Meet Hilda

Please say hello to Hilda, her proper posh name is Brunhilda Ad Lib.

She is settling in well and is counting down the days until her vaccinations are complete and she can go for walks. In the mean time I take her for a carry every day so that she can meet people, see things and smell the sniffs so that when she can go out its already fairly familiar.

She has already decided that she loves my parents Aga

Squishy Puppy Cuddles

Last weekend I went to meet the puppies, what a fantastic squishy wriggly bunch they are!

There are still a couple of people to choose their pup which should be done by next weekend so I will then know which one is mine, I do know that it will be a little girl.

And then at the end of next week she will be coming home, its exciting and thrilling and a little bit daunting all at the same time. It was 12.5 years ago that Holly was a puppy, I have been racking my brain trying to remember all the things we used to do and all the basic training games we used to play.

I am sure it is a bit like riding a bike, once puppy is home it will all come back to me.

Yes she does have a name, but you will have to wait until she arrives home before it gets announced.

Lists

A quick update on the not-so-short lists.

The boys list is somewhere around 12 so only an increase of 1 or 2.

The little girls list has rocketed from one to 10!

Hey ho, I can only hope that when I get to meet the pups, and choose or get chosen by one, that a suitable name will be instantly obvious.

The great debate

The photos and updates of the puppies continue to arrive and they really are gorgeous.

So working on the theory that there may be a puppy joining the menagerie in the late autumn I have started to check that I have all the non-perishable things I might need. Bedding & towels I have a plentiful supply of, the dog-gate and crate were returned by littlest sister when they moved house (they had borrowed them when they got a puppy a couple of years ago). And I have more pet toys than I know what to do with.

Last week I was passing a pet supply shop and just called in for a walk round. I gave in to temptation and bought an adjustable collar, just in case. My theory was that I liked it and it was a well made one that would do from coming home to at least half-grown if not almost fully grown. Plus I have no idea if I would be passing that shop again in the near future (it was 4 or more years since I last passed by it) and as they only had one in stock I had better buy it now.

Of course the big debate is, assuming that there is a new addition, what would it be called? I have always had great problems naming pets. Mono and Fluffy were easy, they came with their names and as they had had them for 8 years I thought it best to keep them. Holly took almost a week to come up with a name that I liked and Linus the best part of a month! Olaf was the quickest at 3 days.

So with the knowledge of past problems I have been thinking about potential names and making a shortlist, only its more of a long-list.

Sometime in the first few days after being asked about being on the reserve list a girls name popped into my head and eventually made it onto the piece of paper that I am using to keep track of potential names on. So far that is the only girls name to make it to the shortlist. For boys the list is currently at 11, there are four 'favourites' from the boys list but I regularly change my mind about the favourites. What I think will happen is that whatever I think I have chosen, as and when a new addition is due to come home, I will change my mind when I have spent some time with it.

Roller-coaster of a Weekend

After pacing up and down on Thursday last week news of the puppies arrived at lunchtime. There was good news and devastating news.

The good news was that there were twelve healthy good-sized puppies, a nice mix of 7 girls and 5 boys.

The devastating news was that the breeder had lost Mum. She had managed to give them one feed but they were sorry for the lack of photos and updates but they were now bottle feeding every two hours.

Two weeks into a new job in the run up to the start of an academic year is not the time to ask for "this afternoon and tomorrow off" plus I had no idea if I would be a help or a hindrance. The last time I bottle fed anything was a good 5 plus years ago and my experience is mostly pet-lambs and the odd almost weaned kitten.

After what felt like a lifetime (3 days) of not really having the opportunity to spend any time online and when I did manage to read the updates it was through my phone so I could see that there were attachments but I could not view them, I had the chance today to re-read everything on a computer.

Some wonderful people did what I could not and dropped everything and went to provide assistance. A foster mum (a hairy godmother) has also been located, loaned, transported and has taken the pups on. Queue one deep sigh of relief. As worried as I had been about the pups I think I was more concerned for their breeder and her other half. I know how heart-breaking it is to loose a dog, or any much loved pet, but could not imagine how much harder it must be to loose one in these circumstances. To know they have support and help makes me feel much happier especially as I still had no idea what sensible and practical assistance I could have offered.

To finish on a positive note, the photos that have been sent show a dozen gorgeous chubby puppies eating, snoozing and snuggling with each other and their hairy godmother.

Pacing Up and Down Anxiously

One of the things I started to do shortly after Holly celebrated her 2 year post-diagnosis anniversary was to start thinking about if I would want another dog once she had gone.

I had a good think about it and decided that I would want another one, but what?

First of all I felt incredibly guilty thinking about getting another dog when Holly was there and still very healthy so I stopped thinking about it. Until she had her wobble in the November. That made me realise that doing some planning and thinking and investigating before-hand was a sensible thing to do so that all the ground-work would be in place and ready for use when I was ready.

So I sat down with Holly and told her what I was doing, I wasn't too sure if she understood but she gave the impression of listening to what I was telling her.

First port of call was the internet and those websites where you can answer questions about your lifestyle and it will tell you your ideal dog breed. Some of the results were hilarious and very very wrong. But in the top 5 each time was always at least 2 breeds from the gun-dog group. When I think of the gun-dog group the first things that come to mind are ditzy spaniels and huge bouncy pointers and retrievers, neither of which are things I was looking for. But as the group was a reoccurring theme I thought the group warranted further investigation.

I very carefully read about each breed, their size, personality and known health issues. And for the most part I dismissed them as too big and boistrous or far too energetic. Holly used to be energetic but it was a controlled energy and not a wild uncontrolled wizzing around energy. OK sometimes if we had not been somewhere she thought of as fantastically brilliant for ages, such as the beach, she would spend the first 15 or 20 minutes going mad-dog.

Just when I was about to dismiss the whole group I came across the Hungarian Wire-haired Vizsla. The more I read the more I liked the sound of them, but I had never met one. So I started to research breeders and found a few that I liked the sound of from their websites, the only problem was that most of them were several hundred miles away. All except for one who was about an hours drive and fairly close to where I have friends living.

I wrote and re-wrote and then deleted and started again an email to her many many times over the course of about 6 weeks before I finally plucked up the courage to click send. We emailed back and forth a few times, mainly me asking questions and her sending answers, and eventually we provisionally set a date for me to go out there and meet her gang (and her and her partner) and see if they were what I thought they would be and if I liked them. And also for her and her dogs to meet me and see if I would be someone she would consider putting on her puppy-in-waiting list. We set it for early May in the theory that it would be warmer and drier and we would be able to sit in the garden. On the day we sat in the house watching the rain. I had arranged to go from hers to my friends and have a day out, the plan was to call in and see the dogs, have a cup of tea and a chat and probably only stay about an hour. In the end I was there for almost 3 hours as we sat and talked dogs past present and future, it was a text from my friends wanting to know if I was going to be there for lunch that made me aware of how much time had passed. I resisted the temptation to smuggle one of her dogs into the car, said my goodbyes and went off to see my friends.

