Difficult decisions and allotment news

Springtime is my favourite season with all the blossom and new life sprouting from the earth, the clocks have now changed and the days are getting much warmer and longer

Boris is doing really well on the new medication regime for his arthritis, I'd noticed he was starting to struggle more with the stairs and sometimes in the mornings he was finding it difficult to assume the position when toileting

Image Description - Boris the Black Cocker Spaniel sitting in front of a large bush covered in white spring blossom, he's sitting proudly and looking very intenly at something that's behind me out of shot as I take his photo, he's also wearing a grey Y front harness 

I was really starting to worry about Boris and his quality of life as he's such a master manipulator (like many dogs) about hiding his pain, we had a long chat with Dr Tania about how

Fighting Fit

It's been a great week with sunny weather for the most part and some much needed time to myself, I've managed to capture lots of new photos of the boys both together and also individually, I'm finally getting used to the camera on my Pixel 9

I love to use whatever is available as a prop for the boys to stand on and delivery day from Paleo Ridge is always the perfect opportunity for a fun photo, the box is the perfect size and the lighting is always great by our front door

Image Description - Eko the Golden Cocker Spaniel and Boris the Black Cocker Spaniel side by side laying atop a large cardboard box with WOOF written in bold black letters across the front on a bright sunny day. Both are facing towards the camera, Eko has his front paws curled under his chest like a cat whereas Boris has his front legs stretched out in front of him, only Boris is looking directly at the camera whereas Eko is transfixed by something out of shot to the right hand side 

The boys love posing for photos together although I find it strange

December Already 😲

So much has happened since our last post that I've not been able to keep track of the time, when we last spoke Eko was recovering well from an acute case of pancreatitis and my dad had  finally had his cataract surgery, has since made a good recovery and things were starting to settle down again

At the end of October Paleo Ridge launched Paleo Senior to the Paleo Plus range which we were excited about as they will really benefit Boris and his specific dietary requirements as a senior boy of 10 years old with chronic arthritis 

Image Descriptions - Two head and shoulders shots of Boris the Black Cocker Spaniel looking very majestic holding in his mouth the distinctive and artistic new packaging of the Paleo Senior Turkey and Lamb Dinners. Boris is looking at the camera standing amongst a small clump of trees out in the woods and is slightly damp from the wet grass he'd been running through previously 

Paleo Senior is designed to meet the distinctive needs of senior dogs by using lean high-quality meat cuts enriched with nutrient-packed green leafy vegetables, this low-fat formula is also enhanced with Reishi mushrooms to support the immune

Bitter Sweet

August is always a bitter sweet month for us as it's the month we lost the original star of this blog Badger Boo

Who'd have imagined all those years ago that people would be remotely interested in what Badger got up too when I started writing an online diary for myself on Blogger

Being new to social media I had no idea how it all worked, I didn't even have a facebook account, I just started writing and people started to find my original blog

Image Description - A Blue Roan Cocker Spaniel laying on his back on the floor with his mouth open, clasped between his front paws is a mans hand caressing the side of his face

It wasn't long before I realised Badger needed

Christmas Round-Up of 2023

It's been another tough year here at Crazy Towers as my parents dementia continues to erode the people that they once were, adjusting to being their carer and putting my own life on hold has certainly taken some adjusting too, but we have a system that seems to be working now for the most part, Boris, Eko, Himself and my brother have all been my rock throughout this past year

Photo Description - Three people sitting on a sofa, two females each side of a male. From L-R it's my mum, my dad and then myself. I'm laughing at something my brother said as mum and dad stare at the camera

Boris unfortunately fractured his elbow at the end of July which required a specialist surgeon to repair it, thankfully Boris is fully insured which covered most the costs, although there was a large out of pocket expense for an echocardiogram, for the first time ever this year

Cute Critters

I had a spare hour to myself yesterday afternoon and decided I'd give it a try at making a cartoon image of the boys together and hopefully create ourselves a new a Blog Badge. We've had our current badge for approx 5 years now and it's so basic, although easily recognisable

Boris was fairly easy to generate being a solid black, but it took me several attempts to get Eko's face markings anywhere near what he looks like in real life, but try as I might I struggled to get Eko's cute white paw, if I did manage to get his white paw I'd then lose the white blaze on his face, it was really strange how it had to be one or the other and not both

