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June 2009

Dear Irish Terrier Friends,

Having just got used to the idea of Zuli’s deafness we’ve had a worry about Beegie. Neither dog has ever, but ever, been ill and I’m not really wired up to checking them over every time they seem a bit out of sorts. But this has been a lesson learned especially now that they are both over twelve. Beegie seemed to be walking rather stiffly and was exhausted at the end of her morning walk. It had been rather hot but when they had their annual check up and inoculations in March the vet did suggest her hind legs were a little stiff. She advocated short walks two or three times a day (not always practical of course!) would be better than one and a half hours on the trot. She called it with some disapproval ‘a marathon for old ladies’.

It wasn’t however until I was bathing her that I discovered her anal glands were enlarged. It is not uncommon in dogs but not something I’ve experienced in any of ours.

Poor Beegie found the vets ‘intervention’ a great insult and although one gland could be easily emptied the other was infected and painful. There was some great plan to wash it out under an anaesthetic and investigate some nodules. I have insisted on waiting to see if a course of antibiotics will do the trick. My late husband Ian was a doctor and I’ve heard him say many times ‘give the body a chance to heal itself first’ so that’s where we are. She’s had the antibiotics, the swelling has gone down and she’s miraculously better though even more prone to pushing her luck on sofas, beds and the front seat of the car. It’s her ‘I’m still poorly’ act.

Anyway, I’m keeping a careful eye on her and we’ll see how she manages.

Zuli is, as ever, very much in charge and copes with her deafness well. Nothing passes her by, she’s always had a paw on the button and I suspect still finds me, on the whole, woefully incompetent! I had a wonderful experience on Wednesday listening to Derek Jacobi recording Bertie of the Broads to sell on CD. I know that many of you will have read the story of dear old Bertie, an Irish Terrier who lives in a pub on the Norfolk Broads. A friend came to the studio to coach the Norfolk accent (not an easy one) and we had an amusing morning. I do think it is a very funny story and there was a great deal of laughter from the recording technicians as well. It is always amazing to watch a real master at work. Derek adores his Irish Terrier Bella and said ‘I recognise Bell all the way through the story’. We do owe him a great debt of gratitude.

Have a look at the features page and read about Dooley’s rescue of the little Jack Russell caught by the neck under a pile of logs. We had a similar thing happen years ago on Hampstead Heath with our Irish Terriers Ceilidh and Miss Moge. They discovered a tiny black poodle curled up in a bush and almost dead with cold. They kept barking and refused to leave until we parted the branches and discovered the poor little dog. We got him to the vet just in time and he recovered in three days and was dully collected by his frantic owner. The children were very sad when he left. But we received the biggest bouquet of flowers they’d ever seen! Dooley is only a youngster himself so it was very well spotted – clever one.

Sadly we have two missing Irish Terriers in Staffordshire. They are a mother and daughter Clancy (five) and Truffle (18 months). It seems they were walked regularly in some woods where rabbit hunting is a huge excitement. According to their distraught owner they had run off before but had always returned before nightfall. They have now been missing for days and everyone has been alerted. We have an excellent Irish Terrier rescue network in place but we’re all very concerned indeed.

It is an absolute nightmare to loose a dog for even ten minutes. I’ve rescued so many in the park over the years. It happens easily enough - puppies want to play and older terriers hunt. I’ve ‘mislaid’ my own (fortunately not too seriously) once or twice. Our last ‘foundling’ was a small black Cocker Spaniel pup. We all trundled him back across the park to the police station by which time he seemed convinced he’d known us all his life. It was a painful parting but fortunately the phone rang before we left and just when I was about to burst into tears. His owner arrived within minutes.

In my childhood days dogs wandered about almost unchecked. I remember our old Irish Terrier Jock would studiously ignore us if we met in the village and he had other plans.

We’re off to the races next week – Ascot and all that. We always take the dogs. There are some pretty walks all around the course and they love to picnic. They snooze happily in the car after lunch while we waste our cash on the horses.

We’re looking for pic’s for the 2010 calendar now! Please send them in as soon as possible as it gives us a better timeframe in which to put it all together. A much bigger job than one could imagine.

Do say a little prayer for the lost ones. 

Many greetings, my love to the dogs,

Lucy