Video Surveillance to the Rescue or Meltdown part deux

Fionn has continued to be a problem, I have kept him with me as much as possible, but I left him and Roxy at home for about 2 hours the other evening and came home to more destruction, not as bad as the first time, but very bad behavior nevertheless.

Martine and I discussed it, he was feeling stressed, he was still missing Bonnie, the change of environment was just too much for him ? Who knows.

So today I decided to keep him by me again, as much as possible. I took both of them with me to feed the horses this morning, then met George and Martine to give them both a good long walk.

As the weather was pretty foul today, I decided to devote the whole day to him, lit the fire and settled in to some quality time with my dogs.

This evening I took both of them for more long walks, fed them, and started to prepare dinner. "Come over for a drink" Said George and Martine. "Hmmm" said I.

Then Martine had a brainwave. Set the laptop to survey the room and then call her on Skype, that way I could have a pre dinner drink with them, and keep an eye on "chez moi"

So all was set up up, and I legged it up the road for a glass of white wine. Well I had only just arrived when there was a clatter from Martine's laptop, and Fionn was to be seen with his head on the table, then he went off camera and there was another clatter. No sign of stress just a dog looking for trouble. So I rushed home to find him tucking into a pile of paper table napkins! Scolded him severely, sent him to his bed and went back to G&Ms.

Big Brother's Watching You

All was quiet on the Provencal front until Roxy appeared on camera, wandering around, looking mischievous. "Bed" I shouted at the laptop, well she came over and stared straight at the camera and then lay down. "Bed" I repeated and much to my amazement up she got and wandered over to her bed.

Roxy in her bed

Well that was it, not a peep out of either of them, 2 glasses of wine later I returned home to utter calm. Thank you thank you Skype. And thank you Martine.

Taking the Guide Dog pup to France

Ann Mckenna with Tilda, Anne with Roxy, and Martine

Well the decision on wether or not I could bring Roxy, the guide dog puppy I am puppy walking, with me to France has been changed once or twice since I got her in April, and when I got the final no decision I was surprised at how upset I was, but a chance meeting with Ken Brydon, Irish Guide Dogs for the Blind operations manager, at the IGDB open day, changed all that, and so now it is full steam ahead, courtesy of Irish Ferries, for France.

I think I must be mad, traveling with 3 dogs, but my daughter, Polly, is coming with me, and so the roof box requirements just keep getting bigger, so fingers and paws crossed.

Syd

I thought the cat problem had solved itself, as our adopted feral cat, Syd, had been on the missing list for weeks, but yesterday he walked in bold as brass, and settled into his bed, which I hadn't had the heart to put away. And then, as fate often directs, I found a really small kitten just up the road from the house, with no owner apparent in the immediate vicinity, surely something that small could not have travelled far.

New kid on the block

But the ferry is booked, a house/cat sitter has been found, so it's off to France we go.