Ten ways in which I am Nice Nobby

I received a rare compliment from Gail earlier this week.

We were out on the hillside in Torridon undertaking one of Gail's twice yearly botanical surveys*, and I waited patiently while she took time to identify various plants, such as these little white beak sedges, which are apparently indicator species for the 'wet heath' habitat.

On the way back down to the car, Gail commented on how I really am an excellent scientific assistant, so well behaved on field excursions, living up to my 'Nice Nobby' designation. Apparently Bouncing Bertie was much less patient with botanical goings on, and would soon get bored and wander off to cause trouble.

I pointed out that these days I am 'Nice Nobby' in many different ways, and challenged Gail to list ten. This is what she came up with:

• Excellent fieldwork aide, as described above
• Quiet and relaxed car passenger (and always has been)
• Sleeps well at night, even when staying in unfamiliar places
• Respectful of other dogs in the park who don't want to play with me (unlike when I was younger) 
• Friendly and welcoming to human visitors
• Cooperative in the 'pose nicely for the camera' business
• Tolerates bath time without too much fuss
• Enjoys early morning cuddles
• Generally good at not pulling on the lead on urban walks
• Behaviour at agility training sessions improving - no longer in danger of being excluded from class for being too disruptive...

*Gail says: the plant survey work is my small contribution to the National Plant Monitoring Scheme, a long term project aiming to study plant species across different habitats in the UK.

Digital Native Nobby

So Gail has been telling me how lucky I am to be able to share with you all my wonderful walks in the magnificent landscape of the Torridon mountains.

She says I should not take it for granted that I can compose a blog post, press a button on the iPhone or laptop or whatever digital gadget, and communicate with the whole world.

It wasn't always thus. 

I have often wondered about this tall and narrow red shelter with windows, located at the bottom of the road in the village of Inveralligin.

Apparently it is a 'phone box', dating back to the olden days when a telephone was not a little computer, and was the only available method for communicating directly with other people at a distance. Imagine that! 

The piece of apparatus attached to the back wall, out of paw reach, is in fact a genuine working telephone. Gail wonders for how long it will still be kept operational. 

Of course I was more interested in sniffing the floor to check who else might have used the phone box recently...

Midge season

The flowers in our Torridon cottage garden are looking particularly pretty just now.

Such a fine backdrop for a WFT portrait. 

Gail wants me to point out that maintaining such a haven of beauty for me to enjoy does require some effort and sacrifice on her part. Especially during the height of the Highland midge season.... 

Gail prepares for a session of grass strimming

Happy Nature Friday. 

(Midges are 'nature' too!)

Training paying off?

As I have mentioned before, my owner Gail has been attending 'agility fitness' sessions on Monday nights for the past month. These involve jogging, sprinting, weights, cardio and flexibility exercises, and I am pleased to report a positive impact although, as ever, there is room for improvement.

Have a wee look at this video, filmed by our friend YAM-aunty at the Granite City Agility Show on Sunday morning, and note the following aspects of Gail's performance:

• Pretty smooth running style, apart from slightly wonky right leg action
• Manages to adjust speed where appropriate and keep up with dog
• Shows sufficient flexibility on the turn (although one fears this will never be her strong point)
• Improved 'proprioception', i.e. didn't fall over, trip up, or collide with any obstacles 
• Overall fitness pretty decent for a 65 year old - able to complete the circuit without getting out of breath

So now we can, I think, say that Gail is physically up to the task of dog agility handler, the question turns to the psychological aspects, and here some doubts remain.

Can you believe she seemed really quite stressed on Sunday when, as reported in Monday's post, I stole her handkerchief and raced around in circles playing a fun game of 'catch me if you can' rather than following the set course of jumps. 

Perhaps someone could recommend techniques for boosting mental resilience...?

"Inauspicious"

Sometimes I have to question my owner's use of adjectives. 

She has been describing my competition debut at the Granite City Dog Agility Show near Brechin on Sunday as "inauspicious". And not just because my right front paw wasn't feeling quite 100% at the start of the day.

