Change is afoot

So much for writing more in my blog this year...oops. It's a very busy time for us though. Mum is coming to the end of her studies and has been on the Big Job Hunt. It's not so much fun as squirrel hunting apparently. Anyway apparently it is all over now and she has found a fab place where not only are animals treated alongside humans already, but there's even a chance that I can go to work with her! This is good news. Only trouble is that i'm a little on the, ahem, vocal side when I hear people arriving at home. And barking noisily at work is Not An Option.

Soo - any tips to dampen down my protective instincts a bit?

New girlfriend

Trouble is you can see the effect I seem to have on the ladies. Eszti, like Ditto, is a master at the lip curl. Anyway we had a nice lunch on Sunday in a pub together (well, come to think of it the humans forgot to order us any food, some lunch!) and we did the lazy play thing where you lie on the floor and open mouths at each other. I think she's pretty cool anyway, even if she does give me funny looks :-)

There's been a lot of rain around lately, which means a LOT of mud. Mum has developed this annoying habit of rinsing me off after practically EVERY walk!! And all because she didn't one day and missed a stoopid cut i had on my leg. Ho hum, at least she's not using smelly shampoo. It's not very dignified though, although perhaps more showers would be a good thing as far as Eszti is concerned? Stop the funny looks? I wonder...

Smiling

Ziggi likes to smile. I do a fair bit of smiling too :-)

The other thing I do is wash myself with my paws and tongue. Does anyone else do this? Mum thinks it's because I think I'm a cat. I suppose Oscar has always been a role model for me so maybe i've learnt it off him? I lick my paw and rub it over my face. Great for getting those tasty eye bogeys hah hah.

I went for a cycle ride with my folks in the New Forest last weekend. It is SO much better when they cycle. Usually I'm hanging around waiting for them to keep up, looking over my shoulder etc, it really takes the 'flow' out of a walk I can tell you. But when they cycle they cruise along just behind me and we can FLY! Get so much further too!

I had a small area of skinned paw on my right foot before we went so mum put this boot on me as we were running so far. I ended up wearing right through it! What do other people do - my other feet seemed ok, they didn't wear through...maybe mum should trust to nature and let my pads do the work!

Happy New Year!

Happy New Year everyone! Sorry to have been so quiet in 2008, will have to make it my new year's resolution to write more blog posts. Christmas was fun, I got some cool toys, some robodog eyes and this VERY uncool hat, gah...

I have wanted to try agility for some time now, but if you're not a collie around here it doesn't seem possible. So I've decided that agility is for girls and have taken up the new sport of dog steeplechasing. Much tougher, much rougher, much better!

Speaking of dodgy hats...I went to the pub on boxing day and look what they did to me! It WAS cold outside mind you.


And I'm VERY unimpressed that the cold has led my feline housemates to discover my bed, which is all toasty by the radiator in mum's study. I suppose in his defence it *did* used to be his bed, but he never used it so fair's fair. It's mine really. But now I've got to share it. I think I will have to get a bit tougher with Oscar in 2009...

Where have all the squirrels gone?

I went for a walk to one of my favourite parks this week and was VERY disappointed by the lack of squirrels, despite me pretty much stalking around in a low crouch THE WHOLE WAY. So if I wasn't scaring them off, where have they gone? Well - I have two hypotheses (am trying to be more scientific B3!).

One: Squirrels are spotlight-grabbing media-loving wannabees. The BBC is filming 'Autumnwatch' locally on Brownsea Island. The island is famous for its red squirrel population. Clearly the local greys have got themselves a bad dye job and shipped off to the island to join in the fun.

Two: They have been roasted and eaten on a Portuguese Fireplace. Whilst on a walk in the New Forest last weekend I happened across some young boys skinning and roasting squirrels. I would have joined in but prefer to do the skinning myself.

Either way it is bad news for the local dog population. Perhaps now Autumnwatch is over they'll come back to their home parks. In the meantime I'm having to pretend that small fluffy dogs and birds are worth chasing, but it's not really the same.

October at Wasdale Head

I've just got back from my hols in the Lake District. The Lake District is a very beautiful place, very open and great to run about in, except for the perplexing thing that you seem to have to be on the lead all the time. Perhaps it has something to do with these woolly things on the hills?

The views from the top of the mountains were awesome, when mum let me get anywhere near enough an edge to see. You can just about make out our little white cottage in the valley below us on this pic:

It's very windy on the hills though - plays havoc with a man's jowls!

It wasn't all extreme hills though, we did find some pretty valleys and EVEN some areas where I was allowed off the lead.


The best bit of the trip was meeting the very famous Redgirls! I behaved like a true gent and even lent Berta my (spare) coat when it got a bit wet and miserable.

Berta took a real liking to my dad.

We went for a nice walk and then to a pub for lunch (appropriately called the Dog and Gun). I have corrupted the Redgirls cos it turned out to be their first pub outing. Just giving them a taste of city life. We even went into some SHOPS! In fact I'm very jealous cos they got some fab new coats and I really do want one. I'm still pretty skinny so the absence of any body fat means I do feel the cold a bit. Maybe I can get one for Christmas?

The Redgirls liked the open spaces the best and took off playing madly. I wasn't going to join in with all that female play so let them get on with it.

Here's me with my mum - turns out the latest issue of Your Dog magazine had a walk in the valley next to ours. This is me and mum on the bridge that they featured. Maybe if we send it in they will publish it!?

Here's me and my dad doing the atmospheric brooding men shot.