I’m taking a break!

Posted on December 23, 2018 by patinkingsheath

 

I forgot to mention in the last post that there will be no blog entries from today until Wednesday January 2nd 2019

 

Human.

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Isis the visitor

Posted on December 23, 2018 by patinkingsheath

 

 

Posting days: Sunday and Wednesday and, sometimes, maybe, extra bits in between.

 

Sunday December 23rd 2018

 

Yesterday was grey and overcast with occasional drifts of fine rain, and Isis enjoyed herself immensely.

 

 

 

 

 

Recently, once we’ve walked to the top of the pine avenue, I let her off the lead and allow her to choose her itinerary. I favour the higher ground because it’s drier. She chooses the lowest path.

As we squelch and slither, a voice hails us from above.

It’s R. with his dog Daisy. He’s standing on the topmost, now horizontal,  branch of the huge beech tree which was brought down by a storm over a year ago. Daisy is sitting patiently on the lowest branch waiting for him.

He comes down to greet us. I’ve not seen him for at least eighteen months, and we stand and chat for about thirty minutes.

Daisy, a sweet black spaniel, stands or sits close to her person while we chat.

Not our Isis. She finds a large expanse of mud and dances in it. Each time she pops out to check in with me, she is blacker than the time before, but she’s enjoying herself so much, I just let her return to her mud patch until, eventually, she comes back, walks past me and sets off towards the bee hives.

I recapture her and we descend to the main path, visit the ‘clean pool’ – as I call it – to give Hairy a good wash, then, released once more, she sets off in the direction of the walled garden, turns left and scrambles up the bank and onto the higher, landscaped level. Here she trots around a big tree surrounded by holly and other shrubs until she comes to find me and I put her back on lead.

In the car park we meet Y and Blitzi. We’ve not met up with them since last summer, so I usher Isis into the car and have another long chat.

Polymath is expecting me to visit. I’m very late. Highbury is more than half way between home and Selly Park where she now lives, so I decide to go straight there, taking Isis with me.

She has visited twice before but finds the stairs scary, particularly coming back down them. (Claustraphobic Human avoids the lift.)

With encouragement, Isis makes her way upstairs. But silly Human turns sharply at the top, causing poor Isis to skid on the highly polished floor.

“Oh dog! That’ll be it,” I think, “it’s going to be hell getting her to walk now.”

It is. Gentle tugs at the lead are useless. She braces herself and skitters on the shiny surface. In the end, it’s a slack lead and continuous ‘come on, it’s all right’ taps under the chin which do the trick as we make our very, very, slow trek to Polymath’s door.

Polymath, as always, is very pleased to see one of the animals. (Daisy has also made two visits.)

I’ve forgotten to put a drinking bowl in the new car but A. kindly brings Isis a plastic tumbler. Although Isis looks rather surprised at this unusual dog bowl, she has a drink.

Even though she must be tired after her whirl in the park, Isis is not a dog who is able to relax in an unfamiliar environment. We have to draw the curtains as the sun has decided to peer in at us, then we have to switch the overhead light off because it’s bothering her.

She leaps up and woofs a deep warning when carers enter the room, and Polymath has to keep assuring them that she is not an aggressive dog. I note  with interest that whereas females only get a muffled ‘yaff’, when D., a male nurse, comes into the room, he is assailed by three full throated barks.

Perhaps I shouldn’t have brought her.

But Polymath disagrees. She thinks that Isis has been quite a good dog considering that it’s only her third visit, I’ve not brought her bed and she had to drink from a plastic cup! And, although she was restive, she stayed beside me most of the time.

Polymath is sure that the more Isis visits, the more relaxed she’ll be.

Perhaps she’s right; certainly, our journey down the two long flights of stairs is accomplished more easily than before. She responds well to the reassurances I give her. There are no refusals. Her tail is not between her legs, and she navigates each step carefully but more confidently than before.

