I am very happy as I write this—and slightly too busy. You know the feeling? Just a few too many plates to keep spinning… But I can’t complain. The sun is shining, the trees are in blossom, the natural world is busy. The main reason for my happiness today is the incubator eggs are hatching, and this is one of the very best things in life (I think—some of my friends would prefer a designer handbag!)
The eggs started to hatch yesterday. They lie in the incubator, looking dead—exactly like the eggs in your fridge, and then one starts to cheep, or a crack appears, and you realise there is something alive inside, trying to emerge. It can take several days for an egg to hatch, which requires lots of patience (not something I am blessed with). I know from bitter experience that interfering usually ends badly. Although there is a point, after a couple of days, when a hatchling that is struggling will die unless you help—so it’s a difficult balance.
I am currently helping a gosling to hatch. The first crack appeared two days ago, and two other eggs have safely hatched during this time, but this one seems to be stuck. The egg is fairly small for a goose egg. Farmers advise not attempting to hatch small eggs—they only use the large ones for hatching. But I don’t have lots of fertile eggs, so each one is precious. My guess is that the gosling is too big to move around inside the egg, so cannot turn and crack the egg all the way round—like a zipper—and then push its way out. It made a crack, but then stopped, too squashed to wriggle and make more cracks. So I am helping. Each hour, I open the lid (letting out all the warm air and humidity, so it’s a balance) and I crack off another piece of shell, drip some warm water on it (to replace the moisture lost from the open lid) and leave it to rest. The gosling’s beak is free, and it cheeps at me, which is the only indication it’s still alive. I hope to have it almost free by this evening, and then I will leave it, in case there is still some yolk to absorb (completely removing them from the egg is a bad thing to do). I really hope it makes it.
Two hatched goslings are in the garage under a warm lamp, and two chicks, plus the 4 ducklings I rescued from the pond. It’s a happy gang in there. The ducklings are too big now, and ought to be outside, but until Goose gets off her nest, they have to stay inside (because they will disturb her). There are three new trees which need to be watered regularly, weeds which are threatening to engulf the flower beds, insects invading my house plants so I need to buy a spray…A lot of nature to sort.
I am juggling this with trying to prepare work for my first year review, which is a big deal and has to be passed. I need to update my proposal (the document that says what I intend to research, and how) plus a writing sample. In a couple of weeks the university will send the monstrous form it sent last May, so I need to plan time to complete that. Plus I am itching to begin my new chapter—looking at death, and whether animals have life after death, and what is the significance of death in terms of relationship with God.
So you see, I am happy, but busy. (Don’t mention housework—I am making that a swear word!) I will go now and chip another piece of shell from my struggling gosling. I hope you have a happy week too, enjoying all the life of springtime.
I am very keen to have company for Goose, so I contacted the man who kindly gave me her egg two years ago, and asked if I could buy some more. He lives near Sheffield. I looked online, to try and find someone nearer, but I am keen to have more Sebastopol geese. No one local was advertising eggs. (Eggs through the post is always a bit unreliable.)
We had been home from the US for one day. One frantic day of unpacking and washing laundry and sorting animals. Then we drove to Sheffield, planning to collect the eggs, sleep in an Airbnb, drive home. The timing was terrible! I was exhausted, but there was no way to delay (if I wait too long after the eggs are laid, they are unlikely to hatch. These eggs were already 2 weeks old.)
In terms of bird-timing, it was perfect. Goose has laid 4 eggs of her own, and is making a nest. I was very hopeful that adding a few more would be enough to make her grow broody. As she’s an inexperienced mother (some birds get bored after a couple of weeks and abandon perfectly viable eggs) I also put 4 in the incubator. I gave her a child’s paddling pool full of water, so she can wet her feathers regularly.
I decided to also try a different breed of goose, so I ordered two Emdon goose eggs from Ebay. I also decided to order some more Orpington chicken eggs, as company for Maverick (my hens are old now and have stopped laying). They were all ordered on the Thursday, I hoped if they were posted on Friday, they would arrive Saturday and they could all go into the incubator together. Such a great plan. None of it worked very well…
MaverickGoose
Monday, Day 1: Eggs had rested for 24 hours, so I washed them and added to incubator.[1] Ebay eggs not arrived. I put 4 fertile eggs into Goose nest, and scribbled on her infertile 4 with a pencil. Left eggs to warm for 24 hours.
Goose Eggs
Tuesday, Day 2: After 24 hours of warmth, I started to turn the incubator eggs, 3 times per day. Ebay eggs not arrived. Goose seems to be sitting on her nest.
Wednesday, Day 3: Continued to turn incubator eggs. Ebay eggs still not arrived. (Contacted the seller, who said he sent them via Evri the next day. Evri are useless in my experience, so I am worried.) Goose seems to be sitting on her nest, coming off to eat and stand in the paddling pool.
Thursday, Day 4: Continued to turn incubator eggs. Ebay eggs still not arrived. Goose nest a disaster! When I went today, she got off the nest and I could see signs of egg-eating. There are 5 remaining eggs.
I have no idea whether Goose ate the eggs I bought because she knew they weren’t her own, or if a rat got them, or if they were bad (hens will eat bad eggs to stop the nest being ruined). I could not see my pencil marks on any eggs at all. After much debate with Husband (who has a stake in this after driving all the way to Sheffield and back) I decided to remove 3 eggs from the nest and add them to the incubator. They were filthy, so I washed them—which at this stage may have killed them if they have been developing for 3 days but I worried about adding so much dirt to the incubator. I have no idea how many days they have been developing, if at all, so they might be behind the other eggs, or they might be the same as the other eggs, or they might be the infertile eggs that Goose laid. Not great.