What's "inauspicious" about running over to greet the spectators and then making a beeline for the seesaw before tackling obstacle no.1 (a jump - so boring, everyone knows I can jump) on my first agility run? 

What's "inauspicious" about giving Gail a thoroughly deserved nip on the finger when she tried to drag me off the course, just because I thought it more important to check out - at length - some interesting smells near the start of my second run?

And what's "inauspicious" about snatching the bloodied handkerchief out of Gail's pocket and refusing  to relinquish it - such an entertaining way of commencing my third run, I'm sure you'll agree (if you're not Gail).

Well, Gail and I might have different opinions about the merits of my performance in the competitive elements of the day, but we can at least both agree that it was great to meet friends old and new. 

Here are my new fox terrier chums, fellow competitors Flora and Finlay from Dalgety Bay. We'd never met them before, but apparently their owner has long been a fan of my blog, and before mine, Bertie's, so it's clear that Flora and Finlay come from an excellent home. 

Nobby and Flora

Finlay

And finally, best of all, dear YAM-aunty turned up in the Grey with her smiling pal Hilary, and we all got to spend some time together having lunch and enjoying a good chinwag. 

PS from Gail: it wasn't all a total disaster on the agility front - once Nobby got going on his final run, he did quite nicely, for a novice. We believe that YAM-aunty might have caught some of his better moments on video - watch this space. 

And here's a photo from Hilary, showing Nobby at least entering the line of weave poles the right way! 

No sunshine but lots of lilies

I must begin today with an apology. 

After last week's post full of roses for our LLB Gang friend Rosy, I had promised that today I'd find some sunshine for her sister Sunny. 

Sadly I have failed. July has brought nothing but cloud and yet more cloud to NE Scotland...

While the humans have all been grumbling about the cool wet summer here in Scotland, it seems the conditions have suited the water lilies on Loch Kinord just fine. 

On Wednesday afternoon Gail stood on the loch shore taking photos but I opted for a closer look.

Yes they really are that pretty! 

Happy Nature Friday! And once again thanks to our lovely LLB Gang friends for hosting this our favourite blog hop.

The wonders of a wiry coat

When your owner decides to take you on a walk along an overgrown path beside the cliffs, 

and down to a tranquil and rarely visited beauty spot, 

and she is only wearing a pair of lightweight summer trousers, and to reach your destination you both have to battle through bracken and brambles and stinging nettles and prickly gorse bushes and thistles and more,

then your owner might just end up envying your dense and wiry wire-haired fox terrier furs! 

The best way to spend Sunday

First thing on Sunday, morning, Gail and I had a wee chat about how to spend the day.

I told her I wasn't too bothered about staying in for the Wimbledon Men's Singles Final, and I'd not noticed she was interested in tennis anyway.

I do know that Gail is interested in (some might say fanatical about) the Tour de France, but I pointed out she really didn't have to watch all 197.7 km of Stage 15 live as she could easily view the TV highlights of the Pyrenean mountain ascents later on. 

And as for the big football match, the Euro 2024 final between England and Spain did not start until 8 pm so shouldn't interfere with plans for earlier in the day.

 

I'm so pleased to report Gail came around to the idea that going for a lovely walk beside the River Dee with our friends M, J and K would be the best way to spend our Sunday. 

I'm wondering what my dear blogging pals did yesterday? 

Things are looking Rosy

Happy Nature Friday friends! 

It's been a good week in the Nobby and Gail household, for a whole variety of reasons. I aced a rather complex set of manoeuvers (including weaves) at my agility training session on Tuesday; on Wednesday night the England football team defeated the Netherlands to reach the final of the Euro 2024 tournament and at almost the exact same time Gail's pub quiz team, for whom I of course hold the crucial role of mascot, also scored a narrow victory; then we have the fact that the UK has a new Prime Minister who is at the very least a big improvement on the previous five; and today, perhaps best news of all, it has finally stopped raining...

In between all the showers over the past few days we made it up to Hazlehead Park, where the rose garden is in full bloom, and so I am pleased today to present a whole bunch of roses to our dear LLB Gang friend Rosy.

Who knows, next week, I might even be able to locate some sunshine for Sunny!