Lisa
Moderator
- Location
- Alberta, Canada
Glad to see Carbon having some fun! Too bad the weather wasn’t better, but hey...it’s not snowing there so I call it good 
The Labraventures of Carbón, Spanish (ex-) foster dog extraordinaire
- Thread starter Emily_Babbelhund
- Start date
Emily_Babbelhund
Mama Red HOT Pepper
- Location
- Regensburg, Germany
Carbon is a serial spronker. I'm just too slow with the camera to catch it most of the time!
Can you believe he's actually the same weight according to his weigh in at the Italian vets? I think it's all the walking we're doing, it's making him buff. Sadly it's not doing anything of the sort for ME.I love videos of the new fit slimline Carbon model
We've got one more night tonight at the quiet beach house and despite the weather forecast for rain, it's SUNNY. So off we go to enjoy it! Then tomorrow it's drive, drive, drive.
Boogie
Moderator
- Location
- Manchester UK
I hope you’ve got lots of podcasts lined up
- Location
- Malvern Worcestershire
It is wonderful to see Carbon so happy. What a good idea a beach especially for dogs and one all to yourself.
Emily_Babbelhund
Mama Red HOT Pepper
- Location
- Regensburg, Germany
Can you believe I've been listening to the same 8 hours of podcasts since January? I really hope I'll have some time tomorrow morning before checkout to load up a new set, but if not...well, it's another round of the old standbys!I hope you’ve got lots of podcasts lined up
Dog beaches in Italy are really important because on most beaches in the summer dogs aren't allowed at all. Traditionally, many people would simply abandon their dogs prior to the summer holidays as it was easier/cheaper than trying to find a place to board them. Even today there are signs on most of the motorway rest stops and tollbooths telling people not to abandon their dogs on holiday. It's really sad.
Dog lovers started up dog beaches and promotions for dog beaches with the idea that the whole family - including the four-leggeds - could come along. There are many more now that even seven years ago when I first came with Brogan. It is a great idea - and saves dog's lives too.
Emily_Babbelhund
Mama Red HOT Pepper
- Location
- Regensburg, Germany
Though it was a rest day today, I'm knackered and Carbon is already in bed. We went to Baratti beach around noon where we walked through the pine forest and admired the view, but it wasn't a great beach for playing. Then this afternoon we went back to the beach closest to our little house for a final walk and play. Today was sunny and warm (25 degrees) so there were actually some humans out. I pulled out Carbon's tennis ball because when he plays with that, he doesn't even think about raiding picnic baskets.
After about 45 minutes, we came across a family who were swimming in the sea, except for the mother who was sleeping on a beach blanket. The husband insisted on taking Carbon's ball and throwing it at his wife! I thought he was trying to be an ass, but actually she was a complete and utter dog lover and was delighted to be awoken by a big wet sandy dog in her face. Then the rest of the family (two daughters) joined in and soon Carbon was getting mega ball throws into the sea.
Considering that not 20 minutes earlier, I was gently trying to coax him into the water, all the sudden he was going long and going hard. He was amazing! No fear whatsoever from a dog who wouldn't even put a toe in yesterday and was actively running away from the tiny waves this morning. And there he is, just leaping into the surf while playing with this family. That's Carbon...first time scary, second time cautious, third time yee haaa and bombs away!
So that's it for Italy. I was thinking of staying for 5-7 days and we've been here for nearly three weeks. It still seems way too short and part of me is sad to leave. However, part of me is very ready to finally get going in the right direction towards the UK. We have friends to visit, English to speak and Morrison's ready meals to consume.
Ah, the glamour of travel, right?
Barratti beach/Populonia...lovely bay and Etruscan ruins
Poor Carbon, another photo shoot!
It's so stressful (or boring?)!
But then again, he's so good at it...
Bye, Italy...tomorrow France!
After about 45 minutes, we came across a family who were swimming in the sea, except for the mother who was sleeping on a beach blanket. The husband insisted on taking Carbon's ball and throwing it at his wife! I thought he was trying to be an ass, but actually she was a complete and utter dog lover and was delighted to be awoken by a big wet sandy dog in her face. Then the rest of the family (two daughters) joined in and soon Carbon was getting mega ball throws into the sea.
