The Beastly Beasts

Beastly Bank Holiday

posted by Jack at 19:33

Where did you spend your Bank Holiday Monday? Standing around in de cold and wet? No? Very sensible. Dat's what we did though, at Melton Mowbray Show.

We was dere to help raise some much needed money for de rescue at White Lodge. As well as us dere was Suzie and Dodger. Dodger is tree and about as big as Troy, and just as soft. Suzie is nine going on two - she's a nutter; you'd never believe she was nine, and had been shut in a shed for de last foive years, and just been very seriously ill.

Megan, who did our makeover last week came along. She was a bit smarter dan last week 'coz she tought she wasn't going to get wet. How wrong can you be!!

Megan and Claire

Angela was dere too so she was, which as we hadn't seen her for a bit was nice. Dad told her all about Maple. And Gary turned up, and of course made a big fuss of Troy like he usually does.

Gary with Troy

To start with it was a bit cloudy, but den it started raining. Now, what should you do when it rains? Make sure your greyhound has an umbrella to keep dem dry of course. Dodger was sorted.

Dodger

Dodger

Den it went from bad to worse. We were fairly close to de main show ring, and dere was some kind of army ting or summat. Anyways, dey made lots of loud bangs, and poor old Kai was frightened out of his skin. Me, I don't mind; I figure if Dad ain't runnin' for cover I don't need to either. Kai, he just quivers.

And den it started rainin' and hailin'. Bejeezus, you'd tink de world was gettin' ready for de next Ark you would. But for all dat, while it wasn't rainin' dere was quite a few people around, and der was a few dags as well, like dis fantastic pair.

A Gorgeous Pair

While it was rainin' we all took de chance for a snooze on de stand. Now, I'm not saying nothin', but it seems to me dat dat Suzie slept with just about all de boys; except maybe Kai how was still worried about de bangs except dey had stopped.

Monty and Suzie

Me and Su<br />zie

Me and Suzie

Den de sun came out, and de people started comin' back. And dere was some people who had bin before, but came back specially to look at Suzie and Dodger and maybe give dem a proper home. I hopes dey do 'coz none of us deserves to live all our lives stuck in kennels. Aunty Claire tinks dat Suzie should come and live with us coz we need another white dog and her ear is like Troy's. I tink dat would be great 'coz I like Suzie.

Suzie

Suzie

Den, just as we all thought de day was going to be nice again, down came de rain. Big globs of it. The only ones dat though it was good was dese guys 'coz dey got a free go on de bouncy castle.

Nutters in the Rain

And den, just to put de icing on de cake, de army boys start up again. Well dat was it for Kai. He got so bad dat Monty had to cuddle up to him. Actually, I'm not sure dat Monty wasn't a bit scared as well.

Monty and Kai Being Scared

Troy and me didn't mind. Troy as usual had spent de day looking for victims to lean against. What amazes me is dat none of dem seem to mind. And Maple was fine too. In fact, Maple had been dead good with all de people around all day, and let people stroke her. I tink she's realising dat if mum and dad are dere nothing nasty will happen. Still, I tink it tired her out though.

Maple

Maple

Den it was time to go home, and we had to pack up in de rain. But den, with almost split second perfection, de sun came out. Will you look at dis picture now. If it had been like dat all day it would have been perfect.

The Sunshine After the Rain

Back at White Lodge, Suzie and Dodger showed dey were still up for some fun. Dey seemed pleased to see us and jumped up at de gate. I tell ya, dat Suzie has springs in her feet so she does.

Bouncing Beasts

Den we all had a charge around de paddock for a bit, except Troy got carried away with Suzie and barked at her. I tink it was just Troy getting OTT in a Troy way, which means he wasn't being horrid, just gawky in a bit white greyhound sort of way.

Mum and dad told us we raised £17 after everything had been paid for, which wasn't very much money - not alot of tins of food dere I tink. But hopefully Suzie and Dodger will find new homes out of it, and perhaps some of de others at WL will too.

Trouble at Mill

posted by Chris at 18:06

Usually all is sweetness and light in the Beastly Beasts household; they have always got on well together, and apart from Jack who sometimes gets a bit grumpy in the evenings (he likes his bed after 9:30), hardly a cross word spoken. Indeed, when we have been out at various events people have commented, ne, marvelled, at how well behaved the Beastly Beasts are; there are even comments to that effect on BeastBlog.

So imagine my astonishment when last Sunday morning there was real trouble at mill.

Now, before I proceed with this tale, I should advise readers of a gentle and/or nervous disposition that there are descriptions of events and situations that do not make for pleasant reading or imagining of the scene. However, if you are made of stern stuff - read on.

Sunday moring after the makeover, and the Beastly Beasts begin to stir. As is their want, Monty, Jack and Maple head for the garden to do what beasts do first thing in the morning. Kai and Troy have cast iron bladders, and have no need to move until later - usually not until breakfast is served. As normal Monty runs up to the top of the garden, followed in quick succession by Maple. Jack by now is standing on three legs.

