Lhasa apsos, cones on heads and grooming

 When Penny died, it took me four months to even think of continuing this blog, and for a while I just added the occasional post to keep it alive. And to keep Penny alive on the internet. (She's alive forever in our hearts.)

And then we made the enormous decision to bring another dog into our household. During the worst of the lockdowns here in Victoria in Australia, many people discovered the joy a dog can bring, so we had difficulty getting an older rescue dog. Given my age (not too young is what I'll say), it was a momentous decision to start over with a puppy.

But what joy she has brought us. 

And what a further education in living with a dog. I thought I knew so much about dogs, after fifteen years with one. Now I realise each dog is a new experience. Getting a lhasa apso puppy was a tribute to the fact that we thought Penny had been a lhasa.

Well, no.

Lhasas have special coats. Just because Penny looked like a lhasa does not mean she was one. The groomer warned us. 'Don't think this will be like caring for Penny. She didn't have a thick coat. It was fine and easily managed.'

Yep. She was so right. Peppa's coat is a whole new ballgame.

Recently she had an operation on her right front paw to remove a grass seed buried inside it. 

While the weather was good, sunny and dry, we coped. But once the winter rains set in, we didn't go so well. It eventually turned out that the bandaged foot had healed well, but had got wet under the bandage and needed more time to recover. So, the cone went back on. 

 

The dreaded cone... 

If you've seen the movie 'Up', you'll know it as the Cone of Shame. From now on, I'm going to call it the Cone of Messy Fur.

That darned cone made such a mess of Peppa's head and neck fur.

 

Here are the ears, the worst affected: 

 

In all the kerfuffle over the paw, we've missed out on our scheduled grooming session, and our lovely groomer is going on holidays, so I bit the bullet and decided I'd have to start getting her coat back in order. 

I'm rather pleased with the work I did on her ears. The first one 'only' took thirty minutes.

And then I started on the other ear - the left.

Another thirty minutes - after which it was time for a rest, each of us in her own way. Peppa in her crate, me on the computer.

I figure in another hundred hours we should have the whole coat looking good.

walking in beautiful surroundings

Penny and I are fortunate in the variety of places we can walk together. Here's a recent location:

It's easy to take these wonderful places for granted, but I was reminded recently that such bushy surroundings occur only because of the work put in by local government,  indigenous people and groups of volunteers.

I thought this sign at the Willsmere billabong in Kew had an excellent explanation of why we dog-walkers need to respect the other users of our spaces, both human and non-human.

These plantings are newer than the one pictured at the top, but in time they will be just as lovely:

 

December with my dog

I'm surprised to see I haven't posted any updates on Penny's day-to-day life since October 6th. Where did October and November go?

Anyway, there is one thing to report for November - Penny had a long-overdue haircut. Here she is, energised after the visit to her lovely groomer, Gabby.

Penny has never been fond of being groomed, but when I took her for a walk prior to going into the salon, she tugged me down the driveway into Gabby's place. That's what I call 'voting with your feet'! Gabby has a gift for making Penny relaxed and happy.

It had been cool for November, so I covered her with a blanket the first couple of nights, as she has quite a thin coat.

I didn't have to do that for long. December arrived with a vengeance, and hot, hot weather landed on us. It was too hot, even at night, to walk, so I drove to Kepala to give her a swim. I loaded up a big container of  water in a cooler in case the car broke down, because I don't think she could deal with 38°C these days. She was panting in the back seat, even with the air conditioner going, but we got there safely after the 50 minute drive.

It was worth it.

The rules specify that humans are not allowed past the blue line, so I took that as a definite instruction to wade in up to the blue line. (When I wasn't taking a break in the shaded hut.)

It's not only about keeping cool. The benefits of swimming are wonderful for old dogs with joint problems. Look at how she stretches her limbs when she swims.

Getting ready for summer

Penny is rarely clipped, but we knew we'd better bite the bullet and do it, if we want to check for ticks, now that they are in Melbourne.

So, this is Penny a few weeks ago...

And now...

Waste not, want not - we put her fur in the compost.

All of my composting books agree that pet hair is a great source of nitrogen.

The 'Bible' of composting, The Rodale Book of Composting, says: Between 6 and 7 pounds of hair contain as much nitrogen as 100 to 200 pounds of manure. Like feathers, hair will decompose rapidly in a compost pile but only if well moistened and thoroughly mixed with an aerating material. Hair tends to pack down and shed water, so chopping or turning the pile regularly will hasten decay.