Considering that not 20 minutes earlier, I was gently trying to coax him into the water, all the sudden he was going long and going hard. He was amazing! No fear whatsoever from a dog who wouldn't even put a toe in yesterday and was actively running away from the tiny waves this morning. And there he is, just leaping into the surf while playing with this family. That's Carbon...first time scary, second time cautious, third time yee haaa and bombs away!
So that's it for Italy. I was thinking of staying for 5-7 days and we've been here for nearly three weeks. It still seems way too short and part of me is sad to leave. However, part of me is very ready to finally get going in the right direction towards the UK. We have friends to visit, English to speak and Morrison's ready meals to consume.
Ah, the glamour of travel, right?
Barratti beach/Populonia...lovely bay and Etruscan ruins
Poor Carbon, another photo shoot!
It's so stressful (or boring?)!
But then again, he's so good at it...
Bye, Italy...tomorrow France!
Jacqui-S
Moderator
- Location
- Fife, Scotland
Just LOVE THE surf video ....thays just the best!
- Location
- Malvern Worcestershire
Such lovely, lovely photographs. Difficult to believer that people would have a dog and then abandon it because they wanted a summer holiday! Poor dogs 
- Location
- Canberra, Australia
If you’re not going to keep Carbón, send him to me. He’s divine! And he writes very well.
Lisa
Moderator
- Location
- Alberta, Canada
I think there could be a few who would take him, that’s true
25C, sun, beach....sigh. I had my evening walk in snow and wind. Bah. Keep the pics coming !
Boogie
Moderator
- Location
- Manchester UK
Marvellous!
(Bring your raincoat and wellies to the U.K.!
)
(Bring your raincoat and wellies to the U.K.!
)
Emily_Babbelhund
Mama Red HOT Pepper
- Location
- Regensburg, Germany
I feel like a big old cry-baby rant tonight but I think I may have lost the energy even for that. I'll try the short version - I know, ha, ha. Emily doesn't do 'short'. Here goes, strap in.
I was sad to leave our little cottage but it was an easy clean up this morning and the owners of the cottage turned up right on time. Very very nice people and we were having a chat about when I could come back...because I really need to come back. Also the wife is a Florence native so we were talking about tips about where to park my car if I want to rent something in the centre next time.
I was all packed and ready to go, Carbon at my feet while chatting and the husband looks down and says "No Carbon, no!!!". Carbon being Carbon had snuffled up a bit of something on the ground which looked like a tiny big of used blue chewing gum. OK, that's disgusting but not the end of the world.
Well, it was the end of the world because the husband recognised it as something that I did not: rat poison.
The couple leapt into action, calling the pharmacy to get the local emergency vet, who said he'd be ready for us. The husband drove me in his car straight there and within 20 minutes of the poison going in, Carbon was being treated. The vet put drops in one of Carbon's eyes and within a minute, his whole - very impressive - breakfast came up. Eggs, apples, broccoli, fish, sardines, his Allopurinol tablet, and two tiny chunks of bright blue gum.
"There it is!" exclaimed the vet cheerfully.
"So something that small would have hurt him?" I asked.
"Oh yes, would have killed him!" said the way too cheerful vet. Seriously, that guy seemed to love his job.
Then came some more eyedrops and a shot of anti=-nausea and morphine and Carbon staggered out punch drunk into the sunshine. He gets special vitamin K tablets for the next 20 days but apparently he's fine.
We went back to the house, I said a very grateful farewell to the couple - who were furiously angry at the condominium gardener for putting down the poison by the way, and kept apologizing to me. I then loaded up drunk Carbon and hit the road two hours later than planned.
Then six hours of me dodging murderous lorry/semi truck drivers and getting into an argument at a petrol station about my ability as a female to pump petrol into my own bleeding car...paws off the Tardis, buster! Also because of the collapsed bridge in Genova there was a terrifying ride through some very small streets. Those poor people on that bridge, but that also made me think about the structural integrity of every bridge I went over and let me tell you, 80% of the route between Genova and the French border seemed to be bridge.
