Tag Archives: dog

The Last Freedom

LM on the Green Belt 1

Little Monkey loves to roam free along the Green Belt. As you all saw in recent posts: Vixen; Mud, Mud, Glorious Mud; The Creature from the Black Lagoon etc.

LM on the Green Belt 2

She likes to track interesting scents and paddle in the stream.

It is wonderful to meander in the cool shade and reflect upon life.

LM on the Green Belt 3

Alas no more!

There have been too many incidents of dogs biting people or other animals. So now all dogs have to be on the lead or pay a heavy fine if caught off-lead.

Sadly a few irresponsible owners have ruined the Green Belt for all of us.

LM on the Green Belt 4

As you all know LM is reactive with other dogs, so we need plenty of space and for the other dogs to be well balanced and understanding with LM. Mostly the Green Belt dogs were like this.

LM on the Green Belt 5

There are still a few other areas where you are allowed to have your dog off-lead (who knows for how long) but I do not go there as I don’t feel safe. People have been attacked – by other people.

There are no dog parks here.

LM on the Green Belt 6

But I am glad Little Monkey had that one last walk in Freedom.

Just look at that happy little face!

 

post script: I apologise if this post appears multiple times in your WP Reader – or not at all (but then you won’t know!) I adjusted something in my Settings and then everything fell apart!

 

Portrait of a Dog #10

Portrait of Little Monkey 1

Here is Little Monkey on one of our walks, with wild grasses whispering in the breeze behind her. I just love the background; it looks like she has stepped into a painting.

Portrait of Little Monkey 2

It’s been a long time since I’ve done a portrait (almost four years!), so LM has a lot more silver around the muzzle now, but apart from that she is still the same lovable noo noo.

 

Shaggy Dog is Shaggy!

Shaggy Dog LM 1

Shaggy Dog has her bi-annual bath.

Shaggy Dog LM 2

Here she is lathered up with dog shampoo, ready to be rinsed off.

Shaggy Dog LM 3

The saddest dog is a wet dog!

Shaggy Dog LM 4

Shake your booty!

Shaggy Dog LM 5

I’m sitting my very best sit. Any treats going, Dad?

Shaggy Dog LM 6

This is my cutest face. Come on guys! Who’s got them?

Shaggy Dog LM 7

Is it you, Mum?

Shaggy Dog LM 8

All right!

Shaggy Dog LM 9

Now I’m all fluffy and super cuddly.

Well my very own Shaggy Dog, your ordeal is over till next year.

 

Mud, Mud, Glorious Mud!

LM and Mud 1

Mud, Mud, Glorious Mud!

Nothing quite like it for cooling the blood!

LM and Mud 2

This is how Little Monkey disguised herself as a fox in my last post, Vixen.

LM and Mud 3

It was really hot so I stayed in the shade as much as possible, while Little Monkey was having a great time. She paddled in the stream when she felt like it, which must have cooled her down a bit.

LM and Mud 4

I sat on a bench at the end of the walk so she could still sniff around. Surprisingly she even interacted with a few other dogs! (which if you know LM you will realise is amazing!)

LM and Friend

Happy Dog!

 

post script: You can listen to Flanders and Swann’s song, The Hippopotamus here: Mud, Mud, Glorious Mud!

 

Vodka Day

Vodka Day LM 1

One for the road?

Looks to me like Little Monkey has had one too many already!

Vodka Day LM 2

I can’t believe I missed National Vodka Day this year (it was the 4th). I had a lot going on, but still that’s no excuse.

Vodka Day LM 3

And I must praise Little Monkey here. Sometimes I think I take her good behaviour for granted. She was snoozing on her mat, so I thought it was a good opportunity to snap a Vodka shot. However, as I arranged the bottles and glass near her, she raised herself up on her front legs to see what was going on.

I gently pushed her back down, but as I stepped back to take a shot, she half sat up. I settled her down again and got my photo. Then I trotted into the kitchen with her to give her a treat.

It was only afterwards that I thought, “Hey, she did all that for me, with no treats. Pretty good for a Mutt!”

Cheers!

 

Focus!

