Monday 27 October 2014

Rampant Behaviour

The girls are in season, oh joy of joys
No doubt we’ll be seeing a procession of boys.
There’s blood on the carpet, the doors and the walls;
The local studs will be licking their balls.

Three long weeks I must endure
Ensuring their virtue stays wholesome and pure.
But it’s only outside that they can’t have the fun
When they’re at home much mischief is done.

They bonk one another ‘til they’re all out of puff
And even when tired it’s just never enough
They take it in turns to bonk themselves silly
The boys are deluded – they don’t need a willy

There are certain rules that must be obeyed
(perhaps it would be easier if they were all spayed)
Only Talulah can bonk Tussock’s front
And nobody ever can get at her ……… bottom

Talulah’s the tart and she cares not with who
So listen up boys!  Form an orderly queue.
Bonking or being bonked, she doesn’t care which
For her was invented the term “randy bitch”

River’s enthusiasm knows absolutely no bounds
She goes at it with gusto, feet leaving the ground
She still gets mixed up as to which end to embrace
But the look of sheer pleasure is all over her face

Bed time come round with a sigh of relief
And any last bonks are usually quite brief
I tick off a day as I turn out the light
I give them a cuddle and bid them goodnight.


Sunday 26 October 2014

Come By and Away

River finally got to perform an inherent skill today - one which I have hitherto discouraged her from practicing.  I allowed her to work some sheep.  And boy oh boy, did she enjoy it!

We had to bring all the ponies down off the hill yesterday to overnight in an adjacent field.  In the melee of bringing them in, a few sheep ended up in the field with them.  Today, I let my ponies out again, but my friend was keeping hers in - she didn't want the sheep in there as well as there is little enough grass.  Once the horses were where they were all supposed to be, I opened the bottom gate which leads on to the hill, and went to find the sheep.

We quietly went round the back of them, and started to drive them down towards the gate.  River was doing her semi-crouching stalking walk, moving round them and then towards them, but steadied up every time I asked her to.  They made a bit of a run in the wrong direction, and with a bit of inept arm waving from me, River shot round the other side of me and pushed them back.  We got half way down the field like this, and then Talulah decided she wanted to help.  She came from behind me, running fast and straight, right into the middle of them with a huge "Woof".  The sheep scattered.

River stopped, look at Talulah with a look that I swear was exasperation, then looked at me as if to say "Now what mum?"

We just stood still, and the sheep re-grouped on their own, so we continued down the field.  They got a bit ahead of us at one point, and I could see they might run the wrong way and back into the field rather than out of the gate, but while River was still steadily moving them along, I moved out in order to discourage their potential escape.  They halted at the gate, hesitating a few moments before running through.  Good girl River!!  She came bounding up, looking very pleased with herself.  Talulah was still looking a little sheepish.

Okay - maybe it wasn't quite so smooth as this sounds, but River behaved fantastically, and with a lot of instinctive thinking.  She has shown this instinct before, and I have often wondered how I could have a go at working some sheep.

And where was Tussock during all of this?  Trying to avoid the puddles!!

No photos though as it was far too wet to take the camera.  But here are a couple of old photos which show her interest in sheep.



Okay, so these aren't sheep.  She constantly tried to round up the horses when they are running away.  They are not impressed.



Tuesday 14 October 2014

The Demise of the Peace Lily

Talulah is not my favourite dog tonight.........

I had a large and beautiful peace lily, which sat, in its over-sized cup and saucer style pot, on a wooden Victorian plant stand.

Space is at a premium in my little house, and all the clean, spare dog blankets were stored under the plant stand.  When ever I come home from somewhere, Talulah likes to greet me with something in her mouth - sometimes it is my slippers, other times a ball, or an item of laundry - sometimes it is a collection of some or all of these things.


Tonight, however, when I came home from the drama club meeting, Talulah decided to bring me a blanket.  There was one she could easily have picked up - the little green one with Santa Claus printed all over it.  But no, she decided she would bring me a special one - a carefully folded one that had been put under the plant stand.  

