Petopoly!

Yes it's the latest fun board game you can base around your very best friend, if you loved monopoly you will love this game with a twist!
Have a tail -wagging good time with DOGOPOLY Board Game! It's a playful celebration of our wonderful canine friends! 
Around the board, you will find your favourite breeds, from the tiny Chihuahua to the giant Great Dane. 
The fun includes buying dog houses that you can trade for big bones. 
Also, you may become the delighted owner of the local butcher shop; or perhaps the very popular fire hydrant! Collect $200 every time you pass Go Fetch! 
However, if you have fleas, you will end up paying $200! DOGOPOLY is great fun for your family and friends, and a perfect gift for dog lovers!

What's your breed?

Pet owners can choose from a generic Dogopoly, or find one of their very favourite breeds.

Labrador Owners will love Labopoly! 
LABOPOLY Board game is all about increasing property value by purchasing Toys for your Labs and trading them up to Big Bones. Enjoy your time in the land of Labs, and don't end up in the kennel!

Boxer owners will love Boxeropoly!
While they are certainly boisterous by nature, their intelligence is up there with the best of them. They fit easily into family life and thrive on being one of the "pack". Devoted and fearless, Boxers have an endless capacity to give love! Increase your rent by buying Toys for your dogs and upgrading them to Big Bones. Sounds easy enough until you get fleas, have an accident on the carpet, or worse yet, get sent to the kennel! 
So grab your token and advance to go Boxers! 
Who knows! You may soon be Best in Show...or marching in the Dog Parade! 
Whatever happens, keep your wag on!

CHIHUAHUAOPOLY Board Game fits the bill! 
The Chihuahua is named after the Mexican state of Chihuahua. 
It is generally believed that the smallest breed of dog with large eyes and generous ears descended from the Fennec Fox. 
Chihuahuas are graceful yet saucy. Keep that in mind as you pick your favourites and roll. You may win Best in Show!
Other breeds in the series, include Jack Russells, Boston Terriers, Pugs and Dachshunds!
It's not just all dogs though, cat lovers can also play with the cat version, Catopoly!

CATOPOLY Board Game is the purr-fect game for cat lovers! 
The Tonkinese, the Ragdoll, the Abyssinian, the Sphinx, or the Maine Coon will be waiting for you to purchase them. 
When you land on Catnip, everything in the centre of the board is yours! 
You can collect Litter Boxes, then trade them in for Fish Bones. 
Watch out for the hefty dog tax that gets you past the neighbourhood bully or a spike collared bulldog! 
Most importantly, do not fall in the water!
You will lose three turns if you do! A mad wet cat is an utter cat-astrophy!

Encourage Wildlife Into Your Garden

Bat Box

No matter how large or small your garden, it's easy to turn it into a haven for wildlife.
There is a fantastic range of ready made homes for wildlife available online.

The Bat Box is designed to encourage bats to nest in your garden, it's rough sawn to give them grip and untreated to encourage them to roost.

As Bats are a protected species, you must not be tempted to open the box and have a peek, only persons licensed to handle bats should open this box.

Hogitat Hedgehog Shelter

A fun and easy way to discover if bats are nearby is either patience, or the perfect gift for gadget loving wildlife fans, the Magenta Bat 4 bat detector, available online, It converts bats' inaudible ultra-sonic sounds to frequencies in the range of human hearing and comes with a headphone socket and built in torch.

On the ground, protecting your garden from slugs and snails are Hedgehogs, Frogs and Toads, encourage them with plenty of safe shelters and places to hide during the day.

The Hogitat is a brilliant little shelter designed to blend in with your garden.
On the RSPB Website there is extensive information on how to encourage these wonderful little nocturnal creatures into your garden. 

The Frogitat

Frogs and Toads will love the little Frogitat, not only does it look great in a sheltered spot in your garden,  it gives them year-round protection from predators and with wet and dry floor areas it protects inhabitants from extreme temperatures. 

And, of course as you would expect, there are plenty of fun and practical ideas to encourage birds and insects into your garden, with little insect houses for ladybirds and other mini beasts . Bird homes and nest boxes and a fantastic range of bird food and feeders.

With a little time and patience your garden will soon be buzzing with a magnificent variety of wildlife!

Just Walking the Dog... (thanks Susi)

It's been a busy time here at Delphinus Dreams, but when the working day is over it's nice to unwind with a long leisurely walk with the dog...
Well, it should be, but little Grylls is a very spirited little soul! 
He's not so little any more either. 
Since the blog about him in August he has grown quite a bit and looks nothing like he did then.
Training him  has been fun, he is growing into a beautiful dog with a great character and a real love of, well everything really.


