Obedience, obedience, obedience

Yesterday evening both Rosie and Tangles did obedience tests under the Good Citizen Dog Training Scheme at the Discovery Dog Club in Dundee.

Rosie (handler: Lesley) was one of two dogs that got their Gold Award and Tangles (handler: The author!) got her Bronze Award. Both on their first attempts!

Great achievement for dogs and handlers – Lesleys early morning training of Rosie in the garden paid off!

So Tangles now has a bit of catching up to do – to equal Rosie and Barneys golds !  Can see a lot of clicker training on the horizon!

Winter Break

27th – 29th December 2009 !

The White Witch is back in Narnia! And there’s no sign of Aslan so far. Barney doesn’t really fit the bill – although he’s almost the right colour.

The snow first fell in this area on the 22nd December (2009) and has remained – with a few top ups – since then. It has been continuously cold with temperatures almost always below zero – so the snow is still powdery where it hasn’t been walked on or flattened.

Anyway, we went on the “between weekend” ( two days between Christmas and New Year) to Kingussie / Aviemore this year. Usually we stay in a bunkhouse or youth hostel with our friends. This year we stayed in a dog-friendly Guest House in Kingussie (Allt Gynack Guest House) – away from the crowds at Aviemore but not too far to drive to meet our friends.

When we left Dundee the temperature was just above zero – we arrived in Kingussie with minus 5 degrees. Found the Guest House without any problem, settled us and the dogs in (we had both Barney and Rosie with us). Then a walk round the town in the cold, admiring the massive icicles hanging from the gutters whilst being pulled in every direction by the happily exploring dogs. Found a place to eat in the Happy Days fish and chip shop and then retired for a good nights sleep.

By the next day the temperature had dropped to about minus 16 to minus 18 centigrade and we drove up through a frosty, snowy wonderland to meet our friends in Aviemore.

Ally and Nina were waiting near the La Taverna Italian Restaurant at the southern end of Aviemore and joined us for the short drive to the car park at Inverdruie to walk via the minor road to Blackpark then on to and around Loch an Eilein and back over the hill via Tullochgrue.

The sky is clear, sunny and there’s no wind. Just intense cold. We’re glad we’re wrapped up well. In a clearing just before Croft it seems like the air is dancing with light. Small specks of ice, drifting in Brownian motion, reflect and sparkle in the suns light. We don’t know what it’s called (Later, Ally does some research on the web and finds the name of Diamond Dust). So here’s a photo of the diamond dust – the most obvious specks being in the lower part of the picture against the darker snow. When you’ve got your eye in look in the darker blue at the top of the photo. We stood entranced by this dance if light for some time (until Barney and Rosie reminded us that we should be walking).

Sparkles of "diamond dust" in the still -16C air !

We headed over to Loch an Eilein and round the west side. It’s frozen – but warning signs up so we don’t venture onto the ice even though we could reach the castle by ice if we’d dared.
There’s some warmth when we’re in the sun but as soon as we’re in shadow the temperature drops rapidly. We make our way round the western end of the loch and head back along the southern side. Barney is enjoying running backward and forward through the snow until he comes across two strange apparitions making their way rapidly towards him. They look vaguely human but are in bright coloured clothes, with sticks in each hand and moving on planks. Barney treats them with the suspicion they deserve – running up to them and then away then back and away. They pass him and us on their way, skiing clockwise round the loch and Barney relaxes again.

Snow covered trees at Loch an Eilein

At the eastern end of the Loch we take the track eastwards – thankfully a trail has been worn down by previous skiers and walkers and we make our way up the hill then bear left towards Achnagoichan, now trudging through deeper relatively untrod snow. We stop near some high trees in the sun for some food. Ally makes the mistake of leaving some fruit cake on her rucksack when she takes a photograph. When she looks down there’s a furry Cairn munching the last of her piece of cake.

Refreshed we continue on to Achnagoichan then over the hill towards Whitewell and some magnificent views over the snow covered trees of Rothiemurchus forest towards the Cairngorms.

View between snow covered trees towards the Cairngorms.

Another view towards the north-east - full moon placed strategically!

Unsurprisingly we see a professional photographer on the moor below us. Gathering images for next years Calendars and Christmas cards!

