All fluffed up with nowhere to go!!

We had a real tough week last week.

We had planned to visit our daughter in Portugal for a week and consequently all the pack had to be bathed and trimmed ready for our petsitters to move in with them this week.
After an absolute marathon grooming session, which extended over several days ,made even more difficult by an injured wrist, they were nearing completion when a Skype call from Kat delivered the news that she'd been thrown from a horse and had fractured her arm.
      The fracture was quite bad but high up near her shoulder which meant immobilisation and re-xraying every week for several weeks - as long as the bits didn't move she might possibly get away without needing surgery.
Being in Portugal on a "working for keep" holiday on a Lusitano stud and now unable to work for at least 2-3months, it meant a return to home here and the cancellation of our planned trip.

As a result I now have 4 very clean and tidy poodles but nowhere to go!

The second stressful event of the week involved Zurie.
He has a daffodil allergy which makes his tearducts inflamed and results in sore runny eyes every year from January til early May - we are surrounded by them here!
This has resulted in the development of a slightly "rolled in"lower eyelid on the right side which was making his eye sore even when it wasn't daffodil season so on Wednesday we took him over to see the ophthalmic specialist to have it surgically corrected.

      A minor op really but having to leave "our boy" with a vet (prior to our recent retirement we were always our own vets!) added to the nasty reaction he had to the anaesthetic/pre-med, we had a really awful 3days to finish the week too. 
Thankfully he's all back to normal now and full of extra bounce now that we have the family back home- its just a full time job keeping Fiki from leaping all over Kat's broken arm!

Waiting for Santa!

It's raining and windy down here today - the poodle family is gloomy -lazing around waiting for me to say the magic 4-letter word beginning with W which would spark them all into life!

Zurie went out briefly this morning to deliver the local Christmas cards - he stood in the conservatory and refused to come in until Simon took off his coat - his expression was "I don't believe it- is that ALL we're doing this morning??"
 Weather forecast is dryer later so maybe we'll get a walk without the dreaded dog-coats if we wait a bit!
The girls really HATE their dog-coats - they just don't "do" clothes!
Their expressions and body language when the coats come out say it all - head down, tails at half mast - its amazing how quickly they forget they're wearing them tho when they reach the fields and I release them to "Go play" (their favourite words!)

Gradually working throo the pre-Christmas baths + trims - Ebs completed yesterday - Frankies turn today - all to be done by the end of the week (I'll post a picture then if I've managed to complete the marathon) -Mind you- that's nothing compared with Jane's task (Frankie+ Fiki's breeder at Itzapromise) she currently has 18 standard poodle pups to prepare for their new owners!!

Zurie is being a very helpful boy - fetches all the food bowls for washing for me, empties the washing machine + tumble dryer - I must start him on the ironing:-)

Fiki's speciality is"washing ears" to reassure and welcome visitors or draping herself over "special"  visitors laps if she thinks they need some emotional care!

Frankie likes to sit in a chair in the conservatory-if  she finds a visitor sitting in it she just climbs onto their lap and pretends to be a blanket!

No snow here this year - but Zurie still likes to watch the gate for Santa???

 or maybe just the postman - the highlight of his day!

Happy Christmas to you all!

Itzapromise Spoo Reunion!

This week the weather down here changed seasons - it's autumn now - raining and windy with just occasional brief glimpses of sun.

Hard to believe that just last week we had a lovely sunny and warm visit to Trebah Gardens with Zurie and Fiki - it felt like summer then!
We didn't take Frankie on that trip as we needed to give Fiki some individual training and thought it would be a little stressful for Frankie, so she  stayed at home happily with Little Ebs and Caspurr.
Trebah is a great place for training - the dogs are made welcome but must stay on leads although they can even be taken into the restaurant there. Zurie has been there many times (tho not this year) and he LOVES it! Knows exactly how to behave - tucking himself away when we sit down to eat but loving all the sights and smells and attention when we walk around the gardens and down to the beach.
He was a great schoolmaster for Fiki!
When Fiki has it cracked we'll take Frankie too so she can follow their lead!

Last month we took all the poodles away for a few days to Hereford.

We stayed in a lovely dog-friendly cottage belonging to an old friend. Frankie handled it amazingly well - calmly checked it all out and then thoroughly enjoyed charging around the huge garden,orchard and private 20acre wood with Fiki, Zurie and, on occasions, the 5 labradors belonging to my friend. She always amazes us with her calm confident approach to changes in spite of her poor eyesight - she lives life to the full!