The next day I dropped her and email saying I loved the dogs and was I someone she would consider allowing to adopt one of her puppies when the time came. The reply came back yes!

Fast forward several months and emails to about a week after I had said the last goodbye to Holly, I got an email, that it sounded like she had had as much trouble writing as I had the first one to her. One of her bitches was in pup and her scan had revealed more than the average number of offspring so would I like to be a reserve in case there was a spare? I was about to go away for a long weekend so asked if she would pencil me in as a possible and I would think about it and talk to Mum and Dad on my return and let her know one way or another. The answer went back as yes I would be happy to be a reserve.

You may remember from an earlier post that my littlest sister was having a baby, well little sister was due about 10 days before the puppies. By the middle of last week Littlest sister was over-due and the bitch was showing signs of being early. Littlest sister went into Hospital on the Thursday evening and (eventually!) had a little girl just after 4.30am on the Saturday morning. I, and the rest of my family, spent most of Friday leaping up excitedly every time the phone bleeped with a text message or a phone call. On Saturday I got an email saying it looked like pups might be on the way so I went straight into frantically leaping up every time I get notification that an email has arrived.

So far plenty of email updates from the breeder and replies from the other new puppy owners in waiting, mostly about what the mum-to-be is doing now, having fun and doing anything and everything except having pups!

So I am going to go back to idly thinking about names should there be a 'spare' it's not so much a short-list, its more of a long and growing list.

A Trip to the Co-op

Last night I had to take a quick trip to the local co-op as I was out of a few essentials for some baking I was planning on doing and decided to walk.

I had not realised how well known Holly, and therefore I, had become. I was stopped a few times by people enquiring after Holly and in each case they were upset to discover she was no longer around. So my quick walk to the shops which is half a mile each way, took a little bit longer than anticipated.

I still managed to do my baking although it was very odd not to have to share the licking of spoons and bowls.

The End of a Hairy Era

Holly

13 March 2002 - 16 August 2014

After a couple of days of being thoroughly spoilt Holly took her final trip to the vets this morning. We sat in the garden outside the vets and I gave her the ultimate treat, she got a small bar of proper human chocolate. She has always wanted to know what it tasted like but I have never given her any before. But I figgured that on this occasion it would do no harm. She thoroughly enjoyed it and then, treat over, she walked (with assistance from her scarf-sling) into the treatment room and as I held her in my arms my lovely vet administered the injection and she quietly and quickly slipped away.

Right now my heart feels shattered and I feel mentally, physically and emotionally empty. The house feels very odd and I keep expecting to hear her shuffling around, it was very odd indeed not to hear any barking when the post got delivered.

She was a good age for a dog of her size (almost 12.5) and 2 years, 10 months and 10 days post diagnosis is definately above the average of 18 months.

The Dilema of Not Knowing

The problem is that Holly is not in pain. The cdm destroys the nerves which has been the cause of the decline of her back legs and internal plumbing it also means that messages of pain and discomfort are not being registered.

This makes knowing when to call it quits and let her go much more difficult than normal.

I have a few friends who also currently have end of life pets who are all saying that as the end comes they are planning or are getting some pain killers from the vets to allow them to have a couple of days to spoil them and say goodbye.

For Holly there is no magic pill to make her walk again so I decided a while ago that it would have to be when she could no longer be independently mobile. I think that day has more or less arrived. Over the weekend the temperature dropped and we tried a couple of slightly longer length and a bit more undulating terrain. The longest planned walk was 1.75 miles and the steepest hill was not very steep at all. Poor old girl struggled, she needed to stop for a breather at regular intervals and when she did stop I needed to go stand with my leg/knee against the back of her trolley to stop it rolling backwards. If I didn't and it rolled she was unable to tell, unable to stop it and therefore fell over.

So while she is still OK on the flat that does cause a problem as Yorkshire is better known for it's hills rather than it's flatness. During the walk I could hear a scraping sound of nails on floor, on just about every step her front nails were dragging across the pavement. When we got home I had a good look at her feet and her nails are showing the same signs of uneven wear that her back ones did right back at the start, to me this is proof that things are progressing and her front legs are starting to be affected.

She still enjoyed her walk but I think it's time for some carefully planned flat walks (there are a couple not too far from home) some extra special treats and then saying goodbye while she still has the ability to walk (with assistance).

About Three Years Ago

I've just realised that it was about this time three years ago that I first noticed Holly walking slightly oddly. It wasn't very often and it wasn't a very big change, but just every now and again I would notice her back right leg would kink a little when she took a step.

At first I though I was imagining it but over the space of a couple of weeks I decided I wasn't imagining it but nobody else had seen it. When I had a long weekend away Holly stayed at Mum and Dad's and when I came back they had seen it and I took Holly off to see the vet.

A lot has happened in the last three years, a lot of miles have been walked and I have shed a few tears along the way as well.

I've thought once or twice over the past few months that her front legs are getting weaker and wobblier. Earlier this week I noticed that her front right paw didn't seem to be doing what she wanted it to do. She was, with a little help from me, getting up onto the sofa and her paw wasn't unfolding to step on to the cushion so she ended up climbing up with a folded up paw.

I've also noticed that she has problems getting her front legs coordinated, especially on smooth surfaces and especially when she is tired or just woken up after a good snooze. The control of the internal plumbing is also getting steadily worse.

Once or twice I've wondered if it's time to make that last trip to the vets, but those thoughts have usually been at 3am when we have had a puddle on the kitchen floor and a crash landing on the path to the lawn. Come the morning she has been her usual demanding self, berating me for being half asleep and not getting her breakfast served up fast enough, telling me how she things we should be spending the day and generally showing none of the problems from the middle of the night.

I think the time is drawing closer, but for now she is still happy and, other than the cdm, healthy so we will continue to take things one day at a time and at her pace.

The Plans of Mice and Men, or rather of Holly & Hannah

The plan last week was to find a nice little campsite somewhere not too far from home that we could escape to one weekend in August.

After making that decision I checked a few websites and came up with a shortlist of possible campsites. Then I checked the calendar and what with prior commitments and social engagements for both Holly and myself, it is going to be mid-September at the earliest before we have a free weekend!

So I have not mentioned the plan to Holly but I think I will investigate locations that we can go and spend a Sunny afternoon at, assuming the recent trend towards torrential downpours is not set in for the rest of the summer. And then keep my fingers crossed that it is still warm enough in September for a weekend under canvas.

Hot in July again

Poor old Holly-dog has not been a happy camper for the past week or so. She is not liking the heat, it's too hot for her to go walkies and it's too hot and sticky for sleeping comfortably in, especially when you have no option but to wear a (self-grown) fur coat.

