It’s a Blog ! Not a Log !

Those of you who read my blog will no doubt have come across posts about our Cane Corso (Italian Mastiff) Blue, well I’m sad to say Blue’s been a little bit under the weather these past few weeks due to damage to her cruciate ligament in one of her hind legs.

She developed some lameness in her leg in May which was prescribed anti-inflammatories for and this seemed to do the trick, however at the end of June, beginning of July her symptoms came back, so after 2 visits to the vets and a set of x-rays we were told that she’d most likely torn her cruciate ligament and were referred to a Consultant Vet at North West Surgeons nr Frodsham.

So along came the appointed consultation where we were told that from what could be seen from the x-rays it appears that Blues ligament has indeed been torn, this was apparently obvious from the x-rays (not a vet myself, so have had to take his word for it), the next step we’ve been told is surgery and at present Blue is booked in to have the operation on the 13th August 2010.

We’ve been told the operation has a 96% success rate, but this all depends on how her recovery is managed, so for the first 6 weeks, Blue will be crated confined and only allowed out for her constitutionals and that’s it, then after the 6 weeks its a case of very slow, gentle exercise, which will gradually build up to a manageable 20 minute walk, and then over time hopefully build up to longer walks and fingers crossed semi-normality.

I can honestly say I am very nervous about Blue going under anethisia, as thats probably the most dangerous part of the whole operation, don’t know what we’d do if anything every happened to Blue, so fingers crossed, wood touched everything will go smoothly.

Will endeavour to keep you all updated on how our little Princess is getting on

Today i got the most hits on my blog its ever had in one day let alone 6 months, all thanks to Phil Jupitus re-tweeting a picture I sent him of my Cane Corso Blue wearing a pair of glasses, I’d tweeted the nice man Mr Jupitus mentioning how in the photo Blue reminded me of him in his glasses and the next thing I know he’s re-tweeted it to his followers.

I actually only realised this when I went on my blog this evening to make a post and while there checked my stats out for the day and wondered why there was were no stats showing for the previous day, investigated a bit more and realised that there were stats there but they were so low compared to to-days that they were hardly showing in the stats graph, it was just a long line with one hell of a spike for today, checked out a bit more to see what everyone had been looking at and realised it was the picture of Blue.

Its amazing what a tweet on twitter can lead to . . .  So Phil were ever you are right now cheers matey

Oh and here’s the picture which started it

Phil Jupitus's Doggy Lookalike

As mentioned earlier headed across to Chorlton to take Blue round Ivy Green, met up with Luke at Electriks then headed across to Ivy Green, anyways decided to head along the Mersey to Jackson’s boat for a beer, absolutely stunning views with everything totally whited out by the snow, like being in another country.

Met a few other dog owners along the way and just generally enjoyed the walk and then it happened . . . Blue headed for her favourite bend in the Mersey, where she usually goes for a drink of water, but the edge was all iced up and Blue being Blue didn’t bat an eyelid, just went storming onto the ice, well ice and a 7.5 stone dog don’t exactly miss and the next minute there’s the sound of ice cracking and Blue disappears into the inky black water of the Mersey to reappear a few seconds later out of the ice hole she’d just created.

Soon as I saw her disappear I dropped my camera and dived down the rivers bank trying to get to her, she was a couple of feet out, way beyond my reach, but luckily for her and me there was a fcuking big branch log just laying nr the bank, so used this to smash through the ice and create a passage for her to get to the side, scariest 60 or so seconds I’ve experienced in a long time while smashing that ice I can tell you.

So managed to get her to the side and she was back to her normal self in a few minutes, though slightly damp for her ordeal, she soon shook it off, then headed to Jackson’s Boat so she could warm up and me and Luke could get a beer.

Apart from the unexpected dip in the Mersey it was a pretty good afternoon, nothing like trapping through snow and cold bracing fresh air to make you feel alive, finished the afternoon off with some very tasty French Onion soup at electriks, now at home watching Blue chilled out on the bed with Mel pampering her.

Might head out that way again tomorrow, but this time stay away from the ice . .

and yes and most of them contain Blue our Cane Corso . . heres a sampler

If you’d care to see the rest there on my YouTube page

076, originally uploaded by BagRat.

As usual headed across to Weighton for Christmas day with my mum and my 2 sisters, though this time rather than Christmas dinner at my mum’s, we headed across to my sister Glynis’s new gaf, where she and her partner Dave put on a rather tasty dinner for me and my mum, also got a guided tour of the place, looks quite nice and she and Dave have put alot of work into making it a home.

Also popped in on Jackie my other sister and her family, dropped off a bottle of wine and picked up presents from her for me and mel, after seeing Jackie decided to head up to Londesborough to go see my oldest friend in Market Weighton Gary Duggleby, been a while since I’ve seen Gary so it was nice to catch up with him, also gave me the chance to take some photos in and around the place where the old hall stood at Londesborough, all that remains of the place above ground it the entrance door stairs and a few ornamental vases, Gary was telling me that the halls cellars are still intact underground and that he’d actually been down there once, looking at the size of the entrance stairs of the hall, it must have been a pretty grand place in its day.

