It's Dad's birthday today, so we woke him really early with lots of cards and presents before breakfast. He has now gone out to look at some model trains (taking some of his birthday money with him I should add) and we are going to meet him later for a walk. I hope he doesn't come home with more trains for his layout because we've got loads already!
Happy Birthday Dad!
Saturday 30 March 2013
Thursday 28 March 2013
We've been away ..
... and now we're home again. So while Mum is waiting for the washing machine to do it's thing on what she says is the first load of quite a few, I persuaded her to open up the laptop so I could let you know what we've been doing.
We finally got away on Sunday morning and after a shortish drive arrived at our camp site not long after lunchtime. It was quite big, but only 5 other caravans there apart from us, so very quiet, until Murphy got out of the car. (Those readers who know Murph will also know that he likes to announce his arrival!). We saw quite a bit of snow on the way and it was very windy, so Mum and Dad wasted no time in getting us sorted and into the warm of the caravan.
On Monday we went to Houghton Mill
and then to Cambridge and yesterday to Ely which has a huge cathedral, but I think for Mum Tuesday was her favourite day of the week.
After Murphy and me, Mum's next great love is horses, so on Tuesday she was very excited to be going on a tour of the National Stud at Newmarket. We had a lovely walk first in the grounds of the Animal Health Trust who area bunch of very nice people doing lots of research into illnesses in dogs and other animals - we donate every month so Dad thought it was a good idea to see where our money goes!
After that Murphy and I had to stay in the car while Mum and Dad did their tour of the stud and it was a great success. There were lots of foals with their mums out in the fields and some of them were only a couple of weeks old, like this little chap.
This little filly had been called Saturday Girl by the stable staff because she was born on Saturday - she was only 3 days old!
How cute is this? The weather vane on top of the stable where the foals are born is a stork carrying a foal!
They also saw an old gentleman of 21 years who was very famous in 2004 when he won a big horse race, the Grand National. His name is Amberleigh House and Mum said he just loved being fed polo mints.
Finally they got to see one of the stallions that lives at the stud. His name was Ginger (Sunday name Bahamian Bounty) and because he is very polite and had his favourite handler with him, Mum was able to get quite close to him.
He's got his coat on because he had been out in the field and it was really cold.
So I know this is meant to a blog for dogs and that's a lot of horsey photos, but I have to indulge Mum every now and then.
Finally, I must pass on some belated birthday greetings to Uncle Dave who had his big day on Tuesday closely followed by Fergus on Wednesday. It's the birthday season at the moment with Dad's this Saturday and Murphy's on Tuesday next week when he will be TEN!
We finally got away on Sunday morning and after a shortish drive arrived at our camp site not long after lunchtime. It was quite big, but only 5 other caravans there apart from us, so very quiet, until Murphy got out of the car. (Those readers who know Murph will also know that he likes to announce his arrival!). We saw quite a bit of snow on the way and it was very windy, so Mum and Dad wasted no time in getting us sorted and into the warm of the caravan.
On Monday we went to Houghton Mill
After Murphy and me, Mum's next great love is horses, so on Tuesday she was very excited to be going on a tour of the National Stud at Newmarket. We had a lovely walk first in the grounds of the Animal Health Trust who area bunch of very nice people doing lots of research into illnesses in dogs and other animals - we donate every month so Dad thought it was a good idea to see where our money goes!
After that Murphy and I had to stay in the car while Mum and Dad did their tour of the stud and it was a great success. There were lots of foals with their mums out in the fields and some of them were only a couple of weeks old, like this little chap.
This little filly had been called Saturday Girl by the stable staff because she was born on Saturday - she was only 3 days old!
How cute is this? The weather vane on top of the stable where the foals are born is a stork carrying a foal!
They also saw an old gentleman of 21 years who was very famous in 2004 when he won a big horse race, the Grand National. His name is Amberleigh House and Mum said he just loved being fed polo mints.
Finally they got to see one of the stallions that lives at the stud. His name was Ginger (Sunday name Bahamian Bounty) and because he is very polite and had his favourite handler with him, Mum was able to get quite close to him.
He's got his coat on because he had been out in the field and it was really cold.