So we have been doing a lot of lounging around in the shade in the garden.

Last night Holly woke me up at 2am because she wanted to go out. When she had done what she needed to do she decided that the best thing to do was to roll around on the grass making happy "rrrrraaaarrrrr" noises, I have to admit it was lovely and cool out in the garden and it was very tempting to join her lying on the lawn.

Instead of lying flat out on the grass I took advantage of being awake and opened more windows and doors temporarily to let the cool breeze waft through the house. It must have brought the temperature down enough because when we went back to bed I fell straight asleep and for once I was woken by my alarm clock (I am usually awake before it goes off).

I am looking at campsites again, if it continues to be warm and humid I think it will be very pleasant to sleep out overnight. Ideally we want a small quiet site not too far from home that we can have a weekend away at, preferably one with a stream or river close by and some trees that we can spend the day lounging under reading books and watching the world go by.

Holly is a Happy Camper

Holly and I escaped to the coast for a couple of days, we found a superb little campsite set high on the hills overlooking Whitby.

The campsite is at about 500 feet above sea level so it gets all the weather, usually at high speed. When we arrived it was blowing a gale which made pitching the tent somewhat entertaining. The site is very basic, toilets and running cold water only. But it is wonderfully peacefull and the views are amazing. From the bottom end of the site you look down over Whitby and at night, if it is clear, you can easily make out the lights on the swing bridge, the lighthouses on the piers (all four) and the light on the marker buoy out at sea. You could see all the way down to Hawsker and up beyond Sandsend and onto the moors.

The second night was much calmer and we got to experience some of the local wildlife. In the dusk there were bats out hunting. Overnight we heard foxes and owls out and about and in the morning were treated to some impressive acrobatic displays from the swallows.

 Holly wanted Breakfast in bed!

The Views were stunning

One day at a time.

There have been a couple of occasions in the past week to 10 days when I have thought that Holly has looked very old and tired. There have been a couple of occasions when she has really struggled to walk, but I think these have been when I have been asking her to move quickly after just waking up. But the rest of the time she is her normal bright eyed demanding self.

I have all of next week off work, the forecast is OK so we may take the tent and vanish into the countryside or to the seaside for a few days. No definite plans it will all be fairly last minute and depend on someone being available to look after the cats, the weather and how both Holly and I feel.

Summer Solstice 2014

One of the people I follow on Twitter is Gerard Baker, he also writes a blog when he is out and about in the world http://www.gerardbaker.com/

This year he is down in Antarctica with the British Survey over-wintering at the Halley Research Station. They are having mid-winter celebrations and he asked his Facebook followers to post photos of their mid-summer celebrations.

I wasn't really planning a party or anything special to celebrate the day but as it is a Saturday I thought I would do a short photo-documentary of the day's activities. A Penguin has been included for the mid-winter in the middle of summer. I am not sure what breed he is, he came from Grandways supermarket in Cottingham. Their Christmas 1991 promotion was to earn tokens as you shopped and then exchange them for Penguins. There was probably more penguins than students in the Halls of Residence that Christmas!

As I was studying Chemistry I thought he should have a chemical theme to his name, so I stuck a pin in the Periodic Table of Elements, it landed on Rh so he has been known as Rhodium ever since.

One year I will get up or stay up and watch the sun rise somewhere in the hills and dales on mid-summers day, but this was not the year.

After the usual Saturday morning routine of green grocery shopping and breakfast Holly was impatient to set off for the walk, as he only has little legs Rhodium hitched a ride in the bag of walking essentials (water, dog treats, waterproofs, maps etc)

 

It was a lovely walk along an old railway line, this was the view down the valley

Holly and Rhodium stopped to admire the view too

The Walk was over in Lancashire, but the drive there and back was over the tops and as it was a clear day there were some stunning views, so we stopped to admire them.

If you look over Rhodium's wing on the above picture you can just make out a small mast, that is Emly Moor Transmiter known locally as Emly Moor Mast. It is always an indication to me that I am not too far from home, I live about 15 miles away from it. Here is a zoomed in picture from the same spot. The power stations you can see to the left and right are the ones by the A1, we could see for miles and miles!

When we got home there were chores to do, Holly had a good laugh as Rhodium had a close encounter or two with the pegs and the washing.

This evening the sun and the blue skys vanished, the sky over my house looked more like Autumn than mid-summer!

But it was still warm and dry so we lit the barbecue and dined al-fresco.

I hope your mid-summer was as fun as ours was
Hannah, Holly & Rhodium.

The Stubbornness Shines Through

After a small delay caused by neighbours, ambulances, cats, houses for sale and watering Grandma's veg patch we set off for our evening constitutional around the park.

Only Holly had other ideas which led me to post the following on Facebook

"Does anyone want a stubborn, determined, wheeled Holly-dog? She is currently driving me bonkers as she goes through a "I've forgotten that I am not as young and energetic as I used to be" phase.

She thinks we should be hiking the hills and dales tonight and keeps trying to go down paths that the wheels don't fit down, she looks most put out when I insist we revert to the walk round the park."

It kept everyone else amused as I had to keep back-tracking and extracting Holly from ginnels, snickets and paths that she was attempting to go down. Poor old dog really wanted to go on some of her old walking routes, but they are just not possible any more. We are going off to meet friends as normal on Saturday, a lovely walk is planned along an old railway line at the edge of the Pennines, hopefully that will keep her walking in the hills desire sated for a while.

Being Worshipped and Adored

Over the weekend it was the local Street Fair. Two days of craft stalls, tombola's, raffles, second hand books, cakes, plants and live entertainment.

On the Saturday Holly and I walked round it and won a few things on various charity tombola's, bought a few books and plants and did a lot of talking about the wheels. Quite a few people remembered Holly and her wheels from last year and were very pleased to see her there again this year. There were quite a lot of people who had not met her before and stopped to talk and Holly soaked up all the attention and ear-scritches, and ran over quite a few toes as well!

When we got back home Holly slept for most of the rest of the weekend, it must be exhausting being worshipped and adored by so many people. I think she enjoyed herself though as she was dreaming and in her dreams she wasn't running but did a lot of sniffing and lip-smacking as if she were re-living all the ends of hot-dogs and burgers that she was given.

I think there were two reasons for the exhaustion. Although we probably only walked around 3 miles in total it was all on roads and pavements which wears her out much faster than 3 miles on footpaths and grassy fields. The other reason is that Holly is starting to loose muscle tone and condition in her front legs. I've noticed for little while now that she is not as strong as she used to be and more recently this has taken a bit bigger dip than the usual gradual decline. Even my Mum has noticed that she is loosing muscle condition. But as Mum and everyone who met her at the Street Fair said, she is still bright-eyed and alert (especially where food is concerned!) and looks to be very happy and content.

So for now we continue to take it one day and one step/wheel at a time and enjoy ourselves along the way.

