10. The Dog who wanted to be Cat

       I am sorry to report that given a parole day last Saturday, Bella broke her parole terms and attempted to get in to the school playing fields once again. It was fortunate therefore, that the house arrest officers had been tipped off that she might try the escape again, through a distinct change in her behaviour. She had started sniffing at dinner plates even though she has never been fed scraps before, and worse, she started destroying her foam lined bed, and not displaying any visible signs of remorse.  The Saturday parole date had been set however, and with one officer in the school grounds and one in the garden (under cover as an industrious gardener), she was released as promised.

       Although the officer in the school playing field had taken a book with him expecting a bit of a wait, he didn’t get far before receiving the BBM from the officer on the inside that Bella was climbing the tree which having grown up with the original fence now didn’t know which side of the fence it was supposed to be!  As the officer in the garden watched with disbelief, standing almost directly behind her as she continued to scramble up the tree, and clinging to the strangling ivy, Bella reached the top of the 5ft 6in fence and was about to make the leap over. At this point both officers moved in and prevented the final transgression; Bella was marched back to the house where she lay on the conservatory floor while the officers discussed the next stage.

       The tree she clambered up is dead and probably has been for some time. It has already been cut but at a height of about 10ft. What made it easy to climb was the step formed by the tree forking about 12in (30cm) from the ground. From there using the ivy and other dense parasitic plant-life, it was easy to clamber up and on to the wire fence, but the descent is something left to our imagination, it couldn’t have been very elegant or graceful!

      Having hacked away a good pile of said parasitic plant-life, and dumping it in the newly acquired Brown Suffolk Council Garden Refuse Bin, it was a little clearer that the tree itself would need to be removed and the fence re-done. The higher ground against the fence caused by piling up garden waste week after week (previous owners), would also need to be dug out and levelled to the rest of the garden.

      The tree, as I said, was dead and would have been fairly easy to cut down with the right tools and if the fence wasn’t in the way! The sawing started, but as I went inside to fetch the axe, the doorbell rang – a Surprise Visitor saved the (hard work) day! And about half an hour later it rained. So once again, Bella has been confined to the house, going out for four or five wee walks a day!

     Maybe a little more progress can be made this Saturday!

9. Blushing Bella!

(Apologies! Blog numbers 8 & 9 got left behind and only discovered when posting No. 10! So this one should have been about 13th Jan 2012!)


       Bella is, according to the estimation of the Blue Cross, about 11 months old. Unfortunately she’s no stranger to the place that smells so incredibly interesting, that almost certainly has new friends to meet and old enemies to terrorise, the place that has really nice people to look after you and the place where someone like Bella is nearly always put in an embarrassing situation!

      Bella was handed to the Felixtowe Blue Cross in about September last year with a broken leg. They arranged for her to be treated and now she has a pin and plate in her right back leg.  X-rays on dogs, even just to check everything is knitting together, is not as simple a procedure as for humans. Animal X-rays are done under anaesthetic; so she’s done that too.

      This week we decided to take Bella to the vet (different to the one the Felixtowe Blue Cross use) because she was biting and nibbling her tail quite a bit which, having had dogs before, we knew may have been mites or maybe the flea treatment wasn’t working.

      Unlike some dogs who just know that climbing into the car means “VET!!!!” and start dancing on the end of the lead trying to escape, Bella was calm. Inside the waiting room, we were the only ones there for about a minute until a cat was brought in a cat-box.  As far as Bella is concerned cats are friends - who keep running away! There’s a ginger cat who I’m sure saunters deliberately across the muddy pathway when she sees Bella coming back from a walk.  (Unfortunately I didn’t see Ginger Cat one day and Bella did, and the jerk on the end of the extender lead nearly pulled my arm out of its socket!)  But then again Bella is very responsive and very obedient and soon lost interest in the cat-box.  A young lady sat down next to us with a little Yorkie in her arms. Yorkie was obviously not well as he didn’t show any interest or emotion in Bella’s excitable dance just under his nose.  Next in the waiting room was a dog called Stella, which got a little confusing as both dogs only heard the ‘ella’ bit when spoken to! While Yorkie’s owner simply said she was grumpy (dog that is not owner!), Stella’s owner said she didn’t like dogs (again, dog, not owner!) Our turn to weigh in - 20.2kg, that’s 4kg up from last time, a growing puppy!

