Short little holiday at Bridge of Cally

As the nice weather continues we decided to make good use of the nights Bed and Breakfast we won at The Bridge of Cally Hotel so as I had a full weekend off we set out on the 40 minute journey to Bridge of Cally. After check in to a lovely room with a huge bed we set off to drive across the Moulin Moor to Pitlochry so we could have a look round and a walk.

The sky was blue and the sun was breaking through as we took a walk through Pitlochry, over the swing bridge and up to the Fish ladder at the Dam

Roscoe happier on the swing bridge than I was!

The river at the Power station

After our walk it was a hard earned ice - cream

Back to the hotel where we had a lovely steak dinner and wine and Roscoe was allowed to  sit in the bar area with us as we ate, he behaved beautifully and was happy to make friends with anyone who would speak to him!! Including several people walking the Cateran Trail - a lovely trail that takes 3 - 5 days to complete and takes in some lovely scenery

The Cateran Trail is far too long for Roscoe (and me LOL) but our morning walk we walked along part of it so we can say we have been on the trail

Our break was over  too quickly but before heading home we turned North and took a drive up Glenshee past the ski slopes and down the other side into Braemar where we had another wander and headed out to the forest beside the Linn of Dee. Sadly my phone died at this point so the only photo I got was the river in Braemar!

A lovely break was had by all and I think it is safe to say Roscoe enjoys his travels with us :-)

A lovely summer's day out at Kenmore

Summer has been here to stay and we have made the most of long sunny days.

Following our lovely day out at St Andrews we headed North and West the last weekend in July to Kenmore. We left an overcast and cloudy home and drove off to wards the sun and blue skies

We had a wander round the village and along by the river then we had lunch at the Kenmore hotel. Dogs are allowed in one of the bars where food is served but it was such a lovely day we opted to sit at the tables out the back over looking the river and the ducks. Roscoe as usual was oblivious to the ducks and other dogs and lay quietly in the sun.

After lunch we headed back to the small beach area and had great fun paddling, Roscoe seems to really like the water.

Here is the view from where we ate lunch

And here is Roscoe enjoying cooling off in Loch Tay

Summer continues

Well what a fabulous day we had last Sunday. The sun shone the sky was blue as we headed off to St Andrews (Where Prince William and Kate Middleton went to university and met). It is a beautiful little town with amazing beaches, there are 3 to choose from. We headed to the largest of the 3, and the pictures show just how quiet the beach was considering it was the 2nd hottest day this year. It was lovely, some dog walkers, some swimmers and some families enjoying a day out but still plenty beach to enjoy

Here are some photos of Roscoe enjoying the sea, i had gone in for a paddle and he came too!!

After the beach we had a lovely stroll round St Andrews and headed to a little pub for lunch we sat outside eating freshly made baguettes and drinking ice cold drinks, Roscoe enjoyed some water with ice cubes in it and a piece of my steak baguette and a bit of his dads chicken and bacon baguette.

We then headed out along the sea wall towards the cathedral for an afternoon wander here are a couple of photos from the walk

And our week was completed with the delivery of two lovely pieces of art work from our wonderful friend Pat Elliot she is an extremely creative and artistic lady and she kindly sent us two pieces of art of Roscoe. The 1st of him with his Best in Rescue win at Camperdown fun show, and the 2nd of him running through the wild flowers on Orkney

I think you will agree she is fabulously talented. More about Pat and her work can be found HERE

Hopefully today's sea harr will lift and the sun will come out to play as we both have a weekend off and want to go off on another adventure with Roscoe 

Summer is here

Well with the exception of a couple of days we have had glorious weather since our return from Orkney, warm sunny days. Such a shame work gets in the way of beach walks. We may head to the beach tody though.

Last weekend we visited a local horse sanctuary which had an open day to raise funds and Roscoe had great fun trying out the agility. He enjoyed it much better than the last time we tried, but I guess he is probably a little more comfortable with us now as he has been with us longer.

Here are a couple of photos of him at the agility

He will do anything for a teensey bit of chicken!!

