Buster's New Years Resolutions

Buster the dog, the co-writer of "Dig It! Gardening Tips for Dogs", has thought long and hard about what his New Years Resolutions for 2015 will be. He considers last year was a fantastic yer, with his book being reprinted, and the first time for copies of the book to be sold overseas!

With that in mind, what could he do to help the year 2015 be bigger and better? Read on, and you will find out!

Buster's Resolutions:

I won't prune things that are in those funny little ceramic pots

I will not prune any little trees with wire on them

I will only dig in the dog run, not in the backyard


There, happy now Carolyn?

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Yes Buster, I am happy with those resolutions. I would have been happier if you'd told them to me to type up for you without a snarl in your voice, and your upper lip curled up in that somewhat aggressive way! He's a bad dog sometimes, it's a good thing I love him!


So Those are Buster's New Years Resolutions. My resolutions that are relevant for this blog are these:

Carolyn's Resolutions:

I will toss things to Buster that he's allowed to 'prune' that is chew up and/or eat - carrots, mushrooms etc

I will place the bonsai trees out of Buster's reach, or at least limit his access to them, and so not tempt him to do naughty things

I will give Buster plenty of access to the dog run, where he will continue to be allowed to dig as much as he wants, and will only interfere if he digs along the outer fence line, or the pool fence

And another one - I will continue to promote this funny little book, and sell or at least place as many books as I can in the hands of people who will appreciate the humour and the cute illustrations!

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There that's the resolutions done, let the fun for the year 2015 begin!

Carolyn and Buster Cordon

Ridding Garden of Pest Creatures

This picture shows our Pharaoh Hounds hard at work in the garden. Keeping the garden free of unwanted creatures is something they do often. Sadly they are not always terribly humane, and it is up to us humans to attempt to assist these pests finding humane ends to their timer in our backyard.

I don't mind the birds in the garden, if fact I love the birds who visit us. Fortunately, most of the birds are able to avoid becoming a meal to our hounds. It's a bit of a trade off - the pharaoh hound is an imported creature to our land, and the reptiles are all native to our land.

The snakes are one species I don't shed tears over, if they lose their life here. When our dogs capture a lizard though, whether it's a bearded dragon, blue tongue lizard or sleepy lizard, that pains me. I don't like it when the dogs find one of these wanderers... I just wish they would wander further, and stay in the places the dogs can't get to.

Our schnauzer is now an older lady, and she's not of the same nature as the pharaoh hounds, so these creatures, and the birds as well, are all safe from her. I just wish the dogs would all focus on the mice who invade our kitchen every now and then ...

Spring is Waking Up the Hounds!

Well, the sun is shining down (in between spring showers), and the dogs are leaving their sofa far more often, and venturing out to the garden. As I may have mentioned before, Buster is not a real dog, but the dogs he is based upon certainly are real dogs. They piss and shit, dig and race around, just like all dogs do.

Three of our dogs are Pharaoh Hounds, one of them a Standard Schnauzer. So this means the three hounds add chasing things into their mix of daily doings. The Schnauzer, being an older lady, and a sensible dog, leaves the chasing up to the leaner, crazier dogs... Schnauzers were originally created by German farmers to use as general farming dogs. So they were obedient and useful helpers. They were also child-friendly, earning the term 'Kinderwatcher', meaning child minder.

Pharaoh Hounds were originally named something else entirely, in their nation of origin - Malta. The Pharaoh Hound, or Kelb tal Fenek is the National Dog of Malta. They were used by farmers too, but weren't required to be obedient - their role was to hunt rabbits. Having owned this breed for over 10 years, I certainly know about their love on hunting!

Our Pharaohs will hunt any creatures that are available, outside. They've caught and killed lizards, birds, mice and at least one snake. Inside, they tend to ignore the mice, which is soooooo annoying! I've seen our pharaoh hounds snapping at flies, grasshoppers, butterflies and other assorted insects. And I've seen our Pharaoh Hound girls watching Air Force planes as they zoom by overhead ... It makes me wonder what they'd do if one ever landed here!

So, Spring is here, and the birds are all coming down with a dose of Spring Fever. The birds are so busy gathering nest building material, and engaging in the mating game, that I fear they're not always paying adequate attention to their safety. I suspect our hounds have been getting the odd bit of home killed meat, complete with feathers, here and there. I love birds, I love watching them, and it always makes me sorry when one of them falls victim to our dogs.

I love our dogs too, though, and I know it's perfectly natural for them to hunt and kill. The Laws of Nature can seem cruel, but that's just me beeing silly. Nature has many Rules and Laws, and I'm just one person, who is also subject to the Laws of Nature. I can only hope Nature continues to be kind to me, as I endeavour to be kind to Nature ...