I got to my Airbnb rental no problem. The inside is very cute, but the refrigerator doesn't function, the outside is junky and the upstairs dog will not stop barking plus it backs onto the motorway so the dog is at least a bit buffered by road noise. Ugh.
As soon as I got in, I called my friend who I came to visit. Bear in mind that I really, really dislike the Cote d'Azur and but I love my friend so that's why I'm here. I talked to her on Thursday and she said she had a ton of work so it would be better if I drove on Saturday so that we could spend all Sunday together. This is why I drove with the mega lorries today instead of doing my usual Sunday drive day. But no...she has made plans to go into the centre of Nice with her son tomorrow. Of course she invited me, but that would mean me driving into the bloody centre of Nice, which is a nightmare and trying to find parking which is a double nightmare. I just said no, I can't do it. I would love to spend the day together at the beach or a park with the dogs AS I THOUGHT WE'D PLANNED, but I just can't handle taking my car into Nice.
So then I headed to the supermarket, where I spent 30 euro on groceries that would have been 15 in Germany, muttering under my breath the whole time "I hate France, I hate France, I hate France." Yes, I've descended into grumpy and extreme xenophobia. When I got back to the car, there was a man staring at my number plate and he says, "Do you know Bad Goggingen". What the f^@@@?? GET AWAY FROM MY CAR!
Actually, he turned out to be a very nice if slightly homesick German who just wanted to have a chat. So we did. A lovely chat in German which calmed me down immensely and reinstated my hope in my fellow humans. More or less.
I know, can you believe this is the calm version of me? Imagine what I was like BEFORE I talked to the nice German man?
So now I'm going to have my dinner out of the microwave that is actually a toaster oven and the refrigerator that is actually a white plastic box with no cooling properties whatsoever and I'm going to go to bed and tomorrow I will figure out if I really want to stay here five days or not. Right now, I'm definitely seeing the downside to homelessness, because if I had an actual home, I'd be heading off towards it bright and early in the morning. Grrr.
But hey, I'm trying to stare into the fake fireplace to regain my zen. And at least Carbon is fine and we had a safe drive. Those are the important things to take away from today. Tomorrow is another day.
Nope, not short. I'm just not capable of short.
I was sad to leave our little cottage but it was an easy clean up this morning and the owners of the cottage turned up right on time. Very very nice people and we were having a chat about when I could come back...because I really need to come back. Also the wife is a Florence native so we were talking about tips about where to park my car if I want to rent something in the centre next time.
I was all packed and ready to go, Carbon at my feet while chatting and the husband looks down and says "No Carbon, no!!!". Carbon being Carbon had snuffled up a bit of something on the ground which looked like a tiny big of used blue chewing gum. OK, that's disgusting but not the end of the world.
Well, it was the end of the world because the husband recognised it as something that I did not: rat poison.
The couple leapt into action, calling the pharmacy to get the local emergency vet, who said he'd be ready for us. The husband drove me in his car straight there and within 20 minutes of the poison going in, Carbon was being treated. The vet put drops in one of Carbon's eyes and within a minute, his whole - very impressive - breakfast came up. Eggs, apples, broccoli, fish, sardines, his Allopurinol tablet, and two tiny chunks of bright blue gum.
"There it is!" exclaimed the vet cheerfully.
"So something that small would have hurt him?" I asked.
"Oh yes, would have killed him!" said the way too cheerful vet. Seriously, that guy seemed to love his job.
Then came some more eyedrops and a shot of anti=-nausea and morphine and Carbon staggered out punch drunk into the sunshine. He gets special vitamin K tablets for the next 20 days but apparently he's fine.
We went back to the house, I said a very grateful farewell to the couple - who were furiously angry at the condominium gardener for putting down the poison by the way, and kept apologizing to me. I then loaded up drunk Carbon and hit the road two hours later than planned.
