Photo Scavenger Hunt - November

Leigh thought she might just make it for this month's photo scavenger hunt. She has been looking through old photos and thought some of them might just do for this one. Sadly I only feature in a few but we will have to make up for that another time!

This is a LUCKY CHARM keyring with lots of doggy features!

A POPPY growing in a crevice by the sea in Scotland - guarded by a young seagull!

SELF PORTRAIT - had to be me really as I'm the most photogenic :-)

COMFORT FOOD - Leigh's favourite chocolate!

Our garden MEMORIAL to family members who have crossed the Rainbow Bridge: Sheba (Leigh's cat); Maisie & Zeta (2 mini schnauzer sisters who passed over the Bridge before I came to live here). The lady who carves the memorial stones is working on one for my brother Kaska.

I'm just checking if there's anything left in Caoimhe's POLKA DOT bowl - no chance!

A SILHOUETTE of a horse made of crystals from an exhibition in Belsay Castle in Northumberland.

The PURPLE Man in York who rides his PURPLE Bike with a PURPLE Dog in the basket!

Back in York at the Food Market where the stalls all LIGHT UP to show off the food - yummy!

This is a joint work of art really by me and Caoimhe - a shoe sculpture MADE BY US !

 

This is an old photo of the STAIRCASE with Kaska at the top -  me in the middle - and Alfie Crybbe at the bottom

And a photo of me and Aoife when she was a little pup snuggling up on the rug by the cooker for WARMTH!

A Mist-erious Place

Last Sunday Leigh and Judith took me and Kaska on a trip to a new place - it is an arboretum at Castle Howard and they welcome dogs even off lead as long as they are well-behaved which of course we always are :-))
But when we arrived a thick mist came down and we could not see very far ahead - not that we dogs need to see when we can smell - it was a good excuse for furtling!

As you can see I did get very wet and muddy but Leigh did manage to get some pictures of things we could see - just:

A ruined castle wall.

A sculpture of a bird in the lake.

Some strange trees.

Toadstools.

Branches with webs.

Spooky sculptured faces.

Sculptured tree trunks

Can you see me under this strange building?

These were what were hanging from the roof - you can tell the age of the trees by their rings.

And Kaska had a chance to have a bit of furtling too - he really enjoyed himself there!

Maybe another day we can go when it's not so misty!

Postscript from Leigh

Just to say thank you to all the blogging friends who have sent kind messages regarding Kaska. For those who did not know he had been living with spinal cord damage for 18 months which was gradually cutting off messages from his brain to his hindquarters. We were so lucky to have him with us for much longer than the original diagnosis. When he was diagnosed in June 2010 we were told he might only manage another 3 months. His determination and courage to continue to try and walk together with the support of his wheels kept him going until this week. Until a few months ago Kaska had been pain free but this began to change and he started a course of pain relief a few months ago. Two weeks back it was evident that things were suddenly getting a lot worse. Kaska could not move his back legs very well - they did support him standing just about but he fell if not in his wheels. He could not raise or turn himself unaided if he was lying down and internally things were slowing down (his bowels etc). The vet prescribed a strong steroid pain killer which was becoming necessary by this time and it was clear we had to make the awful decision to let our boy go peacefully and with some dignity. The vet came out to our house and Kaska was sleeping in his special spot on the sofa so there was no stress for him and afterwards the other dogs came to say goodbye. When he was a tiny puppy we had taken him to Westonbirt Arboretum for one of his very first outings. He had been so excited at the smells he had rushed around snorting away at everything and we decided for his last day to take him to another arboretum. As luck would have it a heavy mist came down and everything was damp there but nevertheless Kaska enjoyed himself. He rode in the pet stroller for part of the way round, and used his wheels for a bit and then we let him have a little furtle around without the wheels. He could not go very far but his snorting was just as loud as when he was a pup. Kaska always lived every moment to the full and he did that Sunday too!

Somewhere Over the Rainbow

Yesterday was a very sad day for us all. My brother Kaska crossed over the Rainbow Bridge and we are missing him very much. I will get back to blogging again soon about my adventures but today Leigh is putting up a kind of memory tree of pictures of Kaska from when he first came to live with the family eleven years ago.

Here is Kaska the day he arrived as a little ball of fluff being inspected by Maisie who was head of the canine household back then.

Kaska investigating the guinea pigs' run.

Kaska needing a hair cut!

Kaska in his show cut. He won many prizes at dog shows and became the very first miniature schnauzer dog to gain 1st place in the Good Citizen Dog class at Crufts in 2004 the year it was first introduced.

Kaska (centre) on the Norfolk Broads with his sisters Maisie (L) and Zeta (R).

On holiday in Wales with Maisie (R) and Zeta (L)

Kaska on his 11th birthday this August.

