Wednesday 27 January 2010

Letter from Molly & family

Dear Sarah, Paul and the gang,

It's a long time since we've been in touch, but it doesn't mean I don't keep looking at your site and seeing what everyone is up to.  Thought you'd like to know Molly is doing just fine.  We love her dearly - she's just brilliant even though she rivals Alladin in her thieving tendancies!!  I had thought she might get over this but I think she just likes to keep her hand/paw in! 

One day we'd love to come to the Wiccs Show or a Wellies and Paws walk - its just quite a drive to get to you at the mo.  If you ever think of doing a "Understanding Collies/Sprollies Talk" up north, then let me know cos I'll be first on the list!

Saying all of that, Molly is doing well.  As you can see from the photo, she's as sociable as ever, having made friends when we were out in the snow in early Jan, and her favourite game involves anything where we throw a ball for her and she's caught on very quickly that if she drops it straight away, then she gets to charge after it all the quicker.  Smart girl. 

So thank you for letting us adopt Molly the Collie that isn't a collie - she's a love.

Nicky


Monday 25 January 2010

Letter from Ollie & family

Well, we have had Ollie for two weeks now and he has settled in brilliantly!
He is a lovely dog, very good with the children, very gentle.  Pass on our thanks to the lady who rescued him and of course to yourselves.

Ollie on his first night with his toy
Day 2: Ollie playing ball with Niall, which they both enjoy.
Day 3:  Ollie catching a little rest.

 
Saturday, first time off lead in an enclosed field.  Ollie is very good at returning when called, the child is not!



Ollie at work with me.  Ollie is not phased by livestock at all and can walk past cows off lead without even glancing twice, how good is that!?!   These are some of the luckiest cows in the country, they are part of conservation grazing herd and they never go to market.  Their job is to just eat grass.  Some are over 20 years old!

 
Ollie and the cows.

Everything was going great until Monday, when Ollie's newly neutered testicles swelled up huge!  He'd got an infection in his testicles, so we had a week with the cone of shame on and antibiotics.  But even this has not phased his good nature.



Ollie out for a walk, he is very friendly with other dogs.



More fun!

All in all, things are going very well.  Ollie is a lovely dog.
Hopefully the pics say more than I can with words.

Many thanks, Simon, Della, Rowan, Niall and Ollie


Letter from Daisy & family

Hello!

It's been ages since I've managed to get over to see you, so I thought I'd send you a bit of an update...
There are changes afoot for crazy Daisy...she doesn't know it yet (we're working on her language skills ;) ), but she's moving onto a narrowboat!   Does that make Daisy the first Wiccaweys boat dog?!    Luckily, because her uncle Robin lives on a narrowboat already, she already knows what it's like to live afloat and she is well aware that a boat gets her that bit closer to the ducks...

For Christmas it was four pooch, two kitten and five adult madness in Ireland.  Mum and Dad are still renovating, so fitting the extended family into two rooms was entertaining!  That makes Daisy's second trip to Ireland and she loves disappearing off to chase the rabbits and reappearing covered in cow s**t.  Much to her mum's and everybody else's distress!   The boxing day walk along the beach was perfect too - we even managed to convince Daisy that chasing a galloping horse wasn't worth the effort ;)    She goes into a decline when she comes back - sulking because she loves her Grandma!

Daisy also went to Manchester with her cousin Guinness to see her great great Grandma for her 85th birthday in December.  I suspect Daisy enjoyed this more than her GG Grandma who was still suffering from shock when the two kittens and two dogs were long gone.   We got a lift to Manchester, but we braved the train on the way back down.   I'd fully expected to have stops every half an hour because Daisy wasn't fitting in with the general commuter peace, but we did the whole train journey in one, with Daisy the queen bee sat on the chair next to me following the suggestion of a very nice conductor. SHE didn't pay for her seat though!

So all in all, crazy Daisy has gone pretty much everywhere with her mum although she can't come to Barcelona in April ;( , but she's been bribed with another trip to Ireland a couple of weeks after!

