Christmas doggies

Here are a couple of photos of my boys, taken on Christmas morning 2009.  This was Ricky's first Christmas, and even though he may be sitting still in this picture with the hat on, let me assure you that the hat did not last very long, and he hardly sat still all day.
Rusty has been through quite a few Christmases to date, and he was quite happy to sit atop my new show trolley and pose for a photo.  Unlike Ricky, Rusty's hat stayed on until I took it off.

Trip to the beach

I took the boys to the beach last weekend.  It was the second time I've been since I lost Amber, and it was also Ricky's second visit.  I was a bit hesitant, as he doesn't have a proper recall yet, but as there wasn't anyone else on the beach at the time I decided to give him the benefit of the doubt and let go of his lead.  There was no way I was taking that lead off because the little bugger is so fast, it's the only way I can catch him if he doesn't want to be caught.

Ricky had a great time. Geez that boy loves to run.  He went off exploring, and once he got to the end of his comfort zone (which was a fair distance), he turned around and came back to me.  Was pretty happy with that.  Rusty just trots along at his own pace, sniffing and peeing on whatever he deems appropriate at the time.  He's never far behind me.

Funniest thing for the trip was Ricky chasing seagulls (just like Amber used to).  Seagull took off over water ... Ricky followed in hot pursuit.  Oh dear ... what the?  What do I do now?  True to his "big dog" persona, he worked out that to get out of the water he needed to jump over the waves.  He then promptly shook himself off and rolled in the sand!

Home improvements?

I don't think so ... but Ricky does.  Little bugger has ripped a great big chunk out of my lino.  Not happy!  This is the second spot that he's decided to "improve".  The other spot is much, much smaller than this and is easily hidden with the toy box.
I did have plans to replace the lino, but it seems that he wants me to do it sooner than I had planned.

Heart clear at 10 and a bit

I'm a very happy mother today. I took Rusty to the SA Cavalier Club Heart Clinic, and Rusty has been pronounced heart clear again, at the age of 10 years and 2 and a half months.
At the age of 6 months, the Rickster didn't need to go, but when we were at the vet a couple of weeks ago, he said that Ricky's heart sounded good.
The picture of Rusty was taken this afternoon after we got home from the heart clinic.

The places you need to go to escape

Now, this is a sight I thought I'd never see - Rusty in a crate of his own voilition.
Rusty has never been comfortable in a crate. He hated being in them at agility trials with Amber, but was a lot happier once I got the puppy pen. He didn't feel as constricted I suppose.
Imagine my surprise when I found him asleep in the crate! I suppose you have to resort to these things when you need some time out and just want to escape from the puppy.

Let me out!

Aw, come on ... let me out ... I'll be a good boy, I promise (snicker).

Because of the Ricky factor and Rusty's arthritis, I've had to resort to canine massage for Rusty. He was getting acupuncture for the arthritis, but because Ricky keeps jumping on his neck, the acupuncture wasn't effective any more because the location of his pain didn't have a corresponding acupuncture point. Anyway, to keep the ratbag out of the way to allow the therapist to do her stuff, Ricky has to go in the puppy pen. Ricky's not a fan of the puppy pen, especially when there's fun and interesting stuff happening on the other side of it. Rusty says "deal with it little dude".

It's cold and I just want to keep warm

I don't like this cold weather. It's no good for my arthritis. That, combined with having to put up with a puppy jumping over me, well, it's just no good for this old boy's bones. But I'm very toasty and warm here at the moment. Mum's got the electric blanket on, and she's covered me with the blankets and doona. Ahhh, beautiful! Don't know about the pink though - it isn't very manly.

Blue dog

Ricky really does love this little blue dog. He takes him everywhere. Quite frequently he can be seen (and heard) running up and down the hallway, Ringo (that's the blue dog's name) in his mouth, shaking the crap out of it and having a lovely time. Out of all the toys he has ... and trust me when I say that's quite a few ... Ringo is the one he plays with the most.

Cuddles without moving

This is a good sign. Ricky was on the bed first (at the other end) and then Rusty decided to climb up on it too. He even stayed there when Ricky came down to where he was lying for a cuddle. It makes a Mummy very happy when she can see her boys are getting on well together.
This photo is taken in my computer room. The puppy pen in the background is there to protect the curtains from little teeth that like to swing from them. The pen is also long enough to stretch around my desk so that inquisitive puppies can't get to cords. In effect, I can pen myself in so that I can do what I need to do :-)

Settling in well

Ricky is settling in well. He loves his toys and loves to play. He still hasn't convinced Rusty that playing is a good idea, but it's not for want of trying. At least Rusty isn't running away anymore. I can't believe how patient Rusty is with Ricky.
Poor Rusty, he should be enjoying his twilight years in peace, and I've gone and got him a Ricky. Ricky jumps all over him, pulling his ears and hanging off every bit of available fur on poor Rusty's body. The funny thing is that Rusty puts up with it. There is no way I would have ever picked Rusty as being such a tolerant dog. When I've looked after friends dogs in the past, Rusty has been particularly nasty, and I haven't really liked his behaviour. It was also one of the reasons I wanted a female, as I didn't think he'd cope with another male. Boy, was I wrong. It's almost like Rusty knows that this little whipper snapper isn't going away any time soon, so he puts up with it. He does give Ricky a telling off when he needs it though.
Here's a picture of Ricky enjoying some 'special time' with his favourite toy, Ringo, the little blue Rogz dog.

