And Now There Are 3

Obi was collected by his hufamily yesterday evening, so we are now down to just the 3 Lappies; Mylo & Kiva and our guest dog Kukko. Strangely the house seems a little empty - however the dogs seem to be quite happy despite the rain we have been having.

Kiva is now the centre of Kukko's attentions and it is a joy to watch them play.

And sometimes even relax

Before Mylo decides to join in

After playtime it was time for Kukko to settle down with a bone

Peace and Quiet

A Video Does Save Having To Type

Happy Mondays

Since Obi and Kukko's arrivals we have enjoyed a couple of decent nights with all of the dogs sleeping through to a decent hour - I just wish I knew where they all slept, well apart from Miia who enjoys sharing our bed.

Our Sunday routine was pretty much as normal - the morning beginning with feeding the pack - a true joy to watch them all tuck in - I must try to get a picture of the 5 of them eating. The dogs enjoyed a couple of long walks across the fields - all remarkably well behaved and coming back when called, well apart from Mylo, no change there.

Obi is his normal chilled self with just the occasional humping episode, hey anything is forgiven of him when he sits on his haunches for a chest tickle. Kukko is the boisterous one, always ready to play with Miia, to bark for a bone that one of the other dogs is enjoying (and in doing so ignoring the other dozen or so bones scattered around the garden). Miia is incredibly tolerant of the attentions of Obi and Kukko though to tell the truth I think she kind of enjoys it. Kiva joins in the fun but quite often disappears under her favourite bush for some peace and quiet whilst Mylo just gets on with things.

Sunday being Sunday a traditional roast would be prepared - the dogs certainly enjoyed helping me with the carrots with them all making the most of the scraps being thrown to them and, with the cooking smells in the kitchen, it was difficult to get them out of it whilst the meat roasted. Dinner was served - though the dogs were fed their normal fare rather than a Sunday roast, we really should have got a bigger joint!

All was peaceful during the evening, at one time I had Mylo and Obi as a pair of slippers and Kiva, Kukko & Miia sharing the sofa with me ....

Lappy days indeed

And now there are 5

Just like London Buses no sooner had one new guest arrived that another turned up - yay; Obi's back, well for a few days anyway, (scan back through some of the older posts to find out more about Obi's first visit - May 09).

Talk about feeling at home - Obi sauntered in as though he had never been away though I think he was momentarily taken aback to see 2 new faces; Kukko and Miia - watching 5 adult Lappies play is a true pleasure - Kukko and Obi are getting on fine, well apart from the odd sulk when the other one is chewing on one of the many available bones. Miia and Obi have met before on one of our mass Lappy walks and they too are getting on fine. Kiva, as always, loves having playmates whilst Mylo observes the action and occasionally joins in with the games.

Feeding 5 Lappies 5 sepearte meals was a lot easier than expected, chicken and kibble for Obi, Chappie and kibble for Kiva, biscuits and Chappie for Miia, Chappie and vegetables for Mylo and kibble (just kibble) for Kukko - no squabbles and 5 empty bowls.

Once their dinners had been digested it was time for their evening constitutional - 5 Lappies, 2 braces and Kukko on his own lead exploring the village and investigating the many smells - even meeting a new resident in the village, a Chesapeake Bay Retriever.

As I write the dogs are all settled -Kiva asleep on the living room floor, Mylo asleep at Louise's feet, Miia asleep in the cool of the kitchen and Kukko & Obi at my feet taking it in turns chewing on a bone.

Obi seems to have lost his front paws

Obi in chill mode

Kiva enjoying a rest

And then there were 4

Miia has insisted that I apolgise for not updating the blog with details of her Friday - so sorry. Actually not much happened other than a couple of walks across the fields - I hope she isn't getting bored ;-)

If she had been then things certainly picked up for her today with the arrival of Arianrhod Kalakukko (aka Kukko), a rather stunning neutered male black tri - a product of Jennifer's Keskyo - probably the largest Lappy I have ever seen - but what a boy. He is with us for a week whilst his owner is at a conference in the Peak district and, at the time of writing, he has certainly made himself at home.

After Kukko arrived this morning, and after Lou's return from Tescos, we all headed out for a walk across the fields - a perfect opportunity for Kukko to integrate with Kiva and Mylo and for Jill, his owner, to see where he would be spending his walks. It was a lovely walk - Kukko and Miia spent much of it chasing each other, and Kiva, across the fields whilst Mylo decided to go walabout again - resulting in him spending much of the walk on lead - silly boy.

Kukko and Miia have struck up an amazing friendship - Mylo just tolerates them whilst Kiva is an ever eager playmate for them - I think Kukko will enjoy his stay and Miia enjoy the extra company of her new beau.

Lappy days

Didn't I Have A Lovely Day

The day I went TabanyaRuu.

