Visit to Denton

Ah, I'd been so looking forward to giving Zebedee a chance to play with another dog. This morning we went to Karen's to take photos of her three dogs: two Irish setters and a rescue dog gypsy lurcher.

Lilly the lurcher.



The gorgeous one-year-old Max.





Zebedee wasn't sure whether it was normal to play with someone whose head is as big as him!



Better have a closer look. And a sniff.



But in no time at all, they were playing together like best mates.



Wrestling champion Zebedee pins the setter to the ground.



Max was just the best. Very patient and easygoing dog... the perfect dog to socialise Zeb with.

And here's grand old Robbie, who preferred to keep his cool and not even look at the ridiculous little puppy in his garden.



What a great morning. Zebedee had quite a lot of sleep after we got home... and the rest of the day, to be honest. Who would have thought playing is so tiring.

Zebedee nine weeks old

Today Zebedee is nine weeks old. We started the day by going out for a drive. We stopped first at Birling Gap, and as it was low tide, we went down the staircase onto the beach.



Next we drove to Beachy Head to have a look at the view over the sea, and while Zeb was looking into the distance, I got a chance to take a photo of those long eyelashes I mentioned before.



View from Beachy Head towards Seven Sisters.



On the way back we stopped in Cuckmere Haven to go and see a couple of horses I spotted from the road. Zeb was in my lap and was a little scared of the horses, so I didn't force him to go too close to them. I told him that horses are not scary; you just have to run very fast if one charges at you. (Apparently it's good to let a puppy see lots of different kinds of animals, but only on his own terms, i.e. not to force him to be braver than he is comfortable with.)





Yesterday the three of us went to see Classic Car Run on Madeira Drive in Brighton. Zeb seemed to enjoy being in the middle of all that action, people and other dogs, even though he is not allowed on the ground yet. We went to sit on the pebble beach for a while, too, and it was all very new and exciting for Zeb.




(What a delicious moment for a prankster with access to the hood of this car...)

This is easily the best looking Rover I have ever seen.



Before that, though, remember my question about eating slugs and worming? I asked the vet and was advised to give the wormer.... well, later the same day, Zeb vomited once, and the next day he had a bad diarrhoea and vomited a couple of times... the last thing that came out of the rear end was blood... The vets that have examined Zebedee don't know what caused it, but they suspect it might be something he's eaten in the garden, or the wormer, or most likely the combination of the two. Anyway, he was given an anti-vomiting/diarrhoea shot and high energy delicious liver pâté-smelling tin food so that he would eat at least something (he hadn't eaten nor drunk anything since the morning). The vet said that if he keeps vomiting in spite of the shot he was given, he must be put on a drip as he wouldn't be able to pull through on his own. Luckily, he didn't vomit again, and was much better the next day. He was very tired for quite a while, but I think he's fully recovered now. The real bummer is that as we don't know what caused it, I'm reluctant to let him stay in the garden as it's impossible not to let him eat anything there. But I guess I will have to risk the garden and see if it happens again. Rather that than being cooped up indoors all day where life is rather boring in the long run for a little puppy, regardless of playing and training sessions. I won't worm him for another two weeks, so if it happens again before that, at least we know that it isn't the wormer that causes the upset. What we won't know is exactly what else it is, though!

So anyway, after the cars, we went to a nice pub in Kemptown where Zeb fell asleep on Miles's lap. And was mercilessly taken advantage of for a silly photo. He met quite a few kids there, too, which is great for socialising.



One more thing to report from this week: paws. How they grow. You know how puppies have huge paws and ears at one stage of their puppyhood? Well, I never realised that it's the front paws that grow first. And Zebedee's front paws have been getting bigger so quickly one can almost hear them grow.



Now I'm just waiting for the ears and back paws to catch up!

Sussex Summer Photographic Safari

Worried sick about Zebedee, but leaving him with Miles who was to look after him and take him to the vet's, I went out on a Sussex Summer Photographic Safari "course" of Sussex Wildlife Trust. We were a group of 12 people and were taken by photographer David Plummer to four different locations in Sussex to shoot butterflies and very small orchids. Well, that's what it turned out to be. I have to admit that as it was a Wildlife Trust outing, I was expecting to see more wildlife! Especially as the course description advertised: "Travel via minibus to various superb wildlife sites across Sussex". It also said: "photographic tuition given throughout", which kind of made me feel like we would be given lots of wildlife photography tips, but basically it meant that David was there available for questions. And I've always been really crap at asking questions. I did ask him what kind of lens he would recommend for butterfly photography, and he said "macro lens". And I also received another tip during the day: when you shoot butterflies, get close slowly and carefully, approaching the butterfly straight-on rather than moving from side to side, as butterflies will notice the side to side movement, but not the straight-on movement that easily, as it means that the "predator" gets gradually bigger in its field of view, rather than moves from one position to another.

