jamie also pulled a fast one on us last night. He wasn't in the living room all evening, unusual but not unheard of, but when he didn't turn up for supper I did start to wonder.

A Lovely Friendship - Nico and Louis 

Tongue in cheek Steve suggested I ring Sharon incase he'd got in their van and ended up in Golan! As we where getting ready for bed I put Nico in the bedroom and went to give everyone their biscuits .. the next thing Nico came out of the bedroom, but how? Why? He never does ... and there was Mr Jamie. Somehow Mr Naughty had managed to get in the bedroom early evening and had even stayed hidden as I took Nico in, but I guess the thought of missing on bed time biscuits had got him bursting out of the bedroom, and bring Nico with him. Nico is the only dog here who can't open a door unless it's by brute force. Usually Jezi opens the handle and Nico rams through first .. same principal with Jamie I guess!

A Taste Of Winter

Though looking at these photo's taken at Llyn Cop you wouldn't believe it would you? Glorious sunshine, but my what a bite to the breeze. To be honest I don't really care, if you where cold it was not the wrong weather .. just the wrong clothes!!! 

You Have Been Evicted

Perry is now 5 months and it's time to leave the kitchen! He's obviously been spending less and less time there but he still treats it as his safety net. Today I've collapsed the crate and moved one of his beds to the doggy kitchen. I don't want to freak him and do it all to quickly so I'll let him sleep there for a few more nights. He's quite comfortable around Nico and Jezi now, but unsure of the others. I think he thought he was safe on top of the dog crates. He, nor I considered that Kaiah could leap on top of them from a stand still, but she means no harm she's just curious about the little one who previously hid from her.  The more they see him the less interested they will become ...
I have to say it, god he's a handsome little guy, ridiculously cute, I reckon he'll be a stunning and unusual looking adult cat.

You Couldn't Make it Up!

I've seen some strange things on my walks and today was no exception. In the distance I saw a man walking a dog and turned to avoid him only to see a woman walking alone. Still up here with acres of common land I just changed direction again. After a while I was crossing back toward my original path when I saw the woman lying face down in the scrubland. I grabbed the nearest dog .. Kaiah, but I had no time to get hold of the other two and to be honest seeing her lying there I thought my dogs where the least of her worries. My stomach churning I approached and called out .. "Are you Ok?" She replied "SShhh" Eh I thought .. as I was about to call out again the boys saw her and ran over, she remained still and said "Hi Guys," to the boys. I asked again .. "Are you Ok? Can I help you?" She said "we are training a search and rescue dog" ... I apologised and went on my way ... but come on what was I suppose to think? Anyway she got a face full of Loki spit, but Ross didn't drop his kong when investigating her and I can imagine that with it's soggy rope that it was none too pleasant!!!!

Poor Loki

Louis 

For the third time in a week Loki has had diarrhea, well excuse the description, but it's been more cow patty than diarrhea till this morning. My first plan of action was to worm them all, but that obvious hasn't worked so now it's plan b. Today I'll starve him and gradually over the next few days after pasta and fish I'll introduce him to Asha'a fish diet. Maybe I'm over reacting? Maybe he just needs antibiotics to help him clear a little bug,? Having lived through issues like this with Louis it puts the fear of god in me. Ok, Louis' issues all started from campylobacter but I can't help but worry. As far as I know there are no digestive issues on Nico's side of the line, well certainly Nico never has problems but of course without knowing the history of all his siblings and his parents sibling we never really know.
I think it may have all started a couple of weeks ago as I observed and mentioned to Steve that Loki had lost weight. I then introduced a small supper and with the first bout of sloppy poo I wondered if I had over done it with food and decided to cut it back again. But now I also think maybe I was wrong! 

Kaiah and Loki yesterday 

I have been a little disappointed with Loki, on the first night Ross sounded the alarm and I got up thinking he needed to go out. But when Ross bounced around singing "Show" I knew the issue was not with him ... and when I came back in Loki shot out past me. On the last 2 occasions Ross has not said a word and Loki has pooed on the floor in the room. A little unexpected for him really, maybe for the next few night I'll crate him, then hopefully he will let me know that he needs to go out!
If plan b doesn't work then I'll have to take him to the vets ....

Cuddling Cats

 Jamie and Junior 

Perry and Jamie

Gyrn Goch Woods

 Asha, Sammi, Ziva

A little blustery, a little cold, rain, hail and sunshine - all in a morning's walks! 

I opted for the shelter of the trees this morning and I was so pleased as it was lovely in there. It's only a 15 minute drive each way, so yeah Ok an hours driving to get everyone walked but I left home 9.30am and we were all done by 12.30pm. They are not long walks but as we don't go there often there is great excitement and a lot of racing around. The driving is not usually a problem, but Ziva has become unbearable in a slow moving vehicle and today I was a slow moving vehicle. Not from choice I hasten to add but a car pulled out from a property at the bottom of Carmel and continued all the way down doing 15mph .. to add insult to injury he/she also braked at every bend and speed bump. As you can imagine that frustrated me enough but with Ziva yipping as well I was ready to explode. Thankfully he turned right on the main road and I continued down hill. Once the van was doing a decent speed Ziva settled again. I can only think that when the van is going so slow she thinks we are almost there .. where ever there may be!!!  

 Jezi and Nico waiting impatiently at the gate.

