Now I know that it has been a bit of a while since my last writing. It isn’t that there hasn’t been anything exciting happening in my life, in fact quite the opposite. I just haven’t had time to put paw to keyboard! Let me start where I left off last. On Saturday evening (it seems like a lifetime ago, but only a few days really) I went to Fran and Iain’s for dinner. They’ve got a luuuvely house. I explored all over the house whilst Fran, Iain, Alex, Richard, Zena and Simon had a drink. Fran had put some crisps and nuts out to go with their drinks which I thought I might try too, but apparently they weren’t for me. I did try to get one, but they were soon whipped away.
When dinner was served I took my usual place under the table ready to push out a few ?s. It was all quite exciting though and it took me a few minutes to settle, but eventually I did. Everyone had a wonderful evening and I think they might have consumed a tipple or two judging by the amount of merriment in the evening. On Sunday morning, Richard took me out for a walk and when we got back Alex had disappeared. Apparently he had gone to pickup Bren and Cathy from the airport. I don’t really know what an airport is and I hadn’t met Bren and Cathy yet, so it all seemed a bit confusing.
Anyway, we had hardly been home for many minutes when Richard got me all ready to go out again! It turned out that we were going back to Fran and Iain’s house. When we got there Richard had a chat with Fran and Iain and I had a look around to see if anything had changed (it hadn’t) and, would you believe it, when I turned around Richard had gone too. I didn’t mind though because Fran and Iain are lovely and so I spent a few hours with them. We walked up ‘Hilly Fields’ and went in the garden a few times and it was all really good fun. By the time Alex and Richard got back (late!) I was getting quite tired and a bit hungry.
They were late because the traffic back from Hastings (I wonder where that is?) was bad. They both felt very bad because Fran was going to go to a concert and she missed it because they were late! When we went home on Sunday evening Alex and Richard seemed very tired so I didn’t play too much. They sat down and watched a film, but Richard went to bed and Alex fell asleep, so they weren’t great company and neither of them knows what happens in the film!
Monday was a whole new day. Firstly, Alex was working. That means that he sits in his study and does things and then occasionally gets a phone call on the old dog and bone. I invented a new game – it was really fun – whenever Alex was on the phone I would bark at the top of my voice until he finished his phone call. What larks I had! We also had a meeting at the Flower Farm tea room, but they wouldn’t let me in and it was pouring with rain, so we had to sit outside which wasn’t much fun. I did manage a bit of my barking game whilst they were talking though. In the afternoon Alex had a very important telephone call with someone from America. I barked and barked all they way through, but I don’t think Alex was all that pleased with me!
We went out for a walk in the late afternoon because Alex said I had been acting like a ‘teenager’ all day. I don’t know what one of those is, but I don’t think Alex likes them much. One of my other discoveries of the day was a ball. Apparently Richard and Alex have spent a small fortune on toys for me (whatever a small fortune is!) but I found this ball that is all squeaky when I bite it which Alex says was only about 5p! Anyway, I really like this ball and my favourite game now is to drop it somewhere where I can’t get hold of it and I can’t get it back and then I sit and look at it and bark my head off! Great fun!! Teenager? I don’t know what he means!
Monday evening took a real turn for the better when who should arrive at the door than Amanda from Happy Buddies! She is just grrreat! She is my personal trainer (every discerning dog should have one) and we were going to have another session. First things first, she asked Alex to show her what I am like with the car. She agreed that things are pretty bad. She threw a few treats down around the car and, after a while, I decided to eat them (one should never let a good treat go to waste!). Then Richard opened the car boot (whilst I was looking the other way) and she put treats on the back and in the car!
After a few more minutes of more treats (Amanda does good treats!) we went back inside. It turns out it isn’t the car that I don’t like, it is getting in because it is so painful on my hips! Alex has ordered a special ramp for me and Amanda thinks that with a bit of training I’m going to be OK with the car when I can get in without pain! Anyway, after the excitement of the car, I showed Amanda how good I have got at sitting and lying down and then we went out for a walk. I say a walk, but it wasn’t the usual kind. We walked up Salisbury Road but I had to walk by Amanda’s side and not pull on the lead at all. I can do it, but it takes a lot of very high value treats!
Alex had a go on the way back and I did behave quite well for him. This morning we went out for a walk and I nearly got all the way down Salisbury Road without pulling! Today I have been a bit better behaved. I finally met Bren and Cathy this morning. I like them! Cathy spent absolutely ages playing with me and my squeaky ball! When we went into the Garden Bren had a look at some plants and then, when he put them down I picked them up and ran off with them! Another good game! Alex and Bren spent quite a few minutes looking for where I had hidden the plants!
This afternoon has been a bit quieter. Alex had to do some work, so apart from a few games of ‘drop the ball and bark’ I spent much of it pushing out ?s. When Richard came home we went for a walk and, once we got to ‘Sniff Central’ we tried the walking on a loose lead bit again. I got about half way down Salisbury Road before I got a bit bored and decided not to bother anymore. This evening I am heavily into ‘drop the ball and bark’ but Alex is ignoring me now and Richard is in the kitchen. Ho hum, these games are not what they are cracked up to be sometimes.
But, for now, must paws …