Blackbirds II

Sadly the poor little baby blackbird on the lawn yesterday didn't survive. I think it left the nest too early and then just got too wet and too cold.

This morning there was a second one, this one looks to have more adult feathers than the first one had and this one was not sat on the lawn not moving, it was in one of the bushes and after giving me a "what are you looking at?" glare it fluttered off in that still learning to fly way into a different bush.

I did get one quick photo of it, complete with the two little tufts of down sticking out of the top of it's head like horns!

Baby Blackbird II

Blackbirds

Last night when I took Holly out into the garden just before we went to bed the Blackbirds alarm called at us! This is very unusual because they usually just sit on top of the garage waiting for us to either go inside or settle down at one end of the garden so they can get on with whatever they want to do at the other end.

I talked to them and told them it was only me and Holly and they did stop alarming but remained very alert and perched on vantage points.

As we went round the garden I soon spotted the reason for the alarm calls, there was a baby blackbird sitting on the lawn. I diverted Holly away from it and we went back inside as soon as possible.

This morning the baby bird was still sitting in the same place on the lawn, I thought that it had probably perished overnight so we went over for a closer look. Holly's big wet nose got there first and gave it a big SNIFF. Poor little thing must have been asleep because it's eyes popped open, it's head came up, the beak opened and it made "feed me" noises. I forced Holly to beat a retreat - she was fascinated with this thing on the lawn and wanted to investigate it some more.

As I was preparing my lunch in the kitchen I got a fright, a pair of magpies went hurtling past the window at great speed, one of them even hitting it as it went past. They were being driven out of the garden by Mr & Mrs Blackbird who were out and about protecting their baby.

I looked out a little while later and Mrs Blackbird was busy attacking snails, I assume this was going to be breakfast.

At Holly's last trip round the garden before I left for work baby bird was still there and still doing it's best to look like a dead leaf, the parents were both around but neither of them alarm called or went into any higher level of surveillance mode. I hope they have realised that neither Holly or I am a threat and have gone back to ignoring us as normal.

Baby Blackbird pretending to be a dead leaf.

Clean bill of health & donkeys

Over the weekend Holly went to the vets for her 6-monthly check-up. I had been a little concerned about her breathing and also her ever decreasing bark.

After a good long listen to her lungs and heart and a good going over Holly was declared, discounting the wobbles, a very fit and healthy dog. There is nothing wrong with her lungs that the vet could detect and he thinks that the occasional breathing issues I have heard may have been due to how she was positioned at the time. The decreasing bark is apparently something that does happen to some dogs as they get older, their voice gets hoarser as time goes on.

On Sunday we had a trip out to a fun dog show at a nearby donkey sanctuary. We caught up with friends and sat and chatted as well as watching the various classes and the always-entertaining terrier racing. I didn't enter Holly into any classes as she doesn't really do standing still (unless it's her choice or we are waiting to cross the road) but we did win a cuddly donkey in the raffle.

Everyone commented on how well she looked as she busily and industriously scoured the ground checking for dropped food items and eating them all up.

Looking back at earlier blog entries I thought that Holly was on a decline in the run up to Easter, however she seems to have bounced back and appears to be all set for a Summer of walks, camping and barbecues. Or if the weather continues as it has been a Summer of rain, mud and soggy strolls.

Soggy Doggy (and human)

After a few weeks off due to holidays and other commitments, the usual gang met up on Saturday to go for a walk.

Holly recognised the pre-walk preparations so knew we were going out and started to 'sing' and make 'hurry up' noises at me from about 8:30am.

When we started the walk, a there and back stroll down the side of a reservoir, the sun was just visible through a layer of clouds. By the time we got to a third of the way down it was raining, at the halfway point on the way down we stopped to put on waterproof jackets. We stopped again at the turn-round point to don waterproof trousers.

Despite the rain it was a lovely walk and Holly enjoyed herself thoroughly, however even she was glad to see the cars again as the rain had managed to work through the outer waterproof layer of her fur. It had also been heavy enough to go through some of my waterproofs so I had a few small soggy bits of clothing. When we got home Holly got a more thorough towelling off and I put most of what I was wearing into the washing machine.

Drowning in Drool

This weekend the sun came out, while it was nice to see it was too much for Holly who, very sensibly, decided that in the shade was the best place to be.

But as it was nice and warm for a couple of days in a row the ground warmed up enough for Holly to be able to lie out without getting cold.

So yesterday evening I got the barbecue out. It's a new one that Holly has not seen before so she gave it a good sniff all over and then looked at me to see what I was going to do with the strange metal contraption. Her ears perked up pretty quickly when I brought the charcoal out and lit it and once dinner went on to cook she started to drool.

The patch of grass where she was waiting impatiently for her share of BBQ goodies got quite damp, but her patience and drooling paid off and she shared all the things that got cooked.

Later that evening when she fell asleep her dreams involved a lot of lip licking so I think she was dreaming of warm evenings in the garden with a never-ending supply of burgers, sausages and steaks.

Reading

As you saw at Christmas, Holly loves to open parcels. She also enjoys 'reading' my post.

She is not too bothered by bills, circulars and junk mail but loves cards. Whenever there is a card to open she is there by my side.

Firstly we examine the envelope, I am looking at the handwriting and post mark trying to work out where it was posted and seeing if I can guess who sent it, I think holly is checking all the people who have handled the envelope.

Next we open the envelope and look at the card, most cards sent to me have an animal theme. Holly has a cursory sniff at the outside, she is more interested in the inside.

I have to make sure that I read the inside first because once Holly has finished sniffing and, occasionally, licking it the ink has got a bit smudged and smeared and some bits have been known to be unreadable. So if I read it first I can note down important information such as changes of address before they are obliterated.

Linus sometimes joins in reading cards but he is more interested in running round chasing after scrunched up envelopes. Olaf is not interested in reading or chasing but has been known to use a pile of cards as an impromptu bed.

A Couple of Hours Under Canvas

Last Summer some friends had their summer holidays camping in the UK. They emailed their friends with which campsites and the dates they would be there and an invitation to join them for as much of the time as you wanted to. Some people joined them for a few days, some overnight and others, like Holly and me, just for a day.

Holly thoroughly enjoyed her day out at camp. She got to explore the campsite and met lots of people who were interested in the wheels. We went for a nice walk in some gorgeous countryside. And then Holly's favorite part of the day, we had a barbecue.

I knew she was happy and relaxed because in the evening when we retreated into the tent to play card games and chat Holly promptly went to sleep.

As Holly had been so chilled and relaxed at her day at camp I thought I would buy a tent and we could have a night or two away every now and again. The day at camp was in August 2013, I am sure it will come as no surprise to hear that it took me until April 2013 to buy a tent.

I decided that the first trial should probably be fairly close to home, just in case. So after a trial pitching in the back garden we set off to have a night out under canvas.