He faces every challenge with pure enthusiasm and joy and with his fearless attitude he certainly lives up to his name. 
 
Walking him on a lead has never been a simple task, as he was originally found as a stray I often wonder if he had escaped in the past because no matter what I have tried,he would try to wriggle out of it.

Little Grylls

We've had lots of fun this last year, it started with a collar, but he would pull and struggle, so we tried a harness. As he grew and got stronger he would pull so much it was rubbing under his legs.
He would also jump up and bite to try and get me to let go of the lead.
I have holes in my jeans and jackets from past battles with this stubborn little pup who is determined to make a break for freedom!
We got through the biting phase thankfully!

We tried a Slip Lead for a while, but he would almost strangle himself trying to lead the way ahead.
Later on we tried  The Canny Collar for Dogs, I liked it because it had a secure buckle and the web strap over his nose to gently deter him from pulling looked like a great solution.
And it was!
For about a week!

He soon managed the art of sudden and random lunging to try and trick us into letting him go, this caused rubbing under his eyes and obvious soreness, so the Canny Collar has been placed in the cupboard with many other tried, tested and beaten by Grylls methods!

The Gentle Leader

Next I tried a  Gentle Leader This was great and worked very well, but putting it on correctly with his long fur getting in the way was difficult. 
Some time ago I considered trying a Susi Combi Lead from Pets Express, but way back then Grylls was too clever in his escape methods and I feared we might lose him.
However as time has gone on and Grylls has settled I know he wont run away now, nor am I so worried about him struggling to escape.
I bought one last week and can honestly say I am delighted with it.
The Susi Combi Lead and Head Collar all in one comes with simple instructions and is so easy to use, the material is soft on your hands too and must be so much more comfortable for the dog.

Gwen from Pets Express asked me for my honest opinion so I decided to really put it through the test.

On the Beach

 
First I took him for a small walk over the back.
He wasn't too happy with the lead at first but I was!
The change was instant, there was no riding up to his eyes, no scuffing and amazingly no pulling or lunging!

Grylls was walking at my side with an occasional tug on the lead that just gently turned his head in my direction. We saw a cat and Grylls did try to do his manic lunging thing, but I quickly gained control, with no force or effort and we happily carried on our walk.
Next we went to the beach, Grylls's favourite place!
After some joyful free running we met other dog walkers, Grylls's favourite thing!

I put his new Susi Combi Lead on him because not many dogs, or owners appreciate the whole happy Grylls experience. (for those that have already, I'm sorry)
Just wonderful! Grylls wanted to run, but the lead gently stops him, another huge bonus is there is no fiddling around trying to get sand out of sprung clips, the Susi lead has no metal parts and is just one long and soft lead.

It's easy to slip on and off, yet it holds your dog securely, even if he did try to wriggle out of it he wouldn't be able to.
If I'd have realised this it would have been the first and only training, no pull lead that I'd have bought.

Even yesterday, Grylls tried to fly after a Seagull but the Susi lead gives him a gentle reminder that I'm on the end of the lead and I have his (almost) full attention again.
Unlike other products I've tried, once we get home he has no flattened fur, no signs or rubbing or chaffing at all and the best thing of all is I have had moments of walking along with my dog at my side with a slack lead and a wagging tail.

It is without a doubt the best training lead or head collar I have ever tried, so a massive thank you to the beautiful Susi who inspired the design and to Gwen for supplying it.

I'm off now to enjoy a walk with my dog! :o) Have a wonderful long weekend!

Grylls today, 5 years later 

Publishing problems on Blogger

Blogger has been a bit glitchy this week, I've had problems publishing and the only way around it I've found is to not put in any labels until the posts are published.
Then log into your dashboard, using bloggers new look select the posts option, click the post you want to add your tags or labels into, then click the little label icon and select your label from the drop down box or click add new.
It should then work.

Worlds Largest Pumpkin Zombie Sculpture

Awesome Zombie sculpture

I was intending to knuckle down and get straight to work today, but some things just stop you in your tracks...
like Ray Villafanes awesome Zombie sculpture.

I stumbled on it through a facebook link, you can view the story and larger, more detailed photos on  a screenshow here. 
The worlds largest Pumpkin is transformed into a freaky, frightening work of art. 
The Zombies look like they're about to reach out and grab you ready to feast on your brains!
Pumpkin soup anyone?


It inspired me to look up Ray Villafane and wow! Amazing work! 
Check out his gallery here. 
You have to check out the Predator and Medusa they are beautifully terrifying.
He has done many more Pumpkin sculptures, I'm sure like me you could get lost for hours in his gallery...
Enjoy!

Life-size Human Sculptures Used to Create Creepy Artificial Reef

Life-size Human Sculptures Used to Create Creepy Artificial Reef