Barkleys Blog

2011-12-04T07:14:00.000-08:00

Rooo !! Roo!!! Aroo roo roo !!!!

My goodness, where has the time gone again? Life is flying by so quickly. One minute it was summer, and now we are heading rapidly towards Christmas AND my birthday. I will be 5 at the end of the month. Yes 5 years of Barkley and my blog. I am almost a middle aged dog !

Life has gone at such a fast pace, but then again I am constantly running - and running - and running huh huh huh !

Right! Now I have my breath back, the above picture is the only one taken by mummy on this update. Those which follow have all been taken by our lovely friend Karen Parker who is a very clever lady with the camera. She works as a professional photographer and we enjoy working with her. She is helping mummy with the pictures which will be used for revamping the Acorn Dog Training website, which we hope to have up and running in the new year. We hope to be able to work with Karen on future projects too, as we are being taught poses and tricks to help us with the professional photo shoots and t.v. programmes we appear in from time to time. Mummy and auntie Tracy are also teaching other dogs, so that they too can be available for shoots in the future.

There are times though when you just have to wonder why you are asked to do things like sitting quietly, when we could be off running across the lovely green fields. Sighs ....... humans are very strange.

Sadly, there has not been any agility for us this year. We thought we were moving to Wales so that I could be forever with my sweetheart, Gracie Harris-Griffin, but it seems the universe has other ideas for us, so we are stuck here for the time being.

Our agility equipment is in partial storage. I say partial, because we can use it, but we cannot run classes from there as it is in a private yard. You see, our house is subsiding and subsiding moderately according to the surveyors report. This means we cannot move until the problem is resolved. Four trees, which are very close to our house, are going to have to go. That is really sad. Mummy thinks the developers should never have planted trees so close to the property, especially as the house is built on clay which dries out so easily. It has also been an exceptionally dry year. Most people haven't noticed just how dry it has been in this part of the country, but it is starting to cause major problems, in more ways than one.....

During the summer I just love to go swimming, but this summer there was just about enough water in the river for me to get.... wet. Yes, wet - but there was no swimming !!! The water has all disappeared and all that's left is enough for a splash around, and lots and lots of thick mud.

That's not good enough- well not for me. In fact it is flipping well boring !!!

But then I suddenly remembered the other place, where there is still plenty of water, where I can still do the things I like most.

Cor.... that's much more exciting.....

Here I go..................................... Whoooooooooooooooooooooooosh!!!

Whey hey, that's what water is for !!!!

See, even the girls agree :-)

Haaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa ha ha !! Well, that made me happy again.......

and so does this:

Look whose running again !!!

I mentioned in my previous blogs that Tallulah had spent some time at Terror Towers, the Vet School hospital in Cambridge. They painted a very bleak picture of her outlook. In fact, we were expecting she would be getting ready to cross the Rainbow Bridge, just about now, or by the latest, the early part of next year....

However, when I was unwell during my last blog, the Polish vet I saw mentioned to mummy that he thought I could well benefit for having some digestive enzymes in my food. If you believe in co-incidences, then it was just a co-incidence that right at that very same time, Dr. Karen Becker of Mercola Healthy Pets put out a video talking about digestive enzymes and how essential they are for all dogs, particularly dogs who are fed dry food. Oh, but then she also went onto say - not only the dogs who are fed dry food, but also those who are on raw diets too, as these diets don't contain enough entrails where the enzymes would naturally occur. And as for dry foods - well they have NO ENZYMES WHAT SO EVER!!!!

As mummy was watching the video, she became aware that Dr. Becker was talking about Tallulah's symptoms during the early days of her illness. Mummy then purchased these enzymes. First of all, she noticed just how shiny my coat was looking. She also noticed that I was putting on weight. She again looked at Tallulah and wondered.......

Would she benefit from these enzymes too? Tallulah was becoming thinner, and weaker, her voice had all but gone. There was no more voice to bark from, ball games had stopped, her exercise levels were having to be curtailed too, and strictly monitored. Owwwww the end was really in sight.....

Within days of Tallulah starting the enzymes, mummy started noticing her digestion had improved. No more straining and struggling to go to the toilet. No more rock hard or loose poops. It all started to turn normal - yes within days.

Mummy wondered where this might all lead in time, but little did she know, or even DARE to imagine just what would happen AND so rapidly.

Within a couple of weeks, Tallulah started to look much better:

Her facial expressions started to return. Her coat started to gloss up.

She started to look much much happier...... and then - just a few weeks further along, mummy text her friend to say "Tallulah has just taken off across the fields chasing a rabbit". When she returned she was in an awful state, gasping for air and making some horrendous noises. The following day she didn't run at all. In fact it was another week before she took off again....

and again....

and then this

Isn't this just amazing?

Now the ball games have returned, and not only that, but Tallulah has just started to be able to say "woooooooof" again. Not all the time, but the sound is re-emerging, and yesterday she actually said "hel-low". She has not been able to make that sound for over a year!!!! We are soooooo pleased and sooooo happy. We are all over the moon :-)

Oh alright then.....

Just one more of mummy's rubbish photo's. It was recently DaisyMae's birthday, and she had a new bed as a prezzie..... well it was hers. Thank you very much mummy :-)

Love,
Barkley

Summer days

2011-07-24T14:16:00.000-07:00

Arooo rooo roooo!!!! and Arooo rooo rooo again !

Its' here. Summer! At long last summer arrived here today, and it was a lovely warm beautiful day. I really thought summer had forgotten us this year and I had totally given up on the idea.

Its been a strange year for us thus far. Normally during the 'summer' we are out and about at agility shows, but this year, mummy hasn't been that great, and the thought of all the hanging around at shows has been enough to make her tired, let alone the getting out there and doing it all. I do miss my agility training and shows, and without them I become quite bored, and then..... I start to think about other things.... especially the ladies, and one lady in particular:

Cor, she has really grown into a bit of alright, I must say. I have really had the hots for her BIG style. Poor mummy was tearing her hair out, because Daisy Mae was on my mind day and night.

"But she is NOT in season", mummy wailed in desperation.

"oh but she IS, and what more could a boy dog wish for!!! Corrrrrr..... oooooh. She is soooo scrumptious.

I have been threatened with trips to the vet to have an implant put in. I have been threatened with a trip to the vets to have a sleep and to come home minus a bit of my anatomy. I don't care though. Daisy Mae..... awwwwwwwwwwww. You must admit lads, she really is a bit of alright, isn't she!!!

I have be very careful here, because my wife, Gracie Harris-Griffin will be reading this, but she already knows that Daisy has been taunting me with her best tarts perfume, and the more I have tried to ignore it, the more Daisy has turned it up to red hot. In fact,she has literally put me into contortions. This was me at my worst !!!!

This really is not a good time for me to be tempted like this, because on Wednesday it is my first wedding anniversary. Yes, it was a year ago that Gracie Harris and I tied the knot at Tradegar House in Wales. It really doesn't seem like a year has already flown by..... but awwwwwww.

A year is a very long time in dogdom and a lot of things happen, and it seems like forever since Gracie and I got together. We have been trying to move to Wales, but as yet, the right property is just not showing itself to us. Either it is being sold at auction. It is not suitable for doggie activities. It is too sloping for our agility equipment, or it has just gone under offer. It is very frustrating, but we are determined that we shall move to Wales, but we might have to rent someone else's property, until we find the right one for us to buy. I am sure Gracie will put that Daisy Mae in her place once we get there...... awwwwwww.

The problem with Daisy Mae is that success has gone right to her head, and not only does she wear the very best of perfumery, but she also likes a few beverages here and there too ........ Oh please don't tell anyone that I have mentioned this, because we really don't want to spoil Daisy Mae's public image now do we!!! She will no doubt be telling the whole world about her excursions into stardom in her own blog over the next few days.

Last week I had a terrierfying experience! I was very very poorly indeed (probably because of what that Daisy had been doing to me). I woke up on Saturday morning and was sick.

In fact I was sick, and I was sick and I was sick. Mummy really worried about me, and took me to Terror Towers where the strange people live who steal your blood, but this time they only looked at me, and felt me over. The lady gave mummy a whole pile of pills, not for her to take, but for me, but I didn't want them. In fact, the very thought of them made me even sicker. Mummy put them down my throat, and up my throat they came again. During the afternoon, my legs were like jelly, and I crawled my way to my water bowl to have a drink. Even that made made me very sick, so mummy took me back to Terror Towers.

There was another lady there. She wasn't very nice and mummy really doesn't like her at all, so she apologized to me as she handed me over. This time, mummy left without me. I tried to pull away from the nasty lady, but she took me away and put me in a kennel, and stuck a needle in my arm, so that the drinking stuff would stay inside me.

All night long I was there. A nice lady visited me later, and in the morning, a very nice man stole my blood, and then phoned mummy to say I was well enough to come home. Everyone was so relieved that I was eating and drinking again, and able to go out for a good run.

Mummy is a bit worried that I have lost a lot of weight. Not that I had much of that in the first place, but now I am a bit like a stick insect, so I have been getting lots and lots to eat. I now go up to people, and show them my ribs, and tell them that nasty mummy never feeds me, and I give my most hopeful of looks, and then they take pity on me, and give me something nice.

See, I have now got it off to a fine art ha ha.

At least my poorly problems only lasted a couple of days. Tallulah still has her issues, but even she is doing really well at the moment, so we are hoping that the vets are wrong, and that she will stay with us a lot longer.

Yesterday, we went to the field and did some agility training, just to keep us in the swing of things. I had a lovely time out on the course, as the girls lay there watching and hoping that their turn would be next.

Hey Gracie, at least it keeps his mind off of Daisy whilst he is galloping around and jumping.... thank goodness for that!!!

Tallulah at Terror Towers!

2011-03-27T15:56:00.000-07:00

Aroo ! roo! roo!

January???? it's now the end of March! Where does all the time go?

This goes to show how busy I have been, that I have not been able to update my blog! So what have I been up to?

Well, the weather has improved a great deal better since I last updated my blog. I can now lie out in the sunshine and watch the other dogs having their turn at agility. I find it quite boring at times, just watching and I wish there was more time for me to do some training on my own.

We went to an agility workshop last week, but there were too many other interesting things there, such a pheasants, and rabbit smells, so I did get rather distracted. I am not a mindless collie who just performs. I am a sniffy gundog, and I just love to use my nose and do was it was put here to do - SNIFF!!!!

I am very clever with my sniffing.

Mummy has not been at all well. She has something called "Addison's Disease" which is an auto-immune condition, and if she catches a nasty virus, it then becomes extremely life threatening, because her body doesn't produce cortisol (and lots of other hormones) which are supposed to react to virus's and other kinds of stresses.

Well, because I am a very good sniffy dog, I can tell when mummy is in danger, and what I do is lie down next to her, and then keep putting my head on her until she reacts. Mummy has been in contact with an organization that trains dogs to alert their owners of impending dangers. They told her that they do train dogs to detect dips in cortisol, and suggested she downloaded the forms from their website. However, when mummy checked it said "diabetes and cancer only", so as yet, we haven't got around to querying this. Mummy said that we will just have to wait until she is a bit more back on her feet and then she will look into it more for me.

I would very much like to help mummy. I have told her so. Not the girls though. They are not interested in such things. They are more concerned about DINNER and when the next walkies is coming!

I take life rather more seriously you see, I Love to sniff.

Tallulah

has had a terrible experience!

She went to Terror House:

The man there said she was ok, and didn't have any terrible conditions. Mummy didn't believe it and asked for her to referred to a man by the name of Ben Harris, who works at "Terror Towers"!!!!!!!

Well, Tallulah was indeed terrorized!!!! She was put to sleep, brought awake again. Turned upside down, turned around and around, had needles stuck in her. Wires stuck in her, thermometers stuck up her bum, her blood stolen by vampires, and then after a few days, handed back completely traumatized to mummy!!!

It was indeed a terrible experience. When I arrived at the reception, I thought it was really nice and interesting, and everyone very nice and friendly. But then a lady arrived and lead us through some swing doors, and then I realized what this place was : "ARRRRRRRRRRGH" I want to go home, please let me out". However, we kept walking along miles and miles of passageway, and then into one of those horrible rooms. Then they took me away from mummy and started doing all those horrible things to me.

It went on for several days, and then... oh - and then they took me back to the room where I last saw mummy, and oh I was so relieved to see that she was still sitting there waiting for me.

After a bit of a talk with a lady, and then with Ben, I was told I could go back home.

What a relief. At least I could have some proper dinner there. They fed me horrible chicken at that place.

It tasted revolting and I didn't want to eat it. "Is there something else she might like to eat?" I heard the lady asking mummy over the phone. "No" replied mummy "she doesn't want to eat because she doesn't like where she is, and being stuck inside a kennel". "Oh, fair enough" the lady said. HUH!!!! Why not just let me go home to have a proper meal!!!!

But the outlook for Tallulah is not at all good and we are all very very sad. She has a thyroid problem, but worse still, she has peripheral neuropathy, and also a condition called Laryngeal Paralysis. This means the nerves which control her movements are failing, and eventually she will not be able to run, or even walk anymore. She will fall off her legs, and maybe have to have a cart, if she wants one. If she is very unhappy, then the unthinkable will have to be thought about. They say she might have another year. Already Tallulah is loosing her bark and it comes out more as a squeak. Her voice is failing so she can't shout properly at the door anymore. This means that Daisy and I have to do the shouting now.

But mummy had neuropathy, and it was caused by vitamin B12 deficiency. We must find out if Tallulah has been tested for the same. Mummy gets injections of B12 and this has controlled the problem. We have heard that some dogs have been helped by these injections too, but only if they have the deficiency.

Mummy is trying a lot of things to help Tallulah, such as giving her krill oil, as it is very high in omega 3's and not contaminated with lead and mercury!! We will just have to see how she goes. We are hoping she doesn't sink down fast, but just like mummy, she has very good days, and not so good days where she appears to be quite poorly.

Anyway - not everything is doom and gloom:

What's this???? I can sniff something which sniffs very interesting:

It's Aunt Tracy who works with mummy at the dog training school:

She has baked some really yummy scrummy doggie cup cakes!!!! Yes cupcakes! and they are soooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo delicious that everyone wants to queue up for them:

As everyone loved them so much, Aunt Tracy is going to sell her lovely cakes to the dogs who come to our classes, so watch out you guys. You are in for some real serious treating...... that's if there are any left for anyone else!!!!!

Well, there is some for Daisy - even though she wants them ALL to herself !!!!

Well, that's it for another blog. Lovely see and feel the spring sunshine bursting into my coat again. Let's hope it's a good summer for us - in more ways than one. Roll on Wales........ here I come.

All White Now

2010-12-27T09:48:00.001-08:00

ARRRRRR ROW! ROW! ROW!

Here we are at the end of another year, and yes, the white stuff has returned. Twice in one year??? That's just amazing! I have only had 3 birthdays, and my 4 birthday will be in a few days time, but it seemed that forever there was none of this white stuff, and then all of a sudden it just keeps on coming..... and coming! In fact this time, there is so much of it that Daisy and I wondered what to do......

and where to go......

What do you do when it almost reaches the top of your legs? You can't possibly run in it.... can you?

Our local park looked like this :

The whole world has altered.... but could it possibly be for the better I am wondering????

We could end up having it all year round you know! Wouldn't this be SOOOOO much better than lying around waiting for water to be squirted over me? or having to leap into the river to cool off???

Or walking around wearing that yellow coat thing which was supposed to help me cool down?

You know, the more I think about this, the more I am coming around to the idea....... that the snow is actually...... quite good fun!!!

I can run around in it!!!! he he.

I can roll on my back in it...........

I can even play with things in the garden which I am not usually allowed to play with......

I decided to take a ballot of my friends and relations to see if they think the weather ought to stay like this all year round, and here is what they had to say about it:

I am Finlay, and as long as mummy keeps kicking the snow up into the air so that I can catch it with my teeth, I think it ought to stay !

I am Alfie, and ooooh aren't I sooooo handsome in the snow? don't you think so? If the answer is yes, then I think the snow should stay!!!

Tallulah: I had an agility accident recently and hurt my shoulders, and the cold has really help me to feel better, so I think it should stay.

DaisyMae: Cool - I will go along with that. I think it is much better than lying under a bush in the garden panting because I can't cool down. This is soooo much nicer.

I am against!!! Quite against !!!!! If I can't go home covered in black, then I would rather it all disappeared and disappeared for good!!!! Who invented white for goodness sake !!!!!!

Huh, at least I found a little bit of black to put on my feet before going back home !!!

So that's it. It looks like us dogs have decided. The snow is here to stay (whether Mia likes it or not!!!!) However, it is always nice to go back home and curl up by the radiator to get warm again. It's my 4th birthday in a few days time, and Alfie will be 7 on the same day. Happy birthday me and Alfie. More prezzies please mummy !!!!!

See ya in 2011 have a good one.

Barkley x x x x

October and November have flown by

2010-11-19T11:08:00.001-08:00

Aroooo roooo roooo!!!!

Oh my goodness, where has all the time disappeared to? It seems as though summer has come and gone far too quickly, although I must say that I do prefer the cooler weather as I don't get quite so hot under my collar as I am running around. I do a lot of running you see, as I am a canine athlete in my spare time.

Usually everything goes rather quiet at this time of year. There are hardly any agility shows. The evenings are very dark and boring, but to lighten things up a bit we have other activities including parties. Quite recently we celebrated Tallulah's 7th birthday. She can now enter veterans classes in agility. I took the trouble to explain all this to her, but for some reason she slapped me around the ears! Ouch!

For Tallulah's birthday party, mummy baked her a lovely cake:

Which DaisyMae (aka Fatima Round Dog) thought had been baked especially for her! It was a different receipe to the cakes we have had in the past, and even though they were extremely yummy, this particular one was just pure scrumptious, and nobody - not even one dog - turned their nose up at it. Even some of the humans tucked in and enjoyed a piece.

We had a wonderful time celebrating, and many of our friends came to play games and to have a good run around. There was this girl there who made a move on me:

"Come and get me Barkley, I am all yours" she giggled.

Yes, rather nice. But I am now a married man, and Gracie Griffin, my wife, lives in Wales, and couldn't be with us. Gracie would be rather cross if she thought there was anything to this, which of course there isn't. I prefer my girls to be red you see, and wearing the correct kind of perfume, and this girl really doesn't smell of Gracie, or eu de foxe, so I decided I had really better behave myself !

More cake to share around.

and more guests to share it with:

Not only did DaisyMae want to steal all the cake for herself, but she wanted to steal all the toys as well!

However, Tally had her fair share of cake, and received a lovely birthday toy from Auntie Di, that was the envy of us all.

Everyone chased Tally around the field, but look at who stole it!!!!!

Now, there's a surprise - not! Tally decided enough was enough and called a halt to the party!!!!

Poor Tally!

What? Was I really bothered by that? Come on - after having eaten all that cake, I just thought it was time to go home.

I had a lovely day. It was great fun!

I waved goodbye to all my friends and watched them leave the paddock. That was the hardest part.

