Messing about on the river...

All of this hot weather has unsurprisingly led to some fun and games down by the river and it seems that Archie's rather unorthodox swimming technique has caused alarm on more than one occasion. Now those of you familiar with his, 'style' know that although he is quite a good swimmer and thoroughly enjoys his time in the water, he does get carried away sometimes and to the untrained eye, can often appear to be in quite a bit of trouble... Do not be alarmed is all I can say, and do as I do and let him get on with it. Down by the water's edge is a great place to be lately and if you have a look at some of the new photos I've just added you can see a little more of what's been going on, not to mention one or two additions to the cast of characters. I have at last managed to catch up with several dogs who have been on the Walk for a while and they feature, along with one or two new characters and one incredibly fluffy German Shepherd! Hope you're all well and look forward to one or two more posts on the blog, now that we're out of the World Cup! I know I will try a bit harder over the next few weeks and maybe see one or two of you on the morning shift now that the end of term has arrived.

What to call a chocolate coloured cocker pup?

We got Cadbury in November, just 9 weeks old, and what a cutie, so tiny, the quiet one of the litter. We thought we would let our girls choose his name as he was their present and a total surprise for them, but they just couldn't think of anything, so I suggested the said name Cadbury.... you know...chocolate brown what else? the only thing was it was just at the time of the Kraft take over...If I had £1 for every time someone asked his name, then suggested "you should have called him Kraft" I would have one big pile of coins.

The Perils of naming your Dog

Firstly I'd like to say thanks to Anth for telling about this blog and asking me to join. I moved to Reabrook last Christmas so our visits down to the walk are limited to the weekends however there's always a friendly face whenever me and Rafa (more of him later) take up our weekly sojourn there. Today we met big head Ned.

Many of you will recognise Rafa as the Liver & White Springer Spaniel that can carry two balls in his mouth (see picture proof) and barks even when carrying said balls. Although I won't be troubling Simon Cowell with this feat of canine multi-tasking, it does draw curious glances or smutty smirks depending on how close you are to the inner adolescent

This takes me to the subject of my blog, naming your dog. Since the manager of Liverpool left last week I have been forced to answer two questions almost verbatim; Yes: he was named after Rafa Benitez and No: we're not planning to change his name. I was warned of this first peril when we chose his name however I persisted with the current sporting hero peril. I used to laugh at ManU fans taking Beckham for a walk, my best man living in Bolton constantly has to avoid the mess left by pooches called Sam and I hear the Kings Road still resounds to the barks of Jose.

Yet I wouldn't listen, Shankley didn't seem right for a Springer, Laura hated Kenny (the name not the man) and I couldn't see myself shouting Paisley across the field. Which leads me to the second peril of naming your dog; what does a dog's name sound like when you are desperately trying to call him/her back?

The name Rafa seemed to fit that bill perfectly, a good dog name has two syllables, Ra-Fa, everyone agrees that it is a good idea. However it has hasn't worked out that way. Rafa has become abbreviated to Raf, what's the problem with that? Try shouting Raf-Raf-Raf-Raf very quickly; that's right it sounds you're barking. As I try in vain to stop my dog chasing after a threatening cyclist, I start yapping at my own dog.

So next time you see a man barking at his dog, don't run away come over and say hello, neither of us bite

Inca the bandit

I have just returned from a walk on the castle walk field with Coco, Sophie, Dylan and Sandy, we went out to enjoy the sunshine and play with a new toy, a whistling foam rocket. We met Inca on the field and much fun was had in and out of the water with a ball and the slow but sure destruction of the new toy which now resembles a half chewed rugby ball.

We were about to go home when Inca, egged on by the others, charged to the top field into some teenagers sat around enjoying the sunshine and a sneaky fag. Inca charged back down into the lower field with something in her mouth, hotly followed by the other dogs and lots of shouting teenage boys. Inca carried on down to the water, now hotly followed by myself, Sarah, Hannah my daugher, her friend Faye and about 3 teenage lads. Inca had stolen their cigarettes and decided to hide them in the river.. after destroying them with a few chews..

The lads were fine about it.. even though it was a full pack.. they were over 16 so I felt I should cough up some dosh to reimburse their loss.. I did point out the dangers of smoking but they said "yeah but its the world cup".. they were nice lads and all ended well, although it was an expensive walk.. one toy and a packet of fags down!

Ah, never a dull moment.. keeps you young!

Pickles a world cup hero!

World cup fever is currently gripping (most) of the nation and whether you love it or loath you cannot avoid it. Tonight our brave boys will be going once more into the breach for queen and country against the USA, but before this evenings kick off I think we should take time to reflect on a true English world cup hero. My tale harks back to the halcyon days of jumpers for gold posts, the Beatles, pipe smoking and when everything was in black and white.