From the top of the garden there is a bit of a commotion; I assumed it was a pigeon being told in no uncertain terms whos garden this was. A glance towards the top of the garden where Monty and Maple were located soon dispelled this happy illusion. From behind the rosemary bush came two black greyhounds doing a fair imitation of Mohammed Ali and George Foreman. I rushed to the back door ....

A reminder of the earlier warning is warranted at this juncture, having reached the point at which you may wish to desist in the reading of this sorry tale.

It was Sunday morning, and the reason I only rushed as far as the back door was that I had nothing on my feet, or anywhere else for that matter (apologies if the image this conjures up proves to be too much, but you were warned - twice). So before doing a streak to intervene in the debacle, I yelled at them to stop it. Luckily for my modesty, and other parts of my anatomy, the result was that which I desired, and the pair of them trit-trotted down the garden side by side as though nothing had happend and butter wouldn't melt.

Were that that was the end of the story, but alas no. The fight, for that's what it was, had resulted in bites to Maple, one of which, while it wasn't gushing, refused to stop bleeding. Monty had got a couple of scratches, but nothing more serious. So, a Sunday trip to the vets; a £75 just for walking in trip to the vets. Don't you just love them? And their sense of timing? And then, 'coz that was the emergency vet, there's the trip to my vet on Monday.

It turned out that none of Maple wounds were deep, and even by Monday at the vet they had started healing quite nicely. She has a course of antibiotics to take, and is obviously a bit sorry for herself.

What started the fight and why? I don't know. Of course the question has been; was this a one off, or was it the start of an ongoing issue? I think (I hope!!) that the attitude of both of them means it's the former; they quite happily stand next to each other wagging when food is being prepared, and lie close to each other in the evenings. In the garden, Maple has definitely decided to back down, and let Monty get on with whatever it is he does. So my suspision is that it all started 'coz one surprised the other, and that there is not a fundamental issue between them. I'll let you know what happens.

The Beastly Beasts Makeover

posted by Maple at 21:18

Hi ya,

Maple here; having my first go at blogging. According to the boys, there's loads of people that read this, so Hi to all of you.

None of the boys wanted to write about this - they thought it too girly. You see, today we all went for a makeover, and for me at least, jolly nice it was too.

Megan has been helping at White Lodge, where all the boys except Kai came from, and she has been bathing and grooming dogs to raise money for the rescue and and get experience for her school project. Only found this out later mind - I just thought it was fab being pampered - once I'd got used to her that is.

Megan

Megan

First of all we had a nice bath/shower, then dried off with nice big fluffy towels, then groomed to get our coats nice and shiny. And mine needed it. After living outside for a while my coat had got all thick; but after Megan's makeover (and a bit more grooming from Aunty Claire later) it's now lovely and shiny.

But the boys; you've never seen anything like it. All big and brave they are until it comes to a drop of water. Troy just looked pathetic all the time - he does that quite a lot really - and danced around all over the place even after he had been dried.

Troy

Troy

Troy being a Whoos

Jack wasn't too bad, though even he did a pathetic "Woe is meeee" look.

Troy and Jack - Clean

Kai looked liked it he was trying desparately to be somewhere else, and had a far away look in his eyes, so you could tell he wasn't enjoying himself; until the towel - then he went all soppy.

Kai

Kai

And Monty really tried to be far away. He escaped from the bathroom and did a runner across the car park - not that there was anywhere to go. When he came back he was physically restrained from going anywhere.

Monty Tries to Escape

Monty Restrained

Eventually even he had to just accept the inevitable, and he got his wash and brush up too.

Monty Being Dried

But even then Megan wasn't taking any chances, and made sure that Monty was going nowhere he shouldn't.

Monty Restrained - Again

So now we all look and smell nice, and even if the boys don't like it, I can cope with this you know; maybe get my nails done next time.

The OsKar Nominations

Reference

posted by Chris at 19:27

How special is/are your beast(s)? I'm sure the answer is "Very" or something similar.

But is/are any of your beast(s) trained to save your life? I bet most of you say "No" to that one; none of mine are - trained to give me stress more like. But I'd bet you'd agree with me that a beast like that would be a very, very special beast.

Well, we've been on White Lodge walks and to shows and stuff, and totally unbeknown to us, we have been in the presence of such a beast.

Ladies and Gentlemen, we give you:

OsKar

Oskar

Well, we don't, obviously; but the Personal Assistance Dogs did to his owner. Now I'd heard of PAT dogs, hearing dogs for the deaf, and of course everyone knows about guide dogs for the blind. But this is something else.

Here is OsKar's story - this is straight of the card we were given yesterday, so if there's any issues with copyright and stuff just let us know and we'll sort it. But I think OsKar and dogs like him deserve all the recognition they can get.

