Wordless Wednesday - boys will be boys!!

Get well soon Scampi!

JD - As FH takes us on quite a few walks we're fortunate enough to have quite a wide circle of doggie friends.

Max - Every evening a great group of doggies bring their humans to the nature reserve to take them on a fabulous walk - us doggies are kind like that!

JD - Because FH is never sure what time she's going to finish work each day (because she's lucky enough to love her job which means she'll often stay a bit later) we don't often get to join them for the whole walk which is a shame. BUT we do frequently meet up with them at some point during the walk which is always GREAT fun!

Max - Here are some photos of our pals....

This is Frodo - he's a super-fun spaniel, we enjoy playing bitey-face with him!

The beautiful Lily - she is such a gorgeous GSD girl!

Our feisty pal Scampi - he's a Jack Russell/Westie mix and is into EVERYTHING!

Max politely asks Scampi if he'd care to play chase!

Lily and Scampi check out an interesting sniff!

JD - On Tuesday evening we were very excited because we got to the nature reserve in time to meet up with our pals, so we knew we would be joining everyone for the whole walk - woop woop!

Max - It started very well - we all played chase and the humans fed us some treats and then Lily, Frodo and Scampi had a swim in the sea whilst we watched encouragingly from the shore!

JD - We walked further into the reserve, along the river and round the fields. We LOVE the nature reserve, it's an amazing place, we're very lucky to have such a great place to walk that's close to us and is open to dogs!

We check out the river - no fish here, boo!


We LOVE to play zoomies in the long grass!


We also love playing zoomies in the not-so-long-grass too, he he he!

Max - Scampi was bounding around the long grass - he knows how to have fun! But suddenly he started to scream - we were very concerned.

JD - FH admits she turned to jelly, but luckily Lily's MH and Scampi's FH got to him within seconds. Poor, brave little Scampi had been impaled on a piece of railing that had been thrown into a ditch.

Max - Lily's MH picked him up - he was in shock. There are no roads in the nature reserve so we had to get back to the car park as soon as we could with him, which was several miles away.

JD - We felt quite helpless as he was whisked away to the vet and anxiously waited for news. We heard the wound was flushed out and he was sent home, but he had to go back for an op in the morning as the wound had swollen and got a bit weepy overnight - he sent us this photo of himself looking EXTREMELY brave, along with the message that we've included below....

Scampi - "Look at my 3 stitches and bruise, I'm not allowed walkies for 2 weeks. This is my miserable face."

Max - Get well soon buddy! We're gonna miss seeing you bounding around but you'll be back in no time!

JD - We've put together a little 'care package' for you and we'll drop round to visit you on the weekend with it. We asked FH to get a few things to help keep you occupied whilst you're banned from walkies!!

Max - We also think it would be good for FH to learn some basic canine first aid so that she will cope a bit better in the future!

JD - Lily's MH went back the next day and found and removed the railing - Scampi was actually fairly lucky as it could have been much worse.

Max - We'd love it if you could leave our little buddy a get well wish here (as he doesn't have a blog) as we know it would help him feel loads better!

A terrifying incident - (narrated by FH)

Tonight JD - my beautiful, gentle 'big boy' - was attacked by a pitbull whilst we were our on our evening walk.


It all happened so quickly. One minute I was walking along the side of a field with the two boys, the next second JD was viciously pinned under a strong, slavering dog, who was just focused on biting and biting.....

Now, before I alarm any of you too much please be assured that - amazingly - JD is fine. He's curled up on sofa next to me, snuggled into his brother and snoring gently. It's me that's a bit of wreck!

My boys love meeting other dogs whilst they're on their walks and I find that the majority of dog-owners are like-minded - after all, we all want our dogs to be well socialised and friendly don't we?! Plus, it's nice for us dog owners to get together and have a bit of a chat too during the walk! So, as my boys get a minimum of 2 walks a day they have a very large circle of friends, which always makes our walks a very enjoyable occasion.

However, I'm also well aware that not all dogs are well socialised. And I realise that there are many reasons for this - for example, a rescue dogs can be very nervous. And some owners simply aren't confident with their dogs, which rubs off on the dog! So whenever we come across a dog on a lead in an open area we will always stay away as we know there is probably a reason why the dog is being kept tethered and there is no reason to court trouble.

I also know that there are a lot of breeds have a bad reputation such as Staffies and Pitbulls. But I tend to get rather angry about this as it's usually the owner and not the breed that's at fault. One of my boys best friends is Daisy, who is a Staffie - they love her to bits and she's got the sweetest nature of any dog I've ever met.

Bit of a blurry shot I'm afraid, but this is JD with one of his most favourite dogs ever, Miss Daisy the sweet and wonderfully behaved Staffie!

