Dogs and Things.

Wednesday 2nd April.

My thoughts are with the desperate people of Zimbabwe right now as they move into the fourth day of waiting for the outcome of their election. The BBC are reporting that Morgan Tsvangirai's party are neck and neck with Robert Mugabe's and that It may go to a second round.

Some of my happiest memories are from my time spent in Zimbabwe. It was 1983 and even then, Robert Mugabes 5th Brigade were systematically slaughtering the opposition. (the Ndbele people) I lived in Matabele land in a small town called Hwange close to Victoria Falls. I was lucky to find a job in the pharmacy of a small hospital which was run by British nuns. My boss was a lovely Irishman who was most probably an alcoholic, I was suppose to be second in command and we had 2 local men called Solomon and Isaac who were the technicians. I remember one day dispensing a prescription for a baby called Bornfree, such was the optimism of the people at the time. I wonder if Bornfree is alive to day to see the wholesale destruction of her country. I heard on the news the other day that the average life expectancy of a Zimbabwean is 35.

We called our first Ridgeback Joshua after Joshua Nkomo who was the leader of Matabeleland at the time I was there. This was also the first time I encountered the Rhodesian Ridgeback.

I would like to keep a male from Kasidi and Raiza and my thoughts are that I should dedicate my dogs name to Morgan Tsvangirai, just cant figure out an abbreviated version. Maybe we could call him Tsvang pronounced Chang.

We woke up to horrible snow this morning and although Ruby and Kasidi would have preferred to stay at home they came on the walk and really enjoyed themselves. I do feel It is important to keep them fit so they are prepared for the huge task they will face in a couple of weeks. Uterine inertia can be a problem in bitches that have a large litters and fitness plays an important part in preventing this.

Ruby is becoming increasingly fussy with her food. She knows that when she is feeding her puppies I give her lots of chicken and tuna and this time around she is holding out for the same even though the puppies are yet to be born. I feed my dogs Evo which is a highly palatable dog food with no grain but she is even turning her nose up at that. Sprinkle something from our food table and she will wolf It down. I am happy to play her little games If It keeps her happy as she is carrying very precious cargo.

Kasidi is looking enormous but I will not know until next week how many puppies she is carrying.