 Fiki was her usual bouncy self - loving everything and everyone with GREAT enthusiasm!

Even Little Ebs enjoyed the holiday though she usually hates going anywhere away from home!

This week we had a lovely day when Jane came  down to visit us with 3 of the Itzapromise girls- Dollar (Fiki's mum) Audrey (Frankie's older sister) and Spirit (the 5m old black+ apricot phantom spoo pup)- Dollar and Audrey are both very pregnant so were fairly restrained in their greetings but Spirit had a great time with my two girls- playing wonderful chase games in the (rather wet) fields together- and, of course, Zurie just loved the temporary pack extension - he had 5  girls to walk out with:-))
They all got on so well together and they loved Auntie Sarah visiting too -with her bag full of yummy treats!
Unfortunately I had no camera this week so Jane took all the photos  (see her blog Itzapromise Blogspot) as she captured all  the fun and action of our lovely day together.

I think she was pleased to see how the girls had grown and how well Frankie is enjoying life down here.
Both Fiki and Frankie have now been spayed and Fiki is already eating better so should start to put back the body condition she lost when she became so finicky around her season.
She's also passed her KCGood Citizen Bronze test and is well on her way to taking her Silver.
She's very tractable now and behaves well (most of the time) but still has a wicked sense of humour and is still full of fun - as every good spoo should be!!!!

Summertime Spoos

The road to hell is paved with good intentions!
I really did intend  to post regular updates here but it's 5 months since my last entry-oh dear!
In that time the spoo pups have really grown up.
They're the best of friends and now well integrated into the pack.

Frankie appears to have quite aceptable distant sight tho her close vision isn't too good - she manages very well  though and doesn't let it inhibit her enjoyment of life.

I started them both at dog traning classes in May - Frankie passed her KCGood Citizen Puppy Foundation test in June - Fiki is due to take her KCGC Broze test in September - they are both amazingly tracable, quick to learn andrealy keen to please.
I'm so glad all my fears that two pups together would spell disaster have not been realised!

I do try to occasionally give them some 1 to 1 time - to build their self-confidence and strengthen our bond- Fiki came to Cumbria for a (very wet) holiday with Zurie + Simon - Frankie stayed home with Ebs+ Caspurr. Both the girls started their seasons while we were away- Frankie was very pleased to see us return!

 

Saint Rafiki

Rafiki is growing into a sweet little soul (though Caspurr the Cornish Rex may not agree at times when her games can get a little over-boisterous)
This morning after her first visit to the garden she dashed back in and rushed straight into my bedroom - I followed rapidly to find her sitting on the bed looking dwn at a dear little greenfinch which had obviously been badly affected by the very cold night.
She must have found him on the path and carried him carefully in to place him on the furry throw on our bed- she looked up at me as if expecting me to do something to help it and raised no objection as we popped it into a box and gave it an hour in the airing cupboard . She's now known as St Fiki.

Yesterday she had her first experience of a free run in woodland- she loved it - even though it was cold, verry muddy and we were attacked by a heavy hailstorm!
By the time we returned there was no option but to bath both Zurie and Fi they were absolutely lagged in mud but very happy - she now looks like a little fluff ball but very elegant as I've trimmed back herhind end a liitle to put her in pyjama trim- it really suits her lovely shape

***This was actually written November 2010 - just found it in drafts - so posted at long last-Whoops!!!

Frankie and the Pack

It's almost 3 weeks since Frankie joined us - and it seems like she's always been here.

The other dogs and Caspurr just seemed to accept her straight away- no power struggles - no jostling for position in the pecking order - she's enhanced the harmony of our little family.
Having a sweet nature - she's gentle with Little Ebs and the cat but is no shrinking violet so can hold her own in even the most riotous games with Fiki and Zurie.

Her eyesight is not nearly as bad as we had imagined and she manages very well most of the time.
She spooks at shadows when its bright sunlight on our walks and sometimes stops in her tracks to growl at a tree silhouette until I say "No worries Frankie" - she then walks on happily and , of course gets her titbit for being brave and accepting my judgement of the situation.

They walk beautifully together - no pulling - just trot along beside me - I feel so proud of them!

In the fields, the garden and on the beach (a great favourite)  they have wonderful chase games - often started by Frankie- Zurie has ben pleased to let the girls run each other ragged while he plays catch/fetch/find it with us with his very special pink toy. Rafiki was constantly interfering and stealing it from him before Frankie joined us - nowadays she just occasionally teases him with it.