New brother

Ricky arrived at his new home on 13 June 2009. If I said Rusty was happy to have a new little brother, I would be lying. Rusty wasn't sure what hit him. He stayed still and next to Ricky just long enough for me to take the photo and he was off. In fact, the next photo in the sequence is Rusty hopping off the pillow.
Ricky did all the right things when they met - the little play bow, rolled over onto his back exposing his belly, that kind of stuff. Rusty wasn't having anything to do with him, and literally ran away each time Ricky came anywhere near him. Admittedly, Ricky is what can only be described as "full on". There are only two speeds with this pup - flat out, and stop.

Puppy picking trip

For my next puppy, I was looking at getting another female. I had the pick of 2 girls in the litter - Gidget (tricolour) and Flo (blenheim). Linda had been sending updates of the girls, and she'd also uploaded a couple of videos on You Tube. It was when I was looking at these videos that another puppy took my eye ... and it wasn't a girl. When I mentioned that I was interested in "Mack", Linda suggested that perhaps I should get on a plane and come for a visit. The puppies were now 6 weeks old. So, I wangled a day off work and jumped on a plane to visit. Wasn't actually in the budget, but it was the best thing that I did.
As a result of the visit, while they are incredibly cute, I decided that Gidget and Flo weren't really right for me, but Mack seemed like a good future agility prospect. He is outgoing, happy to play on his own, happy to play with others and is keen to explore and try things. While I liked the name, I wasn't 100% sure about it. I've always wanted a dog called Sam, so I asked him if he'd like to be called Sam. Well, let's just say because of the reaction I got from him he's not called Sam. So it was back to the drawing board.
Back to Adelaide I came, armed with photos of puppy to show friends. Lots of suggestions from people, but nothing really seemed to suit him. It wasn't until I was watching TV one night just after the visit that it came to me.
I'd been watching an episode of Lost, and there's a character I like called Richard. I then watched a program called Richard Hammond's Engineering Connections (Richard Hammond is one of the Top Gear hosts). The following night I was watching Castle, and the main character is Rick Castle. Hmmm. I'm getting a theme here. Ritchie ... no, don't quite like that. How about Ricky? Bingo!! Ricky he shall be.
The photo here is me holding Ricky and he's 6 weeks old.

Only child again

In his own way, I think Rusty enjoyed being an only child again. It wasn't until I lost Amber that I realised Rusty really had been living in Amber's shadow. I'm sure Rusty loved all the extra attention he was getting, but I did notice that he was a little subdued. Rusty and Amber never really played all that much together, but they were obviously wonderful company for each other. Rusty has been deaf for a while now (probably since early 2008), and I think he used to rely on Amber to be his "ears". Now that she has gone, I think he's feeling a little lost.
I had been telling Amber that she was going to get a new little sister to boss around, and she'd probably be coming home in the middle of June. I think when push came to shove, Amber didn't want to have to share me with anyone else, so she decided to move on.
Rusty has 5 weeks to enjoy being an only child, then he'll have to deal with puppy mahem.

Farewell to a princess

Montal Amber Dallas ADX JDX SDX SPDX GD

(Amber)

26 October 1999 to 8 May 2009


Career highlights:

• 3rd place Open Agility, 2005 NSW Cavalier Club Agility & Jumping Trial;
• 2nd place (Excellent Jumping) and two 3rd places (Excellent Agility and Excellent Jumping), Pedigree Autumn International Festival, Adelaide, 12 March 2006;
• 4 x 1st places in one day against all height categories, Noarlunga City Obedience Dog Club Agility & Jumping Trial, 18 March 2006;
• In 2006, Amber was the first cavalier in South Australia to obtain both Agility Dog Excellent (ADX) and Jumping Dog Excellent (JDX) titles;
• 3rd place Master Agility and 3rd place Master Jumping, 2006 NSW Cavalier Club Agility & Jumping Trial;
• 2nd place Master Jumping, 2007 NSW Cavalier Club Agility & Jumping Trial;
• 2nd place Open Agility and 2nd Place Master Agility, Papillon Club of Victoria Restricted to Height Agility & Jumping Trial, 16 February 2008;
• 2nd place Master Agility, 2008 NSW Cavalier Club Agility & Jumping Trial;
• Amber obtained her last title, Strategic Pairs Dog Excellent (SPDX) on 13 December 2008 at the tender age of 9 years, 1 and a half months.

Gone, but never forgotten
Run free little one - there are no weavers in heaven.
[Photo by After FX Productions]

The night before

This is one of the last photos I took of Amber. It was taken the night before she died. She was beautiful and loyal to the end. She passed away peacefully in her sleep, several hours after this photo was taken, saving me anguish of ever having to make that one decision all pet owners dread.