Kaska with his Dog of Courage Awards from DBARC in recognition of his struggle with disability after his spinal cord trauma.

Kaska on an outing the day before he died.

"Goodnight sweet prince and flights of angels sing thee to thy rest"

A Tiring Week

Hi this is me - Caoimhe taking over Magic's blog for a day. I thought I would show you a picture of me modelling a lovely Christmas bandana made by Dex & Lou's Mum for the Northern Schnauzer Club shop. I wanted to wear it all day but I was entered for a show and had to take it off. Leigh said it would be safer on a Steiff schnauzer whatever that is! Here is my rival for the bandana with Alfie Crybbe posing beside it:

Our whole canine family went to the Northern Schnauzer Club Championship show on Saturday as Leigh & Judith are running the shop to raise funds for the club. They have lots of schnauzery things and people came to buy their Christmas cards and stocking fillers.

There were so many schnauzers at the show from minis of different colours to standards and Giants! I was just old enough to enter as a minor puppy and there were eleven other puppies in the ring with me. I wasn't too sure about those others especially one who kept making faces at me. Anyway I didn't win anything but I did get chicken treats just the same and met lots of people who thought I was very smart even if I didn't get a prize. I have another show next month in Birmingham so I will let you know how I get on there.

Anyway when we got home I wanted to play with my toys but after a little while I was so tired I just fell asleep with my Teddy. We had been up at 5 am and even we dogs don't usually get up that early!

Bark and Read

This is Aoife posing with one of her favourite books to help me tell you about a new scheme being launched in the UK this weekend. It's called Bark and Read! Sadly there are lots of children who don't know how to read even though they are going to school. They get scared about making mistakes and being laughed at if they say the wrong word so they just don't look at books. Of course if they were like Caoimhe they would probably be eating them!

But as you know we dogs are not so mean as to laugh if someone makes a mistake and we are quite happy to lie down and snooze if little peeps want to read us a story - we won't mind if they don't know a word or stumble when they read. This kind of scheme has been successful in the United States and now the Kennel Club in England are launching a foundation to support schemes like Pets as Therapy and Reading Education Assistance Dogs that take dogs into classrooms so that children can read to them and become more confident about reading books.

It is being launched at Discover Dogs which is a big event where people can go and meet dogs and find out about different breeds - and about this new scheme. It is on at the weekend 12-13 November at Earls Court in London. Children under 12 go free and can go and read to dogs in a special area set aside for them.

If you want to know more about it you can find it on the Kennel Club website:
www.thekennelclub.org.uk/barkandread

We think it is a very good idea because if the little peeps grow up not knowing how to read how are they going to read about our blogging adventures or the books that tell them about how to look after us? You have to plan for the future and little peeps are our future owners!

I also wanted to tell you about a great day I had yesterday at York Racecourse but it was so dark and misty the pictures did not come out very well! That was Leigh's excuse anyway but we met a lovely mini schnauzer puppy called Daisy with her owner and had a good time chasing seagulls:

This is Daisy in her lovely bandana and here she is with me. I'm looking a bit cross because I thought Daisy might have been going to get a treat for her lovely pose!

I did so much running on that racecourse that when I got home I just had to snooze for the rest of the evening - and my sister lay down to keep me company even though she hadn't been running at all!

Do they know it's nearly Christmas?

Here's a picture of me and Aoife enjoying the sunshine in...November! Leigh is busy making the Christmas cake and buying Christmas presents and in the garden it is warm and sunny and the flowers are still blooming:

This lovely rose is called Gertrude Jekyll after a famous English garden designer and writer. It hasn't bloomed until now! And the borders are still bright:

Oh well if the flowers don't know it's nearly Christmas maybe we shouldn't worry either. My little sister Aoife has never seen a winter yet - I won't tell her about the snow and ice and frost and -15C last year. Just let her enjoy the sunshine:

K9 Life Rules

There seems to have been so much unhappy news on the TV that when Leigh found a little piece in the dog magazine about canine life rules she thought maybe if more peeps took notice of dogs there might not be so much bad news. So she's put a few of the comments here and added some of her own:

Always be happy to greet loved ones when they come home - or even just visiting!

Never pass up an opportunity to go out for a ride in the fresh air with the wind in your face.

Run, romp and play daily.

Just because someone doesn't look like you doesn't mean you don't share the same interests.

No matter how often you get in trouble don't bear a grudge and don't buy into the guilt thing - run back and make friends.

Take plenty of naps and stretch before rising.

If what you want is buried, dig until you find it.

Delight in the simple joy of a long walk.

On warm days relax, lie down on the grass and enjoy the sun.

When someone is having a bad day, be silent, sit close by and nuzzle them gently.... And remember if all else fails a cup of tea can do wonders to cheer you up:

Wishing all our K9 friends and their peeps and other furry companions a great day!