I’ll take her again on Christmas Day with her bed, a bowl, and a chunk or two of cheese

 

Isis came from the Aeza cat and dog rescue and adoption centre in Aljezur, Portugal. For information about adopting an animal from the centre, contact kerry@aeza.org or  www.dogwatchuk.co.uk

Posted in deaf/blind dog plays, Highbury Park, I'm off my lead!, running, walking my deaf/blind dog, we don't like bright sun | Tagged , , , , , | Leave a comment

hello Roo

Posted on December 19, 2018 by patinkingsheath

 

 

Posting days: Sunday and Wednesday and, sometimes, maybe, extra bits in between.

 

Wednesday December 19th 2018

 

It’s raining in Kings Heath Park on Tuesday, and here are Rufus in a fetching dark chocolate and Nancy in an alluring black.

Their new fleece coats are not only warm but waterproof.

When she measured them, Bev tells me, they came out exactly the same.

 

 

 

 

In fact, as Rufus demonstrates below,

 

 

 

 

his garment is the real haute couture, fitting him perfectly. Nancy, though is not quite as tall as her brother and not quite as long in the body, so hers comes further down her legs and is a bit wrinkly on her back.

But they both look lovely and are well smart enough to meet a new arrival.

 

***********

 

Sadly, over the last eighteen months, we have said goodbye to quite a number of canine old timers, and some not so old, too.

Handsome boxer Elmo’s family members were devastated when he died.

M.’s wife and daughters wanted another dog but, M. explained, he found it so difficult to get over the loss of Elmo, that for a long time, he wasn’t even ready to contemplate it.

A month ago he succumbed to the pleas of the rest of the family. They scoured the rescue sites and found

 

 

 

 

puppy Roo, just five months old.

Roo is  from Romania. He was found with his mother and siblings on an old airstrip and rescued.

He has only been with his new family for a month and they already dote on him.

He is an affectionate, happy, confident pup who already comes back when he is called, even if he’s introducing himself to another dog. He sits beautifully and waits patiently for a treat: no begging, jumping up or snatching, and he walks nicely on the lead.

He is so circumspect when he comes across Isis that she doesn’t even drop her tail, just carries on dancing and clacking her teeth.

What a beautiful boy.

 

Isis came from the Aeza cat and dog rescue and adoption centre in Aljezur, Portugal. For information about adopting an animal from the centre, contact kerry@aeza.org or  www.dogwatchuk.co.uk

Posted in adopted dogs, deaf/blind dog plays, Kings Heath Park, park dogs, rescue dogs, the dogs of King's Heath Park, walking in the park, walking my deaf/blind dog | Tagged , , | 4 Comments

a dog’s delight

Posted on December 16, 2018 by patinkingsheath

 

 

Posting days: Sunday and Wednesday and, sometimes, maybe, extra bits in between.

 

Sunday December 16th 2018

 

Isis has had a wonderfully wild weekend.

Saturday is horrible: very grey, with continual, painfully cold, drifting rain which arrives in wind driven sheets. No let-up all day.

Now, quite a number of dogs, according to their owners, dislike this kind of weather and refuse to go out.

Isis, as we know, is not one of these.

 

 

 

 

 

I pile on five layers: thermal vest, polo-necked, long sleeved cotton jumper, heavy marine type jumper, quilted gilet, and then an everything proofed, well insulated, squall jacket. Neck warmer, thick socks, ski type trousers with a quilted lining, waterproof over-trousers and walking boots complete my ensemble.

Despite the deluge, the Pawfect Dogsense trainers are valiantly running their last session before the holiday. I only see two other dogs during the ninety minutes we spend in the park.

Isis, of course is ecstatic. She spends all of her walk gleefully running up and down on the deserted old bowling green, twirling and clacking her teeth.

A dog has left behind the rope part of its ball on a rope. I offer it to Isis who is very pleased and plays the game she plays with her snakes: she lets go of the rope mid spin, runs off and then returns to search for her prize. Then off she goes again, repeating the routine over and over.

She shows no sign of slowing down, and, eventually, I walk over to her, place my hand on her soggy back and attach her lead.

We squelch back to the car park where Hannah is packing training equipment back into her van.

