Holidays, weddings and a whole lot of lady bugs!

Sorry for the lack of posts, I’m going to try and be more pro-active in writing more blogs in future.  Anyways, the reason for the current drought has been a combination of weddings and holidays!

First up was my sisters big country wedding in Northampton which was totally ace!  After a fairly calm morning (hair in rollers by 8am!) we arrived in good time at the church to find that there had been a power cut so the piano played our entrance tunes, which was no big deal and the comedy value suited my mad but chilled sister and her Hubby!  The party was totally brilliant with great food a fantastic band and fab speaches (including the brides!)   I also helped my dad with the surf theme cake – complete with crashing wave surround (good paper mache fun there!)

Then H2B and I went off to the north norfolk cost with our lovely dog Rocky.  We had a fantastic week of sleeping, reading and enjoying the beach with a few swims in the sea.  Although the plague of lady bugs hampered any trips into the seaside towns! Rocky even had a dip himself – the dog who’s never more than paddled in streams and runs away from waves jumped over the crashing surf and paddled like crazy into the water!  Poor dog seemed to have a mix of utter fear, panic and complete enjoyment at paddling out to meet us in the barely waist deep water! (I suppose thats quite deep when your only a little dog)  We were so proud of him!  So Rocky did a LOT of sleeping and dreaming of his adventure into the surf!

Then we had a trip on a propeller plane over to Guerney for another wedding. It was fairly bumpy, noisy and uncomfortable ride but our long weekend on the island was well worth it, staying here at the Auberge.  Fantastic weather, a beautiful wedding full of comedy moments and a great band.  We even made use of the pool to dip our feet after the walk from church to rception in heels!  The day after we amazingly managed to get up early to collect our bike hire and cycled our way around most of the island, finishing with a delicious meal on the balcony over looking St Peter Port at Christie’s.

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Rocky n rolly dog

The novelty of the weather hasn’t worn off for us just yet, our dog Rocky seems to love rolling in the stuff! see for yourself here:

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Pedigree going down the pan?

As I sat watching “Pedigree Dogs Exposed” with my West Highland White Terrier dog Rocky the reality of what our pets have become struck a cord. I’ve always loved watching Crufts yet never really appreciated the true welfare problems these dogs face. I know it’s plain to see, on holiday in France was a prime example, of a ball of fur (some sort of Pekenise but I couldn’t be sure) with a squashed up face, struggling to breathe and control its temperature in the heat of the day. Its these over the top, out of proportion, deformities that breeders need to re-address and go for the healthy dogs not just those that will make ‘breed standard’.

Now its all come out in the media (I’m sure its always been there, just not mainstream) there really has been a snowball effect and the RSPCA has gladly made full use of the publicity – good for them! I’m lucky that my Westie is very good condition, we met both parents and the breeder was a lovely lady, for her it was just a little hobby, not to win best in show. But now at almost 3years old the tell tale signs of Westie problems – skin conditions and allergies – are beginning to show (very minor though which is a relief. ) I hope, come January 2009, the RSPCA report on Pedigree dog welfare makes headline news again and more breeders take notice of the publics increasing interest.

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Puppy love

This week it will be two years since I got my first dog. I’d always wanted one as a kid but my mum always managed to direct my interest in animals in other ways; mostly with guinea pigs, rabbits and walking all of our neighbours’ dogs.

So after a few months in our first house the other half, whos family have always had dogs, felt there was something amiss. So we searched and researched some more and decided a Westie would suit us just right and one in particular fitted with us straight away. Much deliberation later the name Rocky stuck and our little puppy was everything I ever hoped for when I got my first dog.

Now two years on, nothing can cheer me up more after a hard day than the dog greeting me when I get home. He’s like our own personal smiling shadow that follows you round, investigating what you’re up to and wanting to be a part of everything. Even though Rocky feels he has to bark the birds out of the garden, chew at your feet when your trying to get socks on and steal food at any opportunity we wouldn’t want him any other way. His little habits are what make him our special little dog and no one else can ever know him quite like we do now.

My life with a dog has begun at a time when I can really appreciate the hard work it takes and also the joy it brings. Honestly, theres nothing quite like a dog licking your face to cheer you up.

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