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.

Flappy ears

Rafi has flappy ears, my horse likes flappy ears! She likes to flip them inside out! I have no idea why she does this or even why Rafi lets her do it, but he does and so far the pair of them get along just fine and that is how I would like it to stay.

Second training session

Today was Rafi's second one to one training session, he was also fitted for his new Perfect Fit Harness' and the most impressive thing of all...
We left him for a whole hour in the house on his own! When we got back he had chewed nothing and eaten nothing, he was such a good boy!
Its taken it out of him though, he flopped into his bed and hasn't moved since!

Lunch thief

Today was one of those days which is more if a roller coaster than anything else. To start with we got a team call out at about 3am due to this and the fact I had got in after midnight, I managed to over sleep by half an hour. Doh! When I arrived at the field, the horse had decided to clamber in to the adjoining paddock and stand with her friend, meaning I had to get her back through and sort out the fencing. Double  Doh!
At 11am I set off with Rafi to Sussex County dog training for his first session of 1 to 1's we are going to see if we can get him used to being in dog company without him being overbearing and trying to pull their tail fur out... (I have no idea why!) The session went really well and this evening we managed to put some of what we had learned into  practice on our short walk. Our next session is next week but before then I intend to go to places where we can practice, he also has his first pool swim booked in for tomorrow.
..But I digress, cut back to this afternoon, lunchtime to be precise, my husband had decided to take a pack up and do a quick bird watch at Lavington common, he parked the car and off he went, when he ggot back to the car someone had smashed the back window and passenger window and stolen two jackets a bottle of orange tango and half a tub of pringles(!!) He called me then called the police. When I arrived at the car park there was evidence of two further break ins and a couple who came over and spoke to us said they had had their car broken into just down the road earlier that week.
For the sake of 2 jackets and my husbands lunch, they caused so much damage and trouble!
I hope they choked on the pringles!

Instagram

Rafi is now on instagram, his user name is Rafi9lives if you want to follow him.

Elephants Ears

The trouble with puppies is they chew, they also eat anything and everything that they can fit in their mouth! True fact!
This afternoon I caught Rafi eating a plant, on further investigation it turned out to be elephants ears also known as Bergina I think. After asking on facebook if this could be a problem I decided to call our vets who told me to bring Rafi in.
All the way there I could feel panic, we have only just lost our beautiful Skye dog, and now we are going to loose this bundle of puppiness.
The vets decided it would be best to keep him in over night for observation meaning I went home without him. Poor boy must be so confused.
Tomorrow can't come soon enough.

A shocking story part two

Alas, poor Mouse!
Well to bring you up to speed, its not only Mouses fur that is thick! Apparently its her hide too, even whilst wearing the rug she still managed to go through the electric so with this in mind and the fact that a whole yard belonging to some friends came available, We decided to move Mouse as well as another friend with her horses.
The fields have proper fences now and although I still have to put an electric strip round to stop her rubbing herself silly she can't escape every day.
My friends horses are in the adjoining paddocks so she has company all the time.
We also don't have a footpath right beside us which means we no longer get people telling us we are being cruel to her. Did I mention I had to get a new bigger girth for her as she is doing so badly (not) that she has put on weight this winter!

A shocking story Part 1

Once upon a time there was a horse called Mouse, she was a lovely hairy horse who lived in a big field next to lots of other horses, their  fields were separated by electric fences.
Mouse was a very fuzzy thick coated horse of Scottish and Welsh decent! (Highland/Welsh D) so when I say thick coated I mean THICK!
Now this lovely girl also suffered with a condition called sweetitch, she suffered so badly that she was unable to go into a stable at night because she would either knock it down or cause herself bad injuries where she rubbed so severely (even with a no fill rug on for protection).
Now along one side of her field there was a footpath where people strolled, jogged and walked their dogs, some people would see Mouse out in the field in the cold winter and tell her owner off because "That horse should have a shelter! A rug! A stable!"
The other problem that Mouses owner had was the fact that Mouse was also a Houdini horse, if Mouse was wearing a rug she had no respect for the electric fence as she could no longer feel it. Under she would go or more often than not through it she would go, to have a chat with the horses in the adjoining fields, and make them scratch her itchy mane and tail!
What was her owner to do!
Mouse didn't really need the rug, but her owner was fed up with people saying she was cruel leaving Mouse out in all weather's. (Native breeds of any creature will adapt to their surroundings)
Then one day whilst looking for some new feed buckets, Mouses owner found an advert for Guardian Equestrian they make a turnout rug which still allows the electric current to be felt by the horse if it tries to go over, under or through the fence!
 Well this was a breakthrough!
So Mouses owner decided to purchase a no fill rug with a neck cover that way Mouse wouldn't get too hot in a rug she did not need, People on the footpath might not tell her off and Mouse would remain in her field.
Next Friday is pay day...
Tune in for Part 2, coming soon!

London Calling....

I have family and friends in all three of the main emergency services, I come from a military family, I am British!
I have friends who are Muslim, Jewish, Rasta, Catholic, Atheist, Buddhist. I have friends who are very rich, struggling to make ends meet, Amputees, Gay, hetro, students, stay at home mums, NHS workers, adult film makers! Blondes, Brunettes, Red heads, bald, grey and all the colours of the rainbow.
I do not like racism, Sexism, bigoted and people who are quick to judge others on how they look or where they come from.
There are extremists in every walk of life, don't judge all by the actions of a few.