So, we finished the afternoon by having a lovely run out in the park, where the setting sun glowed down on us, and made our coats really shine.

Mummy thinks the autumn brings out the best in us, and look at what Daisy is wearing around her neck!!!! I have been told she has been given this in preparation for her big day, whenever that is?

And with that, we all felt very tired:

and then went home to bed.

I wonder when the next party will be? and who will be there? I think I overheard mummy saying that it will be Sunday November 28th at BlackJacks paddock. Bradwell Abbey at 1.30pm. If you can make it there you will be welcome to come and join us. It might be snowing by then, and that will make things rather interesting..........

I did my very best

2010-09-08T12:57:00.000-07:00

Aroooo rooooo roooo.

The agility season is drawing to an end now, so time to have a sit down and a nice relax in my favourite garden chair.

I have done really well this year, and mummy has been very very pleased with me. I have had lots of clear rounds and place rosettes, and I have almost made it to grade 3 which is good for a Setter. I just love running and jumping, but not when the weather is too hot, because I then prefer a nice run followed by a lovely swim in the cool water.

Last month we went to a HUGE agility show in Kelmarsh, Northamptonshire. It was called The Kennel Club International Agility Festival. The weather was cool and showery, and just right for me. On the Friday we did really well and managed to dodge all the thundery showers when it came to our turn to go around the ring. It was great fun. I ran and charged about, and had two clear rounds in the Starters Cup qualifiers. Mummy was over the moon, especially when she discovered later in the day that I had qualified for the finals on the Saturday. Me..... yes, me - not Tallulah for once!

Tallulah is usually the one who does well and qualifies and gets rosettes and trophies. I am usually well behind her. However, this time, she made one little mistake in the qualifiers, when she managed to knock down one of the elements which make up the long jump, and that was it - out she went- even though she had gone round faster than me.

I was so excited. My head doubled in size, especially when mummy said that she had prepared an extra special supper for me as a celebration. Huh, I had beaten Tallulah BIG time and lots of collies as well! I certainly deserved my special supper, which was very nice indeed.

The following morning, I was all bright eyed and bushy tailed, ready to take on the world, but mummy wasn't. In fact, something very strange was happening to her and she wasn't sure what. With her adrenal gland problems she often becomes very tired and exhausted, but this particular morning, she felt particularly drained, thirsty, shakey and her vision had become blurred.

The first class I went in was a standard agility class, and the course was very simple. However, all of a sudden mummy stopped. I looked at her and wondered what she was doing. She stood in the the middle of the ring, very confused and couldn't figure out how the course went, so we gave up and left. She then went back in with Tallulah, and got to exactly the same point, and found herself lost yet again!

Mummy was very upset, and couldn't understand what was happening. I was very very worried about her. The next class was a jumping course, and again it was a simple course. Both Tallulah and I went clear, but mummy came out of the ring almost off her feet, and very confused as to how she managed to get us both around.

"That's it" she said "I am never going to be able to get Barkley around the Starters Cup Final, I can't even cope with the simplist of courses today". I plodded along at her side, wondering if we were going to make it into the main ring or not. Mummy was just not herself.

After walking the course, mummy was satisfied that the course was good, and that barring any accidents I should go clear. However, just before she lead me into the ring she felt close to collapsing. She just wanted to get me round and then back out, so that she could have a sit down.

When we were at the start line, a nice lady looked at mummy and said "don't worry, just get in there and enjoy yourself". Mummy said that she would. Usually she would really enjoy herself, especially with such a nice course which had been set out for us. The lady looked at mummy again and said "don't be so worried, just enjoy yourself". Mummy wasn't worried about being in the main ring. She was worried about getting around the course..... and then it happened. I was going really well and mummy ended up forgetting the course AGAIN. In fact she found herself going round in the opposite direction to where she should have been be going!

Mummy couldn't wait to get out of the ring. Shortly after, somebody said to her "I think you need to sit down. I will go and get you a chair. You look very tired. In fact tired isn't the word for it - you look really ....... tired is JUST NOT the word for it!!!!!". Indeed mummy was feeling terrible What should have been the biggest and one of the most enjoyable days of my agility life had turned into something quite frightening.

No wonder somebody had offered her a chair and had virtually accused my mummy of looking a great deal more than 1/2 dead! She was - and didn't understand it!

Over the next couple of days, she became much worse, and could barely stand up without almost keeling over. By Tuesday she had decided to take herself off to see the nurse at her local surgery. She asked the nurse to prick her finger and take her blood sugar levels. They were VERY low, but mummy isn't a diabetic!

Mummy is insulin resistant and also suffers from hypo adrenalism. To help her loose more weight, she had switched her sweeteners from a fructose based sweetener to dextrose, which is pure glucose. This would normally have been a good move, however, as her adrenal glands don't work properly when they should, she didn't produce the cortisol which was required to help regulate her sugar levels once the insulin spike had occured. The excess insulin made her sugar levels drop very low, but the lack of cortisol made it impossible for her sugars to balance themselves out again to a safe and sustainable level. She effectively suffered what is known as "reactive hypoglycemia", which causes confusion, dizzyness, blurred vision, fast heartbeat, drowsiness, and anxiety.

Mummy keeps looking at me, very sad and upset that she let me down on my big agility day. Of all the days it could have started happening, and so frightening for her because she didn't know what was going on.

Both mummy and myself had put in a lot of training, and competing to get to that level, and it was very disappointing - more for her than it was for me. I couldn't care less. I was more concerned that mummy wasn't able to function, and was finding it very difficult to look after us.

Anyway, she is more or less back on track now. We are having fun. She is taking it easy and is just monitoring the overall situation.

We can all have a good trot and run around again, and Daisy thinks things are now great. She has been doing lots to make mummy laugh and with a face like this.... mummy IS laughing again!!!

p-s I have heard mummy talking about my going to live in Wales with my beloved Grrrrays? oooh I do hope so. x x x

A wonderfully crazy day followed by a horrible day

2010-07-31T02:27:00.001-07:00

Arooo rooo rooo! Aroooo roooo rooo! Aroooo rooo rooo!

Last weekend we went to Wales. We went to an agility show at Tredegar House which was a very nice place for us to visit. Lots of things to see and for dogs to do there, and the weather was nice and warm too. However, I had my mind on FAR more important things than agility shows. I was there to meet my Blog sweetheart, Grace -yes, Grace - the beautiful. We thought the backdrop of Tredegar House would be the perfect setting for our wedding.

I became quite stressed at one point, because the hour of the wedding came and went, but there was no sign of Grace. I asked mummy to check her text messages, but she said there were none. My heart then sunk and I started to wonder whether or not she was coming:

The best man and his wife arrived in their car:

Mia looked around, then all of a sudden her face dropped: "Oh Alfie! Oh no! Look whose over there! I didn't know that ugly mutt had been invited". Mia snorted as loud as she possibly could, so that everyone could tell who she was referring too.

"Right, if she is one of the guests, then I am off home. I hope she is just here for the agility and not to come here barking and snarling and spoiling all our fun!"

"Huh, bitches - honestly, they just have to get themselves into a tizzy when there is a major event don't they - sighs!"

I waited and waited. But still no Grace. She is now 15 minutes late!!!! I am sure she has decided against marrying me and has taken off with another dog instead. I wonder who she has chosen over me then? :-(

"She's done a runner Barkley..... good. I hope she has, because I thought YOU were MINE!!!!"

"Barkley, Barkley, stop looking so sad and miserable, here comes the bride!"

Sure enough, at 11.20am I saw mummy waving at the approaching car. It was Grace. She was indeed late, but it was still my beloved Grace. She hadn't made off with another after all, but had come to tie the knot with me. Oh happy day.

My darling Grace. Look how beautiful she is.

Last minute touches were made before the ceremony:

"stand still honey, and just let me put this on right", said Lilly Mae's mummy. "and I will just check that everything down here is on properly" said Daisy Mae.

"Hey, Barkley, look at her over there? she's a bit of alright aint she?"
Phwoah she certainly is.....

"Now then Lilly Mae and Daisy Mae, you be on your best behaviours and let's have no squabbling eh?"

"Pssst. Barkley... you know you can make a quick get away now and not go through with it don't you? It's not too late to make a run for it!"

Yeah but she is soooo cute Alfie. You can see why I love her so much can't you?!

"I am all set up and ready for the big occasion, can we all gather together now please?"

"Have I really got to sit with you lot?"

"Urgh, and you even eat off the ground too - tut!"

"ok.... I will just make myself home here and watch"

"I do Barkley. Do you?"

Oh yes. I most certainly do"

"Phew, aren't we glad it is all out of the way now? Perhaps we can take all this gear off and lie down for a bit!"

"So when's the party? where's all the food?"

"ahhhh, here tis. I will take all of that thank you very much".

and so to the honeymoon.......

Dorsetter.

Dorsetter!

But that's the first Severn Bridge..... how the heck can that be Dorsetter???

So ended a lovely day.

The next day was the exact opposite. It was horrible! As it was hot, we decided not to return to the agility show, but to go for a lovely riverside walk instead. We went to a place called "Usk" which was not too far from Tredegar House. The weather was lovely. We had a long lead walk though until we reached the place where dogs could jump into the cool river for a good swim. We were really enjoying ourselves, and the field with the bunnies in was great fun. I shouted "AROOO ROOO ROOO" at the very top of my voice because I was enjoying myself so much. The humans sat down and enjoyed watching us run around. Then they became thirsty and decided to walk back along the river bank towards the town. It was then Daisy and I went down a bank towards the water and disturbed a wasps nest! We came running up covered in them from nose to tail.

Daisy had the sense to throw herself into the water and all the wasps flew off her. Mummy tried to get me into the water too, but I stopped to roll, and I got horribly stung. The pain was excrutiating. I rolled and rolled and rolled. I threw myself into the river. I lay down in the water. I came out and rolled and rolled and rolled again.

Mummy became very concerned because I was shaking so much, and her and Aunt Tracy tried to find me an emergency vet. However, mummy checked me over and decided that I wasn't going into shock and that I was going to be ok. She managed to get me back to the car, but I panicked along the road everytime something touched me or flew past me. I was really glad to get back to my honeymoon home, where I could shake myself down and relax. I look forward to seeing Tredegar House again, because we had such a lovely time, but I don't think I ever want to go back to Usk. I would be too scared.

2010-06-20T13:31:00.000-07:00

Arooo roo! roo!

Look at what I've got!!!!!! Ha ha!!! It has a figure on it, and it means I beat lots and lots of other dogs in agility and came home in 6th place!!!! Mum was amazed, because I had jumped and then sniffed, jumped and then sniffed, sniffed all the spaces between the weave poles, cheking out all the rabbits and the girlie smells, and then I took off as fast as my legs would take me. Mum said it was a lightbulb moment when I realized that agility is about racing and competing with the other dogs not just having a Sunday morning saunter around the golf course.

,
Huh huh huh, now when I stand in the queue ready to go into the ring, I scowl at the other dogs, I say "grrrrrr, ro-ro-ro-ro" and then shout "let me in, you get out, and then I'll show you what it's all about grrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr" Then when mum shouts "GO" I take off way past her and wait for her to tell me which way I should go. At the end of the course I shout again "A-ro ro! ro! and wait for her to give me a big hug even though I might have got something wrong. Mum thinks it is great now that I get in that ring and show everyone that Setters are not thick stupid good for nothing dogs after all, and that Setters can actually beat those black and white things. Mum has often heard comments such as "who in their right mind would run an Irish Setter in agility" so here's her answer "I would" she says, "and isn't it lovely when they beat those black and white things who are often very scatty and knock many poles down and even go the wrong way on many occasions".
We are not just beauty you know - we are brains too.... oh yes. As for Tallulah, she was very jelous of my prize, and snorted that if she hadn't jumped over the top of the dogwalk contact, she would have beaten the lot of us and taken home the trophy!!!! Tally thinks taking short cuts is the intelligent thing to do, but unfortunately, the judges don't agree. Tallulah has far too many of those black and white friends. They have evidently been telling her that the coloured thing at the bottom of the dogwalk (which the humans call 'the contact') has teeth in it. "That contact MUST be jumped at ALL costs" she tells me everytime I prepare to go into the ring. "Be careful Barkley, it is dangerous - it WILL have you and bite your toes one day"..... oh come on Tallulah, I have stood on it many times and I haven't had my toes bitten .... well, not yet!

One day, a few weeks ago, mummy wasn't well, and Aunt Tracy ran Tallulah around a course at Newbury Showground. Mummy warned her to be careful about Tally's contacts, and Aunt Tracy was careful - very careful!!! In fact she made a BIG point to show Tally that there were no teeth in the contact. Tally trusts Aunt Tracy very much indeed, and listened to her. However, the judge thought differently and gave poor Tally 5 faults, probably because he knew that she is neurotic about teeth where there are no teeth!!! Aunt Tracy was really angry when she discovered that they had been faulted, and mummy was very disappointed after she saw the video because this is what she saw:

What do you think? did she? or didn't she? We think this shows Tally did believe Aunt Tracy and put her feet on the teeth place. From this, we can't see how she could possibly have missed it.

Tally has been very unhappy recently, with spells of coughing, choking and lethargy. She had also been piling on the kilo's so mummy took her to the vet. Rory the vet man stole some of her blood and sent it away to the vampires. When the vampire read back the results of their tasting, they said it had a normal flavour, but when mummy and Steve the Vet checked the values, they realised it was not normal. Tally has a thyroid problem and now has to take some of the same tablets which mummy has to take each morning. I hope I never have to take those.

Here is Tally Tallulah looking very hypothyroid. It was a very hot day, and this made her feel even worse. In fact, she coughed and spluttered that she didn't want to do agility at all that weekend, and the others weren't all that interested either, so we went to visit Aunt Rachel and went for a lovely swim in the River Ouze near Ely instead.

Daisy Mae experienced her first ever very hot day at a show, and she too wasn't impressed by it either.

She has fully recovered from her operation now, and is smelling very nice. I might even go as far as to say she is starting to smell quite fanciable, but I wouldn't say that within hearing distance of her. She would probably get the wrong end of the fetch stick. Oh, I had better be careful with what I write here, because Grace, my fiance, reads my blog, and she won't be too impressed. Of course Grace, Daisy Mae is rubbish, and whatsmore she is red and white so that just won't do.......... Honestly Grace, I have cleaned up my act at agility shows now, and I do go jumping these days, not off to play golf ..... honestly deer rest I am being very loyal and faithful to yew.

Oh, a noise. Who is that???? There is somebody outside the gate, I had better dash now and go see them off.

Lovely New Grub

2010-04-18T14:11:00.001-07:00

Arooo roooo roooo!!!!

Spring is here. Oh how lovely bouncy bouncy leapie up and downie, spin round and around. I am feeling really good. In my last blog I wasn't feeling very well at all. In fact I was really sick. Mum offered me food. "No" I snorted "give it to Daisy, she wants to eat everything and turn herself into Fatima Round Dog. I don't! Not me!!!

Mum offered me beef.... nope
Mum offered me tripe.... nope
Mum offered me lamb ...... forget it.
She offered me dreaded dried food - who was she kidding? Nope! Well and truly Nope!

I then met up with Storm the Working Sheepdog, who smelt mmmmmm very spring like. Ooooh I then re-discovered what life is all about and felt the springs returning to my feet. Mum looked at me and said "if you don't eat your dinner, you cannot dance and play around with Storm. If you are not fit enough to eat, then you are not fit enough for anything else........ so I eat. I eat and eat and eat. In fact I am eating mum out of house and home so that I can be super fit to meet Storm again.

I can't play with her at the moment though mum says, because she has been to the vet and had an operation which is called spey, whatever that means? I can see her next week though, and we play!!!! Whoppeeeeeee.

Now when it comes to food. Mum found this new food which is absolutely scrumptious. Not only have I regained my appetite, but I have also put on some weight and my coat is really good once more. Mum made a fuss of me earlier and said "your hair is so silky and gorgeous that I wish it was mine". I wagged my tail, because I am really happy with my coat now, and that lovely food. It comes in frozen packs, and mum defrosts it and serves it to us. It is called Natural Instinct. I feel so much better since mum has been getting it for us, and as for Tallulah, well she is trying to imitate me:

Her coat is much better, and what's more, she had been developing funny tummies too, but she is fine now and won't be visiting the vets herself, which she is very pleased about, because she HATES vets..... yes, ALL vets!!!! Grrrrrrr.

The new food place also sells something called "lamb spines". Well, all three of us gorged ourselves on lamb spines last week, and all three of us got mummy up in the middle of the night to let us out. She says next time we have those, we are NOT allowed to eat them all in one go!!!

Dottie, who is now called "Daisy" because she thinks she is very pretty, is still suffering from the delusion that I actually love her. She keeps posting pictures of the two of us on her blog, but the pictures lie. You see here, on my blog, I am not even looking at her. Pretty? Huh. She is the wrong colour for one thing. Not my type.... see!!!! I am getting married to Grace Setter in July, and then we are going to set up home together in Somersetter, or maybe even Dorsetter. We'll see, but Daisy wont be included in the new set up!

The agility season is now in full swing, and last weekend I went to the Spring at Shuttlewoof show. I did mixed things there. Either I was very naughty and had my mind on other things.... ie the lovely ladies outside of the ring, or I was very good and mum was pleased with me. As per usual Tallulah was very good and did some nice clear rounds.

This was me though, with my mind on things outside of the ring, rather than inside:

I can be good at times though. Honestly, but I when I know they are pointing the video camera at me, I become very shy, and that's when I remember the girls.... outside the ring.... and of course, meeting up with Storm again next week. Oh I do hope her operation went well to cure her of whatever it was she needed curing of.

Barkley

Ups and Downs

2010-03-18T14:46:00.001-07:00

Aroooo roooo rooooo.

Well, that DottieDotDog has well and truly gone and taken over now. She somehow managed to wrap her little paws all around me, and persuaded me to play with her. Not only that, but she has convinced herself that I actually like her and have welcomed her as a member of our family. I really wouldn't believe it if I were you. That really is not the case.

It has been a boring winter. We haven't really gone anywhere. No shows, no practice sessions. The winter seemed to kill off most things which I find interesting.

In fact during the past couple of weeks I have not felt very well at all, and have been really down. The man in the pet shop said the food order hadn't arrived, and mum had to change us to a different brand of meat and it really did upset my tummy, and Tally's! We both rumbled and gurgled over a period of days. I was also sick with it which caused mum quite a bit of concern.

I became very sleepy, and suffered headaches. I then started refusing to eat anything - even my Fish4Dogs, and that really did cause mum to worry. I adore my Fish4Dogs, and for me to turn my back on them sent shivers down mum's spine! That was it. Off to the vets I went. "Don't worry", roared Mr. Rory Vet, "he has just got a tummy ache and will be alright very soon. If he is not right in a few days time I would like some of his pee and some blood".

W-H-A-T?????? What on earth is HE made of??? is he a vampire? why does he want my pee and my blood? I have met some crazy humans in my time, but I have NEVER heard anyone say anything quite that insane!!!