Having roused myself from my sleep I went downstairs to join Kiva and Mylo for the day and the opportunity to water the grass. Breakfast was served on time (10/10 for efficiency) and then it was time for a play with Kiva whilst the Dogs to Stay people drank coffee and read the snoozepapers. A pretty normal start to the day.

Things changed though when Mylo and I were put in the back of the Jeep. Kiva was left behind and I must admit I was wondering what was going to happen .... Off we went in the Jeep, through the village and then along lots of winding roads, before long we came to a town and the Jeep was parked.

Mylo and I got out and we were taken into a small building .... oh dear - it was the vets - I recognised the uniforms that the staff were wearing. We didn't have to wait long at all before we were called in to see the nurse... I was a little concerned because even though I knew I was fine I wasn't sure about Mylo - I hoped there was nothing wrong with him as I had kind of got used to him. Mylo was taken to a machine that weighed him - 20.9 it read (not that I can read but I did hear the nurse say so) - Simon was really pleased, the nurse wrote in a book and then we left - if only all trips to the vets could be so easy .... apparently it was Fat Club - somewhere where Mylo has to go every few weeks to make sure he's still losing weight.

Back in the Jeep and before long we were back at Dogs to Stay - we were taken out for a lovely walk and then I played with Kiva in the garden.

Before I knew it I was put back in the Jeep - this time with Kiva whilst Mylo was left at home - off we went, this time for a long long time - eventually we came to Surrey - quite classy really. We waited for some gates to open before driving through and parking. Kiva and I were taken out of the Jeep and I looked around at a huge house .... apparently this was TabanyaRuu Towers - home of the famous TabanyaRuu breeders. Kiva and I were led through into the garden (well I think it was a garden though it did look a bit like a huge field and forest) where I met some more Lappies; Sisko (Kiva's mum), Smuu (Kiva's granny) and Tuukka (Kiva's granddad) - there was another little dog there, I think it was called Zinty but I ignored it because all it did was bark.

It was a pretty good afternoon - we were there for hours, running, playing, chilling, eating bones and sleeping before getting back in the Jeep and driving home. All in all a pretty interesting day - I kind of like it here, something exciting happens most days :-)

Miia Makes Herself At Home

I must admit that I am not too sure how Miia spends her day with her hufamily - but at Dogs to Stay she certainly has made herself at home.

When not playing with Kiva, and sometimes Mylo, in the garden she is more than happy to make herself comfortable on the kitchen floor, the sofa or even Mylo's chair.

Regardless of where she chooses to lie she is always relaxed - I would like to think that she likes it here, certainly she never complains - unless a door is shut on her.

We have just returned from a walk - I am cold and wet, the dogs are just wet - isn't the British summer just great.

Lappy days

Sunday at Dogs to Stay

Sunday saw us looking after Usko as whilst his hufamily spent the day looking at bugs (don't ask). Puppies can be very endearing - they can also be hard work - Usko spent his day being a little of both.

Kiva, I think, was delighted that he was here as Usko quickly developed an infatuation for Miia which Miia seemed to reciprocate, meaning that Kiva could enjoy a fairly relaxed day.

Walking 4 dogs is easier with 2 pairs of hands - just as well really, as Usko decided that the walk home after a stroll around the village was just too much for him - being carried home was far easier for him.

Miia again loved having the extra company - the 2 (sometimes Kiva too) of them
spent all day playing or sleeping - perfect.

On Usko's hufamily's return the dogs (and the humans) were all treated to their share of a traditional D2S Sunday lunch - roast lamb today complete with all the trimmings, before Usko and family took their leave leaving Miia, Kiva and Mylo to sleep and us to relax.

Saturday - and then there were 4

Having now been with us for a couple of days Miia has settled in to becoming part of our pack - in fact there are times when we don't notice that she is here. Meal times are uneventful, walks a pleasure, nights peaceful - all just as it should be.

On Saturday it was time to put the 3 dogs into the Jeep for a trip to Malvern where we were showing Kiva and Mylo at National Working & Pastoral - regular readers of our blogs will know that Mylo doesn't enjoy being shown - Saturday was no different - though at least he was consistent - last in both classes that he was shown.

Kiva did slightly better; 6th in 1 class and VHC (apparently meaning Very Highly Commended - though I think it actually means Very Harshly Criticised) in her other - the highlight of the day was Kiva's sister, Peppi, winning Best Bitch and subsequently Best of Breed.

Miia seemed to enjoy her day surrounded, as she was, by loads of Lappies - she is a great traveller and very well socialised.

Our return home coincided with the arrival of some overnight guest, Ant and Vicky (and their wonderful 5 year old son Connor) and their Lappy puppy Usko (Finnish for faith) - Miia and he became best of friends immediately, playing all evening whilst Kiva enjoyed the break from Miia's company. Bed time saw them all settled - nary a peep from any of them.
As I write all of the dogs are sleeping - we have just returned from a walk, well in Usko's case a part walk part carry. Just another day at Dogs to Stay.

