Wordless Wednesday - Smiling for the camera

Happy Birthday dear BOTH

The Boy Of The House became a teenager this weekend.

Apparently this means there is a danger that he may start staring at us and saying "Whatever!" and grunting a bit.

Personally, I don't believe it. He's far too smiley and nice.

He is now very grown-up though and has joined me on Facebook and got his own email address for the first time.

Last night he had a big birthday cake and three of his really nice friends stayed over. Wil and Dom and Shaun are lovely and were very kind to me.

Happy Birthday BOTH.

I Love You!!

Wordless Wednesday - Last of the summer sunshine

An eye update - and the 'joys' of ageing

Thank you to everyone who's been wishing me well with my current eye problems.

I was back at the Pride Veterinary Centre on Friday where my eye specialist was very pleased with how my eye was improving - slowly - but I have to keep on with the eye drops and ointment for another three weeks and then go back and see her again.

What I have got - deep breath - is called Nodular Granulomatous Episcleritis. According to what I've read on the Internet, Cocker Spaniels and Collies get it a lot. And me, apparently.

It's in my left eye - which by coincidence the Man Of The House took this charming picture of before the trouble started.

It can be a long term condition and my eye doctor says no-one really knows what causes it - although UV rays are one possible factor.

Anyway, on this visit to the Pride Centre I met a really nice Yorkshire Terrier called Lizzie in the waiting area. She was 14 and with her folks who told the LOTH that she had quite a lot of heart problems and other issues. She was really nice and we got on well and sitting with her helped to calm me down and stop me shaking so much. I hope she was OK.

It got me thinking about getting older, and that made me think about this book - Living With An Older Dog - that was published recently by Hubble & Hattie.

You may recognise the name of the publishers as they are the same people who have published our friend Peggy Frezon's great book - Dieting With My Dog - recently.

I would urge you to check out Hubble & Hattie's website as they only publish animal books and you will find some GREAT books there.

Anyway, Living With An Older Dog is a really useful book, and me and the LOTH are really pleased that Hubble & Hattie sent us a copy to review recently.

It's packed full of useful facts about the changes that dogs go through - mentally and physically - as they get older. It's really not a depressing read because there are lots and lots of positive things about getting older (whether you are a dog OR a person!) and we should never forget that.

I love living in retirement with my family as I have my own space where I can go when I want to be alone and sleep and I can be with the family when I want some company and hugs and fuss. I still really enjoy a game in the garden - and I LOVE my walks and trips in the car - but I also like having peace and quiet.

The LOTH says we'll be keeping this book close to hand as it has lots of useful information and it's very reassuring. It's written by David Alderton - a trained vet - and Derek Hall - an experienced pet writer who has owned and trained lots of dogs himself. They know their stuff. There's lots of practical advice about travelling and holidaying with older dogs and diet and special care that might be needed.

I know we all rely on our vets for lots of advice and support, but me and the LOTH think this book is a nice addition to have at home as well.

I have got a little bit fed up of the eye drops - but for now I am down to just four eye drops a day (from six) and two lots of ointment and I am getting little bits of cheese as a treat for being a good girl about it all.

If any of my blogging friends out there have any experience of this NGE eye problem I'd love to hear from you to compare notes!

Wordless Wednesday - A restful day

Wordless Wednesday - You can lead a dog to water.....

Tasty Tuesday - Treats that cheer

Do any of you have owners who give you a little treat when they've had to do something to you like put in eye drops or something not too nice? I think it's a guilt thing - but guilt is good in my books if it gets me something tasty.

At the moment I've got a problem with my left eye. It started to get a bit red and then a lump came up and three trips to the vets in the village, and two lots of eye drops and a set of tablets haven't helped (in fact although the swelling went down the red lumpy bit on the white of my eye seemed bigger). So this week I've had to go to a big new state-of-the-art dog hospital in Derby. 

The Lady Of The House thought that because it was a big and light and airy building that looked more like a big shopping place than a vets I wouldn't know where I was. Huh!!! I'm not THAT daft.

There was a happy little Shih Tzu dog bouncing about in the waiting area. His folks told the LOTH that he hadn't realised it was a vets or he'd have been shaking like I was. I think he got the message as before I got called in to see the special eye doctor he was lying very quietly and glumly under his chair.

The eye doctor was very nice and did lots and lots of tests and she thinks I've got an eye disease that she says is quite common in sighthounds and it should respond to steroids.

Anyway (finally) we get on to the Tasty Tuesday bit.

The Man Of The House decided to reward me for being SO good about having my eye drops in when I was on three a day. Since my trip to the hospital I am now on six lots of eye drops a day PLUS two applications of ointment. The LOTH thinks that as a result my treats have to be rationalised. She says eight treats a day is a bit too much.

But I am STILL being good abut my eye drops. The LOTH has a list to remind her when to do them throughout the day. And I only have very small healthy treats of just a little bit of chicken or cheese - so don't worry Kol and Kelly, and Sugar. I'm still eating my two balanced meals a day (even though my nose is a bit long for my bowl sometimes in my eagerness to eat) lots of good walks and garden playtime and just small snacks....some of the time.

Work work work

I am sorry for those of you who have weather that's too hot, or too cold, or too wet or too dry. But hear in recent days it's been just right.

The Lady Of The House  brought her tiny teeny computer into the dining room to work so that I could lie just outside the doors into the garden and she could enjoy the fresh air and my company.

Sometimes I went a little bit further away from her to lie on the grass.

But I soon came right back inside - just in case she needed my help.

Just shout if you get stuck on writing anything, won't you?

October in England

So here we are, it's the first weekend in October when we're normally all cuddled up next to the central heating radiators going full blast.

Instead of which we've been basking in glorious sunshine.

I've had a lovely weekend with my family. Hope you all have too.

We are making a late entry into this weekend's Pet Blog Hop.

The Pet Blog Hop is hosted by Life With Dogs, Two Little Cavaliers and Confessions of the Plume.

If you'd like to join in and make new pet blogger friends, please follow your three hosts, add your blog to the Linky and copy and paste this week's new Linky code into the html editor of your own blog. The list will automatically update on everyone's blogs as new sites add themselves over this weekend and we can all hop from blog to blog and find out everybody's news.

Thanks again to our three hosts for putting on the hop!

If you follow a new blog after finding them in the blog hop - please let them know that you found them on the Saturday Pet Blog Hop.