Declan's Dogs Blog

Honley Show & The Great British Greyhound Walk

2014-06-16T13:44:00.000+01:00

Hello everyone; remember me?! Probably not after all this time!!

I just thought I'd pop along to show you some pictures of me "helping out" (Mum says I mean sleeping) at the West Yorkshire Retired Greyhound Trust stall at the Honley Show last weekend.

This is Romi

.....and this is his sister Sage.

Romi & Sage's Mum, Debbie runs West Yorks RGT. Romi is one of my good friends. I like him because he is dead laid back and more importantly, smaller than me!!

There were a few of us houndies there helping to promote greyhounds as pets. We also managed to raise £164.00....which I'm sure had everything to do with the hounds and nothing to do with the human helpers at all....!

There were lots of interesting thing to see......

That's a funny looking Greyhound Mum....and it's coat needs a wash......

Time for some light refreshment after a busy day.....

While I'm here, I also wanted to tell you about The Great British Greyhound Walk 2014. The walk takes place next Sunday 22nd June at over 80 locations across Britain.

The Great British Greyhound Walk is an annual dog-walking event that brings together greyhounds, lurchers, other sighthounds and their owners, to raise awareness and show members of the public just what wonderful pets greyhounds make. Many of the walks are also happy to accept other breeds that are part of a Greyhound's family.

If you'd be interested in joining in, there is a list of the walks on the website, and this year for the first time ever, the GBGW is going global! As well as across Britain, there are walks in Belgium, France, Italy, The Netherlands, Spain, ROI, Australia, New Zealand, Canada and several US states, so do please check out the website and come and join in!

This year's Ambassador is my good mate Jack "JT" Alford, who lives with his Mums in London.

Jack and I recently spent a few days together in Norfolk......just doing what boys do!

Jack's official Ambassadorial portrait!

And finally......in case you haven't had enough reminders of what I look like......

Love, Deccy xx

Merry Christmas to all my friends!

2013-12-18T17:07:00.002+00:00

Hello everyone; it sure has been a while hasn't it?!

I just wanted you all to know that I haven't forgotten any of you and I'm hoping I might be able to drop by a little more often in 2014.

In the meantime KC & I, along with our good friends Beckett, Veil & Maddy from over at Home Is Where The Hounds Are have put together a video to wish you all a very happy Christmas, a wonderful holidays and a peaceful new year.

With love,

Deccy, KC, Mum & Other Mum

xxxx

Norfolk 2013

2013-10-20T14:05:00.001+01:00

As some of you will know, my Mums and I have recently been to Norfolk for a holiday. It's not a place any of us knew very well, but we were delighted to discover that not only did we love it, but a fair few of our friends can be found there too!

I thought you might be interested in seeing what I got up to (apart from sleeping) so here goes.....

We stayed in a beautiful little village called Old Hunstanton.

Rather predictably, we wasted remarkably little time locating the local pub / hotel. It is a place we got to know well over the following week....

It was lovely to meet up with Sue & Polly from Graceful Greyhounds

When you are on holiday, it's important not to rush things.....and luxuriate in the fact that KC isn't hogging the bed.....

Surprise, surprise, here I am back at the pub again enjoying a cheese bone whilst me Mums chat with Aunty Hilary from Terrier Fun. (Really she just wanted to admire me, and took this rather good picture)

One of the things that North Norfolk is really famous for is crabs. I was very excited to here this, as I have my very own crab line, which had never been put to use, so I demanded that Mums took me to some good crabbing spots....

I shall sit here and supervise, so come on get on with it...I want to see crabs.....

Hmmm. They won't make much of a sandwich.....

Bigger, Bigger!

Better, but perhaps we should leave it to the professionals!

So we bought crab sandwiches from this little mobile stall on the quay at Blakeney. Mums say to tell you, that if you are ever in the area, try one; they are the best crab sandwiches they have ever had! (I quite liked them too!)

We were just planning on leaving Blakeney, when we bumped into our friends from near home, Debbie, her daughter Lisa and their hounds Sage, Romi and Tye. We knew they were on holiday at the same time as us, but it was a lovely surprise to bump into them!

After all that excitement, I thought I deserved an ice cream.........

Blimey, that's a bit random Mum! Anyway, Norfolk is also famous for windmills, so I she thought you might like to see one. (I thought that was Holland.....oh well)

We really did have a fabulous time. You can't go wrong when the local pub has a real fire and lets hounds inside!

