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Lu's Thread

Lu has surprised me in the New Year. She is a fully developed and ultra-fast and efficient rodent killer!

I did not want to encourage this, but I have notice that she loves diving in the brambles and emerging triumphant shortly after. Nothing odd about that in a Terrier, but the week before last I was burning leaves - about twenty builders tonne bags full! But I need the wind in the right direction so as not to upset neighbours with the smoggy smoke!

So some these bags had been filled months ago, and the rodents had moved in to one. Lu was fascinated and soon jumped into a bag with a mouse nest and despatched three mice in the blink of an eye. She is well fed and had no interest in actually eating her kills, but simply moved onto the next bag, but there was nothing else left to hunt.

The rapidity with which she moved was more than eye could keep up with. Dogs have lightning fast agility when hunting.

On the other hand she is always gentle with people though often starts of with a bark-bark as a sort of, "Come on, let's play!"

She is full of surprises.

Happy new year to all my fellow PFM members.

Best wishes from George
 
Lu's hunting led her into trouble yesterday. She charged into brambles after rodents yesterday at work, and had a scratched eyeball. The vet happened to be only two hundred yards away and I took her round in a state of some distress in a few minutes.

She was seen in less than ten minutes, and they washed her eye out and discovered a scratch not on the lense [thanks be], and prescribed a salve and fusidic acid [anti-biotic] eye drops for a week.

Ye gods! £137 for an emergency consultation and two prescriptions! The receptionist saw my face, and we agreed that Lu could do without the salve as the eye drops have several salving elements beside the anti-biotic. So just £97 for a typical Terrier injury. Simply washing out the eye solved the discomfort, and she stopped whinging straight after.

Vets seem to be ultra-expensive these days, but then I am used to large animal practices where prices are much more reasonable. Large animal [farm animals, horses, pigs, cattle and sheep, etc.] vet practices are now few and far between as the general livestock sector is now much reduced as much livestock production is no longer extensive [ie the stock lives outside and eats grass for almost twelve months of the year], because it is cheaper to factory farm animals indoors and actually hire a vet graduate as part of the management team.

How things have progressed [badly] in the last four or five decades since I was a lad on on a farm more than half a lifetime ago.

Rant over. Lu is quite back to normal, and I'll [obviously] administer the whole anti-biotic course.

Best wishes from George
 
Vets aren't cheap! Our mog been a regular recently - blood tests, ultrasound, urine tests... I think we've spent well over a grand there in recent months. I guess it's what we'd be spending on our own health without the NHS.

Glad Lu is doing OK.
 
Karen, Wody, Pie, Lu and I have a lovely walk and romp on the lower end of the Bromyard Downs Common on Sunday mornings, unless something gets in the way. It is the highlight of Lu's week. Though she adores Wody and Pie, she actually hangs round with Karen and me! The two big dogs do ball retrieval - Pie is excellent and Wody is wayward!

But this morning we had to stay on lead the whole time and only have a quarter of an hour ramble, because Wods broke a claw on his front foot on Friday. Over £100 for an operation to remove the damaged claw, but fortunately saving the quick, so he will not be permanently injured. He is about fifteen months old, a Hunterway cross, so a very high energy dog, and really not the brightest, but very sweet. As soon as Lu realised her friend was not quite firing on all cylinders she was so sweet with a dog three times her height and probably four times longer nose to tail! No teasing and challenging, just gentleness. My goodness dogs are often so empathetic. A kind speed of light social intelligence, rather than logical intelligence. I prefer social intelligence, but then perhaps I am more on the wavelength of canines than humans!

Best wishes from George
 
I have been really laid low with the most horrible cold I've had since the 1990s.

Here is Lu, after making a nest in my chair [Buchanon tartan rug and Soway sheepskin] ...

IMG_2605 by George Johnson, on Flickr

Such a contrast to nearly two years ago when she came to me!

IMG_1017 by George Johnson, on Flickr

As a 15 month old pup she was underweight, and just about able relax on day two. In the top picture she is at home, and a healthy weight, and so confident and kind.

Best wishes from George
 
I have got the cold declining, but have almost zero energy at the moment.

I am off to see cousin Patti tomorrow for a four day weekend in North Lincolnshire. Hopefully that will revive me, though I dread the drive up there.

Lu is being ultra-kind. Dogs know when something a bit amiss.

Best wishes from George
 
No pictures. It was not that sort of weekend, but Lu had a nice day on her third birthday [Sunday], but we did not sing "Happy Birthday!" I had a nice rest, and the Berlingo is an effective mile muncher. Infinitely easier to drive than the Mini One, having sufficient acceleration, a commanding driving position that allows for a view over most cars, and such brilliant door mirrors that knowing what is behind or over-taking on the motorway is possible with just a glance. It also did 50.3 mpg over 300 miles there and back, which is miraculous for a 1,900 kg dry weight vehicle. Yes a three cylinder two plus two mini sized car would manage 70 plus mpg, but the driving would have been much more stressful, and certainly slower.

Lu had great fun with Patti, and I enjoyed working not too fast at some serious briars growing through honeysuckle, and trimming a nice hedge back to something much nearer straight and level. Next cut will get it really good.

So nice break and relatively stress-free drive.

Best wishes from George and Lu.
 
Lu's life is one of continual contentment, interspersed with Terrier madness ...

In many ways she is now an adult dog at three and a bit, but she has her moments! None of them aggressive. She is confident with everything and and everyone except under five children, when she is the biggest chicken you ever saw. Permanent psychological scar from her first home I would suspect.

Here she is after a hard days dog work, being round her dad, and several walks with her canine and human friends. Of course, being a Terrier, it is impossible to even take a photo without them waking up!

IMG_2708 by George Johnson, on Flickr

and a few milliseconds later!

IMG_2710 by George Johnson, on Flickr

A tired dog is a happy dogs!

I was asked if she had continued to develop, and I replied not. She does not need to, she is obedient as to safety, and there-after no further tricks are necessary. She is just so friendly to dogs and every human except toddlers, when she remains timid and comes to her her dad for protection.

Best wishes from George

PS: I do think that Lu's recovery as a rescue may be the summation of my life's work. Such a modest achievement and yet the one I am most proud of.
 
Lu is doing overtime on walks and teaching two other dogs how to be a Lady. She is winning by force of character rather than than anything more commanding. She simply gets on with the playing and tires two much bigger dogs out and then leads by example, being genial and correct, though no doubt this does make her tired.

The two in question belong to my friend who has still laid low with hip replacement, and I am walking her two her dogs to stop her overdoing it ...

After the after dark pee-break, here is Lu, and she is absolutely knack...d. And so am I, but she always steps up to the plate.

IMG_2719 by George Johnson, on Flickr

She is the gentlest Terrier I ever knew, and yet she has a character as strong as any sentient creature I ever have known. One could wonder why she is so kind and so loyal as to be so giving. I must be careful she does not over-do it, because clearly she would die before she gives up. And she would not give up.

It is the best thing to have happened to me in my whole life that she came to me.

Best wishes from George
 
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