Ally, Nina, Lesley and Rosie (the wee furry one) at Upper Tullochgrue

From Tullochgrue we head back down the road via Blackpark to the car. We try to get some mulled wine (or rather mulled cider) at the place across the road but it’s too busy. So we head back by car to the La Taverna Italian restaurant for a welcome coffee and a small bite to eat, before returning to our various accomodations to relax and get ready for the groups meal (also in La Taverna Restaurant later that evening – it was a very enjoyable meal – good food, service and company).

Next morning the weather has clagged in, although the icicles are still there along the main street of Kingussie. The freezing fog and Lesleys worsening cold decide us to leave one night early – so we headed back home. Perhaps, just as well, because the snow came back in the next morning and the road became difficult to drive.

But the one days walk was superb – in conditions that have been too rare over the past years.

Our guest house, Allt Gynack, was a really good place to stay. Very welcoming of both us and the dogs. Good breakfasts and a great location in Kingussie – easy access to lots of walks above the town.

Glencoe Weekend: 12th-15th February 2010.

In February 2009 we first stayed at Glencoe Cottages following a recommendation from the Just Dogs Shop Doggie Bloggie (note: this was on page 6 when I wrote this – it may be on a higher page number when you look !).

We stayed at the Bed & Breakfast (Signal Rock Cottage) and had two glorious days in clear winter sun with snow low on the hills. Our friends Toby and Mich (and their two dogs) stayed for one night, whilst we had a longer 3 night weekend. It was the time of the full moon and the Glencoe Hills glowed white in the clear night skies. It made for a wonderful weekend break.
We then booked for a week in a cottage in September and then the B & B again for an extended weekend this February (2010) – both times with Toby & Mich and their dogs!

We set off at just before 5pm in the afternoon (only an hour later than intended) and arrived at Signal Rock Cottage at about 7:30pm having had a good journey despite some snow falling and almost meeting a stag at close quarters on the road near the Kingshouse.
Having been welcomed by Slawek at the cottage we walked up the road to the Clachaig Inn with Barney and Tangles happily sniffing the verges after their time cooped up in the car. We get text message from Toby – they’re leaving late so won’t be in time for a Clachaig meal.
The Boots Bar was full as we’d expected but we managed to get a table (with a resident Collie) when some people left. The resident Collie belonged to a guy at the next table – it liked hiding under the seat away from passing feet – unlike Barney and Tangles who lay across the “gangways” to start with. Eventually they settled down though Barney kept standing up to flirt with people at surrounding tables as their food arrived.
Barneys flirting technique: stand up and stare (as cutely as possible) at the target, wag tail as energetically as possible (this involves both tail and most of his lower body) and hope that this is enough to elicit a food based response from target!
We get our food, and after five minutes of pushing dogs away (ours – the Collie just lies under Lesleys seat as good as gold) we start our meal. We’ve just finished when Toby arrives – to be greeted enthusiastically by Barney – and then Tangles. He gets the key to the B & B and heads off. It’s just after 9:00 – he must have had a fast run up! We walk back in the clear cold moon dark evening and meet Toby, Mich and the two dogs at the cattle grid and thence back to the cottage for a good nights sleep. We’re all tired and exhausted from work stress so the peace and quiet of the cottage in these settings is just wonderful.

On Saturday we went west to the Sands of Morar ( ScotlandView link; Undiscovered Scotland link; Geograph link ) and enjoyed a great walk along the beaches from Toigal along the tidal sand and around the headland (a wee scramble over the rocks) to the next beach at Rubh’an Achaidh Mhòir and over the headland to Camusdarach beach and the rocky headland before returning along the old Arisaig-Mallaig road to our carpark. A great walk in calm, cool, though overcast, conditions.
The dogs absolutely loved the beach, Barney and Bracken running after thrown tennis balls, wee Tangles chasing after the other dogs – especially Brandy who just ran for the joy of it rather than after tennis balls! It was superb seeing our little lurcher streaking at high speed over the sand – the first time she’s really been allowed to stretch her legs since we got her 2 weeks ago.

