Who is this Santa guy?

I woke this morning to find a video message in my inbox from Santa. Who is Santa? He seems like a nice guy, but wow he knows a lot of stuff about me - it's kind of scary. What is exciting though is that he seems to know what I want for christamas and becuase I am a good boy , he says he will deliver it to my house, and for free - now thats what I call service. Me and this santa guy I think are going to become great friends.

http://www.portablenorthpole.tv/watch/guest/xWVDwfNdvD7UvNcUseCXvg

No Snow- No show

So, the snow has finally cleared, all except the big spoil heaps dotted along the pavements and driveways, where folks have relentlessly dug their way to freedom over the past two weeks. So mum and I set off to agility classes as usual only to find to our disappointment when we arrived it was closed. We had no notification, well according to mum there was no email, I don’t get involved in such things – email is much too complex for me. 

It is quite a long way to get to agility, it’s about 45 minutes in the car, so we didn’t want to just turn around and come home. Mum let me out of the car in the car park just to stretch my legs. However I knew where I was and where I wha meant to be going  and so I trotted merrily up to the gate and made an attempt to dig under the gate to gain entry to the field. I could see that most of the equipment was still set up from the last time we were there three weeks ago. Whilst I was attempting to dig a hole under the gate, mum noticed that is was only tied shut with a rope, so we looked at each other for a moment and looked away into the field, then back at one another and thought ‘ what’s the harm?’ there’s no one here, the equipment is set up, we’re not going to damage anything – so we went in , and what a time we were having, just the two of us running around and playing on the equipment, we were in our element. Then uh oh two cars pulled up, we sooo thought we were busted, but can you believe it, it was two more canine friends to join the free for all party. It was like a lock in for dogs , for those that may not know, a lock in is when you get locked in a pub/bar after closing time, usually when you get let out again you are more merry that when you were locked in ) .

So overall a disappointment that we were so badly informed, but a great time was had by all who turned up, I must say mum did well as a trainer for the day – nice one mum you and I make a great breaking and entering team.

A day in pictures

Now thats what I call snow

So, two blogs in two days, what's going on , you might think, well, yesterday it snowed, and I was excited, but last night it REALLY snowed and this morning was just amazing. We have got about 6 inches of snow, so much so my owners had to dig their car out of the drive way this morning. The snow is so deep, I can't play with my ball. The snow is so deep we had professional snowboarders playing in my walkies park! Did I mention it's MY walkies park, you can tell it's MY walkies park because I have pee'd on everything.

They say a picture speaks a thousand words, so below is some video and pics, one video is particularly funny, it's called Dog crash and it is self explanatory.

 

 

Snow Rocks!

Hey! the snow is here, that's pretty exciting in the UK since we don't always get snow. It fell in a blizzard all through the night and this morning is was deep enough to roll around in, just how I like it. We were lucky that the temperature didn't drop too much to freeze it, it was soft like feathers when I ran out excitedly into the garden this morning for a wee.

I spent the entire morning harrasing the bigyans 'are we going yet', 'is it time to go out yet', 'are you ready yet'. Mum says I was driving her round the bend. Ha ha.

At last! here we go, this is what I'm talking about, off to the park for a proper roll around. Mum rocks becuase she also took my Frisby. I haven't played with my Frisby in ages, not since I lost it in the river in the summer. How did it get back to my toy box? Some things in life are still a mystery to me. Anyway it's been so long since I have played frisby I forgot it doesn't bounce , at first everytime it was thrown I couldn't find it but I had a good time trying.
The other cool thing was that a few days ago Milly (jack russel) and Lilly (bichon) came round to play, before the snow, and Milly stole my tennis ball, but like the frisby mum had it back today, and the coolest thing was that it was completely clean, and the squeeky worked again, that was better than when I lost it, mums are so cool.

By the time we left the park, I was catching the frisby out of the air like a pro. Mum says it's like riding a bike, you never really forget. I haven't tried riding a bike, but I bet if I managed to do it, it would be an experience noone would ever forget.

