A-Z Challenge 2021 - Photo Shoot: S - Sam, Sveti Stefan, Soo, Scout

 In the beginning the brother and sister were - 

Sam and Maxie

Maxie appeared earlier under 'M'.  Sam was the Golden 'Yellow' Labrador who would not go into water deeper than his knees.

Deep snow didn't bother him

Unfortunately when he got older he suddenly went blind, but this did not stop him getting about.

If you have time you may read an article about him which was published in Dogs Monthly (a UK magazine) - you will find it at When Darkness Falls

Now that people are thinking of foreign holidays again it has reminded me of a place we visited what seem like many years ago.

Sveti Stefan

Sveti Stefan is a small island on the Adriatic coast of Montenegro and is reached by the causeway you can see in the centre. Accommodation is in individual cottages.

Finally today it's the dog owned by our younger son.

Soo - ready for action

Not bad for a Springer.

But there is another dog. He insists on having the last word.

Scout

A-Z Challenge 2014 - 'X'

X - Crossbred; Sprocker, Labradoodle, Cockapoo

When I first met Gus I thought he was a Spaniel but his owner said he was a crossbreed resulting from the mating of a Springer Spaniel female with a Cocker Spaniel dog. That gave me the idea of what to include unde 'X'.

Sprocker Spaniel - Gus (6 months)

Of course you may obtain a Sprocker in several different ways by crossing:

• Springer with a Cocker
• Springer with a Sprocker
• Cocker with a Sprocker
• Sprocker with a Sprocker

It's not surprising then that they occur in a variety of colours, weights and heights.

If you are looking for a dog that does not shed its hair you might look no further than a dog like Milly. She's a -

Labradoodle - Milly

The Labradoodle results from crossing a Labrador Retriever with a Standard/Miniature or Toy Poodle. The term Labradoodle first appeared in 1955 but was not popularised until 1988.

In Australia they were trained as Assistance Dogs for a time.

A group of Labradoodle Assistance Dogs

Mette-Marit, Crown Princess of Norway and Crown Prince Haakon, heir apparent to the throne of Norway own a black Labradoodle.

Spaniels and Poodles get around a bit because an English Cocker Spaniel crossed with a Poodle (Miniature or Toy) produces dogs like the one we met earlier in the Challenge under P (for Pippa)

I meet her almost every day.

Cockapoo (Pippa)

She's a hypoallergenic dog too.

A-Z Challenge 2014 - 'S'

S - Saint Bernard, Scottish Terrier, Shetland Sheepdog, 
     Skye Terrier, Springer Spaniel

I think just about everyone would recognise my first dog, often depicted with a barrel hanging from its neck.

Saint Bernard

Named after a medieval Hospice in the Swiss Alps, Saint Bernards are famous for their mountain search and rescue role.

This one was hoping to be rescued from having to wait outside the entrance to Whitby Abbey in North Yorkshire.

The "Scottie" had a different role and was bred in Scotland as a vermin catcher; the different coloured varieties were often depicted in advertisements for Black and White Scotch Whisky.

Scottish Terrier - Champion Bapton Norman
(1914 Journal of Heredity - author unknown)

And then there was Barney and Miss Beazley two "Scotties" owned by President G W Bush.

Barney holds his first Presidential Briefing
(Photo by Alex Cooney)

If the next dog reminds you of "Lassie", it shouldn't. Lassie was a Rough Collie (see 'C')

Shetland Sheepdog

The "Sheltie" originated in the Shetlands of the North East Coast of Scotland.

The Isle of Skye sits off the West Coast of Scotland, It was there that the Skye Terrier was developed to go to ground after badgers, foxes, otters and rabbits. However it's in Edinburgh that a Skye Terrier has been immortalised.

Greyfriars Bobby in 1865
(Cropped from an albumen print - National Galleries of Scotland)

Bobby spent 14 years guarding the grave of his owner (policeman John Gray) until he died himself in 1872.

Edinburgh's smallest listed building is the memorial statue for him.

Statue of Greyfriars Bobby
(Photo by Michael Rowe, September 2003 - CC BY-SA 3.0)

If you own an English Springer Spaniel then you are sure of plenty of exercise. One of the oldest British Spaniels it was used to flush out or "spring" game birds.If you see it operate in long grass it is easy to see where the 'springer' comes from.