Another great pal of theirs is Neo, the pitbull. He can get a bit grumpy if he thinks anyone is showing an interest in his tennis balls, but it's all a front! My boys really look up to him.

JD has a chat with Neo over the serious business of whether Slazenger or Wilson tennis balls are the best!

Now, both Daisy and Neo have very responsible owners. They realise that they own powerful breeds so they give them long and enjoyable daily walks, they ensure they socialise them with other dogs and people and of course they always ensure they do regular obedience training. And the end result is two delightful dogs. I really think this is great as I like that my boys are confident to socialise with many different breeds.

What was probably surprising about the pitbull that attacked JD tonight is that she was a dog that my boys know. Know and love in fact. She is a rescue dog who does not get on with many dogs, but she has got to know JD and Max over the past few months and we've joined her and her owners for a walk a few times.

Her owners are very responsible. They know that their dog is nervous - and strong! They keep her away from other dogs but do try to socialise her as much as possible without trying to frighten her. I was very proud that my boys were helping this dog overcome her fears and always enjoyed it when we met up on a walk.

I realise now that what happened tonight was due to a very unfortunate set of circumstances. I believe that this pitbull attacked JD because of three things - firstly, the owners had been on holiday for a week and had left their dog with a house sitter who hadn't walked her - at all. Secondly, we were just coming out of a field when we met them, which meant that we rounded a corner and took them 'by surprise'. And finally, the field that we were coming out of just happened to be on higher ground and I think the pitbull took my boys being higher than her as a threat.

JD is always the first of my two boys to greet another dog (or person!) so he was the one she went for. I believe her attack was due to a combination of pent up emotion through a week of no walks, the surprise of 'coming across' us without her expecting it and what she saw as an implied threat of JD being higher than her. But it was so fast! And it was terrifying - JD started screaming and was pinned right under her.

Her owners were amazing. In a matter of two seconds they were on her, one had her by the hind legs, the other by the neck and front legs and they lifted her off JD before I had even moved! I'm aware that I shrieked JD's name a couple of times - whenever he's upset or is a bit unsure about something he'll just stop what he's doing and look at me (or my husband) for us to help him out. We've always loved that we're his 'go to' option, that he puts his trust in us so completely to 'make everything better' for him. I knew he was looking at me, from under the pitbull and I hated that I couldn't get to him.

But thanks to her quick-witted owners she was removed from JD before her teeth made actual contact - I was mesmerised by her slavering and drooling as they held her aloft, squirming and fighting to get back to my boy. We parted company pretty quickly - I think they were as shook up as me, none of us had expected it.

This happened at the beginning of our walk - after it had happened I just wanted to scoop JD up and cuddle and fuss him and then go home. But as JD had not been hurt I knew that I couldn't make too much of it as I didn't want either of the boys to feel fretful. Plus, I knew that they'd wonder why their walk had been cut short, so I carried on going. Amazingly, JD didn't even break stride! Within 10 minutes we met up with 4 other dogs that we knew - JD went romping straight towards them and a great game of chase ensued! Dogs really can teach us about living in the moment!

The reason I'm sharing this is because, unlike JD, I'm not so good at living in the moment! I keep on replaying the moment that JD was pinned down and wondering what could have happened if the pitbull's owners hadn't been so quick. Basically, I'm shamelessly touting for a bit of comfort from my good pals in the blogosphere!

I'll leave you with a photo of JD, taken just a few minutes ago. As you can see, he's none the worse for his adventure!

JD - "ZZZZZZZzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz!!"

Storm of the century!

JD - I'm just ...., what I mean is ...., erm it's just that .... arghhhhh.......!!

Max - It's okay bro' - I've got your back! I'm afraid, dear blog readers, that JD is just SO incensed that he can't even speak just now....

JD - ......!!!!....

Max - .... so, being the vocal one out of the two of us I am MORE than happy to take up the mantle and explain to you all that - as of THIS MOMENT - we are NO LONGER SPEAKING TO FEMALE HUMAN!!

JD - .....splutter!!!!....

Max - .... and it's all because of this. Look at us - I mean, just LOOK AT US!!!

JD - "Yes - you SHOULD lay down towels after dragging us round the streets in the wet!"

Max - There we were, quietly minding our own business, when suddenly and without warning, female human grabbed us, wrestled us to the ground, pinned us down and forced coats on the two of us....

JD - ....!!!!....

Max - ....and then she forcibly dragged us, kicking and screaming, out into the worst storm that Clacton-on-Sea has witnessed in decades....

Female Human - *Rolls eyes!* It was only DRIZZLING Max!

Max - *Stern glare!* .... it was awful, terrible! The rain was lashing down, the wind was gale force and it nearly swept us away....

Female Human - Oh for goodness sake Max!