We stop to say hello, and Hannah gives Isis two presents – a pigs ear and a lovely squishy ball wrapped in gold paper.

I thank her and ask what we have done to deserve presents.

“I’ve known you both for a long time,” she replies, “Isis is so beautiful and you’ve both done so well.”

What a lovely end to a great walk.

 

Isis came from the Aeza cat and dog rescue and adoption centre in Aljezur, Portugal. For information about adopting an animal from the centre, contact kerry@aeza.org or  www.dogwatchuk.co.uk

Posted in deaf/blind dog plays, dog school, I'm off my lead!, Kings Heath Park, running running, scenting, twirling, walking my deaf/blind dog | Tagged , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

a little patch of heaven

Posted on December 12, 2018 by patinkingsheath

 

Posting days: Sunday and Wednesday and, sometimes, maybe, extra bits in between.

 

Wednesday December 11th 2018

 

Just realised that I was one day ahead on Sunday. I suspect that inaccurate dates are not infrequent on the blog.

I think Isis particularly enjoys her early morning park walks on Wednesdays (when Human has to rise early to get to her art group). Usually, there are only a few dog walkers around and whole dogless areas. This suits Hairy One perfectly. She’s not a dog lover, sadly.

Often, on these mornings, instead of trotting off determinedly in the direction of the Colour Garden as soon as I unclip her lead, she pauses and makes different choices.

Today, she runs onto the old bowling green, catches an irresistible scent and returns to the bank from which she launched herself. For minutes, her nose is glued to one spot on the grass. Then she veers off a few inches to the right, a few to the left, two or three inches up the bank, then backtracks. As always, I’d love to know who left that scent.

Clearly, Isis knows, and she spends several minutes examining all the available clues before advancing towards the little tracks by the railway line.

Here, she follows someone’s scent up to and along the picket fence which encloses the park’s plant nursery. Next, she has a thorough sniff at the surrounding tree trunks, twigs and  plants.

Ah, obviously this is a morning for information gathering.

She sniff-checks my hand before proceeding along the path. This phenomenon has increased noticeably since she got lost by the dragonfly pond in Highbury Park a few weeks ago. Previously, she charged ahead once she knew where she was going. Now she tends to wait until she can smell me or touch me with her nose.

I am delighted that this checking in has become routine, as I am able to give her more and more freedom.

The little track breaks off when it meets the tarmac path, and I stop to speak to a runner whom I have not seen for a while. Isis trots along a few yards to where the track resumes. But instead of pottering off nonchalantly, she keeps returning to the beginning until I make a move.

She walks up to the wire fence which separates the old T.V. Garden from the woodland, then sniffs along it until she finds the small, shallow tunnel which she recently came across beneath the fence.

When she first discovered the tunnel, she was mesmerised and began to dig vigorously, attempting, it appeared, to enlarge it so that she could squirm  through. Clearly, it is someone’s private tunnel: someone, who, I suspect, sleeps in the garden during the day and pops out into the park  at night.

She doesn’t attempt to dig her way into the Garden like she did last time, so I just stand and watch her as she sniffs and snuffles and snorts.

 

 

Eventually, she turns away to seek further adventures.

 

 

There’s a lot for a dog to do around here.

 

 

One could step to the left and carry on sniffing under the fence. But then, this springy thing is fun. When you jump on it it attacks you.

 

 

Whoops! Like that.
I’ll have another go.

 

 

Another option is to climb this big heap of leaves I can smell.

 

 

It’s tricky though; every time I scrabble up it, the leaves fall off and I slide down again.

 

 

I have lots of goes and lots of leaves stick to me.

 

 

Perhaps it’ll work better from this angle.

 

 

No it doesn’t.

Pwfuff.

 

 

I’ll try creeping up on it from behind this tree.

 

 

I don’t give up easily. I pop back round the other side and try scrambling up to the top.

I try again and again and again.

Then, as soon as Human puts her phone away and zips up her pocket, I do it!

Yay!

“Time to go home.”

Pwfuff!

It’s been a good walk, though.