So I know this is meant to a blog for dogs and that's a lot of horsey photos, but I have to indulge Mum every now and then.
Finally, I must pass on some belated birthday greetings to Uncle Dave who had his big day on Tuesday closely followed by Fergus on Wednesday. It's the birthday season at the moment with Dad's this Saturday and Murphy's on Tuesday next week when he will be TEN!
Saturday 23 March 2013
Are we going away or what?
That was my first question when we got up this morning, after the essentials of a quick trip outside and having a biscuit were sorted that is.
Our caravan came home this week for the first time this year and we were all set to head off for a few days away this morning. Mum spent most of yesterday charging about shopping, cooking, packing clothes as well as taking us for a walk. (There's a story there too because she let me off my lead and I ran off after a bird completely ignoring her calls and whistles. I did go back to her but only after the bird flew out of the field and I couldn't follow because of the fence, which I think is very poor sportsmanship on his part. So, I was told off and we continued our walk with me paying a little bit more attention to Mum.)
So, back to our holiday. We have snow this morning ...
and although you can see there's not much at the moment, we are due to have some more and it's very windy. A very nice lady at the site where we are due to stay said they are due the same later, so we've decided to stay at home today and head off tomorrow.
Not sure what's on the agenda then for today - I'm hoping for some activity involving coats and wellies later.
Monday 18 March 2013
Training
It was back to regular training lessons this Saturday and a chance to meet up again with Holly and Percy along with Sweep (she looks just like Percy with a white blob on her nose and moves across the field even faster than he does) and Tor who is a Clumber Spaniel.
It was a very wet and cold start at 8.30 (!) on Saturday morning. Charlotte decided to go back to basics with us all as a 'refresher' (Mum seemed quite relieved at that) with some heel work, stop to the whistle, recalls, sit stays and retrieves for those who do. We had one sit with all five of us in a line and the humans about 100 yards away. We had to wait to be called in turn with no twitching or creeping forward.
I am very pleased to say that the Clumber, English and Welsh Spaniels ALL stayed in place like little rocks (Mum's word) whilst both Cocker Spaniels (Percy and Sweep to be precise) had to be taken back to their marks because they moved! Even Charlotte commented on how good we were and that Cockers may be quick and good at retrieving, but rubbish at sitting still!
Mum said I was very good in the lesson. Charlotte was pleased with me too - she said I did some good heel work and stopped beautifully to the whistle. She did give us some homework though - we have to work on my Watch Me command - so when Mum stops me with her whistle I should look at her all the time(?) until she tells me what to do next.
Now that's quite tricky for a chap like me who likes to look about to see what else is going on the field ... or in the lane, over the hedge .....
It was a very wet and cold start at 8.30 (!) on Saturday morning. Charlotte decided to go back to basics with us all as a 'refresher' (Mum seemed quite relieved at that) with some heel work, stop to the whistle, recalls, sit stays and retrieves for those who do. We had one sit with all five of us in a line and the humans about 100 yards away. We had to wait to be called in turn with no twitching or creeping forward.
I am very pleased to say that the Clumber, English and Welsh Spaniels ALL stayed in place like little rocks (Mum's word) whilst both Cocker Spaniels (Percy and Sweep to be precise) had to be taken back to their marks because they moved! Even Charlotte commented on how good we were and that Cockers may be quick and good at retrieving, but rubbish at sitting still!
Mum said I was very good in the lesson. Charlotte was pleased with me too - she said I did some good heel work and stopped beautifully to the whistle. She did give us some homework though - we have to work on my Watch Me command - so when Mum stops me with her whistle I should look at her all the time(?) until she tells me what to do next.
Now that's quite tricky for a chap like me who likes to look about to see what else is going on the field ... or in the lane, over the hedge .....
Monday 11 March 2013
Tigger visit
Tigger came to visit yesterday along with his Mum and my doggy cousin Hannah. It was all to see our Nana, but also to meet up again with Murphy and me.
We met at Clumber for a walk and I was soooo excited to see Tigger ... he didn't seem quite so excited to see me, until we got home and then ....
Here's a really nice photo of him standing still (didn't happen much yesterday)
and a couple more of us having some fun in the garden.