Enjoying the Sands of Morar (photo by Mich)

Barney does a right (after the ball). Bracken strolls! (photo by Lesley)

Figures and reflections on the sand (photo by Lesley)

Barney running the sands (photo by Lesley)

Toby in a small cove with Brandy, Bracken, Barney & Tangles (photo by Lesley)

While we combed to beach for shells (cowrie, winkles, and some great bits of coral) the dogs beach combed for bits of crab and tried drinking seawater.

We drove up to Mallaig for some soup and rolls then back to Glencoe and Signal Rock Cottage. There we found that one of the dogs had produced a large amount of liquid in the back of Toby’s truck. We suspect one of the sea water drinkers had brought up the unpalatable liquid. Luckily Toby and Mich have Tuffies beds in the back of their truck so these got washed down and left to dry.
Our meal that night was, appropriately enough, at the excellent Loch Leven Seafood Café restaurant. A really great meal – though dogs aren’t allowed in – so they “rested” in the back of the truck.

An enjoyably late breakfast (9am) on Sunday before we set off to walk on the north side of Loch Leven. Having two cars we could do a traverse of the Corbett ridge of Beinn na Caillich and Mam na Gualainn ( Walk Highlands link; Geograph link ). We park a the start of the road to Mamore Lodge and walk up to the crossing of the West Highland Way following that up to the start of the path that takes us up the ridge. Mich turns back at this point to return via the Lodge to the car.

Bracken, Brandy and Barney on the track (photo by Mich)

Discussing our route. Tangles and Barney wait for the decision (photo by Mich).

The blog author and the hill. Approx ascent route in yellow (photo by Mich)

The weather is somewhat cloudy and we climb up the steep “Mamore”-slope to the start of the ridge. Most dogs are on leads as there seems to be the scent of deer on the ridge. I don’t feel hill-fit, neither does Lesley. Barney and Brandy are raring to go. Bracken and Tangles do the lurcher thing of looking unenthusiastic and Eeyore-ish. On the upper slopes there’s some lying snow – very soft and a bit slippery. We make the summit of Beinn na Caillich and head west along the enjoyable ridge stopping just short of the coll for some food in the shelter of some boulders. The dogs do the usual rucksack nuzzling before being hitched to a rock (We do feed them as well).

Then it’s off west again to the high plateau and Mam na Gualainn. By now it’s getting a bit windy and some rain coming in and we head off to descend by the long ridge to the south west to meet the path dropping down the glen. Wee Tangles gets her coat on for the latter part of the ridge into the glen as she’s getting cold in the rain. It’s a quick descent and we’re soon back at the car and pack all 4 dogs in along with us 3 people. Twenty minutes later we’re back at the Cottage and anticipating a good evening meal at the Clachaig Inn.

Whilst we walked the hill Mich had gone into the recently opened Glencoe Café (in Glencoe village) for lunch and reported that she had a great bowl of soup there. We’d thought of going there for a snack on Monday morning but it’s closed Monday and Tuesday in the winter. But looks like a good palce to visit for some home made food!

Now, just some background before the remainder of the story:
The weekend of the 13th and 14th of February was:

1. St Valentines Day
2. A mid-Term school holiday for a lot of the UK.
3. The weekend of the Lochaber Mountain Festival

All events that are known well in advance and all likely to attract lots and lots of people into the Glencoe area. So, any decent catering establishment would make sure well in advance that they had both the provisions and staff to cope with this situation in a professional and seamless manner.
Well, you would think so wouldn’t you?

We set off up to the Inn after 7pm – part of a community of head torches moving up the road from the various accommodations between the Clachaig and Glencoe Village. In the Boots Bar we order our meals at about 7:20pm. Unfortunately we’re informed that they’ve run out of cheese so all cheese items are off – I can’t get my cheese roll with the soup, I can’t get nachos as an alternative, so I have to choose something else. Our order goes in at 7:35 (about 50 minutes before the time Lesley & I had ordered on Friday).
By 8:20 we hadn’t been served – whilst several people who had arrived after us were getting their food. But ONE couple who had ordered were called up and told there were no Steak and Ale pies. They got their money back, but no food, and were left to find food somewhere else at 8:20 pm in Glencoe.
Toby (who’d ordered a steak/ale pie) went up and asked what had happened to our order – he was told that there were 4 orders before it, there were no steak/ale pies or Burritos (for Mich) and they would need to get something different. Toby is good at remonstration and we eventually got:

