A lesson he didnt know he was having!

Today Rafi and I were invited to the Dog barn to walk in their large fenced in walks, by my friend Nic.
When we arrived Nic was already there and as we were slightly early we waited in our cars until the person before us had finished their time slot. We drove in and parked on the tarmac then just shut the gate and opened the crates, both dogs jumped out and began sniffing all the interesting smells that were in the pen.
Nic and I had some work to do so we sat on the bench and did ten minutes of catch up on TRiM cases we were covering. All the time Rafi and Corky were sniffing and playing with a tennis ball, when we were ready we walked round the pens letting  the dogs play or just sniff. Every now and then I called Rafi back to me for a treat making him sit. ( RECALL) the rest of the time he was playing with tennis balls and sniffing all the new smells in close proximity to Corky. (SOCIALISING) When our session had ended we put the dogs in the back of our cars and went our separate ways, Corky gave one little grumble to put Raffi in his place, and there was one lip lift which was acknowledged by Rafi and he stopped bouncing at Corky.
Really good play date for him and  great for me to be able to see just how good he is off lead and recall.
Good teacher good student.

Saying goodbye to a friend

We came home from Glastonbury early as I wanted to attend the celebration of the life of Ann.
Ann, a loving wife, a devoted mother and grandmother.
Ann, my friend.
I will send the last words you said to me Ann, back to you.... You are in my Heart Ann. ❤❤❤

Rafi on Tor 30th July to 1st August

30th July
Really this is three days worth of blogging in one post as the internet signal was way off, very intermittent.
We left early on Tuesday morning for Somerset and arrived just before lunch. Even though the journey its self is only about two and a half hours we had a long coffee stop to allow Rafi half an hour out of his crate, as he decided he didnt want to go to the loo before we left.
After setting up the caravan and having a cup of tea we went and got some shopping then andy went to Hamwall nature reserve while Rafi and I set off on a 'one and a half hour walk', we took a photo of the 'map' that was at the site suggesting walks in the area and left. Clearly some of the paths were extremely over grown and the map was definitely not to scale! It was very hot but looked as if it was going to rain again so I had my waterproof so added to the temperature I had the extra bonus of a jacket! I mentioned at the top of this post that internet was a tad sketchy well so was any signal. Periodically I would get a signal and be able to get a map up on my phone which allowed us to eventually get back to our campsite.
When we arrived back, three hours later, my husbad had just pulled in, in the car.
The rest of the evening was spent relaxing and reading ...and watching the sheep steal apples and leaves from the trees in the orchard.
31st July
Woke up early, due to me forgetting to turn off my alarm! Doh! I got dressed and took Rafi for a quick pee walk while my husband did tea and breakfast.
When we were ready we got in the car and went for a drive, amoungst other places we went were Cheddar Gorge and another nature reserve which I forget the name of, Rafi found a hollow tree to explore and was "buzzed" by several drone like Dragonflies of various colours and sizes.
Back a the campsite we had a cup of tea and gave Rafi his dinner before heading out to Glastonbury Tor, we parked in the town and walked up the Tor to the Oratory at the top, the views were incredible, probably made even better by the strange smells we kept getting whiffs of coming from small groups of people sat along the pathway!! Once we had walked back down again we got fish and chips and sat eating them with  the Tor as our view. Once we had eaten we wwnt back to the caravan and sat reading and drinking.....Somerset Cider of course.
Great way to spend a Birthday.
1st August
Lazy morning, I remembered to cancel the alarm, then when we were up and had breakfast I decided to go for another walk, this time taking a photo of a real map! Rafi and I set off while my husband went back to Hamwall again to see if he could see one particular bird.
Our walk was both more and less successful than the first days walk as in, I had a great map and knew where I was going but the footpaths on some were obviously rarely used and seriously overgrown with Stinging nettles and brambles meaning both Rafi and I struggled to get through. Once back we had a cup of tea and sat out reading in the sun. When my husband got back he had bought some scones and cream, we already had some jam, we had a cream tea for lunch then packed up the caravan and set off for home.

Yesterday

Yesterday was a very busy day first thing we went and did the horse, then we went training with Search dogs Sussex Lowland rescue team, meaning that Rafi spent quite a lot of time in the car crate and seeing various team members and their dogs. I could not believe how good he was, we didnt finish training until 5pm and after driving home, and having a quick dinner we were out again to go to the Lifeboat service which starts lifeboat week, a week of fund raising events to raise money for the RNLI.
My husband took the service which was held in the lifeboat station, while the local Catholic Priest gave the Blessing at the end.
Rafi and I walked home from the service as he hadn't had a great deal of exercise today and it was cooling down by then.
Once home, I considered myself on holiday even if I do only work part time.

I'm forever blowing bubbles!

Its raining! Off and on throughout the day we have had liquid weather.
I am extremely pleased to find that Skye was not my only dog who enjoyed walking in the rain, Rafi loves it! As we were going to take Mia to the Aldingbourne country center and he would be on his own for a short while until my husband got back I gave Rafi a long walk, in the rain and he loved it! I am dying to let him off the lead but until his recall is spot on I am not taking and chances.
When we got back from the Aldingbourne center we put Mis's new bubble machine in the center of the garden and let him chase bubbles.

Black and White and hairy!

This morning my Mum and I tried again to walk the dogs together, this time it was so much more successful they walked together and Rafi only got told off once for being too overbearing. Back at Mums we sat and had a cup of tea, this would have been impossible before, he has come on so well its such a relief.

How to keep cool on the hottest day ever recorded in the UK

Rafi had another 1 to 1 training session today, he is doing so well I am really pleased with him. It was also lovely to be in the dog barn for the session as it was so lovely and cool. Before we left I got him a cool coat which you soak then put on the dog just like any other dog coat but its so cool its lovely!
Straight after training we went to Therapaws for a swim. His third swim session and he couldnt wait to  get in. The first few times he went down the slope then as he grew more confident he went in from the side. It looked as if he was waiting for  the judges to score his dive, Bless him. I would have given him a 9.9 as it was a little splashy!