Zack's Back

Zack, one of Kiva's brothers, as regular visitors will know, is a regular guest at Dogs to Stay - in fact it was through having Zack stay with us that Dogs to Stay came about.


Zack joined us on Saturday afternoon and will be with us for a couple of weeks whilst his hufamily go east for their annual holiday.

The first couple of days have seen the dogs jockey for position - Zack, being an entire male, wants to be pack leader however Mylo quickly let him know who was boss and a hierarchy has now established itself to everyone's satisfaction.

With the temperature in the 80's the dogs are feeling the heat so walks are now early morning and evening. Days are spent with them seeking shade in the garden.

Zack and Kiva celebrated their second birthdays yesterday - Mylo his 3rd the day before - incredible to think that Lappies have now been part of our lives for almost 3 years -

Lappy days indeed

Lappy Birthday Obi

Obi's final day with us at Dogs to Stay was also a special day for him and us as it was his 5th birthday; there was no need for us to get him a present as surely the best gift he could have would be seeing his hufamily again.

Obi met up with his owners mid-afternoon within 30 minutes or so of them landing at the airport after their week long holiday - it was fortunate that dropping Obi off coincided with my grandson's 1st birthday party, just a few miles from our rendezvous with Obi's hufamily. It was lovely to see the joy on their faces when they first saw Obi - it has been a true pleasure having him stay with us and I am so glad that they asked us at Dogs to Stay to have him visit.

Hopefully Obi will return soon - 'till then, take care Obi we hope to see you soon.

Lappy days

Obi the Klingon and his invisible poo

Chilled is not an adequate description of how the dogs have been today - I think they are still recovering from their awayday.

I almost had to drag them out for their main walk today however once we were out and about they soon got into their stride - normally in 3 different directions. Obi decided to enjoy the peace and tranquility of the village churchyard to do the necessary and when I, being a responsible dog owner, went to clean up after him was somewhat concerned about his invisible poo. As he walked ahead I realised that he was suffering with the male Lappy problem caused by the length of their coat at their rear - Obi would need a wash when we got home.

The walk was lovely, yesterday's rain had made the grass lush and the 3 of them enjoyed themselves running through the meadow.

On our return home Obi allowed himself to be washed - I wish Mylo could be so accommodating when he suffers with the same problem - and then lay down with his rear legs spread apart behind him so the sun could dry him off.

Earlier this evening Obi helped himself to one of the many bones in the dogs toy box and has spent the past couple of hours gnawing away on it with Mylo watching enviously - I think Obi might be taking that bone home with him on Saturday.

Lappy days

Obi's Away Day (s)

We don't show Kiva and Mylo that often however we had entered a show in Guildford before knowing that Obi was coming to stay. We had also arranged to spend the day before the show with Kiva's breeder giving us an opportunity to see their new home and have a mini reunion with some of Kiva's litter mates. We had 3 options open to us when we knew that Obi was going to be with us; 1 - to not go to the show, 2 - to go to the show without Obi and have him cared for by out neighbour or 3 - to take Obi with us. A bit of a no brainer really.

The 3 dogs were walked on Tuesday morning prior to our planned midday departure for the 2 hour journey south. We had been forewarned that Obi was not a great traveller but hoped that him sharing the journey with Kiva and Mylo might show him that car journeys could be fun - I was somewhat surprised therefore that Obi jumped into the back of the jeep without any encouragement - Kiva and Mylo had to be lifted in as per normal. The journey was stress free for us all and we arrived safely. Opening the back of the Jeep and the dog guard saw Obi jump out with a spring in his step with no signs of travel sickness at all. Before long he, Kiva and Mylo were exploring their new surroundings - quiet a lengthy process when they had several acres to explore.

Obi was then introduced to the menagerie that is Tabanyaruu - 3 Finnish Lapphunds; Kiva's mum, grannie and grandad and Zinty a wonderful (sic) German Spitz Klein - before we set off into the 5 acre wood that was all part of the home we were staying in that night. Totally secure and dog friendly this wood is an absolute heaven for dogs to explore - though out of sight much of the time we could relax knowing that the dogs could run free and be safe.

