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Dig It! Gardening Tips for Dogs

Dig It! Gardening Tips for Dogs
a book for when your dog gardens too, too much!

Friday, September 19, 2014

OK, It's Prize Time!

Hi readers, I've decided it's time to get some stories together from other people with dogs who love to do the gardening. I'm looking for honest tales from people, about your gardening dog. It could be one of those diggers, or a dog who loves to do the pruning, or it may be something else.

If you have a dog who loves being in the garden, and has quirky ways to do things in the garden, please share the story here! I'm offering a free signed copy of my book, "Dig It! Gardening Tips For Dogs" to the best tale I receive here. Entries close on the last day of October 2014.

I will announce the winner of the competition in November. Chosen entries may be put together in a collection, which will then be sold to interested readers! I'm excited about this competition, I hope everyone else is too!

If you'd like more information about this, feel free to contact me at this email address: kittycordo@gmail.com

Thank you, and send your doggy stories in to me!

Tuesday, September 2, 2014

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 ...