Stopped off to let Socks have a run on the beach. She outdid herself!

For starters, just to warm up like, she outran a whippet! Whippets are what is known as amazingly fast runners. Bah, Socks outran the whippet with contemptuous ease. She then jumped to the top of a 1.5m sand cliff as if it was a few inches high.

She nearly got herself into a world of pain: there was an angler on the beach with a salmon rod. He either had a real or artificial fish on the end of his line—Socks tried to jump to grab that fish! Luckily the salmon fisher moved the lure out of Sock’s reach.

Just gave Socks a light breakfast. Recommendation is for dogs not to be fed until say 30 minutes after their last run.

Bah, 5.22am now and her first run cannot be before 9.30am—be no food in her stomach by then! She is skinny because of those hard to kill intestinal worms, not going to starve her! Must take some kibble with me to give her some more food after her last run.

Sorry—no photos or video of Socks’ runs will be posted here. Blame Booby, blame the totally lax “moderation” here.

Trials are to start late August or September. That’ll be fun.

Thousands of whippets and greyhounds, some German Shepherds . . . and Socks.

Going to have to program some long walks and maybe twice weekly visits to the beach so she can run!

Will make an appointment with the vet, finally get rid of her intestinal worms! Persistent buggers they are! Get her in peak condition by the time trials start.

Socks feels better today. Her poop still had worm bits in it—hopefully dead worms! Will start her on. week of garlic tomorrow.

I have a funny photo I took today.
We were looking at some houses open for indirection down the peninsula way and in the master bedroom I see this sign on the bed.

Took Socks to the local—only 65Km away—obedience class. Did pretty damn well, even did the automatic sit few other dogs managed!

Even did an exercise where the lead is removed from the dog, someone holds her and you run to the far end of the reserve and the owner runs away then calls the dog that gets released. First time Socks just enjoyed running but the second time, with me calling her while running she was pretty good, soon back on the lead.

The bitch was the same today as last time. I walked her for 15 minutes before her run, quieted her right down—must remember this when trials start.

Were a few terriers there, slow but followed the bags assiduously around the course—high prey drive in most terriers, wish I had known of this when Demi was alive and fit, give her a non-destructive outlet for her high prey drive, give her a great run!

Some whippets do not have high prey drive. Lots of amusement watching owners try to get their hounds to follow the bags. Some may just have been young.

I told someone there that Socks had outrun a whippet on the beach—polite disbelief. Ha!

Socks’ second run. Like a honey colored bullet after the bags, ZZZZZOOOOMMMMM!!!!!

Bitch got stuck into the bags when they were stopped at the end of the run—nothing wrong with her prey drive! I tried to get the lead on her, she pulled this bag, pulled the wire back like a bowstring, let go, hit my feet, luckily no power in it. Had ot conquer laughter before putting the lead on.

Lots of congratulations of Socks! Oh yeah, bitch can run!


Heh, driving down, up on the high bit—car thermometer read -1°C, later -2°C. Oh yeah!

Was fine today where we were and on the way home: Max of about 12°C I think, felt nice and warm with no wind.

Yeah, never felt cold at the meet.

Technician came here in the morning to instal the new electricity meter. I thought I heard the thump of the meter box closing so went to the front, chatting with the tech. Must have moved out of the door because suddenly—nothing happened! Then Socks tore through the space I had left—careless Monk!

ah well, no harm done. Tech was impressed by how beautiful she is and her stance when standing—very alert. Bit cold out so not too hard to get the dog back inside.

Couple of photos of Socks flat out in my fine forum.

Hilarious!

Got on the beach, two kelpies there. The older one decided to chase Socks. Poor fool.

Not only did Socks outrun him by a ridiculous margin she jumped onto a sandbank over a metre high. The kelpie tried to follow her example, got his front legs on the top of the bank then had to scrabble furiously with his backlegs to get to the top. Socks then promptly jumped down and ran into the water.

Hilarity, incl by the owner of the kelpies.

