Hello. I did a Bailey dog walk today. It was a nice morning, so we went to the park, this was Rocky's favourite place to walk. It was busy, half term here and the kiddywinks were having fun riding on the landtrain, scooting their scooters, climbing trees, kicking their footballs, and feeding the ducks. I had a Magnum ice cream, the white chocolate variety.
And look, the Radio Humberside bus is here as well. David Reed the presenter was roping all the kids in to say a few words on the radio.
It was parked right outside the magnificent Normanby Hall. The staff are preparing it inside for an Easter opening. I might even splash out and get a season ticket this year which would allow me in the hall and to any events which will be taking place in the grounds throughout the summer.
We did the Woodland Walk. This is the pet graveyard for some of the many animals that have lived at the hall, in the staff quarters, and in the out buildings.
There are little wooden bridges to cross. The pond is pretty much stagnant here.
The stream is only a very slow trickle and fills up when it has been raining.
Here is my walking pal for today. Bailey was in awe of such wide spaces, with lots of people, and new doggy smells.
When we got back his owner had just arrived back after her lunch out.
I'm getting itchy feet again, thinking about going on a long walk. Looking at maps, train times and cheap B & B's in Newcastle.
Thanks for popping in, we'll catch up soon. Toodle pip
Hello. And life goes on. I'm holding off going to the shops, though now is probably the best time to go, there will be stuff marked down. I don't need anything at the mo, cat food stocked up, freezer stocked up, and I've enough Brussels Sprouts, potatoes, and carrots to last another week. I had a plate of veg this afternoon, never get bored with that. Sprouts and broccoli drizzled with toasted sesame seed oil, deeeelishhhh.
Caught a glimpse of a fantastic sunset the other night, view from my bedroom window. A few minutes and it was gone. Twas a beautiful deep red, the colours never fail to amaze me.
This was my lunch yesterday. The last of the yellow sticker mushrooms and chopped onions, half a tin of chick peas, and an egg scrambled into it. Spices, Danish blue cheese, and cream cheese with garlic. I had it on a microwaved spud. There was enough for two portions. Cheap and bloomin lovely.
Doggy walk this morning, this is Jade. She is a sweetie though you wouldn't have said that if you knew her when she first arrived from a rescue. She had a rough start in life and was very wary of people, leading to bouts of aggression. Both the gardener and the handyman were bitten, but her new owner persevered and she calmed down when she realized that she was safe in her new home.
I am walking her on alternate days for the next three weeks while her regular dog walker is away on holiday. He takes her all over the place, down tracks, across fields, she is allowed to run free with him. I won't be letting her off the lead, although she knows me I don't want to take the chance of her running off. We have a very fast march around the village, stopping to talk to any other dog owners we meet on the way. She is fine with people and other dogs, no sign of aggression now.
Bugsy is still eating, but getting a bit picky. It's good that he chunters and moans about not having the right food, at least he is interested in it.
Thank you all for commenting on the previous post, a lot of opinions, and stories on how you spent your Christmas, and what it means to you. I think it's a topic which will emerge year after year. As people grow older and families grow up, ideas of what Christmas is about are bound to change. I liked it when I was young, but stopped liking it when I was in my late twenties/early thirties.
I had a very late lunch today, so I'm just about ready for a small meal. Don't need a full dinner, so spaghetti hoops on toast will be enough.
The computer is playing up a bit, I uninstalled Skype because it was slowing things up and I don't use it, but I must have done something wrong because now I can't access my favourite sites from the top bar. Will have to look into it, or get the little computer out. Bloomin pain.
Thanks for popping in. We'll catch up soon. Toodle pip.
Hello. It's a good job I haven't had any children, my emotions are all over the place with a poorly cat, imagine what I would be like looking after a human. Bugsy is my baby, I've had him for almost 20 years, there will come a time when he won't be here any more and I have to get used to that.