1. Our money back in full
2. A free bottle of wine
3. Some food.

At one point I remember Toby had asked for Venison Burgers (which they said they had) for himself and Mich and being told they’d take an hour (!) and him asking if they were going to shoot the effing things!? I could tell he was not only getting hungry but a bit irate. We did get the food within 15 minutes….
However the Cream of Tomato soup had become green pea soup (which my partner does not like) -
The reasons we were given for this chaos were that there were more people than expected in the main restaurant and they were running out of stuff.
It was also evident that the bar staff were becoming unhappy with the situation as a fairly large number of people had not got their meals and left.

Even our dogs were getting bored and restless by the time we’d eaten..

I give the bar staff some brownie points for the refund plus some sort of a meal – but this we had to fight for and do a lot of firm negotiation.
The Clachaig should be run as a top-notch professional establishment and the many good remarks on TripAdvisor show that this usually happens. However, when things go wrong they go wrong spectacularly. In our situation the large number of people was NOT unexpected – these were events that were in Calendars for years ahead – it seems to be bad planning on the part of management. I did leave a report on TripAdvisor about this!

I still think that the Clachaig is a good place to go if you have dogs and want a reasonable meal – with the caveat that the same thing may happen to you as happened to us. So have a back-up food plan in place….

We were advised by the manager to write to the owners of the Clachaig – (they also own the Grog and Gruel) but nowhere on any of their web sites are there contact details for the owners!

On Monday we packed up and headed down to Hospital Loch for a walk through the woods and around the loch. It had clagged in overnight and, although we started in a clear spell, the rain came on pretty soon and we got a bit wet. Then the drive south and east – heavy rain, sleet and snow until we reached Tyndrum and it just cleared into a wonderful sunny day…

Ah well! Despite the last evening at the Clachaig we had a great weekend, the dogs really enjoyed their varied outdoor experiences and so did we. And we actually managed it without a visit to the Ice Factor – which is almost unheard of. Or rather 75% of us did ! (See Mich’s comment!)

A new addition..

At our obedience class on Tuesday 26th January one of our friends said she’d seen a beautiful Lurcher bitch on the Brown Street Kennels web site. By midday the next day we were the new owners of a couthy wee lurcher bitch. She’d been in the wars a bit – some long scratches on belly and front leg and a bit of tangled fur but she was friendly and happy to be with people and other dogs (we’d taken Barney along to see her – not really expecting to be able to take her away immediately – but we completed all the formalities on the spot and took her away with us).

She’s a long haired whippet type lurcher with darker gingerish fur – much thinner than Barneys winter proof coat – so we bought her a special lurcher coat!

This was just as well because we took “Tangles” (as we renamed her – because it’s close to her original name and because her fur was full of tangles) with Barney into the hills on one of those spectacular clear, sunny, cold winter days. Although it was dry, the strong wind pushed the windchill to below -10 C.

Tangles did very well through the day – protected in her warm coat, I think she was warmer than us.
Barney was showing off – running up and down the hard snow slopes using his claws as crampons. One of the laughs of the day was when he sat down on an icy slope to wait for us to climb up, and started to slide down at increasing speed towards us. He quickly got up and ran back up, standing with claws dug in from then on.
Tangles was a bit nervous of the steeper sections of snow but did well on all other slopes and areas of snow.
Both Barney and her were fast asleep during the 2 hour journey home.

Here’s a photo of the two dogs at the summit of the first hill:

Tangles (in the coat) and Barney on the summit of Beinn Dubhchraig

Tangles and Barney are getting on really well together – though she’s still slightly cautious of his more robust approach to playing. She’s well behaved and has been off the lead several times by now (Sunday 7th February) – it’s great watching her run at speed.
She and Rosie (another rescue dog – a wee Cairn terrier) get on reasonably well – though there’s a bit of jealousy from Rosie occasionally!

In the short time she’s been with us Tangles has been 1) on the beach (she’s a bit shy of waves rushing up the shore, 2) to obedience classes 3) climbed a hill and 4) chilled out at the office. She’s now wearing a great collar from Kitsch Collars and lying on the sofa!