After seeing a few more friends I helped my mum with a few computer issues she had and then decided to head back to Manchester where I’m sat now typing up this record of the Christmas events.

Anyway check the pictures out and feel free to leave a comment or two if you like them.

Now I’m just chilling waiting for tomorrow night to come so I head off into Manchester for Electrik Chairs End of Year Riot

As regular readers of this blog will know I am proudly owned by a Cane Corso called Blue and as part of this ownership deal, Blue insists that I take her out with me where ever I go and film her exploits and introduce her to anyone and everyone, when Blue first decided she wanted to be owned by me I spent alot of time on the internet discovering more about her family(breed) and during these forays on google I discovered a place where other people owned by Cane Corso’s met . .  a place called The Friends of the Cane Corso or FOCC for short.

Well Blue being Blue she just had to share her videos and escapades with all those other Cane Corso friends and over the past 2 years shes regualrly posted her videos and met other Cane Corso’s and the people they own and those nice people this year decided to honour her work as Ambassador for the breed and this is what they had to say :

It’s my extrememly happy duty to inform you all that the FOCC and BCCS have created an annual award for ‘services to the Cane Corso and being a positive ambassador for the breed’.

This award is given to an FOCC Corso, who the BCCS committee feels has consitently through the year worked hard to show the breed in a positive light. In this instance it is awarded to someone who not only keeps her own blog, but meets as many other owners as she can, comes to Corso events, keeps the community updated with pictures and videos that lift the spirits, and never stops learning. Her owners are a joy to talk to, and make sure she’s always spreading the Corso love! So without further ado, on behalf of the British Cane Corso Society and Friends of Cane Corso: Cane Corso of the year 2009 goes to….. BLUE! Owned by Sunscream. Congratulations and keep up the good work in 2009!

For those who’ve not met Blue before allow me to introduce her by way of one of her first video’s

If you enjoyed this video of Blue and want to see more of her you can find a link to my YouTube and flickr accounts listed on the right of this page.

To all those who know Blue can expect her to carry on promoting the Cane Corso breed in a positive loving way . . .

119, originally uploaded by BagRat.

Heres some photo’s I took of Blue at Longford Park enjoying the fresh layer of snow that fell on Saturday in Manchester, as you can see from the picture I think she quite likes the snow . . .

Also just took some general photos of the Park in its winter blanket of snow, think I got a few good ones, including a couple of Mel

Afterwards we headed to Electriks in Chorlton for a much needed Mulled Wine and a sausage bagguette, also sorted out our tickets for New Years eve at Electriks end of year Riot, which should be a corker I reckon

Just finsihed work and walked out into the car park to find my car covered in a freshly laid carpet of snow, which means I can have a mad moment with Blue our Cane Corso, she goes mental when its snows (see the video below)

So once I’m finished on here and got changed out of my work clothes me and my best friend are going for a walk round Longford Park and maybe chase some Squirrels in the snow, then after go get a nice Mulled Wine at Electrik Bar in Chorlton.

Back later

Today started off with a flat battery, just what I needed at 8:00am, believe me trying to find a neighbour with jumps leads and who’s not rushing off to work at that time of the morning is like trying to find rocking horse shit, spent about 30 minutes knocking on neighbours doors trying to find someone who hadn’t already left for work and could spare the time to give me a jump start.

Thankfully Mona’s son from 2 doors down was just walking past his front room window and I managed to catch his eye, so after about 10 minutes the car was up and running, really need to get a new battery for the car though now that winters here, this is about the 3rd time in as many weeks I’ve had problems starting the car.

Anyway got into work a bit late, but had rang up to let them know why, so didn’t get any shit off anyone when I got there which was a nice surprise, was expecting to get a 20 minute lecture on the pros of leaving for work earlier . .

Rest of the day was spent using photo-shop to mask some images for a catalogue I’ve been asked to create by a colleague, seems to be going well and I’m quite enjoying learning new photo-shop tricks, so the day passe’s by pretty quickly when you’ve got your head immersed in adobe.

Anyway 5:15pm came about pretty quickly and left work early to get home so we could take Blue to the vets for her annual checkup and her booster shoots.
She’s getting pretty used to the vets now and just walked in without any fuss, previous times I’ve literally had to lift her across the threshold, which for a big dog like a Cane Corso is not good for one’s back.

Vet gave her the booster shoots and some worming pills and gave her the all clear with her checkup, also complemented her on being a beautiful looking dog, something I think Blue already knows and uses to her advantage on many occasions.

Took her for a walk around the football fields afterwards and treated her to a large sausage from the chippy for being a good girl at the vets, don’t know what it is about our dog Blue, but she is honestly the most well behaved dog I’ve ever met and by far the best dog to cheer you up if your ever feeling down, so glad we found her . . .

Lenny, originally uploaded by BagRat.

Here Lenny an absolutly stunning lovable mastiff we see sometimes while walking our Cane Corso Blue round Ivy Green, Chorlton.

Gotta be the most lovable looking mastiff in Manchester after Blue.