Jane England writes

Last April, myself and Mungo embarked on a new dog sport ‘Canix’. Canix or cani-cross means running with your dog. It caters for all shapes and sizes, any breed and all fitness levels – canine and human! The courses vary in length with the Have-A-Go class being 2.5km and the standard being approximately 5km. The season runs from September to May so the dogs are running in the cooler weather.

So, Mungo and I were prepared for our first outing at Cannock Chase. Our training runs had gone OK and he was running to help. However, what I really wanted was for him to be pulling in his harness. Once, at the competition he turned intoa a pulling machine as he was trying to catch the dogs in front of him. We came 8th out of 23 on our first outing, which I was really pleased with.

This season has been going well with Mungo, he has been pulling all the way round the courses and our best result came at Lydiard Park in November where we came 4th. The photo was taken during this event. (Photo ref:chillpics)

If you want a good and enjoyable way of getting you and your dog fit come and have a go at canix – www.canix.co.uk

Myself and Mungo have just learnt that we have been picked as part of the canix UK team that is going to Hungary in October so we need to get training.

Rosie’s first experience in the snow

Dear Jane,

Lucy Jackson suggested that I should send you a few pictures of our Irish Terrier, “Dooley”.  It was Lucy’s book and her encouragement when I met her in 2007 that led us to get Dooley.  He is typical of the best of the breed. Wants to meet everyone, loves children and other dogs, plays the fool yet is very intelligent.  He is also mischievous and makes us laugh every day. 

Now aged 18 months, Dooley has clocked up a rescue of a fellow dog.  While out walking in the early evening in the country last February, he insisted that a bizarre whimpering noise from an open barn on our neighbour’s land needed investigating.  I thought he was just playing up and on climbing a fence to look into the barn where pallets of logs were stored, I could see nothing.  Still he insisted, with increasing urgency that something was wrong and refused to walk away.  Eventually, I looked right down at ground level to see if it was just mice or rats that were exciting him, only to see a Jack Russell trapped under about one ton of logs with his head twisted a horrible angle.  Having set about throwing off all the logs as quickly as possible, the Jack Russell could finally be extracted from beneath the broken pallet base.  He was cold, dehydrated and very frightened but after a good licking from Dooley, seemed to relax.  We walked back to a nearby farm with me carrying the ‘patient’ wrapped in my jacket and found that he lived there and had been missing for some time.  The Jack Russell made a full recovery and Dooley got an extra large bone that evening. 

With kind regards,

John Heap

Ruby enjoying the heavy snow in February.
Ruby is four years old and lives in Wimbledon.

More snow pictures to follow.

Historical Parade at Crufts 2008

Hector Coke who lives with Viscount Coke at Holkham Hall in Norfolk is a wonderful family dog, much adored and rules the roost