A great dog and we’re really happy that we added her to the family !

Next week we’re away to Glencoe with friends and their dogs for 3 days. I hope to have some more stories and news when we’re back.

Walking on Water

Today we went to see my mother. Because she lives close to the Lake of Menteith we decided to go over and see the frozen “lake” where the first Bonspiel in many years may have taken place if Health and Safety concerns hadn’t disallowed it. When we approached the village the line of cars parked at the side of the main road about a mile away from the junction at Port of Menteith showed that many people were there to enjoy a day on the Lake. We decided that we’d be better off finding another place to be, so did a five-point turn and returned over the road stopping at Letter Muir forestry road end to walk along the north side of Loch Rusky.

Barney and Rosie check the snow

Superb clear weather, clear blue skies and snowy ground and below us the loch is frozen with a covering of snow. A perfect playground for Barney and Rosie who are chasing through the snow – though Rosie is on a long lead as she’s likely to take off if she gets a scent.

View across Loch Rusky towards Dumgoyne.

We follow the forestry track above the loch – finding a couple of places we can get down to it and back up on our return. There are only one set of people tracks on the snowy frozen loch surface. Apart from that it’s a flat expanse of white.

When we get to the end of the track we work our way down through the trees to the shore – or what would be the shore – and out onto the snowy loch surface. Barney runs all over the place – just enjoying the space and we let Rosie run with her long lead. Barney runs off with his ball and Rosie chases after him like a wee furry comet. Back and forth, in circles, from the wooded bank of the loch to 100m offshore. And we’re all walking on water for the first time in many years and, perhaps, the last time for years.

Barney struts his stuff on the Loch surface !

Barney prepares to take on the Red Menace....

We make our way back to the track through the edge of the woods – my 83 year old mother leading the way. Back on the track we meet familes with sledges enjoying the snow and one family whose young daughter was screaming that she didn’t want to be there. Perhaps a case of snow overload!

Back at the house the dogs settle down – after Rosie had attempted to “investigate” my mothers cat – which resulted in a broken plant and peat over the carpet. Barney manages to squeeze himself into Rosies Cairn-sized bed (yet, again !).

Barney - Snug as a bug in Rosies bed.....

Back home and the temperature seems to be getting higher – 5 degrees Centigrade in Broughty Ferry – possibly the mildest night for 3 weeks. Maybe the freeze is breaking…

Barney and Rosie play tug of war

Here’s a short (38 second) video of Barney and Rosie playing tug of war with the last part of a soft toy:
Barney and Rosie Tug of War (WMV file)

Despite being four times bigger than Rosie, Barney is always fairly gentle with her – more gentle than she is with him – he’s got the scratches to prove it.

Barney on the Web #1

Barney has a web presence beyond his Blog:

He appears in the Just Dogs photo gallery with some of his friends:
Three times on page 2 and twice on page 3.

We use Just Dogs quite a bit for beds, toys and other bits and pieces. The owner, Gemma Johnstone, is always helpful and quick with deliveries (postal strikes allowing).

Earlier this summer we also went to the Cairn Terrier Club Cairn Day with our new Cairn Terrier, Rosie. Barney was adopted as a somewhat large Cairn for the day and won a couple of prizes.
Here are the pictures of Cairn Day 2009 – Barney’s at the bottom of the page – no sign of Rosie though – despite having won three non-pedigree prizes!

Barney gets his Gold !

This evening Barney successfully completed his Gold Obedience test – 6 months after getting his Silver Award and 12 months after his Bronze Award.

His wee pal Rosie, the Red Cairn, got her Silver Award. Unfortunately the photo I was trying to take of Rosie getting her award was somewhat spoiled as Barney took off after her and I was dragged (with camera) after him. Ah well! We have plenty of other photos of her!

We’re really pleased with these results – I don’t think we were entirely confident that they would pass this time round.

Both dogs have been getting obedience training at the Discovery Dog Club in Dundee. The Awards are under the Kennel Club Good Citizen Dog Scheme which aims to train both dog and owners and produce responsible owners and happy dogs.