Slumber Party

Winter is drawing in for sure now as our afternoon walk feels more and more like a midnight run. Missy isn't phased - she's been chasing off the zombie hordes whilst I've followed warily behind. I will admit that after this photo, I did dig out her high vis' coat, which had made the walk significantly less stressful. Black dogs do not show up very well in the twilight woodland.

Missy is all growing up though; she had her first slumber party this weekend. Well, it was more hubby and I indulging my twin niece and nephew who have been begging for us to stay over for a considerable amount of time now. With thier dad suffering long covid and chronic fatigue, we kept the weekend very simple. We arrived at 9am the Saturday, then I took the mum out for a well deserved stress free few hours bauble painting. 

I am very, very pleased with mine. The workshop was at Dalkeith Country Park and was an early Christmas present which was well received as we spent two hours catching up and enjoying some cake. 

Meanwhile, hubby, dad and the kids did a local treasure hunt through the High Street, looking for the odd things out in the windows, before we all got back for lunch. We let the dad snooze for a little as I got to catch up with the kids and we showed off our trinkets. My neice, who is very, very crafty, was extremely jealous in the most fun way to have been left the the "smelly boys". Honestly, the girl is 8 going on 19!

We had lunch, there was colouring in and board games before dinner. The board games were picked up again as we had a girls round and a boys round of chess - coming from a family that actually played chess very seriously, I loved watching my nephew seriously challenging my hubby. Hubby knows the pieces, and what they do, but he has no idea of tactics. After an initial false start where I realised that the problem was both players were purely reacting on the other and no one had a game plan, I stepped in to help my nephew a little. Then helped hubby a little. Dad joined in and we soon fell into a good rhythm of suggesting some nudges of an idea whilst letting them both actually do the thinking. Hubby won, but it was a close thing, giving my nephew a but more confidence in the game. I played my neice who was far too tired at this point, but was insistent that she should have a go too.

I kept it short, but kind. And let her take a few "big" pieces. I firmly believe chess can only be learned whilst losing and that letting someone win does no one a favour. 

Kids went to bed and we stayed up far too late trying to sort the wrongs of the world. 

Well. We weren't surprised that there was no lie in. So it was a rambling dog walk to air out the cobwebs before games were again played until lunchtime. 

We ate and left and got home to do the chores and get prepped for another week. A very good weekend, but tiring too.

10/10 though, would definitely do again - perhaps not next weekend though like the kids were asking! 

School Trip to an Asylum

Well, the title sounds like a Goosebumps level horror novel, but I assure you, a good day was had. 

Long story short, my neice had to do an assignment for her high school photography portfolio - the theme of which is nature reclaiming old ruins. She was technically late on the project and my mum had offered to help her out, which actually meant that she wanted myself to help out. I was a bit salty about it originally, as I felt obliged to give up a planned quiet day (well, a trip to the vampires at Scotblood and a movie type quiet day) in order to prevent a falling out. 

However, I can't say no to my neices and nephews. They are my Achilles heel. And photography. On a cool dog walk? Well, so long as I survived the ghosts to get to the vampires on time, I was game.

Hubby and I trawled the internet to see if we could still access Banchory Hospital, the abandoned asylum. Its featured here a few times as the perfect place for a spooky walk that was injury and bad weather friendly. Well, we discovered that the planned demolition was on hold until March 2023, so we had time for visit.

I love my photography, so we discussed framing and leading lines. My neice didn't have her camera, and so borrowed mine which, whilst a little dated these days, is a bit more high tech than what she's used to. Or perhaps too old school as she really struggled with a manual zoom and having to look through a viewfinder. I'm not averse to crawling about in mud for a perfect photo, so it was funny to watch her try and work around not having a screen to get those shots without crawling about. Strangely enough, the tripod was also a highlight for her.

Whilst digital is a brilliant thing, the phone camera generation have really missed out on the basics. 

It wasn't all work and no play, as you can see with the ghost shots. I got my mum and neice to stand in as my ghosts whilst Missy waited perfectly still. My neice, who has played about with the effect before, loved the outcome whilst my mum was just amazed at the whole thing. My mum took a lot of "behind the scenes" photos and in them I'm in full director mode. Even as stills with no sound you can see me pointing out shots and indicating details to try and capture. 

Misson successful.

And yes. We did get to the vampires on time. 