Drove down to near Hobart for a lure coursing meet. As always the bitch was excited, barking, pulling hellaciously on the lead etc—so many dogs! She knew she would be running at top speed too!

Well, her first run—she did well I thought and plenty of congrats on a good run etc. Also comments “improved greatly” so she is getting the hang of how the lure moves, shortcuts etc.

My two long walks in town and two visits to the beach each week must be strengthening her muscles.

She is flaked out by the electric heater now 


Poor dear. I gave her a light breakfast at 5.30am, she had no food until I bought her a sausage roll at 3.30pm—instructions say to give the dog no breakfast but she eats at 5.30am, the very first run she can do is not until 9.30 so why not a light breakfast four hours before that?

When I saw the title I thought this was a thread about Laugh Til You Cry and Future The left Want....

Hmmm, 8.33am and Socks is lying in her bed, well wrapped and warm but no interest in food or going outside for her morning pee.

Probably the worming tablet she got yesterday. She won’t get any food today tho I might give her some cooked pumpkin (bought, not cooking that vile veg here!) to ease her tummy tonight. The lining of the intestines gets hit by the worming tablet.

LOLOLOLOL You should read the crap the junky and the moron are saying about Socks’ little adventure yesterday 

The junky hoped Socks would be destroyed. Guess reality finally percolated into what is left of his mind that he cannot steal (“rescue”  ) my lovely sweet and beautiful dog. The jealousy must be fierce!

A 30Kg dog does not belong in a tiny tenth story squalid Housing Commission flat. Doubt he has enough money to feed her or the energy to walk the dog 2–5 Kms daily.

The number of people that love cats far outweigh those that don't. The last person I knew who was fiercely anti-cat was my housemate. But, he was all talk.

I was witness to someone who deliberately mounted the footpath with his car to kill a neighbour's cat. That cat ran back to its owner's house to succumb to its injuries. Mum had to go explain what happened.

My last dog (before I moved out) had made it his duty to chase off neighbourhood cats that were not our family's cats. But, even then, he did not try to kill any of the cats. Mum and Dad's current dogs have a reputation for being very territorial. But, they are not about to go kill off neighbourhood cats.

I have to agree with Bobby, here. It seems rather crazy to like the idea of a pet dog killing cats.

Could Socks tell the difference between feral and domesticated cat?

I would not want Socks to race up to a dozing cat sitting outside the fenceline of its owner's place and Socks rips into it.

Jovial Monk wrote on Jul 23^rd, 2023 at 6:55pm:


Sure.

Quote:

Jovial Monk wrote on Jul 23^rd, 2023 at 7:37pm:


Are those places 'outside?'

Quote:

Here is as good a place as any—and Socks did live there for a few short months.

My former neighbor back in Adelaide texted me a photo of where Mum’s house was—all bulldozed and removed.

I was a bit worried about squatters (had seen them in a house just a couple of streets away) so had the lawn mown the day before settlement took place and took a photo of the neat lawn. No worries about squatters anymore! (Unless they bring tents but no blowback on me anymore so they can go their hardest for all I care.)

Is Cats and Critters a private diary of your dog, your patch, your life?

Jovial Monk wrote on Jul 31^st, 2023 at 9:46pm:

You are talking to yourself, with the occasional drop-in like me saying you are talking to yourself.
Almost all the threads in Cats are started by you and end with your opening post because nobody cares. Or if not, they have a few more posts by you and end with a post by you. It's your sad little sandpit. You are constantly throwing parties and nobody ever turns up - or if they do stumble in, it's  only to shuffle their feet awkwardly, mutter something inane to fit the tenor of the OP and then, realising the banality, quickly leave.

Sad.

Yup, way too many forums, several do not have a Mod tho they are supposed to be Member Run Boards.

The Barnacle who was the Mod for Atheism has left, disgusted by the crap in Environment and Coronavirus boards, and no new Mod has been selected or the Atheism board merged with Philosophy. Ditto Sad Kangaroo and the Fringe board he modded.

