Valiant Protector

Been off to see my mum and dad this weekend.

All told, easy trip, traffic had the occasional idiot but on the whole, no holdups, no hassle. And a relaxing weekend with the mum and dad.

They're still shaking down their new place, putting things where they need them and all that. But it's quite cosy and well arranged. Not as big but that was the whole point of moving. It's also closer to where their friends are.

Win win.

And they still have :

Ben, the Valiant Protector.

He's a Staffy Bull Terrier who's actually getting quite old now. His coat's good but the grey has taken over his whole muzzle now. Makes him look rather distinguished.

He's a lovely dog, typical Staffy. He looks after his people, loves to be around them (and is perfectly well behaved when they're out) and gives us huge amounts of fuss.

Ben's amazing.

And that's the little fella at play. You can really see that poorly paw there. Both have had trouble :

Both paws have a genetic defect that makes them turn in, putting huge stress on the lower joint. It causes Ben a lot of pain when he forgets and goes jumpy.
The right paw was broken as a puppy, which paradoxically made it the stronger. It healed straight, which sorted out that genetic defect.

Pub run ! Yep. Dad's birthday next week. I couldn't make that though (car is in for service), so we gathered at a fairly equidistant pub for a decent meal (steak was edible but on the raw side of Medium Rare). Which meant I got to drive on possibly my favourite road. Twice.

It has lots of corners which can be taken at nice high speed (nothing above 60 - promise - cough). It has one little complex which is especially challenging. It's in a dip, with the sharp corner at the bottom of the dip. And then there's a hill after. You can take the sharp corner in perfect conditions at 70mph, if the car is cooperative.

What makes a well handling car ?

Reactions. It has to settle back to neutral very quickly after finishing one corner. Some cars are still settling 50 yards (or more!) after the corner. They're still wobbling around as you enter the next corner.

The IS ? Ate up the corner with relish and I actually laughed. I like that corner.

Back home and tired now though. I'll watch a few videos, maybe game a bit and then :

Poor fella. All tuckered out.

I'm going to hope to get as many pictures as I can old Old Ben. He may not be with us for many more years. I hope he'll keep hobbling on but I have that feeling that it's getting closer to his Time.

But not just yet. There's life in the old dog yet. And he definitely showed that when he had his ruff up defending us from unexpected visitors today :-). (Before heading outside with the mum & dad to give said visitors a good slurping in true Staffy style).

(PS If anyone's wondering, the reason the tail isn't visible except in that last photo, is that it's disappeared into a wagging blur of happy dog wag. The family doesn't believe in tail docking !)