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.    

 

Pups just wanna have fun!

Zurie and Rafiki have really formed a pack now - I think, now she's big enough to really rough'n'tumble and go proper walks with him he's enjoying her company more.
Little Ebs still has games with her occasionally but Zurie tries to get involved too, instead of remaining aloof.
The games the spoos play can get quite riotous- playing tag all through the house- diving onto the sofa or chairs (which seem to be "home") until they're both exhausted or we call a halt then they rush to the water bowl and both drink together :-)
It's great watching them and it keeps them both fit.
I do try to take each one out alone at times too though- it wouldn't be good for them to get too reliant upon the other one- but there's no doubt that Zurie makes Fiki's training easy -he's her hero so she's very keen to copy him.

We took them out to lunch this week - a walk around some beautiful gardens on the coast then lunch in the dog-friendly area of the restaurant - Zurie knew "the ropes" he's a regular visitor there and LOVES it - Fiki followed his lead and tucked herself quietly under the table beside him - so good -we were very  proud of them both.

We had a grand walk in the fields in the sunshine today.It was very wet last night so we had to paddle through some huge puddles in the lane to reach them first. Rafiki was a little reluctant at first but once the first one had been negotiated and she saw we didn't drown or sink without trace, she bounced through them happily.

come play!

my teeth are bigger than your teeth

end of game- time for a drink together!

race you back to mum

girls just wanna have fun!

It did mean they both needed their paws showered when we got home though -Zurie is very used to the proceedure so again "showed her the ropes" and she was very co-operative- bless her-she really tries very hard to please!

Life with Rafiki

Rafiki - (swaheli word for "friend") - is now 4months old.
She's ,fortunately, been the easiest pup I've ever owned up to now -occasionally I wonder if this is "the lull before the storm" but although she's playful and inquisitive she's very responsive and keen to please so she learns very quickly.
All in all life with Rafiki is delightful :-))

She plays so well with Zurie (my big white spoo boy)- his name is swaheli too meaing "handome" - he didn't like her much at first but now they're great pals.He's her hero I think -she copies everything he does which makes training very easy - Zurie just objects when she tries to help him unload my washing machine - that, he views, is his own personal job but a quick "rumble" sets her straight.
She learnt "dog manners" so well at Itzapromise,where she was bred, and responds instantly to any friendly "advice" the older dogs give her!
Can't really say the same about "advice" from the cat though!
They, too, are great playmates but I have to call a halt when their games get a little too boisterous in the house sending lamps/ornaments/phones etc flying in their wake - both Caspurr and Rafiki appear to thoroughly enjoy it though ;-)
'Fiki now weighs 13kg and the silver is showing through in the roots of her  coat -she's very beautiful and,on the odd occasion when she stands still, it gives me great pleasure just to look at her.
On the lead she trots beautifully beside me and her influence has even produced better heelwork from Zurie.
Ebs, our 4kg toy poodle, has great fun with 'Fiki too - she can still manage to knock the pup off her legs if she lines herself up and throws her whole body at her shoulder- there's never any malice though , it's all taken in good part!

She's already living up to her name too- whenever I'm not feeling so well and need to rest, she's right there beside me and soon makes me feel better -all in all life without Rafiki now would feel very empty.

Rafiki's First Week

Well,she's been here a week now and she's won us all over- even her new big brother, Zurie,(who was a little reserved at first) will sit beside her, play tug and chase and wash her food bowl now (not that theres ever anything left in it now she's settled in!)
Little Ebony thought she was ok from the start - another source of fun - Rafiki was just a little bigger than her when she arrived but she's grown so much this week she's half as tall again but they still play good games as little Ebs knows how to use all of her 4kg!!
    Caspurr, the Cornish Rex cat, has had a thorough ear-washing on several occasions- Rafiki obviously learnt that lesson from Sybil when she was at Itzapromise.

     The weather,apart from the first day when it rained non-stop, has been really helpful in the housetraining process- Rafiki has explored the whole garden thoroughly - she has so much confidence- if theres no-one willing to go with her she just takes off on her own.

Her favourite activity in the garden is swinging- Tarzan-style - from a branch of a palm tree which hangs low over the lawn - I've tried to capture it on camera but keep getting photos of grass -she moves far too fast for my reactions.

She's such fun - a bit "light at the front end" so spends a lot of time twirling and leaping into the air- she never turns to change direction - she pirhouettes!