Today was a wee trip to Perth to see the girls. No photos. Just lots of tea, cake and good company. The perfect sort of day.

That's all, been a busy weekend, but a good one. 

Up and Down the Country

A very, very quick post as its been a bit of an all-over-the-place kinda week. For the bulk of it, I've was down in Birmingham for a work conference. Owing to train strikes, my team drove, which was pretty horrendous as six hours is a very, very long time when your tired and in the car.

Whilst there, I was also partaking in a poster competition where I had to present about a project I'd been involved in for 10 minutes, including a Q&A. I placed third, so was very pleased with my podium finish! Although I was not so pleased about being called up on stage to receive my certificate - I'll always prefer the comfort of the shadows to the limelight!

It was a very late finish by the time I got home Thursday. My sister was there along with my hubby to congratulate me. We had organised a sneaky crafts weekend with hubby's parents long before I knew I was going to be at the conference, so the quick turn around was not something we had planned for!

Hubby had a half day at work, so Missy and I were treated to pancakes out before my sister broke her wool ban and visited hobby craft. It was only three balls, so I think she can be forgiven!

Then it was time to get up the road. Missy enjoyed having company in the back and we all chatted and caught up with life on the journey.

The main focus for the crafting was resin. So Saturday morning was spent mixing colours and hoping for the best as we poured the goop into various moulds. We then managed a nice afternoon dog walk before going out to see Disney on Ice. You really couldn't have asked for a nicer day!

It was an early start back today. Partly because my house hasn't been properly tidied since before I left for Birmingham, and secondly, my sister was doing the double journey and going home to Manchester. At time of writing, she's still driving home, and I don't envy her in the slightest for such a long journey. 

Overall a great wee weekend! Just a pity I could do with a few more days to finish recovering from the week! 

Pets as Therapy

Our friends over at Dog Furiendly have been working with Pets as Therapy recently, and asked us to write up a little article about the process. I've realised that we never really shared the end-to-end with you all, so for something a little different, and hopefully interesting, this was what we had to say!

 After years of being told that Missy had a perfect temperament for it, we took the plunge at the start of this year and had her assessed as a therapy dog. 

 So, who are Pets as Therapy? 

Pets As Therapy (PAT) is a national charity that send volunteers and their pets to visit care homes, hospitals, hospices, schools and prisons. Their aim is to simply bring smiles to many faces and give people of all ages a chance to chat to someone — and stroke and cuddle a friendly dog or cat. 

Who can apply? 

Anyone can apply, so long as our pet is at least nine months old, and you must have known them for at least six months. They are looking V for volunteers of all ages and walks of life. PAT Pets should be friendly and calm, healthy and well-groomed, and love being fussed over. Breed doesn't matter, with mutts just as welcome as pedigrees. 

It should be noted (at the time of writing) that PAT will not take dogs that are raw fed, owing to the poor health of a lot of the people being visited.  

Signing up

We knew from friends and relations that they operated in our area, so we went ahead and sent in our application, which is all done online. 

There are two types of membership, a solo volunteer or a joint volunteer account. For the humans, two different references are required per person volunteering, passport style photos, and there is also an annual volunteer contribution (payable once the assessment has been completed and passed). For the dogs, proof of up-to-date vaccinations are required as well as assurances that your dog is fit and healthy with a note of any medication your pet is on. For example, Missy is on antihistamines, owing to both a dairy and an environmental allergy. Lastly, we had to take Missy’s "passport" photo:

 

The Assessment 

 Once our application had been processed, we were granted an online account to track our progress. The first step was the assessment. 

Using our postcode, we were assigned to the nearest assessor and made contact. As covid was very much a concern at the start of the year, we had scheduled to do an outdoor assessment at a mutually agreeable location. Of course, it decided to both snow and rain on us that day and so, masks on, we relocated to an indoors location. 

Both dog and owner are assessed, so Missy got to do it twice as my husband also wanted to volunteer. 

 So, what is involved in an assessment? 

During the 45 minutes, the following must be demonstrated:

Walking on a relaxed lead, without excessive pulling and without the use of head collars, harnesses or check chains.  At the same time, the owner must demonstrate control of their dog on the lead whilst holding a conversation with the assessor. 

 The dog must be comfortable being stroked and handled and having their paws, tail and ears checked by both the owner and the assessor.

