Illness Strikes at Barkingham Palace...

It's been a busy and challenging time here at Barkingham Palace. Aside from Jan's Mum's deteriorating health, I too have had some recent health issues of my own. I am currently getting over yet another staphylococcus infection that has resulted in many sleepless nights and quite a degree of discomfort. I also had to have a blood-test yesterday to test for rheumatoid arthritis in my hands and fingers. Over the past few weeks, I have developed an increasing degree of discomfort and immobility in my fingers, particularly in my right hand where even holding a full kettle has become quite a challenge at times. And so, I'm currently on antibiotics for the staph infection, and anti-imflammatories for the suspected arthritis. My only real concern is that, if it worsens, how will it ultimately affect my photography and my weight-lifting? Both are pursuits that I enjoy very much. In fact, photography has started to become a part of my living of late. We'll know whether it is arthritis on the 28th of August. This is the date we're also looking to see what, if anything, can be done about the recurring staph infections. As a result of this, I'm now way behind on photo processing and things just aren't as organised and as fluid as I normally like them to be. I'm really not very good at all at not being organised! I am ruled so much by organisation and structure. But it's not really me you are interested in is it? It's Madame...

Before illness struck the household, we'd been to a fun-day held by our training-centre manager. It was a hot and sunny day but a fun day. I guess the clue is in the title for that one really - fun day. Alas, Ellie didn't win a thing all day long. We have complained to the management, of course, and wished them all the best despite their obvious bias and blindness to real Border Collie beauty. :) I have several photos that I need to wade through from the day, but the reasons stated above, they are still in the queue.

Ellie is in season again. She's in the first stage at the moment. That means she is clingy, a little bit more grouchy than usual, but oh-so loving. Assuming there is no phantom pregnancy this time, she is getting spayed after this season, for sure!

As I write this entry she is nudging my leg to try and win an invite to come and lay on my desk. It's her new thing - she waits for me to lay a blanket on my desk and then she just comes and lays on it while I work. It's a hard life isn't it? For the record, I didn't even get to complete that sentence before she'd won me over and was laid on the desk looking smug and self-satisfied.

I'm not sure what new things she has learned since my last entry. I know for certain that I taught her to retrieve my shoes for me. She loves retrieving objects and it never ceases to amaze me how well she can differentiate between the various objects that I ask for. She will also now pass items of clothing from the laundry basket into your hand as you are ironing. She seems especially proud of herself as she does that one!

Guess who we had come to stay with us over the weekend? The Doodles! What? You can't remember them? Shame on you! They are two Jack Russell Terriers, Ceasar and Cleo. They converted me from someone who didn't much care for JRTs to someone who loves them. Well, these two at least. I can't promise to feel the same for all of the breed!

In terms of home-boarding dogs, they are the near perfect guests. They pretty much leave Ellie alone, are fun to have around, but also know when to just chill out and relax, and well, I think I've taken to Ceasar in a big way. From the first day we had them on the previous visit, he and I seemed to naturally gravitate towards each other. I think it's because he's quite pushy in his own way. Cleo is a little more reserved and cautious. Ceasar? He doesn't give a damn. Because I wasn't feeling my best when they came to stay, I kept falling asleep on the sofa in the afternoons. It must have been quite a sight with all four of us taking up the sofa!

Talking of the doodles, they have their own website now. Yes, they even write the entries themselves! (I believe Ceasar does this on his personal iPhone.) Please do drop them a visit and say hi.

Photos and Attacks

After being invited along to take photos of the dogs and owners, I spent this weekend at the CLA Game Fair at Belvoir Castle where our training group was holding another canine display event. If I've done things correctly, you should be able to see some of the resulting photos in the corner of this post. If not, you can view them (along with others) at my new gallery. You can now purchase my works from there too.

Ellie was unable to attend as, with it being a game fair, there was a lot of gunshots. That is a sound that she just can't cope with.

It really was a great weekend. The weather held out for us, there were plenty of people to watch the events, and just loads of dog-related stands to visit and displays to watch. From my perspective, it was a dog photographer's paradise. My dog photography seems to be more and more in demand and that is obviously something that I am delighted about.

I really love the challenge of photographing dogs. It's not like portraits or weddings where you can, to some extent, take your time, arrange the subject, set up the shots and set the ideal lighting. At dog shows, you have to wrestle against thousands of people walking in front of you, dogs moving from position, changing weather, and a whole raft of other challenges. Getting that one shot of the dog or of the dog and owner sharing time together makes it all worthwhile. I can't imagine another avenue of photography that I would or could enjoy more. That people are impressed enough to want to spend their hard-earned money on my photographs is just the icing on my cake.

On Sunday, Ellie was attacked, quite savagely, by a terrier. We were walking to the park as we do most days. We turned a corner and there was a terrier bowed in the middle of the road, off leash, and with its owners walking behind it. Instantly, the owner looked at me and said "Sorry", as the dog launched itself right into Ellie and began to attack. The only thing I could do is use my feet to try and keep it off her. I just refuse to pick a dog up and cuddle it during a fight as that can only serve to (a) get my hands bitten, and (b) encourage Ellie to be scared. As we all know, that is something she does perfectly well without my assistance.

