Monday Blues - Belated Barkday Greetings & Barmouth Blue Waters

I've been very remiss - have missed my doggy 'niece' & 'nephew' Molly & Taffy's Barkdays!

Marvelous Miss Molly celebrated her 7th Barkday on Saturday...

And, the one & only Taffster was 10 yesterday...

Two greater pups you could not wish to meet.

They will have spent their special days in Barmouth, as it was the WELTAF [Welsh Terrier & Friends] weekend there.

Two years ago joined them - hope the weather was as fair on this Saturday's walk as it was back then..

Camera Critters Sunday - St. Guiness the Perfect!

With tomorrow being St David's Day - Wales patron saint, I have to feature a Welsh Terrier.
And what's better than one cleverly dressed as a fiery Welsh Dragon...The classic stance is due to a 'Show Command' word, wonderfully "Sausages" - it's always made me LOL!
And, no it's not 'nephew' Taffy, as much as an attention seeking showman as he is.
But, a likable Welshie Miss meet via WELTAF [Welsh Terriers and Friends] gatherings in '08.

This is the real face of Guinness with the her amusingly deep husky sexy bark/voice...

And, she is a prize winning 'Show Girl' - I've even had the pleasure of seeing her in action.

In late September '08, as part of WELTAF's Barmouth Weekend activities, the group made a memorable first appearance @ the long established Arthog village Dog Show - a Kennel Club recognised event that annually raises money for the Welsh Air Ambulance Service.

They, with K.C.'s permission, created in view of WELTAF's presence, three new show categories - 'Welsh Terrier Juniors', 'WT Open' & 'Best Welsh Terrier in Show'.

St. Guinness the Perfect, was of course up for the challenge - well, after a little last minute stripping by her registered breeder & caring owner Ellaitchbee...She won 'Best Welsh Terrier in Show' and was 'Reserve Champion' of the whole Show...

What a clever girl.

Late insider information though, says she's naughty & wilful and all to frequently in the compost heap!!!

Sorry Guinness - blame Mum for telling tales to me, but she did add, you make them laugh all the time.

Camera Critters is Misty Dawn's creation, the blog is HERE!

Camera Critters Sunday - Santa's Terrier's!

I'm down in WelshAire Country for my pre Christmas visit to see Molly, Taffy & Monty, my doggy 'niece' & 'nephews'.

And yesterday, went along with Taffy & his human J [H stayed home with Airedale's Molly & Monty] to join the southern group of WELTAF [Welsh Terrier & Friends] Christmas walk, to which I'd also invited along Wire Fox Terrier friends Sally & Paddy and their Diana & Chris.

This years walk was @ Battersea Park, London.

Now, I simply associated the area with the remains of Battersea Power Station & of course Battersea Dogs & Cats Home.

So, was pleasantly surprised with the green space that is the park, which runs along the south side of the Thames embankment between Chelsea & Albert Bridges.

It was apparently, "conceived to offer both pleasure and the regulation thereof in one of the capital's dodgier districts, and was opened by Queen Victoria in 1858."

I wonder if She would have been amused by Terriers in Santa hats!!!

Taffy...

Sally...

Preceding the WELTAF walk in the park, Battersea had hosted it's charity Santa's Run resulting in this festive litter...

There were the usual photo calls, which included:-

Mixed terrier company in front of the dancing fountains...

Bandstand groupings - the six Welsh terriers who attended...

And, the two Wire Fox Terriers...

Plus unseasonal Welshie paddling...

I walked Sally, or rather she happily lead me along...

Here she is showing her sweetest profile...

And Paddy, bless him played stick enthusiastically with me...

Then posed too...

All in all it was another highly enjoyable fun walk despite the overcast leaden grey skies.

Everyone even had treats too, biscuits for the pups and Christmas chocolates & badge for the adults!

Camera Critters Sunday - Dogs & Deer!

Yesterday, I went along on another walk organised the Southern branch of WELTAF [Welsh Terrier & Friends] & this time lead by by Taffy's humans my friends H & J, who organised a fine late Autumn day too.

The latest venue was Knole Park, covering 1000 acres...

Little has changed there in the last 500 years; though, signs of the damaged wreaked by the Great Storm in October 1987, when apparently 70% of the ancient trees were lost, can still be seen...

In total eight Welshies, one Airedale Molly & a Cain cross Robbie, with their attendants enjoyed a great walk...

Knole, is a interesting park, created in the 15th Century for the Archbishops of Canterbury to have somewhere away from Court for hunting, it is one of the few surviving medieval deer parks in England and the only one in Kent...Today, a 600 strong herd of Fallow and darker, smaller Japanese Sika deer roam freely.

And, they were surprisingly tame around humans & dogs...

Camera Critters is Misty Dawn's creation, the blog is HERE!

Camera Critters Sunday - Terrier Tales!

The Wire Fox Terrier Walk yesterday was quite THE Walk, both in doggy fun & miles covered!

All two & four legged walkers will have slept well last night for sure - I certainly did, despite Brighton's noisy nite-life!

Infact, I was so pooped afterwards, I didn't even download my photo's till this morning!

The weather couldn't have been more perfect...By the time I'd walked to the Marina, the starting point, I was wishing I'd a suntop on!

As I was early, I inspected the Inner Harbour & dreamed of sailing away...Back to reality, the next to show up, was walk host, the one & only Jackson with his private carriage...He was soon welcoming the first pups...Then, Sally & Paddy arrived, seen here with their C...There were so many lovely entertaining dogs to photo, I quickly lost track of names - Sorry...But, know this is dear Paddy...Although the walk was organised to promote the Wire Fox Terrier breed & Fox Terrier Rescue; Jackson & J1 and Sally & Paddy had invited the southern WELTAF [Welsh Terrier & Friends] group along, so it was quite a gathering!
There were 16 WFT's - I sadly, managed to cut 2 out of this group photo...And, Harrision was a late arrival - seen here, being greeted by Paddy...Six Welsh Terriers came along, including Dooley & Edwin...And, a typical Welshie tryst ensued...Jackson's pal Shamus, was the solitary Irish contingent, as Molly was indisposed...In total, there was 22 Terriers & one honorary Terrier, the handsome Chocolate Labrador!

All paw-ticipants were rewarded for their attendance with a goodie bag, thoughtfully provided by J1...Jackson started the walk off with his best paw forward...But, to conserve his energy he soon choose to ride in state...The walk took us along the Undercliff Walk between the chalky white cliffs & the sea - Red Riding Hood aka J1 led the way...There was pebble beach stop en-route for drinks, ice-cream, paddles, rest, treats & greetings...Paddy, who due to his Pancreatitis has to have five small meals a day, had a snack on a plate...While Sally had to earn her rewards...But, she washed them down with the remnants of my coffee...Some of the group choose to leave the walk @ this spot, but we, the die hards went as far as the coastal village of Rottingdean & returned via the top of the cliffs to the Marina... As we were all starting to flag, Harrison looked to Jackson for a lift...The Jax, just had to admit there are advantages to having an extremely rare neuromuscular disorder called Pseudomyotonia - bless him...For his many devoted fans like me, he is looking good, very good, all because of the great care his J's take of him.