Love this photo

He spent a fair bit of time at the Staffy Rescue Scotland stand and he was a fabulous ambassador lying down for tummy tickles and making friends with everyone including one lady who had always been too scared to even walk near a staffy before and she walked away from the stand saying she would look differently at Staffies in the future. A job well done.

There were carriage driving displays and sheep and goats in a small petting zoo area and Roscoe was completely unphased by all the noise sights and smells. Because he was such a good boy we had to stop for ice cream on the way home :-)

Hope the summer weather continues and remember never leave your dog in a car in this heat not even for a short while with the windows open as your car quickly becomes an oven

Roscoe on Orkney - Part 2

Well we have returned from a weeks holiday on Mainland Orkney. Roscoe had a fabulous time. Wide open beaches, with white sand and turquoise waters, blue skies (some days) Lots of new smells, and places to go. He was far more settled on this holiday than when we went to Loch Lomond. I am hoping that means he feels more secure and like he is part of our family for keeps.

We stayed in a little self catering apartment with sea views called The Noust This was also a Bed and Breakfast and was the local post office and the local pub which did excellent food. Sadly the pub was not dog friendly but the bed and breakfast and the apartment were.

Here is Roscoe settling in to his holiday home

Orkney truly is a magical place and the next couple of photos have no Roscoe in them, but they are typical of the amazing history of these magnificent Islands which are rich in culture. We had many walks around the standing stones and other neolithic sites of interest and we spent Midsummer's night at the Ring of Brodgar celebrating the setting sun as our ancestors may well have done 5000 years ago

Orkney itself proved to be very dog friendly and although many places to eat did allow dogs in the places which didn't had seating outside, thankfully we were blessed with good weather most of the time and there was a distinct lack of midges (The Scottish Mosquito!) Here is Roscoe enjoying his lunch at The Reel in Kirkwall.

We went to see lots of the sites and had many walks along the beautiful beaches Here is Roscoe leaving The Tomb of The Eagles I think he may have been chased out by some of the old souls inside!!

And finally here are a selection of Roscoe having fabulous fun on various walks and at the beaches. Orkney is a fabulous place for a holiday and I think Roscoe will agree. I hope those of you following the blog can see the change in Roscoe, His coat is glossy, he has put on weight and he has a definite Staffy smile 

Playing frisbee at Skail Bay

Wildflower run to me at Yesnaby stacks

Beautiful clear water and white sandy beaches

Enjoying Orkney Ice cream at Gurness Broch

He just loves his toys - having fun on the beach

This was back on mainland Scotland on the walk between John 'O  Groats and Duncansby Bay

One of my favorite photos - Do you think he is happy!!

Roscoe in Orkney - part one!

Just a very quick update as Roscoe is on his holidays :-)

Right now he is probably the most northerly Any Staffie'll Do rescue doggie as we are on Orkney

He travelled very well considering he is not a huge fan of the car and settled down after about an hour and decided he wanted to lie in the back passenger footwells and there he stayed for the rest of the journey, and today went back there when we were driving about!

There will be an overload of photos when we get home but for now here he is enjoying his 1st morning walk on Orkney Mainland

We have visited an ancient stone-age burial site today at The Tomb Of The Eagles which was very interesting and Roscoe got to actually go inside the tomb, he found it far easier to get in and out than I did (and yes there are photos!!)

So a very quick update but wanted to keep you up to date on Roving Roscoe!!!

No joy at Scrufts but Best Rescue at the Companion Show

Well Saturday was a beautiful sunny day for the Scottish heat of Scrufts and the associated Companion Dog Show. It was, if anything too warm so we took shelter from the sun's heat inside a covered tent area.

First up was Scrufts (which is the equivalent of Crufts for crossbreeds) and we entered best rescue and most handsome dog aged 3 - 7) Sadly we weren't even selected for the shortlist although the dog that won most handsome was a lovely collie cross who was really handsome. However as this was only Roscoe's 2nd show he was wonderful and seemed happier than last week with his tail wagging and an almost staffy smile.

We met up with Roscoe's new best friend Caesar another rescue dog, they are both male and both rescues and only met for the 1st time 7 days ago and here thy are doing their very best best friend seal impersonations

Later in the afternoon and we had a picnic lunch (when we did sit out in the sun) we headed to the companion show we entered Most Handsome Dog, Best Rescue, Most adorable eyes and Judge the dog would like to take home.  Neither Caesar nor Roscoe were picked for short list in Most Handsome Dog....they were robbed LOL

Both were in best rescue and to our amazement Roscoe was picked to be 1st place, the judge spent  bit of time asking the story of each dog and how long the owners had owned them for etc, it was nice to see a judge who seemed genuinely interested in the dogs. Here he is with his 1st prize rosette he also got a frisbee with a ball in the middle (photos to follow in next update!)

The adorable eyes and the dog the judge would most like to take home also resulted in no short listing for Roscoe but Caesar was placed in the dog the Judge would most like to take home.  The judge may have not noticed the adorable eyes but here is Roscoe clearly adoring his dad

Hopefully this week we will start classes with Roscoe although he is very very obedient there are some things he is very unsure of like the commands wait and stay he looks genuinely worried that he will be left when we try these commands so hoping to build a strong bond so he knows he is here with us for keeps. Also think he will enjoy the social aspect as he is fabulous with dogs and people so hoping he will enjoy the classes. The 1st one will be on Tuesday night if I can get in touch with the lady who runs it as quite rightly she wants to see vaccination cards but Roscoe's is in his old name of Harry! He suits Roscoe much better :-)

"Preparation" for Scrufts and a new family member!

Well after our "success" at the Arbroath funday we aim to go to Scrufts fun show this weekend. Scrufts is a dog show for non pedigree dogs and is basically the cross breed Crufts. There are a few classes and we will be entering The Best Rescue category and also the Best Veteran. It's all a bit of a fun and to be honest we are entering more to show the soft side of Staffies and how soft and dopey they can be. We have been practicing sit and stand as last week all Roscoe wanted to do was to lie down. If the weather holds we may well try to bath Roscoe - that will definitely necessitate a post!! As he is not very good with rain and his foster carers tried to bath him with very little success. Pictures will follow this weekend!

We have a "new family member" or more of a lovely reminder of an old family member. An online friend Pamela Duthie who makes Feltie models of dogs sent us a lovely model of Ben our late dog and the dog who 1st introduced us to Staffies

here is Toots inspecting "Ben"

Pam's details can be found HERE on the Etsy Website and you can buy items and see her work and contact her to request your very own Feltie, the detail is amazing. "Ben" has now been put out of reach of both Roscoe and Toots and he is standing proudly on the shelf in the living room.

Now it is time to go and enjoy some of that rare Scottish sunshine and take Roscoe for his morning wander to the park.

A lovely weekend and 1st shot at agility

Well finally summer has arrived along with some glorious sunshine on what was arguably the best weekend of the year so far. Saturday however found me working all day whilst Roscoe and his dad "enjoyed" a day of  watching Sky Sports interrupted only for  walk in the park.

The preceding week had seen Roscoe's touch of conjunctivitis clear up with the help of the antibiotic treatment from the vets so his eyes were looking good again (it will become apparent later why this is an important point!)

So Sunday was off to Angus Dog Activity club's open day in conjunction with Angus college. This was a fun day with a try your hand at agility/terrier racing and a fun dog show. It was a beautiful day. We arrived and met up with Kirsty and Caesar from Any Staffie'll do rescue and also Rosie with Boo, Dylan and Whitney (4 weeks ago Whitney an elderly lady had been handed in to a vets down south to be put to sleep but ASDR rescued her)

Stuart took Roscoe round the agility, he was fine with the jumps, hated the tunnels, was wary of the A-frame and leapt off the top of the high walk and could see no point in weave!! But his tail never stopped!!

We entered the best veteran class and we were robbed LOL Didn't even get placed but lovely Whitney came 1st and very well deserved it was too. Next up was most handsome dog and again we was robbed!! no place but Caesar got a well deserved 2nd. Then we had most appealing eyes and thanks to the antibiotic drops Roscoe got his 1st rosette with us and he came 2nd in the most appealing eyes class. Then we had dog the judge would most like to take home, again no places but a gorgeous Rottie got 1st place.

All in all it was fun and a great chance to socialise and mix with dogs people and children, some in face paints and carrying large objects like inflatable hammers and of course plenty of ice-cream and Roscoe behaved impeccably.

After the classes I tried the agility and this ime was a bit better, again his tail wagged the whole time and he was much happier with the A frame, managed 1 tunnel(with the help of a tennis ball) and after a few attempts did the high walk

If you look closely you can see Roscoe on the high walk!

We then had a go at terrier racing and Roscoe saw as much point in that as he did the weave poles. He was more interested in running to anyone who would speak to him than chasing the lure!!

But all in all it was as it said on the tin, a fun day out with a rosette to boot

Then on the way home we stopped for a walk at Roscoe's favourite beach, and enjoyed the last of the late sunshine.

All in all a lovely weekend with lovely weather and lots of fun.

Long Overdue Update

Well due to one thing and another the blog has been neglected :-( Suffice to say i have now fully recovered from a 2 week flu/viral infection which left me floored but suffice to say I was well looked after not only by my NHS Doctor but also by Doc Roscoe, who lay beside me the whole day when  was laid up in bed, I am sure had I asked him to get me more Lucozade he would have tried! And the health of family members which was quite all consuming has now also improved :-) Though Roscoe was very good at licking away the many tears and giving cuddles!

There is way too much to catch up on so I will try a sort of bullet point approach so that if you are interested you can see how far we have come in the 9 weeks we have had Roscoe. There is still a lot of adventures and fun ahead but it looks like Roscoe is happy to have us look after him

Roscoe is now happy to be left alone (although he has discovered that no matter where we put the cats food he can find it and eat it - all well and good but its prescription food at £23 a small bag!!! On the plus side it must be tastier than the cats tray as he leaves that alone now!!)

Toots and Roscoe continue to bond extremely well and enjoy sharing cuddles together

We had our 1st holiday away with Roscoe, although he was a bit unsure I think he liked it and we hope he now realises that home is here with us. He was very whiny in the car and wouldn't settle (This continues to be an ongoing problem and we are currently teaching him "Quiet" without too much success!) and when we got to the fabulous Shepherds Hut at Loch Lomond he was quite confused, but he did like the long walks along parts of the West Highland Way and enjoying his 1st swim in a Scottish Loch (Loch Lomond)

He was also treated to an easier way to see Loch Lomond as we took a pleasure cruise on the Loch from Balmaha to Luss, it was a shame about the weather as it was drizzly and Grey but Roscoe found his sea or should I say Loch Legs

All in all I think his 1st holiday with us was a success and once we work on and succeed at quiet the car journeys will be much more enjoyable for all! Another 1st was Roscoe's 1st time at a pub in his home town as we enjoyed the 1st and possibly only day of summer, it is a shame the photo is not the best but I somehow like this next pic

We have also been on a couple of walks with the couple who fostered Roscoe and their foster fail Astrid who is a young bitch and they get on very well and enjoy playing and running together and we hope to make this a regular thing.

We have had many enjoyable outings and new walks to the beach

The park

And many other places including a walk in the busy town. Nothing seems to phase Roscoe he s fabulous with adults, kids and other dogs even small yappy dogs and growly unfriendly (off lead) dogs. The only time he has been even a little upset was when a big hairy Alsatian tried to mount him and even then he just warned him and then carried on playing with Kong!!

All in all he is a fabulous lad and we have to wonder how, like so many others, he ended up in the pound. I have just interrupted the typing of this blog to put in some eye drops as Roscoe has a touch of conjunctivitis, yesterday was a battle of wills and Staffy heads v humans! but this morning was much calmer and went without event he seems to have accepted we are not going to hurt him :-)

So that is the update till next time which should be sooner and until then we will continue to introduce Roscoe to new experiences and to work on his car travelling and excitability when we are going out for a walk (our theory for that at the minute is picking up the lead several times without actually going out and the front door does not get opened until we have a calm sit and when outside if he starts to pull or yip excitedly we calmly walk back toward the door until we have calmness...it seems to be sinking in, but there is a lot of Staffy head for it to penetrate!!