Wednesday, 23 July 2025

Three In The Trees



Sharing The Dream

A conversation with a friend left me emotional last night. We were going through shows and planning for Friday. Her female is on two tickets, and I'm hoping she'll soon get her third, she deserves it, but still, "when will it be our turn?" is in my head. I've tried so hard to get it right, with every generation you hope for success, but when I had "the best" I didn't have the money to do the shows!  The constant thought in my head these days is, "if I'm going wrong, then please can someone show me where?"
One thing that sadness me is that Steve doesn't share my dream. It must be so wonderful for couples who live the dream together. He said last night, "can you wait till I'm dead to have another litter?" Er, no, I'm kind of hoping he'll be around a few years yet ... and I'd love so much to get at least one to the top during our time together, hell I know he doesn't care, but I do, and I know he feels the disappointment, if only when he sees it in me after an unsuccessful day.
I'm so sad about the way Meerah has turned out, I mean size and not anything else. Like her parents, she's such a sweet girl, a super character, very affectionate and a stunning colour. I think it's paramount that the future stud for her mother must be a strong male with less length of foreleg, and of course a super character. We all know a dog's character can be significantly affected by genetics. While environmental factors like socialisation and training play a crucial role, a dogs genetics heavily influence his temperament. As I've said with a certain someone here, nature or nurture? Well, most likely a bit of both. Some trainers are fantastic and can get the best out of any dogs, with proper socialisation and training, a dog with a genetically unpredictable temperament can still become a well-adjusted happy dog, but that well-trained dog can still be "genetically" an arsehole, can't they?  Then surely those genetic traits have a danger of being passed on into progeny? There is no doubt, genetics influence a dog's temperament, including their level of friendliness, fearfulness, aggression, and sociability. With the information given to me about one of the dogs on my list, his genetic temperament has to be considered ... Character/Temperament must always come first! 
I've just had the sad news that my Mum's brother, Tegid has died this afternoon. Life is too short, we must live it to the full. 

Tuesday, 22 July 2025

Monday, 21 July 2025

In The Field

Zeus, Meerah and Sammi having some time out, but the highlight of it was that Steve managed one full circuit of the field. Ok, it took a while, but he was so chuffed with himself. 

Double Walks



Orin and Siska in Dinas 


Beti and Ross in Carmel

Sunday, 20 July 2025

Sammi Last Night

A happy Sammi on her walk today, but I've no idea what upset her last night. 
As usual, it was lights out around 11.15pm and I think we had both drifted off when I heard the rattling of a crate. I got up and went straight to let Meerah out, my only reason being that she was the only one in that room on her feet. She was soon back in and in her bed. I decided to look in at Sammi and I was glad that I did, it was obvious then that she'd been the one rattling the crate, not just rattling it she'd bent the front of it ... again! I let her out for 5 mins, then put her back to bed. Within minutes, the crate was being rattled again, I was about to get up when Steve said he'd get up. He was in a lot of pain and thought moving would help. He made himself a cuppa and took Sammi into the living room. At one point he let her out as I heard her barking, so between that, Zeus' panting and a low flying helicopter I didn't go back to sleep. About an hour later, Steve put Sammi to bed and came back to bed himself. By now it was closer to 2am than anything else. I think we slept well until about 7am when Orin started to whinge, I ignored him initially but as it continued I got up and let him out. He did a circuit of the yard, opened the door and came back in. I put him back to bed and went back to mine, but he was not for settling and we eventually got up!
As I've said, Sammi looks well, she seems to have no mobility issues, but her hearing is now compromised. She stood looking for me at the front gate the other day when I was behind her at the door. I softly called her twice, nothing, but a loud "Sammi" had her running happily towards me. We've noticed her unrest during storms this year, and she's really taken against Beti and Siska. On walks she's also been barking at people with dogs, but Meerah is barking too, I'm not sure who is influencing who as Sammi never used to do it.  Meerah is quite loud, but she's happy and funny, a shame really as she puts people off with her noise. 
Back to last night, I wonder if there was thunder in the distance, something she heard and we didn't? There has been thunder this afternoon, but she wasn't on her own, so maybe it didn't worry her? With her hearing compromised, maybe things are confusing for her? I don't know, but the front of her cage is now well and truly bent!

