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Dr. Schoen and Yin Chiao
When I started this blog I promised myself I was not going to write about veterinary medicine because I already have too much veterinary medicine in my mind but, there is always an exception to the rule! The exception, today, is Dr. Allen M.Schoen, an amazing American holistic veterinary. The first veterinary acupuncture book I purchased was written by him. It might not be the best written book on the topic (I prefer Xie’s Veterinary Acupuncture) but it is still a valuable textbook to refer to. Dr.Schoen, however, is much more than a mere acupuncturist and his books shall be read by pet owners, and by evterinarians, seriously interested in exploring…
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Italian Shooters & British Style Handling
The shooting season here starts formally on September’s third Sunday, aka today. I, however, did not want to “open”, as at the moment I am incredibly busy having to take care of too many things simultaneously (writing calms me down). Being so busy and so absent minded, I have not noticed that my shooting license had expired in July. Without such a license, which is quite troublesome to renew, I cannot carry a shotgun, hence I cannot go shooting. Furthermore, the average Italian pointing dog has no formal training, which means I cannot run Briony with him/her, or I will waste all the training I did for trials, especially for…
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UNCAA – ST. Hubert Academy Field Trial
UNCAA – Accademia di S. Uberto Pointing Dogs Trial Last June I was invited to a trial organized by the UNCAA (National Union of Appennines and Alps Hunters) – ST. Hubert Academy, but the trial was later cancelled and re-scheduled for September. The grounds and the birds changed as well, the trial was going to be held at the Ruino Estate, on the highest hills of Oltrepo’ Pavese , and the dogs were going to be assessed on grey partridges, no longer on quails Those who know me, are well aware of how much I love Ruino as I spent about eight years regularly shooting and handling English Setters there. …
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Prova UNCAA – Accademia S. Uberto
In giugno ero stata invitata alla prova estiva organizzata dall’UNCAA (Unione Nazionale Cacciatori Appennini e Alpi)- Accademia S. Uberto, ma la prova è poi stata annullata e rimandata a settembre. Sono cambiati anche i terreni e i selvatici: la località questa volta era l’Azienda Agrituristica Venatoria Ruino, in Alto Oltrepo’ Pavese e i selvatici previsti non più quaglie bensì starne. Conosco molto bene la riserva di Ruino, ci ho cacciato regolarmente per anni e so che offre terreni adatti alla cinofilia, anche alle razze inglesi. Nella e-mail di invito venivano specificati pochi dettagli sulla prova che, sebbene pensata per i soci dell’UNCAA e dell’Accademia, era aperta a tutti. Non sapendo come…
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L’Universo parla
Il mio amico Vittorio, qualche giorno fa, si è stizzito perché, stando a lui, non avevo dato conferme in merito alla “cena del maialino” (cinghialino). Cercando un chiarimento è emerso che suddetto maialino era stato menzionato via messaggio telefonico il 15 agosto scorso. Dove ero io quel giorno? In un sacco a pelo da qualche parte sulle Alpi svizzere, priva di connessioni telefoniche di alcun tipo, wifi e 3G incluso. Per capire bisogna fare un passo indietro. Spesso mi perdo in un mondo parallelo, un mondo in cui non riesco ad aprire I cancelli e spesso nemmeno li vedo (Linda!). So di essere un po’ peculiare ma, del resto credo…
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When dog training meets pragmatism
There are instances in which you need someone reliable and pragmatic by your side. It is not only soldiers on battlefields who need mates full of practical sense and decisiveness, dog people need them as well. Some dog people, especially those with red hair who get lost in training philosophies and follow shamans, need these people more than others. After religiously following White Feather for more than six months, Briony decided that it was time for a change, she wanted less discipline and more freedom, I could hardly find the balance. WF training grounds, furthermore, were no longer available as the alfalfa and other crops were growing quickly. No other…
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Guidare in Inghilterra: verso nord
Gli italiani che programmano un viaggio in auto nel Regno Unito hanno una grande preoccupazione, quella di dover guidare sull’ “altro” lato. Io avevo un piano: avrei seguito la macchina davanti a me (il che non ha sempre senso, lo ammetto) e mi sarei ricordata che il mio corpo avrebbe sempre dovuto viaggiare sul lato della strada, accanto al marciapiede. Il discorso destra-sinistra mi toccava poco, lasciate che vi racconti un segreto: non riesco a distinguere bene la destra dalla sinistra! Sono destromane ma il mio occhio dominante è il sinistro, l’ho scoperto praticando il tiro a volo. La dominanza crociata rende molto più complicata qualsiasi disciplina sportive che preveda…
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Accomodations, hosts and guests
To plan my trip to the UK I used two instruments: Booking.com and Google Maps. Booking.com showed me where I could stay, mostly hotels and pubs, but I wrongly believed to be a Bed & Breakfast person. Whereas in the UK everybody runs a B&B, or at least have a friend who does, these accommodations are quite unusual in Italy. I thought (wrongly – again) that B&B were sort of “friendlier” and cheaper than pubs. Hotels sounded more expensive and houses, despite being extremely attractive, looked a bit too much for a tiny single human being and her dog. Each time I read stuff like “sleeps 6”, I imagined myself…
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On steadiness (… and obedience!)
As soon as Briony became steady to flush I, full of pride, posted some videos on Facebook. The road that brought us to steadiness was a long one, I was extremely happy to have reached what, months early, seemed to be unattainable. Briony was originally purchased to be my personal shooting dog and indeed she became a good one. She knew how to locate birds, point, be steady on point and retrieve the killed ones but, like all the Italian shooters, I did not even think to make her steady to wing and shot. I simply did not care and she spent years “chasing” after the bird was produced, until…
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On driving in the UK, to the North
When people plan to drive in the UK they are usually very worried because they will have to drive on the “other” side. My plan was to follow the car ahead of me, and to remember that my body had to remain close to the sidewalks. Left and right did not concern me that much, for the very simple reason that, I will tell you a secret, I am not good at differentiating them. I have a right hand dominance and a left eye dominance, a thing that makes any kind of shooting a bit more complicated and that makes hard to differentiate the left from the right. In the…