Anyway, (gets off soapbox) OsKar's story:

My name is Oskar and I am a Lurcher (a crossbreed of Greyhound, Whippet, Bedlington Terrier and collie). My human friend has Diabetes Mellitus Type 1 uses a pump which delivers insulin every 3 minutes to keep her alive. Because she has had this condition for almost 25 years, sometimes she does not recognise the symptoms which indicate that her blood sugar is dropping (hypoglycaemia).

If not treated this can lead to falls, unconsciousness, brain damage and even death. I have been specially trained to recognise these signs and taught ways of alerting my owner that her condition is changing to ensure that she stays safe. If she is confused , I can help her to find what she needs to make her better. If she is ill at night, I will realise and wake her in time to prevent a life threatening episode. I can also press an alarm to get help. I sit behind her when she drives and keep an eye on her blood suger.

It may seem like a big responsibility and a hard job for me, but I love what I do; it is just like playing a game all day long. I have special status and go everywhere with her and I get to meet lots of interesting people and go to places where not many dogs can go.

My friend says I have changed her life, giving her the confidence and safety to do things she would not previously have done.

Now, I don't about you, but I think that that is just totally amazing, and that OsKar is an absolute star. If you agree, click here or on the comments link and leave a message for OsKar.

PS. We at The Beasly Beasts would like to apologise for spelling OsKar's name wrong all this time.

New Beast - New Venue

posted by Jack at 20:20

Well, it's just about a month now since Maple arrived, and she is well and truely settled in as a Beastly Beast; truth be told, I tink she might just be de beastlyist of us all, so she might. And of course today being the second Sunday of de month, it was de White Lodge Walk, and like I says in de title, it was at a new place - Melton Mowbray Country Park, and I tink dis is going to be a huge favourite.

Melton Mowbray Country Park

Dere was a fair few waiting when we arrived, and we was soon ready to be off. De walk is great, it goes tru loads of places to stop and sniff and wee on tings - we just love that so we do. It goes all over streams and tru fields, and whoile it's not totally flat der's not any really steep bits - well, one at de end of de lake, but even dat you could pick a not so steep way if you wanted.

The Hill

As always we met and chatted to lots of nice people and hounds: we met up with Buddy and his new humans, who we know read de BeastBlog (dey said some very nice tings about it) - so "Hi" to dem, and Buddy - enjoy de liver cake.

The Rickitty Rackitty Bridge - sans Trolls

We also met de people who were at White Lodge de day Troy joined The Beastly Beasts; dey tought mum and dad were mad having four of us - and now dere's five!!

We spent a lot of time walking with my pal Blue Jack. It seems he's catching me up in de scrunching stakes - I moight just have to keep an eye on dat.

Blue Jack

Maple did well again today. She loves dese kind of places - don't we all? And it is not just us dat tink dat her and Troy show dat dey are cousins by their ears; Jack's humans tink so too.

Over the Stream

So what about de weather? Readers of BeastBlog will know dat de last two WL walks were cold enough to freeze our doo-dads off, had we had any to freeze off dat is. And despite de fact it's May, today wasn't exactly balmy to start with either. Still, it didn't rain, and by de time we got back to de cars it had warmed up; de sun actually came out for a bit when we were on de way home - typical.

Me

Back at the cars it was de usual round of treats; made extra special dis time 'coz it was Max and Tiny's first gotcha day today - happy gotcha day to dem from The Beastly Beasts, and deir mum had made a big cake for de humans. We didn't get any of dat, but dad had done some liver cake in the morning, and dere was lots of other people with some too and other stuff, so we all had loads - yummm.

Caleb and Max say Hello, and Tiny in Front

No prizes for guessing who out of us got de most cuddles and strokes; you guessed it, Troy. He just goes and stands by, well against, someone until dey stroke him. I tink he's very cheeky doing dat I do, but dey all seem to love it and want to take him home with dem - he still keeps coming back with us dough.

Us in Dads Car

We also got a chance to say "Hi" to some more people; Swirly Merly (Merlin) was dere. It sounds like he's doin' OK, and got a lovely mum who's very patient with him, 'coz he still bites her sometoimes; only two and he's so scared of people - you can only guess what must have happened to him. And Caleb; he's a nice chap, and slightly mad me tinks - dat's good by de way, means lots of character.

A Caleb Montage

And of course Oskar (who's name we've spelt wrong 'til now!!). Now I'll not be spoiling it 'coz I know dad is going to write something soon, but I have to tell you dat we found out dat Oskar is a very special hound; the kind of hound dat makes you proud to be hound.

Millie and Bess

Another lovely day, and a fantastic place; all The Beatly Beasts liked it. We'll all be back in Melton for de show on de 29th. Hope to see you dere.

Love and licks,
Jack