That really got me worried. The next day I ate NOTHING at all, not even my most favourite lambs hearts, so back I went again to the vets, but not before mum had chased me around the neighbourhood carrying a tray - I think she was trying to steal my pee!!! Obviously vets disease must be highly contagious!!!!

This time, I saw Mr. Steve Vet. "oh nothing to worry about, he just has a tummy ache. Tell him to take these tablets to calm the inflammation, and bring him back on Friday if he hasn't eaten anything by then!

Well, that well and truly did it - Today I have eaten. I really don't want to go back to that mad house, where dogs sit there shaking. No wonder everyone shakes as they wait their turn to go in. The fact that mum ended up chasing me around with a tray in her hand is enough to convinced a dog that he had better start eating again. Not only that, but I went for a lovely happy skippy beautiful run with my friends Alfie, Mia and Ziggy today. Oh I do love the sunshine....

This is much better than going back to house where the vets live!!!

Leaving home and enveloping

2010-02-05T10:27:00.000-08:00

Aroo! Roo! Roo!!!

Well, it has been almost 3 weeks now, and that red and white imposter is still here!!!! I am really worried about mum. Why has she gone and done this to us?

Do you know what Tallulah and I have been subjected to? That puppy is hanging onto my ears and making me scream? Does she let go when I say "roooooooo roooo" ? No, she does not. So much for all those puppy training text books and video's which say to cry out when the puppy bites - our puppy does not appear to have read those books, nor watched the videos!

I am now hatching plans to envelope with my fiance Grrrrays. What else can a boy do when he is trouble, but turn to his other half?

In the morning, I have to peer out from the bottom of the stairs before I go outside ... just to make certain that SHE is NOT lurking there, waiting for me.

"Arrrrrrrrrrrrrrr haaaaaaaaaaa" she screams when she sees me. "Ooooooh noooooooo" I yell as she comes hurtling towards me at breakneck speed. "rooooooo roooooooo my ears again! mum help".

And just look at the mess she leaves all across the floor!!!! I am the one who has to collect it all up and put it back in the box. It's quite true you know, that puppy does hang onto Barkley's ears - but Barkley used to hang on to my tail when he was little and would he let go when I screamed??? Not on your life he would not. I think payback time springs to mind somehow!

Oh now look..... all the girls in the household are ganging up on me. Now I have to go and text Grrrays to ensure that her and I envelope together. We are hoping to get married and move to Dorsetter! where else?

Oh please - now what has she gone and done?

2010-01-19T15:06:00.001-08:00

Aroooooooo aroooooooooo. Its the end of the world.

For heavens sake. What is going on in this house?

First of all I was called out of bed well before the crack of noon on Sunday morning. Then I was bundled off with Tallulah in a car which contained our agility friends. I thought we were going off to one of our agility shows, as like many of the shows we attend, it was a very long journey. BUT, then something most odd happened. We ended up a house in the middle of nowhere. No cars bursting out of car parks. no barking collies, no tannoy announcements, and worst of all - no agility equipment. Mum went into the house, whilst Tallulah, Alfie, Mia and I played in an enclosure for a while. Then - she - mum, came back out of the house and stood on the steps waving like the queen, and in her arms what THE thing!!!!

The thing was then loaded into the car, and off we went back towards home. The thing went "honk honk honk" and then promptly threw up all over aunt Tracy. It is now here in our house. It appears to have moved in with us...... This is just too much for me. I want to leave home! Ooooh it is sooooooo terrible and I don't know what to do.

I have text'd and emailed my fiance Grace who lives near Swansea, and explained to her just how unhappy I am. She is on her way now to rescue me. We are planning to elope together, so that I can escape the intruder. I have my squeaky bone all packed by the door ready to go.

This is the thing which has upset me. It is a "Dottie" and she thinks she has come here to take over. Well, I'm off.

"yap yap yap yappity yap.. "

Tallulah is the only one who appears to be happy.... she thinks she has become a mum!!!

"happy - I am"

Well, Tallulah is easily fooled. Mark my words .... this is trouble - it isn't even a proper red dog like us. It's an INFILTRATOR!!!!

"yap yap yap yap tee hee yappity yap haha"

Let it snow, let it snow, let it snow

2009-12-20T09:50:00.000-08:00

ARROWW!!!!
AROOO - ROW! ROW!!!!!
Isn't it wonderful?

The perfect weather to open the door, go outside - and annoy mum! I am so clever that I can actually close the door when I come back in, but this morning, not for the first time you mind, I forgot and mum came down the stairs to brrrrrrrrrrrrrr! "brrrrrrrrrrr BARKLEY" she snorted "you have done it AGAIN - close that door"! The Chief Executive of Eon loves me. I know, because mum keeps telling me that he'll never need a bonus if every house was equipped with a Barkley.

Oh but it is just sooooooooooooo much fun.

My head has swollen again mum says. Last week, I went on another photoshoot, in a very very busy and strange place called "LUNDUN". It was very noisy and there was no grass - just lots and lots of pavements.

The studio was very nice and great fun, and I saw my friend Fagan who goes to the Newbury agility shows. I also met some of Tallulah's cousins who were very nice looking show dogs. They looked down their snouts at me because I am no show dog. "Your ears are too long", they snooted, "our mum's trim ours to look neat and tidy, but look at you - ragamuffin!!- phuh".

Well, I might not be a 'show dog' all prim and proper, but I have beauty with brains!!! I was the only one who would do what the agency wanted me to do..... jump up and down - again and again and again! Oh it was such fun, and my long ears flapped up and down and often out behind me. The agent and the photographer loved me and they got lots and lots of shots of me. I loved the popping and flashing of the camera. It just went on relentless, and I adored being in the limelight once more, especially doing something exciting such as leaping up and down, trying to catch the kong, and touching the target stick with my nose. Mum had the clicker, so she was able to tell me with the clicker that I had to look directly at the camera and not across at her.

This is me on my audition video - please click on this green thank you.

I am such a handsome boy see, and my Deer Fionse Grrrrrays really lerves her man. We be married soon and have lots of puppies. We will need a big house to bring them all up in, so I need to get some more work.

Grrrrays and I won't be spending Christmas together sadly. Her Uncle Jethro is very pawley, he has an auto-immune condition very much like the one our poor Lotte had. We are hoping very much that his Ben vet can get the condition under control so that he can really start to enjoy life again. Grrrrays and I can then make our final plans and call a date for our wedding. We will be inviting all our doggy friends to celebrate with us. A big party with liver cake, lambs hearts, chicken carcass, turkey necks, and lots of other lovely things for us all to chew on.

Last week we had our school Christmas party, and we managed to raise £40 for The Irish Setter Rescue Group.

I will need rescuing soon, because mum has been talking to a lady about getting one of these:

In January!!!! Yes, January - EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEK!!!!!!!

But she - Tallulah is really excited. She loves baby dogs. She wants to be mum to them all.

Anyway my friend Milo is calling me now to run across the fields with him.

So I now wish you all a very merry Christmas, and a very prosperous 2010. To all my agility pals, I hope we all do well in the ring next year guys. Cheers. Oh and one more thing.....

Let it snow, let it snow, let is snow ~ yeeaaaaaaaaaaaaah!!!!!!

I was very worried

2009-11-21T13:37:00.003-08:00

Arooo rooo rooo!!! From me at Setterville.

It has been a very stressful time for us just recently. As I wrote before, we lost our dear old Nallebones a few months ago, and then something else happened which made me very worried.

We got up one morning, and Tallulah vanished out of the door with mum and without me!
Nalle disappeared like this too and never came back.

After a while - shock horror, mum came home without Tallulah, awwwww where could she be? I was very worried and didn't know what to do. Mum also seemed to be very worried, but not extremely upset like she was when Nalle went out of the door, but it was still very very worrying.

Whatever was happening, must have been quite serious, because the phone made its noise and mum spoke to it as she often does, and then said "I will see you later Barkley, I have got to go out for a while". I really can't understand what that phone does, but mum speaks to it quite a bit during the day, but on this particular occasion, it seemed to be making her stressed. What could it have been saying to her?

Anyway, off she went, and about 3/4 of an hour later she came home with a very sleepy Tallulah who didn't want to speak to me, or play. In fact she was sleepy for the remainder of the day, and mum was getting worried that Tallulah wasn't doing her pee's . Could she be dehydrating? Mum placed some very wet cotton wool inside Tallulah's mouth to get some hydration in, and waited a while. Eventually up she got, had something to eat, a little to drink - and then went back to sleep!

The following day, she still slept and slept. Mum explained to me that Tallulah's armpit had been operated on, and that she was worried about her still being so sleepy. However, Tallulah soon had a pee, which meant that the waterworks were operating as they should, and this was soon followed by a nice long drink. What a sigh of relief mum gave.

The operation under the armpit was to remove a grass seed which had migrated 2 inches into her muscle and had caused the tissue to become diseased. Poor girl, she must have been in agony. The only way we knew that she wasn't happy was that she wasn't getting on too well with her agility, and eventually stopped jumping. What looked like a small abscess under her arm, was hiding something far more dangerous, especially as the seed was migrating upwards, and towards her heart!

All this - despite the fact that mum checks us on a regular basis for things like grass seeds and other foreign bodies. Whatever next!

The main thing was that she was back home - with me. Not able to go out running, but at least she was back!

Anyway, Tallulah has almost made a full recovery now - almost - but not quite. She has just started her agility training again, but over lowered jumps, and she is racing across the fields searching for squirrels and bunnies, so I guess she ok-ish now - even to the extent that .....
...........

Her horns are growing back :-O arrrrrghhh!!!!

So, now we are all happy again, and as you can see, I am looking particularly happy....

This is because I am engaged to be married and our engagement party will be in 3 weeks time - yeeeeaaaaaaaa!!!!

Here is my intended:

This is Miss Grrrrrrace, and Miss Grrrrace lives in Whales, were we did go for a very wet holiday some months ago.

I am looking for an engagement collar for my Deerest Pawlett and I am thinking about something along these lines:

I am not sure if it will be this one yet as it takes a boy a while to make up his mind over something as special as this and for such a special young lady too. Awwwww awwwww. Roooooooooo!!!

Birthday girl

2009-09-28T12:56:00.001-07:00

Aroo roo roo.

It was Tallulah's 6th birthday last week, and we had a big party at our paddock, with lots of guests. Here are some pictures of a few of those who were invited. We had lots of fun and games, with competitions and a doggie birthday cake. For the second year running, Zack the Springer Spaniel won just about everything, not just because he wanted to get the competitions part over and done with quickly to get to the cake, but because he wanted to win the prize of Tallulah's most treasured yellow ball. However, the ball wasn't on the prize giving agenda, so Tallulah soon put him right about that. Zack then had to choose some of the real prizes instead.

Like all good parties, there was a family argument, with Khan and Tara Shepherd having a teeth and fur fight after Khan told Tara to shut up and leave him alone. Poor Khan was disgusted that the agility equipment wasn't there waiting for him. "Party" he roared, "p-a-r-t-y??? I am here for agility, not to play silly games .

Here is he below, walking away from Tara in disgust, in search of the agility equipment.

Poor Tara was left very confused as to why she got bitten for nagging at Khan to lighten up.

After all the games and events of the afternoon were over, the moment everyone (apart from Khan that is) had been waiting for arrived......

Here it comes:

The birthday cake!!!! Mmmmm all organic and made from fresh mince.

and everyone is very happy indeed....

including Alex the Labrador!

But then again, he is a Labrador..... yum yum.

The fun and games also had a serious side to it. We managed to raise £70 for Wiccaweys Border Collie Rescue, and evidently there is more to come, as somebody who couldn't make it to the party wants to make a donation this Wednesday. So thank you to everyone who has donated some cash to such a wonderful and exceptionally well run rescue scheme. The money WILL go to the dogs who are in need and everyone there will all be very grateful.

Other news.

I am engaged to be married!!!

My intended is Grrrrace (she has a blog too) and she did propose to me. She lives in Whales (Wales Barkley......Wales!!!!). She is very small and sweet and she has started to learn agility so that we can run around together. Oh I am soooo happy.

I went to Letchworth agility show. It was very very windy there, and it was great fun until I was attacked by a horrible Hungarian Viszla. I hadn't done anything to provoke it. I was just walking along attached to the lead, minding my own business, when it broke free from its handler and flew into my side. I was left with a large and painful lump for over a week. The owner was as much as a nightmare as the dog, as she later came back to mum shouting that she needed to keep ME under control. She was a very nasty lady, with a very nasty dog to match. It has really put me and mum off going to agility shows, as there are more and more aggressive dogs participating at Kennel Club shows. The Kennel Club know there is a growing problem, but as per usual are being very slow to act upon it. Since then, I have become nervous around Henry, George and Albert Viszla's. I have always known them and mum is very sad that I am no longer happy when they appear. Mum says that they are very nice and happy Viszla's and she is sure that I will soon be leaping up and down when I see them. Even our old Nalle and Lotte loved them.

Despite the attack, I did have some lovely times at Letchworth:

2009-08-23T04:10:00.000-07:00

A-roo roo roo!

Here we are on a beautiful warm Sunday morning taking a well earned rest out in the yard. What a couple of weeks it has been for us. Lots of agility, and lots of travelling. We started off by going to a place called Kelmarsh last weekend for the Kennel Club's International Agility Festival. It was such great fun, with lots to see and do.

Both Tallulah and I had qualified for the Starters Cup this year, and here I am in one of the two classes which lead up to the finals. I went clear in both of my rounds, but I was a bit unsure of the place as I had never been there before, so I took my time as I went around. This meant I was too slow to qualify for the finals, but mum says there is always next year. Tallulah had just struck top form in time for the festival, having had a very patchy year with problems with her tummy and also a grass seed which embedded itself under her armpit. She was quite wild when she returned to the ring and went a bit crazy. Mum didn't mind at all, because she was so pleased to see Tallulah enjoying herself racing around the ring, instead of lumbering and looking very unhappy, which had been the story of the year for her.

As for lumbering. Yes I did too - initially. However, a month or so ago, I went to the Empingham show and it was there I ran the race of my life. I went very fast, negotiated all the obstacles and came out with a clear round. Mum heard somebody say "I wish I could get my dog to run ahead of me and take directions like that". Mum was so very pleased with my performance that she gave me an extra big hug. Mum's friend Tracy then went to check my time and came back looking shocked! "49.853 seconds is what they said"!!!! WHAT???? I KNOW I went faster than that. Much much faster. Mum was very annoyed and complained, but the person who was watching the timer had made a big mistake and had misread the machine. Mum said it was more like a 29 second round, or perhaps even faster. The timers can go wrong at shows, or even be misread on a very bright day - which it was. Mum could have insisted upon a re-run but the disappointing thing for her was that this was the first really confident and polished performance I had ever put up in the ring, and mum wanted to use this time as a benchmark as to what I am capable of achieving, as well as to see how this could have been built upon....... but the moment had been lost. A re-run may not have produced the same enthusiasm as I had the first time around.

Then came the Kennel Club international..... once I had settled into the venue, off I went again. I was racing round the ring, really enjoying myself. There were some very difficult sequences on one of the courses, and after walking it mum said that she wished it had been for Tallulah, as it was definitely set for a more experienced dog than I. Huh, well, I had other ideas. I sprung into action and off I went. I was really enjoying myself. Difficult sequences???? who said? I breezed my way through them like a true athlete...... then "gaaaaaaaaaasp" went the spectators...."ooooooh noooo" they cried.

I found myself in the collapsible tunnel and I was unable to get out. I pushed and pushed with my nose and head. I pushed really hard, but the tunnel wouldn't open up enough for my shoulders to come through. "Push" shouted mum "I am - I am pushing - very hard" I replied. The tunnel then got knotted up all around me and I started panicking. Mum and the judge were just about to pull it off me when I managed to find a gap to reverse myself out. I shook myself down and mum said "go through Barkley". As I am bold, I ran back in. Once more I pushed and pushed. This time it gave way and out I came. I finished the remainder of the course clear.

Despite getting stuck, I finished the course in 44.123 seconds, so much for the near 50 second time on the Empingham course eh? - where nothing untowards happened! Mum was really disappointed for me, and so was the judge. He came and said to mum "how unlucky was that?". He gave me a big pat. However, once mum had thought about it, she believed there were grounds for a re-run, because it was obvious that the tunnel was pegged at an angle which made it difficult for a large dog like myself to get out of. Mum later discovered that other large dogs had got into trouble there too. Never mind. I really really enjoyed the show, and even though there were 19 rings in operation, we thought it was exceptionally well run. We are really looking forward to competing there again next year. There were great exercise areas for us to run, socialise and play in too, when we weren't in the ring or resting. Well done to all the organisers of the festival. What a superb venue and organisation.

"It was very well run wasn't it Barkley, but what about the next place we went to. It was the exact opposite, why don't you say something about that?".

"Oh yes Tallulah. I really think I ought to say something".

The next journey was very long. We had been in the car for something like 5 hours, with a brief stop to relieve ourselves. It smelt very nice when we got there, but Aunt Tracy seemed extremely upset about something, and then so was mum.

Mum said the place was Wales. It was extremely beautiful. The agility show was part of a very large country fair, indeed, it was said to be the largest in Wales. After the long journey, all mum and Aunt Tracy wanted to do was relax and get themselves sorted out. When we arrived at the showground, nobody seemed to know where we should go. Mum handed people the directions which the agility show organisers had given her, but nobody took any real notice of them, so we were sent here, there and everywhere, apart from where the agility section was. We reached dead ends, a dog breed show (which wasn't where we should have been), and eventually we had to travel through hoards of people, like you would only see at Crufts. Eventually we saw the agility equipment and breathed a sigh of relief. Aunt Tracy went to check where we were to camp...... the next thing was Aunt Tracy almost launched into orbit. Our camping place had gone!!! The area had been re-organised and there was no space for us. They told us to drive out through all the crowds again to go to another area which was quite some way away. If this wasn't bad enough, poor Aunt Tracy was seriously suffering with the arthritis in her wrists, therefore she really could not tolerate another 30-40 minutes of edging her way through vast crowds and then back through heavy traffic in order to make our way back into the opposide side of the showground.

Mum and Aunt Tracy were very upset indeed, especially as all of us dogs were quite hot, stressed, and desperately needed to get out to stretch our legs. After a real scene, a place was found for us to stay, but then we discovered there was no proper exercise area for us to stretch our legs and for us to toilet. The only area which was provided, was so so tiny, and so close to the cars making their way too and from the car-parks, that allowing us off the leash was fraught with danger. There were no washing facilities for mum and Aunt Tracy, and with all the crowds which were there, it was going to be impossible for us to drive out of the venue to a nice area until 7.00pm in the evening! How awful, not only from our point of view, but for mum and Aunt Tracy who had planned a relaxing few days, visiting the beach, meeting up with old friends, and meeting up with some new friends we had made online.

