Christmas-y Walkies

We should have been shopping, preparing for Christmas...but what could be more festive than a walk in the ice and snow? We normally don't get this sort of weather until about February, so perhaps we might have a White Christmas after all. We met Dixie and Dolly and their Mum and Dad. I met their Mum through Ravelry, the social networking site for Knitters and Crocheters. By sheer chance, they went to meet family who were only 10 mins away from one of our favourite parks. This is one of few times, I have met with an online friend I didn't really know in the real world, and its wonderful that you can just carry on discussions as if you'd met years ago, especially if it is with an owner of sight hounds and somebody who likes to craft with yarn.




Dixie is a boy lurcher, and is similar to Dizzy but perhaps a little bit tougher, as Dizzy is still very baby and puppy-like whereas Dixie is a real man. Dolly was quite similar to Lily in some ways, but Lily is much more nervous. She was doing really well with nerves and new people, until a family decided to stick their kiddies on a sledge and pull it around the table where we were having tea in the cafeteria.



It made a scary noise and Lily jumped in the air taking the table with her.
I did say something to the lady. I tried to be polite and said 'I don't think it is entirely safe pulling the sledge around between the dogs. Of course, my two would not be agressive towards children, just frightened. But I do think parents should think about trying to keep their kids away from big dogs they don't know, just in case.

Another type of dog, who was fearful, and heard a sledge being dragged across concrete with screaming kids, very near them, might have snapped. I would rather say something to a parent before an accident happens, and it might not go down too well but much better than having to tell them the dogs have snapped at them.


We were in a position of having Lily overturning the table as the sledge went round the table several times. Knocking tea everywhere. There were other places to sledge than just around the cafe tables, there was a whole park to do that in. I didn't want to be a spoilsport, but wanted really for the parents just to think about kids and dogs in combination. We can do our bit, and keep them on the lead and under control so parents should think about their kids coming so close.


Dolly and Dixie were very well behaved. Not quite as nervy as ours with strange noises etc. Lily and Dizzy though, are getting better all the time. They hadn't even done much car travelling when we got them and now they love it.

Animal Ark Christmas Do

I am so proud of Lily
The vets had a Christmas party weekend before last, and it got so packed we were squahse shoulder to shoulder and poor Lils all she could see were legs. She is very nervous of people and there was shouting, banging, music and lots of men. Some people walking by put their hands out and touched her head or grabbed her nose, and she didn't flinch a bit.

A few years back, she would have bucked, bitten, kicked and thrown herself against the walls if someone tried to corner her, trap her or touch her. She was calm as anything.
They had a Santa and his elf in the vet, there to take pics of your pet to raise funds for charity.
Well here are the boy and girl with father Christmas looking quite excited and wound up by the queue of people watching and the party going on outside the room.
Steve is in it, because of course Lily was calm because she was with him.