Lovely Morning Walk




Saturday, 19 July 2025

Blocking The Gaps

Zeus and Sammi in the garden, with Archie and Choo on the table behind them. We are giving Zeus short periods of time in the garden, but if we want to relax we close the baby gate. 
Between the two of us, we managed to wedge a pallet in the gap between the wall and the gable end. (behind the compost bin) Following the end of the wall from the front of the cottage to the back, I've put the panels of puppy pen along the chain-link fencing. Logically, Zeus shouldn't be able to get out ... 2 lots of fencing and a pallet! Here's hoping!

Lon Eifion


Not my favourite part of Lon Eifion, we walked from Pantglas towards Bryncir, though it was quieter than the stretch around Dinas! We only saw one dog walker. Guess what? No lead! 
On then to Mum's, did her shopping and put up with the sarcasm, I'm glad Linda was with me to keep the conversation light. I do appreciate that the pain is making her sharper and less tolerant, but there's only so much other people can put up with isn't there! 

More Boys

I'm still looking at boys for the lady. Instead of cutting down the possibilities as I should be, I'm increasing them, with two more joining the list for further consideration. 
Darius is an import from Canada, a lovely lad who I first saw as a puppy at the Sieger of 24, he took my eye. I then saw him at a regional at the end of the year, I remember commenting that he'd be one to watch. Sadly I haven't seen him since, but I've seen videos and photos, and he looks great. To my eye his proportions are on the limit of length to height ratio, but I've never had shortness in this line and Siska herself has the length to accommodate him. Darius has not yet been proven and that would be a major factor for me to consider as I'd needed to travel over 170 miles (one way) to use him. 
Reno is a French import, a Champion male who is one of the top winning males in the country. I'm not sure how many CC's he has, but he's been the Best Male at Crufts 2 years in a row. He now has a lot of very promising progeny starting to hit the show ring and though I had my reason for not considering him sooner, I honestly am rethinking my decisions, what I think could suit Siska has now changed. Reno is 63CMS, so actually bang on the correct size for a male, though my preference would be for a male with slightly more length of foreleg, what suits Siska could be different to my preference. Louis was just under 62CMS and Nico 63.5CMS, Zeus is about that height too. Considering Meerah, maybe a dog with shorter length of foreleg could be the best call for Siska? But as we've said before we throw the best ingredients we can into the pot and hope it works. Sometimes it does, sometimes it doesn't. Genetics likes to throw a curveball into the mix to keep us guessing. 
I've watched Reno grow from a young dog in the show ring and bloom into a top quality adult, he's not perfect, find me a dog that is? But one thing that I would say about him, his character is faultless, which of course is a huge consideration as most of our litters become pets. The prices of the stud dogs I'm considering vary from £500 to £850, to be honest that is not a game changer, but sadly distance may have to be. As I've said Darius is over 170 Miles away and Benzes is in Suffolk (300+ miles). Wally is the closest near Liverpool, and Reno is a very do-able 145 miles. I wonder what thoughts I'll have about it all by next week? LOL
The male photos are of Louis and Nico, and of course it's Siska at the top. 

Friday, 18 July 2025

Afternoon Tea

Following field walks this morning, Beti and Ross had a lovely afternoon out. First a short walk with a paddle in the stream, and then birthday cake and playtime at Carrie's. They enjoyed themselves so much, as did we all.  


Unfortunately, it was my turn to have a fall, my eyesight letting me down again! (I miss judge things) So now the aches and pains that I had before are much worse, ah well as I said about Steve - Nothing broken!

