Diary of Marley and Laska

Introduction.
Marley and Laska are two Staffordshire Bull Terrier cross Siberian Husky dogs affectionatly known as Staffskys. Both of them had a Staffy mum and a Husky dad but have very different body and mindset to each other.

Sunday 17th March 2013

Last day of weekend and after a 4am face licking to be let out for loo i woke at 9 am with marley pressed against me under the covers while laska snoring heavily in my face. normally i try and prolong this as back to work next day but yay have the week off with the pooches.
Get up make a cup of tea while trying to get them to go out into the garden for loo but not a chance. both stand at door, look out at the rain and run back upstairs onto the bed.

13:30 walkies in the woods, after singing and howling the whole twelve miles there.... really hammering it down with rain and realised that the car in front contains best friend riley and owner claire the howls and squeaks get louder and louder. uneventfull walk just a few people on bikes and a few ramblers. Riley hates the rain so instead of stopping every ten foot for a sniff we are on a roll. marley out front with laska pulling to catch up while i slip about behind them, thankfully no deer or I know I'd be over. just over a 3 and half mile walk which isnt ideal but riley is still recovering from his op on his crutiate so cant push it just yet and nature of this walk means i cant carry on any further.

Get home and feed the dogs first meal of day. they wont eat properly withought being worked and ammount depends on how much theyve worked out. alot of pulling today and had them running side by side with direction training so a big feed is needed. measure out and get them to sit, laska is drooling like mad, bowls down and its gone in seconds.

afternoon...sleep until 6pm and then out to the local park, get stopped by a woman asking if they are friendly, i reply yes and before you know it shes fluffing them up and getting face kisses from both of them, unusual for marley as hes such an aloof brat most of the time. she asked what they are and when i tell her you can see a moment of aprehension but she carries on regardless the informs me shes now off home to walk her GSD and what loverly dogs I have. a true dog lover.

get home and feed the dogs second meal and then stick my food in the oven. clean all the harnesses, collers and leads and then eat with two sets of beedy eyes looking at me from accross the room (they know better)
wash up and dental stick each. before i settle for night they get a tangle twizler each which has become something of a ritual and a game.
No play fighting tonight just sleeping dogs, Laska snuggled at my side with Marley at my feet as I write this and soo looking forward to the rest of the week, especially as i get to have that morning snuggle up with them both tomorrow instead of creaping out to the horrid commute to work down the M1

Monday March 18th.
forgot to unset the alarm...06:30 on a day off not nice. dogs are restless wondering why i aint moving. try them at the garden for loo but again for second day running a look outside and then run back upstairs, im glad to be following them.
10:30...omg I jump out thinking they must be desperate for loo but no...fast asleep. i make tea come back upstairs and fire up the comps. still sleeping dogs. surf the forums for a while...still sleeping. is this all you do while im not around flipping sleep!

no early walk as busy day for dogs today starting with a 1pm park walk with riley and claire. get out the car and yap yap yap can be heard and they both pull like mad to investigate the yorkie with a lampshade on its head. hold back as poor fella doesnt need my two bouncing around it if its poorley. nice walk around park but no need for the multiple layers ive become accustomed to over the last few months. im hot and the dogs seem hot and slower than normal which is kinda nice.

16:00 yay doggie fun swim!!! no harnesses just on collers so the walk to the pool was a nightmare, but i love seeing them natural and not hidden by straps etc. Josh the pool owner mentioned how hyper they were and that he was going to have to get in with them for this session. kitted out in pink and yelllow jackets the dogs took to the water. Josh said a quick session first to tire them out which didnt happen to plan. laska worked out she could float if she stopped while marley being marley just went all out like a small furry torpedo... and just kept going and going and going. what was supposed to be a 5 min marathon turned into a 20 min session with Josh having to take a break as his arms couldnt take any more. the dogs got out the pool and less than a min marley was pacing and howling while laska just sat with a quizcle look on her face. back in for last ten mins and again they went at it like nutters. Josh advised, no food for 4 hours and that they would most probably not want a walk tonight or even tomorrow. are you coming back he said? yes i replied. are you booking now? no i'll play it by ear i said, cool he said and ran off.

18:00 text from claire, are you in the park tonight after the hydro? oh yes..they have only just stopped playing...dont tell Josh lol
18:30 arrive at park for just over an hours walk and you be mistaken for them being in bed all day. half way around and Elsie the staffy and her owner arrives and starts to bark and play with my two. where is riley and claire he asks? I point to the bushes that riley is currently dragging claire through. Elsie then starts to play with laska, it so sweet, she is around 6 and a rescue and has taken laska under her wing as the only other female in the walking pac. the best thing is the respect laska shows her, all natural and although twice Elsie's size she submits and rolls on her back to be nibbled by her.
19:45 walk over and back home, feeding time... kibble gone in seconds but both unaware of the chicken breasts cooking away in the oven for them. a look of bliss like you have never seen before as two dogs chomp down on an unexpected treat.
20:45 dinner eaten and washed up, two very sleepy dogs splayed out on the floor and sofa looking very content...my job here is done...my time for a rest.

