The early morning walk to Pin Mill

     Daddy’s gone away for a few days! Bella pined a little, wondered where he was, and worried when he wasn’t the one clipping on the flexi lead at 7am!

    But despite crawling out of bed at 6.30am the morning walks down to Pin Mill have been a pleasure.

     Just because it was very, very slightly cooler this morning, just because there was more cloud cover than before, does not mean the weather was going to give up on the summer 'heat-wave'!  With the sun glinting on the Orwell River, classic barges with red sails furled, yacht masts, little dinghys ready to be rowed out to the moorings - who could ask for more!

          With a look of determination, Bella headed through the muddy flats to ....

    .....  the cooling (cleansing!) waters of the Grindle alongside the Orwell.  Earlier in the week she had a totally manic moment and still on the lead, she suddenly dashed from the Grindle on to the roadway and back into the water! Fortunately she's aware of her turning circle and I was in no danger at any point of being pulled into the water or flat on my face with a dislocated shoulder! But it was lovely to see her so excited and having fun!

    I was a little worried about the wade in the water since at high tide she wouldn't be able to see the edge of "the hard" - the concrete area stretching out into the river. So that little activity was curtailed.

     She seems to think it's great fun running through the little stream and scrambling up the bank on the other side to Pin Mill Common. Mum would probably get quite muddy doing the same and the 'proper' way on to the Common is via the teeny bridge further on. This is a favourite lunch time stop to just sit. And watch. And sit. And enjoy! There's something magical about water. Whether it's sitting on the rocks listening to waves crashing at St James beach, Cape Town, or watching gallons of water cascade hundreds of metres down a Howick rock face. Or just the quiet lapping of water on a shoreline and crisp white sails bobbing gently ...... Even Bella enjoys it!

        Ever the polite, well-behaved, kind, conscientious Shiba-Inu x Staffie, Bella also ensures she's aware of all warnings and notices!

     The walk back home is a little slower and far more controlled. A satisfying morning!

Dog-Cat? "I just like a nice homely fire!"

     So now we're pretty certain our Bella is a Shiba-Inu x. And everyone in the village thinks she's very 'pretty'! They also think she's very good - actually she's still quite shy, which can easily be mistaken for angelic perfection!  What people don't know is that in the safety of her own home, behind closed doors, on a cold, snowy, windy day, she's actually ......

WHO ME?!?!

a CAT!!!!

      She loves the snow - runs around like an excited 4-year old human. If she could she'd build a snowdog, but is satisfied with muzzle-shovelling the snow and rescuing any buried rabbits or field mice - well 'rescue' might be a bit of a euphemism!

      Her 'passion' for the neighbourhood cats is a little worrying though, and having seen a few little rabbits and a field mouse go between the jaws, she is kept in close check in the great outdoors.  Her ears freeze-frame and the excitement level in her eyes rises like the mercury in a thermometer - uhm, sorry wrong climatic season! - when she hears those little cat's bells which presumably are meant to warn the next ones down the predatorial chain.

     To Catch a Cat, it sometimes seems, is her ultimate goal in life.

So why when she's doped up with warmth and love and comfort, does her demeanour switch to that of the domestic Cat?!

     Let's not forget her agility in getting out of her own garden, climbing and scrambling that is, not digging under or jumping over, the fence to Mr Wally's pristine garden!

     As with many pets, she has 'The Eyes'. Those begging, pleading eyes, as she glances towards the empty, cold, fire-grate! But when the flames are hopping like little fairies around the logs and coal, look how close she is!

     Maybe that's it! She's a secret Fairy Flames lover! (something akin to a 'Daytime TV' watcher or 'TV Soap' addict!)

 

 

That's enough photos now, leave me be!

 

    

(Despite what the photos look like, the coals were glowing beautifully!)

     So with paws warming on the hearth, fairy flames hypnotising her eyes, Bella's nose drops contentedly to the warm slate.  The most comfortable end to an exciting white-snowy day!

I know you're still taking pictures - Goawayyyy  zzzzzz......

and I'm not a cat .. zzzzzz

The Ins & Outs of Boarding Kennels - and my purse!

The downside of owning pets is having to make two holiday bookings if you can’t take them with you! The next human excursion won’t exactly be a ‘holiday’ but a necessary long weekend away from home. I doubt whether Bella will think being away from us, being fed by strangers, having many noisy house-mates and no home comforts, will be a holiday!

An earlier seaside holiday!

Choosing a home-from-home for man’s best friend is not easy. In South Africa, in the interests of ‘home security’, one pays a house-sitter who will also feed, walk and clean up after your animals, in the comfort of the animal’s own home.  In the UK the security risk is a little lower in many areas, so we need to look at kennels.