       With the problem explained to the vet, Bella realised that she had a potentially embarrassing situation on her paws!  Vet lifted her tail, felt around her belly, legs and bum and then thankfully let go. Whew! That wasn’t too bad. So vet told us he didn’t see any evidence of fleas or mites, but that as a matter of interest, they had stopped stocking Frontline as some dogs had become immune to its effect and as a practice they now recommended Stronghold – something to keep in mind for the next flea treatment in about a month’s time. 

       One of the main causes of itchiness, he told us, was allergies; allergies to house-dust, grass, pollen, etc.  We live in the country with open fields all around us which Bella loves to jump around in, long autumn grass which camouflages her in the dawn light walks. Imagine a dog being allergic to grass!

       By this time Bella was lying quite comfortably on the examining table, unperturbed by the talking – and what was about to happen.

      One other thing, said the Vet, that could make her bite her rear end and her paws, is maybe her anal glands are blocked. Bella’s comfort was immediately disturbed and she was lifted to her four feet.  As she obediently turned her backside to the vet, her ears went back, her head lowered into my chest to hide, and if a dog could blush, her eyes said it all!  The vet stuck his gloved finger up her backside – now how embarrassing is that with her owners present!  But it was all over in less than a minute and no-one else seemed to be bothered, except the still blushing Bella.

     Fortunately we were able to answer the vet’s question about pet insurance in the affirmative as, he said, allergy testing could cost hundreds of pounds!   Let’s hope that we don’t have to go that route and that the finger up the bum helped!

8. Ah Bless!

(Apologies! Blog numbers 8 & 9 got left behind and only discovered when posting No. 10! So this one should have been about 5th Jan 2012!)

         This is getting a little monotonous. After Bella’s excursions into the school playing fields (during Christmas break – no children harmed in this trespass) and her escapades into the neighbour’s garden, she’s been under house arrest for long enough to make the punishment more than the owners can bear!

         After being woken up one morning with dog Handler Number One shouting out of the bedroom window: “Hey! That’s not your garden!” I just knew it was going to be a long day.

         With one fence raised and no (visible) means of entry to the school playing fields, Bella wasted no time visiting the neighbour’s beautifully laid out flower beds among the well manicured lawn paths. Not exactly the good impression one would like to make among the neighbours in a new village! But they were both very calm and continually told us not to worry and that we could fetch our doggy anytime! 

        The frustration is that we cannot just let Bella out into the garden at regular intervals, but we now have to take her for wee walks a few times a day (I love that pun!)  Not that we don’t take her on regular walks anyway – Handler Number One is up and out before the sun rises each morning and one of us tries to take her another longish walk during the day – if it’s not raining cats and dogs!

       Walks are good times any time of day. It’s good to be out in the country (winter) air, suitably clad with thick socks, wellies, jacket, scarf, hat and gloves. January seems to be the windy month and trees, grasses and clouds all seem to dance to the wind’s tune as it roars, whistles and whispers along the pathways. During the daylight walks there’s many a casual conversation with other dog walkers usually including the “What breed is she?” question everyone asks about Bella (A bit of Chow, a bit of Staffie and probably a bit of Husky.)

      While prowling the streets as the sun was setting (just before 4pm) looking for one light coloured, free-running female hound, I was waylaid by another neighbour who asked in jest, “Have you lost him?!” Well yes, I replied, have you seen my dog?! Twenty minutes later, having learnt neighbour’s name, address and previous address over twenty years ago, he gave this useful piece of information about the Suffolk natives:  “Their favourite saying,” said he, “is: Ah! Bless! Doesn’t matter what’s going on! The TV could be sailing through the lounge window on to the pavement and they would simply look and say Ah Bless!”  This was an attempt at explaining the unfazed attitude of the country folk here in the east of England! However, I still feel uneasy and unhappy that Bella would visit the neighbour’s manicured garden without permission!

       Walks are good times any time of night! The wee walk at the end of a day when the wind is blowing the clouds away reveals the stars as bright and unfazed as the villagers seem to be. So what if it’s 5ºC, with an evil wind dancing through my hair and pinching my exposed hands and nose until they glow red! The parish lantern (another local saying I really like!) is shining bright and the stars add a winter sparkle to the dark mysterious sky.

