meg price's photostream  

Barney in the buttercups at dusk yesterday - listening intently to the sound of scampering labrador puppy paws coming towards him! He looks a little alarmed here and normally, if I'm honest, I'd have been looking alarmed as well at the sight of a lab racing towards us because many labs we've met are pushy and "overly-friendly" rude - resulting in an extremely irritated collie!! However, the scampering puppy paws belonged to a lab we meet regularly and who is really lovely - even Barney likes her!! She's 6 months old, sweet, wriggly and submissive and loves nothing more than running about after Barn... He tolerates being chased with good humour and I hold some hope he may yet actually play with her properly at some point :)

Barney doesn't really "do" playing with his fellow dogs much at all. If he's playing with me they're completely and utterly ignored - dogs can bark at him, play tuggy with his tail and jump on his head without Barney even blinking! Left to his own devices, he treats most canines with cool indifference. Rude dogs, who attempt to push him around, or pester him get told in no uncertain terms to back off. Occasionally Barney himself can be a bit obnoxious with large males - obviously I put a stop to that when it happens, luckily he's calming down as he gets older! Every now and again though we meet a dog Barney actually likes and while it's incredibly rare for him to actually play, he clearly enjoys their company and will tolerate almost anything from these select few. Locally, there are 4 dogs I can think of that fall into this category: the labrador, a young male kelpie, a german shepherd bitch and a male working cocker spaniel. He's very selective!!

Thanks so much for all the well wishes last week, it means such a lot. My hospital visit went well - I was seen by the doctor who diagnosed (and operated on!) me which was nice. He was very pleased with my progress, how well I was looking & esp with the way the scar on my neck is healing (I have a scar from ear to ear across my throat, where 40 lymph glands were removed) and said my mouth etc looked fine. Also had confirmation that while it was really aggressive, we caught the cancer pretty early - as it was only T2 (TNM staging), which is great for future prognosis - guess that's one plus about tongue cancer, you really can't NOT notice it!! I've been having some soreness at the back of my throat for a while though, I've been told I'll have to have a tube stuck down there to have a look, if it's still painful in 4wks... Really hope the pain goes soon! Not because I'm worried, it's almost certainly an effect of surgery & radiotherapy - I just don't like the idea of a tube down my throat! Fingers crossed :)

Barney went for a paddle in a stream today (hence the wet face!!) but it was the sea of grass he had to swim through :) Lots of rain and a bit of sunshine have worked their magic and what was short, tufty grass a few weeks ago is now waist high! Barney loves his new green jungle, as he always has - he spent a large portion of his walk this morning just springing around for no apparent reason, going back and forth and round and round in massive circles. I snapped this, fully expecting it to be completely out of focus, as he bolted back towards me and the path, for a quick "hello", and when I saw those flying ears and his excited expression, I knew it had to be this week's photo :)

Walking Barney in the local fields at the moment is a bit like playing a long game of hide and seek (with me continually being the seeker!). Barney doesn't go very far but the long grasses, thick undergrowth, low-hanging trees and steep-sided banks of the stream make it very easy to lose sight of him. Sometimes, I call him and he approaches from completely the opposite direction to the one I was expecting! Thankfully he always seems to know where I am and has a good recall (even in the presence of ever-so tempting bunnies!), so he doesn't get lost, or into mischief when we're out, just manages to regularly confuse his path-using owner...

As of Friday 18th May, it's 6 months since I finished radiotherapy!! Yay :) Off to the hospital next week for my monthly check-up (fingers crossed everything is OK) and another appointment to discuss my progress with eating/speaking etc. Poor Barney has to stay behind and entertain himself in Wiltshire (my auntie, uncle and cousins will keep him company) while I'm up in Worcestershire but the week after, we'll hopefully be having a couple of exciting adventures together...
Hope everyone is having a lovely weekend!

Well, the 52 Weeks for Dogs group challenge this week was "action blur". This photo is not really action blur although it IS an action photo and a bit blurry, or perhaps simply "slightly out of focus" would be a more accurate description!! However, I kept coming back to it, there was just something about the sense of freedom and Barney's joyful springiness, and even it's slightly out-of-focus-ness, that I rather liked and so here it is, a bit different to my usual photos :)

This was taken on Cherhill (said "chair"hill), a steep hill with beautiful views of Wiltshire all around it and a giant white horse carved into the hillside. Cherhill also happens to be just up the road from "Labour In Vain Hill" which I think must be one of the most wonderfully original place names that I've ever come across... I've been up Cherhill before but it was all new for Barney and for a moment or two at the start of the walk, I worried he was going to be nervy and have to be kept under very close control, or put on a lead - as occasionally happens when we walk somewhere new. There are no fences, or hedges, or even bushes and trees as you walk up Cherhill - just wide open spaces. It is the wide openness of the hill that I think unnerved Barney for a moment.