Friday, we had a power cut. Big worry! I immediately started to think about whether I could move the incubator to a family home where they had power—but realised that moving the eggs at this stage would kill them. So would getting cold. I thought I probably had about an hour before they grew too cool (I immediately covered the incubator in towels). Husband then suggested it might work on a back-up battery he has for our alarm. I plugged it in, the incubator whirred back to life. Phew! (The power came back after about 30 minutes, but that wasn’t something predicable.) If these eggs hatch, I feel it will be a miracle, there are so many problems.
Saturday, Day 6: I filled the water reservoir in the incubator and noticed water leaking from the other side. Great, it has sprung a leak. The humidity inside was dropping. I added an egg cup of warm water, the humidity rose. But this will only work for a while. Long discussion with Husband. We decided that the incubator is about 15 years old, and has hatched many batches of eggs, maybe it’s time to replace it. We looked online.
There are hundreds of incubators to choose from, with varying reviews and very varied prices. My one is still sold, and is about 4x the price of most others. But it works really well, and regulates the humidity (when not broken) as well as the temperature and turning of the eggs. We decided that it was worth investing in the same one. Deep breath. Ordered it.
Day 7: I shone a light through the eggs. It’s a bit early, but I am impatient. It looks as if the 4 eggs I put straight into the incubator are all fertile. One of the eggs I rescued might be fertile, but the other two look as if they are not.
I really hope the one is, because that means Goose did not eat all the fertile eggs, and potentially might still be sitting on fertile eggs. She is, as far as I can see, sitting on two eggs now. Her eggs seem to be a little delayed, which would make sense if she didn’t actively sit on the nest for a day or two after I added the eggs. She’s very diligent, sits on her nest most of the time, coming off to wash and eat. It’s hard to keep her water clean because she adds lots of mud to it—plus of course there are the two ducks I shut in the cage.
Ducks are fun but terrible. They turn everything into mud soup. They are laying, and have made nests, but no sign of sitting. They are probably hoping another bird will come and sit for them. They race around the cage, digging up the mud with their beaks, splashing in any available water. Very messy. When they go near Goose she hisses at them, so they have stopped running into her nest (which they first did). I’m really hoping they sit soon, or I shall have to release them back onto the pond.
The Ebay eggs never arrived. Evri is hopeless. I informed the sellers—one is being helpful, the other one is being obstinate. I want him to refund my money, or I shall leave a terrible review. I have ordered 2 more batches of Buff Orpington eggs, which I might put into the old incubator as it’s still working (the new one arrived today). They should all hatch about the same time, which will mean two weeks of lots of work, but then they will all be independent by May, if it goes to plan.
Chicken Eggs. They finally arrived, 8 were fertile (out of 18 bought). No idea whether they will hatch, but am hopeful.
Day 10
I candled the eggs. It’s really hard to see inside because the shells are so thick. I do it at night, when it’s dark, and shine a very bright light through them. I think 3 are definitely fertile, 2 were not so I took them out. The rest I am not sure about. They look too dark to be unfertilised, but they are not as developed as the others—but they are the ones rescued from Goose, so maybe she didn’t sit consistently until a few days later. Ot they might be her infertile ones. I don’t want to risk throwing away a goose, so I will wait a couple more days. If they are not clearly developing (they should stop moving and appear as a solid dark lump) then I will take them out. The danger of leaving infertile eggs is they may go bad, and the fumes will kill the other eggs. I hate making these decisions because it’s so awful to get it wrong and kill something by mistake.
In the garden, Goose is firmly sitting on her two remaining eggs (which I fear may be infertile ones she laid). She has plucked out her breast feathers, and lined the nest with soft down. When she leaves the nest to eat and drink she makes a big fuss of covering the nest with hay, so it can’t be seen. One of the ducks is also nesting. The other duck was being disruptive, so I have put her back on the pond.
They build up the sides with hay and sticks, and line it with their own feathers to make a cosy enclosure around the eggs.
I need to decide when/if my incubator eggs hatch, whether to give them to Goose to raise. She is broody, so might raise them (which is the best scenario) but given that she ate the other eggs, I’m worried she might kill the hatchlings. I’m not sure I trust her now.
To add to the chaos, one of the ducks appeared on the pond with ducklings. Ducklings on the pond have never survived to adulthood–the crows and magpies eat them. I left her with 4, and took 4 into the garage where they will be safe. (To date, she has 3 left, so is doing better than expected.)
I hope your days are less chaotic. Thanks for reading. Take care. Love, Anne x
[1] There is much discussion online as to whether you should wash eggs before incubating them. I decided that the very dirty ones should be washed and added straight away. Washing them removes their protective coating, but dirt adds bacteria to the incubator. If you wash them in water warmer than the egg, it stops the bacteria entering the egg through osmosis (apparently).
Meg is in disgrace. We had a couple of workmen in the house and garden, plus her favourite gardener (huge excitement when he arrives) so Meg was super hyper. The birds were loose in the garden, and we discovered that Meg can now open doors unless they are locked. She jumped at the handle, the door flew open. She charged out and leapt on Goose. Horrible moment. I yelled and screamed and shouted all sorts of commands that Meg ignored. Husband hauled her off Goose, and took her inside.
I picked up a terrified Goose, who rubbed her cheek against mine and trembled in my arms. I sat with her on my lap until she stopped trembling, then left her in the hay box for a while to calm down. Poor Goose.
15/11/2025
Meg hardly changes now, so there is much less to write. She’s a lovely companion (mostly) and follows me round the house, sleeping (and farting) in whichever room I am in. Sometimes she dreams and wakes up barking (not at great at night if I am also asleep).
I love how clever she is. One of her annoying habits is barking at dogs that we pass in the car. I try to notice them before her, and I start to talk in a quiet calm voice, hoping to distract her. Yesterday when I did this, Meg listened to my whisper and then barked at the other dog but super-softly, like she knew we needed to whisper. She barked in a whisper! It may have been coincidence, I will let you know if she continues to do this. It would be an improvement.