 

Isis came from the Aeza cat and dog rescue and adoption centre in Aljezur, Portugal. For information about adopting an animal from the centre, contact kerry@aeza.org or  www.dogwatchuk.co.uk

Posted in deaf/blind dog plays, dear little Isis, I'm off my lead!, Kings Heath Park, relationship building, scenting | Tagged , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

more visits to Highbury

Posted on December 9, 2018 by patinkingsheath

 

 

Posting days: Sunday and Wednesday and, sometimes, maybe, extra bits in between.

 

Sunday December 9th 2018

 

Very disappointing. Just uploaded a video of Isis in Highbury park. Played back on the phone, the quality is as good as it used to be, but when transferred to the blog, it’s horribly degraded (like the last one I published).

I’ll have to take the camera next time.

We’re in Highbury on Saturday and today. And is Isis too nervous to leave the car after her fall last week?

Not at all, though when I give her free reign to decide where she wants to go, she shuns the woodland walks and stays in the lower areas.

She elects to spend most of her time cavorting around her favourite rosebay willow herb patch, before exploring the alternative routes which run roughly parallel to the main path.

These areas are much more enticing than the tarmacked paths. Not only do they smell much more interesting from a canine point of view, they also require a dog to clambour over tree trunks, slide about on rows of slippery logs pushed together to form little bridges, barge her way through mini plantations of straggly saplings, and detach herself from trip-upping creepers. Best of all, they also require a human to follow her in case she gets lost. I imagine doggy sniggers.

Isis tells me that her decision is nothing at all to do with being frightened of falling off a wall. That wasn’t a mistake: she meant to do it.

Dogs are very courageous. They’re not afraid of anything – well, only stripy sun- and-shade weather. They just choose sometimes to stay on terra firma.

Now and then though, she explains, they land up somewhere they’ve not been before and have to stop to think. That’s what this dog is doing.

 

 

 

 

 

Her tail isn’t down because she’s nervous. Absolutely not. It’s down because she’s thinking.

She’s not at all nervous. No way. She’s pondering the advantages of high up and low down.

In her opinion, apparently, standing on these bark chippings

 

 

 

 

 

is quite high up enough for any dog.

 

 

 

See. Here she is, below, tail up and ready to begin the obstacle course.

 

 

 

 

 

“Ready Human?”

Sigh.

 

 

Isis came from the Aeza cat and dog rescue and adoption centre in Aljezur, Portugal. For information about adopting an animal from the centre, contact kerry@aeza.org or  www.dogwatchuk.co.uk

Posted in Highbury Park, I'm off my lead!, walking in the park, walking my deaf/blind dog, we don't like bright sun | Tagged , , , , , , | 4 Comments

is Isis recovering?

Posted on December 5, 2018 by patinkingsheath

 

 

Posting days: Sunday and Wednesday and, sometimes, maybe, extra bits in between.

 

Wednesday December 6th 2018

 

Your sympathetic comments about poor Hairy One’s accident are much appreciated. Thank you all.

But is I. S. right when he observes

‘ … poor dog, but they tend to recover quite quickly from these incidents.’ ?

Twice I examine Isis meticulously. She’s surprisingly tolerant, though she draws the line at my manipulating her tail between finger and thumb.

Fair enough.

I still worry that I might have missed an injury, that she’s in pain, just not showing it.

Next day I tell Gr. of my concerns as we stand in the rain on the grass above the old bowling green. I’m know I’m looking worried as we both instinctively glance at the patient.

“Yes, very worrying,” we agree as we watch her looping and galumphing over the grass, leaping up to catch the raindrops. “But she doesn’t seem in too much pain!”

 

 

 

 

 

Half an hour later, she appears to be bearing up reasonably well in the Colour Garden too!

She is, indeed, a resilient dog.

 

Isis came from the Aeza cat and dog rescue and adoption centre in Aljezur, Portugal. For information about adopting an animal from the centre, contact kerry@aeza.org or  www.dogwatchuk.co.uk

Posted in deaf/blind dog plays, dear little Isis, I'm off my lead!, Kings Heath Park, running running | Tagged , , , , , , | 4 Comments

Isis has a shock

Posted on December 2, 2018 by patinkingsheath

 

 

Posting days: Sunday and Wednesday and, sometimes, maybe, extra bits in between.

