Two Poodles living in Spain

 

(photo courtesy of Roy Rogers, Campoverde Canine Club)

Have you ever been to Valencia?  Neither had I until last Friday.  What a wonderful place Valencia is - a mixture of old and new.  As can been seen with the futuristic City of Arts and Science Museum and the Cathedral (pictured below).

We went to celebrate the Fallas Fiesta.

The Fallas is a fire festival par excellence and it’s worth visiting Valencia just to soak up the atmosphere at Fallas time. A Falla is basically a frame made out of cardboard, paper, wood and plastic, on which the ninots are placed. The ninots are figures made of papier machée and they depict satirical local, national and international scenes. They make fun of everything and everyone. They are all burned every year on the 19th March which is the night of the feast of St. Joseph.

Below are some of the ninots from last Friday.

A group of ninots

Some of the individual ninots

 

We had a fabulous time and all in all we thought Valencia was ...................

(Monica's Blog)

Thought I would give you some idea of what the field is like where we take our morning walks.  It is sort of a cross between a field, a quarry and a tip (there is quite a bit of rubbish, in places, that has been dumped there over the years).  There is also an olive grove in the middle and lots of heather, wild thyme and rosemary.....some days the scents are amazing.

Some of the paths are sandy and some are quite stony.  I get to chase my tennis ball on the sandy ones,....the stoney ones hurt my feet!

Above is the one of the footpaths onto the field, but we will be changing our route soon as these thistles are above mum's shoulders now!!

The olive grove

A stoney path

Waiting for the ball!

Will show you some of our favourite beaches next time.

Hasta pronto!

Monica

(Buddy's Blog)

We hardly saw Mum yesterday as after our morning walk she went off to her Spanish Lesson in Torrevieja.  Then when she came back it was a quick snack and then off to her Nordic Walking Lesson.  I can't believe she is learning to walk...........I've been doing it since I was born and I don't need any special equipment.

Anyway Mum thinks Nordic Walking is brilliant, so off she went with Pete and Lindy from the next urbanisation to meet up with Lee their Nordic Walking Instructor.  They all think Lee is the bees knees.  As well as showing them how to "walk" she is also showing them some great walks in this area.  Yesterday they went to Los Montesinos for a walk round the Torrevieja salt lake.  The weather was nice and we had sunshine for a change. 

Check out the pictures below:

Lindy, Pete and Lee

Torrevieja Salt Lake

Taking a break before setting off again.

Walking..........it's a breeze and I don't need any poles.....just four of these

Woof and licks

Buddy

(Monica's Blog)

This is a picture of my friend ben....

It was quite difficult getting a picture of him as he nevers keeps still.  As you can see he is a very handsome chap.  Quite unusual markings and colouring. 

He has recently had a bath and his hair trimmed ready for the warm weather, although there was no sign of the sun this morning as it was 8°C  and cloudy.  Mum even had her gloves on!

My favourite game is to play tig with Ben around the bushes.  Or sometimes he will grab a twig and I will chase him and try and grab it back.

Ben also goes to my Obedience Classes, but he is in a different group to me.  He is hoping to win a trophy when we have our exams in a couple of weeks time.

Below is a picture of me, Ben and Brian (Ben's dad).  Buddy and I love Brian as he always has biscuits in his pocket!  He is one top human.

Hasta pronto!

Monica (and Buddy)

You might think it is some kind of venomous snake, scorpion, spider or maybe even Spanish drivers!! but no it is something quite small…….a caterpillar! …………yes a caterpillar.  The most dangerous animal in Spain is the ‘procesionaria del pino’ or Processionary Caterpillar !!

You and your pet more likely to endanger yourselves by getting too close to an innocent looking line of caterpillars that can be found from December to April of each year.

Processionary Caterpillars are so called because they form processions, nose to tail, as they leave the nest prior to changing into moths. The “nests” are fist sized or larger balls of spun filaments, usually lodged in fairly high branches of pine trees.  There can be up to 300 caterpillars in a nest.

THE BEST ADVICE is to avoid these innocent looking creatures at all costs. The caterpillars are covered in tiny barbed hairs which are their defence mechanism.

IF HUMANS come into contact with these hairs, they can cause reactions ranging from mild inflammation and irritation to severe anaphylactic shock. Once on your skin a rash soon forms which can be incredibly itchy. Medical advice should be sought if you are unfortunate enough to experience this.

FOR PETS – dogs and cats can get too close to the intriguing procession and may pick up the hairs onto their paws, these irritate and so they lick them. Once the hairs are on the lips/tongue it will induce itching, swelling and possibly vomiting. Look out for the symptoms of small white spots in the mouth and on the tongue, excessive drooling and chomping. In some cases partial amputation of the tongue is the only course of action. If you suspect your pet has come into contact with these caterpillars take it to your vet immediately.

What should you do…..?

DO NOT touch these creatures, leave well alone.  DO NOT try and squash them as this may release their hairs into the air where they can be inhaled or come to rest unnoticed on clothing spreading the irritation.

(Monica's day to blog)

Today the weather is overcast and quiet cold.  We went for our walk on the field, but didn't see any of our friends.

This afternoon I went to my obedience/agility class in Campoverde.  After doing some heelwork, sits, downs and stays, I was able to progress to the agility equipment.  The equipment here is not as sophisticated as it is in the UK and I don't like the seesaw as it is a bit rickety.  However I did manage to go from the tyre over two high jumps and over our "water jump" and then onto the table....so mum was pleased and I got a biscuit at the end.  I did try and do a jump then table, jump then table in the hopes of getting a biscuit each time, but that didn't work and she wouldn't give me a biscuit until I did the whole combination.....no fooling her!!

We also met Ben's new neighbour Oscar who is a 9 week old cocker spaniel.  He seemed quite nice, but I wasn't all that keen on his sharp teeth.

We are now settling down to watch Dancing on Ice and outside it is pouring down with rain.

I am voting for Haley and Bud is voting for Gary.

Tyre, two high jumps, "water jump" and table......do you like our green water??

Can you see the seesaw?

 Hasta pronto!

Monica

This is a picture of Monica and all the Trophies she has won (for obedience) at the Campoverde Canine Club in Pinar de Campoverde which is run by Roy Rogers.  They are:

• Basic Class Winner
• Intermediate Class Winner
• Advanced Class Winner
• Fred Moeken Trophy

The Fred Moeken Trophy (this is the big one with the dog on the front) is a perpetual trophy and has to be given back, but the one next to it is the one Monica gets to keep!!

Hi to everyone out there.  Here on the Orihuela Costa is it very cold today (by Spanish standards).  There is a  cold wind blowing and me and Monny are curled up in front of the fire and TV.  Daddy Chris is trying to find the Arsenal Football match on the telly and Mummy Marlene is writing this blog.

This morning we went for our usual walk and met our friends Brian (the human) who always has biscuits in his pocket and his pal Ben (the dog) who Monny loves to chase.  Me, I just watch them, being 11 years old, dashing around is not my scene, I just like to sniff and pee on everything.

We've been told there was a broken egg in the shopping and it will be going into our dinner...........yummy!

Have to go now as we must be quiet while the footy is on.

Woof and licks...Buddy (and Monica)