Springer Spaniel

And of course they just love water!

I'm waiting, come on in!

But my all time favourite from over 50 years ago was the Springer that posed for me at my wife's former home.

Major

Dogs in My Life

From an early age I was used to playing with dogs, The first I remember was an Airedale named Punch, then Laddie, a white Labrador/Lurcher, followed by a whippet named Flick. But the first photograph I have is this from the 1950s.

Major

Major belonged to my wife's sister, but was looked after by her parents. We have never owned a dog ourselves but our younger son and our daughter have made up for this. My son has had three Irish Water Spaniels over the years, two of them at the same time.

Milly and Cara

You may read about Milly and Cara here

Sam and Maxie were my daughter's first two Golden Labradors who became known as the Dogs of Troy.

Sam and Maxie are the stars

The pictures in the video also appear with a commentary at this post.

Later they became part of the gang of four known as the Deer Trail Hounds.

Gem, Sam, Jack and Maxie.

Gem is still alive; Sam suddenly went blind when he was 10 but survived another two years; Jack was known as the brown bomber because of the havoc he could cause while Maxie found fame as the Trash Queen in Dogs Today.

Gem now has to share the house and grounds with three Retrievers - Lily, Scout and Cody. Lily is the youngest and always in trouble but will run for miles after a tennis ball. Scout spoils the games by hiding the balls and has earned the title of Scouty-Two-Ball, which is strange because he hasn't any, as he can run with two in his mouth at once.

Lily and Scout in water; Cody and Gem on land

But Alan's prompt was, let me remind you, man and dog,

So here's one of me.

Cody - more in hope, than expectation.

For more shaggy dog stories you need to check out others at sepia-saturday-111

The Man Who Talks to Dogs

A-Z Challenge – ‘D’

Because of my interest in dogs I started to write about the dogs in the village where I live. The outcome – I suppose I now know as many dogs as people and I’ve heard people call me, “The man who talks to dogs.”

The first dog I remember was when I was very young, I’m not sure that I was old enough to go to school. The only photograph (now lost) that I saw of my father was him kneeling on the front lawn with Punch. Punch was an Airedale with a simple attitude to cats – he hated them. Mind you he took it to extremes when he killed the landlord’s cat for being on his lawn.

The first dog that I was allowed to take out for a walk was a white Labrador/Lurcher named Laddie, the gentlest dog you could imagine. He kept us in rabbit meat during WWII. Poor Laddie came to an untimely death when he was chased out off an alleyway behind a village pub straight under the wheels of a lorry.

Flick, the Whippet, came from South Wales. She covered herself in glory in a very short time by catching a hare almost as big as herself. I once wrote a short story based on this event called ‘The Chase.’

Major the Springer Spaniel had a demeanour to match his name. I’ll swear he sat to attention while his photograph was taken. Major was owned by my future wife’s family in Stamford, Lincolnshire.

 Major

My wife and I have never had a dog. One of my sons and my daughter have made up for this. Milly and Cara were the last two Irish Water Spaniels owned by my son. Milly was the most intelligent dog I’ve ever met and not a bad footballer either. She craved chicken bones and was the scourge of the neighbourhood raiding refuse bins for the remains. (You may read about Milly and Cara at http://bobscotney.blogspot.com/2010/04/irish-water-spaniels.html).

Milly and Cara

My daughter who lives in America had two golden (yellow) Labradors, a brother and sister, named Sam and Maxie. They are the stars in my blog post ‘Dogs of Troy’ at http://bobscotney.blogspot.com/2010/09/dogs-of-troy.html

Gem, Sam, Jack and Maxie

 When my daughter moved house, the pack increased to four with the addition of Gem, a black Lab mutt, and Jack, the chocolate Labrador know affectionately as the ‘Brown Bomber.’ Jack is my Lucky Dog (http://bobscotney.blogspot.com/2010/12/lucky-dog.html)

 

Jack

 Only Gem of the ‘originals’ is still alive and she has been joined by the elder statesman, a Retriever named Cody – the most obedient dog I know. He loves fishing in the lake.

 Cody

Scout and Lily are the younger Retrievers in the house. I have been told that it’s my job this summer to train Lily to behave. Wish me luck when I talk to the dogs.

[Posts and photos on North Yorkshire Village Dogs may be found in my blog archives in December 2009, January, March, June, July, September, October and December 2010]