Then six hours of me dodging murderous lorry/semi truck drivers and getting into an argument at a petrol station about my ability as a female to pump petrol into my own bleeding car...paws off the Tardis, buster! Also because of the collapsed bridge in Genova there was a terrifying ride through some very small streets. Those poor people on that bridge, but that also made me think about the structural integrity of every bridge I went over and let me tell you, 80% of the route between Genova and the French border seemed to be bridge.
I got to my Airbnb rental no problem. The inside is very cute, but the refrigerator doesn't function, the outside is junky and the upstairs dog will not stop barking plus it backs onto the motorway so the dog is at least a bit buffered by road noise. Ugh.
As soon as I got in, I called my friend who I came to visit. Bear in mind that I really, really dislike the Cote d'Azur and but I love my friend so that's why I'm here. I talked to her on Thursday and she said she had a ton of work so it would be better if I drove on Saturday so that we could spend all Sunday together. This is why I drove with the mega lorries today instead of doing my usual Sunday drive day. But no...she has made plans to go into the centre of Nice with her son tomorrow. Of course she invited me, but that would mean me driving into the bloody centre of Nice, which is a nightmare and trying to find parking which is a double nightmare. I just said no, I can't do it. I would love to spend the day together at the beach or a park with the dogs AS I THOUGHT WE'D PLANNED, but I just can't handle taking my car into Nice.
So then I headed to the supermarket, where I spent 30 euro on groceries that would have been 15 in Germany, muttering under my breath the whole time "I hate France, I hate France, I hate France." Yes, I've descended into grumpy and extreme xenophobia. When I got back to the car, there was a man staring at my number plate and he says, "Do you know Bad Goggingen". What the f^@@@?? GET AWAY FROM MY CAR!
Actually, he turned out to be a very nice if slightly homesick German who just wanted to have a chat. So we did. A lovely chat in German which calmed me down immensely and reinstated my hope in my fellow humans. More or less.
I know, can you believe this is the calm version of me? Imagine what I was like BEFORE I talked to the nice German man?
So now I'm going to have my dinner out of the microwave that is actually a toaster oven and the refrigerator that is actually a white plastic box with no cooling properties whatsoever and I'm going to go to bed and tomorrow I will figure out if I really want to stay here five days or not. Right now, I'm definitely seeing the downside to homelessness, because if I had an actual home, I'd be heading off towards it bright and early in the morning. Grrr.
But hey, I'm trying to stare into the fake fireplace to regain my zen. And at least Carbon is fine and we had a safe drive. Those are the important things to take away from today. Tomorrow is another day.
Nope, not short. I'm just not capable of short.
Emily_Babbelhund
Mama Red HOT Pepper
- Location
- Regensburg, Germany
Thank you, me too. In hindsight I think that's why everything else bothered me so much - because the scare was Carbon was bad.
Jacqui-S
Moderator
- Location
- Fife, Scotland
Bloody Hell.
I'm lost for words.
If it were me I would keep driving til I reached a happy place I think.
Poor Emily. poor Carbon, but importantly you are both safe.
I'm lost for words.
If it were me I would keep driving til I reached a happy place I think.
Poor Emily. poor Carbon, but importantly you are both safe.
- Location
- Vlaardingen, the Netherlands
I was thinking exactly the same....!
Emily_Babbelhund
Mama Red HOT Pepper
- Location
- Regensburg, Germany
It was SO lucky because I had no idea rat poison looked like that. It was there the whole time and right outside our little enclosed garden near the car. If he would have gotten it any other time during our stay that would have that as I would have never known and it would have been too late. I guess best not to think on it as all is fine, but I"m watching this boy like a hawk and we need a different plan for training not eating stuff off the ground because what I'm doing is not working.
Thanks, Jac. We may just keep rolling down the road, no joke. And yes, most important is that Carbon is totally fine and happily sleeping on the bed with his Bunny.
That's one tough dog!
- Location
- Malvern Worcestershire
What an adventure you are having, but at times, not the best of adventures! Thank heaven the husband recognised the rat poison. I love your long posts, wish I could write enough to do them justice, but these days I tend to be more brief, where once upon a time I would write 6 pages. I do so enjoy reading your posts as you bring everything to life and I feel I am there with you.