Environment is a waste of space modded by a gullible numpty—this board could easily be renamed Environment, Critters and Gardens and the existing Environment board hidden.

Health and Womens’ Issues could be merged with Kat as Mod of the combined boards.

Etc—merge the Party boards with Politics.

Well, a Lure Coursing meet today.

As always, Socks bloody tiresome—excited so barking, whining, jumping up, pulling on the lead etc—pretty much all dogs are like that, excited because they can see/smell/hear all the other dogs there and after a meet or two they know they are going to run like blazes!

First run—I thought average but was enthusiastically praised “as fast as any whippet!” Not bad but I was thinking “whippet snippet, she can do better!” So after lunch—well, I went to see what number they were up to, we were number 24 and I wanted to see what number the current dog was doing. I had left Socks in the car. It was a lovely day with full sunshine—how Antarctic like, NOT —so I had all the windows open incl right front window open, ohh 20cm? 25?

Suddenly I hear “Escaped!” Yup, despite her really deep chest the bloody dog had managed to squeeze through the narrow space. Back in the car, looked at the number, ah we are up after 1 or two other dogs.

So, get the mutt, walk her to warm her body up, head to the queue and soon enough we were in the ring—a huge showgrounds oval. Lead off, firm hand on her collar, walk her up to the start position. “Tallyho!” and I let her go.

Well, her speed and concentration caused jaws to drop. Far out she was fast! So glorious to see! Any whippets running at the same time would have been eating Sock’s dust!

As I mentioned in “What a transformation” thread I had a honking big Saxon woodburning heater installed. A real beauty!

Suddenly I noticed Socks wanted to go for a lot more walks than usual.

Socks doesn’t like the heater, is afraid of it. Possibly something happened to her in the 19 or so weeks before I adopted her from the RSPCA. Being wet weather I have 3 wooden chairs lined up in front of the fire with clothing on them to dry. This means she doesn’t actually see the fire and is a bit more relaxed. Good!

I have some old sheets (I got so many sheets I could set up a sheety shop  ) and will keep the chairs there after their use as substitute Hills Hoist with a sheet across their backs, do that for a week or two and Socks should be reconciled.

Tomorrow to the local big smoke and a walk along the river while the car gets new tyres and brakepads. I was told 90 minutes  so a two hour walk it will be, 2.5 hours if the weather is nice and brisk. Will do some shopping once I have the car back (so I can park Socks) for food incl some rib racks for the smoker and a flea and tick treatment for Socks.

Ticks were not something I worried about in Adelaide but there are some nastys on the east coast so I rigorously apply the flea and tick treatment.

Ahahaha poor Socks.

Loud sounds of chainsaws—HEAP of trees along the fence being cut down. One of the wielders living just down the street, has two border collies. Left Socks inside mostly—over the west fence is a field belonging to a Booby type who shoots dogs on his field to be the BIG MAN—hence I am careful not to let Socks run around too much off lead.

But did take her outside to interact with these dogs. Socks not really utilising this being HER territory and bossing the border collies, did let the lead go—with two blokes and two dogs here Socks was NOT going to stray—and we saw an exhibition of VERY FAST RUNNING!

LOL! Socks DOES so love being able to run fast and far. Did get away a bit and charged along and over the connecting road leading to the highway, luckily no cars. I do so LOVE to see my beautiful dog running at incredible speed, faster than any whippet, faster than almost any dog other than a race-trained greyhound.

Doesn’t just run, in running she really POUNDS the ground with her paws, man, the SOUND of her running when she does that running just past me BANG BANG HAMMER!

Reason for all the chainsawing—so a 1.8m high fence can go up around the back part of the backyard. Finish that tomorrow. Sunday, when I am running Socks in a Fun Run, some earthmoving is done.

Orchard getting closer to reality!

Might put Socks in the Lure Coursing Trial later this year.