The trial pitching was entertaining. I wanted a tent that I could stand up in and also had room for both me and Holly to sleep comfortably in so I went for a 3 person tent, the guide says the external footprint is 390cm x 230cm  and that it is 205cm high. It didn't look very big in the display field, but it was alongside some 4, 6 and above person tents. It looked a lot bigger on my little lawn.

A Very Green Tent

Pitching time is stated in the instructions as 20 minutes, it took me an hour! I think that time will come down significantly now that I know which way is up/front, how to identity the bits and also what "insert poles into appropriate sleeves" means.

Once it was up Holly was very keen to explore, and as soon as she found the air-bed (I have too many creaky joints for just a sleeping mat) she plonked herself down and looked quite at home

As the tent was pitched I thought we would start off with a night on the lawn, home was (very) close by if needed. Unfortunately it was needed. We settled down OK and soon went to sleep. I woke up a few hours later feeling cold and quickly worked out that Holly had claimed most of the space and covers. She was also trying to burrow further into the pile of blankets as she too was cold, even with all the blankets. A quick check of the thermometer showed it to be below 10C. The old girl does feel the cold now, so we headed back indoors where it was warmer and Linus came and snuggled up to Holly to warm her up.

Holly enjoyed herself because every time we went out she headed straight for the tent and stood there waiting to be let in. She was not impressed when it came down a couple of days later. The tent-bag is temporarily in the kitchen, every time we go through she goes and looks at it, I think in the hope that it might get put back up again.

But as happy as both of us were in the tent I think future camping is going to have to be postponed until warmer nights come along.

Living in the Crystal Maze

The Game Options for the Crystal Maze were Skill, Physical, Mental or Mystery. Life is currently feeling like a combination of these, only without the choice, without the chance of winning a crystal and definitely without any time in the crystal dome at the end of it all.

For Holly its a case of Physical vs Mental. Physically she is continuing to decline, I was away for a few days over Easter and she stayed with my Mum and Dad. When I came home the report was that she was happy enough but had not successfully gone on a walk in her wheels. They had tried but she had not been happy and had kept falling over so they just sling-walked her round their garden.

The problem is that Mentally she is still very alert and active and, occasionally, under the impression that she is still capable of long hikes over the moors. So on the Saturday after Easter I was very happy when she woke me up at 6.30 am to ask if it was time to go for a walk. She was enthusiastic and enjoyed the walk but as it was a combination of pavements and parks we kept it to just 3 miles. I think the problems she had had at my parents is that from their house it is uphill for the first third to half a mile.

I get all four.

I get to practice my Skill levels as I assist Holly walking around. Can I keep up with her high speed dash to the kitchen for breakfast? Can I avoid bashing my legs/knees/hips on various objects as she weaves in and out of them? Am I coordinated enough (especially first thing on a morning) to avoid Holly weeing on my foot when we have a trip round the garden?

Combined with the Skill is the Physical. I try to let Holly do as much as she can but there is still a certain amount of lifting, carrying, steadying and picking up when, despite my best efforts, she has fallen over.

Mental is probably the hardest of them all. Holly has always been very good at knowing how I feel and responding to it. So now my challenge is to try and stay happy and positive so that Holly stays happy and positive, because when she is happy she enjoys her walks more and is generally more energetic and enthusiastic.

The Mystery is how long? Will today be the day? I know there can't be much time left and I am keeping track of good and bad days. As I have stated before the bad days are getting more frequent but for now the good days are still winning.

Breakfast was a big hit this morning

Breakfast today was a big hit with all three critters.

Over the weekend I had a lamb roast, this morning all three got some ends of lamb mixed into their breakfast and Holly got a little leftover gravy added to hers too.

For 5 minutes the only sounds were the slurping noises of three bowls being thoroughly licked clean.

transportation

When I got my first two cats I was told they didn't travel very well, and for the journey home they howled and cried and made the most revolting and traumatic noises for the whole 8 minute car journey. I thought it was because they were large cats and there was only 1 carry-box that they were both squished into, so I bought a second one so they could travel in more comfort than before. It didn't make any difference.

For the next few years they didn't go anywhere except the vets a very noisy 3 minute car ride away and one house move which was a 15 minute journey. Then I had a holiday, they were going to stay at my Mum and Dad's house 45 minutes away in the car and the thought of listening to them for all that time almost made me cancel the holiday. But I thought that if they got used to the car they would at least start to travel quietly. So in the evenings and weekend they went on lots and lots of car rides, each one as noisy as the last. One day, a couple of weeks in, I had someone else with me and as we were on a very quiet road I decided to let one of the cats out of her box. Instant peace and quiet from the cat now sat on the passengers knee looking out of the window. On the way back home the cats swapped places and again the one out of the box was quiet. The next day I went out and bought a couple of harnesses and from then on they got to travel loose in the car. Mono and Fluffy soon found the parcel shelf in the car and from then on if there was not a passenger or a cushion to sit on (they never once tried to help me drive) they would sit on the parcel shelf watching the world go by. I once stopped in a supermarket car park with both cats in the car. As I was returning I heard a small child telling her dad that there was two cats in that car. He obviously had not looked because his reply was "no darling, those are dogs".

Mono accepted travel as a necessary evil, but Fluffy loved to travel and it turned out she was a bit of a speed freak. At speeds of up to 45mph she would sit quietly, but any faster than that and her nose was glued to the window and you got a running commentary on everything she could see. The only other time you got noise from her when travelling was if it had rained, then she exclaimed delight and amazement with every puddle you drove through, especially if it caused a wave to shoot up. There are two ways to the vets and if it had rained we always took the back route that was more or less one long puddle, just for Fluffy.

When Linus and Olaf joined the household they too were introduced to car travel. Olaf is not too keen and prefers to be in his carry box. Linus too loves car rides, but can only travel outside of a carry box when there is a passenger to keep an eye on his escapades. When the car stops he will leap to a window and bang on it with his paws to gain the attention of pedestrians, and if it is raining he has to be locked away in his box otherwise he hurtles back and forth across the dashboard trying to catch the windscreen wipers.

I think I was very lucky with Holly, she too loves to travel. When I first got her and was waiting for all her initial vaccinations so she could go outside I would take her out in the car. I worked it out, in that first 4 to 6 weeks Holly travelled about 750 miles in the car, so it's not surprising that she considers it her second home. She learnt not to get out until given permission and to travel wherever in the car there was room. Mostly she travels in the boot, but sometimes on the back passenger seat and very occasionally on the front passenger seat depending on who and what else we have in the car. Sometimes she has travelled sprawled on top of passengers, she was comfy but they spent the journey shuffling and shifting so that 25Kg of dog didn't cut off the blood circulation to their legs.

Before the serious wobbles and the wheels I regularly took Holly on public transport where she learnt to lie under the seats on the bus and train. I have had a think back and I suspect that she has probably travelled further and on more modes of transport than quite a lot of people.