Little Monkey

Haiku 80

Hey Mum! You have my

Undivided attention

Tasty treat offered

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There’s no denying that Little Monkey lurves her food; the more so, the older she gets.

I had a special treat for her and judging by this focused look, I guess it smelled really good!

 

post script: For dog owners: others may find this a bit gross! I suppose someone will want to know what the treat was: a dried pig’s ear. I’ve never given her one before and after first seeming a bit wary, she promptly ate it. Then she brought it all back up in the kitchen during the night!

 

Close Encounters of the Fourth Kind

Little Monkey

I have written a few posts about encounters with difficult dogs that Little Monkey and I have met on our walks around the neighbourhood. This is a different sort of encounter that happened recently:

A Close Encounter of the Fourth Kind!*

Little Monkey and I had been walking for a while and were heading back home. We needed to cross a road, on the other side of which live the YLD’s. These are Yappy Little Dogs; three brown Dachshunds that never fail to charge to their gate, yapping like mad, when anything passes by. One got out once and attacked LM, which must have been funny to witness; me batting away the tiny thing with my cap, while keeping LM, ten times its size, behind me. Eventually the owner came out, apologised and picked up the terror.

I’m just telling you this to explain why I was crossing the road to one side to avoid them. This particular day I could see the kids getting their bikes ready behind the gate, so I knew it would soon open and the whole lot would pile out, yapping like mad. (Though I don’t think the kids were yapping!)

LM and I successfully crossed the road and I was congratulating myself on getting away before the gate opened, when BBD suddenly appeared walking at a smart pace round the corner. BBD is Big Black Dog.

This is a rescue dog that the owner has worked well with. BBD is a lot bigger than LM and always barks when we pass his property.

I needed space!

Little Monkey freaks out at sudden confrontations, but I managed to grab her mid-air as she leapt upwards, and turned her around. There was nowhere for us to go, as we were stuck between the BBD, the YLDs and the road. I quickly got to the very edge of the road and sat LM down with her back to BBD and YLDs, and held on to LM’s ear.

BBD marched briskly by behind us and didn’t give LM a second glance. This was great and LM remained seated by my side. As BBD reached the YLDs the noise escalated to ear-splitting levels!

Phew I thought. We did it.

We had no sooner turned round to resume our walk towards the corner when MBD suddenly appeared. Medium Black Dog was bigger than LM and rather like a poodle, but without the funny haircut!  This dog and owner I had not seen before.

LM did her leap in the air again and MBD also did a bit of a surprised ‘double take’. As I backed away I now had to find space between MBD, BBD, YLDs and the road!

As BBD strode on past YLDs gate I could back up that way a bit. As I did so I chatted to MBD’s owner, which always helps calm everything down. I ran off my spiel; “Sorry my dog’s a rescue dog and she’s just scared. She’s not aggressive at all. The little yappy dogs are actually more of a problem.” etc

And she totally agreed, saying she didn’t trust the YLDs as they charged at you and bit your ankles! So we chatted a little, and MBD and LM were cool.

Finally LM and I continued on our walk and actually made it round the corner without meeting any more dogs.

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This has taken a while to write, but the whole incident took place in seconds. The dogs performed a kind of do-si-do dance on the little triangle of grass verge, mostly with LM and I dodging close proximities!

But here’s the great thing: that was an encounter with four different dogs (I count the three tiny Dachshunds as one dog!) and there was no growling or biting. That is a good day.

The worst behaved dogs were the YLDs. Next was LM and her anxiety. MBD was OK and BBD just walked through the whole thing ignoring us.

So you can have unexpected encounters with strange dogs all thrown together and not have any aggression.

Close Encounters of the Fourth Kind!*

 

* Not to be confused with the 1977 movie: Close Encounters of the Third Kind!

 

The Return

Erica 1

Haiku 69

Welcome back old friend

So glad to see you survived

Love is triumphant

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Erica 2

This little fynbos plant, Erica Quadrangularis, has survived another year.

The main stem is thinner than my little finger, yet it is once again covered in tiny white flowers.

Erica 3

You may remember I planted it for Mr Spaghetti Legs almost two years ago.

Mr Spaghetti Legs

And here’s the old boy.

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It’s good to know some things return in the spring.