If you are sitting comfortably I will begin

On a Sunday evening in March 40 years ago, David Corbett left his ground-floor flat in Norwood, south London, to make a telephone call from the kiosk across the road. With the Thames lighterman was Pickles, the four-year-old mongrel he had taken off his brother John's hands, when he was a puppy, because he chewed furniture.

'I put the lead on Pickles and he went over to the neighbour's car,' recalls Corbett, now 66. 'Pickles drew my attention to a package, tightly bound in newspaper, lying by the front wheel. I picked it up and tore some paper and saw a woman holding a dish over her head, and disks with the words Germany, Uruguay, Brazil. I rushed inside to my wife. She was one of those anti-sport wives. But I said, "I've found the World Cup! I've found the World Cup!"' Corbett, or more precisely, Pickles, had indeed discovered the missing Jules Rimet trophy.

Now Pickles began the life of a celebrity. He starred in a feature film, The Spy with the Cold Nose, and appeared on Magpie, Blue Peter and many other TV shows. He was made Dog of the Year, awarded a year's free supply of food from Spillers and there were offers to visit Chile, Czechoslovakia and Germany.

'But I would've had to put Pickles into quarantine for six months and he was only a pet, so I didn't think I could do that,' says Corbett. How did he find the constant attention? 'I got myself an agent. The same as Spike Milligan's. He made me £60 a day, bloody brilliant! He would call and my [ex] wife and I would meet him and his girlfriend and go drinking Champagne.'

Corbett's agent arranged entrance to the party on the evening of England's 4-2 victory over West Germany in the World Cup final. 'The streets were full of people. The players were out on a large balcony [of their hotel in Kensington]. I went in with Pickles under my arm and Bobby Charlton, all of them, picked him up.

So, I hope our overpaid superstars will take heed of our humble canine here, £60! not sure how much that is in todays money but its not £120,000 per week Mr Lampard. Typical though, we get to host the world cup and somebody pinches the cup! Bobby Moore kept up the good work in Mexico a few years later...

All together now "3 Lions on a shirt, Jules Rimet still gleaming!" (thanks to Pickles)

Hi Furry friends & Owners!
Well,mom is beside herself! why you ask? It was whilst out walking this morning,over the Castlewalk Bridge & down the bank for my favorite,a mooch along the riverbank,as I skipped at speed around the corner i have to admit i did feel "alittle" something under my paw! So mom's behind me eyes peeled & then STOP,no movement from her(i thought here we go,she's left something on,the door wide open,whatever -HORMONES- came to mind) but no she had stooped to pick up a somewhat stunned "DOORMOUSE" yes it really was, & Helen with Ben in tow came to join us & confirm her finding,Helen has even taken a photo or two for all those doubting Thomases out there!! Also Helen just happened to have a tape measure on her(as all dog walkers do of course)& the little dear was duly photographed & measured 2 inchs nose to end of long tail.I'm sure you'll all be pleased to know he/her/cutie(mom's words) recovered & was replaced in the undergrowth to rejoin it's little family! On checking later today the said Doormouse had moved on.
So "Springwatch" -Castlefields,Keep your eyes open & report back to us all,lets face it furry friends we're close enough to the ground & have fantastic hearing(when we want ha! ha!) but dear owners do please join in,also Mom just wants to say it was to see the "boys" on weds in the Dog & Pheasent & Anthony you looked much better.
Wishing you all a lovely weekend,woof,woof,slurps,Sophie & Mom (Lynn)

Nasty Ticks and how best to remove them yourselves

Hello All,

I finally got round to doggie bloggie!

I'm sending in some info on Tick removal as Kizzy has had a recent bout of the nasty critters after a jaunt up Cader Idris. Consequently we acquired a great little gadget which removes them without fuss whilst keeping their heads on...I know-it's yuk- but this does make it an altogether less yuk process and so worth its weight in gold!

Here's a couple of sites but I think they can be bought from most vets cheaply also-(ours was from ebay and cost under£5.00)

www.otom.com

www.tick-twister.com

also a link to show how they are used on you tube:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PnD6x0svOJE

Hope they are useful.

Sue and kizzy

Hi, I have just spent ages writing a blog and dont know where its gone to! thanks to Anth for the superb photos esp the action ones, there a quite a few i have only just seen. Also thanks to Nick for getting me into trouble for wearing Mikes wellys. he really didnt know, but you made up for it with a top tip bout t k maxx!
Inca has just spent a whole week in Netley boarding kennels dorrington and seems to have enjoyed it. I know its mean but we were camping with a non doggy group and it just wouldnt have worked.poor inca.every time we saw a dog on the beach i really missed her.the kids did too.The r/v's for the place are good and i wouldnt hesitate to send her there again if need be, they said they would also take the rabbits!
Mike is on his way to collect one of his dads dogs to look after for a little while, yes another big hairy lab but yellow this time.so pls be nice to her, hope her recall is better than incas.
see ya soon
Lisa

What's in a name?