Before we left, Mums stopped at a little fish shack and spent ~~a king's ransom~~ quite a lot of money on fishy type things. Freshly caught and out of this world!

Well goodbye Norfolk, we shall miss you very much. It's definitely somewhere we will return to.

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Many of you will know our good friend Ellen and her cats Guido & Target from over at Katz and Other Tales Ellen is also a journalist writing for The Malaysian Star and recently interviewed me about how I came to be adopt and train my Mums. (Well she interviewed Mum, but I told her what to say....)

See I am famous! If you'd like to read the full interview, you can here:

http://www.thestar.com.my/Lifestyle/Viewpoints/Katz-tales-Dog-Talk/Profile/Articles/2013/10/19/A-furry-feel-good-story.aspx

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Our very good friend Pip passed away on Saturday. He was quite possibly the most loved dog in Blogville and will be very sadly missed. Run Fast Run Free little fella.

Just to say thank you!

2013-10-15T12:51:00.000+01:00

My Mums and I are just back from a really great holiday in Norfolk. We'd never been before, but it was lovely and we are already looking for a cottage to book for next year! I'll show you some pictures another time, but for now I just wanted to say thanks for the presents to a couple of really special friends we met up with......

Do you recognise my pal?! It's Polly from Graceful Greyhounds! We met with her and her Mum Sue for a walk along the promenade at Hunstanton.

Aunty Sue gave Other Mum some chocolates for her birthday and Polly gave me some Bonios. I gave Polly some of my homemade apple & cheese buttons!

Cor! Thanks very much Polly!

And then we met up with another friend! Hilary from Terrier Fun met up with us along with her cousin Bryony. Unfortunately she wasn't able to bring any of the gang, but we had a lovely natter in glorious sunshine!

Winnie, Taffy, Monty and Molly sent me some cheese bones!

Thank you everyone; they were delicious!

And if that wasn't enough, when we got home there was a parcel for me.......from Denmark! Well that can mean only one thing; my personal dresser MeggieMoo had been at it again! Other Mum had given Sue lots of crafting stuff she no longer wanted, and knowing how much I love MeggieMoo collars, Sue had been in touch to see what could be organised. The result was that between them Sue & Moo sent me this beauty....

Now if this isn't swanky, I don't know what is.... Thank you very much Sue & MeggieMoo!

Black & White Sunday 22/9

2013-09-22T11:03:00.003+01:00

Oh my word.............BUNNIES!

We're taking part in the Black and White Sunday blog hop kindly hosted by My Life In Blog Years, and Dachshund Nola.

A slight Misdemeanor.....

2013-09-06T10:50:00.000+01:00

Last week, I was ~~relaxing~~ in the garden helping Mum out.

Mum, You've missed a bit.....zzzzzzzzz

I was disturbed from my ~~sleeping~~ vigilant supervising by Mum going onto the driveway and heading towards my car. Now, I don't get up for much, but a car ride is something else. So I got up and followed Mum. She lets me do this, as although it gives me access to the road, I have never in two years ventured to the pavement outside. As it turned out, Mum was just getting her specs from the car, but then something spooked me. I put my ears down, shot up the drive, onto the cul-de-sac and headed for the road. By the time Mum got there I was nowhere in sight.

You can imagine she was pretty panicky by now, so she rushed back to the house, grabbed her car keys and set about finding me. Just after she turned onto the road, she spotted our lovely postman, who is a big admirer of mine ~~dragging~~ walking me back home by my tag collar. (Mum says thank goodness she never takes that off) Apparently he'd been driving down the main road in his van and had spotted me ~~the other side~~ disappearing into a big estate. Mum says (a) it is a miracle that I wasn't killed crossing the road and (b) if I'd gone into the estate she would never have found me.

But now I am safely home because of Richard, the lovely postman. Boy, am I glad I made friends with him!

Of course Mum was pleased and as mad as hell all at once, but she managed not to shout at me. Nevertheless I was grounded and put on sentry duty for a while:

Aww come on Mum. I'm sorry, really I am. What have I got to do to make it all okay? I promise I won't do it again (as long as you don't let me onto the driveway...)

Look I've bought Richard some chocolates to thank him. Now will you forgive me?

