Pic of the day – Catching up

Life’s slowly returning to normal after a trying month

Tricolour rough coated Border collie with a black and tan Australian Kelpie puppy
Tucker, with his hero Bronwen, and Odo’s hairy self in evidence at the back

There’s been a distinct lack of news here in recent weeks, due to our domestic ‘flu epidemic (if two makes an epidemic). Luckily we weren’t ill at the same time, but for some weeks we’ve been operating with a skeleton staff, first Andy and then me, just keeping things ticking over and the dogs clean, exercised and fed.

Work on the online tutorials had to be suspended, and we were very disappointed to re-schedule the first training day of 2016. Originally planned for February 20th, we moved it to March 5th and were forced to cancel the second date too!

Black and white smooth coated collie puppy
Pippin’s done some serious growing since she last appeared in a blog

That’s unprecedented in our years of running training courses and we can only apologise to everyone affected.

We vaccinate the dogs against preventable illnesses, but don’t think to do the same for ourselves. Needless to say, Andy will be delivered to our GP at the earliest opportunity for his ‘flu jab this year. I’m too young for such indulgence, but luckily women are never so ill as men…

sheepdog puppy Tesla looking at the camera
Tesla, on the look out for attackers. Well, one attacker.

When you see a young dog everyday you don’t notice the changes in them, but an absence of even a day or two can show a marked difference.

While Andy and I have been ill, little Pippin (aka Jazz) has entered her leggy phase, and has become a committed pack member. Perhaps the extra height gives her confidence, but even a week ago Pippin really wasn’t happy being out with all the dogs together.

Border collies playing in a flooded field
Localised flooding might pose a problem for the rest of us, but the dogs love it!

Pippin and (Kelpie) Tucker spend hours playing together on the lawn and are great friends. However, once they’re out in the field, Pippin takes up an outside position to observe the other dogs and join in when she can, while Tucker divides his time between trying to get Bronwen’s attention and his relentless mortal combat with Tesla.

Andy’s first tentative walk out with the dogs happened to be the morning after a night of heavy rain and strong winds.

The resulting paddling opportunities kept the dogs, and Andy, thoroughly entertained so the disc throwing and football kicking was kept to a minimum, suitable for a convalescent.


BORDER COLLIE SHEEPDOGS – OFF DUTY! (DVD)

WATCH THIS TRAILER!

video
play-sharp-fill

Watch Pearl and our other dogs in action on this preview of our first DVD Border Collie Sheepdogs – Off Duty! (You’ll love it.) The DVD is available from our Online DVD Store. The price includes shipping worldwide – and we automatically ship the correct format for your country. More info.


Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *