This picture is of Reba our Bernese Mountain Dog bitch in her new hiding place, the soon to be goat dairy on the back of the stable block. She gets a bit hot so likes to find a cool patch to lie on away from the rest of the magnificent seven.
Looking at her butter wouldn't melt in her muzzle but she has her moments, like last night when Tracey went into the kitchen and found Reba sat bolt upright by the back door, a picture of innocence. As Tracey was about to leave the kitchen she just spotted that Reba's nose was white instead of its usual glossy black, she also had white around her mouth and on the top of her head. Behind her was an open sack of lamb milk powder which she had been dipping into as a little Berner snack. She is also not averse to stealing eggs, but will take them from the bowl on the kitchen work top unlike the rest of the pack who try to beat their master to the nesting boxes.
She is without doubt top dog of the magnificent seven who live at Rock HQ. We never thought she would achieve this status, particularly when you consider that Rocky and male Bernese Mountain Dog is here and top dog was undoubtedly a Gordon Setter called Faith. Faith didn't relinquish the top dog honour to Rocky but has definitely been moved down the pack order since Reba became an adult.
Reba didn't have a good start at Rock HQ. We got her from a breeder in Cornwall with a good reputation to be a mate for Rocky. Bernese Mountain Dogs are an exceptional breed and are fantastic companion dogs so we decided that we would like to breed some of our own one day. I collected the puppy from the breeder and put her in the back of the car. For the next hour and a half she howled and cried in protest against being taken from her litter mates. Exhausted she fell asleep and when she woke up she was meeting the pack at Rock HQ.
Rocky immediately fell in love with Reba and since they met they have been inseparable. Faith for some reason hates puppies so we were very careful to supervise her when she was around Reba. Unfortunately such close supervision couldn't prevent Faith lunging at and biting Reba as she walked past one evening. Pandemonium ensued as Preston dived in to stop Faith and Poppy joined in a spirited display of pack unity. As I tried to separate the dueling canines Tracey picked up the wounded pup from under the table. A nasty bite by the eye and a cracked tooth, she would live but Faith was banned from any contact until she was bigger. Faced with a wounded pup who was missing her mum I relented and let her sleep in our room, on the proviso she went back to the pack when she was better and bigger.
However due to further accidents and incidents she never got better and still sleeps in our room despite taking up nearly as much room in it as I do.
You see Reba was to accidents and misfortune as a magnet is to iron filings, you couldn't keep her away from them. A few days after the bite incident I was in the garden watering the salad bed when I heard an awful yowl and the noise of a puppy in pain. I dropped the hose and ran to the house expecting to find Faith finishing the job she had started on Reba. Tracey was hugging Reba by the front door. The puppy had climbed the stairs, got into the bathroom, climbed onto a radiator, onto the windowsill, out onto the conservatory, and fell off over the front door with a thump onto the concrete.
Three days later I was in the lounge and heard a strange gurgling sound and found that Reba was in the conservatory where she had climbed onto the back of the sofa, fell off and was hanging by the neck off a plant stand. Another near miss, like the time a while later when she fell into the pond and swam with all the grace and buoyancy of a brick and was rescued on the point of drowning.
It was around this time that the pack leader at Rock HQ decided that is was unfair that Reba had a bed inside our room if Rocky didn't as well. Knowing better than to argue I agreed and Rocky joined Reba and they sleep very contentedly on their beds either side of our bed.
Our bed is definitely out of bounds.
You will be surprised though how gently a fifty five kilogramme dog can tread when they apply themselves. You would think it unlikely that she would be able to get onto the bed without waking its occupants, especially when they are remaining vigilant against fox attack so wake easily. There have been a number of occasions when I have rolled over half awake and put my arm around Tracy to find she had a thick fur coat or an impressive set of teeth and whiskers and a very wet nose.
Normally though, just like Rocky, she sleeps quietly and wakes when the alarm goes off, waiting quietly to be let outside where she asserts her authority over the pack. She has grown up into a very fine Bernese Mountain Dog and is the friendliest canine you could wish to meet and if you like a lap dog that will crush you she is definitely the dog for you. She will spend hours sat next to you ensuring as much of her is in as much contact with you as possible. As I type this on the laptop her head is across my left forearm which cramps my typing style somewhat.
This morning though she changed tactics regarding the morning routine. Instead of waiting for the alarm she decided to be one. Nothing subtle like sticking her cold wet nose somewhere she shouldn't, or a big soppy wet kiss to rouse her owner, no, she thumped me on the nose with her front paw.
