Angus
We’re getting ready to launch the luxuryhound boutique, and the graphic designer came up with a wonderful logo incorporating a drawing of a dog that could be a Westie or a Scottie. When we sent it around to a ‘focus group’ (consisting of friends and family) my cousin mentioned the children’s books from the 60’s [...]
Monty Halls’ Great Hebridean Escape
I can’t believe I’m just now cottoning on to Monty Halls and his TV shows. I’m completely in love, and the big man is similarly afflicted… but not with Monty — with his dog Reuben.
For those of you who, like me, have come late to the party, Monty Halls is an
Lambs
The big man and I went up to Pitlochry last weekend to look at wedding venues. It happened to be an amazingly beautiful day — bright sunshine, trees promising to leaf, and flowers bursting into bloom almost as we watched. As we’ll have many guests from abroad, we’re thinking that it would be wonderful to introduce them to
Spring is here
One of the advantages to living in such a Northerly clime is that, while it’s very dark in the winter, the light returns quickly. This photograph was taken at around 9:30 at night in Holyrood Park. My fiance (aka ‘the big man’) and I had strolled through the park, around Arthur’s Seat, to Duddingston Village [...]
The tourists are back!
The tourists are back, which means it must be Spring!
Edinburgh goes through predictable phases: the first two months of the year are dark and dreich, and locals scurry from dark pub to home, then round the middle of March the crocuses and daffodils arrive seemingly from nowhere. April heralds slightly warmer weather (though we had [...]
Easter pups
Easter morning dawned grey and rainy, but we set off for a family day in the highlands nonetheless. Sitting inside the brasserie at Crieff Hydro we watched rain bucketing down the length of Perthshire and gave up the idea of a walk… but then! The moment we had finished stuffing ourselves, the sun broke through [...]
Notes from Crufts 2: Dancing with dogs
One of the biggest crowd-pleasers at Crufts is the Heelwork to Music competition – particularly the freestyle, which looks like people dancing with their dogs, but is actually a handler going through a routine while calling out commands to put their dogs in different positions and do tricks (hopefully in time to music). The most [...]
Notes from Crufts 1
If you weren’t a dog fan, you could easily find the smell in the National Exhibition Center during Crufts overpowering. Every one of the thousands of dogs in the halls each day is groomed to perfection, but there’s no getting around that earthy aroma that – to dog lovers – is just part of life.
I [...]
PTSD in Afghanistan – not just for humans
The Wall Street Journal had a feature today about bomb-sniffing dogs in Afghanistan who, for one reason or another, crack under pressure. Gunner, a yellow lab who holds the rank of First Sergeant, seemed to do fine in basic training, but once he reached Aghanistan he began to react nervously to the general sounds of [...]
Greyfriars Bobby
One of the most poignant stories of human/dog love comes from our home town of Edinburgh. The legend has it that a Skye Terrier named Bobby was so grief-stricken by his master’s death that he kept watch by his grave for the next fourteen years.
Bobby’s master, John Gray, was a police night watchman who died of tuberculosis
Introducing Mungo
Mungo is a Swedish Lapphund who was adopted by Pete and Eliza in Edinburgh at the tender age of eleven. Thirteen now, he’s an elder statesman, but he still has loads of energy : he loves to bound up Munros then relax at the pub. His disposition is incredibly sweet and calm and he’s fairly well trained… but if you drop food on the floor he seems to be able to move at light-speed.
Open letter to pets
The following was found posted very low on a refrigerator door.
Dear Dogs and Cats: The dishes with the paw prints are yours and contain your food. The other dishes are mine and contain my food. Placing a paw print in the middle of my plate of food does not stake a claim for it becoming your food and dish. Nor do I find that aesthetically
Giant George
There’s a new top dog in the world: Giant George, 43 inches tall at his shoulder and 7′-3″ standing on his back legs, has been certified by the Guiness Book of World Records to be the tallest living dog. He’s a 4-year-old blue Great Dane who reportedly eats 110 pounds of food a month and even has his own queen-sized bed. Photos in the Mail Online
Secret life of the dog
Anyone who spends a lot of time in the company of dogs knows that there is something going on between them and us – - yes, mostly an agreement on our part to feed them and give them a safe place to sleep and one on theirs to guard us, or failing that to just be cute — but most people don’t spend much time thinking about how this relationship came about.
Delicious steak: coming soon from a vat near you
Recently a friend sent me an article about the impending arrival of vat-grown meat. According to the media we will soon be munching on beef, ostrich, catfish, wildebeest, etc., that have never been sentient beings. Personally I’m entranced with the idea: I’m a vegetarian for ethical and environmental reasons, but I miss the taste of [...]