the chicken

It's all fun and games

until someone loses an eye....

Alright, she hasn't actually lost an eye, it is however very sore and weepy.

My guess is that Patch poked Narla in the eye with a sharp stick. The pair of them are funny, Narla is a very dominant girl, she tends to push Patch out of the way and then mark her territory. She ADORES people, just doesn't like competing for their attention with another dog! She even tries to sit in my lap while I am driving, being dangerous and all I don't really encourage that one! So she does the next best thing, hangs her head in between the seats and rests it on your shoulder.

Narla had a lovely time at the Brookfield Show. She sat in laps, when there were no laps available she simply grabbed the closest chair. She had masses of cuddles and took great pleasure in greeting each new person that came up. Patch was asleep most of the day.... as per usual at promos these days.

Patch and Asha (she is so meant to be my dog!) I got my quality time with Ash on Friday, her foster carer kindly brought her for the day so I could see her. She is still limping round a bit, but getting there. The show ran Friday, Saturday and Sunday. Big weekend for these guys. Patch and Narla went Friday and Saturday. When I went to leave on Sunday they wanted to hop in the car and come too.... I left them at home as I figured they had done their bit for the weekend.

Instead of taking those two I borrowed a foster dog by the name of Springer. - yes, her owner was called Jerry - Now, this dog obviously didn't read the memo that informs greyhounds that they are lazy dogs. This girl is an energizer bunny! I expect excitement and restlessness from foster dogs at promotions, it is all new and can be overwhelming for them, but really.... Miss Springer LOVED it. She thinks people are great, sideshow alley was so exciting, all the discarded show food on the ground was excellent, the smells from the horses and the cows, wow! This dog did not stop. She lay down for all of 30 mins for the whole day. Stunning effort, she even got all excited when we packed up and then got in the car to come home. I thought she would crash in the car, HA! no way, and she just HAD to do zoomies when she got home to the 2 dogs she is living with!

More news from our big weekend.

Omo had a tricky surgery, he was very, very sick afterward. Spent the weekend with the emergency vets, gave us a scare at 3am when he began declining. All our hopes and prayers must have done some good and Omo is set to go home to Katy today to begin his recovery. He is a special dog, for some reason the worst things befall the best dogs. He is in the best place to get well, with Katy and Tamale. For him that is home, he is happy there. Now we just wait and keep thinking healing thoughts until he is back to being himself and not so purple from the bruising!

O Mo, I shrunk Omo!

Omo after being put in the washing machine with the dark colours and then going through the dryer on the hot setting....

KIDDING, we have already established that sadly my washing machine is not big enough to accommodate even a small greyhound and I don't even own a dryer... more's the pity, but then, this is Queensland and they are hardly necessary more than 3 days of the year. Oddly enough I had never hung washing until I was 21 years old (not because I had someone to do it for me, because I lived in NZ, where it rains EVERYDAY and you simply take the washing out of the machine and put it in the dryer as a matter of course) It still stuns me that you can hang out a load of washing and it will be dry by the time the next load has finished.

So, our revolving dog door has been working overtime lately. We went from Patch and Fletch to just Patch, then Patch and Bubba, then Patch and Asha, then Patch and Omo, back to Patch and Bubba and now just Patch.....

Busy few weeks. I can't believe that it is less than 2 weeks since I said goodbye to my Fletch... I miss him so much.

"Dogs are not our whole lives, but they make our lives whole"

This is true. I simply cannot imagine what my life would be like without The Chicken, Pete and Patch in it. They are so precious to me. Yes, I survived before they came along, but they are all now a part of me that I don't not care to lose. I have cried scores for Fletch. There is a giant hole where he fit into all our lives. No other dog will ever fill that particular spot, they will have their own space.

Omo was staying with us to see if he would be that dog. Turns out that there is someone out there who needs him more than me. He is a lovely boy, very sweet and cuddly and well behaved. He just didn't quite fit in. Patch took a bit of a dislike to him, which is unusual, she has seen so many come and go and put up with all sorts of indignities from fosters. She has been in a funk since Fletch left us. Most likely because I have been so sad. She just hasn't been herself. She is slowly coming back into herself, Ipswich Show promo she was out of sorts all day. Mind you, that didn't stop her and Flo from having a ball rolling in the straw after the Llamas decamped. I got in trouble for sending Flo home smelling of Llama poo!

I miss Patch being Patch Rat. She had a bit of a play today at Greytwalks and had a spring in her step heading home that I haven't seen for a week, so it is a start.

She has rarely been an only dog. From the time she arrived we have usually had at least one, if not 2 fosters as well. There was a few days that we were extra dog-less. She didn't bark, whine, chew, destroy anything, she simply refused to get out of bed, or eat. We are now without a foster dog. Bubba went to her new home today. She is possibly the cutest little greyhound ever. Most of the day at the Ipswich Show she was sitting in either Kirsty's or my lap. She is a pocket size grey!