16/12/2025
Well, to my surprise, Meg seems to have stopped barking at other dogs when we pass them in the car. She does still bark at the occasional one, but perhaps they are particularly dodgy-looking in dog-world. Mostly we pass them without being yelled at from behind.
Meg has been a bit wild this week. I suspect it’s because the wild animals (foxes and deer) are marking/spraying. Even I, with my human nose, can sometimes smell a strong odour de la fox, so I’m sure it’s overpowering for Meg. Not that this is really an excuse for even more disobedience that normal.
We have put up the Christmas decorations, and other than trying to participate when we kneel on the floor to water the tree each day (obviously seen as a time for licking faces) Meg has been very good at ignoring them. She does sometimes carry her chew to a position that is extremely close to the Christmas tree, but as far as I know, she has not touched it. I don’t think I will hang chocolates on it though, that might a too much temptation for her.
We now have use of the field next to the house (the rams are with the ewes). For a few days, this made a very easy walk, as I would walk around the perimeter, and Meg would race the cars on the main road, tearing up and down at great speed. It was definitely racing, not chasing, as she watched and chose which vehicle she was going to race (usually a bus or lorry) and then she gave herself a headstart, beginning to run before they reached the field, charging at full speed along the hedge until the passed her, and then stopping and going back to the ‘start line’ to wait for the next target.
However, the novelty soon wore off. Meg noticed that I did a loop of the field, and she decided this was boring. If we go into the field now, she walks to the middle, and sits, watching me exercise myself, and then she joins me back at the gate to go inside. Not quite the plan. I have to take her to the woods now, otherwise she doesn’t have a walk.
5/1/2026
Meg has become very difficult. Not sure if it’s because she had a lot of restrictions over Christmas due to various visitors, plus the wet weather mean she spent vast amounts of time locked in a room while she dried off after being washed every time she came in from the muddy outside. Or it could be the foxes are still marking ready for mating season. Whatever the reason, Meg has reverted to ‘difficult teenager’ stage. We have lots of stand-offs, and trying to modify her behaviour is just plain hard work.
We walked yesterday across the fields. I am trying to not walk with her on the lead if she pulls, so it took about 15 minutes to cross the farm lane from one field to the other. She is also meant to sit before going through a gate—as a safety feature to give me a few seconds to check for unexpected livestock in the field (plus it’s good manners for her to sit while I unbolt the gates). She absolutely refused to do this. Left her on the wrong side of the gate, and marched across the field away from her, leaving her to frantically try to find a way through the gate. (Actually, she didn’t look frantic at all, more like a bolshy teenager.) Then a man came, and looked very worried that there was a big dog his side of the gate, with the owner halfway across the next field. So had to relent and collect her (the man looked at me like I was mad).
Then when on our own land, I hooked her lead over the post and walked away, returning to tell her to sit before I released her. Took AGES. Eventually she sat, and we continued. I feel frazzled after these stand-offs, and I don’t like her very much. Meg does not appear to be affected even slightly. It feels important, if I have given her a command, that nothing happens until she has obeyed. But it’s not fun, and it makes me want to just give in and have an unruly dog. Hope you have a better week than me. Thanks for reading. Take care. Love, Anne x
Meg’s vocabulary—the words she can understand—is pretty extensive now. She will be lying, apparently asleep, and if I say ‘walk’ or ‘woods’ or ‘going out’ she will leap up and run to the garage, ready to get in the car, worried I might forget her. She also understands the significance of certain actions. I have bad eyesight, but dislike wearing glasses in the house so I only tend to wear glasses if I am going out. If Meg sees me putting on my glasses, she runs to the door, ready to come into the garden (and bark at my poultry).
Meg also understands routines—and has her own ones (which I do not understand). When I sit at the kitchen table with food, Meg goes to the door and asks to be let out. I don’t know why, but it’s convenient as I prefer her to be in the garden when I’m eating. Perhaps she doesn’t like my table manners. Or maybe she knows she will have unsupervised play in the garden because I am occupied. I don’t know. It doesn’t matter what time it is, if I make a coffee mid-morning and sit at the table, Meg goes straight to the door. Very strange.
Meg understands that when she is annoying, I tend to secure her somewhere—either the utility room or her crate. Meg prefers her crate (which is in the kitchen). If she is being too bouncy, and I open the utility room door for a ‘time-out,’ Meg will run into her crate and look at me. The message is clear—‘You can lock me in here, please don’t put me in the utility room!’
11/9/2025
Meg will soon be 2 years old. Husband tells me this is wonderful, as everyone has told him that dogs of 2 years are perfect pets, calm and obedient. I have told Meg. We are expecting big changes in a few days…
Two Years Old
16/9/2025
Well, despite our dreams, Meg did not suddenly become calm and obedient on her 2nd birthday. Online, most of her siblings are now qualified police or army working dogs, leaping from helicopters in enemy territory or chasing criminals. Meg chases cars. And my poultry. Neither are allowed.
I would have said that Meg has never stolen food, but I am now not so sure. I have never seen her steal food, and I will eat near her without her stealing (although I would not leave her alone in a room with a roast chicken nearby). However, I do have a pretty china bowl that I sometimes keep chocolates and sweets in, left on a coffee table, as a welcoming treat to offer visitors. Last week I filled it with mint humbugs. Yesterday I found a wrapper, and a spat-out mint humbug at the top of the stairs. Now, I am not saying it was Meg—my daughter has been staying, and I know for a fact my husband dislikes mint humbugs—but I am suspicious. I am also now wondering whether she has helped herself to other sweets that I have left out. Perhaps I should be more careful.
