Ch Salissure Dor D' Angevin CDX Smudge

SHE CAME hand picked by me from a special never repeated mating.  Her name Salissure Dor D' Angevin, call name Smudge was chosen long before I ever saw her.  Salissure roughly translated means smudge, Dor indicating her colour, fawn or you could say, gold..  My Smudge of Gold.  Never did I dream that as she matured, her colouring would also depict her name so exactly..   She was my very  'special'  girl.

I had recently said farewell to the smaller of our two dogs, and was in that saddened waiting phase.
I saw a picture of two dogs in a magazine, Briards, French Herding dogs such beautiful looking dogs, big, with long coats,  fawn colour, black ears and black beard.  It was just love at first sight and I knew I had to have one..  I had never heard of a Briard, and could find little about them at that time.  I didn't even know if they were available here in New Zealand.  I mentioned them to a friend and she told me she had looked at the breed a few years earlier, there was a breeder in the South Island and she still had her details.  So I sent a letter off to the breeder, asking about the availability of a puppy and also mentioned that I competed in Obedience with my previous dog, a Border Collie and I would be continuing  to do this with a new dog.  I later learnt that this had intrigued the breeder no end.
A mating had just been done and all being well, puppies would be born in January.  I must have driven the poor breeder to distraction with my constant phone calls over the following two months.
The litter was born on 22 January 1995.  A small litter, initially 4 boys and 3 girls but one boy did not survive.
When the puppies were 7 and a half weeks old,  I headed for Dunedin, armed with puppy temperament testing paraphernalia.  The breeder had not had a litter tested before and again was intrigued.  I was looking for very definite reactions to particular situations.  Oh and I must also mention here that I only wanted a female. The main reason being that the males were big, I am small.  I also should mention that until the actual testing began, I had not seen or touched the puppies, and I barely touched them during the testing, so was not really aware which was male and which was female.
The testing was completed and one puppy ticked every box I wanted.  A female.  Strangely enough it was not the puppy the breeder thought would be best suited to me, in fact she tried very hard to change my mind, but no, home with me came the box ticking lighter coloured female.
                     

                        SMUDGE     8 weeks old

We did so much together, my Smudge and I.  We traveled the country, North and South Island, competing in Breed and Obedience and even dabbling in Agility.  We met many people and made many friends, some of those friendships continuing still.






My beautiful blonde girl,  her life was too short.  At just past her 8th birthday she was gone, and I was robbed of the pleasure of sharing with her those wonderful golden older years.
But the memories, oh so many, and so many stories.  I will share on here for anyone who cares to read, the ups and downs, the joy and happiness, the fun times throughout those eight years with my beautiful dizzy blonde, my snow queen,

My Smudge of Gold

Rainbow Bridge

Two Dogs

TWO DOGS came to visit.  Usually when dogs drop by, they stay a while, grateful for a resting place, some food and water, in fact mostly they don't want to leave.  These two were the exception to the rule.

It was the night after Guy Fawkes, about 7.30pm and I was busy in the laundry.  The laundry was opposite the kitchen door across the back porch.  As I went to cross back to the kitchen door,  I saw to my absolute amazement,  two dogs calmly sitting at the bottom of the two steps of the back porch.  Just sitting there, looking at me.  They didn't appear stressed,  just panting like they had come a great distance. One was a tan smooth coated medium sized dog, the other was smaller, longer coated.  I wondered if they had been scared by the firecrackers the night before and run off, but they were so calm it didn't seem likely.

I got a small bucket and filled it with water and offered it to them.  The tan dog stood back a little and waited until the smaller dog had finished before drinking.  I had no idea what I was going to do with two dogs at 7.30pm at night. Inside my house were two cats and one dog who probably would not appreciate these two staying the night, to say nothing of  DH. 

The two dogs finished their drink and lay down at the bottom of the steps. I gave them both some biscuits, which they ate quickly but calmly.  I sat down on the step to talk to them.  I noticed that the smaller longer coated one was terribly matted.  Big thick wads on its legs and hips.  They seemed to be pulling the skin in places.  I went inside and got a pair of scissors and tentatively  started to cut the mats into thinner strips.  I was very careful, not knowing what the reaction from either dog would be. They just sat quite relaxed while I cut away.  I did this for maybe 1/2 an hour.  The two dogs had been there for about an hour by this time.  I went back inside for a few minutes and when I came back out they were gone.  Just gone......

I went quickly out the front and looked along the street, there was no sign of them.  They had disappeared as silently and mysteriously as they had appeared.

I hope they got to where they were going, and the smaller dog felt more comfortable for the attention from my scissors.......