I miss fostering. I have seen so many dogs come through since we started. Pete says that I would have kept ALL of them had I been allowed. That is not true. Of the 26 dogs that have passed through here I fell instantly in love with Patch, and of course, she stayed. I would have liked to have kept Alice, but she and Patch didn't get on so well. I fell for Murph, though he is now in the BEST home I could have asked for. He is much loved and the family keep me updated which is so appreciated, especially given what transpired with Fletch, the other one I fell for. So I have done ok, and I know there is another perfect dog out there and that it will find it's way home. I like a certain type of dog, not based on looks so much as personality. I really wanted a blue fawn girl for my forever dog. I would not swap Patch for the world.....

Techno rage

As per usual, so much has happened since I last posted.

I have not posted because my laptop died! Well, the charger at any rate. It was disastrous, I rely on my computer. I survived perfectly well before I had it, but it has now integrated itself into my life. Quite sad, but anyway, back to the business of Dog Blogging!

We still have Omo staying with us.

As you can see, he is over it. Either that or he is very, very tired. We have been doing alot for your average greyhound and he is less fit than most. First of all we attended K9 Capers. That was fun, there were so many greyhounds there, I think about 17 in total. My girl Asha was there, we got to have quality time before she had to go back with Si again. (sob) Mr Skidattle was also there for his last hoorah before saying Seyonara and heading to Japan to live happily ever after! Skidattle LOVES me. Follows me around and glues himself to me everytime I see him. He and Omo hung out, being that most of the promo dogs are girls....

There are little competitions run at K9 Capers. One of them is "fastest dog" Those who know greyhounds know that our dogs have a slim to nil chance of winning, those that don't assume we are going to blitz it. Don't get me wrong, they ARE fast dogs, just not usually when you WANT them to be, or in this case, chasing a ball in front of an audience. Patch is pretty good at it. She did well at the last one and came 3rd this time, scoring a bag of treats and toys and a book for me. Yay for Patch. Skidattle actually WON. Though being a greyhound they gave the prize to the next fastest and he got a pat! Now, there is no way in the world that he leaves my side by choice, so we cheated a little. I stood across from the start, got somebody else to hold him and when they threw the ball, which he took NO notice of whatsoever, called him. 1.6 seconds later there he was!

After a huge day out we had a doggy (or should that read dodgy!) sleep over...

This is Omo hiding from Patch. She has hit the terrible two's or is just having a crank fest. She is generally a very friendly, happy, easy going dog. She is not growly or clingy or difficult. Lately she has been all three. Poor Omo has been growled and even snapped at, for daring to walk near her no less! The audacity of him! This is odd, since Skidattle can literally sit on her head and she just moves. She just has it in for Omo. Possibly because Omo loves Pete. He lies at his feet and follows him around. She has not come across this before. She is not all that good at sharing....

She hasn't really eaten much since Fletch left us, she is about as mopey and sad as I am. The Chicken is doing happy dances on the other hand!

I am still in negotiations to ensure that Asha comes to live with us.......

Are our Blogs getting crossed?

Omo? you say. But what is he doing here, surely I would be reading Katy's Blog if that were the case....

Well, Mr Omo is at Chicken Manor!! Which means that my little Asha (have decided to call Fletch's sister Asha, it means "life" in Swahili) is at Si's. I made her sign a legal and binding document stating that I was to get her back if the planets align and all things go my way.

Why is Omo here? more to the point, is he staying? That is the $64,000 question. I am torn. Omo is gorgeous, even Pete described him as "spectacular" He has been very well behaved since arriving, totally ignored The Chicken, slept quietly, has only pee'd in the house once (so far!) eaten, basically been lovely. Under normal circumstances I would jump at the chance to have Omo.

These are not normal circumstances. I am emotionally tied to Asha. She is true to form. I fell in love with the first dog from her litter, Murph. Then Fletch, now her. I had to laugh, I got a Ph call late last night. I had dropped Asha at Si's earlier in the day. There was no way that she had chased the cats, she got hissed at, through the screen door no less, and refused to go near the cats after that. So I initially panicked, then laughed when I discovered she had pulled a Murphy. When she was at our house she was angelic, didn't hear a peep out of her. Send her to Si and what does she do? Much the same as Murph, cry, whinge and DESTROY!!!! She helpfully UNpotted all the pot plants....

So now I am between a rock and a hard place. There also happens to be a spanner embedded in the rock (Pete) which I have to take into account. He is a thinker, he mulls. He wants "time" to see how each Omo and Asha fit into our lives. I love him for the fact that his first and foremost concern here is that Patch Rat likes the dog. He is being really great about all this, and making an effort to see how he gets on with them. He has had quality boy time with Omo already. I am pleased, Omo is a great listener and he got to hear Pete's drunken ramblings instead of me having to!

I think they will be great mates, Omo reminds Pete of Norm, the very first dog that he said he wouldn't mind keeping.

I have some hard decisions ahead of me, I know that in the end what will be, will be, and that it will be right. I just don't know what that is right now....