As I opened the door I heard an almighty crash and once I had greeted the dogs, I went to investigate. The peace lily, it's pot and soil and stand were spread over several square metres of the carpet, a blanket pulled half way out from between the legs of the stand.  "Oh for F***'s sake" I said, at which utterance all three dogs shot out into the conservatory and to the garden beyond.  I didn't need to try to work out who was the guilty party - the evidence was there on the floor, and in the sheepish look on Talulah's face.

I guess it was a stupid place to keep the blankets.

Wednesday 8 October 2014

Model Behaviour

River is proving to be an impossible patient.  She doesn't understand "take it easy", "rest" or "slow down".  Probably my fault entirely as I have always been able to indulge her appetite for activity and need for speed.  In hindsight, I suppose I should have worked on the self-control - but, hey-ho!

She is still leaping around despite the wound in her flank - she seems oblivious to it.  Fortunately it is in a place that doesn't come under too much stress with movement.  We are, however, keeping away from the water, and I am trying my best to keep it clean, and also to stop her nattering at it.  As a result, we have decided to promote our own fashion-wear for dogs.

We have the boob tube - ideal for the active dog who needs to avoid loose fitting clothing that might snag on fences or bramble bushes.



Then we have the leisure wear - a loose fitting t-shirt enabling air flow and restriction free movement - unless you stand on the trailing bit, of course - for wearing around the house.





Okay, so they won't make the dog-walk!  The boob tube should be useful again as my neckwarmer/hat, but I think this t-shirt has seen better days and its next port of call will be the rag bag - or perhaps I should keep it as insurance against further injury......

Saturday 4 October 2014

Coming in Threes

The old saying is that things come in threes - you could say that, as I have three dogs, and three horses - three bitches and three mares, for that matter.  (Oh what a House of Happy Hormones!!!) And all three of the dogs have hurt themselves in this last three weeks!

First it was Talulah who hurt her back.  I am not entirely sure how she did it, but we had been up the hill over the road where the dogs can indulge in a bit of rabbiting.  I don't often go up there as they tend to run themselves into a state of exhaustion, so it is just an occasional treat.  Often on the way back down to the house, the two younger dogs will take any opportunity to sit down and take a breather - and they did so on this day also.

I didn't really notice much difference in Talulah on getting back home or indeed until the evening - she was sleeping out the sofa out in the conservatory and I could her her whining quietly.  At first I thought she was whinging for suppertime, and when I called to her to come into the house, she didn't appear.  When I went out to her to encourage her in, she wouldn't get up - and she just wasn't herself.  Becoming a little concerned, I decided to give them supper at that point - which she did get up for, but then refused to go out to wee.  I half carried her outside, where she promptly lay down, so I half carried her back in again.  Now a faint feeling of alarm was setting in.  Not knowing quite what else to do, I did some Bowen moves on her, and settled her down for the night.  Needless to say, I didn't sleep the first half of the night as I kept getting up to go and check on her.  About 4am, I could hear her whining.  I took her outside again, to see if she needed a wee, which she managed to do.  On the way back in, she stopped at the foot of the stairs as if to say she wanted to go up to bed.  So, she walked up with her front end, and I carried the back.  We all then slept.  

Come the morning amidst the normal madness of getting up and excited dogs anticipating breakfast, for once I didn't have to fight for my slippers - Talulah was not for getting up.  Normally she is the most enthusiastic riser, running off with my slippers, socks, or anything else she can get hold off, and running downstairs to distribute them around the sitting room before pogo-ing at the door.

Alarm bells were ringing loudly now.  I fed the other two and then went back upstairs to encourage her to come down, even trying to lift her up - that was when she cried in pain, I abandoned that idea and phoned the vet.  I also phoned Chris to come and help me get her up and into the car.  When he arrived, who should appear in the sitting room but Talulah!  A bit wobbly, but wagging her tail.  We went to the vet anyway and was given a painkilling and anti-inflammatory injection and some medicine to take home with instructions to rest for a few days.  Talulah obviously wasn't listening because by the end of the day she was entirely herself again.