Dependson cost—not the $25 entry fee but think have to join the Tassie Kennel Club (or whatever it is called) and $90 is a bit much—will be alright when trialling in obedience etc as well as lure coursing.

Well, went to the fun run but it was crap.

HUGE delay before starting, I was pissed off, Socks was pissed off.

Mediocre run before lunch (for people not dogs!) after lunch during her run I heard “Slow the bags” which NEVER had to be said for Socks before!


Ah well, having travelled all that way I drove a bit further and bought some incredibly good raspberry jam and lovely tart raspberry syrup, then onto Bunnings for a heap of stuff then home again.

Think everything could have been managed better and I include me and Socks in that.



Ah well, better run. next time!

Booby REALLY liked reading the above post on dog farts.

Meantime, I am expecting an important phone call so told Socks we weren’t going for a walk.

She is now in her bed, sulking, her back firmly towards me. No difficulty conveying that she is pissed.

Eating a late second breakfast or brunch—asparagus spears wrapped in prosciutto—and dropped a bit of asparagus onto the floor. Live in floor cleaner aka Socks sprang into action, gulp and the sparrowsguts was gone. Ummm is asparagus good for dogs?

American Kennel Club—COOKED asparagus is fine, raw is too rough.

Then the interesting bit since I want to grow a fair bit of asparagus: dogs should not eat asparagus fern, the leafy bit above the spear. OK, work out where the hell to plant it—Tassie a bit cold for it—and maybe have it in the poly tunnel or a separate cloche? Protect the asparagus from the cold and the dog from the fern at the same time.

Socks is not 100% happy with me—she is on a diet.

Thinking of other things I had not noticed that intestinal worms no longer ate some of her food—she had put on a nice coat over her ribs. So I am slowly causing her to lose that coat.

Since she loves running really fast letting her get too fat would be cruel.

From 28.7Kg she is down to 27.7Kg, bit more to go yet.

Well done Socks!

Today had made an appointment at the vet for Socks’ annual checkup and vaccinations. Got there in time to toilet walk the mutt up and down the street and report in in plenty of time.

Socks weighs about 26.6Kg, a good weight.

I mentioned sometimes dark stools (could be blood in the alimentary canal) and golden urine—too dark. I agreed to the cost of a blood test and the consult together—$300.

So Socks got taken out of the room and blood got taken. I did not hear the tiniest whimper from my lovely dog! Not one!

Vets don’t know dog breeds too well, asked if I was sure she was a staghound not a greyhound—explained a (pure breed) staghound was 50% greyhound, so no worries.

Eventually Socks is returned to me—rather excited and restless, bits of loud barking.

She got the heartworm vaxx orally then the three year parvo vaxx via injection—not a whimper from Socks! Proud of her!

Heh, I described Demi objecting violently to the heartworm vaxx injection, being muzzled then eating treats THROUGH the muzzle while being injected and not caring—there was FOOD!

Also mentioned my dainty chi Tiffany: some stupid vet just stuck a needle in her side, didn’t ask me for help first, didn’t do it into a fold of skin between her shoulders. Well, he got a mouthful of needles—not hard, just enough to register a protest. Next year this former rugby-playing young guy starts muzzling Tiffy in yards of fabric. I jeered openly at him—this big man muzzling the tiny dog!


Heh, I am sure the vets could have told me stories—but the next patient was there. The vets were sure impressed with Socks’ sweet nature, stoicism and beauty.

Wow! The bitch is still in her bed nearly 20 minutes after her usual breakfast time! Dogs are devoted to their stomachs so she must really need some extra sleep!

Was in Launceston this morning—Harvest Farmers’ Market. After my marketing I drove to a dog park I had looked up—was even on the way home. TomTom got me to the dog park no probs.

Slightly disconcerting—a warning sign about snakes. Ummm {Gulp} OK.

