Bath Time & Stuff

I decided to bath Kizzy this morning as she's almost through her season or so I thought! More of that later. We don't have our dog bathing facility yet, that won't be ready until the builders have finished which is quite a way off yet. So, in our bath tub she had to go.

Then I thought I'd bath Abbey as she still had some of the nasty little flea dirts in her coat and then I thought I'd bath Poppy as she is still scratching and it is too early to front line them again. Can't do that until next week. All three of them look so tiny when they're wet. Abbey has really lost a lot of muscle and weight and looked really small.

When I'd finished those three who were all very well behaved I decided I might as well get the pain over in one morning and do the other three.

Naughty Niamh lived up to her name; bucking and kicking and shaking as usual. We managed to get through it without drowning which is something where Niamh is concerned! When she's wet you can just see how well she's built, just solid muscle, she doesn't look any smaller when she's wet as she doesn't have a big coat anyway. Then came Becky who looks as fat when she's wet as when she's dry so she's now on a diet. Last was Murphy. He is surprisingly small when he's wet and his coat goes even more curly. If ever proof was needed that he's not a pure collie then it's to see him really wet. He has a definite lurcher shape to him, completely different to our proper collies!

I can quite see why Bernadette sticks with shelties (apart from them being wonderful dogs of course). It's so much easier to bath a sheltie than a collie or Murphy! They are so small and manageable.

I don't think I'll be able to walk tomorrow, let alone run my dogs at Burridge. My back is killing me from leaning over the bath all morning. On top of that I've got to go to the rubbish tip to take some of the rubble from our building site. No hope! Andy is so mean making me do this while he lounges around over the drawing board! We need to get rid of this stuff in order to make space for the caravan which we're collecting on Monday from Songhurst who've very kindly been looking after it for us. Andy has just read my comment and now feels very mean so he is going to the dump! Tee hee - that worked then!

Here are some pictures of the dogs in the garden after their baths. Please do note their extra fluffy, shiny fur!




Once the first three had been bathed I dried them off with the hair dryer and then brushed them out in the back yard. The other three weren't impressed as they thought we were leaving them in the kitchen in order to go down to the garden for a game! This is a typical picture of the three of them; they spend their lives sitting at the back door waiting to go out in the garden. One of the three of them always has a head sticking out the cat flap!


Just now I went into the kitchen to find that naughty little hussy Kizzy wriggling her bottom in Murphy's face. She's been pestering him for the last couple of days but this time she had her tail held to one side and was really trying to get him to take interest in her. He just hasn't got a clue and looked at me for help. He is definitely gay. He was exactly the same when Niamh was in season in that he showed no interest. Niamh wasn't a hussy like Kizzy though. Anyway, poor boy had enough of being pestered so the naughty little sheltie has been put in her crate for a while.

We have managed to get a lovely outbuilding for storing my agility equipment and making tea etc. Andy did a job for a chap who wanted shot of his summer house and so they did a deal. It's a nice building and would cost a lot to get something half as good. Andy and Dennis (our builder) spent all of Tuesday dismantling it and carting it from it's old location to our place. It was very hard work as it's well made and was put together well. Now we have to cart it from the front yard all the way down to the garden and put it back together. Al - help, where are you? It weighs a tonne. It was fully of massive spiders so I'm glad I wasn't helping.

This is a picture of the building before they dismantled it. It will be perfect for my needs. My agility equipment is being delivered next week. Can't wait to get started with some training at home, especially for Naughty Niamh and Kizzy.


That's about it for now. Am going in to see Mum in her new nursing home this afternoon. I'm taking Abbey with me for a visit as you're allowed to take pets in whenever you like. It's so much nicer for her than being in the hospital. She seems to know she's in a new place and that it's much nicer. Tomorrow and Saturday I'm off to Burridge show which I'm looking forward to. Andy is staying at home to get as much work finished as possible before we depart middle of next week for the KC Festival and then Dogs in Need. Can't wait!