He hasn't eaten very much for about a week, in fact Janet has had more luck in getting him to eat, than I have. I have offered him all kinds of tasty pussy cat food, fishy and meaty, with gravy and jelly, as well as an assortment of tinned fish, and sliced meat. He has turned his nose up at everything. Janet texted me while I was away saying he had eaten.
Last night he looked as if he was fading away, and I wondered if he would still be breathing in the morning. I had almost rung the vet a couple of times yesterday but then thought, give it another hour or two, see what happens. So at 11.30pm I went to bed and he was fast asleep on his heated bed.
This morning I crept down in the dark and used a torch to check on him. A sigh of relief, he was still breathing. I let him sleep on and had my coffee in the kitchen. No food had been touched overnight, but in his litter box was a poo. Amazing, he is still able to do a poo, even if he hasn't eaten very much.
The vet suggested we could do blood tests, it might give us some more information of what might be wrong. I had decided because of his age that I didn't want to put him under any stress, so I said no.
This afternoon I moved all the bowls of food away, and brought some fresh Felix in, mashed up in a bowl. He looked interested and went straight to it, and started eating. Amazing, he almost finished it. He seemed to perk up a bit after that, so I rang the vet and said I would go for the blood tests and made an appointment for Thursday morning.
So from thinking he was at deaths door and wouldn't last much longer, I now think he might have a chance. He did eat a little bit more later on, and I am hoping he will have a little bit over night. I am now hopeful that he will still be breathing in the morning.
My goodness anyone who has been on the verge of losing a pet will understand what I am talking about. The questions that go through your head. Is it time? How will I know when it's time? Should I call the vet now or wait a bit? Are they suffering and in pain? Will it be tomorrow or a few more days? You cry, then you stop crying. You talk to them then you cry some more. You watch them, are they still breathing? You think about them lying still and lifeless when they have gone.
I had all this with Rocky and Lilly and Freddie, it doesn't get any easier. Pets are family members, your heart is broken when you lose them.
Thanks for popping in, we'll catch up soon. Toodle pip.
Hello. I have been waiting for the right time to tell this story, it's not going to be easy, but I'll try. I met a little dog about six years ago, his owners moved into a house up the street and I was walking past one day. There was no fencing around the back garden and there is a public path which runs between the houses there. The woman and her daughter and the little dog were out on the back garden. he came running towards me with his tail wagging, such a cute little face. I tried to engage them in conversation while fussing the dog, trying to make them feel welcome, and explaining that I walk dogs for people and would be happy to help out with walking their dog. They said I could, but the conversation was stilted, I felt they didn't really want to engage with me, I put it down to them being shy in a new neighbourhood. Maybe when they had made a few more contacts they would discover that this was a friendly place to live.
When I had a spare hour or two, or when I had another dog to take out, I went and knocked the door to ask if I could take Rocky out. Seemed sensible to take two dogs at the same time. The first few times the front door opened and I was given permission, but then when I went the next time, the front window opened by a couple of inches and I was told, yes I could take him out. After that they stopped answering the door or opening the window. I felt they weren't bothered one way or another, so I kept taking him out. He was always in a shed in the garden.
Not long after that they got some workmen to put a high wooden fence up, completely enclosing the back garden, access being through a door at the side of the house. Now the little dog was trapped, he couldn't see out, and no one could see him, apart from through one inch gaps between the boards. By this time I had noticed that he was always in the garden, day and night, with only a tumbledown shed to sleep in. It was also obvious that they hardly ever took him for a walk. I felt so sorry for him, it was like he was in a prison.
After they stopped answering the door to me I carried on taking him for walks, the gate wasn't locked so I assumed it was ok, they saw me coming and going. It was very strange to be taking someone's dog out when they didn't want to speak to me, but after a time I noticed that they weren't speaking to anyone else either, so maybe it wasn't just me they didn't like. They went back and forth in the car on the school run, the daughter was a teenager, but it was very rare to see them walk in the village. I did see them on the hills one day, a place where all dog walkers go. I had Rocky and another dog and was chatting to someone else with their dogs. I tried chatting to them and introduced them to my friend, but they weren't interested and walked on.
