Hey hey hey blogaroos. Squirmy here on this the second day of the giantest dog show in the world – Crufts!! Yesterday the Gundogs were judged and the winner of that group was the Lagotto Romagnolo. It sounds like a pasta dish – but if you don’t know the breed, check them out! They are water retrievers but perhaps best known for their truffle hunting skills. I don’t know any personally – but I’d like to. I mean I have golf ball hunting skills, so maybe they could teach me about truffles. I’ll see if I can find one.
Today it’s the Working breeds being judged- and our group – the Pastoral group. In North America we’re called the Herding group – but I like the name Pastoral because it almost sounds spiritual. Because we are such soulful breeds. Plus the humans we own certainly do a lot of praying because of us….mine does anyway.
By the time I post this, I’m not sure if the PON judging will be over. We may need to watch the replay, if we can find it. No matter what, we know every dog competing is a winner at home – and that’s what matters the most. We’ll try to watch the group judging tonight to cheer on the PON. I think there are 20 something PONs competing. The Picards are still in some classification that I don’t understand which I think has to do with the recognition status or something. Anyway, I don’t know how many are competing. I searched but couldn’t find their numbers. Those Picards – I always say they’re different.
If you’re interested in seeing what’s happening at Crufts – here is the link:
https://crufts.org.uk/whats-on/
And here’s the YouTube link where you can watch some things live:
Good luck to everyone attending! Have fun, and buy lots of dog stuff – you’ll have plenty of options!!!
Meanwhile here on the home front, we have one dog on veterinary watch and one runaway. And for a change, you’ll probably guess incorrectly.
First we have the dude who appears to have hurt his foot or his toe on the crusty snow. The Coyote. He came in from outside the other day and was gimpy on his front leg. The Warden checked his nails – and it wasn’t the foot where he had the split nail. She couldn’t see anything, and he seems to be bothered by it on and off. But add to that, he had a typical bout of “I’m not eating” and it was enough to send the Warden’s blood pressure into the ozone. She can’t let him run around in the snow – because he’s worse after. So she takes him out on leash walks on the road. Last night she managed to trick him into eating by having all of us play “Find the Lambie”. Each time he returned with the lamb, whose innards are coming out from too many “finds” – he got a handful of kibble instead of a measly single bite like the Boss and I got. He ate the equivalent of his supper. So his refusal to eat doesn’t seem to have to do with his foot. Unless one reads too much on Google. Anyway, the Warden will keep an eye on him, and will restrict his walking on crunchy snow. If it isn’t better in a few days, he’s off to the vet.
So if the Coyote wasn’t the runaway- who do you think it was? I bet most of you guessed yours truly. WRONG. It was the Boss….
The Boss was annoyed last night because first the Warden had a ZOOM call while he was waiting for supper, and later, she was on the phone when he wanted to go to bed. So he started barking. And barking. The Warden continued to chat on the phone – but instead of letting him out the back door – into the fenced yard, she let him out front. She does that often with him – because he’s “trustworthy.” Ha. He marched out and had a pee and then proceeded to poop in the middle of the driveway. He wasn’t going climbing over any snow banks to poop. From the front door, the Warden could see him – just past the bed of plants we have in the middle of our circular driveway. And then he walked around the bed. She was still chatting, and watching and expected to see him emerge from around the bed. She waited a few seconds and walked from the door to see where he was. Gone. No sign of him. He must have marched up the driveway and she didn’t see him because it was dark. She called. No Boss. She quickly told her friend she had an AWOL dog and she hung up. At first she started up the driveway, but was wearing no coat and had no socks on her slippered feet. She raced in the house, threw on her coat and boots and went up the driveway again. She called. No Boss. She ran back down the driveway and jumped in the car. She had a feeling he was headed to the neighbors with the cats. She slowly began to back the car out of the garage when she heard barking. The Boss was standing and shouting at the front door to be let in.
He came in all smirky and looked at her as if to say “that’s what you get for chatting with friends so long”. We’re still not sure exactly where he went and he’s not talking. Just smirking.
So that’s the news from zoo-ville. I have class today – and I’ve been doing my homework- so I’m aiming for my usual performance of above mediocre. I still have more training to do with the Warden – she’s a slow learner.
Have a good one. Peace and paws up. Stay safe.
Viktorsviews. The Next Chapter. 