Through the gate, take the lead off Socks, ZZZOOOOOMMMMMM!!!!!! off she goes. Get into the park proper—a bull mastiff cross American Staffy is there, starts chasing Socks. I relax and chat with the 3-4 other dog owners there (numbers change, some leave, some arrive.) No concern about Socks—no lumbering mastiff is going to catch her and the dogs are just having fun anyway—no growling or snarling, just dogs having fun playing chasey.

There is a rather overweight Jack Russell there, a really sweet dog, just wants cuddles, pats and scratches just above the tail—I am happy to oblige.

Then Socks discovers the river—the dog park is on one bank of the North Esk River. She *** LOVES *** running through water, as long as it is not too deep.

At the end I see my girl panting deeply—had a lot of fun, had to catch up the oxygen deficit. Great training for the coursing meet next Saturday. Will go back there Wed I think, 3.30–4.30PM roughly, be more dogs there then and Socks needs to run to prep for the meet Saturday. Might go to the Good Guys prior and buy a chest freezer—buy a big one of those for less than a smaller upright freezer! Quite the round trip—like $40 petrol minimum—so need to pack in the benefits. Will also visit BBQs Galore, organise a bigger smoker than the tiny one I have now. Two shopping events justifying the dog park excursion.

Yeah, just uphill a bit, past Tamar St (I think that is the cross street, has Albert Hall on the corner with Cimitiere St.)

There are a couple meets in Brighton—I might make a trip out of it—visit Spice House Friday, Salamanca Market Saturday, nice meal somewhere, breakfast Sunday then the meet.

LOT of driving so lots of $$$ to get to Hobart—get my money’s worth.

Looking at lots smoking YouTubes right now, can see need to stock up on some spices—mustard seed, juniper berries, cloves, coriander, pepper!

Maybe winter next year and I might be in Perth, WA.

Jovial Monk wrote on Apr 13^th, 2024 at 3:45pm:


I meant Perth between Launceston and Hobart   

Saw this on waking up—oh well, I guess as long as the head is warm:

First lure coursing fun run today.

Comments on Socks “Grown a bit” and “more mature” etc. Maybe a more honest comment: bringing Socks to the meet to discuss the club, new structure of the fun run days etc and “Socks is a lurcher and very vocal!” Yup, LOTS of dogs around and she knows she will be able to run!

Her first run—average.

Second run—wow! Very clever anticipation where the lure would shoot to next, very fast running and she grabbed hold of the lure before it even stopped at the end of the course! Very nice indeed.

Another dog owner looked at Socks and said she was in great condition, can see the ribs when Socks holds her body the right way. I told her, yeah, she was putting on some weight so I put her on a bit of a diet because Socks lives for running and can’t run as far/fast if overweight.

Weather was nice, sunny, not much wind 18–20°C.

A fun run to be held near Hobart next month. Reckon I will drive to Hobart Fri morning, get to Hobart, visit the Spice House—could go crazy in there spending $$$ but will try and restrain myself. Sat visit Salamanca Market, something I have been wanting to do for ages. Lunch/dinner, to the pet-friendly accommodation and to the fun run in the morning.

Poor Socks will have to be in the car by herself for quite a while. Temperatures will be fine for that, likely to be 12–15°C max temps but still a long time. I will of course look up dog parks near where we will be and we can do a loooong walk along the river

An alternative is to book her in the boarding kennel for a week while I do a bit of a road trip to/around Hobart—this would be pretty cruel to Socks who has this massive separation anxiety. Have to work things out—can always split the visit to Salamanca market over two weeks—two fun runs near Hobart next month.


Separation anxiety.

You have never heard a dog make a noise until you have heard Socks wail because I have left her at home! LOUD like

LOUD!

I needed to change my rego from SA to Tas and have a road safety test done. Socks would just be in the way—can’t leave her in the car to attend the Tas rego office because the car had to be dropped off at the garage for the road safety testing. Massive screams as I drove off.

On the ferry Geelong–Devonport I HAD to leave Socks in one of the kennels—massive whine as I headed for the accommodation decks.