Eventually, mum's friend who lives in the area came along, parked her car right at the opposite end of the show ground, and then came and collected us, so that we could go to the beach:

It was great fun, but we only spent a very short time there, as the gates to the show ground closed again at 8.00pm, and that was it. We were stuck back up in the corner once more. Then to add to the misery, the rains came down. Poor Alfie, one of Aunt Tracy's little dogs, refused to relieve himself the whole time we were there, as he was very unhappy. He eventually waited until we returned home, which we did after two days. We had planned to be there 5 days in total had it all gone according to plan. Mum says we wont ever go back to that show again, although we will go back to beautiful Pembrokeshire.

You see, I am in l-e-r-v-e.

I eventually managed to meet up with my internet sweetheart. She was attending the breed show, so I went to look for her. Here she is with some of her family.

Gways ("Grace - Barkley!!!"). She has her own blog too. She is the one at the front pulling very hard to get to me.

Gways is madly in lerve with me too, and she wants us to get married when she grows up. Mum is busy planning our proper holiday, so that we can all meet up and go running and playing together. I like bashing Gways around the head and making her run.

Another good thing which came out of our visit to that awful show, was little Alfie. Despite being very upset about the lack of exercise areas, he ran very well on a very damp, cloudy and windy morning and won the grade 1 small dog agility. Alfie now joins us in grade 2, which means that Aunt Tracy can run us if mum is unable to do so.

Well done to Aunt Tracy and Alfie. We always knew that you are a winner!

Re-adjusting to life

2009-08-12T07:45:00.000-07:00

Har-row. I have been very quiet.

I really didn't want to speak to anyone after Nalle died, therefore have been keeping a very low profile.

When I first arrived here as a very small puppy, there were 3 others. Nalle, Lotte, and of course my best friend Tallulah. Lotte and Nalle were very special and we were one big happy family. But then tragedy struck, and Lotte was no more. For a few days, Tallulah and I didn't know what to do, but then we turned to Nalle. Tallulah put her mouth over Nalle's nose, and Nalle threw his head up and smiled. I knew I had to do the same, and Nalle gracefully accepted the honour, and there we were again - a very happy family with Nalle as our guardian. Tallulah and I were under the impression that things would never change, but then then unthinkable happened. Nalle was taken from us and like Lotte he is now no more. This time was far more difficult. Tallulah and I were very subdued..... but then one day, all hell broke loose.

"BARKLEY COME" yelled mum

NO!!! I am having fun can't you see? That's me, out in the orchard with my friends, Rusty the Mastiff, Alfie the Bichon/Jack Russel mix, Mia the Havanese and of course Tallulah. Oh what a wonderful time we all had. Running and running and running.

"BARKLEY COME" mum called.

"Huh, you MUST be kidding. The fun hasn't stopped yet. I am just having a break, whilst my pals are still running around".

I thought it was high time mum learned that I had fully grown up and ready and willing to take over the show.

"BARKLEY COME"

"Oh I think Mia has just found a rabbit over there, I think I will just go and see where she put it".

Phew, all this running and running has taken my breath away. I am quite exhausted.

Oh goodness, the humans were sitting on the bench a few minutes ago, where have they all gone? You can't leave me here all on my own . . .

Can you??? OK, then I don't run the show, I will try and see if I can catch you up mum. Wait for me please, I am a good boy - really.

Hello, I am Alfie. Barkley is worried because mum and her friends have left him.... but I am not bothered. It is a lovely evening, I am quite happy staying where I am. I really cannot be doing with young whipper snapper upstarts. What are you pointing that thing at me for?

Tribute to a great dog

2009-06-10T08:18:00.000-07:00

Barkley is too upset to write today and has asked me to step in on this sad occasion. I usually leave all the writing to him as it is his blog. I just stay out of it and get on with all the hard work of organising the agility classes.

The reason Barkley is so upset is that our dear old Nalle (Mr. Bones) passed away on Sunday. He had become very old and frail, and then late Sunday afternoon his old body gave up, and mum decided to do the last act of love and take him to the Vets Now surgery to assist him on is way to prevent any possible suffering.

I hid under the bed, and Barkley watched through the stair railings as Nalle was carefully assisted out of the house by friends whom he'd known and loved for much of his life.

Nalle was a truly gentle dog who only ever had three fights, and they were with his old partner in crime Lotte - and the cause of the fights? left over curries!!! Apart from that, he never had a cross word for anyone or anything. He battled years of suffering from an undiagnosed thyroid condition, where the two very greedy vets who 'treated' him knew full well what the problem was, but milked the insurance company of every last penny at poor Nalle's expense. Poor Nalle got to the stage of suffering fits, and mum almost had him put to sleep there and then. Fortunately, we were directed to a really good group of vets locally, who cared very much and helped Nalle right up onto his feet, even to the point where, like us, he could enjoy agility and come to shows. These same vets cared for Nalle to the end in a very thorough and sensitive way. Mum thanks them very much for helping Nalle to have a good end to his life. Thanks in particular to Steve Bonthorne MRCVS who took Nalle through his final year.

Nalle helped in mum's behaviour practice whilst she was able to carry out that kind of work. He helped many nervous dogs find their confidence, and also acted for a long time as a stooge dog to help rehabilitate dogs with aggression problems. He was such a confident and gentle giant that many of these aggressive dogs would immediately calm in Nalle's presents. Some of these dogs ended up at the University of Lincoln with Professor Daniel Mills MRCVS, and Daniel would always ask mum "how did this dog react to Nalle?" and the answer would always be the same... "they would run up to him, stop, sniff the ground and then potter around taking the calming signals which dear Nalle would give them.

Nalle dog was one in a million. He will be greatly missed by us as he was our mentor.

He now joins Lotte and is running free, probably chasing squirrels, or racing Lotte around an agility course somewhere.

Finally, mum saw that there was a shower starting as Nalle was lead into the vets consulting room, the shower continued as she came out without him. The sun was shining through the rain and the light was gold. Indeed, our boy went over the Rainbow Bridge.

Thinking 'bout You

Arooooo woooooo I am very sad without my grandfurther :-(

Packington Show

2009-05-24T15:08:00.001-07:00

Arrow row row!!!!
Today was very very funny.

We went to Packington Agility Show which wasn't in Packingtown at all. In fact mum said that it was in a place called "Solihell", I am sure that's what she said, but it was actually a very nice place with lots of trees and bright warm sunshine. It was near a large place called BurningHam, but I couldn't smell any Burning Ham, but I did smell some nice bunny rabbits which had been hopping around sometime before all the show dogs and their people arrived.

See here!!!! I am very proud of myself.

Butter wouldn't melt in my mouth....... I never play up when I am in the ring, especially when I arrive at a venue where I have never been before. So today, because it was so lovely and sunny, I put my bestest paw forward, like I did at the Ely show a couple of weeks ago, but I never got one of these lovely ribbons which you can chew up when nobody is looking.

I thought I had beaten her... that Tallulah dog, especially when my name was called out first.
The lady shook mum's hand, gave her the ribbon and then rubbed my head and said what a very clever Setter I was.

I was soooooooooooo delighted, after all, Tallulah hadn't got one

and this was undoubtedly my day to laugh and giggle because at long last I had got one up on her and I had the ribbon to prove it, which I didn't when I beat her into 12th place at the Vyne show.

This time, I did better. I got 10th in jumping. Mum said I could have got a higher place, because I started off slow, but then all of a sudden I decided I liked it there and then took off, so actually I could have got 8th place, or perhaps even higher????

So proud I am, especially as I got another clear round in the following class ...... but then she - that Tallulah - she stuck her tongue right out at me!!!! They called out her name and SHE got a rosette with the figure 8 on it!!!!! Oooooh nooooo. That is not good. She is very lucky, because in the next class her leg was sore again, and she didn't get beyond the first jump. Poor Tallulah is away to the vets on Thursday so that the vet can ultra sound her to find out what is going on with her hip or leg muscles.

The good news is, that Nalle (Bones) is still with us. Mum asked the vet to prescribe the drug Vivitonin as a very last resort. For Nalle it appears to have worked. His quality of life has been restored just in time. We are so glad he is with us, and he said he thought I looked very smart wearing my blue ribbon. I only wish I could win one for him now.

Some good and not so good news

2009-04-11T10:45:00.000-07:00

Arrow-row-row again. If you haven't visited before - a warm welcome to my blog. If you like you can trace my history right back to when I was a puppy by clicking on the older posts thumbnail at the bottom of each page. You can also enlarge most of the pictures by clicking on them.

Mum has been keeping me very busy recently, with more training with Auntie Jayne Bray and also the last of the Barking Mad winter agility series at Keysoe in Bedforshire..... phew, mum was very relieved it all finished because I loved it so much that I became really naughty. Click on the link below to see how good Tallulah was and how naughty I was.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nzIJrqXMg9I&feature=channel_page

Mum doesn't mind though as I was in my element. Agility is great fun, and there is no way she wants to take the fun out of it especially as I am still a very young boy. Mum is great because she put it all down to experience! Running and jumping in an indoor horse smelling arena with a lovely sandy floor was just sooooooooooo exciting. I was just besides myself.

Last weekend I showed how I benefitted from it in grand style. I went to the Spring at Shuttleworth Show and I got 4 clear runs. Yes 4 !!!! Two of them were in agility classes whilst the other two were in jumping. As I became more confident I started getting faster and faster. Mum was so proud of me. She gave me big pats and hugs and I shouted "ARROW-ROW-ROW at anyone who would listen. I really enjoyed myself.

Poor Tallulah:

She hurt her back leg just a few days before the show. She was unable to participate and was very confused and unhappy. Worse still, mum took her to the chiropractor who manipulated her spine and back leg. He thumped her, twisted her, shook her upside down and inside out, so much so that all she wanted to do all afternoon was stay in the car and hide...... well, that's what she said happened... there must be some truth in what she said because I even overheard one of mum's friends telling her "I was considering having a session myself until I saw what he did to Tally - oooh !!".

The following morning, Tallulah said she wanted to participate and the chiropractor said he wanted to see how she performed. Mum explained to the judge that there may be a problem, but Tallulah took off around the course, but not at her usual rapid pace, although still quite fast. The judge said she could see that there was a problem but thought Tallulah had done very well considering. The chiropractor said he wanted to see her again after that run, so poor Tallulah's hair stood on end as she was put through his mill yet again.

For a few days she said it felt a great deal better, but yesterday she shrieked in pain once more and held her back leg up, so she may not even be able to play at the Wallingford show which is coming up very soon.

Today, poor Tallulah sat on the sidelines and watched me train:

She thought it was very funny!!!!!

Well, she might laugh, but to me it was very serious and very hard work!!! I have a lot to do to catch her up, but I am getting there, I can turn very quickly, and I am starting to go quite fast in the weaves too. I'll show her. It is only a matter of time now. She won't be laughing at me then.

As the title of this blog suggests. The latest news is not all good. Nalle (Mr. Bones to his friends) has now become very frail in his old age. His back legs are failing and yesterday he went down very badly. Mum thought his time had come and booked him into the vets for his final trip next week.

However, today he picked up quite well and we are hoping he may be able to stay with us just a bit longer, but mum has told us that we must take one day at a time and prepare ourselves for the worst.

Despite the fact Nalle had a bad day yesterday, he enjoyed a walk in the park after my training session. We are going to miss Nalle very much. I can never remember a time when he wasn't around. He has been my best friend and one of my mentors. The other being Lotte who left us exactly a year ago. Between them they taught me a great deal. I am a good boy and for that I thank them.

Dr. Barkley

2009-02-04T11:11:00.000-08:00

A RO RO RO!!!

Here I am again with the latest Barkleydog News Headlines.

I have now been turned into yet another very special dog. I am now to be known as Mr. Barkley De Setterville, the great surgeon and Consultant of General Medicine. Last year, I was a lowly photographic model, but even by those standards I demanded very high fees for my professional services, especially after one of my pictures appeared in The Lady magazine in the December 2008 issue, but now I have gone UP in the world, I am able to charge £400 per hour as a doggy consultant physician. Oh yes.

You see, mum thinks I could be turned into one of those dogs who sniffs out cancers, because I have a wonderful ability to sniff out medical conditions in my friends, and my pack mates!

I let Anna know when her dog had a problem. I sniffed and sniffed and sniffed I did, until the humans started wondering what was going on. Megan had a hormonal problem and has now been spayed, so hopefully all the sniffing of Megan will stop because she is mended. Then I sniffed and sniffed and sniffed at Tally's side, and that was when mum discovered that horrible lump which fortunately has now completely gone. Then one evening last week, Aunt Allie Catt came to visit and whilst she was talking to mum, I leapt up and started sniffing and sniffing and sniffing just under Tally's back leg. Aunt Allie Catt became concerned and went over to take a look. She was horrified to find a big red patch on Tally's skin. Poor Tals was very sore indeed and had to have some special cream put on which helped her to get better. On Monday I did sniff and sniff and sniff at mum, and sure enough, she too had a problem. She had cut herself with the bread knife, so I thought I ought to alert her so that she was able to stick a plaster on it and quickly. Even her sorely finger has started mending very nicely now, so I am very pleased with her progress.

I am Barkley, I never miss a thing and that must be very good because mum says I am too bloody nosey for my own good at times. I haven't presented her with the bill just yet. I have only just dictated the letter to my secretary and she will be sending mum my fees for a consultation in due course.

Ah hum. Yes, well, dog doctors don't go out on the green to play golf. My social group like to have a run around the agility course, and attend functions which are known as agility shows, and I am no exception. My progress is very good, and now I have even managed two good clear rounds at the Barking Mad winter series at Keysoe.

I still like to play a bit when the courses are a bit difficult for me, but mum understands and doesn't tell me off, because the parts I do know how to negotiate I enjoy very much and give mum a good clear run. Mum and Auntie Jayne (Bray) will help me with the tougher things in the months to come. I am still very young so there is no hurry just yet. Mum expects I will really have my act together this time next year, which is about the same length of time as it took Tallulah to mature in the ring. I am determined to be as good as her, if not better. She is so good at agility. She leaves people's jaws swinging because she is able to do things way way ahead of mum. That is why mum is keeping me to the easier things at the moment, because I am also having to learn manoeuvres way ahead of mum on the course, and the more complex things will be built in as we go along.

So at Keysoe last Saturday, I struck up another clear round, but didn't get placed, because I am up against those very fast little grade 5 collies. That's not fair because I am a 2 year old Setter with very little experience.

Then Sunday it was very cold. We all went for a run at lunchtime, and the humans really shivered. What wimps they all are, dressed up so that you only see their noses sticking out, and all they do is complain "brrrrr it is sooooo c-c-c-c-old", what are they like?

Then during the evening mum looked out of the window and said "Barkley, come and have a look, it is snowing". I saw some snow just before Christmas, but this was different:

Awwwwww, what is all this, there is so much of it. Perhaps God has thrown out his old duvet. There is far too much coming down for him to have thrown out a pillow ~ Wow.

And then on Monday morning the whole world had changed. It was all covered in this white freezie snowing stuff.

Wow, this is just awesome. What do I do with it? For once I am barkless!!!!

Then Tallulah looked at it and said "hmmm, you know what Barkley? "

"nah" I replied "tell me all about it please".

"well" she said "you do this:

and then you do this .................................................and then this:

And finally you do THIS WHEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE"

Oh wow. So that's what snow is for.

Update: And again on Fursday and Fryday!!!! WOW EEEEE SQUEEEEK LOOOOOK Dr. Barkley takes a day off in the snow

Along with our buddy Zoosk the Doberman who also had the day off:

See you next time,

Barkley De Setterville

2008-12-30T10:11:00.001-08:00

Harrrrow wow wow!!! and welcome back. It is MY birthday time again and I am now a 2 boy.

Mum says I have just discovered my balls? I thought those were things which Tallulah collects and then takes out with her, demanding that mum throws them across the field for her to chase. I am really confused. Hmmm.

Uh hum..... yes!!! Well... erm it seems that wishes do come true for Christmas. After looking around all those websites and helping mum to make my selection. A man knocked on the door and delivered a huge bag. Inside it were my two wishes:

A new "lammie" (because Tallulah decided to kill the one I'd had from the age of 8 weeks) and
....a new bed!!! Because once again, that Tallulah thought it was great fun to rip the other one to shreds, and what a lovely idea it was too, as all the fluffy stuffing went all over the house and we were able to say "grrr" at it, shake it and throw it between ourselves. It was such a good game until mum walked in and spotted us. The new bed is a bit more difficult to pick up and throw about, so I should have checked its weight before I decided upon that one.

It's really not fair, because Tallulah and Nalle get two lots of presents each year, one lot for Christmas and another lot for birthday. As Christmas and my birthday are so close together, I had all my presents in one go, so to make up for it, mum organised a party for me at our paddock and invited some friends to come along. Here are some scenes from my party:

There were fun and games to be played with prizes to be won:

and then there was one of those cakes like Tallulah had, but mine was in the shape of a 2!!! It was also Alfie's 5th birthday, he is the little white dog on the right, in one of the above pictures. He had his own small dog cake which mum carefully made into a number 5.

Oh my, just what a lucky Barkley dog I am to have so many friends come to share my cake , and to have come to play, and my goodness did the friends enjoy their share of the cake!!! Their faces were a picture, and there were plenty of mouths wide open and watering at the thought of further servings. The humans said they raised £61.50 for Milton Keynes Animal Ambulance Service as a result of my party. I am always pleased to be of service to animals who are in need.

In my next blog, I intend to tell you about my agility training.
Mum says she is SOOO proud of me, and before I go to sleep
I often here here say "go on over, right round, back round,
go on up, go touch, get in the weaves...." I know what she is
saying, I lift my head and thump my tail for all it is worth....

and then my eyes become very heavy:

and then I go zzzzzzzz and dream of running, chasing and agility.

Recipe for doggy birthday cake (enough to feed friends too)
4 eggs
1/2 bag of gluten free flour
2 tablespoons of virgin coconut oil (healthier alternative to butter or other fats or oils)
2lb of fresh butchers mince
carrots
2 pieces of garlic
1 other seasonal vegetable (Barkley's cake had sprouts)

Mix the flour and eggs, and blend in the coconut oil or butter

Fry the mince, garlic and vegetables together well in some more coconut oil, allow to cool slightly and then stir into the flour mixture, add some water to make into a cake texture, and then shape accordingly. Bake in the centre of the oven at about 200C for 45 minutes to an hour. Vary this if you make less of the mixture.

Enjoy.

2008-12-17T10:21:00.000-08:00

Not only Christmas, but my birthday number 2 is almost here. I have been looking around some websites to see if I can give mum some ideas. Here is my wish list. I wonder if wishes really do come true?

Cumfurt Oval Sleeper Damson/Pink

Corduroy

Squeaky Lamb

Oh dear, is this bad news or good news?

2008-12-10T12:58:00.001-08:00

Ar-row -row - row!!! My bark has got a lot deeper now that I am older.

I am almost all grown up now, but not quite. Mum says I still have a bit of filling out to do. Really??? I thought I was just wonderful, marvellous, shimmering with condition and well.... just p-u-r-e perfection - that's me alright!

