Four absolute Darling's

The black eared one is RJ (after her mum Ruby Junior), the little Brindle one Little Em but in her new home she will be called Hettie, the white one with the dot in her ear is Dottie at the moment but will soon be Phoebe and the other white one is Crystal. They were bred by Jane Foster and they are PROUDLY fed by Darling's. Sigh. Aren't they beautiful?

Raw Dolphins!!!!

I don't really take holidays. Some days I work 18 hours, other days one hour (recently it has been more the former than the latter) and as I love the different things I do this suits me well. But - or rather BUT - if I was going to take a holiday I think I might be jolly tempted to sign up for a Raw Dolphins holiday. Raw Dolphins? Well, yes. Run by a darling Darling customer called Yemaya (who is also a pal of a pal) they offer an opportunity to swim with dolphins in locations that look (to my jaded northern European eyes) pretty close to paradise. Think gorgeous, empty, sunny, sandy beaches. It is also possible to take a yoga class every day on the beach. Yemaya is a huge proponent of raw food and eats an entirely raw vegan diet. Having tried this myself I can vouch for just how great one feels not eating meat and not eating anything cooked. Anyway, the 'raw' bit of Raw Dolphins refers to the food on offer. Whether you treat the holiday as an opportunity to detox or whether you end up changing to a raw diet on a permanent basis if my experience is anything to go by you won't regret it. Hey ho. Marianne and I are just back from four days on Culebra which, as you know, but I didn't, is off Puerto Rica (I relied on the pilots to find it for us...and they did) and so I am rather overflowing with enthusiasm for exactly the sort of place that Raw Dolphins will take you. Also, I note from their website that they do food demonstrations as part of the holiday. As I say, if holidays were my style I'd be booking now. Yemaya can be reached on 07884 438758 or email rawdolphins@live.com

This always makes me laugh, too!

This advertisement reputedly appeared in the Atlanta Journal. Maybe it did. Maybe it didn't!

SINGLE BLACK FEMALE seeks male companionship, ethnicity unimportant. I'm a very good girl who LOVES to play. I love long walks in the woods, riding in your pickup truck, hunting, camping and fishing trips, cozy winter nights lying by the fire. Candlelight dinners will have me eating out of your hand. I'll be at the front door when you get home from work, wearing only what nature gave me... Call (404) 875-6420 and ask for Annie, I'll be waiting.....

Callers supposedly found themselves connected to the Atlanta Humane Society who were looking to re-home a black Labrador. I would love to think the story is true!

This always makes me laugh...

My colleague Ruth just sent me this photograph and although I have seen it half a dozen times IT always makes me laugh. HAPPY EASTER!

Why we were over the moon when Banrigh won at Crufts...

Vicky, Ruth and I were THRILLED when Banrigh (or Ch Drawing Down the Moon to Cusidh) won 1st Open Bitch, Bitch Championship Certificate and Best of Breed at Crufts this year. Why? Because Banrigh is one of our canine customers. It happened by accident, really. My wife, Marianne, and I both have a bad Internet habit. She spends hours online looking at sites with names like HorseDeals.com and I spend hours online looking at dogs. I have a huge yearning for a hound (actually, I have a huge yearning for almost any dog you care to mention) and several months ago I had become obsessed with Scottish Deerhounds, as one does. More by accident than design I came across a site (www.scottish-deerhound.com) devoted to the breed run by Elise and Rob Horsfield. So taken was I by the site that I wrote and offered them a sample box of Darling's for no other reason than...well...I could. Anyway, one thing led to another and the Horsfields have become much valued customers. So, as I say, their win thrilled us.

If you don't know anything about Scottish Deerhounds they repay study. This is what it says on Wikipedia about them: "The Scottish Deerhound is believed by some to have existed back to a time before recorded history. Its antecedents may have been kept by the Scots and Picts, and would have been used to help in providing part of their dietary requirements, namely from hoofed game (archaeological evidence supports this in the form of Roman pottery from around 1st Century AD found in Argyll which depicts the deerhunt using large rough hounds (these can be viewed at the National Museum of Scotland in Edinburgh). Other evidence can be found on standing stones from around the 7th century AD reflecting a hunt using hounds, such as the Hilton of Cadboll Stone. In outward appearance, the Scottish Deerhound is similar to the Greyhound, but larger and more heavily boned. However Deerhounds have a number of characteristics that set them apart. While not as fast as a Greyhound on a smooth, firm surface, once the going gets rough or heavy they can out run a Greyhound. The environment in which they worked, the cool, often wet, and hilly Scottish Highland Glens, contributed to the larger, rough-coated appearance of the breed. The Deerhound is closely related to the Irish Wolfhound and was the main contributor to the recovery of that breed when it was re-created at the end of the 19th century."

Heartiest congratulations to the Horsfields and to Banrigh, too, of course.