Silent Sunday

Boris the Black Cocker Spaniel laying amongst a field of daisies with just his head visible as he looks slightly to the left. The daisies are small white flowers with multiple petals and a gorgeous yellow centre and are a native plant of the UK 

Pigs in Mud

The weather has taken a turn here in the UK and the gorgeous colours of Autumn have arrived, there's a constant chill in the air that you can feel on even  the sunniest of days, although it's not yet cold enough for coats, just a thin jumper is enough

Photo Description - Boris the Black Cocker Spaniel out on the common, he's hold a twig of Oak leaves displaying the range of autumn colours from a yellowing green to the oranges of the leaves before they fall from the trees, behind Boris is a wall of dead bracken, now changed from its vibrant green of summer to the orangey brown of Autumn as it dies off ready to regrow again in the Spring 

Autumn and Spring are my two favourite

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

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

Boris on Wheels

I recently ordered an InnoPet dog stroller for Boris as he's missing out on so much whilst he's on restricted exercise due to his elbow injury. To start with I set up in the garden with everything open and the brakes on so that Boris could get in and out of it under his own steam and explore it at his own pace, Boris soon made himself quite at home

Photo Description - Boris the Black Cocker Spaniel laying curled up in his new stroller and happily looking out of the open back door

 

Boris is crate trained so I wasn't at all worried about whether he'd get in or not, but I wanted Boris to feel safe and secure in it before I started

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

Today's the Day

Today is x-ray day for Boris to find out why he's no longer weight bearing on his left front leg after a second bout of non weight bearing lameness, you can read about the first time here

Photo Description - Boris the Black Cocker Spaniel sitting in long grass on the allotment facing the camera, he has his tongue out and is wearing a light purple harness to aid getting him in and out of the car when I drove him there for a change of scenery, his left front paw is raised slightly to avoid putting his full weight on it

I have very mixed feelings about it, whilst we need to know what he's done to himself so

Jackanory Part 19 - Freedom Day

A couple of weeks ago when walking Boris and Eko in the woods Boris suddenly pulled up lame on his left front leg

I couldn't believe it as Boris hadn't been madly racing around and had only had his Librela injection for pain relief the day before, so it was most unexpected to see he'd gone lame

One minute I was videoing Boris trotting off behind a large bush and when he emerged on the other side he'd gone quite lame, I can only assume he'd probably jumped over something he shouldn't have or put his foot down a rabbit hole, inspection of his paw and nails revealed no injury there

Video Description - Video showing Boris trotting around in woodlands after he emerged from some bushes and was unexpectedly lame on his left front leg

As a result of going lame so

Spring Wear Essentials

This unique creation from the world famous Jimmy Pooh of Nature's Creations fits the head exquisitely and is worn at a jaunty angle which frames the wearers face beautifully

Photo Description - Boris the Black Cocker Spaniel looking every inch the catwalk model as he wears one of natures unique creations, a piece of dead bracken atop his head, worn at a jaunty angle, as stands looking at the camera at the end of an imaginary grassy catwalk doing his very best look at me model pose

The natural earth tones of this unique piece

Jackanory Part 17 - Boris Update

Update on Boris's recent Surgery

I had a couple of unpublished posts I'd started to write but not got around to posting as I've just been so busy with taking dad to hospital for the numerous scans in preparation for his Radiotherapy treatment next week

I opted to write this update in our Jackanory Stories that runs alongside the main blog, as the dates were just so out of sync with  the blog now

30th December 2022

Boris is off to the vets for his Librela injection today, plus we'll be discussing his upcoming surgery as to whether it'll now be as safe as possible due to his heart condition to remove the tumour on his back leg growing on one of his lymph nodes, also the large one that's growing under his ribs as well as two other lumps that felt somewhat strange in texture

If we do decide he's now fit enough to go ahead and remove these tumours, we'll also be getting some x-rays done of his elbows, spine and hips for an up to date picture on the progression of his Arthritis

Jackanory Part 16 - When Boris met Eko

The first time Boris met Eko 💗

As I recall Eko was around 5 or 6 weeks old when we took Boris to meet him for the first time

Only a few weeks previously Boris had been brutally attacked by another dog whilst working as my Assistance Dog and it had badly knocked his confidence around other dogs, which was worrying as we'd had Eko booked since long before he was a twinkle in his daddies eye

Would Boris be able to cope with a new pup in the house at this critical time, would Boris ever be able to return to work as my Assistance Dog, at this point we had no idea what the future would be

Silent Sunday

Boris sat chilling out amongst the long grass with his head turned to the left, he's also wearing a blue cooling vest as it was quite a warm day

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Silent Sunday 🤫

Boris the sitting out on the common in the warm Winter sunshine, he's facing to the left with a happy expression on his face, his tongue is hanging out to one side to cool off after racing around in the Heather

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Over 40 and mum to one

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Emma Kate

Emma Kate Wheeler

We'll never know

Bench perfectly placed

For those in need

Her family loved her

To pick such a spot

Good Bye and Good Riddance 2021

Photo Description:- A head shot of Boris the black Cocker Spaniel wearing a black headband with the words Happy New Year lit up in a bluish/white colour

What an awful year 2021 has been for us as a family

It's been a massive learning curve with many changes in dynamics and everybodies role within our family. Some of which I've blogged about, but a lot of which I haven't

Happy Birthday and Happy Retirement

Happy Birthday Boris

🎂🎂🎂

It's hard to believe you're 7 already, the time has flown by, yet we've achieved so much together. Who'd have thought that naughty little puppy would grow up to become the most amazing assistance dog

A Rough Month

My mother has been in hospital for the longest month ever since she was admitted on the 16th April having suffered a stroke 

The hardest and most frustrating part for both us as a family and mum, is the fact that nobody can visit her due to the Covid restrictions in place at the hospital

Boris has been my absolute rock during this difficult time, my anxiety is back big time trying to keep on top of everything as well as dealing with my own health issues and pain

Bluebell Woofs

Spring is my all time favourite season of the year

Everything bursts into life and the days start to shake off the chill of Winter

I love all the Spring flowers but my favourite by far has to be the Bluebell as it carpets the woodland floor and turns everything into an amazing blue

I hope one day to be able to do the amazing colour justice in a photograph

 

The British Bluebell is so very fragile and easily damaged that once you find a wood full of naturally occurring and unmanaged wild Bluebells like these in the photo above, then