So Mum says after that little escapade, it may be that my off lead moments will be severely limited. That little thing called trust seems to have disappeared..... From now on, it may be just Ganny's garden and the tennis courts. Or if you know anyone with a field to hire, just shout.......!

Me having a zoom at the tennis courts.

Walking The Beat........

2013-08-22T08:59:00.000+01:00

Today I want to tell you a little about a friend of mine who, along with her family, does the most wonderful work to help retired and rescued greyhounds and lurchers.

Sue & a pile of hounds!

Many of you will know Suzy Taylor from her blog Suzy's Sanctury or from Facebook. We have known her for nearly as long as we have been blogging and we think that the help that she gives to hounds in need is wonderful.

Some of the hounds who landed on their paws at Sue & Eric's!

Sue and her husband Eric have been involved with Greyhound Gap for over 10 years and throughout that time have fostered and adopted more hounds than I can count ( I can't get past 16 as I only have that many toes....) First Mac, then Alfie Bear, then Ranger, then Gangley, then Mojo, then Ruby, then Elmo, then Orin, then Twizzle, then little Belle with her broken leg,... and so it goes on. Greyhound gap call and Sue answers!

This doesn't look a bad place to stay does it chaps?!

Over the years as she has become more experienced, GG tend to send her hounds that have either physical or physiological problems meaning they will be long stay fosters, which in turn means that by the time they are deemed fit to rehome it’s too late and they can’t bear to part with them, so her pack just keeps on growing!

Mac gets a comfy sofa to recover on.

This year she has had two greyhounds arrive; one via GG and one privately from a chap in deep trouble; both have stayed! I think I am right in saying, the pack currently consists of 8 hounds.... You see what I mean, when I call her our Houndie Hero?!

This lot think their Mum is pretty special too!

GG is a small independent charity that takes in and rehomes Greyhounds and Lurchers that find themselves in PTS situations in UK pounds. Most of their hounds are either in holding kennels or foster care; they don't have kennels of their own. If they did, it would make a massive difference to the amount of hounds they could help.

Sometimes Sue's sofa is full to bursting point!

When one of Sue's hounds, Sandy, sadly passed away from the dreadful Osteosarcoma, her son Marc, a serving Police Officer, decided he wanted to do something in her name to help the GG kennel fund. It was decided that he and some of his colleagues would attempt the four coast to coast walks of England, Scotland, Ireland & Wales........and so the idea of Walking The Beat began.....

Marc with his beloved Sandy - the inspiration behind it all.

The first two walks in England & Scotland raised £6000 and by the time the final walk is completed next year the boys hope to have raised over £10,000 and will have walked 1000 miles. This year's walk (Wales) begins on 1st September. The boys will begin at “Offa’s Dyke” walking the coast of Wales from South to North. The walk commences on the River Severn at the Sedbury Cliffs (a mile south of Chepstow) and finishing on the North Wales coast at Prestatyn beach. They will pass through no less than eight different counties and cross the English and Welsh border over twenty times.The walk will cover 180 miles over 7.5 days with an average of 24 miles walked a day! Impressive isn't it?!

The other hero's in this story.....!

So.....what I am really doing here is asking if you are able to help out? I appreciate most people don't have that much spare cash these days and there are many worthy causes out there. I hope some of you will want to help the "little guys" who don't get any funding, rely totally on donations but do such fantastic work. So please, anything you can spare, just £1.00 would be deeply, deeply appreciated.

You can donate to Walkingthebeat 2013 at their JustGiving page by clicking HERE or the link in my sidebar.

Thank you very much in anticipation of your help.

Just in case you've forgotten how handsome I am.......!

Frosty Friday!

2013-07-19T13:51:00.000+01:00

I would like to dedicate today's post to my good friend Lori over at What Remains Now. One of Lori's greyhounds, Casper, is my cousin. Yeah I know, everyone is my cousin. I blame Grandad..... But I digress. Lori has made this very hot week so much better for me. She writes a fantastic blog about painting, crafting, her life and most importantly, her 3 Greyhounds!! You really should visit if you haven't already met her.

A couple of days ago, Lori wrote about making frozen treats for Casper, Freedom & Nikki. One of the ingredients was pumpkin, which immediately caught Mum's eye. (Mum is obsessed with canned pumpkin, which can be quite hard to come by in the UK) Mum was inspired! We are in the middle of a mini heatwave here in the UK, and while I show no distress in the heat, Mum is keen to keep me cool.