Thursday, 17 July 2025

A Lovely Walk



A nice, mostly relaxing walk on the Lon Goed in Chwilog. I think this must be the busiest stretch we've walked of this track. We pasted three dog walkers with 4 dogs and I swear not a lead between them. The first lady had a collie, we moved ours into the bushes for her to get passed, and yeah the girls were barking which was naughty, but she couldn't get the collie passed and had to turn round ... now if she had a lead ..... she asked if we wouldn't mind giving her some time to walk a distance ahead as the dog would be spooked with us behind, in my head I asked again, "where is your lead??" The second lady had no dog and exchanged pleasantries as she walked past. The third lady was running with 2 collies. Again, on leads we moved ours to the side, she had to half carry hers past on their harnesses ... the next walker, a man with a black Lab had full control of his dog and simply walked past .. but again no lead. As well-behaved as it was, "the what if " always comes to mind!
Linda says I have to say that Zeus was very well-behaved, not a word from him. I agree, Meerah was "loud" as is her nature and Sammi, she's always an angel! LOL 👼🙈🙉🙊

Happy F*cking Xmas

Yesterday we had a bit of time of it with dear Zeus. Somehow he got out from the front garden, but not into the field, he got out onto the mountain. On seeing he was missing, I put Sammi into the van and drove down to the village. Frank and Linda got into the car and drove up hill where they found him by Plas Braich. Frank phoned me and I came back up, by then he had legged it down the track and gone left then down towards Fron Ffarm. I can't say I parked the van, I abandoned it in the middle of the road and got Sammi out. I called him and played with her, giving her treats, but he didn't come close enough for me to get hold of him. I walked back towards the van to get my phone hoping that "Photo - Wait" may work, how naive was I! He then bolted past me towards Frank's car, but then took a turn in the opposite direction. Leaving my van in the middle of the road, keys in the ignition, I stated to walk up the track with Sammi. Eventually he decided to follow me, walking at quite a distance behind. Steve was by the wall and Dave (neighbour) was also out. I told them both to blank him and asked them to let me know if he stopped following me. Without looking back I went into the property and then the house. I decided to come out with Meerah, by then he was at the front of the caravan, so I legged it up and closed the top gate. Part one was complete! 
Part two was not going to be fun and I think it took about 40 mins before we managed to contain him, he still had 2 acres of freedom and was not coming in easily. Courtesy of the sheep, the field fencing is now unsafe, and I was so afraid he'd get out again. Unfortunately, Steve fell in the middle of the field, but he told me to concentrate on trying to get "his dog" safe. To be honest I couldn't get near Steve anyway as Meerah though it was hilarious that he was laying on his back in the field! We must have walked miles from one side of the field to the other, trying all the tricks of the trade, but he would not come near me. In the heat Sammi was beginning to flag, and she became my priority, so I bought her and Meerah into the house and went out with fresh legs ... Beti! Zeus ran up to Beti and started to play, but I think he was flagging now too. I took Beti into the yard, he didn't follow, I let her lose in the top field, he stood and watched, and then for some reason he turned tail and went into the caravan garden. I screamed, "Close the fecking gate ... and happy fecking Xmas, he's your problem now!" I put Beti back in the house, but unfortunately my Xmas pressie was rejected and I had to go and get him. He was laying under a tree in the corner of the garden, as I approached him he thought about running, but again I screamed "You fecking wait!" He did, I could have battered him, but what was the point? I marched him home, shoved him in the bedroom and closed the door. 
What is wrong with the dog? Why is he so different to every other GSD I've come across? Why has he no willingness to please anyone but himself? It really is not a normal breed characteristic to not want to be with their "pack." Was this dog made or bred? Nature or nurture? Or maybe a bit of both? I've said it before, if he'd been my first GSD, I would NEVER have had another, it's a bloody good thing I know he is a very rare exception to the rule.
Anyway, back to yesterday, I think the four of us were exhausted, and Steve, who did eventually manage to get to his feet by himself, was battered bruised and sore, but not broken. Frank got the van home for me, and I collapsed in a heap to consider my options. How the hell could I ever trust this dog loose in the garden again? How am I going to work things now? He's fecked it up for everyone, but more so for himself, and of course the most important question, how did he get out? Yesterday evening I went round the outside of the garden and found no holes, no gaps, in some places I even had to go on my hands and knees around the edges but I found nothing from the garden onto the boncan. (I even had bits of garden in my underwear!) From where he was found it did seem that Zeus had got out of the garden at the gable end as he'd got out of the garden and onto the mountain not into our fields. We can only think that he jumped the first fence, maybe after a cat and found that the chain link fencing on the gable end had broken ... and no it's not our chair, ours are still in the garden! Steve and I have done our best to make it safe, but as yet I haven't been brave enough to put him outside there unsupervised. I can only be thankful that there were no sheep in the adjoining fields or on the common land, no walkers and no huge lorry coming down from the quarry ... otherwise the outcome could well have been disastrous!  