As I said, Meg still loves to chase cars. Any car that drives up the lane next to the garden, Meg zooms alongside. She gets to quite an impressive speed. I’m not sure if she’s trying to catch it, or if it’s a race. We now have a clear track worn into the lawn, through the trees, with a heap of mud at the far end where she slams on the brakes and skids to a stop before she hits the fence. It’s good exercise for her, and good house-security for us (because everyone sees we have a scary guard dog loose in the garden). I am trying to be positive. Not quite on a par with leaping from helicopters or chasing criminals in terms of usefulness perhaps.
23/9/2025
Mostly nice day with Meg, just pootling round the house. When I pop out—for a run or to the shops—I leave her loose in the house, and so far all has survived. I even left some slippers in the hallway, and they were untouched when I returned. (Slippers were always a favourite thing to grab and run away with and chew to pieces when she was younger.) We are making progress.
There are still things to improve though. Usually we have lovely walks each day in the woods, and Meg’s behaviour is excellent—we even get comments from other dog owners about how obedient she is (little do they know!) She does look obedient in the woods (and only in the woods). For example, this week I saw a man hurriedly putting his dog on the lead, so I assumed his dog was reactive to other dogs. I called Meg to my side, and made her sit, away from the footpath. I didn’t put her on the lead, Meg sat, completely focussed on the stick she was waiting for me to throw while the man and his dog (now barking death-threats at Meg—the dog, not the man) passed us. When they were safely passed, I threw the stick for Meg and we continued our walk. Wonderful, she had no reaction whatsoever to the dog.
Meg pretending she is obedient.
I did the same thing yesterday when we encountered a horse being walked through the woods. I moved off the pathway, told Meg to sit, and we waited while the horse passed. Meg did notice the horse, she glanced at it a couple of times and each time I said ‘Stick!’ and waved the stick in the air, and she refocussed on that and ignored the horse. Marvellous.
But (there had to be a ‘but’ didn’t there!) when Meg is tense, she has a very dangerous habit of leaping unexpectedly for the stick I am holding or picking up, and if I wasn’t wearing tough leather gloves, she would definitely remove a finger. Her jaws are incredibly strong. Several things can make Meg tense. If it’s a windy day (like young children—it was always a challenge teaching infants on stormy days). Or if another dog has approached her and threatened her—she never retaliates, but I notice that afterwards she is extra intense, and will often grab at the stick before it’s thrown.
I am trying to break her of this habit (before I lose a finger) and therefore I try to make her ‘wait’ when I pick up a stick, and I growl at her if she grabs a stick from my hand, and I refuse to throw it. Today this happened, and we had a standoff.
Meg had previously been accosted by a nasty little spaniel (it always seems to be spaniels, and they usually have dopey owners in my experience). This spaniel ran up to Meg, who was carrying a log (of course) and it barked and snarled, right in her face. Meg dropped the log (unfortunately not on the spaniel!) and stood there, looking worried. I called her, threw a stick, we passed unharmed. (The dopey owner just looked worried, shouted ineffectually at her dog but made no attempt to put the vicious beast on a lead.) Anyway, as we walked away, Meg was noticeably tense, and charged with extra energy at sticks, completely fixed on them. Perhaps I should have stopped throwing them, but I thought it would help to get rid of some adrenaline if she charged around for a while. [see PS below.]
Suddenly Meg leaped up, and grabbed the stick in my hand. This is not allowed. I told her ‘No!’ and held on to my end. Meg stood there, trying to pull the stick from my hand, refusing to release it. I realised this had become a new game, a battle of wills, and she is stronger than me. So I let go of the stick, told her to give it, and refused to move. Meg sat down, but held the stick, clearly waiting for me to resume the tug-of-war. I turned away, giving her no attention, not looking at her, not moving. Meg did not put down the stick. We stayed like this for 6 minutes. I timed it. 6 minutes is a very long time to stand still, ignoring your dog, in the middle of the woods. Thankfully no one passed us or they would have thought I was mad. After 6 minutes, Meg very carefully placed the stick on the ground.
I instantly praised her, and threw a different stick for her to chase. When she was safely away, I picked up the stick we had argued over. It is now my stick. I carried it back to the car. We went home. Not entirely sure what I will do with the stick now. (If I’m honest, I do not really want it—but don’t tell Meg!)
In terms of dog training, I have absolutely no idea whether this is what you are supposed to do with strong-minded dogs. I certainly have never seen anyone else having a standoff with their dog in the woods. I guess I will know in a few more years. Thanks for reading. Take care. Love, Anne x
[PS. After speaking to my ‘animal psychology’ friend, I now understand these events a little better. Basically, like a small child, dogs have layers of excitement/tension, which build on each other until the dog (or small child) is unable to listen to even the most basic of instructions. Therefore, after encountering nasty aggressive Spaniel in the woods, I should not have then thrown a stick for Meg ‘to release some tension.’ What I was actually doing was building on her tension, releasing even more adrenaline. Instead, we should have walked calmly for a few minutes, letting all the tension dissipate, resetting back to ‘boring.’]
Ruth came to stay again, Meg was delighted and brought her smelly towels as gifts. She definitely sees Ruth as an ally. When I try to correct her (like stopping her jumping at the door, or chewing a slipper) Meg will rush to Ruth, lean against her, and look at me. It’s like she’s saying, ‘You can’t be cross with me, Ruth is here.’ I do my best to keep Ruth safe by calling Meg away from the stairs and warning Ruth about massive logs being charged at her legs and things, but there is only so much I can do. Hopefully Meg won’t kill her by mistake.
We took Meg to a coffee shop today. We sat outside and tied her to the picnic bench, because in the past when she has been tied up she is slightly more subdued. She understands being tied, and that she cannot get free so she generally doesn’t struggle. It only half worked, as unfortunately Meg was able to jump up to our table and plant big GSD paws next to our coffee cups. Definitely not allowed. I shouted at her, she seemed very pleased with herself. After a while she settled down. She did bark at a passing dog, but only briefly. Plus there were lots of wasps, and she barked at them when she noticed. But mostly it wasn’t too bad, and the wasps were probably more annoying than Meg. I’m not sure it would have been so peaceful if another dog had been in sight, but it was okay for a trial, and nice to have her with us.
