Posts tagged ‘Adam’
Further Weekend Antics…
After spending all of Saturday at a hot, crowded urban dog show, we thought it only fitting to head out to the beach – in this case Crow Point at Braunton Burrows – for some doggy (and human) down-time…
Mingus tries for lift-off using his newly retro-fitted "Helicopter Ears."
After combining forces to dig a huge sand-pit comes a rare moment of stillness.
Phoenix: sandy + wet = happy!
Mirror Phoenix.
Adam commands Phoenix with the power of his Blackberry...
Mingus shows that he can do sandy & wet just as well as Phoenix.
Adam teaches the dogs a new trick...
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?
Sling Shots.
Riding in the sling on the Tarka Trail.
Mingus reached the grand old age of 9 weeks yesterday, and has been with us for 1 of those weeks, so it seems like a good time for an update. He’s settled in incredibly quickly and remarkably easily, is very eager to learn and be trained – again, the miracle of clicker/treat training works every time, in every situation – and he and Phoenix are now inseparable…
What's that about letting sleeping dogs lie?
More sofa action.
He’s almost toilet trained, and today, for the first time, he trotted to the front door to ask to be taken to the toilet – where he gets a click and training treat. After some “howl” issues on nights 2 and 3, he’s slept well for the last 4 nights in a row, and, with two night time trips out to the toilet area, he doesn’t wake ’til after 7:00AM, which is fine with us!
Sling ride.
Mindful of that vital 8 weeks to 12 weeks socialization window we’ve been taking Mingus out and about as much as possible so he can get used to all the wonders of his world. Because he’s not fully vaccinated for another 3 weeks he travels in the same baby sling that we used for Phoenix, which works fine for a while, but he’s already getting increasingly frustrated that he can’t zoom around like his big sister, and after 20 mins or so starts to get very wriggly.
Taking in the world.
"But Dad, I wanna get down and run around!"
Ultra-confident, so far he’s been unfazed by all manner of people, dogs, prams, cycles etc. etc. and travels without any concern in the cars, but was a little spooked by the traffic when we went out and about in Torrington town yesterday, so that seems like the one area to focus on.
Curiouser and curiouser.
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.
Megalithic Pointer.
Looking imperious.
"Boinging" at Lanyon Quoit.
The official hottest-day-of-the-year-so-far saw us pack a picnic and head off to the far west of Cornwall, just a few miles from Land’s End. The whole region is dense with megalithic monuments and we visited the Merry Maidens circle as well as taking a moorland walk that encompassed Lanyon Quoit and Mên-an-Tol. This last is reputed to have a pixie guardian who grants miraculous cures. In one “case” a Changeling baby was put through the holed central stone in order for the mother to get the real child back – evil pixies having changed her child – The ancient stones came through (naturally enough…) and were able to reverse the Pixie spell. Sadly we didn’t spot any pixies, evil or otherwise, but did enjoy a meet-and-greet with a German Shorthaired Pointer and her owners who, after establishing that “She’s not a Spinone is she?” became quite infatuated with Phoenix.
Electric Boogaloo.
Cool New Game: pretending to say hello to Adam, then stealing his glasses off his face and waltzing off with them with an evil cackle and a wag of the tail which I believe the Armish would refer to as “proud” while Adam crashes around the place like a breakdancing hippo. I’m sure it’s funny to someone….