Out of Lori's ingredients, we only had pumpkin (and I don't like peanut butter) so Mum thought she would improvise.........

......and came up with this. This is a very simple frozen treat made by mixing together skimmed milk and pumpkin. You can use soya or rice milk if you are dairy-intolerant. 300ml of milk and 3 table spoons of pumpkin make two small pie tins of mix.

Oooh wwhat is this?!!

Aaagghh! Mumth meh thung is thuck...!

Well that went down well!

I'm all cool and relaxed now.....

Mum now has another obsession; Lolly making! Here in the UK we don't have Frosty Paws or anything like it, as far as I know, so these home made treats are fantastic......and very cheap! They went down so well, Mum made some more....

This is the rather exotic, skimmed milk, coconut and melon...

I only have one left, so I am sending Mum off to the kitchen to make more....not that she needs any encouragement..... Today we are thinking something with apple....

Thank you very much Lori for a great idea! Stay cool and safe everyone. I'm off to see Ganny, so catch you all later

Deccy xx

Nearly Wordless Wednesday 17/7

2013-07-17T09:07:00.000+01:00

Ahhh! All you need is the love of a good woman; and I've got that twice over!

Chuck and Duck!

2013-07-15T14:54:00.000+01:00

As some of you know, Mum and I have an ambition to be able to let me off lead in non-enclosed spaces. Not near roads, you understand, but not fenced in.

Why she just doesn't get on with it, is beyond me, but she worries I might go nuts and run off. So far I've been really good and trotted along sniffing, but the whole point of letting me off lead is so that I can have a gallop. Bit of a dilemma really.

My first ever off-lead experience. So much wee, so little time...

Recently we were watching a video of a friend of ours who was training her dog for exactly the same reason, and she was using a tennis ball to play "Fetch" with some pretty impressive results. "Pointless with you" said Mum in an unnecessarily accusatory tone. "You just give me one of your looks that says *** off and fetch it yourself" Nevertheless the idea stuck so she dug out an old ball and gave it a go. Incredibly I ran after the ball and brought it back.....well sort of anyway.

Another friend suggested a squeaky ball would be even more enticing and recommended a Kong squeaky American Football. Seconds later and Mum had ordered it and it arrived at the weekend!

As you can see I have mastered some fairly niffty moves, even at this early stage in my career! I'm taking it with me to Ganny's next week where we will have more room to practice....and more distractions, so lets hope I cope with the challenge.

Mum says when we are out on a walk, she needs to feel that she is more interesting to me than all the sights and sounds, so I will return to her when I'm called. Okay Mum we can give it a go, but as much as I love you, you will never compete with Vintage Labrador 2013 wee mail. No offence............

Black and White Sunday 7/7

2013-07-07T08:24:00.000+01:00

Need a Guard Dog?!

ADOPT A GREYHOUND! Ahem..........

Nearly Wordless Wednesday 3/6

2013-07-03T10:44:00.000+01:00

Does my nose look big in this?

Food Glorious Food!

2013-06-25T10:58:00.001+01:00

Hello everyone. I thought I might share a hooman recipe with you today!

A short while ago Mum took me on one of our favourite walks along the Leeds - Liverpool canal. The tow path has been closed for a while, so we hadn't been there for sometime.

This is where Mum likes to pick wild garlic (ramsons) It grows in semi shaded moist conditions often in wooded areas. The season is usually April - mid May, so we were really surprised when we caught the instantly recognisable smell in June! I guess the terrible spring weather has made everything late!

Yep Mum; that's definitely Wild Garlic!

Being a responsible owner, Mum always has several poo bags (in my case, pedal bin liners...) about her person, so we stopped and picked some. This attracted several odd looks from other walkers as Mum appeared to be bending down in a patch of nettles!

With this year's crop Mum decided to make a simple Wild Garlic sauce for pasta.

The Wild Garlic leaf. Looks quite like Lily of the Valley.

The garlic needs washing thoroughly before use. Many recipes say this isn't necessary....but there are a lot of dogs along that tow path.......just sayin'!

Wild Garlic is a bit like spinach, in that it seems to break down to very little once it is cooked. Mum used about 50 leaves to make a sauce for 2 people!

