Jackanory Part 15 - Glitter Highlights?

I've recently noticed that Eko has developed some white eyebrows and I think they're so adorable. When he was born Eko was a beautiful shimmering light gold with a pink nose and two tone coloured paw pads

A recent photo of Eko the Golden Cocker Spaniel laying on grass and looking at the camera with his tongue out and showing off how his eyebrows have recently started changing colour

At only 4 years old I'm inclined to think Eko is changing colour to a more roan like appearance, rather than going grey because of his two tone paw pad colouring

 

Jackanory Part 14 - Don't Feed the Trolls

Found this old post of Eko as a puppy, when I wrote it I was very angry but decided not to post it and feed the Trolls at the time, hence why it's now part of our Jackanory Stories

OMG the keyboard warriors are out in force again, yet again I've received unsolicited training advice to use a prong collar on Eko to teach him to respect me

There's absolutely no need to train dogs using fear, force or dominance with e-collars, prong collars, choke chains, rattle bottles, discs or any other of the many adversive training methods out there

Found My Mojo

It seems like an age since I last felt up to doing any serious knitting. 
The damp weather we've been having in the UK at the moment plays havoc with the Arthritis in my hands, so knitting is very painful.

I really enjoy knitting Tea Cosies, no longer are they just a functional item, they can be ornamental too. My particular favourites to knit are the style I always remember my beloved granny making and using back in the 60's and 70's, it looks a lot more complicated to make than it is, once you get the hang of it.

I love making fun Tea Cosies too and Owls are another favourite of mine, mainly because I enjoy knitting cables and in the round.

When a friend recently asked me to knit them an Owl Tea Cosy I was happy to oblige but not sure if my hands were up to it. 

I did a little each day and within a week it was done, I was very happy with the result although not entirely convinced I liked the colour, it didn't look quite right on my white tea pot when I photographed it.

I knew Lesley had a Navy Blue tea pot and asked her to send me a picture so I could see what it looked like.

Photo Credit: Lesley Beeton

I loved it.

It's amazing how much better it looks on her pot than on mine

 I'm now on the look out in charity shops for different coloured tea pots, I'd assumed white would be best for photographs, how wrong I was.

In puppy news Little Boris has finally got the hang of house training, it took him a while but we got there in the end. I'd seriously forgotten how demanding young puppies are, Badger Boo was 13 years old last Friday so it's been a very long time since I'd last had a puppy in the house.

Little Boris has completed his Puppy Pre-School classes at The Company of Animals in Chertsey, I opted to go to classes with him as I'm so out of touch with people on the Dog Show circuit, I couldn't find any local Ring craft classes to take him to for socialisation. He's a very bold and outgoing pup and a joy to live with, can't wait to start his next phase of training.

On the last day of the course I found out the other Cocker in the class was actually his litter sister Jessie, so a quick photo opportunity was had.
Little Boris is the big one on the right.

What a small world it is.

There's no allotment news, I've not been down for a few weeks due to the wet weather and it being almost the end of my growing season, I'm not a fan of winter vegetables so don't grow them. In a week or two the never ending digging will begin again.

Hope everyone is keeping well and I'll see you next week.
xxx

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Official Hello and Welcome to Little Boris

Did you guess?

I'm sure you did with my Sunday picture hints. 

I've got a brand new baby brother called "Little Boris"

Here he is at 8 weeks old on his very first day with us, he looks so small and cute next to me and my favourite toy Chunky Monkey, sadly Chunky Monkey is no longer with us because Little Boris decided to kill him, he pulled his head off and pulled all of his stuffing out **sobs**

I'm not sure I'll ever forgive him for that crime, he then went on to do the same thing to my other toy Mr Cat, in fact I think he may have killed all my stuffies in the 6 weeks he's been living here.

Boris now has lots of Nylabone toys and a Kong to chew on now and do as he wishes with, any toy I don't want him to destroy lives upstairs with me. 
This'll make you laugh, it did me when I found out.
Boris isn't allowed upstairs or to sit on the sofa with us at night, mummy says it's my domain and it's a good place to escape too when he gets really annoying, and believe me he can be annoying at times. 

Just because I can't see him coming, he thinks it's great fun to grab my ears and play tug with them or to bite my stubby tail with his needle sharp teeth.
 I gives him a good telling off for that, but he won't stop and doesn't seem to have an off button!
Sometimes I just wants to be left on my own to snooze, hence why I have safe places he's not allowed to go too, which is really pawsome.

Boris started Puppy Pre School last week, and did very well by all accounts, I stayed home and slept, I didn't like the sound of that, being surrounded by  even more yapping puppies.

Here he is during the "Settle" exercise watching daddy and watching the teacher, they both had food, so of course he was watching them, he's a right piggy when it comes to food and is always trying to steal mine if nobody picks the bowl up in time.

I've heard people say he's very intelligent as he can already do Sit, Stand, Down and Recall.  

I have my doubts about the use of that word, I mean look at the next picture, he can't even figure out how how to sleep in his bed, he sleeps like this all the time, talk about a Silly Billy! It doesn't matter how many times I climb in and show him, he still sleeps like it.

Every day mummy takes me and Boris over the common for a run, to start with Boris had to wear a safety line in case he got spooked by something and bolted off, he doesn't know the area and sometimes new things might  give him a bit of a fright, we'd hate to lose him if he ran off scared by something.

Ever since I lost mummy a few months ago, I've had to keep her on the Flexi Lead as I can't see or hear where she is and it stops her wandering off. 
You'll never guess what amazing thing has happened on our walks.

Without any training at all Boris has learnt to keep a close eye on mummy, if she gets too far away he gallops after me and comes to tell me all about it.