Obi next met Zack, Kiva's brother and a regular guest at Dogs to Stay, prior to us setting off to Bourn Woods for mass Lappy (and GSD) walk being joined by Impi (Kiva and Zack's sister) - so that's 8 Lappies and a GSD, sorry GSK that thinks she's a GSD but wants to be a Lappy - quite a sight to the other walkers in fabulous surroundings. 90 minutes later we returned to our home for the evening for a barbecue - all great fun, well apart from a couple of minor dust ups between some of the males - Mylo can be a little overprotective of his pack at times ;-).

The dogs were eventually settled down for the night, Kiva, Obi and Mylo in the kitchen with Sisko (Kiva's mum), Smuu (her grannie), Tuukka (her grandad) and Zinty in the dogs' own room. Zinty being Zinty meant that I was awoken early by her - 5.15am is early for me, so I decided to get up and watch the dogs play in the garden for the next few hours as the rest of the household slept in.

Breakfast was served and then Obi was introduced to Delphi - remember the previous post saying Obi doesn't do cats?

Well he does now.

Having dealt with breakfast and the cat it was time to set off to Guildford for the dogs show - a new experience for Obi as he doesn't, sorry didn't do shows.

Unfortunately the day was somewhat wet and though it was good to see fellow Lapphund owners and catching up on their latest news, it was pretty miserable and cold. However Kiva got herself a couple of nice rosettes, a 2nd and a 4th and Obi got lots of compliments from wannabe owners, fellow Lappy owners and, perhaps more importantly, a number of Lapphund breeders - what about Mylo I hear you ask - well Mylo was Mylo, somewhat vocal and not at all into being shown :-(

The journey home was uneventful with Obi once again dispelling the myth that he doesn't do travelling and he is now once again asleep next to my desk.

All in all a couple of very enjoyable days for us and the dogs.

It's all Lappy days at Dogs to Stay.

Obi Doesn't Do Cats ....

Well that's what we were told ... Though he still barks when either one of the 2 cats come through the cat flap Obi is now quite happy to spend time in the kitchen, lounge or garden with them. The cats seem totally unfazed by him and it would seem as though he has learnt from Kiva and Mylo that cats are not to be messed with.

Other than when the dogs went out for their walk most of the day was spent with them playing in the garden - Kiva chases Obi, Kiva catches Obi, Obi chases Kiva, Obi catches Kiva - Mylo joins in to protect her.

Obi really is a wonderful dog - he has a beautiful nature and some endearing habits, not least the way he sits on his haunches with his front paws raised - not begging for food but to be stroked on his chest. (Picture to follow soon I hope).

A postcard from Dogs to Stay

Ola hupeeps, com esta?

All is good here, in fact other than missing you it is rather fun. Kiva is great fun and she lets me play with her whenever I want to - Mylo just looks on making sure she is OK and comes to her rescue whenever I get a bit, ahem, fruity.

I went for a lovely walk yesterday, discovered lots of interesting smells and left my mark on lots of bushes, trees and poles. On the way out I was on my own lead until we got to a big field where I could run free - on the way home I walked next to Kiva on a brace.

In the evening I had my dinner alongside Kiva and Mylo - a question; how come their food smells nicer than mine?

I met the 2 cats that live here and had the chance to get close and personal with the smaller of the 2 of them - the other one is a bit intimidating and I might well leave him be.

It was great having some company at night and though I had the chance to sleep outside decided to stay inside with Kiva and Mylo.

We had a great walk today, through the village and across lots of fields - Kiva and I spent most of the time chasing each other, Mylo just went off exploring.

When I am not outside playing with Kiva I spend most of my time lying next to Simon when he is at his desk.

I hope your flight was OK and that you are having as nice a time as I am. As Simon would say;

Lappy days