Wiggle - Day 137

Doesn't Wiggle look impressed with his new fleece jumper?! He likes it really, despite the "woe is me" face. As Wiggle loves to swim, I don't want him to catch a chill now that the weather has turned colder. The jumper will help him keep warm while he dries off after swimming.

The jumper came from a new-ish website, http://www.chillydog.co.uk/ and now Wiggle has his, I shall be getting a fleece for Sir H too, although I think he'll need a larger size. Don't want my boys being cold in the winter!

In other news, we have a Wee Strike update: Wiggle wee'd on the patio this morning!! Despite his obvious disgust at my modifications to the garden, Wiggle gave in to his bodily needs and pee'd next tot he patio. He survived and now he's realised he won't come to any harm, hopefully that'll be the end of Wee Strike.

Wiggle - Day 135 (Part 2)

Our visitors have been and gone. Sarah, my friend from Bristol popped over with Bran and Flora. After lots of playing around indoors we took them all for a walk on the Marlborough Downs. The dogs did lots of mad running about and sniffing out all the interesting smells as we walked through the woods. We walked on down the hill towards the gallops, everyone enjoying the lovely, sunny day.

Wiggle lost yet another tennis ball. Sir H and Wiggle are both worn out now and fast asleep. I suspect Flora and Bran will be pretty tired now too.

Oh, and an update on Wee Strike - After my adjustments this morning to the fencing Wiggle went to the toilet on the patio!!!

Wiggle - Day 135 (Part 1)

This is part one as Wiggle has visitors today so I will update later.

However, this morning's blog entry is an update on Wee Strike. I'd foolishly thought that Wiggle had given in to the need to pee and been using the patio. Wrong. The little terror had in fact found a flaw in my fencing and been squeezing himself through a small gap and getting onto the grass!

I'd not realised before this morning until I saw the escape act with my very own eyes. I shall be adjusting the fencing. Wiggle, I suspect, will stop feeling so smug....

Wiggle - Day 134

After the excitement of the weekend Wiggle has had a quieter day today. He's been to the vets this evening for his 2nd vaccination injection. With not having proof of him being vaccinated regularly and being on the Atopica, I'd waited a few months before getting his vaccination sorted out, mainly to give his body time to cope with the different chemicals.

Thankfully Wiggle didn't have any reaction to the first vaccination and now he's all done and won't need his booster for a year.

While at the vets I weighed him and Wiggle is a healthy 31.2kg's. Malcolm the vet checked him over and confirmed that Wiggle is a nice healthy weight, so thats good news.

Wiggle is still on the Atopica although on a much reduced dose. This week I took he started on 50mg every other day. Unless Wiggle starts scratching or his skin condition changes, he will stay on that for the next couple of months before eventually coming off the Atopica all together.

LRSE&C are still covering the cost of Wiggle's medication so once again, thank you to everyone who has supported Wiggle over the last few months. As I mentioned a few weeks back, LRSE&C have a new website,

http://www.loveyourlabrador.co.uk/

As part of the new site, we now have a Just Giving page:

http://www.justgiving.com/lrsec

Wiggle is just one of many dogs that the rescue is helping. You can sponsor Wiggle or one of the other Labradors needing special care through the website http://www.loveyourlabrador.co.uk/sponsor.html or make a one off donation via the Just Giving site.

Without the generosity of our supporters dogs like Wiggle would not get the treatment and care they so desperately need.

Wiggle - Day 133

Wiggle and Sir H have had a very good weekend up in Nottingham. We went out for the day on Saturday and ended up at Matlock Bath in Derbyshire. After a walk along by the river we stopped at the pub for lunch. The boys thought this was a good idea but were not so impressed that they weren't allowed to wander about and say hello to the other customers. They did both get lots of fuss from some children so it wasn't a complete disappointment to them.
















More excitingly though, we went to the Heights of Abraham which is high up on top of the hill. To get to the top we all took a trip in a cable car!





















Sir H was totally unimpressed and got in and had a lie down. Wiggle was a little worried initially but then was soon looking out of the window and enjoying the view.






















































































Once we were at the top we had a wander around. There's a very tall tower but it had steep steps so the boys couldn't go up there and had to make do with admiring the view from the ground.
































We found a path which took us even higher up the hill and when we were near the top we found a viewing platform.


















Wiggle had a good look around.



















But something caught his attention....

















I looked over to see what Wiggle was staring at and then spotted it. A deer!

















Although the boys weren't allowed inside the visitor exhibitions, they were allowed through the cafe to sit outside with us while we warmed up with hot chocolate. Then it was time to head back down, again in the cable car.

Despite the weather being a bit drizzly, we had a lovely afternoon in Matlock Bath and Wiggle definitely recommends a ride in a cable car.

Wiggle - Day 130

Wee Strike Update - Wiggle is still striking....

This morning he refused to wee outside. I went out for a while but left the back door open so he may have wee'd while I wasn't looking. We've been for a walk and he wee'd up a signpost on the pavement though.

We're away for the weekend so Wiggle will be back on Monday.

Wiggle - Day 129

Wiggle is not impressed. Not at all.

Today, as it was dry and bright this morning I made the most of the good weather and did some tidying in the garden. Unfortunately, we've got clay soil so when it rains, the garden floods and then becomes a bit of a swamp. In the summer months, its not so bad and dries out reasonably quickly but this time of year, it stays muddy for days.

In previous years, and obviously prior to Wiggle being here, I have put up a temporary fence so that the dogs can't go on the grass. Apart from trying to give the grass a chance to recover, it also stops the dogs having to wade through the mud.

However, Wiggle isn't happy about this....





Because the dogs go out a couple of times a day, they only really use the garden for first thing and last thing wee's etc but despite trying to explain this to Wiggle, he's not a happy chap. He's currently on wee strike.






I have told him that he still has the patio and both sides of the garden next to the patio, but he's not convinced. With my previous dogs, they've eventually given in to the need to go and used the patio. I told Wiggle its no different to him going on a walk and wee'ing up a lampost on the pavement, but he's sulking.

He'll have to get used to it - the fence will be there until the spring!

Wiggle - Day 128

Wiggle and Sir H have been catching up on their rest as I've been at work the last couple of days. I suspect they've spent a lot of time doing this.....

Wiggle - Day 123

As I've spent most of this week being unwell, Wiggle has had a quiet week. I was feeling a little better the other day and met up with my good friends Sarah and Ange. Sarah has Bran, the chocolate Labrador puppy and Ange is mum to Minni-Moo. Also with us for the walk were Sophie, Sarah's daughter and Sir H's best friend (Sir H loves Soph rahter a lot!) and Flora, Bran's sister.

Hoping that some fresh air would perk me up a bit, the boys and I made the short drive to Bradford on Avon to meet the others. We had a lovely walk along the river but being water loving dogs, Wiggle and Sir H started off with some splashing around in the first water they came across.

We kept walking, following the river, until we came to a weir and a pub! The Cross Guns is just between the River Avon and the Kennett & Avon Canal. While we stopped for a rest and some coffee were were joined by a very handsome little Robin.

After our refreshments we walked back along the canal towpath and back to the car park. A very lovely afternoon indeed and we'll definitely be having another walk there soon.

Wiggle - Day 120

Sorry for the lack of blog entries but I've not been well the last few days.

Wiggle and Sir H are both fine though. Sir H has mostly joined me in resting a lot while Wiggle has been amusing himself playing with toys.





























































































Wiggle has a new blog to add to his favourite links - it's the Pub Dog Blog, written by his mate Clive, the Cocker Spaniel, who lives in a pub. Definitely worth a look.