Monday 22 October 2012

23 days old ...............


 The puppies are now 23 days old, their eyes opened by day 10 and they are now starting to move around quite a bit.  There are small play growls starting and they are becoming aware of each other, not just as a source of comfort but also as potential playmates.

And they're growing - quickly too, I hadn't seen them since Friday and they've changed just in that time.

Lola still sometimes has this look of pure amazement on her face, as if to say 'are they really mine'?




Wednesday 17 October 2012

Meet Lola & her pups .........

Its all a bit tiring...........you should try having 11!!



Say hello to Lola, a beautiful, 5yr old Neapolitan Mastiff & her first litter of pups.

I shall be following their development on the blog and hope that you'll be as fascinated with their progress as I am.

The puppies were born 17 days ago and are so sweet; you can already see their wrinkles and their eyes were all open by day 10.  They're growing slowly but surely and Lola is such a good Mum to them.

I'm lucky enough to be going into them half way through the day to let Lola out for a bit of 'me time' and feed her.  Of course once the pups are weaned things will change but for the time being she's enjoying the chance to stretch her legs.

She has a lovely, calm nature and although large, is exceptionally gentle with her puppies.





If anyone is interested in offering the pups a home, please follow the link below, which will show more beautiful pictures, together with contact details and further information.


As with owning any dog, please give serious thought to it before acting.  These puppies may be tiny now but Mastiffs are a large breed dog, with everything that it entails.   Please do your homework and ensure that a pup would fit in with your lifestyle, not only when they're 10 weeks old, but also when they're the size of Lola.


http://www.pets4homes.co.uk/classifieds/129597-old-type-neo-mastiff-puppies-for-sale-pedigree-chelmsford.html

Sunday 14 October 2012

Summer's end...............



Is it just me or are there a lot of squirrels about suddenly?
Everywhere I look I'm seeing them and I've seen so many sadly on the road this year.
But there's a definite nip in the air now and they're gathering food and burying it in preparation for winter.
 There are a pair in the garden next door and I've watched them a couple of afternoons stealing the peanuts from the bird feeder and industriously burying them in the grass.
It always amazes me how they manage to find them again, but they do.


The birds too are busily stocking up on peanuts, and the suet feeders are mobbed morning and night by a large flock of starlings, many of them this year's youngsters. 
The noise as they squabble bring Jet & Jax rushing to the window to chatter at them, but the birds carry on, oblivious to the threat.   They obviously know the cats can't get them. 

Sometimes when I'm walking the dogs in the nature reserve the noise from the sparrows is overwhelming, until they sense me near and then a sudden quiet descends.  I've stood quietly waiting to see if I can trick them into thinking I've moved on but they're too wise to fall for it, but as I walk away they gradually start up again, one by one.



           The end of summer brings with it a sweet sadness for the warm, sunny days but I love 
Autumn and her wonderful colours; the fields are bare now except for stacks of hay waiting to be taken in and the fields are already ploughed and sown with winter seeds, bright green shoots already visible.



Apples and pears are already flooding the farm shop, the bright reds and greens in sharp contrast to the warm colours of summer pineapples, bananas & plums. And out in the verges near the trees, mushrooms and toadstools are plentiful.

There'll be a rich harvest this autumn for the wildlife & birds, with perhaps just a little help from their human friends











Saturday 13 October 2012

Drama on the river .........

I was out walking as normal on Thursday and had just put Jada & Harvey back into the van when I noticed a commotion going on down on the river.

Mute swans are strongly territorial, but for the most part the large group on the river live quite harmoniously together.  Obvious exceptions are mating, breeding times and defence of cygnets.

I was horrified to see a very large adult, which I presumed to be a cob, literally trying to drown another swan.
Whether this was a juvenile (anywhere between 2 & 4yrs as it had distinctive white plumage, as opposed mixed or brown feathers of this year's cygnets) I have no idea, but whatever it's age it had clearly upset the more dominant male who was intent on killing it.

It was a particularly vicious and prolonged attack, which was both distressing from my viewpoint and obviously of concern to the other swans who were milling around with some appearing to try and intervene only to be severely reprimanded.

The dominant cob was literally on top of the smaller swan and chased it right across the river, pushing it's head under the water at every opportunity.  I had no idea how to help (and know that we shouldn't intervene in nature) but could only stand and watch as they came back across where the smaller swan suddenly managed to find some extra strength and pull free.  It actually took to the air and was able to move a little further downriver and out of reach, whereby I felt a huge surge of relief.

The cob moved very quickly to the side of another swan, I'm presuming it's mate, and carried on as though nothing had happened, only to reaffirm their affection as the last photo shows. 














PS. there is a postscript to this.......saw the same kind of behaviour again, not so aggressive but saw it from the beginning this time, it seems as though a new group of swans is joining the established swans, maybe the cause?


Just for info if case you're interested:


Sebastian ................

Sebastian is a beautiful Daschund, as you can see he's black with wonderful dashes of caramel; his fur is silky soft and he's a lovely natured dog.
I was lucky enough to dog sit for him for a few days recently and he was the perfect gent!



He loves nothing more than to snooze on your lap and took a great interest in everything I did, nothing escaped his attention and for a small dog I was fascinated how quickly he ate his food - he was like a mini vacuum cleaner, he almost inhaled it, but ever so gently.......a real sweetie!

Monday 8 October 2012

Molly's holiday..........



                                             
                             MOLLY'S  HOLIDAY
                               

         Back in September Molly came to stay; now she's a very beautiful
         Golden Retriever, as you can see, but would she stand still for her
         photo to be taken?     I'll let you be the judge of that !

        We had some great walks together and some funny episodes, but one
        of the funniest was when I came in one day and found her curled up
        on the armchair - she didn't hear me come in and the first she knew
        was me asking her what she thought she was doing.
        Her front legs slipped down of their own accord, she gave a mighty
        stretch, looked at me as if to say 'I'm getting down' and very pointedly
        just relaxed off the chair, until she was sitting on the floor.
       'No idea what that was all about', and two minutes later she was sound 
        asleep again!
                     

It can't have gone THAT  far!
Down here??
where did it go?