This set up carried on for a long time and I was becoming increasingly worried about Rocky being left on his own almost 24/7. I did what I could with giving him walks, and even taking him back home to give him a bowl of food. He ate it like he was very hungry. I had access to his garden through the side gate. They didn't put a lock on it, but I was always worried that they would get fed up with me and lock it to keep me out. They knew I was coming and going, but it was never locked. I always acknowledged them on the rare occasions when I did see them, either with a wave or a 'hello', wanting to not upset them so I could carry on walking Rocky.
The garden was like a jungle by the way, they never did any gardening, so the place must have been covered in his poo. He had access to his shed through a cat flap, basically a hole cut into the wood at ground level, next to the door, and covered with a piece of lino which he pushed to get in and out. The shed was full of rubbish, he didn't have a bed to sleep on, just piles of newspaper. The rain was getting in, everything was damp, and eventually the wind blew the window in. It's a wonder it didn't land on him. The mother was in the back garden one day when I went for him. I offered to repair the shed, said I had a piece of glass that would fit the window. I said I have a small cupboard which would make a dry place for his bed. All she said was, 'you don't have to do that', and, 'he needs fresh air'.
By now I was going more often, because of the appalling conditions he was living in, I noticed what food he had and how often it was replenished. There was a large plastic biscuit box with dried food in it, and a water bowl. Often when I went the water bowl was empty, and sometimes he hadn't touched the biscuits. The rain got in and the biscuits got wet and went mouldy, so proof that no one was going in to check. I found the shed crawling with slugs when it was wet and warm. They were in his food and water. I left one in his water bowl to see if they had moved it and refilled with fresh water. After four days it was still there, so I took a bottle of water and changed it.
I noticed that Rocky was occasionally limping on his front paw, and he had a red sore on his hind leg that was irritating him. I took him to my vet, and she diagnosed arthritis, and gave me some cream for the sore spot. After about a week it cleared up. I doubt it would have got treated if I hadn't seen it.
I took photo's because by this time I was thinking of making a report to the RSPCA. I also kept a diary of the times I visited, what I found, and the weather conditions. They hardly ever had him in the house, he was outside throughout the cold winter. The check cushion in the picture was one I made ages ago. Up till then he was sleeping on a plastic sled and newspaper. There was a lawnmower which was never used. One day it smelled very strongly of petrol, she had been tackling the garden with a strimmer. I feared for his safety.
The rain was getting in the roof on one side and running down the wall, and the wood was rotting at the bottom. The whole shed was leaning. It is still there now, but keeled over that far it is almost on it's side.
I was so angry that this little dog had to endure living in a dump with not much human interaction apart from the times I cared for him, it all came to a head in September 2012. They went out for several days, not the first time. I can see the house, I knew when the car was gone, so I brought him to my house. All they had done was to fill his food box to the brim with dried food and left him to it. They probably knew I would look after him, but why they couldn't ask me, I don't know. The car came back and I wondered how long it would be before they came to my door to ask for him back.
I rang the RSPCA to ask for help. I wanted them to go and see the people and check on Rocky, and tell them that his living conditions weren't acceptable. I went into great detail on the phone but they didn't want to know. I said I had him here with me, they said I should take him back. They only act on animals that are obviously malnourished or neglected or have been cruelly treated. Rocky wasn't malnourished because I had been feeding him. He was certainly neglected which I consider is a form of cruelty.
I waited and waited, and eventually the mother came in December and took him back. Hardly any words passed between us, all she said was, 'he's not your dog'. I was devastated. I wrote about it here and was criticized for my actions by one or two readers, which annoyed me because no one knew the whole story except me. There were parts I couldn't write about because I was never sure that they, mother and daughter, were not reading my blog. I was on tenderhooks all the time. Throughout the whole time I have known Rocky, before he came to live here and after, I have been worried that they would fall out with me big time and take him back.