CHARLES MANSON                 had Brown hair

MARTIN LUTHER KING JR      was Black skinned

ADOLPH HITLER                     was a Christian

MOHAMMAD ALI      and JANET JACKSON are both Muslims

IAN BRADY                       was white British

MYRA HINDLEY           was a Woman

HAROLD SHIPMAN      was a GP

I could go on.....
But you get the point!                                                                 Image: Yoga Farm

Blackout Friday!

A post with this title should really only have a one word body... DON'T!

This is the night that Ambulance services across the country (World maybe, who knows) get totally crippled by people who :-

Can't hold their drink,

Think of nothing but themselves,

Spend a week or more's wages on alcohol in one night,

Embarrass themselves in front of their co workers, friends and possibly family

Kill someone or cause them suffering. Yes I did mean to write that. When someone gets so drunk that they become unconscious or their "Friends" (Inverted commas as real friends wouldn't let them get that bad!) are worried because someone has had their drink spiked!!! or isn't responding properly due to the amount of alcohol consumed, an ambulance gets called, an ambulance which will then be tied up for an hour or so dealing with some stupid person who has caused their own situation by stupidity, when it could be attending to someone who has life threatening condition and needs an ambulance through no fault of their own!

This is the night which sees Ambulance service and Police personnel assaulted  in the line of duty due to intoxicated people.

Is it OK to go out of control when so much is at stake?

One last thing... DON'T DRINK AND DRIVE, STAY ALIVE, And let everyone have a Happy Christmas!

Image from The Telegraph.

Nightmare before Christmas.

The other night I had a nightmare, I dreamed I was having a heart attack, I could feel the pain and everything, I woke up and couldn't get my breath which made me panic even more desperately trying to get a deep breath....Then, I really woke up! The whole episode had been a dream, including the bit where I thought I had woken up! This has never happened to me before, the panic and fear were so great and so real.
I have decided that I need to loose weight and also get a bit fitter, maybe this nightmare was the WAKE UP call I needed.
At Christmas I shall eat drink and be merry but up to then and after then I shall be swimming and going to the gym and eating more sensibly than I have been!

Today

Today's bloods were mainly taken thanks to Douwe Egberts and Malteser mini reindeer, I am now out of mini reindeer so watch yourself tomorrow people!

Hail Mary...

Father forgive me its been 10 months since my last post!
A lot has happened in those months too!
But I shall say my Hail Mary's and move on without dwelling on them.
Suffice to say I am back with a Lowland Search and Rescue team, less the dog who now has dementia to go with her deafness, it doesn't make her any less lovely though!
I have also changed my job, I have become a vampire again...!

Resignation

Today I posted my resignation. I don't have a job to go to but I know I can no longer do the job I am doing at the moment!

FRIENDS

At school I had one or two friends. I wasn't part of the in crowd and never got chosen first for sports teams. That didn't bother me then and still doesn't today.
Now I' m well beyond school days I am still not part of the in crowd. I don't have dozens of friends, but what I do have are a few really good friends who I trust and confide in and a great number of aquaintances who I like and have a laugh with.
Anybody who thinks that I can be used to get to my friends can think again. Today I have had one such thing happen. I am not about to be used by anyone to get one of my friends to do something they do not wish to do. Who do they think they are? Also to have the nerve to thank me for being a friend to this person as if its some kind of favour or chore is also laughable. I knew my friend long before you did and have no intention of being manipulated for your purpose.
That is all.

Nuff Said!

Friends

I went to see one of my friends today, although we live only three miles away from each other we both have busy lives, so today was it was lovely to sit with a cup of tea, (and a bowl of home made soup and home baked chiabatta bread, and even a huge piece of home made victoria sponge) We had a good catch up and put the world to rights.
It made me think about friends, friends are the people you have fun with, who make you laugh who you can tell your inner most secrets, they hug you when you hurt and it doesn't matter what you say they will always be loyal.
I have a lot of acquaintances, and a few really good friends, it doesn't matter how far away they live, or how long I have known them.
Friends are friends end of!

Its ok to count the days as long as you make the days count!

ITS OK TO COUNT THE DAYS, AS LONG AS YOU MAKE THE DAYS COUNT!

Two Different Doctors

 

TWO PATIENTS LIMP INTO TWO DIFFERENT MEDICAL CLINICS WITH THE SAME COMPLAINT....... Both have trouble walking and appear to require a hip replacement. The FIRST patient is examined within the hour, is xrayed the same day and has a time booked for surgery the following week.     THE SECOND SEES HIS FAMILY DOCTOR AFTER WAITING 3 WEEKS FOR AN APPOINTMENT, THEN WAITS 8 WEEKS TO SEE A SPECIALIST, THEN GETS AN X-RAY, WHICH ISN'T REVIEWED FOR ANOTHER WEEK AND FINALLY HAS HIS SURGERY SCHEDULED FOR 6 MONTHS FROM THEN. Why the different treatment for the two patients?   The FIRST is a Golden Retriever. The SECOND is a Senior Citizen.