RIP my wonderful Maximus

Yes he's gone. He was put to sleep at 10.30AM on 19th April 2010. He was such an amazingly special dog and I will always love him. I cant believe hes really gone.

On Saturday and Sunday he could hardly walk at all on one of his back legs, so we took him to the vets and they couldnt believe how swollen it was. He was in so much pain, we had no idea. He just never showed it, always happy, always smiling.

And thats how I will always remember my wonderful Max, as the happy, smiley dog he was that fought for what he loved and therefore beat all what the vets said.

He proved the world wrong, and proved that if you love something you should fight for it.

I will always love you my wonderful Max. You meant so much to me, words just cannot express how much I love you.

You can now run pain-free and without those horrible hips getting in the way. I will always love you.

RIP my wonderful, wonderful, one in a million Maximus.

Spring's first appearence

Yep, Spring has finally made an appearance. Usually I'm sad to see winter go because we never have a proper winter, but we've had more than just a good winter this year =]. As much as I have loved the snow, we are all glad to see the sun again and now we are going for tonnes more loong walks again. The dogs are back into there routine of an hour walk every day when I get back from school, plus the looong walks at the weekend and now the suns back we have plenty more hours of daylight and we have more time for taking photo's.

We now have two fields we go to after school, sometimes we go for our typical run round the field, or we mix it up and go to our 'new' field up the road and seeing as its always full of dogs its perfect for socialisation. I have a thing about taking the dogs to the same place over and over again, so now we mix it up even more.

Indi is getting so much better, I am so happy with him. Hes still nowhere near the stage where he can be let off-lead around other dogs but we are getting there. He now isnt barking at dogs on a lead hardly at all, I'm very pleased =].

Max is also going out more, just for a few minutes every now and then but its better than nothing. He isnt showing any signs of pain, so the more he doesnt the more he can go out. Its great to see his smile back when hes out, I really do love my crazy Maximus=].

So for now some pics from our walks. As you can see all the dogs are very happy the sun has returned, although Lola's decided shes not going to look at the camera =]. Indi & Ernie are just posers =D.

RIP Jasper & more snow:)

Today was a very strange day. Recently Jasper, our chinese water dragon, has been ill. He hadnt opened his eyes for days, he constantly had his mouth open and wasnt eating. We knew something was wrong, so every morning I've been checking on him. Today I went to check on him, picked him up and he was dead. It was horrible, and its really sad as he wasnt even a year old. We think he must have had some strange disease but we dont know. I think we'll stick with dogs, cats and cockatiels from now on as they dont contract strange diseases that we know nothing about. At least he had a good life, even if it was cut short.

On a brighter note, today I took all the dogs for a walk in the snow. Max loved being out again, even if it was only for a few minutes but its better than nothing. Theres no point him being alive if he cant go for walks. The snow is now just really ice and is melting really fast. We sure are going to miss it, but have enjoyed it a lot while its lasted. Things are going to be back to normal tomorrow, school back on, exams coming up and everything being very busy.

So for now here is a pic of Jasper, and some pics from our walks today.:) I didnt take any pics of Indi when I took him, and didnt take many of Ernie as I already have lots of them in the snow, so there mainly Lola & Max!

...and more snow!

Nope, no fresh snow but all the snow from yesterday froze over and so we could still have plenty of fun! The sun came out as well, so everything looked absolutely beautiful, it was a real winter wonderland. The pavements were absolutely frozen solid, I'm surprised I didn't fall over today! I did nearly a couple of times though, and the dogs slipped quite a bit. But hey, it was all fun and we all had tonnes of fun. I took Ernie for a long walk, that ended up lasting 2 and a half hours due to not being able to walk fast because of all the ice! There was no way I was going to walk Indi on the pavements, I would have probably ended up on my bum!
So I took the other 3 down the field! Yes, Max and Lola too! Well I decided Lola might as well go out while the snows about and theres no point in Max being alive if he cant go for walks so I took him as well. He loooved being out and had great fun digging and playing in the snow.
Well I doubt its going to last much longer, well its melted in most other places but we are definantly making the most of it!
Even though the snow is all ice now, the dogs still loved leaping for the snowballs and we all still had so much fun, only a week till christmas!

What a fantastic xmas this is turning out to be:)

Here comes the ice, hail and snow!

Yep, we finally have proper ice and proper winter weather! Ok, so no proper snow thats layed but no suprises there as it always seems to miss us out down here :(. We've had plenty of hail though, and plenty of ice! As I speak its sleeting outside.

Well the dogs have mixed emotions about this weather. Max isnt really bothered, Ernie doesn't like it as it keeps making him shiver on walks and theres no snow:(, Indi loves chasing the hailstones *sigh* and Lola is just well Lola! Ernie absolutely loves snow and rain, but anything else he hates. He is not a big fan of hailstones and where its so cold if he stops for long he starts shivering. He's fine, as long as he keeps moving! However, the cold does mean we can go for loong walks and we have definantly been doing that! I absolutely ADORE walking in the frost and ice and seeing everything glitter with the frost. Also, where I've been on study leave I was able to go quite early in the morning and the woods were full of squirrels:). I really am loving this winter, however if it snowed I would be just that little bit happier;).

So for now some pics from our walks and as you can see its VERY cold:). I am also slowly getting more and more footage for a new video!

December arrives!