You see, I still haven't quite come back down to earth after having become a male model for the day, so I still like to pose, just in case I am called back for another session. Here I am in one of my ready to go hunting stances:

So handsome I am. I was looking at a squirrel at the time this photo was taken and wondering if I could catch it so that mum could serve it up for our dinner? However Miss Tallulah joined in with the watching

and before I could decide what I wanted to do about that squirrel, she took off in full flight and chased it up a tree!!! Well, that was it. Nothing for me to eat today because of her.....

"Barkley, that is just not true. We had a lovely dinner this afternoon, don't you remember? you and I had the biggest share of the chicken carcass, and whilst Tallulah is on a diet (which is always), she had the smaller piece. It was bought from the place mum calls "shopping" and was served up by her. When have YOU ever been able to catch a squirrel? - apart from in your dreams where you go squeak squeak and kick your legs so hard that Tallulah goes flying across the bedroom at 3.00am!!!"

Well Nalle, I have to say, I am not thinking too clearly these days, as I am becoming rather confused, because she - mum - has been talking about......

one of these!!!! This is me when I was 'one of these' but
she keeps on talking about getting another 'one of these'.....

But this was me under two years ago:

Why would she want another
'one of these' when she already has ME?

The plan was that she would go looking for 'one of these' a few weeks ago, but for various reasons she decided a winter puppy wasn't such a good idea, after all. Phew... Barkley wipes the sweat from his brow. BUT there is a rumour that these two are planning to get married next week... OOOOH NO, mum said it would be January, but Skye decided to bring their wedding arrangements forward a month:

Tallulah's sister 'Skye' (right) and Archie, the dog she co-inhabits with. Grrrrrr. What if 'one of these' results from those two getting it together???? Where will that leave me? I won't be the baby of the household anymore. I will have to leave the puppy page of the website. I will have to close my blog because 'one of these' will undoubtedly end up taking everything over ....... a - wooooooooooooooo a- wooooooooo!!!!

"Oh shut up Barkley, the weather forecast has just said that it might snow tonight, and then you can come outside with me and have some fun.... yeeeaaaahhhh it's winter!"

I have changed my name to Mr. Flash

2008-10-09T00:45:00.000-07:00

A-row row row!!!! It's me. I'm back (please remember to click on the pictures to enlarge them)

Sorry I haven't updated for a while. This is partly Gail's and partly mum's fault. A few weeks ago it was Tally's birthday, and we had a big party at our paddock. There was an amazing cake which was shared out to everyone who attended. Big slices for big dogs and little slices for little dogs. There were lots of games and prizes. We managed to raise £40 for Irish Setter Rescue, who were extremely grateful. Gail took lots and lots of pictures, but we never got them - and mum kept on forgetting to remind Gail to bring them along with her. Never mind. Mum had a good enough excuse, as she has not been too well. A common cold for her can be disasterous as she has this Addison's Disease thingy. There were a few days when we worried that she might have to leave us and go into hospital, but the danger period seems to have passed by now, so we are all up and raring to go again.

This week, it was a bit traumatic for Tallulah as well. She has a lump in her groin which keeps going up and down, so she had to go to the vet to have some of it drawn off and sent to a laboratory. We are expecting the results later today.

After she escaped from the vets, she was put back into the car and off we went to another strange place.

When we arrived, we walked through a gate. Mum knocked on the door and it opened. We ran in...... cor what an amazing place. Lots of things to sniff and investigate.

The lady made tea for mum, and after all the investigations, I plonked myself down on what looked like a large cosy mat. The lady said something about my becoming a photographic model?

Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha You WOT???? What me??????? Hahahahahaha
You have GOT to be kiddin'

Let Nalle do it......

Oh, he's very old now. His legs are getting very wobbly but he still enjoys his long walks. Mum has to make sure where he goes in the river these days, because he gets stuck and needs hauling back out. Tally and I really love him and I always give him such a huge greeting every morning.

As for her - Tally Tallulah....

she was still very stressed from her visit to the vet and just wouldn't put her tongue away. They tried all kind of things to make her shove it back inside her mouth, but any shots they got still had her looking very stressed. Still, it probably wasn't a good day for her after having 3 needles stuck in her soooooo, I decided I had better take over and.....

become a photographic model.......

Hahahaha, like this.... hahahahah.

and like this.... hmmmmm

and this way.....

and that way......

Mmmmmm, I really think I am taking on the role of this now... Chill man.

Oh yeeeees indeed, I am Soooo beautiful. uh hum. Can we adjust the lighting a bit there please?

Nah, I think being an Irish Setter we need a bit of green backdrop there, don't you? Can you put it back now please?

Yesssss, I think we are getting somewhere. Stunning boy I am.

BARRRRKLEY!!!!!!!!!

Whoops, I think mum is calling me back down to planet earth. Yes, it is October, and a timely reminder of where I was this time last year.

You may have seen the t.v. programme about the problems with pedigree dogs? Well, I am one of the many dogs which the Kennel Club don't know about, and aren't at all interested in. When they say the majority of pedigree dogs are fit and healthy, what do they know? they don't keep statistics, or log calls from distresssed owners. This time last year this was me......

My eyelids had grown much too large, and they had started to turn inwards. They were in danger of making me go blind as they scratched my retina. However, this very clever and artistic vet - Mr. Philip Hanlon of Milton Keynes Veterinary Group

corrected the problem, and made me the MR. HANDSOME I AM TODAY.... hahahahahahha. Thank you very much Mr. Phil.

and THANK YOU VERY MUCH Karen Parker of Canine and Equine Photography in Stony Stratford for turning me into a star!!!!

A star ....... hahahahahahaha.....
I AM!!!!!

Update: Tally's lump is something and nothing. It is just a mass caused by inflammation where I bit her during play. There is some very slight infection in there, but not even enough to warrant her going on anti-biotics, so we are all VERY happy. Love Barkley xxxx

2008-09-03T12:23:00.000-07:00

Grrrrrrrrrr Grrrrrrrr Grrrrrrrrrrrr!!!!!!

Did you hear that? I think somebody is watching us.

Hello? Ohhhhh yes HARRROOW I can see you now.
Ah-hum!!! I mean Arrrooo rooo rooo rooo Barkley doggy bloggers. Have I got lots to tell you this week. As you see I am all wet. This is because I was out in a thunderstorm, taking my Kennel Club Good Citizen Bronze Award. Oh yes, and guess what? I passed it again - for the second time around. You know, I didn't have to do it again because I had been naughty... nah not me, I am such a GOOD BOY and butter never melts in my mouth, it was all because of that Gail lady I told you about in my last post. She has spent the last few weeks training me to respond to her. I really did find it confusing at first, but yesterday evening, I was in a very good mood, and I decided to pass it for her. This time she gets to keep the ribbon and the certificate. Mum still has the one she collected for me, and that is pinned on the awards board in the kitchen. That's where all our achivement ribbons and certificates go.

I must say, we were all very impressed by the dogs and owners who also took their test, because the rain came hammering down, and there was thunder and lightening too. Tallulah and dear old Nalle became scared and mum had to put them away with the doors closed so that they could be well protected. I am Barkley though, and I wasn't scared at all. Neither were the other dogs. It was great too that 6 out of 7 of us passed.

See - I am all soaking wet.

It is really nice to be a wet Setter (don't forget, if you click on the pictures, you can see me in a much larger form).

Now for some bigger very good news. This made mum very happy for me. Last Saturday I got my first clear run in Grade 2 agility. Mum says it was a very easy course which was good for me. I also BEAT THAT TALLY !!!! Yes - I did. She was very naughty and flew the dogwalk contact, so mum took her out of the ring to remind her that she had ignored the rules of the game. I was good though and did everything mum asked of me. I went very steady on the contacts, because I have fallen off at one show after I went silly, and on the see-saw I catapaulted off when I tried to go too fast without tipping it first. Mum was very very pleased with my performance this time and I heard her telling people that it is all coming together very nicely for me. My weave action needs bringing on too, but mum, Gail and I are all working on that in training now. I AM going to be faster than Tallulah one day. I am catching up fast now. Faster contacts are coming, so watch out Tallulah - here I come.

A new handler for me

2008-08-25T11:34:00.001-07:00

Arroooo rooo roooo

I am back again with the latest Barkley news.

I have been a bit confused and wondered what was going on. Tallulah (yes her of the agility course) has been promoted to grade 3, and mum was a bit concerned that some of the grade 3 courses might be a bit on the tough side for me just yet, as I am still very young, very leggy and a growing boy. She was looking for somebody less experienced to take over my handling so that I could run grade 1 courses until I am more experienced and able to re-join mum and Tallulah in grade 3. Then out of the blue along came Gail. She wants to be a professional dog handler in her profession, and asked mum if she could help out at our school to help her gain some more experience. Mum said yes, and discovered that Gail had a real aptitude for handling in agility and was pleased to allow her to take over some of my training.

Yeah right I thought.

Who is this woman kidding? This isn't right. I haven't a clue who you are, or what you are trying to tell me. I want my mum back now please.

Well, if you really have some liver treats then I guess you are alright and maybe you just about seem to know what you are doing.......

What was that again? You are going to turn me into another good agility setter and together we are going to beat that Tallulah???? that really does make me smile. Well, I guess we had better get going then huh?

However, this is who we have to beat!!!
She loves getting her rosettes and trophies. She often comes home boasting to everyone about her achievements. Come on Gail we can do it.

2008-07-05T09:55:00.000-07:00

Arrroo roo. It's me again. My goodness what a surprise today presented me with!

I went to another show. Here we go again, I thought, a lot of walking and looking around, meeting people and other dogs, then a run, and then back home again. However, there was a very strange twist in the tail today. Mum lead me up to a jump and asked me to sit in front of it, which I did. Mum told me to wait and then walked off. She then said "ok". I suddenly realised that I wasn't at the show to socialise, but this was it - it was ME - ME IN THE RING!!! Oh my goodness, I had better stick close to mum and pin my ears back to listen to what she has to say. Oh - oh I never expected this to happen. What ever next? Well, I made sure I listened very hard, and followed her instructions precisely. (click on pictures to enlarge).

All the way round I went, over the jumps, down the weaves, through the tunnels, around corners, all the time pinning my ears right back against my head so that I could hear what mum was saying. I daren't miss a word. I was so surprised that I was actually there to do things. I really wasn't sure what to make of it all actually. Mum was very very pleased with me, because I had gone clear!!! She said I was a very good boy, even though it took me 38.312 seconds to complete the course, whereas it only took Tallulah 24.014 to go around. Mum was ever so pleased because she said I was very thoughtful and listened to everything she had to say.

I was then given something to drink, had a freshly cooked sausage to eat, and enjoyed a welcome rest. Mum then went off and spent time helping out in the ring. However, after a while, she came back and collected me, and off we went again.

This time, there were different coloured jumps (us dogs are not as colour blind as many humans appear to think - we do see certain colours you know). Once again, mum told me to sit, walked away a bit and then gave the magic word "ok". As soon as she said that, I knew what I was there to do, so off I went:

"Oh goodness" shreiked mum "he's going fast". I whizzed through the weaves, but mum still gave me guidance "weave come weave come weave come" she said (I think that is very funny). I then went through the pipe tunnel, over the jump, up the A frame, and mum said "touch", so I did. I put my feet on the contact and waited for mum to say "ok". I then went over another two jumps, then up the dog walk, and mum said "touch" again, so I did. Then came the cloth tunnel, which frightened Tallulah at her first show. Tallulah says this was because ours has a light plastic covering, but I am Barkley, and cloth tunnels don't scare me, so through I went. I then had a big combination which is known as a "snake".

I cleared it. I gave mum no worries there at all.

Mum was so pleased by how I was going, she thought I was going to give her another clear round and in good time too, but just at this moment:

Mum became complacent, and assumed that I would follow her around the jump as Tallulah does... but I am not Tallulah, and haven't got her great experience. I was having fun, and I spotted the pipe tunnel just to the left of me, and ran in there instead, and got eliminated. I should really have followed mum to the see-saw or "tilt" as she calls it. Had I gone that way, I would have been clear and got two clears at my first show. Never mind though, mum was absolutely elated. She gave me a really big hug and she bent down and said into my ears "what a very clever and special boy you are, and what great potential you have shown me today".

I then went back to my friends. We had a walk around, and then came home. I had a play with my friend Megan the Rotweiller, and Crunchie the Spaniel, then I had my meaty dinner, and now bed. zzzzzzzzz

A good day was had by Barkley. Mum says we could well be back there again tomorrow.

2008-05-27T07:24:00.000-07:00

Harroooo rooo woooofff!!!

Today (Monday 26th May) mum took Tally to an agility show while I stayed at home with Grandpa Nalle. Nalle used to enjoy going to shows, but the long days are too much for him now as he is getting old. Mum was worried about Nalle staying at home alone, so I offered to stay and keep him company, especially as Grandma Lotte is no longer around.

Nalle and I were both fast asleep when all of a sudden Auntie Alicat arrived with Zeus the Doberman and said we were all going for a Walk! I laughed at Zeus and Nalle as they had to put on their raincoats. It wasn't raining and I thought they were being silly. There was no way I was going to put my raincoat on when it wasn't raining! Oh, but Aunt Alicat had other ideas and said I had to wear it so we would all match! I thought she was being very silly and laughed, but did as I was told.

As we walkked along the road, I insisted on walking next to Zeus - when we saw a man loading things into a van. I hid behind Zeus! Not that I was scared at all, I just thought Zeus might like to walk up to the man first. As it was, the man just smiled and moved out of our way when he saw us walking towards him.

When we got over the canal bridge it was time to have our leads taken off so that we could run around. Nalle was smiling lots as he really likes walking with Zeus, they have been friends for a long time. Just after our leads came off, the rain started to fall and I found myself wondering if maybe my raincoat might have been a good idea after all.

We walked along the canal until we came to a grassy area on our right. Zeus and Nalle ran off towards a dark muddy path, I think it is called a bridleway, and Aunt Allicat said we could all walk that way as she had her boots on so the wet and mud wouldn't be a problem.

Zeus and Nalle were very pleased to be walking the dark and muddy way and ran off ahead, but I wasn't so sure - I didn't like the now very heavy raun that was falling on me and the dark path looked very scary, so I thought it best if I stayed very close to Aunt Alicat to make sure she was safe, I even asked her to put my lead back on so she knew I wouldn't be running off and leaving her all alone.

After a few minutes of walking along the dark and wet path, I realised that Aunt Alicat wasn't scared and didn't need me to look after her, so I went off to play with Zeus and Nalle. The puddles were HUGE and very muddy, it was brilliant fun and I soon forgot to worry about the heavy rain that was falling down on us all.

When we arrived home, Aunt Alicat took our coats and leads off and rubbed our heads and legs with a big towel to help us dry and gave us big cuddles before she had to take Zeus away again. Tally may have had an exciting day at her show, but she missed out on all the great fun we had, so I don't need to be jealous of her this time.

** Note from Tally

Actually Barkley, the show was one we would rather forget. The big rain didn't reach us until the afternoon, but it blew a big gale. Things flew around, and we heard that trees had been blown down blocking the roads. I flew around too, but the wind unbalanced me, and I knocked a pole down, I was also naughty and flew off the Aframe contact. Then the wind blew even harder and sent me silly, because it blew my rear end and felt funny.

Mum took me out of the ring at that point, because she didn't think there was any going on whilst I was laughing so much at the wind. Then I saw that the wind might not be funny after all. Mum and I were heading back towards the Show Secretary's marquee, when all of a sudden, it flew up unto the air and then went sideways, taking the people and the dogs who were in there with it. It was very frightening. People screamed and shouted. We all ran to see if we could help, but then dogs came running out in a blind panic. The marquee then came to a stop, and quite a few people were lying on the ground. Fortunately, there were no serious injuries, but we did hear of two older people who were taken to hospital suffering from shock and bruising. Many people then decided to pack up and leave. We stayed on to watch Molly come 5th in the small/medium dog circular jumping, but then the rain really did come down, so we left too.

It was really nice when we got back to you and Nalle though. Didn't we have fun having a dog party with Molly and Bebe, whilst the humans ate their Chinese takeaway? Roll on summer!

Moving on

2008-04-27T10:21:00.000-07:00

Arrrrooo. I am back. Mum says now that I am over a year old, I ought to be moving away from the puppy page, and moving to the agility page, because this is where most of my training is now focused...... well, apart from mum teaching me loads of silly tricks that is, but I really enjoy learning those and they make me laugh.

Just because I am growing up now, it doesn't mean to say that you can't still look back at all the mischevious things I got up to when I was younger. Take a look at the blog archives, or click on where it says "older posts" at the bottom of the page. Oh I know mum runs a training school but I had to show her (in no uncertain terms) that not all dogs read the same books. I am Barkley you see, and I do things BARKLEY'S way..... of course, butter doesn't melt in my mouth - never! (don't forget, you can enlarge the photo's by clicking on them).

It has been a very sad month for us, having lost our dear old Granny Lotte. I have never known life without a Lotte, so I am really starting to find my way around now. Tally and I decided we ought to defer to Nalle as being our elder by going up to him and grabbing his snout and then laughing in the hope that he would say yes. Nalle very graciously accepted the honour and has relaxed nicely into the role.

See - Nalle is being very gracious about being our elder.

Tally thinks she knows it ALL about agility. She went to Shuttleworth show and got a 6th place in level 2 agility. She got a big rosette and points for her agility warrant book. I was very jelous and tried to chew up the rosette whilst nobody was looking.

Despite the fact that Tally earned her 6th place, she was very naughty the following day. She was way ahead of mum on the ABC (Anything But Collie) course, and going extremely fast. But as Tally reached the bottom of the dog walk, mum shouted out "you touch", but Tally didn't even look at mum and went flying off around the remainder of the course. Very very fast she was, but there is no point in being fast if you earn 5 faults by missing the dog walk contact... Silly Tally.

In the following class, Tally again stuck her nose in the air at mum, by flying off the dog walk contact. I had to laughed though, because mum thanked the judge and marched Tally out of the ring in disgrace. After that Tally was very good because she doesn't like being marched out of the ring without finishing the course. She said "mum pays the money, so I should have my full round. I don't know why I have to put my feet at the bottom of that dog walk, I am far too dainty to want to bother with things like that". Despite being very good though, she managed to get a pole down in her final run of the weekend, but that was accidental, not because Tally was trying to take short cuts to the finishing line!

It won't be long now until it is my first show. Early July mum says. I can't wait. I will show that Tally who is the Agility Setter in this household. You just wait and see.

Before I go.... I will let you into a little secret. I have heard mum talking about puppies. Evidently Tally has some baby neices and nephews in Hampshire. There are also some more planned down in the Southwest. I wonder if we will be joined by another redcoat? Or perhaps mum might get a working bred Cocker Spaniel like Molly. Somebody we know might be going to have puppies if all goes to plan. Then again, mums friend Peter said something about breeding Storm the Springer Spaniel in about 10 days time.

I wonder if mum will bring us home another baby, or whether she will wait until we are older. She says there is a lot to take into consideration.

A very sad day for us all

2008-03-25T08:26:00.000-07:00

Yesterday was a very sad day for us all.