3/9/2025
We had a family holiday in Norfolk. I did not, for a second, consider taking Meg with us. She would have been a pain, and ruined the holiday for everyone. It’s a shame, because there is a lot of pleasure in walking across a beach with a happy dog. But she is very difficult to control when on the lead, and strange places invariably involve lots of walking on the lead. Plus, a little excitement goes a long, long, way with Meg. I have learned that Meg is at her best when the routine is unchanging. She seems to enjoy being in kennels (not entirely sure whether kennels enjoy having her!)
Routines and Meg are good. At home, every morning I get up, let her into the garden, prepare her food. She has started to have a sachet of wet food on her dry kibble ( a gift from someone whose dog didn’t like them) and she absolutely loves this! She comes in from the garden, walks to the garage door (where the sachets are stored) sits and waits for me to go in, then follows me, her nose nudging my leg, as I collect a sachet. She sits when we reach the door, follows me back into the kitchen, rushes to her crate and sits, looking angelic. She is fed in her crate, and I only put down the food when she is sitting, so she gets herself ready immediately!
I then make my coffee while she eats. I take my coffee into the sitting room, and Meg follows, sitting at each door until I go through it. She usually has a chew, and she remembers where she last had it, and will rush off to whichever room it was left in, then joins me in the sitting room. She lies on the floor, chewing, while I drink my coffee and read the Bible. When I close the Bible, Meg leaves her chew and comes to sit next to me, leaning against my knees. I then pray (in my head—this whole routine is done in silence). I do not know why she does this, I don’t know if she senses something, or if it’s just what she does so now she always does it. Then we leave the sitting room, and the day begins.
Today, I tried to do gardening with Meg. Not easy. Anything that might be construed as even faintly interesting sends Meg into super-excited mode. I was weeding, throwing the weeds into a wheelbarrow. Meg waited, fixed on my hands, leapt for every weed I threw. A few times she decided to join me on the flowerbed, trampling all the plants. She went off to find a stick, returned with it and attempted to leap over the flowerbed. She almost made it. More plants trampled. Then when grabbing at the weeds in the wheelbarrow, she unbalanced it, and the whole thing fell over, tipping weeds all over the lawn. I gave up at that point, and took her inside. The garden now looks worse than when I started.
5/9/2025
We walked to the pub for lunch, and attempted to take Meg again. She was terrible. Before we had even left the driveway—before we had even left the front doorstep—she heard a car in the lane and started to leap for it, barking. Perhaps we should have dumped her in the kitchen at that point, but we persisted. We walked to the pub with a hugely annoying dog who tried to chase every car that passed us. She was relatively good when we crossed a couple of fields, and very good when we walked through the woods, but at least half the walk is along lanes, and she was awful.
In the pub, she was mostly good. I took a chew, which she ignored, but for most of the time she lay in the corner, watching. No paws on the table this time, although she did bark at one point (for no apparent reason) and made everyone in the pub jump! Mostly, it was not a success. We will try again in 6 months. (I think that in about 5 years’ time, she will be good.) I am ever the optimist, but sometimes it is exhausting.
Hope you have a good day. Thanks for reading. Take care. Love, Anne x
I have had covid (my first time). Not a pleasant experience, and one that I hope to never repeat. I stayed in bed for several days—which is something that I never do. Even when I was feeling better, I stayed in my room until the 10-day-no-longer-contageous deadline, just in case. During this time, Meg was almost constantly my companion.
Meg is not allowed in my bedroom, but she sneaks in sometimes, and if she stays low and quiet, I pretend I have not noticed. For the first few days of illness, we continued this pretence. I would hear the door pushed open, the quiet footsteps of a sneaky dog, then the jolt of the bed as she lay down, leaning against it. It was nice. I woke and slept to the sound of Meg’s breathing (she breathes very noisily when she’s asleep). I have previously doubted whether Meg likes me much—she seems to prefer the rest of the world (who allow her to do what she wants). However, she definitely chose to be with me this week, even with other people in the house. Perhaps she sensed I was ill. It was nice.
After a couple of days, Meg decided she would join me on the bed. This was definitely crossing a line, and not allowed. She placed two legs on the bed, and reached across to lick me. I told her ‘Down!’ No reaction. I told her ‘No!’ Nothing changed. I reached for my water glass—Meg sighed and jumped down. She tried again, a few times a day. If I reached for the water glass, even if it was empty, then Meg jumped down. I like the modern theory that you train a dog with rewards, not punishment (nor threat of punishment). However, with Meg, I am not sure that it works. No treat is ever enough to deter her actions, but the threat of being wet always stops her. I tend to want an easy life, so the water glass it is.
*
We have almost completely stopped locking Meg in her cage during the day. We have left her unsupervised for several hours, and she has been fine. I therefore assumed that having Meg free all day, even if we are out, is now a thing. Yesterday she ate Husband’s pyjama top.
I am a little unclear as to where she found the top—whether it was waiting to be washed, or stowed neatly with his bedding—but Meg found it and decided it would be a good thing to chew into tatters. As he owns far worse clothes, I am assuming this was not a fashion decision. The sad result is that I no longer trust her for too long unattended, which is a big shame. I was not especially upset by the pyjama top, which is replaceable. A chair cushion would be a different matter.
*
I brushed Meg today, and I realised that this is the first time. Until now, she has been much too bouncy for me to even consider brushing her—much easier to just vacuum the house. However today, as I picked her fur from my sweater, I decided to try and brush her.
I have a variety of dog brushes and combs leftover from when Kia was alive. Kia would allow me to brush her, but only if I let her run like a crazy thing round the garden every few minutes. There was also one brush—with very fine metal teeth—which Kia would not let me use. She ran away when she saw it. I was not sure how Meg would behave.
