So Far So Good and Oh Scooby!

Summer's intro to Scarlett yesterday went very well and they played happily under supervision for 10 minutes at a time throughout the day.
Today, summer has been introduced to Scooby the beautiful (more of that later!) Retriever and Boris and Ella the so lovable Bull Mastiffs who were here again for a sleepover.  They get themselves settled, make themselves totally at home and keep Stuart and I awake all night with their snoring!!  We absolutely love having them here and are looking forward to the next visit next month.
On to Scooby's escapades today! Scooby is one of those dogs who arrives in pristine condition and ALWAYS manages to go home looking like nothing on earth!  This is mainly due to the fact that he loves to roll in anything he finds - the smellier and dirtier the better!  Bear in mind he is a beautiful golden colour and you can now begin to get the picture!
We survived our morning walk with just some mud on his feet and the bottom half of his legs and I gave myself a pat on the back for managing this near impossible feat.  Too soon for congratulations!  We went down the field early afternoon for a run around and he immediately found the freshest, largest, sloppiest horse poo he could find, which incidentally was perched on top of a pile of mud, and boy, did he go to town on that little lot! He was covered in the stuff from head to tail and the aroma was incredible.  When we got back into the courtyard, he was very quickly washed down and lathered up with some herbal shampoo but I'm afraid to say even that didn't get rid of the smell!  I hate to think what Paul's  (his owner) car smelt like by the time they got home! I made my feeble apologies via email and ended it by saying, "never mind, he really enjoyed himself" or words to that effect!

Summer

Now that Summer has had her vaccinations and enough time has passed, I am starting to introduce her to the other dogs in small doses. Up until now she has been able to view them from a safe distance but yesterday we started letting her meet up with them in her room.  Yesterday it was Bella the Beagle who started things off and it went very well indeed. When Bella plays with her best friend, Vinnie, its quite a rough and tumble play time but it was amazing to watch how gentle Bella was with Summer - she reined herself in and was really good with the puppy and put up with  being jumped on and getting her paws and ears chewed!  They thoroughly enjoyed the supervised play and Bella got an extra piece of liver cake for being so good. I have to say though, that Summer is no shrinking violet!
Today, it is the turn of Scarlett the lovely Cockapoo so a report will follow!

Confession Time!

My conscience has been weighing heavily on me for some time and its time to come clean!  All my wonderful (human) clients think the dogs love to be with me but I am now owning up and telling you the real reason - HOME MADE LIVER CAKE!! The dogs would kill for it.
I'll give you the recipe as a sort of penance for being deceitful but be warned - making this is not for the squeamish!  If I tell you I keep separate utensils and a dedicated mixer just to make this, it will give you some idea just how awful it is to prepare!

1 lb flour - anything but I normally use wholemeal or granary
1 lb liver - I normally use ox
3 -4 cloves garlic
2 large eggs
Milk to mix

Process the liver and garlic (told you!!) and then mix in the flour and eggs with enough milk to make a spreading consistency. (Ugh!)
WELL grease and line a baking tray and spread in the mixture. Bake it at 180 for about 20 minutes or until it is firm.  When cool, cut it into small pieces and freeze. Any you keep back from freezing, keep in fridge.

A good alternative is to make Pilchard Cake.

2 large tins pilchards in tomato sauce
About 10 oz flour
2 large eggs
Milk to mix
Mix all together, grease and line the baking tray and spread in the mixture. About 160 degrees until firm.

There I feel better for having confessed my dark secret!

Hailstones at the end of May!!

Well, one of yesterday's walks was interesting to say the least!  I had been avoiding the woods as the weather has been so awful so, coward that I am, decided to stay in open countryside for the walks! The wind had died down quite considerably yesterday so I decided to re-visit the woods - out of all the walks, this appears to be the dogs' favourite - lots of lovely smells and great fun for hide and seek - yes I'm ashamed to admit it but we do play it!  I do get some odd looks from other walkers.
Off we went and when we got into the woods, the landscape had changed massively since a few days back.  The tracks were absolutely carpeted with small branches and leaves, and many trees had bitten the dust, literally.  Quite a few of the damaged ones still up-standing but creaking ominously! The dogs loved it as there were so many more additions to the normal obstacle course - not so good for my old legs though!!
We had been cavorting about in the woods for about half an hour when, without warning, we were pelted by hailstones - it felt like they were the size of golf balls! One of the dogs I had with me - Hector the Doodle - ended up looking like he had a really bad case of dandruff  because of all the hailstones snagged in  his woolly coat - this was topped off  with a lovely layer of Mayflower as he careered in and out the bushes and trees! We all had great fun though and that's what it's all about.

Woodpecker

Oh, by the way the woodpecker I've tried and failed miserably to spot in the woods, is either rubbing my nose in it or taking pity on me and has taken to visiting my bird feeders 3 or 4 times a day. (I know, its probably not the same one, but I like to think it is!)
I'm also 99.9% sure I am hearing a Cuckoo - used to hear them a lot but not now - so I'd love for it to be the case, although in the excitement, I had forgotten until my hubbie "kindly" reminded me how they go about getting their eggs hatched and chicks reared!

Welcome Summer!

No, not that Summer (not yet anyway!!)  This Summer is a 10 week old Bichon who has been entrusted to us to look after during office hours 5 days a week, due to owner's unforseen change in circumstances - her loss is my gain!
Summer settled in really well right from the first day - it was as if she's always been here!  She has her own room (with a haven in the form of a large cage) where from behind a baby gate, she can see the other dogs and everything else that happens in a "normal" day at Ayrshire Dog Care.  She also has her own private, secure garden where she can have some supervised play and training and where her toilet training is coming along very well indeed!
Check out her photos on the website http://www.ayrshiredogcare.co.uk/