Hmm... after reading that, I realise I'd better get out there tomorrow and break up the clumps of hair.

the eastern paralysis tick

Up until now we haven't worried about ticks attacking Penny, because they had not been reported in Melbourne. However, when we holidayed at Best Friend Retreat we put tick prevention on Penny, because we had heard the creatures were gradually encroaching into Victoria along the coast from the east. Penny had a bad reaction to Advantix, so I won't be using it again.

Which leaves us with a dilemma, because by all accounts the eastern paralysis tick has made it to Melbourne now. I guess we'll have to have her coat clipped shorter this year, and we'll have to check her regularly in the tick season.

We do have a tick removal tool, which a family traveller brought back from NewYork. We thought it was just a novelty until now, and when we looked at it, we'd feel so smug that we don't have to worry about ticks. What a pity we've now joined the majority of dog owners in having another thing to watch out for!

I've read that dog owners should keep the vegetation clipped in their yard. Not a hope of that here, because our garden is based on the 'food forest' concept.

dogs and lips and rocks

It's hot now in Melbourne. If we didn't have a dog, we'd be slouched in front of the television in the evenings. But we do have a dog, so we're out walking.

Thank God for dogs.

Otherwise we'd miss seeing  fascinating things like this mouth-shaped cloud. Lips in the sky, ready to kiss the world and make life good.

But Penny teaches us to look down as well as up. Interesting planet we live on. The only one we've got, so we'd better look after it.

Today: high bushfire danger. The temperature reached 31°C. Tomorrow's predicted weather: top of 22°C.

I think Dr Tim Entwistle is right. It's time we realised the 'seasons' we've inherited from Europe don't apply to Australian conditions. Today was summer and tomorrow is predicted to be spring. I'll start adding Dr Entwistle's Sprinter and Sprummer to my vocabulary. Or, perhaps I could investigate the traditional seven seasons of the earliest inhabitants of this area, the Wurundjeri people.

The Wurundjeri clan that inhabited the Melbourne area would often spend the summer months upon the banks of the Yarra and its tributaries. In winter, they would often head to the Dandenong Ranges (known as Banyenong) to make use of its timber for firewood and shelter. Wurundjeri divided their year into seven seasons rather than the familiar four. The arrival of a new season was based on the onset of a natural event such as the blooming of wattle or the first appearance of the blue wren.

As Penny and I drove home from another delightful Bowen session at Yarra Glen with Deb, we stopped at Warrandyte - lunch for me and a swim in the Yarra for Penny, seeing today was a foretaste of summer. We met some girls who'd seen a snake swimming in the river yesterday and I asked them whether the snake swam with its head up out of the water. They said it was flat on the surface of the water. It bothers me that if Penny saw a snake in the water she might think it was a stick and swim towards it.

But it wasn't likely there'd be any snakes around where we swam today, at a delightful little sandy beach, because of the...

horses!

Penny didn't even see them the first time she dashed into the water to collect the stick I threw.

It was only when she was shaking out her wet fur that she decided it might be a good idea to stay well back from these enormous dogs. (She hasn't been near horses before.)

Once I threw her stick back into the water she was off again, not in the least bothered by the horses.

Or the inquisitive ducks...

climate rally in Melbourne today

Police estimate there were around twenty thousand people at the huge rally in Melbourne today. We gathered to tell our government that we do care about the environment and that we - the voters - demand they take out insurance against disaster by supporting sustainable energy use.

The organisers said they believed there were thirty thousand at the rally.

Whichever number you believe, it was a lot of people standing up for the environment.

And there were dogs, too!

Penny doesn't see the eclipse of the moon

I took Penny down to a nearby street corner to watch the moonrise tonight, because the moon was to come up totally in eclipse.

Penny didn't seem to understand the idea of setting off for a walk and then standing around for ages. In her opinion, that's a waste of time, so she tried mightily to convince me we should dash up and down the footpath, here and there, anywhere. But since it was rush hour on the road beside us, I decided to take her home and go back to watch the eclipse with other humans, who understand that we need to take time to see how the universe around us works.

 Penny looks rather sad in this photo, but she was actually quite happy to stay home, because I had scattered little fish treats around the floor.

The eclipse wasn't very exciting, to be honest. Just an orangey blur barely visible through the mucky pollution on the horizon. But it was great fun to meet other locals and watch the shadow of our planet move across the surface of our nearest neighbour in space.

It's amazing to think that we were seeing the curve of planet Earth across the Moon, just as the ancients did.

A neighbour mentioned to me that it was this phenomenon that first led ancient Greek philosophers to realise Earth is a sphere.