Once the spinach is washed, blanch for 3 minutes in boiling water and then drain. Place it in a food processor and blitz until you have a smooth bright green sauce. Add a glug of olive oil, 1 tbs of lemon juice, a sprinking of zest and salt to taste.

Wild Garlic pasta sauce ready to go!

Mum used Fiorelli, but it works well with most pasta. Good for our vegetarian friends too!

While we are on the subject of food, I feel I should share something for all my doggy pals out there. I best just say that if your hooman is with you and if they are eating or not feeling so good, you might want to skip this.....

My latest find!! Raw green lamb tripe........or possibly it is an alien. For those of you unfamiliar with this delicacy, it is the lining of a lamb's stomach. Beef tripe is more common and usually bleached white for human consumption. I should point out that this was purchased at a butcher's counter for people..... nice!

So, if ever proof was needed that my Mum adores me, this is it. She said that initially it smelt like a cross between horse poo and rotting eggs......but now that it has been in the fridge for two days (airtight lead lined box required...should it attempt to escape) there is a definite hint of rotting fish there too. Needless to say, I LOVE it!

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Finally I would like to pay tribute to Blueberry, sister of Bunny over at Tales and Tails As many of you will already know, Blue passed away yesterday; yet another victim of the dreadful Osteosarcoma. She didn't suffer for long; having started limping intermittently only two weeks ago.

Our deepest sympathy goes to Carrie, Bunny and all the family, who have lost their very special girl. Mum had a real soft spot for Blue (and her mum, Lilac before her) and she wasn't the only one. Blueberry will be missed all over the world.....which says a lot about what a special dog she was.

Blueberry. RIP.

Run Fast Run Free Beautiful Blue.

I am being abandoned!

2013-06-09T08:58:00.000+01:00

Well......maybe I exaggerate a little, but my Mum is deserting me for a whole week! She is going to Ganny's without me as they are going on a short break to Wales. I do hope she hasn't forgotten the useful phrases I taught her before we went to Wales last September. No doubt she will still remember how to order a whisky if nothing else.........

And so I am being left in charge of Other Mum and KC; I will have my paws full, no doubt. I am hoping I can get Other Mum to take me on a few outings, as I want to show off my new collar set. Yes, I know, it's a bit of a turn around for me, isn't it?! From the dog who had "one to wear and an old one for spare" I have now had 3 collars in the last 6 months. Not up to Bunny's standard admittedly, but nevertheless....

Me modelling the Renaissance martingale and purple velvet house collar.

Now isn't this just one of the nicest collars that you have seen? It was made for me by my good friend MeggieMoo and her "Muvva" who own a fantastic dog accessory business in Denmark called MeggieMoo-collars, coats and more. Moo and her family come from the UK but when they moved to Denmark, good collars were hard to find, so they started making their own. Mum says she couldn't be more pleased with my new collars. Muvva even lined my martingale with purple cotton and put purple velvet on the back webbing! She ordered them last Sunday and they arrived on Friday. Moo ships all over the world, so if you are looking for a collar, coat, fleece, jimjams, lead or harness, you really should check her out.

This is MeggieMoo. You can read all about her life here. She's had some real ups and downs but now she is safe and loved with all her family and shares her home with foster dogs too.

One of the reasons that Moo and I became friends was because of her brother "Thick Harris" or "Fik" to his friends. Fik is like my body double, I honestly doubt you could tell us apart, although Fik is actually a lurcher, having a bit of Saluki in him.

Harris

Amazing or what?!

So if I don't see you for a while it is because I am being severely neglected by Other Mum and you might want to consider sending food parcels or something.....

Here I am asleep in my purple velvet smoking jacket.....or house collar as some lesser mortals call them. See? Already I am being made to sleep outside....Whatever will become of me?

Love Deccy x (drama-hound extraordinaire)

A Trip Down Memory Lane....

2013-06-06T12:04:00.000+01:00

When we last visited Ganny for her birthday, the weather wasn't that great, but on our final day, the sun came out and so Mum decided we should take a drive out into the countryside.

Mum took us to a little village called Berkswell that is located between Birmingham and Coventry. When Mum was little it was in the County of Warwickshire, but now resides in the somewhat less glamourously named West Midlands! Not that anyone from Berkswell would ever admit to that.....