Lappy days

Our Latest Guest

Following our weekend with 5 Lappies Smilla and Susi returned home on the Monday (6th July) leaving just Zack with us who was here until Wednesday (15th) when his hudad came to collect him. Zack is always a pleasure to have as a guest however since his last stay he has developed a rather annoying habit of awakening each morning at 5.00 :-( No matter, a quick run in the garden sees him settle for another few hours.

Our latest guest arrived yesterday - Miia is with us for a couple of weeks whilst her hufamily enjoy some sun, sand and sangria.

Kiva and Mylo have met her a number of times before as she is a regular on our mass Lappy walks - we were all confident that the 3 dogs would all get along fine - apart from the manic 15 minutes when she arrived. This mad 1/4 of an hour has become the norm - the guest dog/s have a rough and tumble with Kiva and Mylo as they try and work out the heirarchy - bizarrely the results are pretty constant - Mylo is most definately top dog (well I like to let him thinks so) and the rest are equals. Miia is a very tactile dog - she just loves human company though the attraction of 2 other dogs with whom to play was obviously a pleasure for her.

Walking with her is a joy - she is not a puller at all and as a result our afternoon walk was a joy - made even more pleasurable by an invitation from one of our friends in the village to see her 9 Clumber Spaniel puppies - just 5 days old :-). Whilst I ooohed over the puppies Kiva, Mylo and Miia played in the garden with a couple of chocolate Labradums, a Dumber Spaniel and a cross Border/Lakeland Terrier - fun and games for all.

On our return it was time to get the dogs fed - our aim is to manage to get all of the dogs fed at the same time and in the same place - not always easy but a great way to establish some order.

I really must get another decent bowl for our guest as the red plastic
one does have a tendency to scoot around the floor.

After eating Mylo and Miia enjoyed a post dinner bone.

The evening was relaxed, Miia alternating between sitting on the floor, on the sofa, in the kitchen or playing in the garden - the 3 dogs really do get on well.

Time came for us to put them down for the night - no problems there .... well for 30 minutes or so when Miia started to make herself heard, a subtle bark or 2 causing me to come back downstairs to check on them - Miia appeared to be annoyed that Kiva and Mylo wouldn't allow her to join them in the kennel. Settled down again it was back upstairs for me - well for 10 minutes or so before Miia started to howl - by howl I mean HOWLLLLLLL - mmm, what to do?

Perhaps she would be better upstairs with us - well that worked well as I was next awoken at 7.30am by Miia rolling over and falling off the bed - bless, a new day at Dogs to Stay has begun.

Lappy days

And Then There Were 5

Though a regular visitor to Dogs to Stay Zack had taken a little longer than normal to settle into our routine - perhaps the heat had something to do with it but, however by Tuesday he was as happy as Larry.

Things were soon to change though .... We had been asked if we could look after Smilla (whom we had had here before) and her playmate Susi (a 3 month old Wolf Sable bitch) for the weekend.

Never one to resist a challenge I welcomed Smilla and Susi to Dogs to Stay yesterday afternoon. Mylo was delighted to see Smilla again, they are, ahem, old friends, and he welcomed her as he had before - somewhat bizarre as he is now castrated, Zack too was somewhat friendly with Smilla however I was assured that Smilla's next season was due at the end of July.

Susi - the 3 month pup, is a treasure - I had forgotten what it was like to have a puppy in the house - she is into everything though totally unfazed by being in the company of 4 adults. I am delighted to be able to say that everyone does seem to be getting on quite well - the dynamics are constantly shifting though; Zack plays with Kiva - Smilla wants to join in, Smilla plays with Kiva - Zack wants to join in, Susi plays with Mylo - they all want to join in. Unfortunately Mylo and Zack have had a couple of spats as they are both getting more and more interested in Smilla - fortunately these episodes are dealt with easily and no grudges are held.

Dinner was served - 5 dogs, 5 different diets a logistical nightmare but it all went off quiet well - 5 empty bowls with the right food in the right dog.

A walk around the village followed - we are used to being seen with 2 dogs, sometimes 3 - but never with 5. Though the pack size had changed the comments didn't; "You could do with a sled" - "Have you been breeding?" etc.The evening was very relaxed - though Susi, whom we expected to fall asleep during the evening, kept going 'till the very end - with all of the dogs chilled.

A quick pee break before bed and then they were put to bed for the night in the kitchen - whether Susi (or maybe Mylo) slept in the crate no one will ever know.

We were awoken at 5.00 this morning - not sure by whom, but a new day had begun for the dogs so up we all got. Today may well be a little tricky as Smilla has most definitely come into season - I have yet to work out how best to keep her and Zack apart but I am sure that things will pan out well.

Lappy days