Photo Description - A cartoon image of a Black Cocker Spaniel and a Golden Cocker Spaniel playing in a muddy puddle and looking at each other, with the words Two Crazy Cockers written in white across the bottom. The colours are very bright and loud which is common with cartoons 

Eventually I decided that as it's a cartoon it's a representation of the boys and didn't have to be an exact match, eventually I came up with an image that I really liked but

Happy Halloween

Photo Description - A cut out of Boris the Black Cocker Spaniel and Eko the Golden Cocker Spaniel edited onto a spooky white background of a blurred person behind them, with Halloween Trick or Treat written in red that's dripping and splattered as if it were wet paint

You've probably seen the latest craze to hit Instagram with the Disney AI trend. I'm not a great fan of AI and like to keep my photos looking as natural as possible, only occasionally using a filter if I think it'll improve the colours

But I had to give it a go for some Halloween pics of the boys, my editing skills aren't that brilliant when it

Well that didn't last long!

Tuesday was was such an amazing day with the fantastic news that Boris is healing well when we went for his 6 week post op check up at Lumbry Park

Photo Description - Head and shoulders shot of Boris the Black Cocker Spaniel facing slightly to the left with his mouth open, behind him is the blue sky and clouds of a bright sunny day

There are still some restrictions

Hello Monday

Looking forward to a new week

Amazingly the calendar is empty of any appointments this week, but that doesn't mean it'll be a slow week, anything can change at a moment's notice when you're a caregiver to someone with dementia

Photo Description - A profile head shot facing to the right of a much younger Boris the Black Cocker Spaniel amongst the dead bracken out on the common. Boris is wearing the distinctive Help for Heroes collar which has three bands of colour, dark blue, red and light blue to represent the armed services. Photo Credit Fur & Fables

The anti anxiety meds dad's GP prescribed him appear to finally be working, last night was

Eko's Nose #WeekendSmile

I love the detail of Eko's face, from the blending of all the gold and white hairs to make up his face markings, the little blonde tufts he has on top of his ears to his unique button nose 

Photo Description - Eko the Golden Cocker spaniel is standing on grass and looking directly up at the camera, the only thing in focus are his nose and eyes as his face fills the frame, what little else there is of him in frame is blurred and out of focus

Did you know that every dog's nose is as unique to them as finger prints are to us. Eko's nose also has the ability to

World Mental Health Day

𝐁𝐨𝐫𝐢𝐬

The only black dog in my life on World Mental Health Day

Photo Description - Head shot of Boris the Black Cocker Spaniel looking at the camera whilst laying amongst some Buttercups in front of a wooden fence

Dawn xxx 

 If you love online Jigsaw Puzzles check out our

The Weekend Smile is Back

I thought I'd restart our Weekend Smile Blog Hop once again

 It's been quite a few years since we last hosted a Blog Hop and I've had to remake a brand new badge, although I've still to figure out how to add all the coding to it to make it a button that can be copied and shared, everything has changed so much from when I last did this, I did it on my PC previously whereas now I do everything on my phone

Basically the hop is about anything that makes you happy and that others will also enjoy

Ordinarily it'll be open from Friday morning at around 0900 right through until midnight Sunday night, but it's started on Saturday today as I forgot to set it up for yesterday

𝐁𝐫𝐨𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐥𝐲 𝐋𝐨𝐯𝐞 

Photo Description - Boris the Black Cocker Spaniel and Eko the Golden Cocker Spaniel laying on the sofa together. Eko is on his side with

Mr Smarty Pants

Last week Boris had a trip to the groomers for some much needed pampering and a tidy up

You may remember we had to cancel Boris's last appointment with the groomer as I didn't think it would be fair on him or the lovely people at Vanity Fur for Boris to attend whilst he was chronically lame and on high doses of painkillers due to his elbow injury

Photo Description - Full body shot of a very scruffy looking Boris the Black Cocker Spaniel sitting in a grassy field, his coat is sticking out all over the place, but I still think he looks adorable 

Boris had to make do with

Boris Surgery Update

Boris had the surgery to repair the hairline fracture in his elbow two weeks ago and his recovery is going really well, it's also been a busy couple of weeks with my parents, I can only apologise for how tardy I've been about posting this update

But first a massive thank you to the lovely Ann and June from Zoolatry for making Boris this lovely Power of the Paw badge to wish him well and a speedy recovery in the Blogosphere of our online pets