Whether the Bowen worked, or I shifted something when trying to move her, I don't suppose I will ever know - but I am very relieved that whatever it was has gone and taken all evidence of itself away.

Two weeks later, in the melee of getting past the cows at work, Tussock got under my feet.  She yelped, but I could do nothing until I had dealt with a particularly bad tempered cow.  Once we were past them, I then turned to Tussock who was holding up a foot and looking at me sadly.  I had a look at it - it seemed fine, no reaction to my poking, so I kissed it better and she trotted off happily.

All was fine until the next morning when she suddenly yelped, held her foot up for a few moments and limped off - nobody was near her at the time.  The rest of the day she was fine - until the next day when she was holding up her foot and limping again.  A proper examination found no thorns, no stones, no lumps, no cuts.  One toe, however, was obviously tender and rather swollen.  

I concluded that she might have broken her toe - and anticipated another trip to the vet the next day.  Come morning - no sign of a limp in the house or when walking.  Trotting on hard ground, she would limp, but she was eager to run on the grass, and even to instigate play with River.    Given that she was comfortable enough for that, I decided to let time and her body do its own healing rather than let the vet poke about at it.  She continues to improve.

And now it is River's turn!  She and Tussock were racing round a building at work to intercept Talulah who was returning after being AWOL.  River squeezed between Tussock and the building - through a very narrow gap.  There was a sharp lip of metal jutting out and an enormous clump of hair was left on this metal.  Cursing, I caught up with the dogs, to find Tussock holding her foot up (she must have knocked it), and River standing still and not beating up Talulah as she would normally do.  I had a quick look at her, and found a long, but not deep, scratch on her rib cage - okay, not so bad.  With relief, we went off for a quick walk in the field before going home.

During the evening, River got down off the sofa and as she did so, I saw a large bald patch in her waistline.  I had a look, only to find a large hole about the size of a pound coin and a long and defoliated scratch!  The hole wasn't deep - but almost as if she had just ripped the skin off.  Another trip to the vet coming up?  Once again, I elected not to go - it is clean, not deep enough to stitch, and the vet was unlikely to do any more than I am already doing - keeping it clean and keeping an eye on it.  And resting her.

So that is the three.  However, two weeks ago, Mooi also injured herself, lacerating the back of a front pastern on some barbed wire.......she is on the mend, but I do hope this isn't the beginning of another round of three.

Thursday 2 October 2014

A Bit of a Rant

I recently had a "discussion" on Facebook that made me think.  It also annoyed me a little and has been bugging me for days.  It has made me realise that there are "animal people" and "others".  The conversation was in response to a post about some awful festival where lots of cows end up lying in a pool of blood whilst many people watch the spectacle.

First comment from someone was "Disgusting"

Him :  I don't understand the problem - unless you are a vegan

Another contributor : The problem is the barbaric way they are killed - sheer cruelty.

Him - No more barbaric than anything else in nature.  Perhaps you'd better call for Lions to be banned.

Me ; Lions and (most) other predators kill when they need to eat - not for the fun of it.

Him : Foxes kill for fun.  Muslims and Jews do not.  They kill in the approved manner in order to eat meat in the same way that you kill animals to eat.  Let's remember that these animals are just that - they are not "fur kids" or "hairy humans".  We are too keen to anthropomorphise animals (and cars, computers etc) and we forget that they are animals.

Me : But other animals don't make a spectacle of it and have fun whilst watching another animal die in pain and distress.