Just once.
That was all it took really.
That reminds me, I must change the pillow case, its got my blood on it.
Looking at her butter wouldn't melt in her muzzle but she has her moments, like last night when Tracey went into the kitchen and found Reba sat bolt upright by the back door, a picture of innocence. As Tracey was about to leave the kitchen she just spotted that Reba's nose was white instead of its usual glossy black, she also had white around her mouth and on the top of her head. Behind her was an open sack of lamb milk powder which she had been dipping into as a little Berner snack. She is also not averse to stealing eggs, but will take them from the bowl on the kitchen work top unlike the rest of the pack who try to beat their master to the nesting boxes.
She is without doubt top dog of the magnificent seven who live at Rock HQ. We never thought she would achieve this status, particularly when you consider that Rocky and male Bernese Mountain Dog is here and top dog was undoubtedly a Gordon Setter called Faith. Faith didn't relinquish the top dog honour to Rocky but has definitely been moved down the pack order since Reba became an adult.
Reba didn't have a good start at Rock HQ. We got her from a breeder in Cornwall with a good reputation to be a mate for Rocky. Bernese Mountain Dogs are an exceptional breed and are fantastic companion dogs so we decided that we would like to breed some of our own one day. I collected the puppy from the breeder and put her in the back of the car. For the next hour and a half she howled and cried in protest against being taken from her litter mates. Exhausted she fell asleep and when she woke up she was meeting the pack at Rock HQ.
Rocky immediately fell in love with Reba and since they met they have been inseparable. Faith for some reason hates puppies so we were very careful to supervise her when she was around Reba. Unfortunately such close supervision couldn't prevent Faith lunging at and biting Reba as she walked past one evening. Pandemonium ensued as Preston dived in to stop Faith and Poppy joined in a spirited display of pack unity. As I tried to separate the dueling canines Tracey picked up the wounded pup from under the table. A nasty bite by the eye and a cracked tooth, she would live but Faith was banned from any contact until she was bigger. Faced with a wounded pup who was missing her mum I relented and let her sleep in our room, on the proviso she went back to the pack when she was better and bigger.
However due to further accidents and incidents she never got better and still sleeps in our room despite taking up nearly as much room in it as I do.
You see Reba was to accidents and misfortune as a magnet is to iron filings, you couldn't keep her away from them. A few days after the bite incident I was in the garden watering the salad bed when I heard an awful yowl and the noise of a puppy in pain. I dropped the hose and ran to the house expecting to find Faith finishing the job she had started on Reba. Tracey was hugging Reba by the front door. The puppy had climbed the stairs, got into the bathroom, climbed onto a radiator, onto the windowsill, out onto the conservatory, and fell off over the front door with a thump onto the concrete.
Three days later I was in the lounge and heard a strange gurgling sound and found that Reba was in the conservatory where she had climbed onto the back of the sofa, fell off and was hanging by the neck off a plant stand. Another near miss, like the time a while later when she fell into the pond and swam with all the grace and buoyancy of a brick and was rescued on the point of drowning.
It was around this time that the pack leader at Rock HQ decided that is was unfair that Reba had a bed inside our room if Rocky didn't as well. Knowing better than to argue I agreed and Rocky joined Reba and they sleep very contentedly on their beds either side of our bed.
Our bed is definitely out of bounds.
You will be surprised though how gently a fifty five kilogramme dog can tread when they apply themselves. You would think it unlikely that she would be able to get onto the bed without waking its occupants, especially when they are remaining vigilant against fox attack so wake easily. There have been a number of occasions when I have rolled over half awake and put my arm around Tracy to find she had a thick fur coat or an impressive set of teeth and whiskers and a very wet nose.
Normally though, just like Rocky, she sleeps quietly and wakes when the alarm goes off, waiting quietly to be let outside where she asserts her authority over the pack. She has grown up into a very fine Bernese Mountain Dog and is the friendliest canine you could wish to meet and if you like a lap dog that will crush you she is definitely the dog for you. She will spend hours sat next to you ensuring as much of her is in as much contact with you as possible. As I type this on the laptop her head is across my left forearm which cramps my typing style somewhat.
This morning though she changed tactics regarding the morning routine. Instead of waiting for the alarm she decided to be one. Nothing subtle like sticking her cold wet nose somewhere she shouldn't, or a big soppy wet kiss to rouse her owner, no, she thumped me on the nose with her front paw.
Just once.
That was all it took really.
That reminds me, I must change the pillow case, its got my blood on it.
No comments:
Post a Comment