Mum took Ganny, Other Mum and me there, because her and Ganny have very fond memories of the village from when Mum was young. She says that her Grandad, Nanny and all the family used to drive out there on a Sunday afternoon, have a picnic and then call in at the village pub on the way home!

This house dates from the 17th century.

You don't see many red telephone boxes anymore....at least not in working order!

The church of St John the Baptist dates from the 1100's

Another reason Mum likes the village so much is because her Great Grandmother was born there sometime in the 1870's

Great Grandmother was born in one of these whitewashed cottages, but Mum isn't sure which one.

The stocks on the village green are just opposite these cottages...I wonder if any of my relatives had the pleasure?! It's a bit difficult to see from this picture, but the stocks only have 5 leg holes, and it is said that this is because they were built specifically for a drunken 1 legged soldier and his two drinking companions!

The village pub, The Bear Inn dates back to the 16th century. It belongs to a chain now, but Mum says it still feels like the little village pub she remembers from her childhood.... (that'll be getting on for 40 years ago then, Mum!)

You will often see this image of The Bear & Ragged Staff, as it is the emblem of the county of Warwickshire.

Here is Mr Bear climbing up his Staff in the pub beer garden!

After all that exploring I thought we deserved a nice cool drink....and anyway, a post wouldn't be complete without a picture of me, would it?!

I'm getting bored now Mum; time to hit the road!

Wordless Wednesday 5/6

2013-06-05T10:08:00.000+01:00

In Bluebell Wood

Birthday Boy!

2013-05-31T09:39:00.001+01:00

Today is my 6th birthday! I suppose I'm middle aged now, but I don't really feel it. I do wonder, however, if I can now sleep 21 hours a day and not just 20?...........

I've had lots of lovely presents and good wishes from my friends; I feel a very lucky boy.

Mums' bought me this lovely new bed and a pad to make it super soft.

Oh yes, very comfortable.....

Enough with the camera! I need to test it properly......zzzzzzzzzz......

These are the rest of my cards and presents. Ganny sent me a tenner this year.....that's inflation for you! I also had some dried liver slices and an unstuffy duck (or is it a chicken?) and an unstuffy chipmunk (that looks like a squirrel)

I even had a card from Beckett, Veil & Maddy over at Home Is Where The Hounds Are in Canada!

Best of all, Mum made me a cake! It is Fishy Fudge Cake with cream cheese and pumpkin frosting.

Ooooh this looks nice!

Certainly beats kibble for breakfast......

Is there anymore Mum?!

I am just going to have a little nap to sleep off my breakfast and then Mum and I are going to go on a nice walk. After that, I might just spend the rest of the day doing this.......

Help yourselves to cake everyone!

Nearly Wordless Wednesday 29/5

2013-05-29T09:44:00.000+01:00

Aaarrrggghh!! KC have you put chili powder on my toast?!!

Baking with Declan

2013-05-24T12:03:00.000+01:00

Today I would like to tell you about my new treats that I baked earlier this week. They are called Cheesy Pumpkin & Marmite Bites. (catchy name huh? hmmmmm.....)

You will need:

1/3 can of pure pumpkin

1tbs coconut oil (heated to dissolve)

1tbs grated cheese (Cheddar, Parmesan....)

1 clove of garlic, finely grated

1/2 tsp Marmite, dissolved in 1tbs hot water

3tbs porridge oats / oatmeal

rice flour. (this is added last - use enough to bind the mixture together)

Simply place all the ingredients in a bowl and bring together with a knife and then your hands (or paws...) until you have a scone-type mixture that you can roll out. If you add too much flour, and the mixture is too dry, add a little milk or more coconut oil.

Roll out the mixture to around 1/2 inch and cut out shapes. I used a 3cm circle cutter, This makes around 50 biscuits.

Place them on a baking sheet and cook in a 170 centigrade oven for around 30 to 40 minutes.

Well, the proof of the pudding, as they say.............

Oh yeah Mum......now that is good!

If you are in the UK, Pure Pumpkin (not the pie filling) can be found in Waitrose stores and some branches of Tesco in the World Foods isle

Coconut Oil is available in health food shops and most Asian supermarkets. It is meant to do wonders for the skin and coat, so I'm taking it on a daily basis now!

Nearly Wordless Wednesday 22/5

2013-05-22T11:19:00.001+01:00

Ooooh! Don't mind if I do. Ta very much!

Ganny's 80th Birthday!