The course also made me check the definition of the words 'safari' and 'wildlife'. 'Wildlife' does mean what I thought it meant, i.e. only wild animals; not plants. So when they advertise that we'd be taken to "superb wildlife sites", I feel that the wording should have been 'superb butterfly sites', as butterflies were really the only wildlife we saw (well, apart from a couple of kestrels up in the air and one skylark-like bird that I forgot the name of as I wasn't familiar with it). Then into the word 'safari' - I found this definition in Wikipedia:

"Touristic usage - Although the word safari came to popular usage in reference to hunting and touring expeditions in East Africa, it is now used generally to mean any long or adventurous journey or expedition, e.g. whale watching safaris, photography safaris, eco-safari etc."

OK, so maybe I shouldn't have expected to see rhinoceros, giraffe or the red panda (huh?). Or maybe I shouldn't even have expected to be shown were badgers live or learn anything about any animal species that I hadn't been aware of living in Sussex...

In any case, it was a very enjoyable day, and I did get quite a few photos of butterflies. And learned where to find them should I fancy getting back to take more some day. AND learned from someone in the group that Malling Down is a great place to take your dog out for a walk.

So this was the first site, Mill Hill, where we saw the common blue. (This one's a little tattered.)



Next we went to Anchor Bottom, and saw adonis blues mating.



Adonis blue. (Distinguished from the common blue most reliably by black lines which extend across the outer white fringe. It is also more vibrant in colour than the common blue.)



Brown argus.



And the small blue, which doesn't actually have much blue in it.



A couple of bee orchids.





They are supposed to look like bees, but I think, straight-on, they look more like a laughing Pikachu.










Greater Knapweed.



Overview of the site.



Next we went to Devil's Dyke to shoot common spotted orchids. They are quite varied in shape and colouring, but all have spotted leaves.





Onto Malling Down. There weren't any orchids there (well, in truth, David spotted three, apparently - common spotted ones), nor did I see any butterflies. According to David this site has been the most reliable for orchids, but he hadn't checked the site prior to the day of the course and thus wasn't aware that there was nothing there this year. Well, the view from the hill was very pretty anyway.



...and I decided to take the fisheye lens out and see what the site looked like through it.









Can't wait to get a Canon EOS 5D soon, so that I can record the full sphere of the view through a fisheye lens! I've paid someone for a 5D about two weeks ago, but still haven't received the camera! He claims that he has sent it, but how do I know he's not lying? He's asked me to wait until Monday and then he'll either get me another 5D or give me a full refund. So tomorrow I will see whether I need to contact eBay about him or whether I will get my money back, and can go ahead and buy a 5D from someone else and actually get it this time! Don't think I'm going to do it through eBay this time. Or use eBay ever again for that matter!

Zebedee explores the garden

Zebedee likes to explore the garden, even though there is not much to it, being a very small garden. He got really excited the first time I took him out, and ran around and sprung amongst the tall grasses. Naturally, like any baby of any species (well, at least humans and dogs!), everything new goes straight into the mouth. First, it was plain old grasses and other plants.



...but soon Zeb developed a penchant for these:



He has them sashimi style, of course (i.e. uncooked), garnished with these lovely magenta petals that he also loves.



Must be delicious. (Ugh. Yuk.) There are plenty of slugs in my garden, but we'll see how long till they all escape from this slug monster to the neighbouring gardens! Until then, in they go into the giant doggy's tummy, unless I see them first! Today I heard Zeb eating something crunchy and when I turned around to see what it was, I saw pieces of snail shell on the floor under his nose. So he likes escargot, aussi!

I was expecting Zeb to throw up after the first snail, but he didn't show any sign of malfunction as a consequence of eating this rather disgusting delicacy. I did a little research into the matter today and found out that snails and slugs may carry lungworm and possibly heartworm larvae as parasites. Awful! They can also be dangerous for a dog if they have been in touch with certain kind of slug killer substances. Well, Zeb hasn't shown any sign of poisoning symptoms, so I think he's OK, but I will check with the vet tomorrow whether I should give Zeb a doze of wormer just in case. He is due worming at nine weeks of age (next Monday), but I'll worm him earlier, if the vet recommends it.

Doesn't look like Zeb is concerned, though.



It's all just a big, exciting, fun adventure.