Another contributor : Yes, they are animals, and they are in our care, and should be treated well it even says you in your Koran.  In the days it was written I guess the best way was a quick slash to the throat, but things Have MOVED on.  It is possible to kill so quick that the beats do not know it is even happening, also in the better places, they don't have to stand there watching their herd being killed.  In a good slaughter house there is no panic and little noise.  Animals, and we are animals too, certainly feel pain and scientists have proved they can think!

Him : Animal packs watch beasts being brought down and often dine off them while they are still alive, so your argument doesn't hold up.  I have watched Qrban - there is little suffering going on.  The case against it is being overstated.

Me : As the most intelligent species on earth (apparently), and self imposed caretakers of the planet, we have a duty of care to minimise the suffering of any creature in our care, or that we breed, catch, or kill for our own consumption or other use.  These animals are sentient beings - and no, I am not anthropomorphising - with emotions and thoughts of their own.  It is morally wrong, in my opinion, to make a festival out of the killing of other creatures.  And no, I am not vegan or even vegetarian - but I do prefer my meat to have had a good like and a quick and clean death.  There is a huge difference between a pack of wolves or lions waiting for dinner than a crowd of blood-thirsty humans watching for the fun of it.

Him : The difference is marginal at best.  I am more concerned with humanitarian treatment of humans.  Something that is rather rare these days.

Me : At least humans can speak up for their rights as a species - but I accept that there are many individuals and groups of individuals who do not have a voice.  Other creatures do not.  I prefer to speak up for the other creatures.  Until humankind treats its own with dignity, kindness and compassion, I guess other creatures will have to wait a bit longer for that same treatment, and that saddens me.

Him : Most people cannot speak up or do not know how.  Your argument is specious and based solely on your own experiences.  Broaden your outlook and then come back to (at?) me.

Me : I think it is yourself that needs to broaden YOUR outlook.  Humans are not the only creatures on this earth, and they do not have priority over any others.  Without those other creatures, we would not have the life that we do have, physically, mentally or emotionally.  Other animals have much to teach us and I am prepared to listen.  Yes - my argument is based on my own experiences - perhaps I have been more fortunate than you to have experiences that have opened my mind wide open, and far beyond the human need.

His final reply was to give me the link to an article in his blog.  If you want to read it, you will find it here. http://davidleyman.blogspot.co.uk/2014/09/0-false-18-pt-18-pt-0-0-false-false.html

He has some good points in his article, but to my mind it didn't make sense as a comment.

I am guessing that most of you reading this will fall on the side of my argument as most of the people I rub shoulders with are animal people.  So I am trying to put myself to the other side of the argument and exploring in my mind if I am in the wrong.  It isn't that I don't care about humans - I have been told many times that I am a kind person - but I honestly think that caring only about our own species is wrong on so many levels.  I think it is morally wrong and I also think it is arrogant and stupid.  

I don't like to hear of wars and famine, of natural disasters and outbreaks of disease - I certainly don't take delight in hearing of the death of a person, or group of people - quite the opposite - so why is it that some people do take delight in or watching animals (or even people) being slaughtered in a way that causes those animals distress and pain.  Because animal lovers care about this, does it make us better, or just different?  Perhaps there are two kinds of human - have we evolved slightly differently?

To suggest that my argument is specious (plausible but actually wrong) and that I need to broaden my outlook is quite insulting as I cannot see, no matter how I look at it, how his outlook is broader than mine - he only cares about one species (human) where I care about others - surely mine is broader?
  
The earth is (or was!) a balanced ecosystem where every kind of creature has its place in the environment - it is only mankind that abuses the planet, bringing about extinction of various plants, animals, and destroying the habitat of groups of indigenous people.  Yes, we should look after other humans far better than we do but unless we look after everything else with care, kindness and compassion, then we ourselves may cease to exist.  And without the animals that are closest to us, the lives we currently lead would be so much the poorer on every level.

I am not perfect - far from it - but even after chewing on this for several days I don't think I will change my attitude!

If you have read this far - thank you!  I know this is meant to be a doggy blog, but .....................  and I do feel better for getting that off my chest!!!!