Whilst at the park Milly came out to play, for those of you who know my cousin Milly (the jack russel) this was not her, this was Milly the border collie sheep dog, who lives near the park. She's ok, I dont mind her, but she doesn't really play, she just tries to round me up, like cattle.

Below is a video of todays run around, and some very cool photo's, enjoy.

Intensive training update

Hello again friends, I thought I would give you all a quick update on what has been happening in the past few weeks. I have been attending dog agility classes as you know, and at the same time my basic obedience training was stepped up a level. Mum has been watching and reading tips from the Dog whisperer Cesar Millan. So over the past three weeks Mum and I have been working on some general house rules and walking on the lead without pulling. Using the techniques advised by Cesar , the relationship between mum and I has improved loads in the past few weeks. Yesterday was the first day I walked all my daily walks without pulling on the lead at all. Today was a good day to put my skill to the test because it was pouring with rain all afternoon, so there was no opportunity to play fetch in the park, instead a longer very wet walk.

Inside the house I have learnt that mum doesn't really like me in the laundry room because I steal socks, so I have learnt to stay out of there, and politely watch from the door. Night time has changed too, I now have a bedtime routine and sleep in my basket during the night. As a thnakyou for all my hard work mum bought me a cuddly toy reindeer to play with and a new pillow for my bed.

I'm glad mum and I can now communicate in dog, for the most part, some stuff is still under translation, one such thing is the high visibility jacket, seen in the picture above, practical, yes I agree, cool, absolutely NOT. What teenager in their right mind would be seen dead in that. You can tell from the body language I am most unimpressed. Mum says she doesn't know what I'm talking about, but I don't believe her, you don't need to be dog whisperer to know contempt when you see it (see below). Save Me !

See me in action

Welcome back friends, I thought I would post some video of me having a go at agility training. I haven't blogged in a few weeks because I have been so busy, so this video was taken on my second week of training. I have improved much since and learnt many more tricks. All the same, check it out, I rock.




Doing two at once...go mee

Today was the big day.

Well, today was the big day, when I put all mum’s hard work and time she has spent on obedience training to the test, to go and have a go at agility training.

I performed well, and really enjoyed it. I enjoyed the social aspect a lot more than the equipment training, but I behaved immaculately and was a credit to all mum’s hard work.

I made some lovely new friends and I was in a group of all black Labradors, one of my new friends is an ex guide dog for the blind, so I had to be on my best behaviour not to be shown up by someone with such excellent skills.

I surprised mum when I managed to sit and stay whilst she went and put my ball at the other side of the jump. I have never stayed away from the ball before as it is my biggest delight.

My best equipment was the jumps and the tunnel, I excelled at the tunnel and to everyone’s surprise, because I was the biggest dog there and had to duck and squeeze through the quite small tunnel. I was only too happy to run through it again and again even without mum having to be at the other end and calling me through.

The biggest challenge is the dog walk – this is three thin planks of wood set out like a bridge with sloping ends. Everyone struggled with this part, firstly because some of the other team members were apprehensive about being off the ground, but the biggest issue was having to stop at the end on the yellow painted part, try explaining that there is a difference between green and yellow, I still don’t get it. To add to the confusion I am meant to stop with two front paws on the grass and back paws on the end of the ramp.

I had particular issue with this piece of equipment because of my size. Being a larger Labrador I had difficulty walking along the thin planks with my big feet. I also found that the planks were not high enough to deter me from jumping down half way. Finally the instructors found it difficult to lift me back onto the equipment due to my heavy build. However I am determined.

The session lasted for an hour but it felt much longer than that, and I slept in the car all the way home, I didn’t even notice my owner had parked up and gone to the supermarket during the journey home. I am eagerly waiting for next week, and will continue vigilantly with the obedience training.

Autumn Walk

Well this morning started as a bit of a disappointment, the rain lashing down meant that my morning walk , was all walk and no play. Mum is such a grouch, she doesn't like me sliding around in the mud at the park in the pouring rain, because I end up tired, dirty and smelling damp. The reason she doesn't approve is because when I get in, I need a shower, which usually involves mum feeling tired, dirty and smelling damp, not to mention the devastation in the bathroom.