She has been in buses, coaches, cars, vans and taxis (the driver of the coach that replaced a train refused to let her on so the train company paid for a taxi for us to get to our destination). On trains, electric, diesel and steam. When we went to the Isle of Man so she travelled in a catamaran to get there and then on the Narrow Gauge Steam Railway, horse drawn Trams, electric Trams and the electric Mountain Railway which are on the Island. In 2012 we were on Holiday in Southwold and she didn't bat an eye when asked to hop into the rowing boat that is a ferry across the estuary to Walberswick. She looked most disappointed that the journey was only a few minutes long.

The biggest problem I have had with her travelling is when we are out and about walking and at a bus stop when a bus stops.  She will just hop straight on the bus and look most put-out when asked to get off again, if I have my travel-pass on me or some change I have been known to get a ticket for a stop or two just so she can have a ride.

On the Manx Horse Drawn Trams

The Isle of Man Steam Train

Looking out of the window on the IOM Steam Train

The Southwold to Walberswick Ferry

Signs of another Short Circuit

Last Saturday Holly really enjoyed her walk, when I checked the trip counter on the GPS back at the car it read 5 miles, not bad going!

In hindsight it was too far, although I am not sure she would agree, for the rest of Saturday and most of Sunday she slept. She was very weary and wobbly and didn't ask for a walk, I didn't force her to take one either. She had a quiet day on the sofa and I had a busy day in the kitchen.

She also started to show signs that we are due for a major decline fairly soon. On Saturday evening  and sporadically throughout Sunday her front right leg had mini-bursts of short circuiting. It would move to walk and then repeat the action very quickly 4 or 5 times in quick succession. Fortunately I was able to prop her up each time so she didn't fall over.

I had thought it was due to her exhausting her self on the Saturday as she wasn't doing this at all yesterday morning or when I got home from work. We had a very nice stroll around the park in the daylight, although from Holly's point of view it was a bit of a wash-out as the field next to the park was empty of all livestock so she had nothing to say hello to.

Then on our way out for a final trip round the garden before bed, her front right leg did the repeating again.

For now she is still happy, I am going to try to make sure she does not get over-tired (probably easier said than done) this week and see how things go. But I think I am now looking at days and weeks rather than months.

908.79

I found an old notebook this morning. I had forgotten that in the early days of diagnosis I kept a note of how far Holly and I had walked, although to be more accurate it was how far I walked. Holly does as all dogs do, ran up and down and round and round when not on the lead so would have gone much further.

The entires start on the 8th October 2011 and the last entry is from 7th July 2012. Not every day is recorded, some days say "plus swimming at Pugneys" and one week is down as "Away on Holiday, out and about all day every day!" I know that year we went to Northumberland and had a two mile walk on the beach every morning and evening in addition to wherever we went during the day.

But the 261 entries that there are tot up to a grand total of 908.79 miles.

1.5 + 1 = 30 ???

The maths problem makes much more sense when you put some scales alongside the values.

1.5 years + 1 year = 30 months.

We have made it to another milestone, Holly has wheeled her way through a whole year extra to the original warning of 18 months average to make it to 30 months post-diagnosis!

She's not going quite as far or as fast as she used to, but she will almost certainly wake me up tomorrow morning at the first hint of daylight and then witter constantly until we meet up with friends at 10am for a walk - tomorrow is going to be a stroll along the Trans Pennine Trail for a total of about 4 miles.

All the 'disabled' dogs live here

Where I live is a small town, population approx 10,000.

Walking around I am slowly coming to the conclusion that this is where 'disabled' dogs are coming to live.

In addition to Holly there are four tripod dogs that we come across on our walks, three missing a back leg and one missing a front leg.

Tripod dogs and dogs in carts are not normally everyday sights so for five to live in a town that is approx 1500acres is possibly some sort of record.

There is life in the old dog yet!

Over the weekend we went down to the Rother Valley Country Park for a walk. We parked close by next to the Trans Pennine Trail and then walked down the Trail until we were just in Derbyshire before heading back up and into the Park.

We walked around the far side of the lake and decided that as the sun was shining we would call into the cafe for a cup of tea.

After a very civilised break sitting in the sun watching the wildlife and drinking tea, we set off again to the top end of the lake where we crossed over the railway and re-joined the TPT. The bridges over the railway had very steep steps so I ended up carrying Holly up and down the steps for both bridges! The next day it took me a while to work out why the muscles in my thighs and upper arms were aching, it was carrying 25Kg of dog+cart that did it.

When we got back to the car the GPS said it had been a little over 5 miles. Holly looked as if she could have done it all again. Only it was raining quite heavily by that point and I didn't fancy carrying her over the bridges again so we went home to bake bread and cherry cake.

Cat Hairs

The signs of the cdm progressing continue to appear. Over the past few weeks I have noticed that Holly sometimes has problems sneezing and coughing.

You know when you have a really bad cold and have coughed and sneezed so much that your muscles hurt? So you try to stop the hurt by sneezing or coughing in a genteele way that only uses the bare minimum of muscles and ligaments. The resulting feeble wheezy ineffective expulsion of air is how Holly's coughing and sneezing is now frequently sounding like.

The problem is it is spring, so all the animals are moulting. Which means that as Linus sleeps curled up next to Holly she ends up breathing in cat hairs and we all know how much they tickle and irritate! Or we have a wander round the garden and she sticks her big wet nose into all the nooks and crannys to have a good sniff of the spring air, and once more she needs to sneeze.

There are still some 'proper' coughs and sneezes but the feeble wheezy ones are starting to take over.

As sad as the progression is she is still a happy dog. She still recognises all the little things that mean I am geting ready to take her for a walk and starts pestering and wittering about when we are going as soon as she spots them. And she still sulks and generally lets it be known that she is unhappy if she doesn't think we have been out long enough, regardless of the weather.

So while I think the time to say goodbye is getting closer I don't think we are quite there yet.

Photo Favourites III

This one could almost be called Snow and Sand

A rare photo of Holly on the beach where she is dry!

I have no idea why she had not gone racing in to the sea as normal.

Holly destroying a pristine snow covered field

Linus exploring the back garden in the snow

A footprint size comparison Holly (R) & Linus (L)

From snow to ice, Linus keeping cool one Hot Summer

Holly's usual place in a bird hide

Holly's Labrador genes shine through as she makes sure that every last crumb is eaten from a bag of dog food before it is used for other things

Meet Hatty

I am going to be an Aunt for the first time later this year, so the knitting needles have been busy making bootees and a Hatty.

Hatty has been introduced to a few people and has been universally loved by all.

Hatty

If you are wondering about the name, it's the one given in the pattern. I am sure my new nephew/nice will eventually give the elephant a new name

The first attempt at bootees

A Trendy Bootee

it's pair was still being finished when I was asked for a photo

Happy Birthday to Holly

Happy 12th Birthday Holly-dog.