He then leads me back to find her so she doesn't wander off and get lost again.
How cool is that?

I guess that Boris isn't such a Silly Billy after all.
We hope you all have a pawtastic weekend.

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Silent Sunday

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Silent Sunday

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Something is Afoot!

Hello everypawdy, you may have been wondering where I've been.

 Well, I got sent away to stay with Blue the mad Labrador, whilst my people went on holiday without me!!!

Can you believe it **sobs uncontrollably** I love Blue, but to miss out on a trip in the House on Wheels is unacceptable. Apparently they needed a little break, so they could have lots of late mornings and long days out without having to worry about me all the time.

How rude is that, especially as the first thing they did when they picked me up was give me a bath, they said I was a bit pongy from rolling around in the woods with Blue.

A pup has to do what a pup has to do in the woods.

The best bit about a bath is getting dry afterwards, I just love rolling on my towel.

Since they got back, they've been acting most odd, lots of whispering and looking at pictures with loads of Oooing and Ahhing. I'm sure I've heard the word "Puppy" on more than one occasion, but can't be sure with my silly old deaf ears not working properly.

Not sure why they would be talking about a puppy though? Maybe I've misheard but they are being very secretive and strange, I'm positive something is afoot. I'll let you know when I sniff the bottom of it.

I've got a little bit of sad news, after much deliberation I've decided to stop hosting "Smile it's the Weekend" for a little while, a big thank you to everyone who has linked up in the past, I've met and made some pawtastic friends through our #WeekendSmile.
 I'll still keep writing my blog so don't panic, I'm not going anywhere. At the moment mummy is finding it hard to keep posting at a set time each week.

Hope you've all had a pawsome week and as soon as I know what my naughty people are up too, you'll be the next to know.

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Asking a few simple questions could save you heartache in the long run!

This post is a copy of an email of a genuine equiry I made with somebody who professed to be a "responsible" breeder on their website... I was shocked by the reply I got, and the "As it's not compulsory, I don't have too attitude"!!!!!! Plus they never replied back when I explained  the questions I had asked in more detail...   A Guilty Conscience, I certainly hope so!!!

31 May
Dawn Hart 

####..... Couple of quick question about your pups for sale.... What are the BVA/KC Hip scores of both parents and all 4 grandparents??? Do mum and dad have current Eye Certificates, and were the x4 grandparents screened when used for breeding??? Last but not least what is the C.O.I. of the pedigree??? As I'm not a fan of line-breeding due to recessive genes!!!!!! I'm may be interested in a pup, but have seen a few lately that were't quite bold or placid enough... Thanks Dawn

31 May
######## ########
 hi dawn, in answer to ur questions no none of my dogs are hip scored as u dont hip score working lined springers, no at the mo mine dont have current eye tests as its not compulsory to have the tests done in working lined springer (at the mo) as it is with show dogs but i am in the process of getting all my dogs heath tested as im all for it just havnt got around to it up to now... as for the grandparents i have no idea if any are tested... and as for C.O.I. i have no idea what that is??? and as for there charactors there only just starting to show them so dont no yet what they are yet... hope these answer ur questions... #### x

31 May

Dawn  Hart

Ok  #### thanks for that, will do some research on Hip Dysplasia in working Springers as had 2 dogs with it in the past and it's a nasty thing!!! The tests aren't compulsory for show or working dogs which is a bad thing in my opinon.. But the law needs to change, making breeders responsible for the lifelong health of there puppies *which will hopefuly put a stop to puppy farmers...* Health Testing is used to help eliminate hereditary diesases, by not breeding from affected dogs!!!!! My Cocker is a working Cocker not show, and all his relations were tested for P.R.A (eye tests) every precaution was taken by his breeders, but he still had it when he went for his tests before breeding from him.. Hence no breeding for him!!! Therefore I had no comeback on his breeder as she had done all she could... BVA/KC tests are open to everybody, my friend breeds working labs and has been testing them for approx 20 years I believe... C.O.I is a scoring system where you can work out how closely in-bred puppies are further back in there parentage, when line-breeding was all the rage:- ie, Grandfather to Granddaughter, cousin to cousin and so on, because of recesssive genes that cause the hereditary problems.... The boldness or shyness of a pup at 4 weeks will carry on through to it's adult life if raised correctly!! Hence why early temprement testing is better for matching pups to owners.... Sorry but in my opinion and lots of other peoples,  Health Testing is important for lifelong health of the puppies and good of the breed!!!  Dawn

After this communication I opted not to buy a puppy from this particular breeder, , this article is my personal opinion, your free to make your own mind up.

Authors Note:-

I would like to add that this person was a facebook friend for several months, and I genuinely liked them. But after this transaction of messages, their personality changed and not in a nice way!

I was inundated with nasty messages, and several of my facebook friends were put in a very awkward situation, and made to choose between me and them.

So please ensure you ask questions when buying a pup, and if the breeder of the pup, doesn't want too, or won't give you the answer you require, then you should consider looking elsewhere for your pup.

Breeders that pay out for the health testing before breeding, have the interest of the pups lifelong health in mind and are not after making a quick buck.

It really is better to wait a few months or even years for your pup, than to rush out and buy one because it is available.

I'm not saying there is anything wrong with this breeders dogs, but genetic problems can happen to the most experienced of people if they don't health test their dogs before breeding.

I would only ever buy a pup from somebody, who has taken the time to find out if there are any hidden problems that can be passed on, and so should you. To save any heartache later on if the pup should develop something that could have been avoided by a simple test that somebody couldn't be bothered to do because they don't HAVE TOO!!!