Well December has made a very wet appearance! At the moment all were getting is rain, rain and a bit more rain! Were all getting sick of the mud, the wet and the dullness. However, on the upside the christmas decorations are up and christmas is on its way! It would just be nice for the rain to ease off!
I have been very busy with schoolwork so the poor dogs aren't getting as much attention as I would like and not as many walks as I would like. However, the christmas holz aren't far off, and then we can walk and walk for miles everyday so I'm just looking forward to that! Every weekend I'm trying to take the dogs for at least two hours down the beach, so they're still getting to go down the beach at the weekend, and shorter walks in the week but just not as much as I would like. Poor Max still can't go for walks at all, and its awful. He's so playful and energetic, he really does miss his walks.
Well not much to update, so here are some pics from the past few days. No new pics from our walks, its been too wet for that! Ernie loved getting involved with putting the decs up, he was extremely loving the Santa hat which he kept chewing and playing tug of war with! He loved all the tinsel and kept rolling around when I put it on him and playing with it. He really is such a sweetie! The last pic has to be my favourite, they really do love eachother! =)

Enjoying Autumn and Winter is nearly here!

Well we really are enjoying Autumn at the moment! Winter is definantly on its way, which is better weather for walking Ernie. It's a shame he has only been out twice since Monday. On the days he hasn't been out, we have been making up for it by doing a LOT of training. Not just with Ernie, but Indi too! I will have to make a new video soon, we are just working on everything at the moment. Obedience is the main priority, and I am really working on heelwork, waits/stays and focus. Ernie's heelwork gets better everyday, Indi's is improving so much as well! I have also been working with Ernie on fading out hand signals with tricks and obedience. He is doing great, and sometimes adds his own moves in as well! His enthusiasm has just gone up so much for tricks, this time last year he found them pretty boring! Indi finds everything where he can jump and get treats fun! Although he has the shortest attention span I have ever seen in a dog!
Well, even though walks have been decreased, on Sunday me and Ernie did go for a 10 mile walk in just under 4 hours! As we had nothing else to do, and the weather wasn't too hot or too cold I decided to go for a long walk to the nearest sandy beach to us. I first had to walk to the stony beach that is nearby. I then just followed the beach round, although there was a big bit where dogs weren't allowed off-lead which was a bummer. But then, we got to the end where we usually turn off when were in the car. I got really excited because I thought we were here! However, this was just the start of the path behind all the golf courses. On one side was the beach, which was still stones, and on the other was all the golf courses and sand dunes. This path went on forever. It was probably about 3 miles in itself! When it did finally end, we still had to go along the road to get to the car park where we usually park. This took another 15 minutes. Then we finally got to the start of where we usually start when were in the car. However, the tide wasn't out far enough so we only got a tiny bit of sand! We then walked all the way back and by the end my legs ached so much! Ernie was still running at the end! It was a fantastic walk, although I may take a break next time and not walk as fast and then maybe my legs won't ache as much as they did.
Well December is getting closer and closer, and the weather is getting colder and colder! I hope for some snow soon, but we shall see. Ernie adores this weather, and so do I! Indi doesn't care and neither do the others! Max still can't go out, and now I don't know if I ever will be able to walk him again. Were just playing it day by day and if nothing gets better by after christmas we will have to start thinking about that awful decision. What's a life worth living if you can't do what you love?
On a brighter note, my bird is laying eggs! We don't think they've got anything in there but hey you never know! We do have 2 birds that look very different but we have no idea if the other one is a female or not. He's never laid eggs so he could be a male but were not 100%.
Well no new pics, but hopefully a video soon! :)

Winter is here!

The Autumn weather has really been amazing this past week, I'm so glad I've been off school to really enjoy it. Indi and Ernie have loved going for long runs down the field everyday, or down the beach or park or wherever really! Now the clocks have gone back there will be a lot more days I wont be able to take the dogs out at all, and the dogs will probably only get about half hour off lead run on school days. I hate it, thats the only part of winter I hate. Of course, it leaves plenty of time for tricks, obedience and just about everything training wise.

One thing I really want to work on is Indi's stays. He has a stay, they are just not very reliable. I would also like to train a stand stay and then teach Ernie to go and jump over him. I have now finally got some ideas for some new tricks and shaping games so we will be kept busy this winter! I will keep this updated mainly so I can keep track with what were working on! Ernie is doing great with building his confidence around strangers, one thing we've been working on. Indi, however still has a long way to go but we are slowly getting better.

Now I have a really cute photo of Max, he isn't getting any better but is still as soppy, playful and cute as ever :).

Madness

These past few weeks have been complete madness. School work has been piling up and up, and I've had a lot to do outside of school so the dogs have had a lot less time. Well, its half term next week, so I will catch up on all the time I've missed then! Hopefully make a new video as well!
The main news is that at the moment poor Max can't go out for walks, I took him today for the first time in ages and he just limped constantly. The vets told us his life expectancy was around 8 years old, and he is now 8 and a half, 9 in February. We are all just expecting the worst at the moment, and preparing. I am treasuring every second I have with him, he is still the crazy, bouncy Labrador I've always known! Of course, this could all just blow over and be nothing, he has been fine before! He is a fighter, and keeps on fighting!
Well today on our walk, we saw a rabbit. I've seen rabbits before, but none of my dogs have ever been bothered before. I only noticed it when Lola just stopped and stared in the direction of the rabbit. Then, Ernie went running over, and Lola followed. They both spent a few minutes hunting this rabbit, and luckily came back with nothing! Ernie was very distracted for the rest of the walk, but we still had tonnes of fun!
Not much else to report, and no new photo's!