Star

We wanted to get out and about recently to enjoy the good weather we were lucky enough to have in the UK, but we had a problem. How could we take Star out and about when she is only able to use three legs? Since her cruciate ligament rupture she has been completely lame in her hind right leg. Then we remembered the stroller we bought when she was a tiny puppy. We ordered it before we even brought Star home as we suspected she would never manage to keep up with or cover the distances that Buddy does. We were wrong; once she was about ten months old she has had no problem keeping pace with our Labrador. She did use the stroller when she was little, and we brought it back out to save

Unfortunately, the news about Star is not good. She has ruptured her cruciate ligament and will need surgery. After her x-ray we had a difficult conversation with a very nice surgeon who took us through all the options. The good news is that he can give her a functioning knee joint again. The bad news is that it will be a long, slow recovery, and she will have to take things extremely steady over the summer. There could be complications like post-op infections, or problems with the cartilage in the joint, plus the cruciate in the other leg may rupture at some point too.

When I uploaded this picture of Star it was just because I thought it would accompany a blog post about how she makes herself comfortable and hogs the best seats in the house. However, since I uploaded she has somehow injured herself, so the photo is accompanying a blog post about that instead.

We walked both dogs on some forestry land on Tuesday evening and they both got excited about some exceptionally muddy water they had found. Both dogs raced around, full of the sheer joy of being alive - and being up to the armpits in muddy water. Star

I got into conversation yesterday with a chap who declared himself a fervent dog lover. His enthusiasm for dogs was apparently only equaled by his dislike of cats. He had lived with both cats and dogs and could not see the point of cats, but a dog was your mate he opined. Then he said that the main reason he couldn't take to cats was that they only attached to humans to get food, and would be just as happy to be fed by somebody else.
 

The snow seems like a distant memory now, but when it was here Buddy and Star had an encounter with a snowman. Just as they had got used to the field across the lane from us being covered in cold wet white stuff, the local children built a snowman. This was something new, an odd development in a usually flat area, and had to be carefully approached. It was interesting to watch their reactions.

They both noticed it as soon as we entered the field, and there was a slight stiffening in both their body language.

I watched the weather forecast this morning which informed me that the morning would be dry but by the afternoon heavy rain would set in. So I decided to switch my day around and walk the dogs in the morning to avoid getting wet. (Remember me not wanting to get wet later in the story.)

A few weeks ago we added two kittens to our growing menagerie. This was something we did with full commitment, but some trepidation as we obviously already have two dogs, plus Anthony is allergic to some cats. However, having made the decision to take them in, we were determined to make it work. You can hear more details in this weekend's show about how the canines and felines have settled down together, but as shown in the photos they are now perfectly happy and relaxed in each other's company.