We went in the garden, I told her to sit and ran the brush along her back, giving her lots of praise. Meg tried to take the brush. Meg heard a car and rushed off to investigate. Meg returned, we repeated the exercise. I collected a brush full of hair. I emptied the brush, and put the fur into the bush, as birds collect it for their nests. Meg jumped up, grabbed the fur, ate it.
I then tried using the metal-toothed brush that Kia hated. Meg didn’t seem to notice. The brush ran along her back, vast amounts of fur billowed out, Meg stretched, enjoying being scratched. She heard a car, and rushed off.
For several minutes we continued—I brushed her, until there was a car—Meg chased the car, then returned for more brushing. She tried to eat all the fur, but I managed to put most of it out of reach. At one point she jumped up, knocking my chin so I nearly bit my tongue (it’s a long time since she has done that). Other than that, the exercise was danger-free and not too stressful. She now looks nice and sleek.
Hoping you managed to brush your hair today. Thanks for reading. Take care. Love, Anne x
The longer we have Meshi staying here, the more I realise that we ‘got right’ with Meg’s training. This is extremely reassuring, as mostly I am aware of all the ways that we failed! I think if I could go back in time, I would say that anything that I thought would ‘sort itself out when she’s older’ simply did not happen, and all the tiny bits of everyday training that we insisted on have been worthwhile. For example, every morning she bounds for the door and leaps at it; we insist that she sits and looks at us; or the door does not open—this has helped her to learn some impulse control. In contrast, Meshi ignores absolutely everything I say.
The two dogs have been very good together in terms of friendliness. They genuinely seem to like each other, and when Meg has been in her crate and Meshi is loose, he tends to stay close to her, and if he puts his nose through the bars she licks his nose. Very cute. The nicest times are in the garden, when I walk them round the loop of the perimeter together. Meshi is on the lead (because he will not return when I call, and I cannot risk losing him). Meg is loose, running round with a stick (log) in her mouth, but staying close. Meg tends to take the lead, and Meshi races off, straining on the lead to follow her. He pauses to pee on every bush/tree/flower, and Meg stops to wait for him, then continues to lead the way round the garden.
I have tried to stop Meshi going into Meg’s crate—that is her space. He tries to sneak in there at every opportunity. Yesterday the crate door was closed, and I watched him walk round the crate, looking for a way inside. Meg also saw him, jumped up from where she was lying with her chew, and went and opened the door for him, then they both went inside and Meshi started to eat her food. I quickly got him out—great danger of being squashed.
Meg usually settles down if she has a chew. I buy her (at great cost) large rolls of camel hide, and these last for several days (they stink). Meshi has decided that he also likes them. Whichever chew Meg has is the chew that Meshi wants. She is incredibly good-natured, and allows him to take the chew out of her mouth and walk away with it. She then goes and finds another chew. After a few minutes, Meshi decides he wants the new chew, so gets up and removes it from Meg, who goes and collects her original chew. I don’t intervene. Unlike with children, who can be taught about sharing and fairness and not taking toys away from other children, my understanding is that dogs are different. In the wild, a pack will have a leader, and that dog eats first, and dominate the rest of the pack. The pack is peaceful as long as no one challenges the pack leader. I want peace in my house. I allow Meshi to be the pack leader. (I am also trying to establish that I am not in the pack, and unlike Meg, I do not follow his lead. I have managed to make him sit down when told, but not much else. Luckily he is small.)
My main difficulty has been in keeping Meshi physically safe. He is so much smaller than Meg, and she is incredibly strong and incredibly bouncy. Whenever I have allowed them short bursts of free play, Meg has been in danger off leaping on him—which could easily dislocate a limb and would certainly hurt him—so almost immediately I have to separate them. I can have them both in the same room, but only in a very controlled way, telling Meg to lie down and not allowing her to stand until Meshi has also decided to lie down (usually with one of Meg’s chews). There have been a few times when they have both been free and settled in the same area, but I would not feel comfortable leaving them unattended.
I have noticed a change in Meg since Meshi arrived. Usually when we walk in the woods, she completely ignores all the other dogs (of which there are many) and will avoid them if possible, concentrating on her stick and veering off into the undergrowth if they approach. This week, Meg has been approaching other dogs, walking up to them. She has returned to me when I call (after she has finished sniffing the other dog, not instantly) but she is definitely showing more interest. I’m not sure whether this is a good thing. Some owners will be frightened of a big German Shepherd approaching their darling Spaniel—it was easier when she ignored them. Perhaps she has realised that other dogs might be fun to play with, or maybe previously she was frightened of them. I don’t know. I’m hoping that after Meshi has gone to his own home, Meg will gradually forget about playing with other dogs and will go back to ignoring them. Otherwise I will need to improve her ‘recall’ so she returns to me instantly if I need her to.
Another change is in my own attitude, having Meshi here has made me look at Meg, and I realise that she has become very dependable. She never steals food, or destroys things, or toilets in the house. (This is not to imply Meshi does these things, but rather that I appreciate Meg never has.) Therefore I feel I should stop putting her in the crate when I leave the house. This week I have left her free to roam the house while I have been out, and so far there has been no damage. I think she just sleeps when I’m not here. I even went to London, leaving her for several hours, and all was fine when I returned. This is marvellous. It means she is now a good deterrent for burglars, and it’s much nicer for her when it’s hot, as she can more easily find somewhere cool to lie. (Of course, there is still a possibility that I will return to find she has dismantled a cupboard or removed the stuffing from a sofa—but for now it’s great.)
Hope you have a great day. Thanks for reading. Take care. Love, Anne x
I agreed to look after Son’s dog while he’s away. He is a small male Shiba Inu, very cute, looks exactly like Basil Brush (this is the dog, obviously, not my son!). I asked friends for advice on how to introduce dogs, and the main tip seemed to be—given Meg’s personality—to keep everything as calm as possible. Meshi must be presented as something boring. Of course, with Meg, nothing is boring.