JD - "Is it over yet?! Did we survive?!" Max - "At least it was dark JD - I don't think anyone saw us wearing these coats!"

Max - ....talk to the paw sister - talk to the paw!!

Danger Dogs!

JD - We've just got back from a lovely evening at the beach....

Max - "Gotta run, gotta run, gotta run.....!"

Max - ....I ran and ran all the way to the beach there from the car!!

Max - "Wait for me sea - I'm coming, I'm coming!!"

JD - We LOVE the beach! We couldn't wait to get down there....

JD - "Hurry UP Max, I can see the sea!"

Max - We thought we would try our paws at stressing our humans by venturing a bit closer to the edge than was strictly necessary!!

Max - "What does that sign say JD?"
JD - "Um - 'do not climb on rocks' - I have NO idea what that means Max!"

Max - "Ooooh - now I can see the sea too!!"
JD - "Come on Max - let's get DOWN there!!"

JD - We're secretly hoping that beautiful Sasha will see these photos and be impressed with how daring and brave we are......*blush!*

JD tries his paw at balancing really close to the edge, just to freak the humans out a little bit more....!

Max - ....because really - we were simply showing off for her!! *double blush!*

Poorly puppy!

JD - Poor Max has been a bit under the weather today - he ate something rather stinky whilst out on a walk yesterday and it's made him feel a bit queasy....

Max - Bleurgh!!!

JD - He's been sick a few times and is feeling very sorry for himself. Our humans felt very bad that they couldn't stay with him today, but they had to go to work and as it wasn't anything serious I told them that I would keep an eye on him. Plus they've got the puppy-cam so knew they could dash back home if he took a turn for the worse. As you can see from the picture below I let him have the big bed and I nosed a few of his favourite toys over to make him feel better....

Max - Bleurgh!!!!!

JD - He hasn't thrown up again today so eventually I let him come over to snuggle up to me. Soothing cuddles - that's the best medicine!

Max - I'm feeling a bit better now - thanks JD!

JD (somewhat knowlingly...!) - Well - let's hope you won't scoff down huge portions of other creatures poo before our humans can get to you again in a hurry!

Find out what all the critters are up to at....

The art of sympathy

JD - Hi - thanks to everyone who left kind messages for us whilst we went under the knife, but really it was our humans who were the nervous ones, not us!

Max - Yup! 'Cos we're everso brave and are not scared of anything! And we know that MILLIONS of doggies have gone through this procedure before us.

JD - Sure, we're a little bit sore just now, but I'm enjoying sleeping off the anaesthetic....


Max - ....whilst I'm practising perfecting a killer 'how COULD you?' look.....


Max - It's going down a treat with our humans, they're wracked with guilt and we're getting LOADS of treats and cuddles as a result - ha! This pitiful look is a skill I intend to keep up my paw for MANY repeat showings throughout my life.....he he he!

It's not the falling that's painful - it's the landing....

JD - My paws are a bit sore.....

Max - Mine too.....

JD - And my chin - I'm surprised I've got any beard left.

Max - That jump we both did - off the 4 foot wall into the darkness tonight? I thought it would be so much fun!

JD - Me too Max. I thought we'd float down to the ground all 'floaty-light' and we'd have so much fun we'd want to do it again and again....

Max - But.....ouch!

JD - Concrete is HARD! It hurt...

Max - It did hurt - I cried!

JD - Me too! Good job our human was there to cuddle us and tell us we were brave puppies and to give us treats.

Max - Yeah - she made the 'ouch' go away a bit.


JD - She did. But nevertheless I'm glad that our bed's nice and soft and snugly - I still feel a bit bruised.

Max - Me too - time to snuggle up and get comfy. Bed's definitely better than concrete....!

JD - Wise words Max, wise words!

How we saved Clacton from flooding

JD - We were soooo sleepy last night that we actually forgot to get up and have our usual wee in the middle of the night!

Max - It was nice not having to leave our nice comfy bed though....

JD - I couldn't believe it when our human suddenly appeared out of the darkness and told me it was morning....


Max - But it was! So we went for walkies! I like walkies!

JD - The tide was out this morning so our human took us down on the beach. We like to run across all the pebbles at the top of the beach!

Max - Yeah! The pebbles make exciting noises when we chase each other!

JD - But the sea kept on trying to claim our beach space......


Max - It washed over my paws!


JD - So we pounced on it - ha! - and it retreated! As it should!


Max - Yeah! We showed it!

JD - Seriously - if we hadn't been there to pounce on it and show it who's boss it would probably have kept coming in and Clacton would probably have been flooded!


Max - All our toys would have been swept away! And our treats!


JD - Exactly Max! It could have been a complete disaster!


Max - So - do you think the humans realise how lucky they are to have two such brave and clever puppies around?

JD - Sigh......I doubt it Max, I doubt it......!