it’s not been the best 12 months for us with the dogs. on the afternoon of Monday, 6 July 2009, we said goodbye to our first husky, Teba. he lost his battle with a health issue that meant he struggled to keep his food down. he left us with just under 12 years of memories to look back on. he gave us the biggest cuddles in return for leaving the least amount of room on the sofa. with only three huskies left in the house, it’s starting to feel a little empty.
15 September 2008 will be remembered as one of the saddest days of our lives. elvis, our superstar, was taken too early from us, at the age of 8. an ordinary day started with 5 happy huskies leaving the bedroom and ended with us finding one sunbathing in the dog run with no pulse. a tumour in his heart had brought on a sudden fatal heart attack without any warning. he leaves us with 8 years of amazing memories. we’ve had many emails and messages from far and wide about elvis. he touched so many people with his kind ways and tom-foolery.
Simon Luxmoore wrote in Dogworld:
Recently the saddest news was that Guy and Helen Redwood have lost Elvis. This really pulls at the heart strings since he was so young. He had been trying for so long, finally succeeding, to win his title. That made him a familiar figure at shows yet he was not over shown. His final tally was five CCs and eight RCCs – he really did himself proud. It was very much a case of when he crossed the line he became very much recognised as a nice example of the breed.
It is pointless trying to understand the loss that is felt on an occasion like this but, as I have mentioned to Guy and Helen, they must cherish all those happy memories. We send them our sympathy.
The reality of his departure is still dawning on us. Helen has lost her champion show dog and I’ve lost half of my 2 dog race team. the arkward reality of husky ownership has meant our grief has eased and almost swept away by the four bundles of joy we have around the house. all I can do is celebrate my elvis with a smile from a memory and cuddle from his mates Teba, Baloo, Basil and his special soulmate Mookie.
well, it’s been over a year since we last wrote anything on here. we’ve both been way too busy with work, the dogs etc.
i decided to take a break from showing this year and spend more time at home in the garden and, with the way fuel prices are going, save some money. we will be doing a few shows, but more as a holiday than anything else so guy can go fishing. we had a nice weekend away in the Borders a few weeks ago, staying at a great B&B near Melrose (recently voted the best in scotland) for a few days before Border Union and then over to Carlisle for the club show. i’d missed the entry for Border Union so just entered Elvis in Veteran Dog at the club show under Yricka Gardner, which he came first in. the last show we did was darlington i think, so Elvis was full of himself and my handling skills were a bit rusty.
we’re on our third set of hens, courtesy of mr fox. re-starting with 2 hybrid free range type breeds that are based on classics. they originally were a bit too flighty and insisted on wandering around the garden to finally perch on the bench less than a metre from the huskies. which obviously wound the poor boys up. we cured the wandering hens by keeping them in the ark for a week and now they are more than happy with their huge chicken run , laying over 10 eggs a week between themselves.
only a few days left until we’re packing that van with 2 monkey rigs, 1 danler sled, 1 diggler scooter, 1 santa cruz heckler, 1 dyson vacuum cleaner and my fly fishing tackle. not forgeting the 5 boys and Helen, of course. today I slipped out to buy a fast sinking line from the tackle shop – ready to fish the trout ponds in Aviemore. it was at that point, clutching my bag of goodies, i realised the annual holiday is just around the corner. my business, SimpleUsability is moving to Leeds whilst away on holiday. i return from holiday to spend a weekend fitting out an office, ready to receive some very special clients. whilst the leasing aggreement states no dogs, I’m tempted to reinact our own iditarod with some of these orange dogs from Alessi.
the trip up to Scotland on Sunday was certainly worth it with Elvis gaining his 4th CC and winning BIS at the first SSHC Championship Show. his sister Pearl, CH Huskidoo String of Pearls, was RBIS. it was great to end our show season on such a high note. guy spent the day at home kitting out the van which is coming along now, so hopefully it won’t be long before the cages are finished.
Elvis was awarded his third CC at Southern Counties Championship Show last weekend. the judge was Lisa Tebay who gave him a RCC back in 2002. we were over the moon to make him up to champion.
our Danler Hornet racing sled arrived today from Austria. just need some more snow to give it a whirl. and for those who’ve ever wondered, you can fit a racing sled in the smart car.
only 2 weeks until we’re off to Aviemore for that world famous race and we’ve already been out on the sled twice this season. Christmas 2005 was fabulous. fab turkey from the farmers cart, fab company from down south, but unfortunately Santa forgot to leave the psp under the tree so Fairy Dixons may have one saved for me next time we’re passing through duty free on a Swiss mission. many new things happening at Aviemore this year, new venues and activities to build on the vintage that was last year. i must remember to pack the new rod and flies for a spot of trout fishing on the Rothiemurchus Estate. after all the money we’ve raised for the race, will be nice to spend some time pulling trout of an edible kind.
training is finally well under way at the York HQ. new lights have been bought to cope with the extra visibility needed with my increased team and the weather is finally starting to head into reasonable temperatures for running. the lights are a heath robinson system made from maplin parts – plastic case, 7.2 amp hour battery, xlr connectors, fuse holder, power switch, battery conditioner and a 55w drivers lamp from halfords. think it cost around 80 quid and built in a few hours. the main feature of the system is using xlr plugs/sockets so that the battery terminals are protected and the charger just plugs straight in.
the move from a 2 dog to a 3 dog team is impressive. far less scooting and the ability to promote and demote team members from lead to wheel is useful. it’s early days yet and the dogs need many more miles. first rally is in a few weeks and we’re not expecting much, unless everybody else is as unfit as us.
Helen’s been taking Baloo and Mookie swimming at a local dog swimming pool, Merrylegs – or Canine Hydrotherapy Centre – if you want the posh name from a swimming pool with dog hair. we’re swimming Baloo to help keep him mobile with his arthritis and Mookie because he’s a pup that needs some muscles for his first rally season. It’s an amazing facility and well worth the money. the staff work hard with the dogs and the two boys seem to have benefitted loads. infact, Baloo is possibly the happiest dog in York and wants everybody to know, at the most incovenient times of the day. super fit, super happy and in fine voice when ever the urge for a howl comes around. our aim is keep Baloo running for as long as he wants to. he’s had one pre-season cartrophen injection and a daily Synoquin capsule. we’re aiming to stay ahead of the arthritis this year – not wanting any stiffness brought about by over training or arthitic flair ups.
this season may see us trading in the caravan for a van. something big like a lwb sprinter or an iveco daily. the reasoning behind it is that we’ve got two boys not far off their bus passes. we want to give the old boys plenty of room at rallies cos we all know how unreasonable and grumpy the old folk get.