Monday, 14 July 2025

That's Better



Cooler, but breezy, far better for this woman and her dogs!

Sunday, 13 July 2025

Siska's Coat

Bitches chuck their coat 4 months after their season, Siska came in season in early to mid-March, so here we are almost Mid-July, and with Leeds Champ show in less than 2 weeks, today she has tufts on her back legs. If only predicting the impending season was as easy. If Siska timing is going to be predictable, it will be late October to Mid-November as she always went just over 7.5 months, but of course her last 2 seasons have been out of time, going 6 months then 9 months. So she does seem to have a cycle of 15 months for 2 seasons, I really hope she holds out now till the middle of October ... but I'll be watching Orin from September onwards. 
Have I decided on a stud? No, I still have Wally, Vesco and Benzes in the running. I have had someone in my ear about Wally and his breeding, all very positive, and someone in my ear about the fact that someone else, who has been very kind to me, has lost his lines to Sisco ... reminding me that Vesco had originally come into the country to compliment those lines. Benzes is so far away, but I honestly shouldn't let that deter me if he is the right dog, I'm sure I'd find someone to help me. Of course with time on my hands, something else could catch my eye too. So no decisions made!

James Blunt - Monsters (Live on The Chris Evans Breakfast Show with Sky)

A very emotional live performance of the song that I will now always associate with the last few months of my father life. 

In The Garden

"The Lovelies" Siska and Orin - Funny I haven't got another group name now, though Kaiah, Loki and Ross were "The Young Guns." Both names of course having a George Michael connection. He used to call hi fan club members "The Lovelies" or "My Lovelies" on Twitter and at Concerts. Young Guns? Well you must know! 
Beti, Ross and Meerah
Mother and son, Sammi and Zeus. Zeus displaying the classic hairy GSD front, pasterns and feet. 

Memory.

 It's three years today since we lost my father. No one beyond the immediate family seems to remember do they, and seriously why would they? It's our grief, our loss, or pain. I often wonder what he would think of the way my Mum is behaving now? I do think he'd be quite surprised to see her playing us off each other, but thankfully most of us see what's going on. Though I don't think I can forgive her just yet for telling my brother she had no food in the house when that morning I'd been to Aldi and all she'd wanted was a tin of rice pudding! We laugh or cry I guess. As I've said, if I could split myself in two, I would ... but I can't!
Did you sleep last night? I didn't, I was out in the yard in nothing but a T.shirt around 2am, just TOOOO HOT! Poor Zeus was panting away, but he opted to stay in, well those cows could have been about. 
It was lovely in the garden in the evening, I spent a little bit of time with everyone there, only one was badly behaved, well maybe not badly behaved just mischievous, my brown clown was full of it. (Ross) Think it should be a more sensible temperature tomorrow, hopefully I can at least get these guys out somewhere. 

Saturday, 12 July 2025

"Beti - Get Out Of That Sun!"