There is a liar who posts here tho currently must be on a holiday. That scumbag talked of “rescuing” i.e. STEALING Socks. Obviously “Lisa Jones” was wildly jealous that I had adopted what turned into a beautiful, sweet natured dog.

If the liar HAD managed to steal Socks the screaming and whining Socks would have uttered would have seen the liar “Lisa Jones” eject Socks from his car right on the highway no doubt.

The very stupid Goober tried to pretend recently that I had been unfair to Socks by not taking up “Lisa Jones’” offer to take Socks to Sydney.” Christ! I had to explain to the high school dropout that Larry had not “offered” to take Socks but had threatened to STEAL Socks from me!

Socks is perfectly happy here as are the greyhounds, whippets, terriers etc I see around town and at the fun run days.


People as stupid as Goober or even more stupid (e.g. “Jasin” aka Jaye) are driving intelligent members from OzPol.

Bam has left, CarlD hasn’t visited or posted for two weeks and DNA doesn’t post much anymore. If he goes who with any intelligence and knowledge will be left? Not many.

Finally Socks seems to be asserting herself.

Friday afternoon at the dog park, all people and dogs we had not met before. One of the dogs was a German Shepherd/Golden Retriever cross—big dog,long white straight fur.

We all meeted and greeted etc, all was well.

Another guy and his two dogs, kelpie crosses, and some balls and frisbees for playing Fetch! One of the balls was plastic, any whistle it may have had long gone. Now, Socks LOVES plastic balls, loves to chew them, “play soccer” with them etc. So she was happily chewing etc the plastic ball. The big white dog wanted a turn.

So the dog approached Socks to try and take ownership of the ball. Ha! I heard what I had never heard from Socks before: a growl! FINALLY my dog was standing up for herself, asserting herself! Typically it was “resource guarding” that did it. Not a vicious growl or long or loud. Just Socks saying “Mine!” and the big Shepherd cross backed off! As I said before, well socialised dogs.

Possibly Socks got more confidence after her last interaction with the German Shepherd that is one of her playmates there.

Eventually got hold of the ball and returned it to the guy. After that Socks played with the other dogs a bit. She doesn’t really do “Fetch” but did sort of chase after tennis balls and frisbees. LOL! I bent down to pick up a frisbee to throw it. Suddenly Pounce! Slide! Socks who had been like 20 metres or more away got to the frisbee before I did and the frisbee was right at my feet! LOL!

Be back to that town Monday to get food supplies for the week and to give Socks a nice run hopefully with some playmates.


Yes, Socks ate three firelighters yesterday. These were a kind I had not come across before. The usual kind is white, smooth and smells disgusting, this kind was brown and came in squares, a bit like chocolate bars. The smell was different, not as strong or disgusting.

I used some to get a fire going in the Saxon woodburner, leaving some out of the packet. Socks must have thought they were food! (Dogs are always if not hungry more than willing to eat.)

First I knew there was a brown lump on the edge of her bed and I thought she had broken a cardinal rule about not pooping in the house. A second look showed me what had happened.

I assume she bolted them, as dogs do bolt their food, but soon regretted and reversed her act. Was a bit anxious—was there another firelighter square in her tummy? Had her tummy digested any of the constituents.

Socks was not really happy last night but is back to her normal sweet self today. Phew!

Obviously I will not buy that kind of firelighter again!

Socks even now hops on my bed every night. Suspect it is a dominance thing—height is dominance to a dog and is why dogs should not be allowed on the furniture.

Off to town today, going to buy the bitch a new, bigger bed. Then will ensure she stays there the night.

Had made a new batch of pasta-cheese-eggs-veges last night, half a bag left over so that was her breakfast. Should have seen her hoe into that 

Saturday a day of lure coursing—christ but she can run!

She is warm enough in her own bed—I have the heater, set to LOW, on all night. Anyway, bought her a new bed, see how that goes.

Socks does.