When they were due to arrive, I took Meg into the garage for some ‘training exercises.’ This was as neutral a place as I could manage, as they were coming late for dinner, and I couldn’t be in the woods or somewhere completely neutral given the time. (Though actually, going out for a walk is super exciting in Meg’s world, so maybe the boring garage was better.) I had some meat as a treat, and we practised walking to heel, stopping, turning, waiting until called, lying down. All the things we practise regularly. Mid-way through the ‘training session’ Son and Meshi entered the garage.
Meg immediately ran up to Meshi, so I called her to heel—she half-came (automatic response) then realised that Meshi was more interesting and ran back to him. Meshi seemed uncertain but not frightened. There was a bit of running round, then I called Meg to me again. I wanted to stop the excitement from escalating (although nothing with Meg is ever calm). This time Meg came to me, sat, received a treat. She didn’t wait to be ‘released’ but ran straight back to Meshi, but that was not too bad and it broke the cycle of excitement. Meshi is older and male, and although he is much smaller, he soon asserted himself as the dominant dog. This was good, and what I had hoped. Meg is bouncy, but she is relatively submissive with other dogs. Meshi was able to ‘stop the game’ when he had had enough, and Meg backed off. She did not stop trying to re-engage with him, so we limited their interaction to a few minutes. I then told Meg to go into her crate, and she went to the garage door, and then ran to her crate. I think she wanted a break too, but didn’t know how to stop the chasing/being chased game. Meshi was very relaxed when Meg was in her crate, and happily lay on the floor nearby. Meg wanted a rest, so ate her food and went to sleep. So far so good.
We let them interact a few more times during the evening, but for very short bursts and in a very controlled setting. I have read that dogs need a ‘top dog’ and we decided this would be Meshi, even though Meg is bigger and stronger. Therefore when Meshi ‘stopped the game’ by showing his teeth (not biting or being aggressive, just showing he wanted her to back-off) we enforced this by calling Meg away.
We left Meg in her cage for the evening, and let Meshi have the run of the house. They both slept, all was peaceful.
This morning I took the dogs into the garden separately to toilet. Then I attempted to have them both with me (Meshi on a lead) while I cleared up their mess. Meg was super-excited and kept trying to entice Meshi into a game, and he was keen but wary, so it was not a relaxing start to the day. Meshi peed on absolutely everything in the garden—no idea how he produces so much pee!
While I had coffee I put Meg into her crate with her breakfast, fed Meshi in the dining room, went to have my coffee. I returned to find him curled up on a sofa—which is not allowed. I told him no, and he ignored me, so I removed him and explained that dogs are not allowed on my furniture. He gave me a look. Am pretty sure he will wait until I have gone and then get back onto the sofa. I hope Meg doesn’t decide to copy—this is one of the few things she is good at obeying.
Actually, Meg has done very well. Although she is way too excited and bouncy, considering she has a dog, who she has never met, in her house, she is very friendly. There seems to be nothing territorial or aggressive in her at all—which considering her siblings are all in the police and bringing down criminals, is excellent. One of my fears was that she might be aggressive. Online I see videos of her siblings as they fly through the air and grab hold of men and pull them down—and I was keen not to have that in a pet. We have tried very hard not to stimulate her aggressive side (which is why I was wary of the training advice from the police-dog handler—who would have produced an obedient dog, but not necessarily a friendly one). I spent the day working, sharing the run of the house with the dogs in turn. I didn’t attempt to have them sharing the same space for long—not yet. Maybe when they are used to each other that will work, but for now it’s better to have them mostly in separate rooms. When I let them have ‘free play’ (closely watched the entire time, because I do not want to return a damaged dog to my son!) they chase each other. Meshi will run away, with Meg chasing, then he will turn and face her. I call Meg back to me—taking his turning as an indication that he has lost patience. Meg runs towards me, Meshi chases her, tail wagging. Meg then turns and chases him, and he runs away (still with tail wagging). At one point they did laps of the kitchen. But Meg is so easily tipped into mega-excited-mode, that I stop the game pretty soon. I tell Meg to go into her bed, and she is very obedient and does this immediately. Sometimes I don’t even bother to shut the door; Meg entering her crate is enough to calm the game. Sometimes Meshi attempts to enter her crate too, and I stop this and shut the door. I think Meg needs a space that belongs to her alone (though I haven’t noticed any signs that she is bothered).
I will let you know how things develop. Thank you for reading. Take care. Love, Anne x
After my run, I collect Meg and her ball, and go into the lounge (which is carpeted, and out of bounds for Meg). She follows me, and I place the ball on the floor next to her, and tell her: ‘Leave!’ Meg stares at the ball, occasionally placing a paw onto the carpet—which I remind her is not allowed. I then do some floor exercises—press-ups and stretches and stuff—while Meg stares at the ball. Even if someone comes to the door, or walks through the hallway, Meg ignores everything except her ball.
After a few minutes, I praise Meg, throw the ball, continue with the exercises. Meg races down the hall after the ball, brings it back and chews it next to me. After a while (when she has asserted her claim on the ball) she will place it in my hand, ready to repeat.
Today, when I threw the ball, Meg chased after it, then returned without it. She stood in the hall, staring at me. No ball. Something was wrong. I told her to go and fetch the ball.
Meg disappeared for a few minutes. She returned with half the ball. It is made by Kong—and very strong, but it has a separate section in the middle, and over time her chewing means that it has come apart. Meg was very worried by this. She put the half-ball down in front of me and stared, asking what she should do next.
I took the half-ball, and told her to fetch the rest. Meg charged off, and returned with the thin strip that had fallen off the ball. She was obviously very worried by this. I tried to mend it, but it kept falling apart. I shall have to buy a replacement.
