Beardies' World by Joyce Ives

Beardies' World is Joyce Ives’ narrative to the twenty-six years she and husband John owned, cared for and loved their four Bearded Collies. The memories shared by Joyce in this book are likely to touch the heart of anyone who has had any experience of growing up and growing old with dogs. In her narrative Joyce has been able to capture beautifully how our special bond with our canine friends often becomes so significant in our life’s journey; our experiences of joy and laughter and at times our sadness and loss.

Here is a Guest post  by the author:


FAVOURITE THINGS

1. When well trained and socialised, we could take our Beardies anywhere if invited. Going to friend’s houses for the first time can be stressful for the friends especially if they do not own dogs themselves. Our friends would anxiously watch our Beardies nosing around taking in all the unfamiliar smells, once they were satisfied, they would come back and just stretch out at our feet, not moving until it was time to leave. If food was offered to us, they had been trained not to expect to receive any titbits from us or our hosts. We never fed them whilst at the table or sitting in comfortable chairs. Absolutely bad manners seeing other dogs drooling and dribbling around the table.

2. Beardies have an extremely friendly nature and when out walking in an area where they are not known, we are always asked ‘what breed, can I stroke them?’ Again they were taught not to jump up people, nothing is worse, especially if they have muddy paws. The dogs glowed with happiness getting all the attention, they are easily approachable by adults and children. This is always an opportunity to have a chat and elaborate on what sort of nature the dogs have. This is when I mentioned showing and also agility which Kizzy loved doing in her younger years. If there was a low wall at the front of a house, usually a whole estate had low walls, Kizzy would proudly hop up and walk along them. The owners if watching out their windows would laugh. It did go wrong one day, a white cat was curled up on the other side of a wall and attacked Kizzy making her fall off, but it never stopped her wall-walking.

3. Our beardies were such good company, when they were young they were allowed on our laps, but knew not to actually touch the furniture whilst lying in our arms. There is nothing more pleasing than having a warm body snuggled on you. Though they were not allowed on the furniture on their own. In later years, when it was a struggle for them, they would lie in their bean bags or on duvets on cots, sleeping with one eye open not to miss anything going on. It made me so proud and content to own a Beardie/Beardies.

4. I was never happier than to have one of my Beardies on the grooming table, usually once a week (unless they had a piece of stick, foliage or burrs caught in their coat which was immediately dealt with). Trained as puppies (they are very wriggly when first attempting to brush them.) They then lie down happily and I worked from their tail/bottom, up to their heads turning them over to brush the other side including their under carriage. This done, they knew they had to sit whilst I cleaned their ears and brushed their teeth with meat tasting toothpaste ending with rewarding them with a titbit. As soon as they were down, they paraded in front of my husband knowing they would be told how beautiful they looked, their tails wagging. I would then find the next Beardie was already on the table waiting her turn. This was routine, one after the other. To groom a Beardie properly takes one hour. If bathing
as well, it takes two hours using an industrial canine hairdryer. They were so patient being bathed and loved the hairdryer. I found grooming so relaxing.

5. During times when we had to leave them, which wasn’t often, returning home was total joy for them and us. They would each rush to their toy box offering us their favourite toy, elated that we were all back together again. Our neighbours when asked, always said that there was total silence when we were out, which was hugely rewarding knowing they didn’t bark.

6. Our Beardies were not official Pat Dogs, but whenever we visited my brother-in-law and also later on, my Mother too in their care homes, it was a pleasure taking them around visiting the residents who wanted to stroke them. One day, a particular lady, said she had a dog once and proceeded to tell us all about it. The staff approached us later saying that it was the first time she had spoken in a year, so we were also welcomed by the staff with smiles whenever we visited. It was good to see everyone so happy.

7. Finally, the most favourite things was taking them on new walks and also on holidays with us. They took it all in their stride once they had explored the property and settled down immediately. When bed time came, they were usually tired after travelling and were no trouble at all. It was lovely to see their friendly faces and wagging tails when we greeted them the next morning.

Information about the book
Title: Beardies’ World
Author: Joyce Ives
Release Date: 25th September 2018
Genre: Non-Fiction - Animals

Publisher: Clink Street Publishing

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