Posts filed under ‘Cavalcade of Whimsy’
Once More Unto the Beach…
“Experts” tell us that today may be the last scorching hot day for the foreseeable, so the only possibly course of action was clear: head to the beach!
The scene of today's adventures - at Northam with the golden sand of Braunton Beach in the distance.
Mingus head shot.
Mingus sneaks up on some fast-moving seaweed.
Mingus self-stacking (sort of).
and Phoenix nearly manages the same trick.
Follow the leader.
The big boing!
Hungarian Wirehaired Sea Otter?
Toothsome.
A Mingus in the grass is worth two in the hedge.
Like most dogs Mingus has always enjoyed a good old chew, but now, as his final adult teeth come through, he’s become possessed with the need to fill 95% of his waking time with chewing.
So, much like Phoenix before him, Mingus has now got into the habit of bringing a bone along with him for his walks, but is never too busy with that to pass up the chance to chew, and preferably run around with, something more interesting… leading to some ambitious projects:
Now that's what I call a log.
Freedom!
Now that Mingus is getting on for 5 months old we are finally able to start taking him out for slightly longer walks, and this week – for pretty much the first time – we took Phoenix and Mingus for a few trips out together, resulting in much jollity and frolicking all round (a week of non stop sunshine certainly didn’t hurt either!)
Yippee!!
Huzzah!!
The pack also expanded this week with the arrival of Tim’s son Fred who was down for the Easter Hols., and who, as ever, was seamlessly integrated into the wolf/human hierarchy as we all hit the beaches and the moors.
Mingus, Phoenix & Fred in action - skimming stones at Lyme Bay, Dorset.
Mingus at Scorhill, Dartmoor.
Mingus, trying out the "stately whilst chewing an old bone" look.
With Adam at the Scorhill stone circle.
A big pile of snooze at the end of the day.
So that’s where the last month has gone…
Shockingly it’s been over a month since our last update…slapped wrists all round…we blame pressure of work and puppy juggling… so we’ll now attempt a potted history of the last month-in-the-lives-of Mingus & Phoenix.
Twin engine.
Firstly, like Phoenix before him, Mingus has been busy at his Puppy Guru’s training classes, the third of which is coming up in a few days. His initial foray into the class was undertaken with some trepidation (but then he was only 11 weeks old at the time and hadn’t yet started getting out and about to meet and greet) but since then he’s really got into the swing of things and is incredibly quick to learn and easy to train. We’ve mastered come, watch, sit, up, down, (plus the infamous sit-up-down sandwich) heel and wait. This week should be “stay”.
Mingus at large.
Meantime Tim took our little lad along to his first ringcraft class last week, mainly to introduce him to the cut-and-thrust of the training environment. Luckily he loved the whole experience and, of course, received LOTS of attention from humans and canines alike as well as some extremely favourable comments from several of the Champ show gundog judges who were present. He also did several pretty presentable laps of the hall in fine style,so, all in all, a very pleasing start.
Having an explore on the Common.
Back at base Tim is slowly attempting to shape Mingus’ stacking technique using the same positive training methods that (eventually!) worked for Phoenix. This time round at least one of the two parties knows roughly what they’re doing, so hopefully by the time he’s 6 months Mingus should have a pretty decent stack to show the world.
Watching the action at the Wadebridge show.
We all went to visit a dog show at Wadebridge in Cornwall last weekend in order to give Mingus more full-on socialization opportunities. Despite the cavernous venue and the many, many dogs of all shapes and sizes, he took it all firmly in his stride and trotted round with great enthusiasm and curiosity – again, receiving much attention and many oohs, aahs and coos along the way.
Ready to roll at Rough Tor.
Soggy-bearded Phoenix en route to the top of Rough Tor.
At only 12 weeks old Mingus is limited to walks of 10 to 15 minutes at the moment (so as to protect his developing joints) so he still gets to be carried once his allotted walk time is up…we did manage a quick trip to the beautiful moorland of Rough Tor on the way back from Wadebridge though, and this allowed Mingus the opportunity to splash around in the shallow river and see some horses close up. Phoenix and Tim then went for a great romp up to the top of the tor itself whilst Mingus and Adam want for a snooze in the sun back at the car….
It's all go on the dog-sofa.
Phoenix & Mingus are still very much besotted with one another, but (again, with joints and hip-scores in our minds) we’re now very wary of allowing them to play together for more than a few minutes. We currently running an alternating-dog schedule of play, walks, training and confinement which, although very time consuming, seems to be working fairly well, but can’t wait for the time that they can both hit the moors and beaches together.
Throwing a semi-point on Torrington Common.
Mingus’ big-boy cage arrived last week, so he’s now upgraded to a full-on adult-sized den, which he clearly loves, and voluntarily hops into when he wants some quiet time. He’s been completely toilet trained for a few weeks now, but still wakes up a couple of times each night, so the 3AM toilet run has yet to fade into memory (unfortunately…) That’s pretty much the only area that needs work though, in all other respects he’s a total delight to live with, incredibly affectionate and responsive and such a cutie!!
Mingus Touchdown.
Home!
So yesterday we journeyed far (well, to Southampton) to collect our new little lad. We packed the car for every eventuality, fully expecting howling, vomiting and other bodily expulsions en route home. In the event though Mingus took it all completely in his stride and slept silently for most of the journey, with occasional moments of rousing to check out the passing scenery – a stark contrast to Phoenix who howled and screamed like she was having root canal work for the entire of her 7 hour trip home!