So I spent the morning in a huff, moping around making a general nuisance of myself, steeling shoes and slippers, bits of tissue paper and getting up to the usual nonsense. After getting into trouble I spent the remainder of the morning with my paws crossed hoping for better weather in the afternoon, and it came. A beautiful autumn day, the light was shining low in the sky, peeking through what was left of the leaves on the trees, and to my joy, mum picked up my lead and beckoned towards the door for an extra walk. Extra to my usual, this is not a normal time to go for a walk, I normally don't go until after my dinner. Wahoo!. However we did not go to the park, instead we went for an autumn walk. Not a bad thing you would think but I was unwittingly duped into a photo shoot. Yes that's right, lots of 'stay Grozny', 'sit Grozny' , 'lie down Grozny' 'good boy' and 'just another picture over here Grozny'...'just stand over there Grozny'.....could NOT BELIEVE it! what a mug.

I did get some ball playing time, and later got to go to the park after dinner and MUD SLIDE!!! wahooo, I love mud sliding ...I Just love it! especially in the dark.
The finished pics are below:

LED Technology

The nights are drawing in, and it's dark now around 6:30 pm. Last week mum went to the pet store to get me kitted out for the winter. Amongst the goodies (apart from the treats and toys) was a flashing LED for my collar, this is so that i am visible in the dark. If you don't believe me that a black dog on a dark night is impossible to see I have included a video clip at the bottom of this post. I have left the sound effects in just to prove I am actually there.
The LED ( Light emitting dog ) technology can be seen for up to 100meters and more. All I need now is a glow in the dark ball.

Talents reach new heights

Hi all, I thought I would share with you my new skill.
In my house, it's a long way to the back door and lazy folk hate having to walk all that way a 100 times a day and worse stand in the freezing cold and wait for me to take my sweet time about coming back in. As any dog knows even though I have been in the garden a billion times and know every inch of it intimately, there are still things I can spend over half an hour just sniffing and investigating. So in the cold weather no one wants to leave the door open so that I can go out for a wee when I want.

The solution chosen, after considering a cat flap (too small) my mum came up with an ingenious idea. She taught me to pull the door open using a tie around the door handle, but I was only strong enough to open the door if the door was left partially open. (no good in the cold weather)

So moving the pulling point to the very bottom corner of the door gives me enough leverage to open it even if it is shut tight. She then fashioned a ring to make it easier to pull. Thanks mum, I can now let my self out whenever I want, except when it's actually locked.
Below is a little demonstration video:

Happy 1st Birthday

Hello friends, today was my 1st birthday, that's 7 years old in dog years, so I have still got some growing to do until dogult hood. Another 6 months or so of puppy hood left, then it's bye bye to cheeky behaviour, steeling socks, chewing up tissue, and general naughtiness.

So how was my birthday, well my owner went to the supermarket and forgot to buy dog food, so by coincidence I ended up with a birthday tea. Pure Mackerel fish..mmmm. Added to this my owner wasn't feeling too well, so she left most of her southern fried chicken dinner, which also found its way into my dinner bowl, so all in all a good day.

Weather was good and I had two long walks. Tomorrow I am being treated to a day out, jogging at Roslin.

Why Facebook

Hi friends, I forgot to mention in my last post (silly me) that my facebook name is Grozny Pupski, so if you want to be my friend just search for me.

I thought I would take this opportunity to talk about why I have a facebook page, after all my blog has been a great success, and much more so than I humbly expected. However, I feel there is so much more that just can't be expressed in my blog. Blogs tend to be for the big things, the funny stories, the events in life, which my blog will continue to be used for. But, sometimes there are pictures, opinions, likes , dislikes and cool stuff I rate, that I feel an entire blog entry doesn't warrant.

I sit down to put in some new pictures, but feel I have nothing to say about them that would fill a blog post, or I want to share something, like a quote or comment of the day, that would be wasted in a blog. So facebook essentially is for all the small things, that makes life and the day go a little quicker, the funny things, the thought provoking things, that are all missed by a once every so often blog.