 The dog must be well groomed with short nails. They must also take a food treat gently without snatching from the assessor. 

 The dog must also display an appropriate response to a sudden noise or disturbance in the room whilst being tested. 

 Lastly, the owner must demonstrate that they can restrict their dog by holding its collar or holding him/her firmly and remove them from the room. 

 What behaviours will result in a deferral? 

 Jumping up

Pawing, or putting paws up

Pulling on the lead

Reluctance/backing away when being fussed 

Vocalisations, such as barking or growling

Mouthing

Licking

Taking food greedily

 It sounds a lot to cover in a short space of time, but the assessor was great at keeping all of us at ease and explaining simply what we had to do and why. Missy aced the lead walking and disturbance test (simply lying and the floor and looking rather perplexed at why the bottle full of treats had been thrown upon the floor). She allowed us to swiftly (and unexpectedly on her part) remove her from the room (I led her out whilst my husband showed off and simply carried her out the room). 

There was only one area I wasn't sure on - Missy’s absolute apathy about being handled. She'll very gently take her paw back once she's determined you've held onto it for long enough and will simply stand there stoically whilst being brushed. Such indifference proved to be a laughing point with the assessor, who claimed to have never met a dog so passively disinterested in being groomed. 

 We had a chat about what sort of volunteering we were interested in. I explained that we know from experience that Missy likes to snuggle up to the knees of the elderly and be petted, so we were leaning towards care home visits over classrooms, which we felt would be too over whelming for Missy. Our comments were met with nods, so there was clearly a box there that was ticked that we didn't know about. 

 After that, all three of us were handed our proverbial gold stars and we were told we had passed the assessment with flying colours. 

 

 Visits

 Once the assessment is processed, and the references supplied at the start have been received, you receive your welcome pack. All three of us received our ID batches and the paperwork explaining that we were approved by PAT. Then it was time to organise a visit. 

Whilst occasionally there will be an email sent from the area coordinator asking for volunteers for a specific event, your mostly left to organise things for yourself. From your postcode, you'll get a list of what's available in the area and from there you just email/call and organise something that’s mutually convenient. 

 I will stress two things here: 

One, you are under no obligation to purchase any of the PAT uniform for yourself or the dog. We haven't bought anything (if your representing PAT at an event you can borrow a uniform). Although I will confess the little dog vest is calling out to me! 

Two, it's entirely down to what suits you - you can visit places as often or as little as you want. And if somewhere didn't feel right, you’re under no obligation to go back. The only rule is that visits should not exceed 2 hours without a break for the dog. 

 The area rep also gave me a really good piece of advice: bring your own treats, and pretend the dog has allergies, otherwise people will try and fees them all sorts of things they shouldn't. 

 So, where have we visited? Covid put us to a rocky start, but we have stuck with the original plan of care homes. Each visit has had at least one stand out moment for us, but our first is probably my favourite:

On our first visit, we were a bit unsure about the process as we were mostly met with "oh, a dog, very nice, there, there". It just didn't feel particularly rewarding. That was until we met a very elderly lady who was stone deaf. She was absently watching the TV and, upon spotting Missy, just came to life. There was a delighted cry as she moved with a speed I did not expect and bodily hugged Missy. There was laughter and tears and many treats given. The staff explained that she had grown up in a farm and absolutely loved dogs. The visit only went up from there as we met a gentleman who used to breed greyhounds and multiple other characters who were happy to share stories whilst fawning over Missy. 

 Is it worth it? 

For myself and my husband, it's been a very rewarding experience. Firstly, we like people. We like talking to people and helping out where we can. So, this kind of volunteering is naturally really rewarding for us. 

However, we're also ridiculously busy people, and the flexibility has allowed us to fit in volunteering when it suits us. And that's been absolutely brilliant. I don't feel I'm letting anyone down or having to fit things in when it doesn't suit. Which makes me enjoy the visits more. 

 Lastly, we did get the opportunity to meet some other local PAT volunteers at Dogfest as we helped out at the stand. They were all lovely people, and we are very much looking forward to getting to know the community better!

 And what about Missy? As far as we can tell, she loves it. She drags us out the car and to the nursing home doors and wags her tail for the residents. Cuddles, treats and much praise are reward enough for her.

 

 To find out more about PAT, including testimonials and how to volunteer, check out their website at: Pets as Therapy