***
When we went to the woods today, Meg chased a deer. It happened while we were walking along a narrow footpath, and I was having a rest from sticks and just walking, so Meg had nothing to focus on. She spotted the deer before I did, and was gone in a flash.
I could hear them, crashing through the undergrowth (that would be Meg, she is like a tank when she runs). Then nothing. No sound, no sight, both dog and deer disappeared.
I remember that with Kia, calling her made no difference—if she chased a deer it was a waste of breath. I also think (based on no evidence at all) that if a dog can hear you calling in the distance, it does not make them return but it does give them the confidence to keep running, because they know where the rest of the pack is, so they can leave them there until they have finished chasing the deer. I therefore waited, without making a sound, until I heard the crashing of Meg returning. I quickly turned away, and began to walk off, as if I had not noticed she was missing, and was certainly not waiting for her, and if she got lost, that was her concern. My hope (again, based on no evidence at all) is that if Meg knows I will not wait for her, or even care that she is gone, then perhaps it will stop her running too far. The responsibility to stay ‘with the pack’ belongs with her. I have absolutely no idea whether this makes any difference. Nor do I know what I will do in the event that Meg does not return (because actually, I will care very much). But most of my training of Meg is based on compromise and chances, so hopefully that will never happen.
Hope you make some good compromises this week. Thanks for reading. Take care. Love, Anne x
Meg was ill. She started being sick during the night, and was still being ill in the morning.
It’s always very difficult when a dog (or very young child) is ill, because you have to make a decision on their behalf as to how serious it is. I am not a great one for rushing to the doctor/vet whenever someone is ill, because I think usually people/animals get well by themselves. Going to the doctor/vet is just a big hassle (when you’re already stressed after clearing up unexpected mess) plus it means the ill child/dog has to be transported (not always easy when trying to contain mess) plus it mainly introduces them to a whole lot of new germs when their immunity is already low (because it is mostly other germy people/dogs in the waiting rooms). Plus with the vet, there is the lovely addition of the cost.
We do not have pet insurance for Meg. We decided with our other dogs to ‘self-insure,’ noticing that when they were younger they rarely needed medical attention and it was cheaper to pay ourselves than to pay the premium, and when they get old, the premium rises to being very expensive. The pet insurance companies are not running a charity, and we decided the risks were in our favour. Obviously, this is a personal decision, and we are aware that if something unexpected happened, we might have to pay an extremely expensive bill or six. But Kia lived to 16 years old, and even with a whopping bill for a twisted stomach surgery, we still think we saved money.
Vet bills and insurance is difficult for me. I worry that due to the ease of ‘not really paying’ at the time, people allow vets to undertake evermore complex (and costly) treatments, and I don’t know whether the animal is always better off. It can be hard to let go, but I do think that for an animal—who does not understand the pain or what is happening, sometimes that is the kinder option. I fully understand how difficult the decision can be, I think we lose a little bit of our heart with every animal we lose, and I still mourn my other dogs. But sometimes, when a treatment is difficult and lengthy and the odds of it working are slim or the animal will never be pain-free afterwards, I question whether it is the kindest option. Plus, I think not using insurance keeps things real. I have a problem with balancing priorities with money—there will never be enough in the world, and I know that there are currently people suffering due to lack of resources—is a pet’s life worth more than a child’s? This is an issue for me, and not one that I solve logically. I do spend a lot of money on keeping my pets fed and healthy, and I do give a relatively small amount of money (in regards to how much I keep for myself) to aid agencies. But when there is a huge vet’s bill, if I am paying myself and not just signing a form for the insurance people, it makes me stop, and think, and evaluate. I ask myself whether this huge amount of money is best spent on my pet, and whether I can justify it in the big picture. As I said, it is not logical, and I do not question every coffee I buy in a cafe, or every random pair of shoes that I buy, but I do think that occasionally it is good to have ‘stops’ in our brain, something to make us pause and consider what we should be spending our money on.
But none of these issues were at stake here, Meg was vomiting, and I needed to decide what to do. I tried to think about what she might have eaten, and I realised that we do have poisonous plants in the garden, and although she has never touched them, maybe she did. Or she might have picked up a germ from another dog. Or she may have eaten something that has made her sick but is not dangerous. As I said, it’s the same with a small child—you have to decide whether this is something serious that needs fast medical attention, or something that will get better on its own. I tend to have a general rule that if the patient is basically well in themselves (not too lethargic/listless) and if they are drinking water, they will probably be okay to leave for a day.[1] Then they will either be better or worse, which makes the decision easier. Meg seemed fine in herself, maybe slightly less bouncy, but still keen to come in the garden, and she was drinking water. (Also, she was only being sick, her bowels seemed to be okay, so she wasn’t losing vast amounts of liquid.) I decided to wait and watch (and clean the kitchen floor). After a morning, she seemed completely fine. When she was well the next day, I decided she was better, and stopped worrying. I still have no idea whether she ate something bad, or caught a germ. But my kitchen floor is very clean.
Hope your kitchen floor is clean for a better reason. Thanks for reading. Take care. Love, Anne x
[1] It should be noted that there are certain conditions which do not fit into this rule, and they need to be learnt separately. For example, any of the meningitis signs on a child would get instant attention. In a dog, I know that a twisted stomach does not initially bother them, but they need fast attention: look out for ‘egg-white’ type vomit, when they are not managing to bring up anything from their stomach, and general signs of discomfort or distended tummy. Kia was sick shortly after eating, but none of the food was in her vomit, which was a big sign that something was wrong, but she seemed fine and was excited to be ‘going for a walk’ when we took her to the vet. We managed to get her to a vet in time for them to operate, and she lived for several more years, and she did run along the beach again. (My one question: If we put her through this surgery, will she ever run along the beach again?)
Anne E Thompson 