Monday 24 March 2008

Well.....nothing went to plan!

Realise I must get some more photo's. vids of the dogs done soon, sorry bloggers who take the time to read this I promise I'll post some soon!
Well the first show of the season loomed large last week, and we still had no caravan, it has been in at the repairers getting numerous things fixed in it- new window, repair from the blow-out and the bathroom area totally overhauled, when I popped in on Wednesday not a lot had been done! Eventually we got it back at 3pm on the Thursday ( and we still had to load up etc!) A 4 hour journey then ensued up to North wales and DD, we got to the site at around 8 30 pm and had to be towed on! Not a good start , and the rain and wind were whipping up! We made do with the basics in the caravan and saw to the dogs and the pups as it was their first big trip out! No accident and all was fine in the van.
The ensuing night was an experience to remember! the caravan rocking and rolling as the wing buffeted us, the wind howling and whistling, and then came the hail and rain, i thought the caravan would either be penetrated by the hail, or that we would be blown away or over or at least be moved by the wind! At 2.30 we heard someone tooting a horn - Super-Marie was up, dressed and foul weather gear on off she trooped into the Maelstrom- well, someone had to stay behind to provide ballast for the caravan!! The secretary's marquee etc had been blown away, and lots and lots of people had ruined awnings/ fences left. In the morning no let up in the weather, and the news came that the show was cancelled, a very sensible choice considering the conditions. And then Cheryl from Northern Ireland arrived! Not good news for her as she'd paid a fortune in fuel, ferries etc! We all felt very sorry for her!
The pups had a great time, out for walks and run abouts with older brothers and sisters, they also caught up with Flash and Diane, he's a big boy and very, very bouncy and active!
We were then waiting to meet the people to come and see Molly on the Saturday, they spoke to us on the Friday and arranged to come and see her on the Saturday.
saturday am came and marie took a phone call from the people to say that they wouldn't be coming to see Molly as they had been to see a litter of Manchester Terriers and fallen for one of them! Now this is fine, but I wish they'd told us that they were going to see another litter (as we'd just spoken to them the day before!) Poor Molly, she's such a cracking little dog, but we'll do our best by her!
Then Cheryl fell in love with Halo! Now I planned to keep a bitch from this litter and I thought long and hard over which one to keep, Draco was a choice of the heart as I think he's a lovely wee chap and he looks so different even more so now that his coat is getting longer! But with pressure from others about how I'd cope training and bonding with 2 dogs and with how much Cheryl seemed to desire halo I relented and the deal was done! Halo was on her way to Northern Ireland. The decision was not a light or an easy one, I was very attached to halo, but watching Sheugh (Cheryl's other kelpie out of ruby- and puck and ~Tinks brother) I thought he needed another kelpie to play with, and he seems to have calmed down a lot, ( he is on the more dominant side of the kelpie trait!) But he needs to stretch out instead of chasing spaniels around all the time, and he seemed to take to halo as she was not too much in his face! And realising my time constraints and training facilities locally I decided it would be best for halo to go with Cheryl. We spoke to Cheryl last night and it seems she's settled in exceptionally well, claiming the camper van as her own and not missing her litter mates at all- or having struggles with the irish brogue! And now she's known as Ali
So I'm left with Draco ,and Molly is still looking for a home!
And on Saturday ruby came into season! So all in all it was probably fortuitous that we had no show! My next show is in 3 weeks time- so Great as she'll be out of season, and have all competing season with no worries regarding her coming in, and with luck she'll come in before Olympia - should we lucky enough to get there!
So that's that all my energies are concentrated on Draco - no pressure! But he's sat in front of me now chewing a bone and looking mighty pleased that he is now the 'chosen one.'

0 comments: