Prague or Venice?

Posted on December 3, 2009 by

Or a pedicure? Just another evening on the sofa.

Posted in Whimsy | 4 Comments

In which Jake proves he can travel in an eco-conscious manner

Posted on November 21, 2009 by

Usually when we visit my aunt we drive. If the weather and traffic are good, it can be done in about three hours, but in any case it’s tiring for me, the only driver.

So we decided to try the train today. Not just for eco reasons! I wasn’t keen to do the drive on my own this morning – it’s pretty tiring, and I needed to conserve my energy.

So Jake and I got up at the usual time and walked to the park, but then kept walking until we reached the train station. There were some excellent pickings for passing pooches – bits of kebab and chips dropped by people on their way home last night.

Jake was fine in the station, though he did put his paws on the counter of the kiosk (tea! cakes!). But that was his only faux pas in the whole journey.

I’d carefully chosen to travel when I knew it would be quiet. Good old Jake helped me with my tea and settled down next to me on a towel. Even the Guard made indulgent noises. (And yes, I did pay for his seat.)

After an hour or so we transferred onto the Metro – another first for Jake, though I think the apple I was eating made a good distraction.

And with Jake skipping happily into my aunt’s house at 10.20, that was 3 hours and 15 mins door to door! The same amount of travelling time, about the same price as the petrol I would have used, and much more relaxing. If the journey home goes similarly well, we’ll go by train again.

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

Posted in Travel | 6 Comments

Don’t care if it is winter. I resent this coat.

Posted on November 4, 2009 by

– Posted from my iPhone

Posted in Outfits, Wordless Wednesday | 2 Comments

Broxburn mayhem

Posted on November 1, 2009 by

Broxburn‘s November show, and our first indoors agility show since last winter. In fact our first show for a couple of months.

Ah, the excuses start early … you can probably guess where this post is heading.

Excuse 2: Torrential rain meant that Jake hadn’t got the fidgets out of his feet – he very grudgingly trudged round the park before we left.

Excuse 3: The indoor venue, the Scottish national equestrian centre at Oatridge college, meant that Jake was pumped up by what I call the “horsey sand agility” factor. “You’ve brought me to agility! And it’s on a beach that smells of horses! Wahey!” What this means in practice is boundless enthusiasm, more speed and less focus than usual.

Long story short – Jake had a whale of a time, and we were eliminated in both our runs. The highlight of my day was when he ran amok in the pay-as-you-go ring – check out his loopy lurcher lap of honour as I rebuild the jump he just demolished. If I ever need cheering up I’ll be watching this:

Luckily others were less thrown by the move indoors – clear runs from Team Loki & Team Glen, and for Team Poppy, a 1st place in Jumping and a 4th in Agility. Woohoo! There are some videos on Youtube but (sorry) we missed the clear runs.

Posted in Agility shows | 2 Comments

The anti-SAD dog

Posted on October 25, 2009 by

The PDSA has a survey for pet owners about whether pets’ moods and behaviour change in the winter months.

The survey makes some assumptions from the outset – that pets are less inclined to go out in the winter, that they eat more, that they are afraid of the dark.

Jake has never enjoyed being prised out of his nice warm bed on a dark morning. But once he’s yawned his way down the stairs (we live on 1st & 2nd floors) and has sniffed the air from the porch, he’s quite happy to trot out, even into the rain (and he hates getting wet). He’s not bothered about night walks – they’ve always been a part of his life with us. It helps that Little Lord Fauntledog has all the gear.

But slowness in getting out of bed is about it in terms of a negative reaction to the winter months. Jake seems to do the opposite to what the PDSA is expecting. Jake is less happy in the summer. In warmer weather he is less active, less enthusiastic on walks and at agility, and grumpier with other dogs. Observation tells us he’s worse on days when pollen is high. On warmer days his black coat feels hot to the touch, and we have to plan to cool him down and avoid being out for too long in hot parts of the day. It struck me as I completed the survey that we should make him a dark den as a bolthole for the summer months (in Edinburgh in mid June it can be light between 4am and 11pm). I wonder if he misses sleeping in the dark – he does pull cushions and toys over his eyes to sleep.

Over the last few weeks, as is the case every autumn, Jake has a new spring in his step, is much more lively on his walks and noticeably more chilled around other dogs. He was almost puppy-cheerful in the woods yesterday.

Bring on the frosty mornings, that always makes him really perky.

He is an anti-SAD dog.

Posted in Health, Park life | 3 Comments

Autumn walk canalside

Posted on October 21, 2009 by

Posted in Scotland, Wordless Wednesday | Leave a comment

Tea is good, even from a collie mug

Posted on October 14, 2009 by

Posted in Wordless Wednesday | 1 Comment

A gude cause

Posted on October 10, 2009 by

100 years ago, the Women’s Suffrage Movement marched along Princes Street in Edinburgh. Today several thousand people (and Jake) marched through Edinburgh to celebrate this centenary.

For most of the procession we were near the Greens, the Auld Reekie Roller Girls & a banner that read “Emancipation not emaciation.” A pretty good spot to be in.

Here are some resources about women’s suffrage in Scotland.

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Squirrel’s eye view

Posted on October 7, 2009 by

Posted in Wordless Wednesday | 1 Comment

Tantallon Castle

Posted on September 24, 2009 by

Summer’s over! And we realised that we hadn’t been to any castles for ages. So we drove down the coast to Tantallon Castle.

Jake has to stay on lead in the castle, for various obvious reasons, but not least when there are people picnicking. There were several other dogs visiting the castle when we were there. Once I was sure everyone else had come down from the ramparts, Jake and I went for our customary look around. He loves climbing the stairs, he loves sticking his nose through any windows he can, he loves sniffing in corners and looking up chimneys.

The views from the top are amazing. Jake is unfazed by heights, though he doesn’t like crossing wooden slatted bridges in castles any more than he does over running water. But he’s had plenty of practice at the Water of Leith, and he handled it dogfully.

Afterwards we headed into North Berwick to give Jake a run on the beach. There was everything Little Lord Fauntledog could want – sand, seaweed, a Luca’s icecream van, even a food fair with quality scraps dropped by careless humans…

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