The Garden Cat

MUMSIE, so called because she had two litters of kittens under our house before I managed to trap her and get her speyed.  She lives in my front garden and spends time under the front deck or on the front deck in the sun if no one is around.  She has a warm snuggy bed for winter under the front steps away from all weather, lined with warm woollie blankets.  She is 10 years old and has lived her whole life here.
She is feral but not totally wild.  The only time she has ever been touched was when I trapped her and took her to the SPCA to be speyed.
Born under the house at the back of ours from a totally wild mother, I remember her as a tiny tiny kitten, distinctive as she was the only one in the litter that was white and black, and the only one who survived or stayed around.
I never tried to tame her as I already had a tamed feral kitten and another adult cat who was well advanced in old age.
I would see her from time to time, so small and skinny.  I always put food out when I saw her, but usually the other bigger feral/stray cats ate it.  Somehow she survived and learned to fend for herself when there was a free meal going.
Time went on, 9 or10  months maybe. One day I went under the house for something and heard a cat hissing at me.  Investigation turned up this small cat curled up in a dirty old broken down cardboard box full of oily cloths and thick blue plastic cord/rope.  I went closer and the little cat shot out of the box like an ice cube on glass.  Left behind were 4 tiny tiny kittens, eyes tight shut.  Probably only a day old.  The little feral cat's first litter. That was when she got the name Mumsie.

Mumsies first litter

I carefully (wearing gloves) lifted them out, and replaced all the manky contents with newspaper and ready to throw away clothes and covered that all with an old soft dog blanket.
I left food and clean water and asked my family to not disturb her if possible or else she would take them off somewhere and we would never find them.  My intention was to let the kittens get used to me and hopefully by the time they were weaned  they would be tame enough to take to the SPCA for rehoming.
Mumsie moved them round a couple of times in the first week, but always stayed under the house, so I was able to locate them and return them to the  broken down box.  Eventually Mumsie and kitties stayed put, probably aided by the food and fresh water put there every day.  I only touched the kittens when Mumsie was not there.
At about two and a half weeks the kittens obviously needed to be where they could move round more so Mumsie took them further under the house into another cardboard box where they were able to totter round.  Another two weeks after that Mumsie started leaving them alone for longer periods and they were crying and climbing out of the box.  They were all pretty tame by then, and eating well so I bought them into my garage for the next few weeks.

Mumsie was able to get in through a partially open window to feed them if she wanted, but she could not get the kittens out.  The little kittens became very tame and thrived well.  They learnt to use a litter tray and when they were  7 weeks old they went off  to the SPCA.  I have a friend who has worked there for years.  She kept an eye on them and after they had been vetted and vaccinated they went up for adoption.
Poor little Mumsie called for them after they went, but fairly quickly she stopped looking and went on with her life.
She continued to come and go, never letting me or anyone else get closer than about 6 feet to her, even if she was eating.
I fed her regular from then on...............

Mumsie under the house.

Them and Me

Furry friends, the four footed kind.  They arrived and they departed.  Some stayed their entire life, some shared only part of their life, others just passed through, stopping long enough to recharge their batteries with a good feed and a drink.  

The first one I remember was a big ginger persian cat.  I was maybe 4 or 5.  He would hide behind the curtain of the hall cupboard and leap out when anyone walked passed and grab hold of a foot and bite the back of the ankle.  I was utterly terrified of him, or rather I was terrified of the hall cupboard in case he was hiding there.

There was always a cat, most times two or more right through my childhood.  Some were just cats, some were special  The first dog came into the family when I was 16.  My mum visited Australia to attend my stepbrothers veterinary graduation and returned with a small corgi.  Topsy, soft, gentle, sweet natured.  But not mine.  

My first very own dog came when I ventured off shore to live.  I was sharing a house with a couple of others who had a dog, so of course I had to get one also.  In fact I got two.  Being young, (19) and totally irresponsible as far as dog ownership went, I really should not have got any.  Due to my irresponsibility at the time, one only had a very short life.  Somehow I managed to do the right thing with the other one and she lived well into old age.  Of course there were cats as well,weaving in and out of my younger flatting days.

I ventured even further off shore.  More cats came and left of their own accord.  A dog shared her life with us for 18 months.  She moved on to a new family with young children and lived with them happily ever after when the time came for us to return home to live.

Once home and settled the trend continued.  To date 6 dogs have shared their time with    me.  Some had short lives due to illness, some shared their lives with me right through to their senior years, one reaching 17 & 1/2.  
Cats continued to come and go.  Most were only passing through, in need of a little TLC and a couple of good meals and those that needed more were found suitable loving homes. Two cats stayed their entire lives. 

And so to the current FFC (furry footed crew).  

BrieaDor my big girl - Briard, very long haired, 9&1/2 years old.

Dawa  the small dog - Tibetan Terrier, also very long haired, 5 years old.

O.C.  cat - tamed feral kitten, 10 years old

And then there is ME.  Just an ordinary now retired, wife mother homemaker who cares.
More to come..............