 

Sunday December 2nd 2018

 

 

Poor Isis. On Saturday a puppy follows her, jumping up on her all the way from the field above the old bowling green to Hairy One’s dancing mound and into the Colour Garden. The little pest doesn’t return to her (obviously untrained) owner until Isis retreats into her favourite flower bed and leans into a shrub.

She recovers quickly, though, much more quickly than she would have done even a few months ago. After two under-the-chin taps she comes out of the bed and carries on playing as if nothing has happened.

Unfortunately, today, too, is not without trauma.

We are in Highbury by 11.00 a.m. so that Isis can have a good, long walk. Over the last few weeks, her interest in her much loved pine avenue appears to have waned.

On two occasions, she disappears rapidly from the avenue and in the blink of an eye appears at the edge of the beech wood. Today, she’s not even interested enough to approach the pines, but makes straight for the wood.

Much to her annoyance, I refuse to allow her to wade through the thick mud of the path we usually take, and insist instead that we walk along a different route.

After a short temper tantrum, she acquiesces and we make our way uphill towards the back of Highbury Hall (where Neville Chamberlain used to live). Generally, Isis quickens her pace at this point and trots towards the garden at the back so that I have to pelt after her to turn her round before she trespasses on the elegant lawn.

She must have become bored with being diverted, for today she turns off right and makes her way towards a large grassy mound on which she used to love to dance. And dance. And dance.

I’m hoping that she’ll carry on up over the mound to the track which will take us through the top woodland walk and down into the Community Orchard.

She doesn’t. She loves to explore the slopes below the mound, and down she goes, sniffing her way along little dead ends, stopping when she’s confronted with impenetrable brambles or stems.

I watch her carefully, ready to dissuade her from disappearing into undergrowth or beneath shrubs from which I will struggle to extricate her.

Suddenly, she is walking towards the side edge of a wall I didn’t know existed.

 

 

 

 

 

By the time I realise this, she has already reached what on the photo above is the far right.

From where I am standing, also far to the right and facing the tree, I can’t see how steep the drop is. I can only see the edge.

I  can do nothing to stop her. As I lurch forward, she walks across the leaf covered grass and disappears over the edge of the highest section.

She doesn’t make a sound, not even a squeak.

 

 

 

 

 

I shoot round the trees just in time to see poor Isis on her side in the leaves a couple of feet from the base of the wall. I see that it’s a four foot drop from the edge. As I watch, she squirms to her feet, shakes herself and slowly moves further down the slope. Thank goodness she fell onto a thick layer of leaves and not onto packed earth or concrete.

Unsurprisingly, she looks dazed.

I scrabble down after her, comfort her, turn her round, guide her back up the slope, over the mound and onto the top track.

Usually, once she’s on this track, she moves forward quite confidently. Today, though, she doesn’t walk in front of me, stopping every now and then for me to catch up so that she can check on me. She stays by my side and needs much encouragement to continue.

She loves Highbury and never wants to leave. But today, once we’ve made our way down from the orchard, Isis still off lead, she walks back and forth, back and forth for at least five minutes. I can’t imagine what she’s doing, but now realise that she must have been working out which direction she needed to take. Incredibly, she doesn’t stop to play in the rose bay willow herb patch, but sniffs her way slowly, carefully, looping across the field, onto the main path and towards the car park. It’s quite a stretch and takes her about ten minutes.

She’s never done this before. She’s never walked to the car park off lead. She’s never willingly even approached the car park.

Today I’ve parked in a place I’ve not parked before, on the far side, the side closest to the exit. To my astonishment, she walks straight to the car and waits by the door to be let in.

When we get home, she’ll not get out of the car. She’s obviously afraid and doesn’t trust that the pavement will be where it should be.

I have to pull her out on her blanket.

Thankfully, she doesn’t appear to be hurt. I feel all over her body. I can’t detect any lumps or grazes and she doesn’t flinch. I hate to think about the injuries she could have sustained.

