Solitude

At first I felt very nervous about being left alone with Shinobi - my first dog and certainly my first puppy - I was anxious and uncertain. Now, 4 months later, I can't imagine doing anything without her. Today we spent the day exploring and we were rewarded by discovering a dog friendly beach within walking distance. It was hot today so Shinobi jumped in the sea a few times and tried to wade out to some Seagulls. She drinks the sea and then spits it out, each time she expects cool clear water and gets seaweedy salt instead! Silly puppy. I let her drink from a stream on the way home, we had none on us and she was panting, has to be better than salt water at least!

When the tide is out it's possible to walk from Penryn right round to Flushing all along the beach. At one point there are some men living (squatting?) in boats and one of them has a huge Rottweiler that will howl if anyone comes near, this scared Shinobi silly today!

This field is littered with beautiful shells that birds have dropped and sheep poo. Shinobi was in heaven rolling around and eating everything she could! It must have been like a Shiba buffet. She flatly refused to leave, everytime I pulled on her lead she rolled onto her back and dug her claws in! 

Beautiful dog friendly beach with views of Falmouth.

Dig, dig dig

Swan stalking

'This water taste funky!'

What a stick!

Nom

Nom

Oh sunshine

Nom nom nom

Porth Chapel

On Monday my Dr signed me off work because, in a Drs infinite wisdom, she decided to adjust my thyroid dosage yet again! She must have noticed the 'I'm on the verge of a mental/physical breakdown with such haywiring hormones' glint in my eye, because she told me I needed at least a week away from work for everything to 'settle' (although any hormonal change takes 6 months to even show up on tests, so not quite sure what's supposed to settle in this short time - maybe my increasingly exhausted state of mind).

So, with only a twinge of guilt, I decided to take my Drs advice and actually have a week off work to just relax at home (first since my school days I think) and what an illuminating week it has been! From sleeping in until 11am every morning (only waking up when a bored puppy starts licking my face), taking my time in the mornings to stretch and slowly drink coffee in the sunshine; actually eating breakfast, enjoying evenings and sleep without panicking about an '8 hour' rule, letting Shinobi sniff on walks and sit down to chew on sticks, having time to taste my food, not knowing exactly what time/even day it is to the second and actually remembering how to smile again, how to just breathe. I guess a week 'away from it all' lets one realise just how busy, stressful, unhealthily time obsessive and ultimately unhappy life can become when there's no time for a breather.

The best thing about this week off work has been spending every moment with Shinobi! Today we went to Porth Chapel for a windy walk on the cliffs.

Getting a lot braver around water She likes to drink streams and splash around now

I'm anticipating that Shinobi will come into heat soon and start blowing her coat now that Spring is (finally) upon us. I'm taking every moment to enjoy her final baby days and her beautiful full coat until our next adventure.

Puppy Class

After a long day adventuring it was off to intermediate dog training class. I don't know if it was because Shinobi was pretty tired, but she came top of the class! She did 'down' 'sit' 'stay' 'high five!' and had perfect (if slightly hesitant) recall. She was clearly overwhelmed by the other (extremely naughty) dogs but she kept her focus (on the cheese). All the other doggy parents offered to swap dogs with us and she got loud 'AWWWS' whilst performing in front of the class. I am one proud Shiba Mama!

On our way

Shinobi's huge smile when she realises where we are!

Please note: only dog in class assuming the correct 'down' position

What a pro!

3 years

Married. And another beautiful day of sunshine and beaches. Shinobi ate something that made her froth at the mouth again, but it quickly cleared up after we washed her mouth out. I'd love to know what's causing that and if it should concern me...

New seatbelt harness. Shinobi was a little iffy about it

Beautiful dog friendly beach. With a lot of vicious unfriendly dogs. Seems that most dogs have no idea how to behave around other dogs (or people) and try to bite/hump her (she's not come into season yet so I guess it's an aggressive thing). And they say Shiba's have issues!

Shinobi's interaction with dogs; try to say hello, get scared, run around in circles, try to sniff, hide behind my legs. Puppy classes next Wednesday can't come soon enough!

Little model

Going for a swim in a big rockpool (aka accidentally jumped head first in)

(Not Shiba related - but  our 3 year marriage anniversary so thought I'd throw the photo in anyway)

Shinobi and her recorder

The extremely 80s head gear I had to resort to wearing - where are all my hats?

Beautiful!

Photosynthesis

What the heck is that burning ball of fire in the sky? And why is the sky blue?

We bought Shinobi a flexi lead! It is brilliant. Best present so far.

With her new found 3 metres of freedom Shinobi went for a swim in the sea! I'm pretty sure she jumped in and didn't realise how quickly it shelved because she jumped out pretty sharpish and looked completely shocked, ha!

Digging in quick sand, not quite understanding why her hole kept filling back up with sand.

'Cheese?'

I'm a little tea pot short and stout

Rubbing herself in seaweed. You can imagine how she smells this morning...

St Michael's Mount in the background

Shinobi is impressed

Today is our 3 year wedding anniversary and Shinobi turns 6 months and the sun is out so I'm going to get off my laptop and get outside to celebrate!