new pigeon on the loft
My travels with dogs will have to wait a bit: I bought me a new pigeon. It's a Dunek hen that shall be mated to an odd Dunek cock who has developed a taste for Homer females. She is a really nice colour for a flight performer: head and wings and tail white, back and wing shields dark checquered, so she looks half-black in the loft, and almost white when in flight. She lands like a snowflake. Can't wait till she flies outside! (ehm, this won't happen before she is safely mated.)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

This will, I hope, clear up as what is the real colour of this cock (he is brownish-gray all over, with a little darker wing stripes. Indigo? some form of ash red? (but his sister and mother are this same colour, the father is black with some wing stripes showing even darker). And as this pair has to be together in the same cage for a 3-4 weeks (separated or not, depends on how soon they pair up) I will have to be around to supervize.

return of the prodigal son
Miracles do happen: Bes is back!  Yesterday 6 a.m he was seen on the far bank of the river, whining and yodeling; at 9 a.m. when I got out into the yard he was there. Dry.  At first I did not believe. He looks just the same, no thinner, no heavier, a little dusty, no scars, same collar.

new item on the dump

Oh well. Here's the new denizens of the dump. Apeared on tuesday, was not here on monday, she was still there thursday after some really heavy rain that fell in the morning. On saturday she was gone - maybe hid somewhere else, maybe somebody had pity and took her in(less likelay) or has been killed by hunters, or on her way to the local (a kill) shelter. The pups are some 2-3 days old, les than a week anyway. There might be homes found for the pups, but for an older bitch, no chance.

 

 

Asbestos, and a missing dog

Still the time of restricted movement of dogs. So I mostly walk along rubbish dumps (illegal) or along the roads, the latter with youngsters who need some leash training. Here's some photos of rubbish - some of it is asbestos, lately much in the news. Sadly one of the dogs (Bes, father of those below) went missing  last tuesday. The kennel doors were tied with a string on the outside, so I do not see how he managed to escape, but hounds (he is - was? - an Istrian wirehair) are also known as houndinis. Ice Cream, who was enclosed with him, returned in the evening, but he is still missing as of today (tuesday).

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

That was asbestos. Here's more rubbish:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

just some more dirt
Not much walking yesterday or the day before. Garbage dumps were burning.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

And there was a dead starling on the road, either shot, poisoned or died from bird flu. Dogs were not interested, did not even sniff at it, and I did not touch it, on account of the bird flu.

 

 

And on the third day

It was Mayday, and on the usual walk I just came to the place on the left side of the previous photo, when my dogs attacked something in the bush. No, it was not a rabid fox, nor was it anything wild, it was a small black shepherd dog pup. 99% likely it was lost (or, more likely, abandoned) by the shepherds that keep 500 heads a couple of miles westwards. So I wrapped the little devil in my raincoat untill he (is a male) stopped biting, tied him to a piece of string that was lying handy on the heap of bricks, and after five minutes he was walking at heel as if we've been training for a week. In ten more minutes an old car came our way, and the guys in it, obviously hunters, started to reprimand me about walking the dogs in the fields where there migh be baby hared or roe deer. I said there were no hares or roe deer around as the river was rather high recently, then they said something about pheasants, I said about what the law allows and what if they help me to train my dogs on tracking wounded game, but seems that such cooperation is unlikely. What I think, they apeared exactly then there on that dirt road is because of that shepherd pup, and not to take it home, but to collect points. The thing is, whenever hereabouts a hunter meets a strange dog more than 300 meters from the inhabited area, he's (99.9% hunters are male) free to shoot it, chop off the muzzle, and collect points on account of that. One can collect those points also on various good work like bringing, in winter, food for deer or pigs, and this entitles you to get your part of the vennison etc. Although last year there were five strays living off sheep and goat corpses, and it took the hunters as many months to kill them all (and then I saw one being shot, right before my eyes, but the guy who did it just hid away and did not came to chop the muzzle off, so I just threw the carcass onto the pile of burning plastic bags. Nothing remained).

On account of that, there was no way that this pup remain on the dump. But as these last few days I sold two of those full-pedigree-titled-parents Istrians (one for 100 €, one female in exchange for her sometime-in-the-future pup) it was possible to give him a home for a few days. I almost forgot how quickly a shepherd dog learns. He only has to be shown something once or twice and voilà! So, today, three days later, I took him to the animal market, and found him a home in less than one hour, that is, he went (for free) to this guy who breeds canaries... already has one mean peke. His name is gonna be Max (the owner nickname is - surprise surprise - Max).

Yesterday, and the day before, I walked with dogs along the dam. It's usually 5 km in one direction and then back. Dogs do more, at least 30 km. In fact this time of year the wild animals have young and dogs should not be allowed to disturb them, but here the river flowed quite high for several weeks and I do not think there were any young (at least no young mammals) raised there. This would be a very nice place, many birds (these days nightingales just started), foxes, hares, then there's willow, ash, thorn, (sorry but wery few oak); but there are, though illegal, on top of all that, garbage dumps every few hundred meters. Like this:

A traveller

Now here's a traveling dog - her name is Eo and I shot her earlier today near the train station. I would like some cool gear like that.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I have an ache down my left dˆhleg, presumably because of sunday's walk.

first entry

I am told that the laws in my village will change and there will be only 3 dogs allowed per person? household? Nothing in writing. Only vague paper-waving from local vet. He refused to give me a copy, though. Says things will be voted during next fortnight. He seems pretty categorically certain, does not mention the alternative (that the voting might be negative) and did not invite me to present my own wiew/cause. I have not recieved any warning either, written or else, of this drastic change of local law: seven years ago I moved out of town and bought a property in this village so that I can keep as many dogs and other animals, cats, pigeons, chicken, whatever, as I would. One time I had as much as 21 dogs, but that proved too demanding. At the moment I have 9, three istrians, four baraks, one wirehair posavac (as yet non-recognized by FCI) and one control (a mongrel, that is); then there are 3 more that belong to a friend, and six young dogs/overgrown pups, for sale. Sale is not going well. I am even willing to give away some for free or asking about 200 e per dog (offspring of titled parents, conformation OK, hunting instinct OK, maybe a bit stubborn, as it goes with hounds).

 Thus I will very likely have to move. I am not a great orator that could change the ruling of the local council by the pover of words, even if the things are not fixed . Newspapers - being a news item - might help but I abhore from apearing in the press. I do not even like pictures of me taken. Most likely I will go to a now ruinous place in the hills, I lived there some ten-twenty years ago, that is about two hours walk from the nearest civilization, which not only lacks power suply but is, todays's damnation, out of cell phone link (is in valley shade). Another possibylity is to select the 8, 9, 10 or so ablest dogs and start walking. An old idea of mine is to walk around Europe, preferably with dogs; but this is impossible to realize without outside support, like saomeone with a car bringing supplies. Or at least, it is supposed to be a donkey. I haven't got a donkey, though. Yet. Do you want to be a donkeyˆhˆhˆhˆhˆhˆhsponsor? (email) This might make my pages interesting.

For a start, today I walked  25 km to the metropolis (sic) of Zagreb with three of the young dogs/overgrown pups - will most likely return via railroad). We went to the sunday animal market: here's the wiev

 

And here's a picture of the 3+1 of us (Merlin, Mambo and Moreška; I am the one with the hat):