Ooo, that was pretty distorted. What a big nose you have!

Zebedee can also look the shy, bashful type if he wants.



Let's have another look at those charmer eyes.



Zeb has the longest eyelashes I have ever seen on a dog. One day I will try and get a close-up of them. Today (using the SLR for the first time, rather than the pocket camera) I found that, when shooting close up, it is easier to get photos of Zeb by not looking through the viewfinder but by holding the camera lower down so that he can see my face and doesn't get upset by the weird device in front of it. Not all photos come out in focus that way, but they wouldn't do anyway - Zebedee doesn't pose motionless for the camera after all...

First week with Zebedee

What a week it has been. Lots of fun, worry, joy, lack of sleep, exhilaration, admiration of an insane amount of cuteness, and a little bit of despair at moments of pee and poo mistakes. But to be honest, there haven't been many mistakes. In fact, I have managed to paper train Zebedee so well that when we went to the vet's to get Zeb's first vaccination, whilst on the vet's big examination table, Zeb walked across it to pee on the papers that I had left on the side of it: it was the care instructions from the breeder, as well as his pedigree certificate that got peed on. Quite a hilarious moment. Vet Karen concluded that Zeb has a lot of character, apart from being very alert and "a perfect puppy" in every way.

Who could disagree, eh?



Little puppies are not all about floppy years and imploring eyes, though. Nope. They are also about sharp little teeth; a whole mouthful of them. By Thursday my hands, arms, toes etc. were hurting too much from having been bitten (I'd been too soft on him, I think) so I thought I'd have to get something else for Zeb to chew on, as he hasn't been that keen on chewing the Kong toys nor any of the other toys well enough to occupy him for several minutes at a time. I went to the local supermarket and got him a little rawhide "bone", and that really did the trick. At first Zebedee didn't know quite how to keep it in one place so that he could chew on it properly without it getting away from him all the time, but in no time at all he figured out how to manipulate (or should that be 'pediculate') it with his paws, holding it steady between them for a perfect chewing position.


(photo by Miles)

Luckily his digestive system seems to be OK with the rawhide, which is a blessing, given how much he seems to need to chew on something all the time. Better the rawhide than me, thank you very much!

On Saturday morning, Zebedee suddenly followed Miles up the stairs to the first floor for the first time. Miles had coaxed him before to get up the stairs, but he never did before. To be honest, the stairs are so steep that I didn't think he'd be able to get up them. Little did I know. (Later on I saw just how quickly he climbs them!) But once he'd got up there, he didn't know what to do, as there was no way he could descent those steep stairs back down on his own. He looked pretty excited about having made it up - kind of proud yet incredulous of his own achievement.



Later on that day my friend Chizu came over with her family which includes two boys that are aged 3,5 and 1,5. Socialising a puppy is very important, I have learned. The more new people (especially men and children) the puppy meets in his first month or two since leaving his mom and siblings, the more friendly (and "safe") he will be with people when he is an adult dog. Sounds obvious, but I have to admit I hadn't thought about it before, and especially didn't know that the crucial time for this socialisation is so early. And of course these encounters with new people will have to be positive ones. Jason and Chizu both seemed to adore Zebedee, but unfortunately Arata (the 3,5 year old) was afraid of Zeb. He threw noisy toys on the floor and ran away screaming rather than wanted to play with him, but I doubt that permanent damage was caused to either party. Takara (Oliver) was more interested in the puppy and let Zeb even lick his toes at one point. And kept showing Zebedee where he'd missed a piece of kibble when he was using the Kong at lunch.



I took a few photos of the children in the studio, but to be honest, I was fed up that I hadn't received the Canon 5D I had paid for a week previously, and I was very tired (caused by lack of sleep during the week) and consequently didn't put my mind into the photo shoot as much as I should have - hence didn't get great photos.



Nevertheless, it was great to see Chizu and her family for the day.

Today, Sunday, Zebedee has had his first bath...



...been out for a drive to see some hills and fields. (I can't let Zebedee walk on the ground until his vaccinations are done.)


(photo by Miles)

And after a week's training, Zeb has mastered the command 'down', so that he can confidently obey a command sequence of 'sit', 'down', 'sit'. It took quite a few short training sessions, but we got there at the end. And to top it all, without any training from my part, Zeb retrieved one of his toys several times in a row when I threw it for him. Obviously his working dog heritage has given him a strong retrieving instinct! Well, it means that he is going to get plenty of exercise even when I'm not up for a several hour long walk: we can throw a ball or a frisbee instead.

That's it for now. Until next post: see ya!