Postcard from Brittany 5
Dear friends..... The dogs have now discovered that they can jump over the wall at the bottom of the garden and take themselves off for a walk/play in the woods behind the house. The fun they have! I must admit to being slightly nervous initially that they might get lost but one or more of the 6 children go after them and they all come back in time, tired, invariably wet and always dirty. The fear of losing one of them is my biggest worry while we are over here and I was interested to read recently about a new GPS device for dogs.
Petbuddi, sends the dog's position to your mobile phone, or computer via SMS or email, showing their current location. You need to be sure that you have phone coverage in your area, but it would appear that the days of lost dogs may soon be over!
Postcard from Brittany 4
The days are settling into a nice routine. Dad's fresh-baked bread for breakfast with eggs from the farm. A quick walk for the dogs and then I leave them all to it and escape to do my stint on DoggySnaps. With 6 children to entertain it's games all afternoon with Boules, short tennis and 'around the clock golf' - my best hole is from under the conifers at 9 o'clock where I can't see the pin! We tried it with the dogs outside during our family Olympics but discovered that Barney can carefully pick up three golf balls at a time in his big, soft mouth and won't, "Drop". The sponge tennis ball (hosepipe for the court and a net curtain for the net) gets shredded everytime and Barney runs through the net chasing it so I'm afraid that while the humans play the dogs have to have an enforced nap. (Only the heavy Bretonne boules have the dogs stumped.)
Dad is cursing Branston, my sister's Standard Schnauzer, as he has taken to digging holes in the lawn. Unfortunately his sludge-caked beard and nose gave him away in spite of his innocent, nonchalent expression. I think he can smell the mole in the mole hills and has just been excavating old mounds. (I'm a good Auntie and try to protect him whenever I can from a telling off.)
Postcard from Brittany 3
Dear friends........
The benefits of spaying and neutering dogs were highlighted today when the family who are kindly letting me use their office facilities showed me two puppies they had found abandoned near the entrance to their farm. This is the fourth time they have been 'left' puppies over the past 2 years, and they have similar stories of other homes around this area finding two or three puppies from the same litter, across the same time period. Fortunately, they have been able to find good homes for them so far and, all of these puppies appear to be from the same bitch - a GSD cross. Rather than spay their bitch, someone lets her fall pregnant twice a year and they then distribute the puppies to locals. My English hosts point out that, in rural Brittany, many puppies are killed at birth and spaying is not the norm for farm/family dogs in isolated rural areas. The family here have a dog - you guessed it - a GSD cross found a couple of years ago. They find the idea of DoggySnaps a peculiar one as dogs, according to them, aren't afforded the same love and devotion in France as in other countries. I have to disagree. The dogs living around our holiday home seem to have their owners wrapped around their little paws! Any French members care to comment?
Postcard from Brittany 2
Dear friends....... It is another beautiful day here in Brittany. We are staying in my parent's house in a tiny hamlet in the middle of nowhere. The dogs have settled in nicely nowthat Betty has realised that I'm not leaving her and has relaxed enough to let me go to the loo by myself!
We have an old 'lavoir' (wash-house) at the bottom of the track behind our garden where the women of the village used to wash all their clothes. It is fed by a crystal clear spring and the dogs leapt in yesterday afternoon and had a swim. Be assured that it is no longer in use and is quite overgrown. Barney was in 'doggy heaven' and now heads straight for it whenever we set off on our regular walks.
Postcard from Brittany 1
Dear friends.......Just to let you know that we arrived safely in Brittany yesterday. It was an easy journey from home (4.30am departure) to the Eurotunnel station for our 6.50am crossing. No one checked the paperwork for the dogs, asked us any questions, or confirmed our booking for them. In fact, I don't think anyone noticed my sister had a dog in the boot of her car. They only spotted mine as I asked where they could have a toilet break near the terminal! I'm sure they will be much more thorough when we try to get back into England.
The French are well set up for people taking breaks with their dogs alongside the motorways. Their lay-bys are well away from the road, with plenty of grass and trees to wee on. The children loved the playgrounds and there were plenty of picnic tables, fresh water, litter bins and toilets. We stopped an hour out of Calais at a wonderful service area (with a lake for the dogs to run around) and had a good breakfast - 'Aire de la Baie'. I wouldn't hesitate to recommend this as a great 'stop-off' to anyone heading West on the motorway from Calais. Later on our 7 hour marathon drive we pulled over again and found similar facilities.