It's great to see the blog bursting into life after a small break in the sun... and as we welcome two new contributors to our little online adventure, it got me thinking... what's in a name? Now for those of you who don't know, the gentleman pictured right is Rafa Benitez, now ex-boss of his owner Gareth's beloved Liverpool. The reason behind the naming of one particular 3 ball munching Springer Spaniel now becomes obvious and until I get a portrait of him added to the cast of characters this will have to do!
So, what is in a name? Sport appears to be a theme on the Walk as Kobe, who we read about a few postings ago, is (I assume) named after a certain NBA star... - correct me if I am wrong Allison! Our young charge, Archie, has no such connections... When we first got him, over three years ago now, we struggled to find something that suited. It took about a day and a half before we settled on Arch and it just seemed to stick. As he is a Border Collie, I wanted something kind of Scottish, but beyond that there is no story.
"Story", however, is the key word when it comes to the subject of one of Nick's recent postings - NOT the weird one with the tiger dog! It appears that the beautiful Belgian Shepherd from yesterday afternoon is named after an Agatha Christie creation - another one far more interesting than Archie!
So what's the story behind your dog's name? In a blatant attempt to get you involved I'm starting to ask direct questions...
Changing the subject completely, but keeping the name thread, I've got an update on the litter of black Labs I wrote about a few weeks ago. Fern, Blaze, Grouse and Sky have all found new homes and one of the above should be on the field soon hopefully. As far as Kes and Kite are concerned, one of them is being kept as a pet by the breeders and the other, Kes (my favourite) looks like she has all the wonderful attributes of her mother, Musket, and will be trained up for the shoot. Great news and my lunchtimes will never be the same again. It's the first litter I've watched grow up and it's been a great couple of months! Aren't dogs great!

Whatever next!

It seems like the good folk of Zhenghou from Southwest China's Sichuan province have found a new way of amusing themselves, the strange practice of dyeing their pets to resemble wild animals, strange stuff indeed. The full story, including Panda dogs, can be found here, enjoy. www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1284646/Meet-Tiger-Dog-Chinese-owners-dye-pets-look-like-wild-animals.html 

I wonder if Lily would object if we decided to give her a bit of a makeover, maybe as a Cheetah, oh what fun we could have on the field!

I am delighted to welcome two new members to the blog today, Gareth and Jessica, both of whom signed up yesterday. Now, don't be shy you two, the sooner you pop your blogging cherry the better, come on in the waters fine. 

Oops! ...I did it again.

Lily has been up to her old tricks this weekend and managed to open up the webbing on her back paw again,  silly girl. So of we went to to try the services of Quarry vets today, based on lots of good reviews from all of you that have used them. We weren't disappointed, the staff were charming and the lady vet we saw prescribed a fairly simple treatment that involved a honey dressing, a good old fashioned bandage and a bit of mother nature style healing. So all in all a fairly painless visit to the vets for both Lily and her insurance company, fingers crossed.

We met a really cool duo on the field tonight who had just arrived from Paris, as usual I didn't catch the owners name, but his traveling companion a Belgian Shepherd Groenendael called Carilou? was absolutely beautiful, ball obsessed and more than a little Archie-Like in her mannerisms. They're visiting family in the area and are around for a few days, so if you see them give them a big Castle Walk welcome, and don't forget to mention Le Blog.

The big news of the week for those who followed my April posts, is that Coco the Greyhound has finally been rehomed, at last, wahaaay!!! As a result of the Moorlands open day and even a feature in the Shropshire Star, she's worked her charm on a new owner and bagged herself a life of luxury, good on you Coco, just a bit of advice though, try and steer clear of chewing up any expensive audio equipment till you've settled in properly, good girl!

Time to blog...

... or lack of it to be precise, you see I've been working in Worcestershire for the last week with early starts and late finishes, not getting home till after 10p.m. I have to say, returning to work after two months 'resting' has been quite a shock to the system for me, not only do I feel permanently knackered, but my David Dickinson tan has already faded to a paler shade of Edmonds.

So it was great to take the night off tonight and head down the field with Lily to catch up on all the gossip and see a few familiar faces, including Anth and Archie, who inevitably ended up persuading us to blow the froth off a couple of pints in the D & P, most enjoyable, but you boys really are a bad influence! However, you do snap a good photo Anth, and the new action shot additions to the gallery are absolutely fantastic, worth closer inspection if you haven't already done so.

I hope you all saw Chandi the dancing dog on Britains got talent tonight, this too is well worth a look. Now I'm not normally a fan of this sort of genre, but when you realise that Chandi, an adorable Collie type, was a rescue dog, and at 12 years old is now putting in the performance of her life, you can't help but be moved by the whole thing. You can judge for yourselves by checking out the footage in the video clips section of the blog.