Our Granny Lotte collapsed several times and had to be put to sleep to prevent further suffering. She had a serious auto-immune condition which never came fully under control. She was 11 years and 5 months old.

Lotte was known as "The Duchess" to her friends. She taught me many of her ways, including how to open doors and gates. She also introduced mum to agility training, after she started clearing 5 bar gates. Tally and I have promised to keep the red tail flying high in the agility ring. We won't let you down Granny Lotte. Nalle will miss you so much as you were his soul mate.

Lots of love, Barkley, Tallulah and Nalle xxx

Its all happening now

2008-02-23T10:18:00.001-08:00

Har-roo-roo woof!!!! It has been a little while since I have updated, because there has been an awful lot going on. I have been a very busy boy in very many ways.

Last night I had a bit of fun. Mum woke during the middle of the night to find the room very hot. The central heating was churning away, and mum wondered why it was running so hard. She was very tired so went back to sleep. A little later she awoke again to find the room even hotter, and again the heating was powering away. She also thought she heard Nalle bark outside, so she checked downstairs to make sure he was in the house. Sure enough, there he was, curled up on the couch.

A bit later, she was woken by the central heating again. It was just about daylight and the room was very hot. All of a sudden, Tally barked and we all went rushing off. Mum then realized that Tally was barking outside, as was Nalle. She raced down the stairs to find the back door wide open. She had forgotten to lock it before going to bed, and I thought I would open it so that we dogs could wander in and out our leisure. Mum was quite cross. Considering the electricity prices have gone up yet again, and those large multi-national companies are making record profits at the same same, all mum could hear were the share-holders laughing on their way to the bank!!!! Mum says the door will be firmly locked tonight, and the share-holders had better find another dog to do them a favor because the heating won't be coming on at all tonight!

A bit later in the morning something spooky happened. When we arrived at the agility field, Melanie who trains Poppy arrived early. She said she'd had an awful dream which prevented her going back to sleep. In her dream all of us dogs had disappeared, and nobody could find us. One by one we were all recovered. Melanie said she was so worried about us that she wanted to ring mum at 3am to check that we were all alright.......... Mum said with our door being open for most of the night, it was possible for us to have disappeared. Anything could have happened! Thankfully, the gate was locked and I didn't manage to open that.

Onto better things now: Auntie Jayne Bray from Up n Over Tigers Agility has been to visit me again, and been showing mum lots of agility games to play with me. I am now really getting into all this. It is great fun, and I am starting to follow mums body language and hand directions. Mum and Auntie Jayne think I am very clever. Jayne wanted to know if I am related to Tally. I am. Tally is my cousin, although I think she is my sister. Don't forget to click on the pictures if you would like to enlarge.

I am still not allowed to jump the same height as Tally, because she is a few years older than me, and I am only 14 months, so I still have quite a bit of growing to do. Therefore everything is still lower for me. However, I am now jumping the same height as Molly the Cocker Spaniel. Mum says there is no hurry to get me jumping full height just yet. She plans my first show to be in July, so we have until then to practice.

This is me learning how to turn:

and how to jump and then wrap round:

And now I am learning what mum says is the big one..... the weaves. All other aspects of the agility course are things which dogs do naturally. We run, we jump, we turn, run up things and down things, but weave? There is nothing like weave poles in our natural environment, so this is something which needs to be taught very carefully. We have three types of weaves poles at our school, we have channel weaves, which are one way of teaching me, and which are very good for showing me the correct way to enter the frame. We also have "V" weaves, because viewed from the beginning, they look like the letter V, and we have to learn to run down the middle of the track. The V weaves are good for teaching us how to move our legs and feet correctly.

Here mum is teaching me how to twist my body around the poles on the proper weave frame. See how my feet are positioned:

Mum is very careful to ensure that learning the weaves doesn't become like a maths lesson, so when I get to the end of the sequence, I get to play with my most favorite toy:

Then there is the A frame. I once scared the living daylights out of mum. When I was 12 weeks old, and whilst nobody was looking, I ran all the way to the top. Suddenly somebody screamed "Fran, Barkley is on top of the A frame". Mum panicked and rushed over and lifted me off. Mum realized there was never going to be a problem with me and A frames.

Here I am learning how to run all the way down to the bottom, in the hope that I don't start annoying mum by jumping off without having touched the contact. The contact is the name they give to the lighter colored part at the bottom. It is much safer for me if I learn how to run all the way down and not jump off from higher up.

It is great fun being Barkley. There are not many Irish Setters who do agility, many of them end up being show dogs, or even just family pets. I know what I prefer to do. Some of us who are competing are very good, none more so than Tally. I am hoping to be as good as her one day, if not better. Between mum and Auntie Jayne, I am expected to be a very good boy.

Thanks to Uncle Phil, who has Dougal the Petite Basset Griffon Vandeen for coming to
photograph me today.

Birthday Boy

2007-12-30T09:39:00.000-08:00

Arooooooo roooooo roooooo roooo and a huge AROOOOO!!!!

Today is my birthday. I am one year old. Last year I looked like this... (if you click on the pictures they will enlarge mum says, but not this particular one).

Well, I was in there somewhere I think, but this is me today. I had a party and those of my friends who were not away for the holidays, came to play. There were sausage rolls and squeaky things to play with too. It was great fun.

Tara had a frisbee and got us to chase her.

Flare wanted to show off how beautiful she is.

Molly then got a ball and demanded that we all chase her.

More dogs and people arrived, unfortunately they didn't all get in the picture. I can't see little Clive anywhere, but he was there.

A good time was had by all, and many of us went off for a lovely trip around the park with our humans afterwards. I missed my little collie friends 'Pickle and Lilly'. They weren't there because their mummy had a visitor arrive right at the last minute. Never mind Pickle and Lilly, I will no doubt catch up and chase you soon.

Over the 10 months I have been living with mum and the gang (I arrived home when I was 8 weeks old), mum says I have been quite a good boy, apart from digging holes in the garden and then running mud around the house from top to bottom. Chewing carpets, killing pillows and tossing feathers everywhere, eating a mobile phone and it's charger, stealing cans of tuna and carefully avoiding cutting my tongue to pieces. Not a bad record mum says, but the fun and joy I have brought has been more than it's weight in gold. Mum says I am really fun to be with most of the time. I really enjoy learning, and want to learn a lot more. I do love living where I do, and there will be more of me and my blog to come with respect to my agility training which is now in full swing. Watch this space to see how I progress up to my first show, and to read about more of the naughty things I get up to to annoy my humans!!!

Andrex and Chews

2007-12-13T12:40:00.000-08:00

Arrroooo A-row

Sorry I haven't updated of late, but there has not been a lot going on recently to report on. My agility training is still coming along well. I am finding these dark evenings rather frustrating. What goes on? I suppose this is the way it is from now on then? cold dark nights? I am 11 1/2 months old now, and it will soon be my first birthday. Mum says that she is going to invite some of my friends to my party. My party will be in the middle of the Christmas holidays, so I am hoping my friends will be around, and up to having a ball, or a bone or two.

Since my eye operation, I have been discovering new things.

Like this:
and this:

It is soooooooo funny. I can pull it all over the house. I can even pick it off the holder and take it to mum in the morning and wake her up with it. "Arooooo roooooo rooooo look what I've got". I can chew it up into a 1000 tiny pieces and then watch mum trying to pick it all up again. I thought my name was Barkley, but it appears I have some other names too!

Mum was very cross with me a few days ago. I know she was cross, because I heard her telling people about the mobile phone. Not only that, but she showed it to the people attending the puppy class, and what was left of the battery charger. You see I pulled the end of that off, as I thought it needed a little re-arranging. Also the phone had TALLULAH'S picture on the screen - not mine. So I had to deal with that too.

Mum told the people attending the class, not to assume that she was immune from puppy troubles, because she is not. I am a young and growing young dog, and chew I will. I don't chew as much as I did when I was younger, but when I do, I really go to town. Mum told people that there will be periods of chewing over the next year or so as I continue to grow, and my adult teeth continue to develop into my jaws. I also heard mum explain to the class that it was pointless showing me the phone and charger and then telling me off, because I wouldn't have understood what she was going on about, which is true. Once I had finished sorting things out, and moved onto doing something else, I am unable to connect back to what had happened earlier. Mum usually provides me with lots of nice things to chew on, but I really thought that phone needed dealing with..... Tally's picture indeed! Whatever next.

I thought you might like to see a video of me wearing my new coat? Tally Tallulah is envious of it and decided to chase me!

My first grown up agility class

2007-11-04T10:27:00.000-08:00

Aroooo rooo rooo roooo!

I have been a really good boy. I have had my first grown up agility class!!!! I am now just over 10 months old, and last Thursday, Auntie Jayne (Bray) came to our paddock and started showing mum some lovely bouncy puppy exercises to give me over very low jumps.

I went over the jump:

I also went through the tunnel:

I then went down a line of jumplets as fast as my legs would carry me:

You see, I have to go over very low jumps because I am still so young. My bones haven't finished growing yet, so mum and Auntie Jayne are being very careful not to over exercise me, so that they don't cause any damage. Mum is hoping that I will have a very long and happy agility career, like dear old Lotte, and not have to retire at an early age due to wear and tear injuries.

Auntie Jayne and mum were also surprised that I had learned how to run along the planks and stop on the lighter coloured part which is called "the contact". Mum had only spent a few minutes teaching me this one Saturday afternoon. You will see from the top picture that the planks are flat on the ground. Eventually these will be lifted up quite high, and I will have to run up, across and down the otherside.

I finished up the morning by going through the tunnel again:

Oh I really did enjoy myself. Tallulah had been watching from the sidelines and she was so jelous. Auntie Jayne didn't forget her though, and gave her a few minutes training too. One day, I am going to be as good (if not better) than Tallulah. She had better watch out, because I am growing up fast.

Here is a picture of my eyes now that they have been operated on. I knew mum was trying to take photo's of my eyes, and I didn't like it, I thought that flashing thing might get me, but we were outside in the bright warm sunshine, so it wasn't all that bad really:

This is how I used to look:

Many many licks and "arrooo's" to Philip Hanlon of Milton Keynes Veterinary Group for making life so much happier for me. I like going to the vets. I get treats.

Recovering

2007-10-28T11:56:00.000-07:00

Arrroooo roooo rooo

It has been a bit of a strange time for me just lately. Mum set out early one morning, just over a week ago, with Nalle and myself. Off we went to the odd place where people sit behind desks whilst we have to sit in a waiting area for somebody to call out "Barkley and Nalle Griffin please".

It was so exciting. There were so many things to sniff and see, and the people there were very nice to leap up on and lick.

Then they took us away from mum, and off we went to an area where there were lots more things going on. Both Nalle and I shared a cage and had needles stuck in us. Nalle was very cross, because he just wanted to go home. "All they ever do here Barkley, is stick needles in you" he said. From my previous experiences, it seems that he is right. What a strange place indeed.

Sure enough, they then came along and put another needle into me and off I went to sleep. It took me quite a while to wake up, but when I did, they made me look like this:

My eyes were also very sore indeed, and all I wanted was to get myself back home to see my mum, Tallulah and Lotte.

When I arrived home Tallulah was so pleased to see me - momentarily - but then all of a sudden, for some unknown reason, she put her tail between her legs and bolted up the stairs and hid under the bed.

Poor Tallulah was traumatised and refused to come out. I was so shocked because I thought she would have been delighted to see me. After all I had missed her terribly.

"Mum" she cried "what on earth has happened to Barkley? he has been missing all day and then returns home looking like a space dog! what has gone wrong?".

"Take it off" I screamed.

"No" mum replied.

"It has to stay on ALL NIGHT, so that you don't rub your eyes whist I can't supervise you".

I was so fed up. That was until I realised that I could look at things without feeling as though I constantly had grit in my eyes. I also sat by the back door and watched the birds flying between the trees. That was such an awesome experience. I couldn't stop looking at them. I also realised that when you chase squirrels, they don't just disappear, they run up the trees. My goodness, things look so different to how they did before. You know, I don't even have to squint anymore when the lights come on during the evening. It is so wonderful.

On Tuesday I have to go back to that strange place and see the man who enabled me to see properly. I will thank him very much with a big wag of my tail, my best "arooo rooo roo" and of course a big lick.

As for Nalle joining me at that place, he was just there for tests, to check his thyroid gland activity. He is fine now, looking very good for a dog of 11 1/2 years old.

Lotte ? as per usual, Lotte just takes everything in her stride and wonders when the next meal is coming.

Mum says there will be some pictures of my new eyes soon, once all the swelling has disappeared. Things are looking and feeling very good.

How to scare your mum

2007-10-14T08:00:00.000-07:00

Arooo rooo rooooo!!!!

You won't see my picture yet, because I am in hiding!!! I'll explain more later.

The time has now come for me to have my eyes fixed.

You may see from one of my previous blogs, that I have a condition known as 'entropion', where my eyelids have grown too large. This nice man, Philip Hanlon from Milton Keynes Veterinary Group, is going to make me feel better by cutting the corners of my eyelids and then tucking them back so that they fit my eyes better. Mum says I will feel much happier once it is all over and done with. If you click on the link, you will be able to see where it is I am going. Milton Keynes Veterinary Group

Mum has also made the big decision...... I am not going to loose my family jewelery after all. I am to stay an entire boy! This is because my hormones haven't affected me in the way some dogs are affected. I still come when called. I am not fighting the other boys who come to visit our paddock and I am not taking myself off in search of girlfriends. What a sigh of relief that is for me, because apart from the corners of my eyelids, I will be in one piece after my operation.

When I say I am not taking myself away in search of girlfriends, last week I gave my mum a real awful fright.

We had been to the paddock because mum wanted to do a little bit of agility training with me. It was great fun. We played chase the ball over some low level jumps. Oh how I loved racing across and grabbing the ball and then bringing it back. There was lots of laughter from mum and lots of arooooo roooo rooo's from me. Mum says I sound really funny when I say that with my mouth stuffed with a ball.

When we had finished, as per usual mum started packing everything away.
"Oh good" she said "it is all done now. Come on dogs, it's time to go........ one, two, three........ one, two, three..... three? where's four? Where's Barkley?" Mum looked and looked but couldn't see me, or hear me.
"Barkley" she called
Nothing. Just silence. No sight, no sound, no me.
"BARKLEY". Still nothing.
Mum frantically started searching around. Nope. She couldn't see nor hear me.

Panic swept in, and mum started to wonder if somebody had come in and stolen me. "That's impossible" she thought "if somebody had come in the other 3 would have kicked up a din".

"BAAAAARKLEY" she called.
Nothing.

Mum checked across the road, and looked out into the park. Still nothing, no sight, no sound. She couldn't even hear my name tag jingling on my collar.

"Oh my god" she cried. "Barkley's gone".

With that, she got on the phone to Aunt Alicat, "Allie - Barkley's gone".
"gone? gone where?" replied Allie "where are you?"
"I am in the paddock," yelled mum "and he has vanished".
"Ok" said Allie "I will be down in a minute and help you to look for him".
Just at that moment, mum turned around and saw an outline.......
A red outline,
front paws on the railings and a pink tongue hanging out.

" I CAN SEE HIM" yelled mum "He's stuck".

This isn't precisely the place where I was stuck, but as you can see, I am a red/gold coloured dog, and the leaves which had fallen are roughly the same colour as I am. There were piles of them, and the overhanging branches were ladened with red/gold leaves. Mum said something about my being camelflaged?

What happened was:

As mum was packing all the things away, I have often seen people helping out at the end of the classes by putting things over the fence, so I jumped over some broken railings to go inside to see what was in there which people find so interesting. And there it was ~ I found a lovely pool of water so had a welcoming drink. Once I was inside, I tried to get back out, but I couldn't jump, because there were metal strips on the ground and other things, which moved as I tried to get my footing.

I tried another way, but that was blocked too. I could hear mum calling and calling, but she couldn't see me, so I stood waiting, hoping that eventually she would see me and come and rescue me. When mum became upset and started talking into the phone, I couldn't understand why she couldn't see me. After all, I was standing on the railings to make it blatantly obvious as to where I was.

When at last she spotted me, I was so relieved, and so was she. Mum was really shaking as she ran over to help me. It took a few minutes before she decided the only way to get me out was to pull me through the railings. Oh it was so nice to be back with everyone. Lotte, Nalle and Tallulah jumped all over me, and Tallulah and Lotte grabbed me by the neck and shook me. We all laughed together and then ran across the field.

When Mum eventually got over her fright, we all went home to have our dinner.

Today, I did some training with a few other dogs, and then later on, after the main class had finished, I helped the humans to put things away over the fence. Lorraine then went up to mum and said "Barkley's stuck on the other side of the fence and can't get out"!!!!!!!

"arrrrrgh BARKLEY!!!!! he's done it again....... by the way young Barkley...... the word is camouflaged NOT camelflaged". Silly dog!

The Teens

2007-09-09T11:56:00.001-07:00

Arrrroooo to you.

I am now 8 months old, and I am becoming quite a handsome boy so I am told.

If it wasn't for my eye problem (entropion - see previous blog), I am told I would have made a lovely show dog, and perhaps gone on to father some puppies of my own. However, because of this hereditary problem, mum says I cannot have any babies, in case I pass on my faulty genes.

Anyway, mum didn't bring me into the family to become a show dog, she wants to train me to do agility, and now I am 8 months, I am starting to do a few agility games and control exercises. Mum has even been teaching me to walk backwards, so that I become more aware of where my feet are. She is very pleased with my progress, because she says I am moving very well.

I am feeling quite sad that I won't be allowed to have any fur babies of my own. Mum is also a little concerned that I am becoming a bit territorial around our paddock. I have had a couple of scraps with other entire male dogs recently. I don't do this anywhere else, because I don't see the need to protect other areas, but our paddock is very special to me, because it is where so much fun happens. I love having the neutered boys come to play, and of course I love having the girls come along too. Some of the girls even tell me off, and it doesn't bother me, but you see - I do have to protect these girlfriends of mine from those prying eyes who might just fancy them. They had better think again.

I am also starting to cock my leg quite a bit. Mum is now watching my behaviour very carefully, as I am now having a large shot of testosterone which will prime me for adulthood. In other words, I am a teenager, and I have discovered who and what I am.

Mum tells me that if I start loosing my obedience, and become too stroppy around other entire male dogs, I am going to the vet for an operation!!!!! Mum is really hoping it won't come to that, as she wants to keep my hormones where they belong.

Apparently some dogs change dramatically when the secondary testosterone surge hits. They become very disobedient, run off to sniff, find it difficult to recall away from interesting smells, have to cock their leg every few yards. Some males start to run off and go in search of a girlfriend. This can put them in grave danger of being run over. Some even become victims to other male dogs, who find them a threat and then attack, whilst others go on the offensive, as I have in our paddock, deliberately picking fights with others. These are the kind of things neutering works on. Neutering does not calm dogs down who are generally disobedient around their home environment, that really comes down to owners teaching their dogs how to behave.
Some people believe that neutering can turn their male dog into a sissy. It doesn't. It cannot, because mum tells me that my brain chemistry was made boy - just before I was born, when I received my first shot of testosterone. What neutering does is remove the excess, and then dampens down any behaviours which may be associated with the excess I may, or may not develop. At the moment, it is a waiting game.