I must admit that it's not a birthday that I thought we would be celebrating. But I am amazed and happy that you are still here and not letting the cdm stop you from enjoying yourself.

I also didn't think it was possible for you to eat your breakfast any faster than you do, but apparently when there are bits of chicken mixed in as a birthday treat you can make everything vanish in record time!

The other thing I am amazed at is that there is any glaze left on your food dish after the licking clean it got this morning. I understand the need to check that there is nothing left over, but I think perhaps you were being a little over-enthusiastic with your checking today.

Getting Old

People often tell me that they cannot believe that Holly is almost 12. Quite often I cannot believe it either, I have no idea what happened to the last 12 years. However I do know that it involved a lot of mud!

More than a few times over the past 12 to 18 months I have said I think that I don't have much longer left with Holly. But she is still here and still going, I don't know if it is her stubborn streak or what that is keeping her around, but there are a few signs visible to others as well as me that she is getting old and that the canine degenerative myelopathy is progressing.

Holly now sleeps the sleep of the old dog.
The deep sleep that even sound doesn't penetrate (except possibly the sound of a can opener).
That deep, dreamless sleep that causes owners to panic, even the owners who have had old dogs before. The one where the breathing is very shallow and slow, the heartbeat slows right down and you wonder if they are still alive.

She still dreams when not in a deep sleep, but the back legs no longer kick.

Sometime in the Autumn I started to notice her occasionally stumble and loose footing on her front legs. Sometimes it was when she was in her wheeled cart and sometimes when she was being supported with the scarf-sling, but it wasn't very often and as she never fell over there was only me that noticed it. As with everything it has gradually got worse with time, now she is stumbling more frequently and occasionally falling over. It is more noticeable when she is tired or the terrain is not Holly friendly and it's now happening enough that other people have noticed it. Fortunately all our walking friends know that the best thing to do is to help her back to her feet, say something along the lines of "Come on Old Girl, lets keep going" and not make a fuss.

When people have said in the past that the wheels must have drastically altered our walks I have told them that it hasn't. The only two changes are that we no longer walk along a couple of paths down by the river where the path is narrower than the wheels, and when we go out and about in the countryside we go with someone else to help lift her over styles. But over the past few months we have slowly being changing our walks. We check out the terrain before and try to avoid walks that are too hilly or will involve a lot of uneven paths.

Its sad that she can no longer race up and down hills and needs a bit of a push or a pull to get there. But she still tries and still wants to go, so we still go up and down the hills. The humans provide assistance to help her up the hill, once up there she explores and sniffs. Then in true Holly style races down the hill at great speed sending everyone else leaping out of the way before standing at the bottom of the next hill looking at us waiting for us to assist her up. Spoilt? Probably but right now I think it's important for her to enjoy her walks and if that means a bit of a push and a pull to get her to the top of the hill and sniff the breeze, then that's what she gets.

We have good days and bad days, the number of bad days is increasing but there are still significantly more good days. I could do with a little more sunshine and a little less rain to enjoy them in, Holly of course doesn't care and still doesn't think a downpour should delay our walks for any longer than it takes me to don waterproofs!

Surveying Her Domain

January 2014

On the flood defences down by the river.

Milestones 2014

To think that at the start of 2013 I was convinced Holly was not going to be with me for more than a few more weeks I think her being here in 2014 is a fairly major milestone.

She continues to be her normal self, demanding walkies and treats and more walkies. And just when I am convinced she is tired and will spend a while snoozing on the sofa, she decides its playtime and squeaks her toys at crucial points in TV dialogue. Ive taken to recording everything just so I can rewind and catch the bit of plotline that were drowned out by "squeak, squeak, squeak".

Her control of the internal plumbing is slowly reducing and her willingness to move on her own is decreasing as well. I am not sure if this is due to her finding it difficult to move independantly when not in her wheels or that she has worked out that it's easier to wait for me and the scarf-sling. When I return after being out she is never in the same place that I left her so I suspect that her ladyship is enjoying being spoiled with the assistance.

Even with the decreasing control the number of accidents she is having in the house is still fairly minimal and generally only because I have forgotten that she had a big drink of water or have not looked at a clock and realised how long it has been since she last went out. I have started to make use of the timer on the too-smart-for-its-own-good phone so that I don't have to keep an eye on the clock, the phone will 'ding' to remind me to take Holly round the garden at regular intervals.

I was checking the calendar this morning to check the date of an event happening in April and noticed that it is only 3 weeks to her 12th birthday. I think this is certainly worthy of being a milestone to be celebrated with a new toy (squeaky) and a bag of tripe sticks (for Holly & the cats, not me!)

Fluffy Fireworks

Many years ago I had a holiday on the Isle of Man and Holly came too. I worried about her being in the car on the catamaran, so I measured the inside of it and bought a crate with slightly smaller dimensions.

You may have spotted the error in the plan already, I had measured the inside of the car but not the size of the boot opening, the crate would have fitted in the car if I could have got it in there. I tried putting it in flat but there was not enough space to put it up inside the car. So in the end Holly travelled loose in the back of the car and was fine on the journey.

So I now had a nice big crate, but what to do with it?

Over the years it has been used to contain a kitten (Linus) and as a safe place for a confused cat (Olaf) and as somewhere to confine various critters (mostly cats) to when they were ill.

Holly did sometimes use it, usually in and around the 5th November every year. I would put the crate up and fill it with duvets and blankets and drape the outside in towels and sheets to make a cosy cave. When the first firework went off she would go and bury herself in the duvets and blankets and stay there until they stopped.

Then one year she wouldn't stay in there. Every time a firework went off she went to the crate and, if I encouraged her, she would get in. But she would not stay in there. It took me a couple of hours to work out what was wrong, she was all alone. In previous years Fluffy had joined her in the crate and stayed with her until everything was quiet. Fluffy was not bothered by the Fireworks but it had never occurred to me that she knew that Holly was frightened and needed some company. The year Holly wouldn't stay in was the first Bonfire night without Fluffy. Linus and Olaf would go in with her but would not stay.

My plans for that evening, and every subsequent night that fireworks go off, were scrapped. I transferred all the duvets and blankets onto the sofa, wrapped Holly up in them making sure I had an arm or a leg under too so she had some physical contact with me, and spent the evening watching t.v. or listening to music and reading a good book.

Bleargh!

The radio station I listen to has a feature on the weekend breakfast show called 1 word weather forecast. The idea is you email, text, tweet etc. a one word description of the weather where you are.

Tonight's one word weather forecast for where I live is "Bleargh!"

Fortunately Holly has declined an evening walk, which is just as well because the gusts of wine are almost blowing me over never mind a wobbly dog in a wheeled cart. A trip round the garden was quite enough for both of us, so this evening we are going to snuggle up on the sofa and hope the TV drowns out the 60 to 80 mph winds they have predicted for us.

