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.

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.

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.

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.

Borde Hill's Sculptures

Its been years since I went to Borde Hill, and as they are dog friendly I thought it might be nice to go today with Mia and take Rafi with us. Its about an hours drive away and I couldn't remember what catering facilities they had so we took a pack up for lunch.
We wandered round the gardens looking at the flowerbeds and sculptures some of which moved in the wind, one of them frightened Mia, although I don't know why as it was literally 5 feet long metal rods which swayed slightly when the wind caught it! She loved the water tipping one though, so did Rafi we stood and watched it for quite a while.
We found somewhere to sit for lunch then had a walk through the woods. Rookie mistake I thought how easy it was to push the pushchair through, not realising it was down hill slightly, that is until I had to push it back again! Doh! It was nice though.
Our return journey took an hour and a half thanks to massive traffic build up at Arundel. Mia slept for most of the drive though and I suspect Rafi did too.

Rare Breeds

Its been over 3 years since I was at the Weald and Downland Museum, except for one day when I went to say goodbye to the lovely Bayleaf Neville.
It felt quite strange walking in, it felt even stranger having to pay! I was a volunteer there for over 10 years, helping with the three shire horses and the other animals and being first aid cover for the many events they held.
This time I was a member of the public, taking my two granddaughters for a day our to their rare breeds show.
The first stop had to be the stables to say hello to Mac, the only remaining shire on the site, they now have two Percherons called Ollie and Kash to help Mac with the work load.
It was a lovely surprise to bump into another of the volunteers who I used to work with, she was also at the show socially and wandered with us for a while.
Rafi was very well behaved considering there were so many people, new animal smells and stalls selling food. He was interested in other dogs but didnt get over zealous with them and was quite steady with the livestock both the four and the two legged varieties.
Once back home however he just flopped into his bed and slept.

Just keep swimming

Today I took Rafi to the swimming pool, it was his first time in a pool. We were very early, due to my husband needing to borrow my car and having to drop me off. Whilst we waited for our time slot in the garden to the side of the pool area 5 large breed dogs came in, Rafi is very over zealous with other dogs as he hasn't really had a great deal of contact with  them, he began with the 3 second sniff rule and was fairly well behaved, infact it was only when a large golden retriever, who was only 3 years old himself, wanted to play bow and be a bit boisterous that things got a bit ott. We kept the 6 dogs in the same area but not able to actually touch.
They had the time slot before Rafi's  so we watched them playing for a short while then as it was hot we went and sat in the shade. The pool owner came out and chatted to me for a while, we have known each other for a good 13 years as Skye used to go swimming there too, she told me that the owners of the bigger dogs had invited Rafi to join their session for the last 10 minutes as they had been playing beforehand. We went in, Rafi had a quick shower then we put him in the pool. His first two laps were wide eyed and high paddling with his front legs until we found a squeeky toy frog for him to retrieve, at which point he put a huge smile on his face  curled his tail over hos back and swam beautifully  all round the pool all by himself! I kept the long line attached just for safety, if he got out of the pool and someone opened the door or something.
After the 5 had gone we continued swimming in our own slot and were joined by a pretty tri coloured border collie.
The slots are half an hour, but with the ten monutes in the slot before I decided to get him out early, its tiring swimming and a new experience for him meaning he had a lot to process too.
We ended on a great swim and booked up for next week.

The second sleep post of the day!

This morning my horse scared me with her deep sleep, this afternoon Rafi was dreaming of...... who knows what, whatever it was he had to run pretty fast to get to it or away from it!

Away from it all

This morning I called the vet as soon as they were open, Rafi had eaten and slept well, he had no symptoms and was trying to play with all the vet nurses. Music to my ears.
Before all this had started, Rafi and I were supposed to be going away for the weekend in the caravan, AnnieMay.
My husband said we should still go so we packed up our things and set off. We are not going too far as I am helping a friend with her animals and also now, if Rafi becomes ill I need to be able to get him back to the vets.
Once we had arrived at our 'undisclosed' destination, we set up the caravan and went for a walk.
Rafi loves Caravanning!

Crazy dayz

Sleep

I have no words to describe the ways in which Rafi chooses to sleep, sometimes I worry he will cut off his breathing other times I'm just lost for words!

Pimms and a Steel Band

Today was our churches Patronal festival, so after Mass the social team had put on a BBQ and invited a steel band to come and play.
We were greeted with a glass of Pimms, (which my daughter called coke with salad in it!!) or fresh home made lemonade.
The food was lovely they had loads of burgers sausages, ribs, chicken, vegie burgers and sausages, onions salad jacket potatoes the list goes on.
Rafi came with us, I brought his water bowl and cool mat and found a nice shaded spot for us. To my knowledge he hasn't heard a steel band before and he just took it and all the people milling around, in his stride, this boy is such a good dog.

Settling in.

This morning as my husband walked across the kitchen with his toast he found something black and white hanging off it, just for a second! Rafi is finding his feet.
I decided to try him in his crate for  5 to 10 minutes as a start to crate training. I put primula cheese on his lick mat and put it in first, he went in cleaned up the mat then promptly curled up and went to sleep. Ileft him for 15 minutes before latching and leaving him to make his own way out while I spent half an hour in my hammock.  Clearly he felt the hammock was better suited to his comfort level and jumped in with me.
Cuddles with my lovely boy. ❤

Day two in the little dog house.

To start with I should say that after three squeaks when we first went up to bed Rafi stopped making any noise and went into his bed. When I got up this morning he was still in his bed, nothing chewed or eaten and no accidents. What a good boy.
After taking Mums dog for her fiberglass casts to be made, we went for a walk on the beach. I don't think he has ever seen the sea before but after a tentative start he went in not far, but far enough to say he wasnt scared of it.
This evening we have a completely relaxed dog, he settled down after his last walk and seems much more relaxed.

PAWS IN THE PARK ARDINGLY

http://www.pawsinthepark.net/

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!

The Inn Keeper

I have just been talking to my brother on the phone, he suggested that we should be celebrating the Inn Keeper at Christmas as he showed the greatest humility by allowing Mary and Joseph to stay in the stable rather than not have anywhere to go.
He also thinks we should celebrate the Inn keeper by helping him...(You can see where this is going I am sure!) As I was saying, helping him by frequenting his business at Christmas. I think my brother is thinking of a few pints and a good meal. Hmm, I may have to google what drink and food would have been on offer 2016 years ago, I have a sneaky suspicion it wasn't anywhere near what my brother has in mind!

Nativity

Today I am going to see a school Nativity play. I can remember the last one, it was 8 years ago, it was my granddaughters and she was 4 and she was an angel! (She is always an angel, such a good girl!)

Today I am going to see my (soon to be) Goddaughter in hers, and I am so excited! Christmas has begun!

To Russia, With my love!

So today my Husband and I were discussing holidays, we have two holidays booked for next year, but the year after we hadn't thought about.
I happened to mention that a Volga cruise might be nice as neither of us have been to Russia, he thought it might be an idea so it looks as if we are going to Russia.