Ross, Kaiah and Loki on the "unofficial" path. 

I'm waiting for another telling off, until then I'll continue my short trek down river. 

All Done

The worming is all done and dusted again for a few months. Loki vomited his breakfast, but I'm not sure it was related as it was 15 hours after getting the panacur. At least I don't need to worry that he didn't get the wormer, it was in his system long enough to take affect. It's a bit cold and blustery here this morning, I'm now considering where I should walk! 

Worming Time

Like vaccinations responsible dog owners are now considering whether the use of routine worming is necessary. A lot of people are choosing to get regular "Worm Counts" done rather than put unnecessary chemicals into the dogs. For sure I will not put "spot ons" on these dogs once a months as preventative for worms or fleas. As regards to fleas I choose instead to spray the house a couple of times of year, so far it's working. The thought of putting chemicals on my dogs once a month, just incase, does not sit well with me. Of course should they get fleas then that is a different matter but I would only then use a high quality spot on like advocate and stronghold and would never put my dogs at risk with a supermarket product which have been show in some cases to be toxic.
Because I have cats I do need to worm all my animals. The cats kill and pick up round worm and tape worm, that then puts all the animals at risk of getting worms. Again I will not use precautionary medication, but I do worm them at least twice a year. So this morning we are almost a £100 lighter in the bank and I have panacur for the dogs and drontal for the cats. Luckily both are available without prescription in the local farmer's market, and are a damn site cheaper than they would be at the vets.

There's a lot of cheap and nasty wormers available in pet shops and supermarkets, for the safety of my animals I'd sooner pay a little more an use a reputable brand. As it is I hate the idea of doing it, but it is a necessary evil. The tablets for the cats are easy, though Oliver will no doubt throw his toys out of the pram. I choose to use liquid for the dogs and mix that into their food, adding pilchards in tomato sauce to try and make it more palatable.  Of course if I didn't have so many to do I would probably use Drontal tablets for the dogs too, it would be so much easier .. but with so many we have to watch the pennies. Seriously though I shouldn't complain, wormers for 8 dogs and 5 adult cats for just under £100 .. that's an average of about £7.50 per animal twice a year.
Loki has chewed the end off his gundog dummy. At the end of a walk he's been bringing it home with him in the crate in the van. I had heard he was chewing it so it was my own fault really. Anyway, what the guys want the guys get and a new one is on order!

They Are Not Laughing Now

One of my memories today on Facebook was this post that Ross wrote.
 "I'm just be sitting about today feeling vevy vevy sad really. Mrs S came over and give me a big hug and said ... "what's the matter little Ross?" So I be saying to her, everyone still be laughing at my hears. I seen it on the facebookie thingy and i hear them in de shows. So she said to me .. "They are perfect ears little Ross, just perfect. and when you have a big boy head they will fit just fine." I'm feeling a little better, but now I be worrying about me teeff .. should they all be falling out?"
Crazy as it may seem I was quite upset about it at the time. I guess sometimes we can be over sensitive about our much loved dogs, well I can be anyway. It took me a long time to find Ross with some set backs and heartache on the way, and the constant jibes about his ears just got so stale and ended up grating on me. Still we are the both laughing about it now!

Talking about being over sensitive the joke that's gone stale now is the one about the noise. Ok I admit, hands up when I arrive at a show the excitement in the Blanik Bus is over powering. Everyone is as bad as each other and everyone wants to be heard. But they are soon quiet and I'm only glad that they really enjoy going to the shows that much that they get excited about it. Obviously people notice when we arrive, to hear the same remark over and over from people who think they are funny and think that they are the first to say it, well it just gets boring. After all it is a fecking dog show not a library!!!  It must be like a Great Dane owner hearing .. "You need to put a saddle on that!" YAWN. Maybe I'll try being less sensitive in the future, but really there's not much chance of that, we are who we are and these guys are my world so I'll always react when these situations arise.

First Two Walks

Bryngwyn Path

 I've not been here since early Summer, it was so lovely. I must make the effort to come down here more often 

Ross and Kaiah

 I just love Autumn 

Oh No!!!

Funny Face

If anything is going to go wrong for any of these dogs I'd put my money on it always being Ross. Similarly to Krizzie in her youth he's like a whirlwind, the next catastrophe is just around the nearest corner!  He throws himself in water without considering the depth or speed. He jumps and misjudges ditches .. I guess that is him trying to follow Kaiah who weighs about 10kg less than him and is therefore much more agile and light on her feet, and this week he's had a rash on his face and a lot of the hair has been coming out.

Typical of me I immediately think, he's got mange or scabies or something, but of course Steve as ever is the voice of reason and suggested he may have had an allergic reaction to something he's stuck his face in! Yes I guess far more likely as it was only on his face. To be on the safe side I gave him an advocate and I've been carefully using my wound and skin spray on his face. I had to give up on the coconut oil which was my first course of action .. it kept getting washed off!  Anyway just for my piece of mind and to stop him scratching I've also given him some preds these last 2 days. His skin is now clear but I'll keep going with the spray and preds till the end of the week. No I'm not stopping him living life to the full .. I'll just have to hope it was a one off!

Black Smoke Cat

Isla relaxing in her bed last night. She's beautiful, and she knows it, but all cat under that poshness!!! 

Currently Isla is our only female cat and as ever she feels a cut above the rest.


















and dear Oliver Blue.