Hope you guys are well and we'll try to come up to say hello again when we're settled on the boat - we do have to travel through Northampton as we move the boat from Cambridge to Oxfordshire, so maybe we'll pop in.  I hope you had a lovely Christmas and New Year and Daisy and I would like to say a massive thank-you for being the ones who took care of Daisy when she needed it and letting us live together.  One year on (where did all that time go?) we're still chuffed to bits to be together and Daisy would like to say thank-you for finding her an owner who spoils her rotten... ;)   There are some piccies attached for you.

All the best,
Love Beth and Daisy

Letter from Blue, Wizi the Wonder Dog & family


Sarah/Paul, 

Well youve done it again - another LOVELY dog!!!!!!

Blue has totally settled in and gets on well with the other dogs. I took her to the vets to get her chipped she wasnt terribly brave but after a few cudlles recovered completely. 

Blue Wizi & Katie all try to fit in the front of the pick up (you can imagine).  Then Blue stands on the back seat with front paws on the centre consol, everytime I look Left I get a kiss... 

Blue is a true cattle dog through and through. I cant believe how similar she is to Mallet (my oldACD). She is very protective of me, not in a bad way just a cattle dog way I get gently nudged along when I'm least expecting it, I wonder where an earth she is when I look round but there she is by my heels!   She sits bolt upright and stretches like a dingo.  She walks through the horses,  calmly investergates the rams when I feed them but without malice.   She hasnt been on a lead all week, most days I take her more less on the same walk so she will get her bearings.

My family love her.  I overheard my mum ask Petra her carer yesterday has Jane got any dogs with her?  Petra replied only Team Wiccaways - it cracked me up. The weather here has been so bad that I havent had the heart to put her in the kennel so she sleeps (no crate )in the kitchen with Katie and so far we have had clean nights with nothing chewed.  Over the years I have become quite well trained at putting things out of reach, switching the hob of at the mains just in case they jump up and turn the buttons.etc etc.


Wizi and Blue have great games, needless to say Wizi always tries to be top dog.  Blue keeps everyone in line just as Mallet used to do - its like having a community policeman around!   All scuffles are broken up asap with a firm prod of the nose or a nip when needed, toys removed when they cause a problem, she sleeps with one eye open!!! and does not miss a trick.   Having said that she really is a very happy and well adjusted dog with a real sense of fun and ohh soo cuddly.

It is very very cold here at the moment that the water in the house keeps freezing, no outside taps working so I have to carry water from the stream and about 5 inches of snow with very slippery icy bits. But its not so bad just takes a bit longer to get jobs done. 

I will keep you updated and thank you so much for letting me have Blue.  I keep having to pinch myself, I cant quite believe that I found a cattle dog when I wasnt even looking for one and yes I have sung Blue Moon to her - how daft am I!


Take care keep warm
Jane

Letter from Sammy, Rocky & family

Hello Paul and Sarah
It was really lovely to meet you both last weekend and we are delighted to have a new family.

Neither boys seemed to know their names so they now have a new home, new names and lots of new things to try out!!!

Sammy (now Kai) and Rocky (now Skip... because he bounces up and down) have settled in very quickly.
They have learnt their names, also seem to be beginning to understand "come", "no" and "stay".
House training is doing well, only a few accidents, although Kai did wee over the vets bag of treats when we went to be chipped!!.

We have let them off the lead on the beach and they have played and run +++++.
Today we went to see the boat. Walking on the pontoon was a little strange to start with, but soon became OK.
After a while we all got on the boat and after a short while the 2 boys were exploring and running around the deck. We think if we take it slowly and just spend a few weekends in the marina, not going anywhere, we should have 2 good "sea-dogs"!!

I have sent you some pictures (I know you said you did not have a picture of Sammy/Kai).
I tried to take a picture on the boat but both boys were a bit busy to look at the camera!!

Best wishes
Sarah and Nick