Jovial Monk wrote on Jun 13^th, 2024 at 11:47am:


....and then it stopped working?  Fuk, your grammar is atrocious.

Aussie wrote on Jun 13^th, 2024 at 1:36pm:


The Mac Mini was working whilst it was upside down on the floor. Then it was relocated to it's proper position and orientation.

Are you one of those people that gets confused when someone says "What's that up on the road... ahead?"

Jovial Monk wrote on Jun 14^th, 2024 at 1:55pm:


With the age of my mattress, and the springs poking through, Socks can have my mattress when I get it replaced with a new or second hand mattress.

I had to rotate the mattress 180° so that the spring that was poking my back would shift to the bottom of the bed near my feet. So far, my feet have avoided the scratching that my back suffered.

I turned my mattress over some months back. But then I found that the mattress had the springs sticking through them. I persisted with it for a while. But, I gave up and turned the mattress back over. Mum and Dad are going to assist with me getting a new mattress from one of the furniture stores. They have a trailer to transport the new mattress.

Rocked up to the lure coursing event—Socks already sitting up and taking notice—likely heard/smelled the dogs already there.

Parked, left dog in car, registered. Back to car, take harness off, put lead on, go to walk the mutt to warm her up for the first run. Jesus Christ, the barking, whining, pulling on the lead, jumping etc. Offered her as second hand dog to a couple of other members there “She is as quiet as a brass band!” but no takers.

So walk her away from most of the other dogs then head to where we wait until our dog’s turn. Finally—our turn, in to the field, take the mutt to where we were indicated. “Ready” then the bags (the lure) started moving and the course controller shouted “Tallyho!” and I let the dog go.

Jaws were hitting the ground. Socks did a SPECTACULAR run, the controller of the machinery had to keep those bags (3 shopping bags make up the lure) moving really fast.

Clever anticipation—her first run, remember—saw her nearly grab the bags at the back of the course.

She was excited at the end, ripped in to the bags, destroyed all three.

Superlatives were hurled at me and I was informed she was nominated for “Run of the Day!” Also was told she was maturing and was in magnificient condition and trim.

Worth driving 270Km round trip for. 

Two photos of Socks uploaded but no video, dammit!

Member Run Boards > Critters and Gardens > Socks at Westbury

Yup, need to be a registered member. Had to make it that way because Booby stole vidoes and photos of Socks.

OK. Yup, she really pounds along.

Well, drove past Perth, Perth Tas that is. Then things became a bit Old Testamenty: drove past Jericho, through Bagdad and over the River Jordan.

Usual nonsense from Socks: was like a thousand premenstrual termagants were at the other end of the lead, not one middle sized dog.

Finally, time for her first run. Socks exploded out of the starting blocks (no actual starting blocks are used) in pursuit of the lure. Now, how the hell can Socks know where the lure was going to move to next, but she anticipated well and nearly grabbed the lure—in the first third or so of the course! Clever!

After retrieving the mutt the guy running the club said she was in perfect condition and explained what he meant:

1. Three vertebrae could be seen (not the actual vertebrae of course)

2. Three ribs, and even a fourth more faintly, could be seen

3. The pinbones on her hips were just visible.

Not fat, not too skinny and undernourished. Seems veges are good for dogs, contrary to what the Village Idiot™ seems to think.

Socks lives only to run. That is why we did a 350Km round trip today.

Well, wasn’t thinking about whisky this morning and in fact never really think about whiskey at all.

I think I didn’t quite go past it because I hung a right at the roundabout and didn’t go into the town.

And it is Shene, Shonk!

Much closer to that than Hobart and you will understand that I won’t say anymore than that.

You been to Tassie? I guess not.

Never mentioned 500 metres.

UnSubRocky wrote on Jun 23^rd, 2024 at 1:26am:


Monk's an old man living on his own  and in the past has had idiots on here and fd's other forum make threats against him. No need for Monk to narrow down where he lives.  He's already said to much if you ask me. To many nutters on here.