Frankie tries very hard at everything - she has a well -developed desire to please which helps enormously with training- as long as I make it clear when she's got it right she never needs telling twice but I have to keep it simple to avoid confusion.  She's now learnt "Wait" really well and I can stop her in her tracks even at a distance  and she'll sit until I get up to her - I'm really pleased with that response as it couldprove a life-saver in some situations. On the other hand, when I tried using the "stay" command she seemed more confused so we just use wait for everything - sometimes I return to her ( as I would for a stay) sometimes I recall her - she's rock solid until I give her the next command - can't ask for more!!

It was so worthwhile having Fiki as the only pup for the first 5months -gave me time to get her basic training cracked and establish her place before the added distraction of another pup AND the onset of ADOLESCENCE!! Yes Fiki is definately showing signs of "Kevin Syndrome"!!! she still knows she should co-operate but rebellion bubbles under - fortunately the foundatons are in place so it's never too bad and soon abandoned- which gains her praise and reward so it's infinately more worthwhile being compliant than resistant!!

Siesta-time

The Spoo Pack at Praa Sands -Feb 2011

Flying Fiki- on the beach -Feb2011

Rafiki 7m

Frankie- 7m

A sofa-full of pooches

She's still our lovely cuddly beautiful clever pup with the amazing sense of humour so I know all will be well when we get to the other side of these teen times.

When Frankie first came she would only lie on the floor - wouldn't dare to lie on a dogbed or evena rug - after a few days she ocasionaly rested her head on a dogbed . Last week she curled up on a woolly rug on the floor and started to occasonally be seen on the various dogbeds, this week she climbed onto the sofa beside Ebs and Fiki- no one even raised an eyebrow - fully integrated nto the pack now I think:-)) 






 

Catch up time!

Best laid plans.....
I intended to post something each week - I failed :-))
so now its time to bring things up to date.
Rafiki - now more often known as Fiki - is well- established here now - she's been the easiest of pups - so keen to please but with a great sense of humour and so loving.
She's grown into a real beauty and looks like she's going to be close to her big brother Zurie in size.
Her coat is gradually clearing to silver but, at present, she appears to be shaded from a lovely soft blue on her mane to palest silver on her face and legs - with dark sparkling eyes which look like someone has put eye-liner on them.
She loved her first Christmas with us - the visitors, the presents, the food- all great!
She loved her first experience of snow - and her first free run on the beach a few days before Christmas too.

Zurie + Rafiki (jan 2011)

Fun in the snow - Dec 2010



Christmas morning

This last week has seen our poodle population grow again.
Three days after Fiki was born at Itzapromise a litter of apricot standard ups were born - all the pups ran together once they were "out of the nest" and made one big happy family of 16!
In the apricot litter one little girl was found to suddenly develop cataracts at 6wks old ( the eye specialist said he thought it was probably due to an infection encountered at day 40 of pregnancy as there were changes in 6/7 pups altho both parents were certified clear of hereditary cataracts)- fortunately the silver litter had avoided the infection at the crucial time.
The blind pup was kept by Jane at Itzapromise while the foundations of training and socialisation were laid down and the quest for a suitable home for her was begun. She was named "Frankie" and I followed her development closely on Janes blog over the next 4 months.
My head told me I shouldn't even think about having two pups so close in age together - I needed to get Fiki well established here and bonded with us .
 My heart told me I really wanted to be the one to give Frankie that special home:-)

Over the months between August and January I was really struggling with health problems and hardly able to cope with just day to day living so I knew I couldn't take on any extras until I had some idea of what was ahead for me.  At last, after Christmas, a diagnosis was made and treatment begun - after a couple of weeks I was feeling much more my old self.

In the meantime, though, we'd decided to sell our vet practice so that I could retire at the beginning November - so now I have lots of spare time to put into enjoying my "poodling around" AND , at last, the energy to put into it too!

A "birthday wish" request -graciously granted by my dear long-suffering husband- and Frankie came to live with us 8 days ago:-))

She's fitted in so well it seems like she's always been here- Zurie is very proud of his little "harem" of girls and Fiki is overjoyed at having her "sister" to play chase and tug etc.
Even Little Ebs and Caspurr (theCornish Rex) get on well with her - she's so sweet and gentle.

Thanks to all the work put in by Jane in those early months, she's settled and adjusted here really fast and leads a happy full life- her sight is not nearly as bad as we thought it would be- sometimes its very hard to see she is "visually impaired" at all.

An added bonus- they've made us laugh so much this week watching their games and antics I'm feeling better than I've felt in years too.