I was in their bad books so I kept a low profile for a while, only going at night when I knew they would not be coming out of the house. I took treats for him, called his name through the fence and he would poke his nose out of the cat flap. I pushed dog treats and sausages through the gaps and he scoffed them. I didn't dare go into the garden for fear of being caught. It was heartbreaking and bloody annoying to think that they were tucked up in their warm house and this little dog was outside in the freezing cold winter.
In the January I plucked up courage to knock on their door. They could tell me to bog off, it was a chance I had to take, for Rocky's sake. Mother opened it a few inches. I asked if she was still mad with me, or could I take Rocky out again. She appeared to be ok with that, maybe I took her by surprise. She said I could take him out.
So the whole thing started again. Me taking him out for walks and putting him back. I didn't write here about what was going on, because I didn't want a barrage of questions, and I didn't want to inflame the situation between me and them, in case they had found my blog.
So, now I had permission to walk Rocky, and we were regularly seen around the village. I skirted around the questions, one or two knew what had happened but there was no need for everyone to know. There was one incident which I will recall here. I got a phone call one day from my friend, he was in the club, and someone had brought Rocky in saying they had found him wandering on the hills by himself. They were asking if anyone knew who owned him. Of course my friend said yes, and I went to collect him. It was a mystery how he was that far from home, more than half a mile away. There was no sign of mother and daughter looking for him. I kept him for five days and took him back. A month or two later daughter happened to be outside their back door when I went for him. I said, that was a bit strange when he was found up on the hills, I wonder how he got there. She answered, 'he used to live on a farm and often went walkabout', she seemed to brush it off as not important. I have my theory. By this time it was obvious to me that they didn't want to care for him. He couldn't have found his way up there by himself.
It got round to winter again, and I thought of a new routine. Not only would I take him for a walk during the daytime, but I would also go later on at night, when they were in bed, and bring him back to my house for the night, taking him back in the morning while they were on the school run. I knew they weren't checking on him very often so what was the point of him staying in that shed overnight.
That's how it went on for ages, it got to the point where he didn't want to go back there. It was heartbreaking for both of us but that's how it had to be for a while. I had him for as long as I dare, and made a point of taking him back and checking on his bed and food, so if they looked out of the window they would see me.
Then it came to the following winter, and I thought's what's the point of taking him back, by now I was sure they hadn't the slightest bit of interest in him. They knew what I was doing, yet still didn't want to speak to me. Again it was January, and freezing cold. I took him out and didn't take him back. This time I put a note through their door asking if it was ok for him to stay with me while the weather was cold, he needs to be indoors because his arthritis was bothering him. They didn't answer. I got some medication for him from the vet for his arthritis.
I kept on putting notes through their door every two or three weeks, up until Easter, giving them updates, telling them how he was, and asking them to tell me when they wanted me to bring him back. They never did reply, so I stopped posting them. The weeks turned into months, and turned into years. I had no communication from them at all. I was constantly worried that they might come and ask for him back at any time. This is going to be hard to believe but they actually saw us in the street a few times, we passed within feet of each other, and they looked the other way, totally ignoring us.
This is when I started writing about him again, when I was almost sure that they wouldn't want him back. People asked me if they had allowed him to live with me, a question I could not truthfully answer until now. As they haven't spoken to me or contacted me for almost four years, so I assumed they did not care about him.
My friends here in the village tell me that Rocky wouldn't have lived as long as he has in those conditions if I hadn't taken him out, and I tend to agree with them. I don't care what anyone thinks of me, I could not ignore that little dog, I couldn't leave him. He was on my mind every minute of the day, I had to do something for him, he deserved better. The only regrets I have is that I didn't remove him sooner. People who don't look after their pets make me so angry.
I miss Rocky every day, I don't think the pain will ever go away. I am now feeling emotionally drained, I hope you don't mind if I have a day off tomorrow.
Hello. I had a doggy pal to look after yesterday while his owner went to a wedding. Joyce was out the whole day , so I thought it would be a good opportunity for me and Bailey to have a ride out in the car. Here he is wearing his harness which clips into the seat belt holder. He was very good sitting in the front seat. Isn't he a handsome chap.
