Saturday 24 November 2012

Forest Walk

Angel, Ebene and myself had a fantastic walk in the New Forest last Sunday that had been arranged via the Facebook group "Southern Spinone Walks' and there was around 30 dogs (i think) that turned up with their families for a fun filled day.  We were so lucky as it was the last dry we've had and even though the air was crisp, the sun was glorious.  Everyone had a great time and we all ended up in the Cafe at the Wildlife Centre for coffee and snacks.



Since that day it hasn't stopped flipping raining so I'm signing off for now and going up to the barn to finish building the Ark which we are in dire need of :o(

Jimmys Pup

Well we managed to come home from Wales minus the puppy but the 'being sensible' bit didn't last long :o) After a couple of days Jimmy said he couldn't stop thinking about the pup and he thought that as she was so little it wouldn't make any difference if we had her (what a softy) and it would be a little friend for Dixie.  As luck would have it, Karen had arranged to come here for a visit with Claude the next weekend so she got the call to ask her if she would pick her up for us and bring her here - this she did so now we have another little mouth to feed :o)
Her name is Beanz (aka Beanie/Dangermouse) and although small in size she's got personalty by the bucketload.
Dangermouse!!







Miraculously Dixie is brilliant with her and they are the best of buddies. We were a bit worried that the pup would find Dixie a bit 'too much' as she was a quarter of the size and looked a delicate little flower.  Well the pup had other ideas and puts Dixie well and truly in her place.  Another added bonus is that Dixie leaves the others alone now and is only really interested in Beanz.
Needless to say we don't watch a lot of TV now as we're too busy watching these two little comedians!
The end of this tale is :
'ITS ALL JIMMY'S FAULT'

Another trip to Wales

At the beginning of the month Jim and I were off on our travels to Wales again.  We went up to see my friend and mentor Francis who I bought my very first German Shepherd from all those years ago and who has given me so much advice and help over the years.  Although some may say (usually Jimmy) that is 'all her fault' that I've ended up with a house full of dogs, I can never thank her enough for sharing her knowledge so freely with me.   She moved to Wales about 4 years ago and although we've chatted on the phone and have met up when she came back to Hampshire for flying visits, we have never seen her place up there.  We went on a 'busman's' holiday really as Jimmy was going to doing some roofing for her and also get a lot of the jobs done that was next to impossible for her to do on her own, but it was a great excuse for a visit and a few days away.

We had such a lovely time and in between drinking copious amounts of tea, laughing and playing with all the different animals she's got, we got loads of jobs done for her which was very satisfying :o)  We even had a visit from Karen and Claude as they only live about an hour away from Francis which was lovely.

The first day we were there I fell in love with a puppy she had but Jimmy gave me strict instructions not  to cuddle it anymore as he knew I would want to bring her home.  For once I actually agreed with him and knew I had to be sensible as we had the 'demon' who is Dixie at home who needed our full attention.  The second day we were there was when Karen and Claude came for a visit and when we all got back from a guided tour of the 'farm' we found Jimmy laying down on the grass in the yard and when he lifted himself up what did we find?? Yep you've guessed it - the puppy :o)  So much for him giving me 'the lecture' eh!!

Baby Donkey with Mum
Jim on a tea break, and his answer to stopping the knats biting his head



Demon Dixie

I've really liked little Cocker Spaniels since I helped a close friend with the whelping and rearing of her little Golden Cocker many years ago.  Poor little girl had a rough time of it and ended up with her milk drying up and us having to hand rear all the pups of which there were 8!  It was all very scary at the time (30 odd years ago) as it was my friends 1st litter and I had only bred 1 litter myself so it was a bit like the blind leading the blind at first but we soon got the 'hang' of it and all the pups thrived with no problems.  Well to cut a long story short I finally am the happy owner of little Dixie a beautiful Black and White :o)
Lacey (11 yrs) and Dixie (11 wks)
I can quite honestly say she is the naughtiest puppy I've ever had - wasn't expecting that!!  When she first arrived she terrorised the Spinones without mercy and the only one who would at least try to play with her was Angel who didn't seem to mind too much about this little monster hanging off her beard, ears, eyebrows or any other dangly bits.  Ebene would have nothing to do with her at all gave her a very wide berth by jumping up onto the highest thing she could find (usually the back of the sofa) where she knew she was safe from the horror dolly :o)  Thankfully she is a bit (not a lot) calmer now and the Dinsdale household is not quite so manic.  For all her naughtiness though, she is ADORABLE and we love her to bits, she's bright as a button and a huge character.

I'll post some more pictures if we can ever keep her still long enough to take any - Bless her :o)

New Arrivals

On Sunday 4th November I got the news that a litter of 10 Spinone babies had been born.  Mum is Sofia (Netis I'll be There) who has a 0:0 hip score and a daughter of my Elsie (Netis Daisy Duke) who also has a 0:0 hip score and the litter is sired by Davidensi's Silver at Sanjika who has a hip score of 3:7 and is also dad to my lovely Angel :o)  Sire and Dam are of course CA Clear Tested.
10 pups came as a bit of a shock to Sofia's family as when she had her scan the vet said she was having 4/5 pups!!  Anyway all went well and Mum and pups are doing fine and growing rapidly.  If this litter may be of interest to you then you can contact the breeders David and Ruth Pinder direct at www.italianspinonedogs.co.uk.   I can't wait to see them in a few weeks for some fun and cuddles :o)