Google Images

O LORD, our Lord, how majestic is your name in all the earth! …… When I consider your heavens, the work of your fingers, the moon and the stars, which you have set in place, what is man that you are mindful of him….? (Psalm 8 v 3)

How good it is to sing praises to our God, how pleasant and fitting to praise him! …. He determines the number of the stars and calls them each by name. (Psalm 147 v 4)

Thanks Megs!

 (The fence will be fixed by the weekend!)

7. Bella's Political Statement

“Whoof! Grrrr! Woof! Woof! Howwwwwl!”  (roughly translated: House Arrest results in Psychological Damage!)

        After Bella’s Houdini escapades and having to be kept under “House Arrest” as a precaution against a repeat escape into the school playing fields, she has taken very well to being taken for extra walks in lieu of not going into the garden. Unfortunately she has also taken an intense fear of going into the very same garden she played in previously. Whether she’s asking us not to put her in temptation’s way, not understanding that the tempting escape route has been blocked, or whether she has something else going on in her little doggy brain, we don’t know.

       She goes outside – under false pretences, e.g. someone donning a jacket and picking up the lead – but then sits in the little raised garden bed, under the bushes directly opposite the back door and waits for us to let her in again. At which point, and yes I know this sounds illogical and contradictory, she won’t come inside and needs to be physically coaxed even though she’s shivering from cold! Rather frustrating for us non-doggy brained humans to understand.

       A walk on the lead to the bottom of the garden produced a very slow look-around but not really going beyond half a metre of the human hand. Treats were of course accepted quite eagerly while the lead was disconnected, but once again she followed human very closely, and then sneakily overtook, back to the door.

      Walking the dog is not an unpleasant occupation, it’s just that dog seems to have lost the joy of the home garden, which is very sad. (while reducing the number of Pooh-Patrols needed!!)

The good ol' days.

        We do hope that Bella recovers soon and conquers her fear (or whatever it is) of the garden – grass, mud, bush, trees and newly raised wire fence!

(Photos with thanks from Nutmeg Photography http://nutmegphotographyexplorations.blogspot.com/2011/12/bella.html?spref=fb)

6. Run Bunny Run!

It was a dark and icy December night. Bella, under house arrest for trespassing, was walking under supervision and restraint for the last toilet of the day. There are no streetlights in Bella’s ville. Most Christmas lights had been switched off and thick dark curtains kept the warmth in the homes of the villagers and the light off the pavements.

Dog and handler stepped out, dog enjoying the cold fresh air and handler bundled in jacket, hat and scarf with head down aiming for a suitable dog toilet spot as fast as possible. 

Suddenly, both Bella’s ears pointed to the stars as there in the middle of the pathway huddled a little grey fluffy ball. Not one to look before she leaps, Bella quickly dominated the little bunny, standing like a giant over it. Bunny froze. Handler franctically jerked the lead but not before Bella’s nose and teeth had well and truly tickled the ribs of the very frightened bunny rabbit.

Why didn’t Bunny run? Was he deliberately waiting in the predator’s path? Was his Christmas lunch giving him bunny tummy trouble and impeding his getaway?  Had Mrs Bunny thumped him out for telling scary stories to his Bunny boys and girls?  Or had he been caught in a clandestine meeting and bravely stayed to protect a Bunny Beauty now hiding and shivering with fear under the holly bush?

Run Bunny! Run!  Bella’s handler was clearly a bunny-lover and watched sadly, but with relief as Bunny slowly hobbled off into the darkness. Of course Bunny may have been injured before meeting Bella, or perhaps he was a Granbunny with bunnitis in his joints and bunions on his toes. The good news is that when Bella and handler left that spot on the path, Bunny had disappeared under his own steam.

(Hope he wasn’t someone’s pet Houdini Bunny!)

5. The Rise & Fall of Bella Houdini

It was a beautiful Christmas morning. The lights were twinkling on the tree, the shiny Christmas paper was waiting to be torn off, and we were relaxing for half an hour before heading off down the road to the Christmas day service. Ding-dong Ding-dong. No it wasn’t the church bells or the ‘merrily on high’ ones! The neighbour’s half smile and Merry Christmas wishes held that tone that said there was a problem.