Usually he loves complete freedom to stretch his legs, at times, he seems to become overwhelmed in places like that - particularly if he's never been there before and will trot about listening intently for the sound of a bang, flinching at everything and getting increasingly spooked and wound up. However, yesterday after first calming him down, then giving a bit of encouragement to play and have fun, a few biscuits (and an absence of the bangs he was listening for), Barney shook off his fears and started having fun. He ran and ran and ran, and had a truly wonderful time exploring the little ridges and dips that make up the hill top, careering repeatedly up and down the main hill with a speed that never ceases to amaze me and very ineffectively chasing rabbits, with a big stupid-happy grin on his face the whole time!

I suppose that's partly why I love this shot, I've seen Barney at his worst - trembling, unable to eat, even respond to his own name, forced to remain on a lead and walk at my side. It could easily have been that way yesterday, so the very fact that I had the chance to take a shot of Barney merrily sprinting over the hill top, happy and free was wonderful! Dealing with Barney's varied sensitivities can be difficult but days like this (and they're a lot more common than they were - he's getting better at recovering), where he manages to forget about being frightened and just enjoy himself truly make any amount of work worthwhile.

I struggle to get photos of Barney asleep... especially curled up like this. As soon as Barney sees the camera in my hands he gets all excited and bouncy - thinking we're either going out for a walk, or about to play a game, or do some tricks! To take this one, I had to sneak the camera into the room and then just sit messing about on my laptop for ages until he settled back down again (in his favourite position - across the room from me - the best place to observe my movements!) and finally, finally closed his eyes. Very quietly I picked up the camera and managed to take a couple of shots before he was sitting up and wanting to play :)

For all it's hard to get photographic evidence of Barney sleeping, he does in fact rest and nap a lot. He certainly doesn't live up to the reputation of border collies being hyperactive. bouncing off the walls and insisting on constant interaction. I've known collies who DO act like that - either insisting you play with them all the time, or else using the furniture like an obstacle course but Barney has an "off-switch". Outside he's very active and energetic - inside (unless actively encouraged to be excitable) Barney is extremely quiet. He rarely barks - even at people coming to the door and is happy to just potter about the house following whoever might be in at the time, or find a comfortable corner to nap in. He's never crated and can be left alone all day if necessary (rarely actually happens!) with free range of the house and is never noisy or destructive. Good dog!!

On a completely separate, non-dog related note and really, just for those who've been following my progress over the past months... I was very excited earlier this week because for the first time in a whole year, I've managed to eat toast (oh, also have had a bit of pizza!! YUM!) - proper "solid" food, much harder to swallow than say, pasta. Before my op, my mouth was really sore (the tumour made me feel like I had a huge mouth ulcer, covering half my tongue!!) and then what with the operation and radiotherapy, recovery (the pain levels dropping and my swallowing reflex getting stronger) has/is taking a long time. It is impossible to describe how very wonderful it is to eat toast again - such a familiar, comforting food and there's nothing taste wise that you can really replace it with. So, so happy, I know it might not seem that amazing but at one point I wasn't sure I'd ever eat stuff like that again and it means I don't think it will be long now before I can have my PEG feeding tube removed, a big milestone :D
Hope everyone is having a good weekend!!!

Sitting up on his hind legs & balancing a ball on his head at the same time - Barney should be in the circus!! I was expecting it to take quite some time to teach this trick as it does require quite a bit of concentration & restraint but Barney impressed me (as usual!), getting the idea of what I wanted almost instantly :) A new combination of 2 old tricks, so far he's only able to balance the ball for a short space of time! However, Barney is rock solid in the begging position, he can hold the position for ages and & he's pretty good at balancing objects too, so I'm sure we can build up the time he can beg with the ball!!

Barney knows around 50-60 "commands"/ tricks. Some are basic: stay, come, heel, some useful: "back up", "other side" (which means he has to switch from one side to the other when he's walking to heel, useful in busy areas) and "shut the door" (self explanatory - very useful when you have young, forgetful cousins a dog who likes to make a grand entrance!!). Most are just silly tricks which keep his mind busy!! We use lots of positive reinforcement - clicker training, or just praise & a treat/game. This means Barney is always very enthusiastic, in fact sometimes he's a little over enthusiastic...

At times I get the clicker out & rather than waiting to be shown what to do, he just starts frantically running through routines. Beg, roll-over, speak, beg, wave, speak, spin, beg, bow, speak, mute (silent barks!!) etc - a dizzying and often noisy display! If Barney was a kid at school, he'd be really irritating! Always thinking he knew best, getting cross if he didn't instantly understand. As it is, he has little tantrums a times, if he's confused - scowls at me, tosses his head back, does a funny little stompy bounce, hops up and down a bit, then leaps on a toy and shakes it, before throwing it away, squealing and grrr-ing all the while. It's all done in a ridiculous, over-the-top way - I think he knows it makes me laugh, ha, he probably thinks "having a tantrum" IS a trick!! Silly, clever little show off of a dog!

My fave trick of Barney's atm is "hug"; cuddling a teddy by wrapping a paw round it & clutching it tightly. Yet to get a good photo but it's an extension of this trick. Barn's fave trick is undoubtedly "beg" - because he knows EVERYONE loves it, so he'll gets pats & treats - he'll beg for anyone, whether they ask for it or not! So, I was wondering... what do you think is the best (silly or cute) trick your dog can do? Also, does your dog have a"go-to" trick which they love to do for attention?