Photo Description - Head shot of Boris the Black Cocker Spaniel with white background and the words "Paws together for Boris" in bold black lettering, with a red heart on the O of Boris 

Boris had to miss his breakfast the morning I took him to Lumbry Park, which he wasn't overly impressed about but a necessary evil

A bit of a rant

I was in two minds as to whether I should post this, but in the end I felt I need to clarify a few things about why I had to wait for Boris's insurance policy to renew before doing his surgery as I've had some people quite aggressively disagreeing with my decision to wait

Boris's surgery is booked for Tuesday, so today is a lazy day and Boris is having a haircut and coat thinning session, hopefully by tidying his coat before he goes in Boris won't look too horrific sporting his very unfashionable vet style clip when I collect him

I admit Boris's surgery has been a long time coming and believe me it wasn't an easy decision to make, but the simple fact of the matter is this - With a specialist vet you have to pay for the surgery at the time of collection, or you hand them your insurance claim form so they can be paid directly

Photo Description - A close up head shot of Boris laying on grass surrounded by tiny white flowers as he looks at the camera with his tongue out with a relaxed expression on his face

Boris is insured for up to £7,000 per year for vets fees, Boris has three ongoing

Jackanory Part 20 - Gone but never forgotten

Last month was the 8th anniversary of Badger Boo leaving us to forever reside at the Rainbow Bridge

I really didn't want to ignore the date but posting on the day was too hard, even now it still feels like only yesterday that Badger had to leave us so suddenly and unexpectedly

Badger is still the lock screen and wallpaper on my phone, which probably doesn't help, but I still don't feel ready to change it, not even when I change my phone 

Photo Description - A small Blue Roan Cocker Spaniel standing sideways on, out on a woodland path in bright sunshine. Across the top in white lettering is Badgers show name "Boxwoods Bramble" at the bottom in white lettering it says Badger Boo 17/10/01 - 19/08/15

🖤 🖤 🖤 🖤 🖤

When I first started an Instagram account for Boris to follow his journey as my assistance dog, there was some interest in Boris doing some modeling work at the time and I'd signed him up with an agency

As a result

International Dog Day

The terrible twins are back, walking Boris in his stroller has made so much difference to his happiness levels, he's now back to his cheeky happy self again now that he's regularly coming out on walks with Eko and I  once more

Photo Description - Boris the Black Cocker Spaniel and Eko the Golden Cocker Spaniel in the boot of my car, I'm standing off to the side of the car for a different angle, Boris has his front paws up on the bumper to be in more light, whilst Eko remains in the darker boot area, both dogs are looking round at me after a walk out on the common and looking happy

I admit was starting to get a little worried for Boris as he always seemed so depressed because he was getting left at home and missing out, no amount of enrichment toys or chews seemed to lift his mood in a way that going for a walk does

On Thurday Boris and I headed over Lumbry Park so that Boris could have an

Self care is essential

I have so much going on with my parents and Boris at the moment that I've been feeling totally overwhelmed by it all just lately, 

I'm exhausted with putting my parents needs first and worrying about Boris all the time that something had to give

Photo Description - Head shot of Boris the Black Cocker Spaniel looking directly at the camera with his tongue out a little whilst sitting in front of an Ivy covered fence

I finally got around to booking myself an appointment with the

New Week New Problem

My parents were so organised re sorting out their affairs and paperwork well in advance of the possibility of them ever needing some help with their financial and health decisions in later life in the form of Lasting Power of Attorneys

Admittedly I just stuck them in a drawer thinking I'd never need them but was glad it was all sorted, I then totally forgot all about them until recently

Photo Description - Eko the Golden Cocker Spaniel and Boris the Black Cocker Spaniel sitting side by side amongst the bracken out on the common in bright evening sunshine

On Monday the DWP rang me

The Kindness of Strangers

My dad is an avid lifelong supporter and shareholder of Portsmouth Football Club and as our long time followers are aware my dad also has Alzheimer's

 The other day dad broke his favourite cereal bowl which he's had for years and got really upset, it was his much loved Portsmouth FC cereal bowl that he uses each morning to start his day

It may sound like such a small thing to get upset about, but to dad this cereal bowl holds so many of his precious memories about Portsmouth FC

With so many of dads memories disappearing as each week passes, this bowl was important to help keep his memories alive of of his favourite football club

As a surprise I went to order dad a new bowl off the Pompey website only to discover