On the face of Tip.

This series of pictures is of some of the expressions on Tippy's face, there were of course many more that sadly went uncaptured, one such expression being when she was grinning. You've no doubt seen dogs do this, they show all their teeth a bit like as if they were snarling. Tippy used to do this when you returned from somewhere without her, she would show her teeth and wag her whole body - Tess just wets herself! I'm hoping this sort of excitement will maybe turn to a smile later in life.

Caught napping.

This week my pictures of Tippy are relaxing pictures. As we have seen these past months Tippy worked and played fast and hard but like any other dog there were times whan she just wanted to put her feet up and relax. As I've mentioned in the past she seemed to acquire a chair in every room downstairs and wasn't fussy about who's bed she slept on upstairs given the chance. The only restrictions placed on her by us as to where she went depended on how muddy she was. I've heard it said that dogs shouldn't be allowed here there and everywhere because of this that and the other but to us she and any other of our dogs are treated as any other member of the family - I will get shouted at for going upstairs with muddy feet just the same as any of the dogs will so provided she respected the rules of the family she was allowed to go wherever the family was allowed to go and so Tippy could just as often be found fast asleep on one of our beds as she could outside under a bush on a hot day or on the back seat of the car while out for a drive. Below are some of the places where Tippy has been caught napping.

Good friends.

This weeks pictures of Tippy are really just a reminder of what a great dog she was with regard to other dogs. Within the space of a month she went from being the only dog of the household for ten years to being one of three dogs and she never kicked up any sort of a fuss about it at all. Her and Tommy became great friends and I think he helped her to come to terms with her retirement from being a working farm dog and she in turn calmed Tommy down from being the wild dog that he was when he came to us. Vicki and I always thought they became like husband and wife, Tippy certanly used to keep him in order and well and truely rounded up.

Some favourite things.

Like any dog Tippy used to have her favourite toys, below are some pictures of her enjoying play time. Her most favourite toy of all time was the tennis ball and loved nothing better than performing alsorts of acrobatics as she jumped to catch the ball, unfortunately this was never recorded as it was before the days when we aquired multi-functional digital camera's. Another favourite pass time was having a tummy rub, you should never turn down the chance of a good tummy rub because one day you won't be able to and then you will wish you had taken the time.

Saying it all without words.

I'm sure that most of you will recognise this picture as the one in my profile. It was taken by my ex-friend Jo when her and David came over to visit one time. I like this picture because I think it says everything about all the featured subjects.

Watching.

This picture of Tippy was taken during the same holiday as last weeks pictures, I love the way she is peeping over the rock making sure she has us all rounded up and under control.

Teaching Tommy holidays are for.

These pictures were taken when on holiday in north west Scotland. It was the first holiday that we took Tommy with us and as you can see from the the pictures and a previous video I posted Tippy had a great time running round keeping him under control and showing him what to do on holiday.

A weekend break for Tippy.

This weeks picture of Tippy was taken at Sutton Bank near Thirsk in North Yorkshire. We were on a weekend break and stopped off here for a walk. Later that day we found a bed and breakfast that took dogs although we often went bed and breakfast and Tippy would just sleep in the car, she was a very good dog and made no fuss of anything you asked her to do, in fact she was probably happier in the car than in a strange house with strange noises. For the evening meal we went to a local inn and they let Tippy come in were she lay under the table as quiet as a mouse.

Beautiful Tippy.

This weeks picture of Tippy is quite a recent one, I think I've already said how it was hard to get a picture of her actually looking at the camera so to me this one is a special one, not just because of that but also the look on her face.

Tippy the sheep dog.

Lambing time seemed to be Tip's favourite time of year, she spent all her time outdoors watching the sheep and lambs. She was not still for a minute forever running round the farm checking out all the different pens where the sheep and lambs were housed during lambing time. She gave the impresssion that she knew each one by name and if it wasn't in view she would go and search it out. Also no vantage point was overlooked in her quest for the best view, it was quite amazing to see her leaping from one lot of bales to the next often very high up in the barns. There was the odd occassion when she lost her footing and ended up in the pens with the sheep, there would then be a mad scramble to get out, the sheep didn't seem to mind her keeping an eye on them but she wasn't so welcome in the pen itself.