The main fear mum has with regards to neutering, is that I will loose my lovely shiny coat which everyone comments on. Coat shine in Setters is very much under hormonal control. I might even end up with a coat like Lotte's:

Poor Lotte has a 'blown' coat, and she has to see the groomer on a regular basis to try and keep it under control.

It will soon be Tallulah's 4th birthday. I am quite excited because mum has been inviting dogs to her birthday party which has become an annual event. Here you can see a wet Nalle and Tallulah who had been splashing in the ponds near our paddock.

The Reunion

2007-08-12T03:14:00.001-07:00

Arooo rooo rooo

Hi there bloggy doggie peoples

I had a HUGE surprise last weekend. Mum took me along with Tallulah and my much loved Molly (the working bred Cocker Spaniel) girlfriend, to Aylesbury agility show. I really loved watching Tallulah and Molly strutting their stuff, but what a surprise I had in store.....

A lady and man came along with 3 other red setters. They came and said hello to me.

I then realized the tall lady setter was my mum. Oh my goodness, let me sniff where dinner used to be.

This is my sister, she didn't like me very much and swore at me.

I then put my paw across my brothers shoulder to let him know that I hadn't forgotten him. The humans then said "awwwww, how sweet".

Once everyone remembered who I was, we all settled so that the humans could drink their tea and coffee. Ella, my dog mum looked very worried. That is her at the back. She was very worried that another one of her brood was about to return.

So she hid herself away, hoping not to be noticed.

I am on the left next to my sister and brother.

Molly was a superstar at the show. Look at what she achieved:

Tallulah had fun yesterday, making it into the finals of the Kennel Club International Agility Festival's starters cup final. One of 4 non collies. What a clever setter she is. I hope I am as good as her one day.

Wow Mum Is SO Proud

2007-07-28T10:31:00.000-07:00

And a very special Arooo roo roo today from all of us, because we have been sooooo good - mum says.

Yes, this is me.

Haven't I grown?

I am now almost 7 months old

Here is Tallulah (Tally to her friends)

Nalle (Mr. Bones) to his friends

And last - but definitely not least, our Alpha Lotte
(The Duchess, or even Yetti,
because of her bushy coat)

Why have we been sooooo good?

Well, a few days ago, we were walking down towards our paddock to meet a lady about a dog. We pass quite a few paddocks along the way, which often have horses in them. However, just recently the horses haven't been there, but mum is always on the lookout, and spotted a couple of girls coming along the footpath on horseback, so she started to think about gathering us in. Before she could get the words out of her mouth, all of a sudden, and without any prior warning, a huge flock of sheep shot out of a service track which leads to the paddocks.

"Sheeeeeeeeeeep" eeked mum. "There have never been sheep along there before" she exclaimed! But sure enough there they were, all standing looking at us. The farmer then came racing along on his buggy and drove the sheep straight towards us "W-A-I-T" wailed mum "W---A---I---T".

We all stood rock still as the flock raced by. Mum then spotted Tallulah's eyes light up and a huge grin sweep across her face ....."W---A---I---T" she screeched, so we did, and didn't move a single muscle.

The farmer knew mum, Lotte, Nalle and Tallulah, and trusted that they would be safe. He hadn't realized that I was there too. Master puppy, who has only just passed all his Good Citizen's Tests". Mum said her heart went right up into her throat, knowing that if I had taken off after the sheep, the others would probably have gone too, so that is why she is soooooo proud of us.

The farmers daughter then came walking along with the Collie in tow, so we all stopped for a chat. "That was SOOO impressive" she said "So well under control, not like many of the dogs around here". Mum replied "I hope they would be, because that is my job". The farmers daughter replied "But even then, that is just SOOOO impressive" She was truly amazed when she discovered that I am still a puppy and did precisely what I was asked to do. Mum says that I have truly earned my Good Citizen's Gold Award, but remaining steady with the distraction of a flock of sheep passing by isn't included.

So another day passed.

Tallulah thinks I make a wonderful pillow!

Genetic problem

2007-07-23T17:06:00.001-07:00

Arooo rooo rooo!!

Not a great deal to report of late, things have been a bit quiet because of the weather mum says. I am not sure what she is on about, because the weather always seems to be the same. A few hours of lovely warm sunshine and then lots and lots of water pouring from the sky. There have also been a few flashes bangs and crashes accompanying the water too. Nalle gets very upset by the noise, but I am not at all bothered.

I just LOVE swimming, and all the extra water means there are plenty of places for me to play dash and splash. I will get mum to take a video of me doing this. It is great fun.

Just over a week ago, mum took me to Rugby agility show, where I watched my friend Molly racing around the course. We should have been at Empingham agility show this weekend, but it was cancelled due to all the water which came down on Friday. Tallulah was very disappointed, as she had been training very hard for the Olympia qualifier. We all ended up going to the woods for a good run instead. Mum tells me that all this rain is very unusual, but I have never experienced anything different. To me, it is all perfectly normal.

Genetic problems:
Earlier in this diary of my life, I mentioned that my eyes were sticky. Mum took me to the vet, who thought I had an eye infection. Mum mentioned the word "entropion" to the vet, but she shook her head and said "no, no entropion". However, the eye problem continued, and then mum noticed that my bottom eyelids were starting to turn inwards. Sure enough, the entropion started to show itself just after my 6 month birthday, so back I went to the vet, who confirmed what mum had suspected.

Entropion is a genetic disorder which affects many breeds of dogs. The annoying thing is that this condition could be selectively bred out, but very few breeders test for it. In fact, there are some people in the show world, who have their dogs surgically altered, and then continue showing and then breeding from them. Mum has decided that I am not going to be bred from, as she doesn't like the idea that another puppy will have to live until adulthood with very sore and sticky eyes. The vet said that I will have to have my eyes operated on when I am older. I am not looking forward to that, but mum says that I will feel much better once it has been done.

Look at my right eye. Can you see the problem? My left eye is also slightly turned in too.

Some dogs can develop behavioural problems as a result of this condition, as their eyes become so sore. At the moment, mum is able to help me manage the condition, so I am not too upset by what is going on. I have to see the eye specialist before long though, so that he can decide the best course of action. I will let you know how I get on after he has examined me.

Gold Star

2007-06-30T03:37:00.000-07:00

Arrrrooooooooooooo

Just a quick update. Just to let you know that I did it, I did! Mum put me through the Kennel Club's Good Citizen Silver and Gold test and I passed both. I was a very good boy, although rather tired by the time I took my Gold. I shouldn't really have taken both tests on the same evening, but I missed out on the silver last time around, because I had that nasty coughing virus and was unable to mix with the other dogs. Mum is so pleased with the progress of my training, and I do enjoy it. This doesn't mean to say that my training ends here. Far from it. Mum is continuing to practice on a daily basis, and is even teaching me new things.

The other piece of news is that yesterday was my 6 month birthday.

I am growing up now and am almost as tall as Lotte, but not quite. I have a bit to go yet before I am as tall as Tallulah, but I am catching up fast. Everyone says that I look like a foal, because my legs are very gangly.

It was also Nalle dog's proper birthday yesterday. He is 11, and this is amazing considering mum (and many others) didn't think he would make it to his first birthday. Thanks to a lady by the name of Dr. Jean Dodds, across a big pond, Nalle's under active thyroid problem was discovered, and once he was put on the correct medication, he just blossomed.

Nalle's birthday dinner arrived. Lotte and I thought we should have some too.

Nalle wasn't impressed and told us to go away - to put it politely.

Happy 11th birthday Nalle. Love, Barkley, Lotte, Tallulah and Mumxxxx

Who are you?

2007-06-18T10:01:00.001-07:00

Har-row bloggers and welcome back, or a big welcome if this is your first visit to my page.

Mum says that on the whole I am a very good boy and she is very please with my progress. However, there are times when I stick my paws up to her and tell her where to go, because I am now 5 1/2 months old and I am starting to grow up.

I am a very thoughtful boy though, and I really do try dog hard to get things right. However, there are are few things I really don't understand, but I am trying so hard to get my head around them.

You see, I am a very sociable dog. I meet lots of people and lots of other dogs who all want to say hello to me and be my friend. Therefore, if it were up to me, I would run up to everyone and everything and give them all a big wag and a smile, or perhaps invite them to play with me. Mum really doesn't think this is a good idea, and asks me to wait. I know what she means when she says "wait", but ooooh it's so exciting when I see another dog, or a person, so I just ignored her and ran off. I again heard her shouting "BARKLEY WAIT", but it was all to much fun, so I decided to stick my paws up at her and continued running. She really wasn't pleased by my actions, and told me so. But the last couple of occasions I gave her the two paws, I turned around and discovered, much to my horror, that she had gone!!!! Yes, she and the others walked off and left me - all on my own! I got a bit panicky and cried out. I then saw her coming back towards me, but she didn't look at all pleased. I wagged my tail, but still she didn't smile and talk nicely to me. Then on the last occasion, it was even worse. She came back, clipped the leash to my collar and then tied me up to the fence, and then went off she went to talk to the other dogs and owners who were in the class. Would you believe it?

I just had to sit down and have a think about it. She eventually came back, untied me from the fence, and then lead me back towards the other people and dogs. She then told me to "wait" as she removed the leash. I did. I wanted to run off though, but I did as she asked. She then said "ok" which meant I could go, so off I ran to meet the others. I then heard her call "BARKLEY COME", so I did. This time I had my lovely happy chirpy mummy back, the one who is pleased to see me when I run up to her. I was then given another time out to think it all through, but I still couldn't make a great deal of sense out of it.

Why doesn't she want me to run up to everyone I see? She explains that there are people out there who really don't like me because I am a dog, and will do anything they can to get me in trouble. They will scream and complain that I had run up to bite them, and go very hysterical. There are also other dogs out there who might attack me, especially if they are on their leashes. I am starting to think this is a funny world I have come to live in. Why on earth would somebody not like me because of what I am?

This is of course the reason why mum is working very hard on teaching me to "wait" when I am running on ahead of her. "Stay" when joggers and cyclists go racing by and to "Barkley come" when I spot another dog in the distance. I then have to go back to her side and await further instructions, which could either "o.k" if it somebody we know, or "wait" until whoever or whatever has passed by. In the picture above, we are all lying down and waiting as a cyclist rode along behind mum as she was taking the picture. On this particular outing, I had walked passed lots of people of all different ages, some of whom wanted to speak to me, whilst others didn't. I also saw a lot of dogs, some of whom I was able to meet up with and have a few minutes fun. For once mum was completely satisfied with my training and gave me a HUGE hug and reward. I don't think she expects me to be 100% all of the time - not just yet, but she is really pleased that I am learning to do what is required of me.

I still don't understand this world though, but Lotte, Nalle and Tallulah just seem to accept that this is the way things are. It does help me to watch their reactions.

Mum bought Nalle a new fancy coloured bed. He really seems to like it. I am doing my Kennel Club Good Citizens Silver and Gold award later this week. I will let you know how I get on - Barkley.

Diggidy Dog

2007-06-02T11:06:00.001-07:00

Arooo roo roo!!!!!

Hello. It's been a few weeks since the last update, but it is all her fault..... she keeps on forgetting to take the camera out with us. She has missed quite a few amusing opportunities as a result. Oh well, that is hoomans for you I suppose - tut!

There are days where mum has been very unwell with her illness and we have to really nudge her to make her take us out. We look after her as much as we can and make sure that she does carry on. There is so much for us to do and get on with. I have to remind her that I want to be an agility dog one day. Nalle and Lotte know quite a bit about her illness as they suffer from a similar condition. You should see them all in the morning, they all have different coloured pills to take.

Its been a busy few weeks. Despite mum and her immune system crisis, I have been taken to a few agility shows. They are great fun and I have learned a lot. I can't wait until I am old enough to join in all the fun.

Auntie Glynis also took me to the railway station a few days ago so that I could see and hear the trains. Yawn, yawn. Tally told me they were very scary, but I couldn't see the point to them personally, so Auntie Glynis took me into the park for a run instead. Now that was much more interesting than looking at those long pieces of noisy metal racing along their tracks.

Then, of course, there was THAT bank holiday weekend - y-e-s..... the one where Nalle and I were supposed have gone to stay with Aunt Sally and her 3 dogs whilst mum, Lotte and Tally were going to a big show. Nalle and I were really looking forward to playing with Molly, Ty and Leo. Mum and Tally had also been training very hard for this particular event, as it was an Olympia qualifier. Tally had also reached her peak performance, just in time for the show, but the rain kept on coming down. It just didn't know when to stop. It was also very cold and windy, so nobody wanted to go anywhere. There was nothing for us to do, except sleep, twiddle our claws, and preen our coats.......

........and dig holes in the garden!!!! Oh yes I did. Whey hey. I just L-O-V-E-D the mud.

I thought mum would like it if I brought some back into the house with me. Not only that, but I ran all the way up the staircase and chased Tally around the bedrooms. It seemed mum didn't like my idea of fun. She spent the remainder of the day scrubbing carpets, furniture and bed linen..... all I kept on hearing was her mumbling "I could have been at a show today, having fun and now look at what I am having to do". I really can't understand why she couldn't join in all the fun, after all, there wasn't much else to do - was there?

Evidently it wasn't a good idea that I dug 3 holes in the lawn. Mum had been working hard in the garden, making it look nice for the summer. She thought I ought to start up my own small business "Barkley Excavations", because I had made such a good job of digging those holes.
It is fun to dig though don't you think? especially on boring days. However, the places I dug only contained roots and stones, so mum provided me with a digging pit. A digging pit??? what on earth would I want one of those for when I am quite capable of making holes of my own? Ahhh, the books. The books say that for digging dogs, humans should provide digging pits which are full of nice things. Oh right - but I don't read the same books as her. I had to go away and think this one through..... so on the first nice day, after the rains had gone, I went outside and dug up the bones and toys which she had kindly put into this 'digging pit' for me. I then went running inside and dumped all the treasure trove across the living room floor. Hee hee, I couldn't stop there, so I ran upstairs and chased Tally.......Oh dogness, then I spotted mum, she was pulling the remainder of her hair out again!

The rain did have a silver lining though.

Lots and lots of water in the local parks. I went for my first proper swim. Not only that, but I did my first retrieve out of the water. A few throws later, the floating toy sunk when I landed on top of it. What fun that turned out to be. I discovered how to snorkel. Mum laughed and laughed. She threw the toy back in several times, and each time I landed on top of the toy so that it sunk again. I love swimming under water. So much better than being out in the rain and digging holes.

Tally thinks I am wonderful. I love her too.

Today, mum took me out to teach me a new game. It was about finding my leash which had been hidden in the grass. Sometimes mum might drop a leash accidentally, as there are four of them for her to carry. As you see, I really enjoyed the game.

Lotte and Nalle also enjoy searching for theirs too:

When all the leashes had been collected, Mum's mobile phone barked to say that Jackie and Molly were wondering where we had got to, as they had arrived to play on the agility equipment. We were only on the other side of the road, and mum had already spotted their arrival. We all went into the field and had great fun. I love Molly, she is a cocker spaniel. I will ask mum to get a picture of her for you to see. She is very pretty. Today I did some baby agility of my own. More about that later. At the moment I am still to young to do proper agility. My legs are all over the place and sometimes I don't remember where they are. Some people have mentioned that I look like a foal!

Being a puppy

2007-05-12T02:41:00.000-07:00

Arroooo, I am back. Mum has been a bit busy recently, so has been unable to update me, so there is quite a lot to tell.... isn't there? Well, not really, evidently I am a very good boy. Mum says that I am better behaved than Lotte, Nalle and Tallulah were at my age. However, that is not to say that I am all sweetness and light. The sofa now has a hole in it which is getting larger. Mum has to find out if the insurance will cover it back up again? I guess that's what she means by cover? Then the local paper arrived yesterday - see?

It was great fun and made lots of rustling noises. I like rustling noises.
Well, evidently this is what being a puppy is all about.

There is one little secret I need to share with you. Some people believe that as I live with mum, who is not only a trainer, but one of the few qualified behaviour specialists (although now retired, due to her suffering from an auto-immune disease), that somehow I am automatically good and don't get into mischief like their puppies. That just isn't true, because I do. During the past week, mum seemed a little upset about something which I had done, let me tell you about it:

You see, Nalle dog gets a special treat of tuna fish in oil, because it helps his old coat and his aching bones, mum says.
Mum was opening the can, when suddenly there was a knock at the door. Mum looked around and put the can up out of the way. As she was busy talking to the lady who called, I sniffed and sniffed at that beautiful smell, then jumped and jumped to see if I could reach where it was coming from, but I couldn't work out how to get there. "Hmmmm" I thought, there must be a way. I looked at where the smell was coming from, and then looked around to see if I could find something to help me reach it, and yes, I am sure that would do it. So I climbed up on a chair, walked across the top of Nalle's cage and yes - there it was in all its glory. A partially opened can full of this most beautiful smell.

I carefully picked it up and carried it back to where I had been lying on the floor. I put my tongue inside and Mmmmmm, the taste was heavenly. Then mum walked in "where's that fish?" I heard her say. She looked around and then "arrrrrrrgh" she screamed. Suddenly the tin and it's contents were whipped away from me. "How on earth did you manage to get that, eat the contents and not slice your tongue to shreds" shrieked mum. She looked quite frightened, but I didn't know what all the fuss was about, it smelt and tasted so nice, much nicer than chewing up an inanimate object, like Uncle Pete's dog!

I overheard mum and her brother talking on the telebone, and evidently Biba, Uncle Pete's Weimarbanana ate through the wires of his computer and caused damage right down to the motherboard. In other words SHE KILLED IT!

Perhaps I ought to have a chat with Biba and tell her that cans which are full of fish are much nicer to eat.

This week's outing, apart from another agility show, we went to the park by the river. All four of us. It was great fun. I have learned how to steal Nalle's most favorite toy and run off with it.

Then I lost my tail!!!!! Oh help. Where has it gone?

It's really gone! I thought docking was now illegal, unless I am going to be a working dog? But I am a working dog... oh my goodness.

Oh, that is better, Aunt Glynis managed to find it for me and then put it back in place. Phew! That is a relief. Then mum explained that they don't dock Setters in any case.

Barkley The Good Citizen

2007-04-22T12:35:00.000-07:00

Hello again friends and readers. It has been a very busy couple of weeks for me. The week before last I became a Kennel Club Good Citizen Bronze Award Dog. Mum was so proud of me and also the other doggies who passed. Last week, mum was hoping I would become a Silver Award dog too, as we had been practicing very very hard - as you can see from the pictures. Auntie Glynis is shown here teaching me to do my road walk with distractions. So we went to Stony Stratford High Street this time.

Everything had been going so well, and I had been enjoying my training. I got myself a bit worked up though when a huge thing came tearing down the middle of the street banging and crashing as it went. It has made me a bit wary of traffic now, but as per usual, mum is working very hard to ensure that I regain my confidence. Lots of walking along by traffic, and no reaction from her, or the others if I do spook. I am already starting to feel a bit better about it, but I do worry that something might bang and crash again as it passes by. It was a very large and strange looking thing with long metal poles all stacked on top.