Nothing like a bit of love!

Three of us set off to two local kennels to check them out!  It was a Thursday during an entire week of rain, but the morning had stayed dry. We walked into reception to be hit by that characteristic doggy smell, not a good start! (Vet surgeries don’t smell doggy and not even the Rescue centre smelled doggy!) Before the usual question of breed came up, one lady came straight out with, “I’d say there’s some Shiba Inu there!”  

For a complete stranger, who knows her dogs, this was quite a surprise to us and at the same time a confirmation of what we thought. So for the next five minutes we talked Shiba Inu characteristics – just enough time for the rain to gather so that when we toured the kennels we managed to get soaked!  Bella was left with a dog-sitter while we walked round and she did us proud by not growling or crying as we walked away leaving her leash in the hands of a complete stranger!

Got to climb!

By the time we got to the second kennels, she remembered the drill and once again sat quietly with a dog-sitter while we were taken around – still in the rain. These kennels have infra-red lamps for heating (although it probably won’t be necessary in summer!), and “hammock beds” – not that they hang from trees, and I’m not too sure how Bella will feel sleeping a little elevated, although she does like to climb!

The fees for both kennels were about the same, except that the second one had a half-day charge, which was a plus.  The first kennels didn’t insist on the dogs having the Kennel Cough vaccine, which was a little worrying.  The second was also closer to home (and the golf driving range!), so with the score 3-0 to the Second Kennels, it was decided.  This decision was celebrated by one human hitting 30 little white balls across a piece of grass with distance markers scattered down the centre!  Bella tried to shake the rain off numerous times from the car to the undercover driving range ‘kennels’. She doesn't usually bother with rain, however, the reverberating ‘clonk’ of several golf clubs against white balls sent her scampering under the bench behind my legs. It was time to swim back to the car and wait patiently while listening to the soothing sounds of BBC Radio Suffolk!

At home I made the vet appointment for her Kennel Cough vaccine and (stupidly) asked how much it would cost! £36?!  Bella’s ‘holiday’ is going to cost more than ours at this rate!  Her appointment is next week – I have a few days to plan a ‘discount attack’!!

(http://www.bournehill.co.uk/press/kennel-cattery.jpg  November/December issue of the Kennels and Cattery Management Magazine.)

16. Is she, isn't she?!

Today we popped down the road 20 miles or so to visit a Shiba Inu breeder to see if she could shed any light on our dear darling Bella and to see if she could share any tips, hints etc.  Thanks Linda, although you may have made us a little more confused about Bella's origins, you said some very sensible, general things and now we can make some corrections!

     Linda breeds Shiba Inus, and her first reaction to a Shiba Inu x Staffie was - to say the least - not one of enthusiasm! Maybe we should look more closely at the Staffie characteristics - if, of course, Bella is x staffie! Linda's Shibas were beautiful, just as described on the Shiba websites - on the small side, small upright ears, gorgeous thick fur and cute curled tails. These Shibas, as some websites led us to believe, did not have blue tongues, were not quiet, and they were not shy! In fact they could have licked thick mud off our hands through the fence if we'd stayed long enough! Linda did confirm that Shiba's climb, and she suggested a good strong wire fence with no foothold space, and hers were about 10ft high. One Shiba she's had in used to commute over a 6 or 7ft fence regularly! The adult dogs she had were all 'reds' - that is the sandy colour, much like a golden lab, and she had one 10week old pup who was black and tan - so cute!

     Describing what we thought were Shiba characteristics, Linda seemed unwilling to confirm our suspicions, especially as Bella was a rescue dog and many of her behaviour traits could be traced back to an abusive background.  For example, something we hadn't thought of, was her endearing trait to sit dead still when we drop the lead after a walk while we remove boots, coats etc. Bella doesn't move while that lead, be it the heavy flexi-lead or the slip-lead, is on the carpet at her feet. That could be, suggested Linda, that she had been tethered, which of course made sense, so that's a habit we will discontinue!

      Linda suggested that the mix of a hunting dog - Shiba - and a fighting dog - Staffie - could result in quite an explosive encounter when meeting with other dogs. But, rather than looking for a fight, Bella shows all the tendencies of playfulness when meeting other dogs - whatever their size - sorry CJ!!

      So Bella's identity crisis continues!

      Next step is to find a trainer and see if there's any hope for our young tearaway!

      Take a look :
      A Shiba Inu won the 2012 "Crufts Factor"

      Linda's website is 'under construction' but she has good info on the breed history and temperament.