In following up on her remark, I came across this great clip from Carl Sagan's show Cosmos, in which he explains how Eratosthenes worked out the circumference of the earth, so many thousands of years ago. He realised that Earth could not be a flat surface. It must be curved. Just in case you don't want to click across to YouTube, here it is:

dogs at Melbourne rally support a fair deal for refugees

When I walked in today's huge rally asking our government to treat refugees fairly and humanely, I left Penny at home.

She's not good in crowds, so I thought she could best support the cause by resting on her comfy mat.

I did, however, see this dog passing by with his human.

I thought they weren't part of the crowd, but this dog definitely was.

I checked out the dog's eye view Penny would have had if she had come.

To me this sign sums up the issue...

another session of Bowen therapy for dogs

Here's a photo of Penny taking it easy after another session of Bowen therapy for dogs. (It's rather hard to see, because she was so comfy in the darkness that I didn't have the heart to use the flash. And the strange colour is  a wash of light from the television set.)

We have been given notes by our therapist, Deb from Bow-Rei Me. (Don't you love that business name?)

Some tips for an after-Bowen day:
Allow Penny to rest undisturbed for as long as she needs, because the body integrates the work best during rest or sleep;
no brushing or bathing for couple of days;
no vigorous stroking or patting for a couple of days (that's a hard one to remember!);
don't give Penny other sorts of treatments for about four days;
tell the vet about the Bowen treatment if we are on medication.

Penny has become increasingly happy with the therapy. In Bowen treatments, the practitioner sometimes moves away from the dog to allow the body to respond to the treatment.

Whenever Deb moved away from Penny, Penny eagerly looked at her, or even moved close, as if saying, 'I'd like more of that, please.'

It's a lovely non-invasive treatment.

bushfire smoke over Melbourne

Penny had a quiet day today, because the smoke from the bush fires is drifting across the city of Melbourne and we didn't think it was a good idea to go walking.

Here's the view of sunset over Melbourne on 22 December 2013 with the nearby city buildings silhouetted against the sky.

Here's the same view tonight, with the buildings lost in the haze of smoke.

The Moon is red, as it was in the terrible fires of 2009. Thank God no lives have been lost this week, a wonderful credit to the organisation of the fire response, and to the bravery of our wonderful CFA firefighters and the other firefighters who assisted them. It's so sad, though, for the many people who have lost their homes.

a post not about dogs

This post is for Mitch and Molly. Their humans have black swans, way over on the other side of the world from Australia, and after I read their comment on my previous post, that their 'lady swan' is playing around at nesting, I thought I'd post these two photos of black swans nesting a few weeks ago right in the middle of the city of Melbourne, on the Yarra.

a giant pear tree

When Penny and I walked in Banksia Park yesterday, we admired the old cherry orchard and then headed off along the walking trail. I stopped to read this sign...

(Click on the photo and the sign will 'biggify' so you can read it.)

What old pear tree, I wondered. I looked around. No pear tree here. Only this giant tree I'm standing under...

I looked up. Oh, wow!

Omigod! Is that how big my little backyard pear tree will grow? We don't generally see big deciduous fruit trees in Melbourne, because European settlement only dates from about the 1840s in this area. This would have to be the oldest pear trees I have ever seen in Melbourne.

I had to convince myself it was indeed a pear tree. I still couldn't believe they get so big. So to Penny's mystification I climbed onto the nearby seat to examine the blossom. (She looked away from the horrible sight of me peering down at her.)

Yes! Pear blossom!

Penny and I will be back early next year to see if there's fruit for the picking.

Cherries and a dog park

While most of the family were at the MCG watching Hawthorn Football Club become the AFL 2013 Premiers, Penny and I walked at Banksia Park.

For me it's the park of last resort, because to walk around it briskly takes only three minutes. Three minutes! I guess it's somewhere different to go, with new smells, and when you're not feeling very energetic you can stroll around a couple of times and at least know you've taken the dog for a walk.

However, when I looked up info about the park, just now, I realised it's a park aimed at older dog owners, or ones with a disability, so I can see that it's a good resource for the area, because it's well fenced and has open areas for dogs to chase balls - a handy place for humans who can't walk well.

Looking over the fence, I noticed an old orchard of cherry trees, so I had to go and investigate, seeing I'm keen on edible gardening. I read on this site that the orchard is called The Japanese Cherry Orchard, because it was planted when the Japanese Prime Minister visited. I'm keen to find out moreabout this visit and about the age of the cherry trees, but will have to research it off the Net, because I can't find any information online.

Because the place was deserted - everyone else watching the big footy finals, I suppose - I thought it would be okay to break the rules for once and investigate the orchard with Penny off-lead. (The grass was too long for me to cope with her on lead.)

While I admired the blossom...

Penny ate some delicious grass.