100. Century Up

Eight-Oh! Hot Dream!

69. Missing 'The Daddy'

Sym Missing 'The Daddy'

The Brave Defender And The Dog Sludgie Trail

(Originally posted on Thursday, 25 November 2010)

It was twenty past two in the morning and I thought I'd heard something downstairs.

I was out of bed and awake quicker than you could do something quickly, my 9 iron whisked out from under the pillow (well, where would you keep yours?) and ready for action.

I tip-toed to the head of the stairs in a 'ziggy-zaggy' kind of way so I could avoid all those squeaky floor boards I've been meaning to replace.  I did not alert the intruder by switching on a light and I certainly didn't say "Is anyone there?" because if someone answered "Yes!", I just knew I'd shit a brick, if not a whole bungalow!

In the downstairs hallway there was nothing to be seen, so I crept down the stairs as quietly as possible.

I quickly checked the front door and it was still intact and locked.

I went through to the kitchen ... nothing!

The back door and all the windows were all secure.

I felt safe enough to put the light on at this point.

It went 'click'

It lit up.

As my eyes adjusted to the light, it slowly dawned on me that there was no intruder and that one of the dogs must have been responsible for the noise that I heard.

There were three tired, but guilty looking dogs lying in their beds.

But that is not what convinced me that one of them was to blame ... no!

It was the trail.

It was a UK size 7 trail.

A trail down the centre of the hallway and into the kitchen.

It ended in exactly the place where I was stood.

It was brown!!!

As were my flip-flops!!!

Three dogs pretended very hard to be fast asleep and the cat sniggered!

Let me tell you ... there is nothing more sure to wake you up, and give you no chance of getting back to sleep, than cleaning up dog mess at two-thirty in the morning.

It was .... [YAWN] ... an awful exp... [yawn] ...erience so early ... [yawn] ... in the... zzz zzz zzz ZZZ.....................

Ball Throwing For A Clever Pup!

My dog's activities in the park have been reported on numerous occasions and no doubt someone, right now, whilst reading this is saying 'Oh no! Not again'!

Sorry!

Our walks are always ball throwing walks as far as Sym is concerned.

I throw, Sym chases, catches then brings it back.

Sometimes!

I have determined that four commands come into play whilst playing ball.

"Fetch it"          - when he drops it out of reach off the path.

"Where is it?"   - to get his attentions when he drops it somewhere out of sight.

"Find it"           - when he drops it in the long grass or in a big puddle

"Gimme dat"    - when he doesn't drop his ball when it's time to go home

When I actually throw, or make to throw, the ball I don't say anything.  It would be a waste of time and effort because Sym would already be arcing his way to the point where he would like to receive it, whereupon he will go down on the ground in that typical "I'm ready! Go for it!" collie pose.

When the ball is thrown, and sometimes even before, he begins the chase. He has an amazing ability to calculate the balls flight path and be there waiting for it to bounce.  He also has the ability to look incredibly smug whilst chomping on his now captured prize!

The average round of 'throw & fetch' goes like this ...

Sym races into position. I throw the ball. Sym runs, jumps and catches. He starts to bring it to me ... but catches a scent and dashes off into the long grass only to emerge minutes later minus his ball.

Sym then runs into position, oblivious to the fact that he left his ball in the long grass.

In order to let him know that I can't find the ball, I shout "Where is it?" which grabs his attention and gets him running back to where he last saw it.

At this point he will look at me with his "You're kidding, right?" expression in the hope that he doesn't have to search for it.

Now this is the really good part - which I have mentioned before - where Sym uses his nose to find out where he left the ball.

"Find it!" I cry and off he goes, nose to the ground, looking for it.

When he locates it - and he nearly always does - he switches into smug mode again and trots off along the path, casually dropping the ball somewhere along my line of march so that I can throw it again.

On those rare occasions when he drops the ball a little too far from the track, or I just can't be bothered to walk those extra few steps, I say "Fetch it!" and he jogs back down the track, picks it up and drops it a little closer to me.

Sometimes - the times when he doesn't want to go home - the "Gimme dat!" order is unpacked and aimed right at him!  He knows when this command is used it means ...

1.  it's definitely time to go home and  
2.  double cheese reward for compliance

I always put him back on his leash at this point and drape it over his back, letting him walk to heel for the last two hundred metres or so back to the car.

He really is a good boy at heart.

Did I ever mention that I'm proud of my pup?

Clover: A Potted History

Clover came to the attention of Four Paws after a failed re-homing by the RSPCA.  They refused to take her back because it had taken so long to re-home her in the first place, so Kirsty took her into kennels at Claire's.

Her story wasn't great.

She had been a breeding bitch in a puppy farm for most of her estimated 8 years. No one knows exactly how many litters she produced, but I suspect she was kept very busy.

Clover suffered from a range of issues; there were scars and a partly shredded ear, she had a fear of cars, vans and people and was absolutely terrified of going for walks.

We originally took Clover from kennels as a foster dog, but we soon realised that Clover's many problems would not endear her to many prospective new owners.  She had some visitors but some were unsuitable due to the time that they would want to leave her alone over the daytime and others said that she was not what they were looking for and that they would prefer a dog with more 'pep'!