I am also hoping that if we get a power cut it is after I have finished cooking my dinner.

Photo Favourites II

A few more photos from the archives

Linus demonstrates the art of elegance - feline style

Mono spent a lot of her time on her back waiting for you to rub her tummy

If Fluffy didn't want her photo taking she simply shut her eyes

Linus suffers from an inflated ego, this is him in his "worship me" phase

The inflated ego does mean that he can wear an empty salad box with dignity and pride

Holly does impressions, this is her take on the Turner and Hooch drool scene

Rain rain go away!

Up here in Yorkshire we are fortunate not to have flooded too badly so far this year.

However the back garden is starting to resemble a swamp rather than a lawn making it somewhat treacherous underfoot and the footprints on the kitchen floor are now a trail of mud.

This morning Holly slipped on one of the wet bits of the kitchen floor and did a very good Bambi impression before crash-landing on her left shoulder.

Poor old girl was a bit shaken and decided to stay where she had landed to eat breakfast (it takes a lot more than a tumble to put her off her food) and to watch me make my packup, or rather to make long hard covetous stares at the bowl containing egg mayonnaise to go in my sandwiches.

After looking thoroughly disappointed that the egg-mayo went in the sandwich and not into her bowl she perked up when her and the cats were allowed to perform a pre-wash lick of the mixing bowl before it went in the washing up. The walk across the kitchen floor to every animals favourite spot in the hallway (above the hot water pipes) was uneventful. I gave her shoulder a good going over and found that it's a little tender to the touch but otherwise feels ok. I suspect she will feel a little stiff and achy later on today. If she is then we may cancel tonights walk in favour of cuddles on the sofa and alternating ice-pack & hot-water bottle (both in fleecy covers) for her shoulder and my hip.

Yes a few months ago I too slipped on the mud and did my own Bambi impression but without the crash-landing. It feels like I have pulled something in my hip, it is still hurting now so I have actually made an appointment to get checked out by the doctor.

1 year wheeliversary

On the last Tuesday in January 2013 Holly and I were sat at home waiting for a large box to arrive in the post.

Ten days earlier Holly had been subjected to being measured and weighed and re-measured by me and my Dad. I had then filled in all the measurements on the dog-mobile website and now we were waiting for the wheels to arrive.

Its hard to believe that a whole year has passed since the wheels arrived, especially as we have passed both the 18 month and 2 year milestones since then. Holly is still loving her walks, we may not be going out and walking 16 miles in a day any more but we are still going out and exploring new places as well as revisiting old favourites.

This was taken last weekend, we were out and about in the fields down by the river in the morning and I managed to snap a quick photo of Holly up on top of a bit of banking surveying the surrounding area and enjoying the sunshine.

The Trouble with Training

Holly came to me when she was 7.5 weeks old and I started her training immediately. Nothing too serious, just saying "sit" when she naturally sat and other key words and phrases at the appropriate time to start the connections between action and words.

I also signed her up with the local dog training group for puppy socialisation classes and for the basic road safety obedience training.

Puppy socialisation started when she was able to go out after her vaccinations. She didn't really enjoy the classes. Even then she wasn't keen on boisterous bouncy puppies and would simply walk away from them and come back to me. She did play quite happily with a few other calm and quiet pups when the bouncy ones were out of the way and she loved the ladies running the sessions.

When she was about 6 months old she started the basic road safety training classes and loved them. Her basic skills expanded and she developed a real enthusiasm for learning. She passed the basic exam with flying colours and was invited to join the intermediate group.

After a couple of weeks off we started the intermediate group. This stretched not only her mind and abilities but mine as well. She hated the out of sight down-stay, but after being taken into the room where all the handlers went to she did start to stay provided she was placed directly opposite the door. The emergency stop was great fun because it was a polished floor, her legs stopped on command but she was moving at such high speed in the recall that it took several more feet before she came to a halt. The exam was entertaining, I had to be given written instructions. The trainer would call out to you to turn left or right, to go at a slow or fast pace and when to leave your dog in a sit or a down. Only Holly was also listening to these instructions as well as the ones from me. So by the time the exam came round she was starting the turn or the change of speed before I had told her to. So we had to do without verbal commands from the examiner. Holly came second out of the whole group in the exam and got a rosette and a trophy. I still have the rosette but the trophy had to be returned after 10 weeks for the next group.

After the intermediate came the advanced group. This wasn't formal training sessions like the basic and intermediate, but more a social gathering once a week that built on the skills and gave the dogs something new to learn.

I had always taught Holly to obey hand signals as well as voice commands as I am prone to laryngitis. One week the dogs were all laid down on one side of the hall and the handlers were stood on the opposite side with our backs to the dogs. The idea was you would issue a voice command and get your dog to change position. It was Holly and me to go first. The instructor asked me to get her to sit. So I called out for her to "sit". No reaction. I tried again, still no reaction from Holly. So I bellowed out in a proper sergeant major command voice "SIT!" The instructor burst out laughing as every dog except one had changed from a down to a sit. The one dog still in a down? Holly. I put my hand behind my back and gave the hand-signal for sit and she instantly sat up. She may be fairly clever but she also has a stubborn streak.

Every year there was an exam for the advanced group, nothing too formal and more of a social afternoon. Two particular tests remain firmly embedded in my mind.

As this was the advanced group we did a certain amount of work outside (in an enclosed area) when the weather was favourable. On the exam day the out of sight down stay was conducted outside. The dogs were all lined up and put in a down and then the handlers walked behind a building so we were out of sight. We heard laughter from the examiners and a few moments later a parade of dogs led by Holly appeared round the side of the building. She wasn't going to let me out of her sight and when she got up and moved the rest of them followed. We tried again with the same result, so Holly had to miss that test.

Back inside the hall and one of the tests was a retrieve. No problems you may think. Lots of problems, the dogs were being asked to retrieve a sausage!

There were two lines on the floor about 15 feet apart, you left your dog at the first line and went to place the sausage on the second line. You then returned to the first line and were not allowed to step over it again until the end of the exercise. Mostly the dogs just ran to the second line, ate the sausage and returned. Holly got some marks for style. We had been warned about this task a week before the event so she and I had been practising with frozen hot-dogs. The sausage on the day was a vegetarian one as it was thought this would give the dogs most chance. Holly went to the second line, picked up the sausage and started back towards me with the sausage. She stopped a couple of feet short, sat down and ate the sausage before taking the last few steps back to me. Some marks awarded for effort, none for the actual retrieve but several for style.

Shortly after this we moved house and couldn't make those training classes any more. But I still run Holly thorough training routines to keep her active and thinking. Linus joins in as well, he worked out that it was a good way to get a treat. So while he may not win any rosettes for obedience Linus will come on command, sit when asked to and walk to heel - provided, that is, that he feels motivated enough to earn a treat.