WIN a fascinating new book - "Animal Grief"

I'm thrilled to see how well Peggy Frezon and Kelly's great book "Dieting With My Dog" is doing and how much support it's getting from fellow bloggers. If you've not got a copy yet you really should.

You may have seen me blog before about Hubble & Hattie - the company who have published Peggy's books and lots of other great animals books.

The company is named after two very special West Highland White Terriers called Hubble and Hattie.

The Lady Of The House has just reviewed a new Hubble & Hattie book called "Animal Grief - How Animals Mourn". 

Don't think it's a depressing read, because it isn't. The LOTH found it really fascinating. The man who has written it - David Alderton - has looked at animals in the wild, like elephants and chimpanzees and whales, as well as companion animals.

He's looked back at what people in the past thought about animals having emotions and feelings - going back to the Greek philosophers - and he comes right up to date with the latest scientific research which actually proves some stuff about animals and their emotions.  But he makes it all very easy to understand and it's liberally decorated with some beautiful colour pictures so it would make a great gift for anyone who loves the natural world as well as a pet lover.

Anyway! Hubble & Hattie have given me TWO copies of the book to give away. And me and the LOTH thought it would be nice if ALL our blogger friends could enter wherever they are in the world. So you can! We'll post it out to you whether you are in America, or Australia, or wherever if you win.

All you have to do is go to this page on the LOTH's Lost and Fond website and fill in the online form before November 12 and TWO entries picked at random after that date will win a copy. The LOTH will email you to get your address if you are a winner. We'll publish the names of the winners on this blog and on the Lost and Fond website too.

I am also going to add this give away to the great new Blogville Community Calendar which Sarge has created - such a great idea to keep up with everything that's going on. Thanks Sarge!

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.....

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.