Astrid's Photo Scavenger Hunt for the week ending - 20/08/2021

 This week Astrid has selected the word 'Dog'.  Here I am spoilt for choice.  Dog's have been in both of our families lives forever.  I have been digging though my archives for an assortment of 'dogs through our lives', some our parents, some our own and  our 'granddogs'.

This first one is of my mother Marjorie and her dog Pluto taken just before the war, about 1936,  before my parents were married.  This crazy black Labrador used to jump on the bus, go down to Eastbourne beachfront, swim straight out to sea much to the consternation of the watching people, then turn around, swim back, get out and catch the correct bus home.  The bus conductors all knew him.  How he knew which bus to catch is amazing.

This is Dachie, my mother-in-law Margaret's dachshund cross spaniel (these days she would have a silly combined name and cost a fortune).  B's family lived on an Agricultural Research Station outside Mazabuka, Northern Rhodesia (Zambia) and when it was time for Dachie to be spayed the surgery was done by the only vets in the area, large animal vets more used to treating cattle.  Poor little Dachie had such a huge incision that she was very sore afterwards. Margaret worked in the office at the Research station and could not stay at home with her sick, sore dog so she just put her in a pram and took her to work with her!!  She always was one very spoilt little dog! 

This is me with our friend's dog, no idea of any more details. 

After the war we, together with several other families, travelled overland from the UK down through Africa by lorry and settled in Lusaka, Northern Rhodesia (Zambia) where we lived for 20 years.  The earliest photograph I have of myself with any dogs is me with Tucker our Rough Collie.  That hacking jacket I am wearing must have been bought for me with the idea I would grow into it!! 

My parents reverted to their favourite breed and from then on had Labradors, never well trained or obedient as my father was too soft with them. 

 Once B and I were married we had a series of dogs throughout out time in Central and South Africa.  The children always had dogs in their lives and still do.

 

Katie with her friend in a wheelbarrow with Scruffy and Barnie 

Here she is with Scruffy again and Heidi 

and  below David trying not to share his icecream with Max

Our lives revolved around dogs and  because of his experience with Police dogs  B had been asked to start a dog training school for the Prison service from scratch.  These were his first his first 'recruits', Roy, Shane and Bruno.

 Roy looking cool!!

This picture was taken on Max's 4th birthday.  The children had this party for him on our lawn. His cake was a tin of dog food inverted out onto a plate with candles on top - which he ate with the meat!!  Katie is holding her cat Sam who is wearing a party hat, he often was pushed around in that dolls pram wearing a yellow jersey! 

 A few years later this was the Prison Dog Section Display Team.  I had been asked to make their coats with extra braid for the Mascot, Skip.

Skip had previously been a guide dog and was wonderful, did anything he was asked to do.

Once we moved to South Africa and people got to hear of B's dog training experience he was asked to start a training club in Hazyview where we lived.  After a while we had enough trained dogs to put on displays at fetes and other dog shows. We had a real assortment of dogs, not like his all German Shepherds as before.  Big dogs, little dogs, they all were trained and loved doing all the shows.  B's dog Ben especially loved jumping and had no fear of jumping through hoops of fire, even Katie's little Henry jumped through the fire hoops.

Ben having fun.  He loved the displays and particularly loved jumping.  He actually disgraced himself at this particular display by doing a second round of the jumps when he had finished and should have returned to B' side.

We lived in a particularly hot part of South Africa and our dogs always found a way to cope with the heat.

Here Misty finds the  best way is to stand in the spray, she particularly liked to stand over it so it sprayed onto her stomach and Minty found that she could drink directly from the smaller mist spray. 

I could go on and on but must jump on to pictures of our 'granddogs'.  Followers of Katie's blogs will know dear Moss who will walk miles and miles and swim at every chance she gets.  I have so many pictures of her it was hard to choose.  She counts as a dog in our life as we no longer have any pets so just enjoy our 'granddogs' instead. 

I have recently used a picture of the late Roxy standing in her floral boots but here she has D's on too.  

Finally here is Jess, our Scottish Granddog.  She has been an only dog since her best friend Roxy was sadly put down as she was very ill.  She had been operated on about 5 years previously to remove a cancerous spleen and had to take tablets every day but lived a very happy life.   Now Jess has a new little friend.  An 12 week old yellow labrador puppy but she is not too sure about this little bundle of activity.

Jess playing in the sea at Lytham, Lancashire.

and here wondering what on earth has happened.  This little upstart has not gone home at the end of the day.  It is still here.   Taken on the first evening of little Lexi's arrival. 

                                                    

I'm sorry, I've seen to gone and on and on.  Dogs have played such a big part in our lives and we have masses of photographs.  I have only used a small number especially of Roxy, Jess and Moss who all of you have seen before.  There is really no room for them all.  We had a Black Irish Setter called Wellington, a young German Shephard, a black poodle called Gigi, (taken in as homeless and turned out she was terrified of men and never settled) and Charlie Brown, so called as he looked like a peanut when he was very tiny!! He survived being flushed down the toilet by our very young and naughty nephew who wanted to see if the tiny puppy could swim!! 

Final mention must go to Heidi, given to us to start our own breeding programme for the Dog Section.  Her first litter was of 14 pups.  She could not cope with them all and I had to help bottle feed them. I would put Johnsons Baby Powder on them to identify those I had fed as they all looked the same.  Brian had the pick of the litter of one to raise as his own to handle and he chose Max. Poor Max was so unsuitable. As his training progressed B found out that Max hated jumping or scrambling up walls, one ear never stood up properly and was so gentle that we just kept him as a family pet and what a wonderful pet he turned out to be as you will have seen in previous photographs.

Now off to see if anyone else has got carried away as I have done!!