Poor Isis.

So sorry little dog.

 

Isis came from the Aeza cat and dog rescue and adoption centre in Aljezur, Portugal. For information about adopting an animal from the centre, contact kerry@aeza.org or  www.dogwatchuk.co.uk

Posted in dear little Isis, Highbury Park, Isis in danger, park dogs, poor Isis, scenting, walking in the park, walking my deaf/blind dog | Tagged , , , , , , | 6 Comments

it’s all your fault, Isis

Posted on November 29, 2018 by patinkingsheath

 

 

Posting days: Sunday and Wednesday and, sometimes, maybe, extra bits in between.

 

Wednesday November 29th 2018

 

It’s all your fault, Isis.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Human has to set her alarm for 6.30 a.m. on Wednesdays so that she can take you to the park before she sets off for her art group.

Inevitably, of course, she then stays awake most of the night telling herself she must go to sleep soon because she has to rise obscenely early next morning.

When the alarm goes off, she puts one foot out of the bed to fool herself that she really is about to get up. Before she knows it, she’s lurching towards the clock trying to convince herself that it isn’t 7.00 a.m. yet.

It is.

Oh my dog! ****, **** and even more ****.

After the briefest of ablutions, she staggers downstairs, grabs your collar from the cupboard doorknob and staggers into the back room where you are deeply asleep.

A hand placed for a few seconds under your nose is all it takes for you to awake in a warm fluffiness of delight.

Unlike Human, you’re thrilled to be woken up so early.

A walk! Oh joy!

Ecstatic, you prance to the front door. Somnambulant, Human stumbles behind you.

In the porch you buck and twirl as she struggles to wrap your harness around your silky, slippery neck.

“Please don’t bark in my ear. Not this morning. It’s all too much for me.”

“BWOWWOWWOWWOWWOW .. YERRRRAPPP .. WOO HOO HOO HOO WOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!”

Thanks a million Isis.

 

Isis came from the Aeza cat and dog rescue and adoption centre in Aljezur, Portugal. For information about adopting an animal from the centre, contact kerry@aeza.org or  www.dogwatchuk.co.uk

Posted in deaf/blind dog plays, dear little Isis, Isis at home, Isis is no angel, Kings Heath Park, sleeping, walking in the park, walking my deaf/blind dog | Tagged , , | Leave a comment

chilly chihuahuas

Posted on November 25, 2018 by patinkingsheath

 

 

Posting days: Sunday and Wednesday and, sometimes, maybe, extra bits in between.

 

Sunday November 25th 2018

 

Now it’s shivery November and most of the small dogs are wearing their winter coats: two chihuahuas whom I know well have very Christmassy jackets.

Not only miniature breeds, greyhounds and whippets, for whom coats are a must, are dressed in their winter attire but some large, shaggy dogs too. (I always fantasise that the latter are feeling rather self conscious in their coats.)

Isis, of course, has no truck with off the peg clothing. She is growing her own. She looks fatter and fluffier by the day. It’s great in the house when she’s growing her winter coat as I can abandon the mohair look and rejoice in the knowledge that there is scarcely a hair waiting to float up my nose or into my coffee. There are only the occasional, small tufts which she barbers off when very annoyed, usually by lights and shadows or the temporary removal of her breakfast when she forgets how to behave at the table.

She is very last month fashionwise though. I am told that yellow ochre is decidedly à la mode at present but this winter Isis has chosen brilliant white and Payne’s grey.

“Again?”, I remonstrate. But to no avail.

I have to admit, though, she does look beautiful

 

 

 

 

 

even with grass and leaves decorating her beard.

 

Isis came from the Aeza cat and dog rescue and adoption centre in Aljezur, Portugal. For information about adopting an animal from the centre, contact kerry@aeza.org or  www.dogwatchuk.co.uk

Posted in dear little Isis, Highbury Park, I'm off my lead!, park dogs, the dogs of King's Heath Park, walking my deaf/blind dog | Tagged , , , | 4 Comments