Oh my goodness, who are you? Are you here to socialize too? or are you learning to be a Good Citizen?

Then the Silver Award test day arrived, and we were all keyed up. Then mum received a call from the judge to say that there had been a terrible accident on the M1 and all the roads around and about were closed. Even later in the day, there were still delays, and as the judge had to travel along the M1 to reach us, so he decided it would not be a good idea, in case he became stuck in the traffic for hours. We now have to wait for him to give us a new date. In the meantime, mum is now practicing my Gold Award exercises, and she is very pleased with my progress. I'm Barkley you see, and I do aim to please.

One of the reasons mum had been taking me to very busy places from such an early age,
was that she knew I would have to be confident in crowded places, but oh my goodness, I never expected to come across anything quite like this:

Or this

Or even this:

What am I supposed to make of it? I didn't know which way to look or turn. There were so many people and so many dogs. Some of them I had already met, but most of them I had never seen before. In fact, I never knew there could be so many people and dogs in one place. Mum said there could easily have been over a thousand dogs there.

Well, I watched and I watched. I really enjoyed what I saw. Dogs running and barking, people calling and squeaking. It was completely mad and so much fun. I was completely overawed by it all.

Do you see that big red and white thing in the picture above? well we have got a couple of those things at our school, and last Thursday evening, mum was busy taking a class. All of a sudden I heard her scream " OH MY GOD - SOMEBODY GRAB BARKLEY". Well, I thought it looked GREAT fun. All the other dogs were doing it. Somebody had been holding my leash, but then they had become distracted. I seized the moment, slipped away and then climbed to the top of the frame. I don't understand what all the fuss was about, isn't that what I am supposed to do?

Oh by the way, I have lost two of my front teeth today. I will have to see if mum can take a picture of my gappy teeth.

Ups and Downs

2007-04-08T08:44:00.000-07:00

This week has had some real ups and downs. I started off very down, and mum noticed that I had a yellow sticky discharge coming from my eyes. She didn't try treating it herself, because she didn't know what the cause was, but waited to see if my immune system could deal with it. She also noted that I was quite lethargic, and then off my food. Alarm bells started ringing, because mum knows how much I love my food.

I wasn't as playful as I usually am either. In fact I didn't want to do much at all, except lay in the sunshine and snooze.

The following day I felt much better, I had more energy, started eating again, and mum breathed a sigh of relief that I would not have to go to the vet after all. Auntie Glynis came and took me on a training walk. We went to Newport Pagnell, and mixed with lots of people of all different shapes and sizes who were out shopping.

My socialisation programme is still continuing, and my training in busy areas has commenced. I have to learn to be good, not jump over everyone, not to try to say hello to everyone I meet. There are so many people who want to say hello to me, but it becomes quite confusing when some do not want to speak to me at all. What do I do in these situations? Mum and Aunt Glynis are spending time teaching me to walk on a loose lead and to ignore passers by where ever possible. Further down, I am pictured walking back towards the car park, having had such a wonderful time.

I have overheard mum speaking to people on the phone, who enquire about puppy training. Some have purchased two dogs from the same litter, or already have more than one dog. Some of these people don't like being advised that they really need to get their puppies to do things separately from one another, otherwise confidence problems can arise. I really do understand why mum says this, because when Lotte, Nalle and Tallulah are with me, I think I am so grown up and know everything there is to know, but when it is just me and mum, I take a different view of the world. My supporters are not there to back me up, so I stay as close to mum as I can.

It is also nice to have mum all to myself at times, because we play and do things together which we don't usually do when the others are around, therefore it is lovely for me to get to know her, and for her to really get to know me. We are developing a lovely bond because of all the things we do separately from the others. That is not to say that I don't go out on their walks, because I do. It seems very important to me that mum is allowing me to develop my own confidence, so that I don't become too dependant upon the others. I am already starting to feel more secure in myself, so it seems well worth the extra effort mum is putting in for me. Evidently some dogs who are not encouraged to develop their own personality and confidence, can end up aggressive towards people and other dogs. Mum is working very hard to ensure that I do grow into a well behaved and confident dog. Mum does seem to follow her own advice, I must say.

See how Aunt Glynis keeps my leash loose as I walk along? Many dogs end up pulling because their owners set out with a very tight leash. Glynis is also carrying something very yummy in her pocket, and clicks the clicker when I am walking nicely, she then produces that yummy treat from her pocket. The click tells me that I am getting things right, and not there to grab my attention. She also puts a gap between my hearing the click, and the reward arriving, in order to give me chance to register why I have been clicked.

Alright, so you have clicked...... where is that treat then?

The following day, I felt very unwell. I woke mum up early. Cough! cough! cough! "Oooooh NOOOO" I heard mum say. A bit later on, I was coughing lots, and my chest felt a bit sore. My eyes were also very sticky again. Lotte's eyes were also sore. Mum realised that I could have picked up a coughing virus which is in the area. We visited the vets, not because of the cough, but because of my sticky eyes. The vet examined my chest all the same, and she was quite happy that it was nothing serious. Just a cold. She gave me some ointment for my eyes. I am very good and allow mum to put it in. Lotte isn't so good. She closes her eyes as tight as she possibly can, making it very difficult for mum put get ointment in.

We are all better again now. Our eyes are fine, and no coughing.

This weekend we are all back to normal. Marley the Rottie came to visit. I really like Marley, and he likes me too. We had a really good game together. Marley's mum and dad are so pleased, because they have recently rescued him, and he had a very poor start in life. He is really coming out of his shell now.

We played rough and tumbles. So many people would be upset seeing a Rottie playing with a 14 week old puppy, but Marley is so gentle with people and with other dogs. Nobody should judge a book by it's cover. Rotties are individuals like everyone else and deserve to be given a chance. In fact, Nalle was the one who became upset with Marley and bit him because he didn't want him in our house. Nalle was fine with Marley once we were out of the house.

Then Marley had to go home. It was then time for bed. Tally makes a lovely bed.

Me Dominant Dog?

2007-04-01T10:03:00.000-07:00

At the end of the agility classes we often go for a walk in the park. Well - I do some walking, whilst the older dogs go for a run, or a splash, and sometimes even a swim. Tallulah is the one who really enjoys a good swim.

Today was no exception, but this time the water was nice and warm, so dear old Nalle invited me to join him, which I did.

See.....

This is Nalle and me

and me and Nalle!

Today, in the warm sunshine, we practised some down stays.

"down - stay" she said, as she moved away from me "down - stay"... hehe

"down - stay Tallulah and Lotte" a whole minute we did "down - stay". Tallulah and Lotte tell me that this is nothing. Sometimes we have to be "down - stay" a lot longer and then she disappears out of sight. Something to do with the Kennel Club's Good Citizen Dog Scheme I believe. Evidently mum thinks I am ready to pass my bronze award. I will soon have officially passed my puppy foundation, but Glynis has to award me with my rosette and certificate first of all.

"down - stay" hahaha

DOMINANT DOG
They say butter wouldn't melt in my mouth, I am such a good boy, learning my lessons and finding it all so much fun, but mum was none to pleased with me a few nights ago.

You see, I am growing very rapidly, and I have learned how to leap up onto the sofa. It is very cosy there. It was very late at night. She came along and said "come on Barkley, time for bed". Well, I glared at her and said "it's nice here and I am sleeping here tonight". She didn't look too impressed so I repeated "I AM going to be sleeping right HERE tonight".

Mum looked at me in a very knowing way. She then went to pick me up, so I stiffened and said "grrrrrrr - back off" and showed her all of my puppy teeth.

Now this is where I expected mum to run away screaming "oh my goodness, he is a dominant aggressive dog". You see I have already read the books on the shelf, and that is what they say we are when we do these things. So therefore, she should have backed away and gone away to think about how to put me on a dominance reduction programme. Therefore I was shocked by her response:
"yeah - you and whose army?" she bellowed.

"this army" I said and showed her all my teeth again.
With that, she carefully picked me up, holding my head away from her face, and then carried me off to my cage, " that's where you will be sleeping tonight young man - in your bed"... oh - but - but that really is not the way it should have been. Why hasn't she behaved in the way the books suggest?

The following day I overheard her telling somebody that Nalle and Tallulah tried this on when they were pups, but we have to be taught that aggression does not pay.

This has nothing to do with me asserting my dominance over her, it was my way of saying "leave me alone, I really want to stay where I am". Mum says that one day, when my toilet training is 100%, then she probably will allow me to stay where I am happy. I also have to learn to earn my privileges, they don't just happen. I also have to learn not to make demands, but to understand what is required of me. This is where she is being a good teacher.

The following evening, I got back on the sofa, but when bedtime came, I said "please mum, please may I stay here". She said "no, not tonight Barkley, I then allowed her to pick me up and put me in my cage. Last night, she just looked at me and said "bedtime Barkley" and I ran into my cage, because I now know this is what is required. I got a lovely beef jerky for being such a good boy. I do try to please, and I am learning that nice things happen without confrontation - if I choose it to be this way. I do love my mum.

Barkley teaches mum a huge lesson

2007-03-26T07:57:00.000-07:00

I am now just over 12 weeks of age, and have been to that nasty place to have needles stuck in me. My last (ever) vaccination, and the microchip. Ouch that one hurt, but the Vet said I was a very good boy and gave me some treats.

My training is coming along very well. I wait when I am told and only get up when mum says the magic word "OK", I sit and stay, I down and stay (anything up to 1 minute now, with mum 5 paces away), I sit at a distance when mum shouts "wait" and sometimes I might lie down at a distance when she shouts "wait". Mum is also teaching me that 2 pips of the whilstle mean "come". I now come when I am called, even when there are other dogs around. I also come when called when I am playing with other dogs..... at the moment that is. Mum says that one day my hormones will probably get the better of me, but she said she is prepared to wait and see. I don't think I know quite what she means by that?

Now mum is a cognitive psychologist, and she is very interested in the mental processes which are involved in learning. Sooooo, she carried out an experiment on me when I was 9 weeks old. Could I possibly learn the Kennel Club's Good Citizen's Gold level task of "go to your bed"? Mum placed my vet bed on the floor, and had the clicker ready. Every time I stepped foot onto that vet bed, she clicked the clicker and gave me a treat..... oh dear, I think she was a little disappointed because my concentration was the size of a gnat, and I couldn't grasp the concept that I had to take myself off to the vet bed of my own accord in order to hear the click and get a treat....... or so she thought. I will let mum take over now tell you now what happened next:

Well, let's put it like this. I truly believed that Barkley was far too young to make any sense of this task, so I decided to leave it a further week to see what would come of it at 10 weeks. However, the following morning, I put the vet bed out on the floor again, in case Barkley decided he wanted to rest on it. To my amazement, he looked at me, then looked at the vet bed, and then went and lay down on it, looking towards me with with total expectation that he would hear the click and receive his reward. I couldn't believe what I was seeing. So I picked up the clicker, called him back over to me, and then waited. Sure enough, Barkley walked straight over to the bed, laid down, I clicked the click and gave him the treat. Still not convinced, I got him up again. Once more he went straight back to the bed, laid down, and showed me that he had in fact learned the task. My goodness, a 9 week old puppy, who had learned what is effectively a send away to a marked area. Absolutely amazing. What a powerful indicator the clicker is which tells the dog that it has made the correct response that that the reward is on it's way. Even though on those first attempts Barkley didn't seem to be making any sense of what was going on, 24 hours later, his brain had ordered things and made sense of the patterns involved. What amazing little brains these puppies have.

See, I am a very clever little boy.

I am a very happy and rapidly growing little boy too.

Exciting times

2007-03-11T09:07:00.000-07:00

Last Sunday it was very wet outside.

Very very wet. I was not a happy boy. It was SO boring as there was not much going on. Everyone appeared to be quite fed up. In fact, it was SO wet that I didn't want to do my pee pee's outside. Mum opened the door and I glared at her and said "huh? you want ME to go out THERE? why don't you try going out there to do yours instead?". She wasn't very impressed and said "Barkley! You are a gundog. You are not supposed to worry about getting wet". But I haven't got my proper coat yet, and not only was it wet - it was c-c-c-cold out there too! Anyway, would you believe it? she put her waterproof fleece on and stood outside with me until I had done it! Then she allowed me back in.

When I had to go again later, the rain was still coming down in buckets, so I made sure I went and did it very quickly, so that I could get back into the dry. Thank goodness it was dry on Monday morning. What it is like to be a dog huh? Don't think I am enjoying this element of being dog - huh - humans!

Hey dogs, I just thought. If you have humans who seem to have a problem with our toilets, tell them to go check out this link: www.acorndogtraining.co.uk/puddling.htm

This Sunday was very different. It was lovely - beautiful even! I have never experienced such lovely warm sunshine. Mum took me to the agility school. I was looked after by a little girl by the name of Beth, who brought her puppy along to watch too. Her name is Milly and she is a Jack Russell. We got along really well together. However, after they left, I had plenty of chances to watch my big sister and others going around the course. I am pictured here with Bailey. He is very good and fast.

Then mum appeared and said "Barkley, it is your turn now". My turn? me? Am I going to have a go? What? and be all grown up? I was so excited. I could feel my tail spinning like a top.

They took me over to those things the other dogs were jumping over, and - and - oh it was so exciting - and then Becka (Bailey's mum) held onto me, whilst mum stood further down. Then mum called out "Barkley come". I then ran towards her, and everyone was so excited for me. What a clever little boy I am.

I then ran through the tunnel and mum was waiting for me at the other end. I did love the tunnel. I chased Flynn and Bailey in and out, Becka and mum called me backwards and forwards. This is such great fun. I think I am going to like it here.

Then it was home to lunch. Yes, that's me and that was my lunch. The vet wanted me to eat food out of a packet, but I am a dog for goodness sake. When offered a choice between maize which has been toasted at high temperatures, and then things added to make it smell nice, or a lovely juicy raw chicken carcuss, what do you think I am going to choose?

Oh but raw chicken carcuss are a massive sin they say - not to be fed to us dogs. It is dangerous, it will kill us. Yes, cooked one's will, but these are raw. They also tried telling mum that our stomachs have evolved over the years, from what they used to be when we lived in the wild. No they have NOT. It takes 450 million years for the slightest change to occur in evolution, and dry foods have not been available for anything like that length of time. Nalle tells me that a vet tried to sell him a prescription diet for his tummy problem which was caused by his underactive thyroid gland. Mum was furious. She too has a serious endocrine problem, one which is more life threatening than hypothyroidism. She mentioned prescription diets when she went to visit her endocrinologist. "Where is mine?" she demanded. "what do you want a prescription diet for?" asked the endocrinologist "why don't you just eat a normal healthy diet?" "Because", mum retorted "If I were a dog, I would be offered a wonderful prescription diet, which will help me live a more healthy and active life, so why are dogs offered this wonderful food, whilst I am not?". The endocrinologist looked puzzled at first, and then the penny dropped "argh - I understand what you are saying, no there isn't anything like that available - not for humans"............

Mmmmmm. Lovely. I feel so sorry for dogs who eat junk food out of a packet. Look at how healthy I am too. I am growing really well and mum says my coat is beautiful.

If you want to know more about raw feeding, then take a look here. www.ukrmb.co.uk mum did. She joined their forum too, which is very helpful.

Then that Tallulah appeared..... "mum! mum! mum!
yap! awwwwww!"

and then the day caught up with me big time zzzzzz
zzzzzzzzzzz zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz

2007-03-03T10:03:00.000-08:00

This is me, aged 8 weeks. I am just getting used to living in my new home with my new brothers and sisters, and the pink two legged thing who thinks she is my mum..... huh. Silly person. I guess I will have to show her otherwise. You see I am a big tough puppy, and I know everything there is to know. Even though I have only lived in this form for 8 weeks, I have always been around in one form or another, since the beginning of time, so there - see. I do know everything there is to know.

Well, that's what I thought until one Chewsday of this week, mum took me to a place called "

"MARKET"

What a strange place it was. There were all these two legged things walking around. There were also some strange things to see and peculiar noises, such as something they called "a supermarket cart" which made me jump. I did find it all a bit worrying at first, but then I decided to sit there to try and work it all out. 'Mum' tells me that many puppy 'parents' would have picked me up and taken me home when I became anxious, but 'mum' and her colleague/friend Glynis from the training school, said that I have to get used to these things, so that I learn not to be phased by such things when I am older. Especially as I will be going to agility shows which are extremely busy and very noisy.

I haven't finished my vaccinations yet, and some people find this very upsetting, but the truth is, I do still have my maternal antibodies, and it is a sad fact that more dogs are destroyed each year through having been poorly socialised, than die from the diseases which we are vaccinated against. In fact, my 'mum' had serious doubts about vaccinating me at all, as 3 others from our home nearly died after their initial vaccinations, so mum was very scared for me. It is only because she has heard about some other dogs, in the area, who have recently been infected by Parvo Virus, that she decided to go ahead and have me vaccinated.

There are a growing number of people who have either lost their dogs, or had their dogs become very ill after vaccinations, and they have formed a group to alert people to the things the drug companies and veterinary profession don't want you to know about. See this link for more information.

http://www.canine-health-concern.org.uk/

Anyway, back to my socialisation. It is a very, very important part of my development, and something which Guide Dogs For Blind People take very seriously, to help their dogs become socially strengthened. They too take their puppies out walking between vaccinations. Likewise my 'mum' takes this very seriously too, as she has seen far too many dogs who have been very poorly socialised, that have gone on to develop serious behaviour problems, many of which often cannot be overcome, due to what happens in the brain during the early development of all animals, including humans.

Socialisation does not mean taking the odd trip out to meet other dogs and having a good time, or running home for cover if puppy is more scared than I was. It evidently means going to noisy places, with lots of people of all ages, on a regular basis - whilst I am still so young, in order that I may build my confidence ready for when I am all grown up. Today on this adventure I saw old people, young people, middle aged people, tall, short, fat thin, even a man in a wheelchair who had no legs. He had medals on his clothing, and 'mum' said he was a war veteran? war? what does she mean? why did he have no legs because he is a "war veteran"? My goodness, perhaps I don't know everything after all.

Here are some more pictures of me "socialising" in the market with 'auntie' Glynis.

Welcome to my world

2007-02-27T15:38:00.000-08:00

Hi, my name is Barkley, and here I am pictured with my HUGE big 'sister' Tallulah. Tallulah does agility and one day she is going to teach me how to do agility too.
This is my dad. I don't know his name, but I will ask my human if she can find that out for me. I know his pedigree name (Goldings Casanova), but I am not into all that.

This is my real mum, and her name is Ella. I don't really miss her, because I think Tallulah is my real mum. She teaches me lots of things and tells me when I am getting things wrong.

I am in there somewhere. Soon after I was born. I have 3 sisters and 7 brothers. My date of arrival was 30th December 2006.

Here are all my new family:

Nalle who is 11 in June

and Lotte, who is 11 in October