2013-05-15T09:10:00.000+01:00

Tomorrow my Mums and I are off to visit Ganny for a few days, but this time it is a very special occasion! My Ganny will be 80 on 17th May! (I was going to schedule the post, but last time it didn't work, so I'll have to do it today instead!) In all honesty Ganny isn't very keen on the whole 80 thing and doesn't want a fuss. I don't think she can quite believe she is that age......and neither can we. It is quite likely that if anyone sends her a birthday card with 80 on it, they will live to regret it!!

Ganny would have a fit if I put a recognisable picture of her on my blog, so here are her hands feeding me bikkies in bed!

Mum and I would just like to say how grateful we are for everything Ganny has done for us. Mum's list is way too long to mention... When Mum first had Flynn, Ganny was actually quite scared of big dogs. Imagine that! Yet she welcomed him and then me into her home and loved us like we were her own. She's pretty special is my Ganny.

Ganny and Grandad on their honeymoon in Italy in 1958.

(We may well be killed if she ever finds out about this photo!!)

A very Happy Birthday to the most wonderful caring and kind Ganny & Mum that a Greyhound or hooman could ever have.

Much love Deccy & Mum xx

£50 Vets Food World Voucher.......The Winner!

2013-05-12T11:14:00.000+01:00

Thank you very much to everyone who entered my competition.

In order to choose a winner, I found my special St Patrick's Day hat.

Mum placed the names of the entrants in the hat for me.

Good luck everybody; I'm going in!

I kept my eyes shut to ensure no cheating!

AND THE WINNER IS.........

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BRAN THE GREY!

Bran is a rescued Greyhound who lives with his family in Dorset. He was rehomed by Greyhound Lifeline, a branch of the Retired Greyhound Trust, based in Hampshire. Bran said that if he won the voucher he would donate it to Greyhound Lifeline. Well done Bran; a very noble gesture! I will be in touch with you shortly by email.

Hope everyone has a good week! Deccy x

Wordyish Wednesday 8/5

2013-05-08T09:44:00.001+01:00

"Go ahead Squibble, make my day....."

Please don't forget to leave your comment on Monday's post if you would like to win a £50 voucher for Vets Food World (UK residents only) They sell all kinds of pet food. If you don't need the voucher yourself, why not try and win it for your local shelter? Comments must be left by Midday Friday 10th May. Visit the post here: http://www.declansdogsblog.co.uk/2013/05/one-of-my-lucky-readers-can-win-voucher.html

Secondly, have any of you had problems leaving comments on my blog? If you have in the past, but can now, please mention in your comment. If you can view the blog now, but can't comment, please email me at declansdogsblog(at)gmail(dot)com. It seems that a couple of my NZ based friends can no longer comment. We believe the problem is linked to the Intense Debate system I use and it would be good to know if anyone else has had any difficulties. Thank you.

One Of My Lucky Readers Can Win A Voucher For £50!

2013-05-06T14:03:00.001+01:00

A few weeks ago I carried out a review of Wafcol with Ocean Fish & Corn and as a thank you, the nice people at Vets Food World have offered a £50 voucher for me to give away to one of my UK readers.

Vets Food World sell all kinds of pet food; dogs, cats, rabbits, rats, ferrets, guinea pigs, mice.... They also sell small animal bedding too. You can check out their products HERE

To be in with a chance of winning, either for yourself or for your favourite animal charity, here is what you have to do:

Leave a comment on this post by midday Friday 10th May including a contact email address and confirm you are resident in the UK.
If you don't want to leave an email address in the comments, please email me at declansdogsblog(at)gmail(dot)com letting me know that you have commented and under what user name.
The winner will be randomly selected by my own pointy nose out of a hat.
The winner will be notified by email during the week commencing 13th May and sent a voucher code for £50 to spend at Vets Food World.
In order to validate the code, you must spend over £50, but this can be by any amount.

Good luck everyone, and remember, anyone who lives in the UK can enter, you don't even need a blog!!

My Assistant is an idiot!

2013-05-04T09:40:00.000+01:00

Just a quick notice.

I have noticed that my Assistant has advised you all that I am having a giveaway on Monday 6th June. Doh!

What she meant to tell you is that UK residents can win a £50 voucher from Vets Food World on Monday 6th May!

Apologies for employing a numpty!

All this......and more could be yours!! See you on Monday!