I just wondered if you knew that your doggy is running around the school playing field.

Oh! Ah! That’s why she hasn’t been coming back when we call her!  Fortunately by the time Mrs Neighbour had called, Bella had returned. We would need to investigate the back fence – after church, after opening of presents, after Christmas lunch, after post Christmas lunch snooze, by which time it was dark. This event occurred in England, in December, ‘in the bleak mid-winter’, when the sun rose at 8.03am and set at 3.48pm.

Bella was restricted to going out in the back garden on the extender lead – to give her a little privacy if necessary! She was not impressed. She did benefit from one or two extra walks down the road at which times the desired result of bladder relief was attained.  But how did Bella Houdini get on to the school playing field. With one of us climbing over the school gate (that’ll give the villagers something to talk about ‘that new Baptist vicar….’!) and the other bundu-bashing among the fir tree branches, berry twigs and other indescribably prickly thick vegetation at the bottom of the garden, we found the three foot wire fence in good nick, no holes, and firmly secured into the ground.

Phase 2 – let Bella Houdini into the garden and see where she goes. While I was clearing a pathway between the fence and the sheds under the fir trees, Bella came and lay innocently next to me, ahh sweet!  And then she disappeared and was seen tearing around the beautiful green grass of the primary school!  Argggg! How did that happen!!

Fortunately Bella still loves us, and dogs do have a conscience! After 20 minutes of haring around the field and definitely a contender for the Dog Olympics, she was quite content to have the lead slipped over her head.  She refused to show us how she returned to home base so had to be lifted unladylike over the fence – with no thought of the pin and plate inserted in her broken back leg just three months ago!

Tuesday 27^th December 2011 : Bella and handler went for their regular early morning, before sunrise walk. We live in a beautiful part of the country with fields through which there are footpaths, a pretty tidal river, country stiles etc. Dog + water + soil = one very, very muddy dog!  She returned from the walk with the legs and underbelly of a black Labrador. Anyone could see that she’d entered the house by the back door into the red slate-tiled conservatory, and on to the lino-floored kitchen. Much rubbing down didn’t seem to make any difference, but when she escaped to her bed, the green Blue Cross donated blanket turned black with green spots. The hosepipe sprayer will have to be engaged. (Has anyone invented a dogwash like the carwashes? One that can be installed at the back gate? complete with all-over spray, doggy shampoo, gentle brushes, rinse water, and blowdryer?) Spraying Bella down is not usually a one-man operation, but one man tried it anyway keeping Bella on the lead with the gentle spray nozzle massaging the mud off her underbelly. Once inside again, the lead was accidentally dropped making a sudden clanging on the slate tiles, Bella took fright, knocked the child safety gate being stored in the conservatory crashing to the floor and Bella spraying dark water on the white sofa, the white painted door and the glass door panes! 

This was the day Bella would be left alone with the family ‘visitor’ in the house – scary option for Bella, until said ‘visitor’ took her on a loooooooong walk, after which she became Bella’s best friend!  But before we could leave the house to drive Grandma back home (3 1/2 hr drive) after Christmas, the floors should really be de-mudded.  Oops! We’ve run out of floor cleaner. A spray clean-and-polish can was called in for the emergency. Bad idea, as we discovered later – don’t go into the kitchen or conservatory in your socks! (hint: "polish")

Wednesday 28^th December 2011 : Back to a more or less normal daily routine – except that Bella Houdini is still restricted to indoors and like a cat, was following my every step around the house.  So Wellies were donned and in the pretence of Pooh Patrol Bella and I stepped gingerly into the back garden. So far so good. She lay, seemingly happy under ‘her’ bush and watched me go in and out of the garden shed, waiting for her chance! I saw her at the school fence, shouted NO, then realised she was squatting, sorry!  Next blink I could see her rear up like a polar bear on Frozen Planet and she was over the fence! Success – for both of us! She got over and I got to see how!