Anyway, as many of fosterer's know, sometimes you just have a feeling that the dog you are looking after will never find the right home.  We felt that way about Clover!

When she first came to us she would tuck herself away in corners and be reluctant to move.  It took her over five days to feel relaxed enough to flop onto her side next to Sox and sleep.

There were issues with our dogs too.  Sox, the old matriarch, was dominant and would tell Clover off in no uncertain terms if she deemed Clover had overstepped the mark. Sym on the other hand was sneaky and would take a nip as she tried to pass him or would deliberately block her way. This all fizzled out when they became more comfortable with each other and they all realised that none of them posed a threat to any of the others.

She soon began to settle and slowly but surely began losing her fears one by one. She would go outside on her own, we could take her for walks without her panicking and she even started to enjoy outings to the park (although it would take months for her to stop throwing up in the car).

We continued to foster and Clover was (in a motherly sort of way) a very calming influence on our other fosters.

Dinky (Clovers favourite), Lacey, Millie, Ben, Jack, Cody and Rory all benefited from Clovers calming influence.

Dinky loved Clover, as she did him!  They had a mother/son relationship which very often saw them curled up together in the same bed.  He would jump on her, over her and sometimes try to jump through her and she never batted an eyelid.

Dinky & Clover

She has never barked or growled at anyone or any other dog.  She will whimper when she wants something such as fuss or to go outside but otherwise is the quietest of dogs ... while she is awake!

When she sleeps, she snores ... she growls ... yelps ... and twitches.  She seems to be re-living the bad old days! A pat one the head usually calms her and lets her sleep easier.

We did eventually decide to adopt her ... well, she'd become part of the family and to see a once troubled girl so settled ... it would have been too difficult for her and us to let her go to another home.

Now,  'sibling' rivalries are all forgotten.  Sox and Clover often share a cushion in the living room and quite often share their food.  Clover seems to be in love with Sym and frets when he's not close by.  Sym, for his part, politely allows her to chase his ball, knowing full well he will always get there first.

We made the right decision!

Our home without Clover just wouldn't be the same.

  

My Boy Sym And His Ball

My Boy Sym And His Ball

It was no different from any other walk.

Sox prowled around ignoring me. Clover was at my heels ... just in case I tried to run away.

Sym, well, he was hunkering down in the long grass waiting for the ball to be thrown.

It was!

Up he jumped and sped after it, easily making up ground and catching it on the second bounce.   He jogged back along the path and dumped it at (almost) my feet and off he went to assume his 'throw it now' position in the long grass.

This went on again and again and he successfully caught and returned his ball to me each time.

But ...

... here it comes...

... on the second lap of our walk he caught the ball and was immediately distracted.

He dashed off into the long grass (slightly longer than the 'other' long grass where he would wait for his ball to be thrown).

I called him back, but he didn't respond.  I called him 'Sym' and he returned straight away!

Minus his ball!

I sent him back to find it but, nearly 15 minutes of his nose sniffing though the undergrowth (is it still called 'undergrowth' when there's nothing over it?) produced nothing.

I scolded him and walked on. He followed, as did Clover (Sox hadn't even noticed we had stopped and was on her way home) but he was constantly looking and waiting for a ball to be thrown.

I walked about 75 yards down the track and sat on a log that the council had dumped by the path so that they wouldn't have to spend any money on a park bench.

Sym approached and I could tell he was somewhat confused as to why his ball wasn't being thrown for him.

"Sorry" I said showing him the ball-less flicky-stick. "If you hadn't lost your ball, you'd still be playing".

He sniffed the end of the stick then galloped (can a dog gallop?) away, back the way we had come.

All I could see from where I sat was the white tip of his bushy tail as it criss-crossed the longer long grass area where he had lost his ball.

Within five minutes he was bounding down the track with ...

... you've guessed it...

... his ball stuck in his mouth!

I gave him a big fuss and praised him to the heavens and back!

He grinned from ear to ear, as only a smug Border Collie can, and romped off into the long (not so long this time) grass and awaited the flight of his newly found ball.

It flew!

He's a damned clever boy, my Sym!

Clover: With Us For Nearly Two Years

Clover has been with us for a year now.  We initially fostered a very troubled little girl who needed love, time and gentle direction.  We officially adopted Clover in August 2009, as we felt due to her age and dislike of interaction with people she would be best suited staying with us as she had bonded so well with our dogs.  Clover is now much more settled and relaxed, although she still on occasion needs to be escorted to the back door to do her “business” and sometimes needs to be told to come back in.

She loves   Sym and gets quite anxious when he goes down to the river during their walks in the park and is soooo pleased when he returns.

She has made a loyal friend of Sox   and they often share one of the many cushions dotted around the living room.
Clover is the gentlest, sweetest most loving little lady you could wish to meet.  She doesn’t have a nasty bone in her body.  She has never barked or growled at anyone (human or animal). All she wants is to please everyone, enjoy her food and sleep when she feels the need to - well she is 9 years old and an ex breeding bitch, so we reckon she deserves all the sleep she wants.


Julie