We met at Clumber for a walk and I was soooo excited to see Tigger ... he didn't seem quite so excited to see me, until we got home and then ....
.... phew, I was shattered when he went home!
Here's a really nice photo of him standing still (didn't happen much yesterday)
and a couple more of us having some fun in the garden.
Sunday 3 March 2013
How many spaniels
.. can you fit in the back of a Land Rover?
A very important question for me yesterday when Mum's friends Kim and Fi arrived at our house with Holly, Millie and Percy. After a pre-walk cup of tea and some cake for them and a big reunion for us in the garden, we all piled into Mum's car to go to Clumber for a big walk.
So, the answer to the question is ... four
and we were quite comfortable too, although that was probably in part thanks to Percy not being as big as the rest of us. (That's Percy at the front with Holly next to me and Millie in the corner.)
We had a lovely walk - I was off my lead the whole time - and everyone thought Clumber was great. The poor things had never been there before, so I was really pleased that they liked it. After our walk we had a little stroll down to the cafe and then sat in the sunshine for a bit before heading home for more tea and cake.
I was very tired by the end of the day what with all the excitement of friends coming to visit, the big run around and lots of playing, it was great. I can't wait to see everyone again soon, although I'm sure I heard someone mention that would be at our first training session of the year, so probably not much chance for having fun there.
A very important question for me yesterday when Mum's friends Kim and Fi arrived at our house with Holly, Millie and Percy. After a pre-walk cup of tea and some cake for them and a big reunion for us in the garden, we all piled into Mum's car to go to Clumber for a big walk.
So, the answer to the question is ... four
and we were quite comfortable too, although that was probably in part thanks to Percy not being as big as the rest of us. (That's Percy at the front with Holly next to me and Millie in the corner.)
We had a lovely walk - I was off my lead the whole time - and everyone thought Clumber was great. The poor things had never been there before, so I was really pleased that they liked it. After our walk we had a little stroll down to the cafe and then sat in the sunshine for a bit before heading home for more tea and cake.
I was very tired by the end of the day what with all the excitement of friends coming to visit, the big run around and lots of playing, it was great. I can't wait to see everyone again soon, although I'm sure I heard someone mention that would be at our first training session of the year, so probably not much chance for having fun there.
Friday 1 March 2013
Our Day Has Come!!
It's March 1st and that means it's Welshie Day!! Actually to give the correct name, it's St David's Day, but that's good enough for me.
Last year I had my photo taken with some teeny tiny daffodils in our garden. This year we haven't got any yet so I have been spared the photo session so far this morning. Never to miss an opportunity though, Mum's decided to post last year's photo again ..
I look quite fluffy here ... not so today as I spent ages on the grooming table yesterday all because we are meeting up with Holly, Millie and Percy tomorrow and Mum wanted me to look smart.
Unfortunately Murphy won't be coming with us as he had an accident earlier in the week and hurt his shoulder, so he is restricted to short lead walks only. I'm not too sure why though because he doesn't seem to have slowed down or stopped bouncing all week, especially when Dad came home last night - he went bonkers!
Still, we must look after him, so he will have a quiet day tomorrow with Dad and he will secretly love it!
So, Happy St David's Day to all you Welshies out there and also to our two very important honorary Welshies, Max and Inca.
Last year I had my photo taken with some teeny tiny daffodils in our garden. This year we haven't got any yet so I have been spared the photo session so far this morning. Never to miss an opportunity though, Mum's decided to post last year's photo again ..
I look quite fluffy here ... not so today as I spent ages on the grooming table yesterday all because we are meeting up with Holly, Millie and Percy tomorrow and Mum wanted me to look smart.
Unfortunately Murphy won't be coming with us as he had an accident earlier in the week and hurt his shoulder, so he is restricted to short lead walks only. I'm not too sure why though because he doesn't seem to have slowed down or stopped bouncing all week, especially when Dad came home last night - he went bonkers!
Still, we must look after him, so he will have a quiet day tomorrow with Dad and he will secretly love it!
So, Happy St David's Day to all you Welshies out there and also to our two very important honorary Welshies, Max and Inca.
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