In previous excursions to retrieve her from the school playing field, one of us had a mobile phone to call for help from the other. This time it was just me. I had to clear the make-shift barrier we’d put up where we thought she could get over – and she didn’t – and with Wellies four sizes above my shoe size, I clambered over the fence.  By this time Bella Houdini was halfway through the course and was not going to come back to the finish line until she was ready! But once again it wasn’t a hectic chase across fields and she did slip back into the lead quite happily. Of course I felt the need to explain to another neighbour hanging her undies out in the wind to dry that I was not taking my dog for a walk in the private property school playing field, but having discovered how she got there, would now be making plans to prevent it happening again!

Bella Houdini has fallen. As will our bank balance once we get a new fence fitted. But we still love our Bella!

4. Freeeeeeeee!

I figured it out eventually – Dad was not feeling too well, so I didn’t get my 7am walk. (accusing look on face). He did let me out this morning and fed me, but he didn’t come back down to take me for a walk! The house was so quiet. What am I supposed to do? I’ve slept all night, and now I’m awake! Why is everyone so absent and quiet?!  Oh good! Here comes Mum!

 Hello Mum! Hello Mum! Hello Mum!  I love you! I love you! I love you!  I know she loves me too and I’m sure she’ll take me for a walk. Yay! She’s opening the door! Come, let’s go! Come! Come! Come!  Hey! Don’t go back inside! Hey! I want to go for a walk! Come on, out this door! Muuuuummmm!  Oh well! I know they still love me, maybe we’ll go soon.

It’s cold out here! I think Mum said it was 1°C, but I don’t mind. I’ve heard Mum say something about Husky and looking at me when talking to visitors about the cold!  Oh well, I’ll just wander about the garden a bit, watch the children at the school – oh, dear this must be one of those days they don’t come to school, it’s quiet out there too. Ooh! Bird! Hello bird, come play with me! Hey bird come back, let’s play chase!!

OK I think it’s about time we went for a walk. Hello you two inside there! Can you see me? There’s a tree inside so maybe they can’t see me! Why do they have a tree inside? Yoohoo?!

Yay! They’ve seen me. I’m ready! I’m ready! I’m ready for a walk! No, I don’t want to come inside, I want to go out for a walk!! They just don’t get it!  Ooh! wait, here they come! Yay! I see coats! I see scarves! I see boots. Wheeeee! I’m going for a walk, at last! Whee! Sit still! Of course not, I want to go, come on let’s go, come on, come on, come on. I can’t sit still, I’m so excited!  Especially ‘cos Megan is coming as well!

Oops, this is a bit different, the path is slippery, fun! Come on Mum, run, let’s go! I can’t stay next to you, I’m too excited, I want to run!  Oh dear, we’re going to the noisy place. Oh I hate cars, they make such a noise when they go past me and it’s scary, I hate it, no Mum, please don’t take me there! OK, let’s get away from the noise. Another slippery path, but this is fun slippery – mud. I like mud! Big field, so many smells, please let me go Mum, please let me go Mum, please let me go!

I promise I’ll be calm, just for a while. I promise and then you’ll let me go?  Yay! Wheeeeeeee! I loooove running! Wheeeeeee!  Ooh bird! Ooh rabbit! Wheeeee! Was that Mum calling? No, it was probably just the trees talking! She doesn’t mind me enjoying myself!  Uhmm, oops where am I? Oh there they are, good, as long as I know where they are! Rabbit! This is fun!  Mum isn’t even calling me back!!  Seagull, hey you’re the one who teases me from on top of the house roof! Come back here! Hey!!  Oh hello, Megan, are you coming to join me? Come on then, let’s run!  Come, I’ll fetch you! Hey! That was sneaky! I was having such fun. Oh well, maybe another day. I suppose we’d better go home, I’m starved, I didn’t have much breakfast!

It's a different story from Mum's side!!!  Bella could have beaten anyone at the 100m or 1000m for that matter! She just disappeared down the path, fortunately didn't see the hare that we saw dashing across the field, but she obviously saw something and flew across the other field in the opposite direction. The fields are fallow in winter so we could see Bella as a small dot in the distance, happily running, smelling, darting, and enjoying her freedom. She couldn't hear us call, so Meg offered to retrieve her. 10 minutes later Bella was calming just a little at the end of the lead in Megan's hand and quite happy to go home! So were we! I thought I'd lost a dog!