laska in a fetching pink float aid

Marley in yellow,

hey sis we can wear him out, keep at it and well drag him to the side!!!

short one today, had a good sleep in with dogs. then walk which was great and laska met lambs for first time. back home and sleep. joined them in bed lol and marley snuggled up to me and layed accross my back while laska licked my face. met an EBT straining at the leash while on walk , love em but dont see so often. owner informed me that he was a good boy and no threat. i could see that and said so, such a shame we have to say thease things as it was plain to see he was a beut of a boy and not a bother to anyone....laska played a lil with him but he got bored, obv and older more mature dog so i pullled her off to give him some peace. im sure he gave me a knowing wink as he trotted off by. anyhow for the rest of you here are some cute lambs and laska lol, sorry about shakey vid but try hold a phone straight with two dogs lol
https://youtu.be/HS5Vam-FlXE

Thursday 21st March 2013
pretty uneventfull yesterday hence the no diary entry, only thing worth mentioning was at night walk i put laska on a long line which was a mistake... as riley and elsie were there the pack got quite excieted with there new addition running about. this resulted in me loosing the contents of a poo bag and having the long line wrapped around my legs and pulling me clean off my feet... tried hard to keep dignaty as everyone was laughing at me...

today we started laskas bulk up regime, she has just hit the period where she is turning puppy fat into muscle and to top it off she is blowing her coat at the same time so looks like a right lil scrag bag. I keep my dogs lean but for me she is verging on underweight which is as unhealthy as being overweight. she seems to have diverted all and i mean all puppy fat to muscle and has legs arnie would be proud of bless her but its been around 2 weeks faster than what marley did making food arangements trickier to deal with. I can feel spine and ribs with little effort which is a shocker as I check my dogs daily. feet, ears, eyes, body rub for lumps and bumps. Im supplimenting her diet with raw as this seems to add the quickest method for weight modifications in a safe way that doesnt involve the squits.
today we did another long walk in the woods and marley went nuts at the deer again... the prey drive on that guy is unreal. decided to stop off at the cafe for a bite too eat, they do a devine coronation chicked bagette and coffee if your ever near ashridge woods. I hate currents so had to pick em out while stopping marley jumping onto the table the little git...how embarrassing he sat there and howled the whole time we were there as well as he was fired up after the deer encounters. worse thing is he managed to set every other dog off there too...laksa cant howl yet so just yips, riley being a normal dog barked and about three others started off too. we ate and left to the releif of everyone.

Tonight was bliss, just me marley and laska, clipped laska into the long line and let her run free...what a stunning dog she is while running about. big ole husky tail and strong frame she cuts a great image running free and boy did she enjoy it. marley was tierd and so kept close by watching out for his baby sis and running out his line whenever she got a bit to far out. had to chuckle at the drunk singing his heart out thinking he was alone in the park only to realise we were there too and pretending it wasnt him.
Finally, some of you may remember marleys mole dig video from last year (his biggest YT hit) well it looks like laska is following in his tracks, we ended with a massive hole tonight but too dark to vid it and only managed to get one unblurred pic. they were at it for around 10 mins and dug up a massive hole lol...that park warden must hate me ;O)

the memories https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wo6mZ9QiJHI

crappy day... all good until tonight with great walks etc and then i met a park walk friend i hvent seen since last year.
we had a big pack last year sometime getting into 15 dogs and not one incident at all. as the days got shorter so did the ammount of people and the last remaining few of us joked about the fair weather walkers. not all stayed away of there own accord.
not sure if youve realised Im anti DDA and help out when I can with advice and general help with people suffering from this crappy law. a law that judges on looks alone in section three. i wont bang on about it here or i will be on for ages. there are good points but its well outweighed by the bad ones and needs rewriting ASAP to stop dogs from being killed because of the way they look...
so onto the point, they guy i met today has two loverly dogs which are a collie and a staffy cross. the collie will move around the park to his hand gestures and the staffy cross runs up to dogs and rolls on its back no matter what its size, it even does it to nellie our resident JRT which is funny as hell as she doesnt know what to do with this big dog submitting for her.
a few months back alfie the cross was seized as a posible section three for four days but returned (with kennel cough amoungst other things) as he was to young for the DLA to make a call so they said they would have to assess him in 6 months. its nearly up and the poor thing will be taken away, measured and taken to court if he fits the criteria. if he survives he will need to be castrated, tattoed, chipped, have third party liability insurance and have to wear a muzzel in public at all times.

this is Alfie playing with laska while paddy the gsd taunts him, thats my laska my love and joy and who id go to then ends of the earth to defend. yet id trust Alfie with all my heart as well..is this law wrong? make your own mind up...


and Riley, Marley and Alfie playing in the water


God bless Alfie and hope we see you in the park later this year with your fair weather walker