It’s been a while since my last blog so I’ll try and keep this brief to bring you up-to-date on what’s been going on here at Furry Towers.
In my spare time (if I get any!) I like to go Stand Up Paddle boarding however I haven’t been able to do a lot of it this year with my niggling shoulder injury. Anyway, it has always been my desire to get one of my Bassets on my board with me as I’ve seen a lot of dogs on paddleboards but NEVER a Basset Hound! I’m pleased to say that on Monday evening, I achieved this with the help of my very faithful Daisy-Duke. Now Bassets are not known for their love of the water but she defies all the text books and takes a dive into any patch of water we come across (well more of a belly flop really) and she will literally do anything to please me so, out of the 3 Hounds, she would be my best chance.
With the help of Frazer and Tony at Brighton Kitesurf and SUP Academy, we did it! This was one of a few evenings of SUP PUP the guys have arranged over on the river at Shoreham. The water is flat and there’s a little bit of beach there so with the board resting half in the water and half on the shore we just slowly introduced Daisy to it. Frazer said he wasn’t going to push it, just let her sniff and see what happens. I was convinced this was going to be the biggest waste of £25 I had ever spent. However, she sniffed the board and then hopped straight onto it at our total shock. I carefully slid on the back and started to push away from the shore. At first, we were a little wobbly as Daisy insisted on walking from one end of the board to the other including through my legs! However, we managed to paddle around on the water without either of us falling in for a good hour and a half. She seemed almost at one with the board and I was totally amazed as were most of the onlookers on the side! I asked Frazer if he’d ever had a Basset on a board before and no, Daisy was the first! As the nights are now starting to draw in, there sadly won’t be any more of these SUP PUP evenings this year however, I am certain there will be more events next year once the weather gets nice again. So, if you want something fun to do with your dog, check it out, I highly recommend it! After all, if Daisy can do it, any dog can! 
The previous weekend we had been to our annual Basset Hound Owners Club Fun Day which is a date always firmly cemented in our diaries. Now, there’s been a little bit of history with us and the fancy dress competition so I feel the pressure to come up with different ideas every year. With this year being the World Cup year and England doing so well, I had planned on doing 3 lions. The hounds as always were immensely impressed at wearing lion wigs and Daisy had an England football shirt on while Buddy had the St George flag draped around him. We completed the ensemble with the 3 Lions track playing on a speaker in the background. Very pleased to say we won first prize again! So now, I am under pressure to come up with something for next year!
My shoulder has been causing me an awful lot of discomfort and of course is always worse when I’m busy so I am trying to cut down on the number of grooms I do each day. Thank you to anyone I’ve had to rearrange appointments with for your patience. I have now had an MRI scan and hope this will highlight exactly what the issue is so that a treatment plan can be worked out. I am hoping it is simply a repetitive strain injury and by me cutting down, it will ease. Having had years of dogs pulling me and blow-drying, combing and scissoring have clearly taken their toll. The joys of getting old!
I’ve been very busy over the last few months attending seminars on differing subjects. At the beginning of the month it was Afternoon Tea & Terriers hosted by a local Groomer and last weekend I was in Kent for the Emmi Pet Ultrasonic Teeth Cleaning. Now some of you may remember from previous blogs, I had bought this toothbrush a year ago, with the view to introducing it to my clients as an additional service. For one reason or another, I haven’t ever got around to it but now I’m more confident to start offering teeth cleaning packages so I’m having some information drawn up and will be adding this to my services after my holiday at the beginning of October. Talking of leaflets, I have had some done listing all the grooming services that I offer detailing differing packages. All this information will appear on the website but I thought it would be nice to have some flyers to give out should anyone enquire as to what I offer. 
The weather has been amazing this Summer and in fact on a lot of occasions, it’s been too hot for dog walking (I never thought I’d hear myself saying that!). We have had many family bbqs and get togethers which of course the Hounds love! They’ve enjoyed trying to play garden Jenga which was hilarious as they walked past the tower with their tails wagging, we were just waiting for the whole thing to fall to the ground! Then last week, Buddy-Love enjoyed playing Pie Face with my nieces and nephew. He had them in hysterics whereas he actually just wanted to eat the cream. Much fun had by all!
With this weekend being a Bank Holiday, we are closed for a few days enjoying a little rest......... well not really………. we’re meeting up with a few other Bassets in Preston Park in Brighton and then on Monday we are off to the Firle Village Fete and Dog Show that we had so much fun at last year. Let’s just hope the weather stays nice! 
We are on a countdown to our holiday in a few weeks’ time and very much looking forward to exploring the Lake District although we’re not looking forward to the epic drive to get there!
Whatever you’re going to be up to with your furries this weekend……..paddle boarding, dog shows, fetes or just chilling, enjoy! Thank you as always for your support.
Much love Sally xx