We went to Bransby Horses, it's a rescue place near Lincoln, they have almost 500 horses to look after. Thankfully the forecast of rain did not happen, and we were able to walk around the perimeter of the paddocks. I don't think Bailey has seen a horse before, he stood still and stared at them.
When I took him back home, Joyce had already arrived.
I'm going to dash now, want to have a nosy at the car boot sale, and pick up some shopping at Tesco. We'll catch up soon. Toodle pip
Hello. Does anyone remember when Rocky and Henry used to come and stay? It was a while ago now. I shared my bed with two dogs, it was a bit cramped, especially when Henry laid across my legs.
I haven't seen Helen and Henry for ages, we have both been busy with various things, family and holidays, and in Helen's case she has been working more hours. Today was catch up time, I went to visit.
Henry looks really chilled in the sunshine, but in truth, he's had a short walk and is tired. Sadly his arthritis is getting worse, he is lively in his excitement to go out, loves to sniff about, but can't walk very far.
We went in the car to a quiet lane and took a steady stroll while Henry amused himself on the grass verge. Oooh, all those lovely smells.
When he had had enough he told us he wasn't going any further and lay down. That's when I took these photo's. He knows exactly how to pose for the camera. Look at me, aren't I handsome. Yes, Henry, you are.
Helen walked back up the lane to fetch the car while we waited. And here is Henry's taxi arriving to take him home. Some adjustments are having to be made in their home life now to take into consideration Henry's limited mobility. Helen is like me where pets are concerned, Henry will get all the love and care he needs.
Crikey, that has choked me up, I thought I was all cried out. I'm going for a walk. Thanks for popping in, we'll catch up soon Toodle pip
Hello. Thank you all for your comments yesterday, it's comforting to know that there are so many kind hearted people who understand. When Rocky has a sad day it makes me sad too. I think, is it too much for him, is now the time? He can still walk about, we go into the garden, but don't go any further. He does his toilet, everything is working ok.
Rocky has had a good day today so I'm feeling a bit better. He was up early wanting to go outside. I have moved his food and water into the living room so he doesn't have to go to the kitchen for it. The hard lino floor in there is too slippery for him, he walks much easier on the carpet. Today he was keen to eat. I think it was the heat over the last few days that he was struggling with. I have given him a hair cut, and I put a fan heater set to cold near him to help cool him down. It hasn't been so hot today so I think he is back to normal now.
It looks a bit messy in here. Bugsy's litter box is in the corner, there are newspapers around Bugsy's bed because he has been known to be sick sometimes. This morning he scoffed his food down far too quick and it was lucky I was sitting here, because immediately the wretching started I jumped up and held him still over a few sheets of newspapers while it all came up. After that he went back to bed for a couple of hours before he asked for more food. Bugsy tends to eat more during the night so I always put some in his bowl before I go to bed.
A redundant Pyrex casserole dish is re purposed for a dogs water bowl. Old curtain on the floor to catch the splashes and dribbles.
I've kept myself busy working on the picture, and now it is finished. I'm very pleased with it. I had a frame in mind but now I find that the glass has a long scratch in the middle, so it's either get a new piece of glass, or look for another frame at the car boot sale on Sunday. Probably more cost effective to get a cheap frame and buy it for the glass.
We're supposed to be getting some thunderstorms, so I don't know whether to water the flowers or not in case it chucks it down during the night. The ground was slightly damp this morning so there was a sprinkling last night. I've had a man round to clean the gutters out. There wasn't much debris, but a down pipe was blocked. Should be alright now.
Bugsy is next to me scoffing like there is no tomorrow, I gave him a small portion so it should be alright. Lucky so far, nothing coming up. He's looking for more, but he isn't getting any. He's now washing his face. The sun is going down so I'm off out.
Thanks for popping in. Have a nice weekend. We'll catch up soon. Toodle pip