I continued to use my feet to push the terrier away and break them apart. All the while, the owner was trying to get hold of his dog but kept getting bitten, making me glad that I didn't use my hands to break them apart. All tolled, the attack lasted for about three to four minutes. Aside from receiving a few choice words from me, I also managed to kick the stupid owner. It wasn't on purpose, but I had my foot under his dog ready to launch it off again. The dog moved as the owner knelt down to try and get hold of it once more. Because the dog had moved, my foot landed clean in his face very firmly. I felt quite glad about that after the event. What really angered me was the response I heard the woman owner say as we walked off. "That's because that dog was on a lead." Oh yes, how stupid of me! Your dog is out of control because my dog was on a leash. Excuses, excuses...

Once we got onto the field, Ellie was clearly very different, very distracted, and very nervous, particularly when she saw a white bag blowing across the field. All I could do is try and carry on as usual. This continued for the next few days and it has taken her a few days not to jump into alert mode each time we turn that same corner. Apparently, Ellie was fine at training with other dogs last night and this morning she seemed more like her usual self (though she now stops if she sees other dogs in the distance). I am sure I can get her back to her old self in time. It certainly could have been much much worse. There was no physical damage to Ellie.

In other news, I am currently finishing off a new website that I have designed and developed for a UK dog trainer, and then I will be starting to build a new website primarily for UK dog lovers and dog owners, which I shall be running with a friend. Watch this space for more news on that...

Ellie's training is going well, and I'm currently reading The Dog Rules by Kyra Sundance. Watch this space again for my review when I finish it. Usually, I read a book in just three hours or so. I'm so busy at the moment that I have to keep reading a few pages before I go to sleep at night.

A Great End to a Perfect Week...

My week has been one of immense pleasure. If you recall from my previous entry, I was home-boarding Teal'c, the Rottweiler, from Sunday through to Friday. Would it be melodramatic or unfair to say that I have felt more 'at home' and at ease this past week, than I have in a long time? There is just something about the Rottweiler breed that makes me feel at home in their company.

In some ways, you perhaps have to know Teal'c to fully appreciate the situation. She is not a well dog all-tolled. She has a heart condition, and has had a torn crucial ligament in her rear leg resulting in her having an almost permanent limp, and I think it fair to say, she has gained a few pounds as a result of these things. Her medication routine is certainly not for the faint-hearted, and I am damn sure the monthly vet bills would be enough to reduce many of us to a catatonic state! Oh, and she 'growls' profusely when you stroke her. (It's just her 'talking' and she does it when she gets excited as far as I could tell.) But you know, someone forgot to tell Teal'c all of this. She has the spirit of an adolescent dog that just will not acknowledge that she should be taking things easy, and I love her dearly for it.

As I walked her one morning, it must have seemed like a demonstration of the evolution of man as we trekked across the farm fields. There was Ellie, who at only two years of age, was rushing out in front, oblivious to the ravages of age and constantly looking back to see what was taking us 'old timers' so long. Then there was me. I keep fit as much as I can, but I have to accept that I'm forty now, and so running is not something I do on such rough terrain, and then behind me, there was Teal'c limping along. I found myself talking to the dogs more than usual. "It's alright for you bumface, running off ahead. You wait until you are her age. Won't be so funny then will it? We won't see those amber eyes glowing quite so brightly then, will we?". Ellie, of course, just looked at me with her famous amber-eyed gaze and ran on ahead. Not a care in the world, that girl.

For Teal'c, I found myself uttering words of reassurance as we walked. "Don't worry, gal, nearly there", I would say as she limped along. Though something tells me that 'woe is me' limp effect might all be a cunningly crafted ruse. A little later, as I walked along a street to return home, two squirrels crossed the road in front of us. Limp? What limp?! It was like trying to hang on to a wild stallion, I tell you!

I also learnt some things about people too. There was a woman who, since having Ellie for two years now almost, I have routinely spoken to on many occasions. She has a small spaniel and we have frequently been on the same playing field together. She has even complimented me on my training and how well I handle dogs, before today. So, I was a little put-out when, upon seeing that I had a Rottweiler with me on the field, she quite literally turned on her heels with her dog and went home, even though both dogs were clearly focused on me and in no way a threat in the least. Good grief, she could probably have outrun Teal'c if she'd stopped to learn a little more about her instead of pandering to preconceptions.

Suddenly, teenagers want to talk to you when you have a 'Rottie', and you hear conversations behind your back about how someone once knew a dog who bit a neighbour, and it wouldn't let go. It looked like that one. These things sadden me deeply. If only they could see what I, and clearly Sue and many others, can see in the breed. It really is a crying shame, particularly with a dog like Teal'c. I believe, such is Teal'c nature, for example, that she is one of the adult dogs on the puppy socialisation walk today.

Now, in other news... The book is here! The book is here! Finally, it is in my hands. I am very very pleased with it. There is only one photo that I am not happy with the quality of and that is the one of me, so I shall change that before people are able to buy it, but that can be done in a minute. So, expect to see those permission forms at training class soon! I'll be passing my copy of the book to Lorraine and Christina so that people can view it at class as soon as possible. Until then, here are some photos...