Month: August 2009

It seems such a long time ago now, Wednesday 19 August.

The Bassets met us at the gate, their tails waving at the sight of Chelsea the Weimaraner. They could not belive their luck.

After much sniffing, we started on our walk down the back lane. Fortunately, there is not a lot of 1080 poison bait traps on this walk, but everyone was still strapped to their lead.

This was the last walk we would be taking with the Bassets, as they were off to their holiday home for five weeks, while their owners enjoyed a well earned break.

All the dogs were ecstatic to be out in the sunshine and sniffing the countryside. Binka was intrigued with the pigs again, however, they were kept in place via an electric fence, so we could not get too  close. I’m not sure what he wanted to do, just say hello I think.

It was hot work for the Bassets, up and down hills, whereas, my dogs completed the undulations with ease.

I showed Fortnum my drink bottle, so of course, we had several drink stops for he and Chelsea. The others are unable to drink from a pump bottle.

Once again, Fortnum decided that Chelsea’s soft ears, were there for him to bite, or to softly nibble, which he did, the whole trip, until she became fed up, and told him to leave her alone. That however, was only a deterrant for a short while, and he was beside her again, trying to make the most of the time in the sun.

Mason, was behaving himself, as he usually does, stopping with his brother at their favourite sniffing spots along the way.

Before long, we were back at the Bassets driveway, and it was time to say goodbye to these dear boys. Chelsea wanted to play, and today, Fortnum decided he would walk down the drive, and not, sit at the end of it, and watch us until we are out of sight.

I have heard, that the boys are in the company of lambs and cats. It will certainly make for a very interesting holiday camp for them.

Hopefully, they will embrace daycare as never before when they return.

Sunday was a beautiful day, and with two smelly spaniels, what better opportunity could there be, than to give them both a bath.

Binka loves his bath, and hangs around whenever anyone is on their hands and knees beside it, in the hope that he might be able to jump in.

Bryson,  is not so keen, but takes the lessons from his brother and goes with the flow.

The normal method of bathing, is the hydro bath, which produces a spray of water at force and pushes any dirt from the hair and skin. However, we resorted to the human bath tub with a shower connection for our magical journey.

With a new bottle of Purecoat shampoo, we started lathering and massaging and rinsing, until finally we were done.

Chelsea stayed beside the bath during the whole process, and was reassuring Bryson with several kisses during his capture. These actions ensured she would not have to go through the indignity of standing in the bath with them.

The wash is only the beginning of the adventure for Binka, what comes next is of greater significance.

We then run around the house, jumping in and out of bean bags, rubbing ourself, now that we are clean again. This continues for about 15 minutes, when it is time for the true drying to commence……….the hair drier.

This has to be one of Binkas favourite appliances. He sits still as the warm air is directed over his coat, and lies down for it to be waved over his belly. Bryson wants nothing to do with this chapter of  becoming clean, so stands back and watches, while Binka is in hairdrier heaven.

At completion, they are all off outside to make the most of the sun for another day.