I don't know how many times I've had to call her in today! It's about 30 degrees here and the rest of us are hiding indoors. We have had dogs who love the heat before, Krizzie comes to mind, sunbathing in the Summer and camped in front of the fire in the Winter. Of course, Beti is not shut out and she's making choices, coming and going into the shade as she pleases, but on the hottest day of the year I do wish she'd stay out of the sun.
When the dogs are coming in at night, one of their large sprats is in everyone's bed ready for them. It's part of bedtime training as much as anything else, everyone learns from puppyhood to go straight to their own bed. Recently, I seemed regularly to be forgetting to put Orin's fish in his crate. I was quite confused as to how often I seem to have forgotten ... but then I saw what was happening. Beautiful Beti was coming in, grabbing Orin's fish on her way past and taking it in to her own crate to eat. So little miss has been having 2 fish at bedtime on a regular basis. Clever little cow. 
Talking of cows, Zeus is still refusing to go into the yard at night if they are about. I've no idea why he has such an issue with them, an issue that seems worse in fading lights. No one else here bats an eyelid, but if he won't go out, I know they are about. To be fair, he will go out if one of us goes with him, we even played ball at 10.30pm last night with "her" for company. 
I'm missing my walks, but missing a walk won't kill the dogs, whereas walking in this possess serious health risks to them and me. For those of you who love it, enjoy it! 

Perry At Bedtime



It was hard to pick the best bedtime photo last night, so I may as well share all three of Perry watching his world. 

Friday, 11 July 2025

30 Years Here

This morning I lay in bed thinking, well it was too hot to sleep. 30 years on and I still get excited about this beautiful palace that I'm lucky to call home. Last night there was a full moon and I stayed out waiting to see it. I had hoped to see it come over the Nantlle Ridge again as I had done the previous night, but with animals going in and out I missed it. It was lovely to be outside 10.30 - 11pm. The bats were busy, flying just over my head and the cats seemed to be having a social get-together before going their separate ways. Apart from the odd cow it was pretty silent out there and I honestly felt really blessed.
Back to this morning, the dogs had all been fed and been out and as Steve snored I sat on my bed with a cuppa looking through Facebook and reading "instructions" from my brother of what to say when I take my Mum to the doctors, I guess suggestions is a better word! LOL Mum has now got the Attendance Allowance, so will be able to pay someone to go in once a week to help with cleaning and shopping. This is not means tested so no poking noses into what she has and hasn't got, but at just over £70 a week it will be a huge benefit to her and to us knowing she can pay a third person to help out. We've already sorted out someone to go in for the cleaning/shopping and found a window cleaner for her ... so that's a start.
I'm still sat on the bed thinking, 30 years in this cottage, more than half of my life. Every Blanik litter born here and every dog I've ever owned has lived part of their life here. I moved in with Blade, Pepsi, Nikki, Don's dogs Sultan, Captain and Robbie, and my cats Lux and Jasmine and Don's cat Boots. (Oh and Don of course)  Happy times they were not ... but I fell in love with my home on the hill. 
In 1996 the "A" litter were born, Seffe and Dexi were mine and Rocky came back at 6 months old. By then Don, taking Robbie with him had gone, I'd taken Boots to my place of work, (to live with the boss of the Ozanam Centre) Captain had been re-homed and Sultan moved into the house. I remember meeting Carrie and Glyn in the July at The North Wales Show, and Frank and Linda in the September of the same year. Carrie had her precious puppy GSD Yanto, and Frank and Linda took Rocky into their homes and hearts. Friendships that began back then, and we are all still close 30 years later, well 29 years LOL.
Yes still sitting on my bed, yes Steve still snoring, I think of Blade and Lux, I think of meeting Steve in 1997 and his reluctance to come in past 4 GSD at the gate and how within months he adored them and how he's been my backbone, my everything. 
So today I'm getting my head together, positive thoughts Rhian. Let's try and look to the future, let's be grateful for what we have and plan ahead for Blanik. Crossing everything for our "N" litter and another Orin baby in due course. 
https://talistails.blogspot.com/2015/06/pen-y-cae.html    -  click on the link and have a read ... 

Thursday, 10 July 2025