With Adam.
As soon as he touched down in the kitchen Mingus burst to life, brimming with excitement and joy at all the new things to explore. After wolfing down his first home meal, wagging furiously throughout, he raced around like an energizer bunny on overload…so wonderfully confident despite his all-new environment and leaving his siblings behind, a really great testament to how well raised and socialised he has been. Eventually he crashed and burned and snuggled straight into his new cage for a good long snooze – perfect!
Favourite new toy....
....definitely.
Phoenix was beside herself with excitement, but was just too boisterous to play with her new brother just yet. Mingus seems perfectly happy to sleep on his own and settles down without fuss, so the first night went pretty well, punctuated with various trips out to the toilet, but with no screaming, howling or signs of any distress…all quite remarkable!
"Yes?"
So now, after about 24 hours at Wolf Valley, Mingus definitely knows his name, and comes scampering every time you call him. He’s also mastered “sit” pretty quickly, thanks to trusty clicker and reward system. He starts his formal Puppy Gurus obedience training in just over 2 weeks, so we’ve practised a few “down” commands to get the ball rolling. Luckily Mingus seems to have an insatiable appetite, which certainly makes training much easier. He was also weaned straight onto on raw food by Mum Jacqui, which fits perfectly with Phoenix’ all raw diet too.
Sofa snuggle.
Phoenix has become less hyper around Mingus as the day has gone on, which has allowed them to interact properly, albeit under strict supervision, and even enjoy a 3-way-snoozy-snuggle together with Tim on the “dog” sofa this afternoon…
Sofasnooze
"You displease me Human..."
"Sit!"
Antarctica.
Last night, or so we’re reliably informed, was the equal coldest night ever recorded in the UK, with temps dipping to minus 22C or thereabouts, the same as at the South Pole. Here in “balmy” Devon we dropped to minus 14C, easily cold enough to have potentially devastating consequences for some of the rare trees, shrubs and bamboos that inhabit our garden….we won’t know what damage has occurred until Spring, but in the meantime our bore-hole fed water supply has frozen and pipes burst, flooding the kitchen. The river has also frozen over (for only the third time in the last 25 years), we’ve had no post delivery for days and none of our cars can make it out of our entrance drive….so clearly the only thing left to do right now is go and play in the snow:
Our Valley.
Gotta Have A Stick.
Then Have a Stick Wrestle.
At the bottom of the garden.
Snow hoover.
Helping Adam to make a Snow bunny.
Finished!
1 flattened Giant Bamboo (foreground) & 12 snowy Redwoods (background)
Hock-deep in the snow.
There’s No Business Like Snow Business.
Phoenix sure does like snuffling, running, chasing and bouncing in the snow. We had the heaviest falls here for decades back in Jan & Feb 09, when she first arrived, so these recent falls must remind her of all the fun and games of her puppydom. These were a few shots taken today, before the heavy falls this of evening that have (surprise, surprise) closed all the roads hereabouts and left a lovely 3 to 4 inch fluffy white blanket over the landscape.
Snow Whiskers.
Point.
Profile.
Bounce - on the path to the woods.
New Year, New Snow.
Yep, winter's here again.
It’s been ages since we’ve updated the blog, largely because there’s not been a huge amount of activity or events to report. Phoenix’ season was on the long side, which put her and us out of action for more than a month, but was otherwise completely uneventful, with no real changes either physically or emotionally. She still seems a little hormonal (at least judging by the reactions of some other dogs) but is otherwise back to business…which lately has been the business of romping through the snow and wading through the icy river whilst balancing giant sticks/logs/entire-small-trees in her muzzle, (all clever stuff, and certainly good for building neck muscles) as the landscape is once again transformed into a winter wonderland.
Ever ambitious.
No log is too big for our gal!
Another new-ishly developed Phoenix hobby is taking the biggest & chunkiest of her beef knuckle bones with her on our hour-long morning walks. These often involve fording the river a few times and going in and out of various woods, but the bone is carried merrily along throughout, with occasional stop-offs for a good old gnaw.
Yummy.
But when the last log has been hauled out of the river, and the last vole has been fruitlessly chased down it’s burrow, there’s still nothing that Phoenix likes more than a good old snuggle on the sofa….
Cuddle.
It's a dog's life.
Boh Selecta!
Yubaba kicks off.
We were all watching the Studio Ghibli film Spirited Away (Sen to Chihiro no kamikakushi) last night, which is a rather psychedelic Japanese animation epic much loved in the house. The main villain in the story is called Yubaba and she is a cross between the Wicked Witch of the North and a giant raven. Yubaba has a son, Boh who is a giant baby and when Boh made his appearance, Phoenix went barking bonkers. She had been paying close attention to the film anyway, and we assumed it was all the bright colours and possibly the Japanese language which (to her floppy ears at least) might sound a bit like barking.
This baby causes canine chaos.
Whatever it was about this giant baby, it did something to Phoenix which took a while to get over. We’re going to try her on some Kurosawa next, to see if it’s Japanese epics in particular that set her off, before moving on to Italian neo-realism and perhaps German expressionism…
Ever Elegant.
Phoenix takes time out from her hectic schedule of shows, training, running-on-the-beach, chasing pheasants, digging, swimming etc. etc. for a moment of quiet reflection.
Belatarr Hungarian Wirehaired Vizsla. 