Thursday, August 22, 2013

The two most powerful warriors are patience and time.






Bob heads off with 'the font' in the car. His twice a week visit to the big market town to see heavy traffic ( or as heavy as you can find in a town with a population of 3,000 ) , mingle with crowds ( ditto )  and experience all those exciting things you can't find here in the village. Sophie stays behind to patrol the sunflower fields, bark at the frogs in the pond and chase any blackbirds daft enough to wander into her line of vision.

PON purists say you shouldn't cut the hair over their eyes. We find that the pups are much happier if they can see through the blinding layers of fur that rise up and fall down in front of them. No two ways about it. They are calmer , quieter and more relaxed when they can see.

Efforts to break into the compost heap continue. Bob has excavated a large hole ( long and deep enough for him to lie flat out in ) in a corner where the barn wall meets the fence. The two great escapers are trying to dig a spur under the fence when I find them. An old stone, a large flower pot, a piece of broken chair and a surplus length of plastic fence are all installed as an interim defence. The hole is filled in. 

Tonight we are invited to the German ' supermarket ' billionaires for drinks. '' We have American guests. You'll like them " says the German billionaire in annoyingly flawless and accentless English before adding " Come up through the postern gate ". Angus spends the night worrying about how we'll recognize the postern gate.

13 comments:

Anonymous said...

I agree with keeping the hair short around the eyes. Merlin seems much calmer for it. Sometimes, if there is some available drapery, we do find that he will lie close to it and create a veil for himself. We have some funny pictures!
We tried taking him to the night market in our local town (we thought the aroma of saucisse aligot might keep him interested), which is about the same size. He wasn't happy at all so we had to turn back.
I hope you all have a good day and a nice evening!
x

WFT Nobby said...

Impressive excavation efforts guys. Keep up th good work.
Toodle pip!
Bertie.

Lisa in Tokyo said...

Today's post brought back memories, as it was this PON "bangs" issue that first led me to your blog back when you were still living in Italy. I must have googled "clipped PON" or something like that and there you were. We go back and forth with Cherry, and the various groomers all have their own views, but at the moment she has good visibility and is, perhaps, behaving better than usual. To tell the truth, I was very relieved to read that the puppies are becoming naughty, as I was beginning to feel wholly inadequate reading about your early training successes. At nearly five, Cherry is still capable of a great deal of mischief.

VirginiaC said...

Well let's make sure Bob and Sophie are happy and keep the hair out of their eyes...visibility is a good thing.
Even though my Fluffy loved to trick me whether she was watching my every move behind the hairy veil over her eyes, I knew she much preferred not to have to worry about hair blowing into her eyes, so I kept it trimmed in that area.
Bob has excavated what looks to me like a carbon copy of his body in the dirt....he's been getting lessons from his sister, and he's been a keen pupil.
Admittedly, I had to look up postern, so make sure you use the secondary gate and not the main one....smile.
Enjoy your night out.

Bella Roxy & Macdui said...

Our uncle had an Old English Sheepdog who was supposed to have his eyes covered. Everyone said he could see. He couldn't--was always running into door jambs and trees. Let the pups see! Of course it may keep dirt out of their eyes during their digging projects.

XXXOOO Daisy, bella & roxy

~Kim at Golden Pines~ said...

There's a saying that goes, 'backdoor guests are best,' which makes me think that 'back-gate guests are best' as well!

And I agree about the bangs--Charlie who is of course not a PON is the same way when he can see.

Have an enjoyable evening!

Julie said...

How could you not want the PONs to see all that lovely scenery, so much to see, so many things to bark at, so much to chase........................
And the postern, is that the tradesman's entrance ?

tammy j said...

i would think that animal OR human . . . if given the choice would always rather see.
to the detractors who want the long hair covering their eyes . . . i say DUH???!!!!
sorry.
that was a very literate retort. but really. how could they not know that seeing this wonderful world is a better choice?
i always kept my little pon's hair trimmed. and he was a happy guy.
these pictures are wonderful. wonderful!!!
can't wait to hear all about the party. LOL.

houndstooth said...

I am looking forward to hearing about how the dinner at the billionaire's house goes.

Something tells me that is not enough to deter two determined PON puppies...

Kari said...

Silly to rob them of clear vision for style.
Maybe a second row of fencing material a few feet out from the first around the compost? They'll still dig, of course, but maybe having to dig through two rows of fencing will take too long to hold their interest.

Emm said...

Or, if a second row of fencing, could it be sunk about 10 inches or so? Meeting fencing underground might deter digging.
Or perhaps you've tried that. In which case, uh-oh.

MrsDuncanMahogany said...

What is a postern gate? Sounds like if we were in 1869 its where the hired help would arrive....

Louise said...

German supermarket billionaires? Is their last name Volmart?