Seasons Greetings

Well, I haven’t blogged in a while, mostly because the dark nights are here and I've been ‘packed in’ keeping warm on the sofa. So I woke today to see mum decorating the house for the human festival of Christmas. She’s decorated my basket and added a large red sock to the front, so I presume there is something nice going to be left in there as the big day comes around.

Apart from the giving and receiving of gifts during Christmas the humans have a strange ritual of bringing in an en-suite bathroom and placing it in the corner of the living room. A great prospect I would think since it is rather cold to go outside for a wee especially on these dark nights. As an added luxury they even illuminate
it so you can aim better. However much to my disappointment the ‘Christmas’ tree is not to be used for toileting purposes, so it’s out into the cold for me.

Dogs don’t really celebrate Christmas although no puppy at heart would ever turn down a squeaky toy, bone or bag of treats but to us canines this time of year is known as the winter food festival. In the doggy calendar this food festival is a period of two weeks when humans and canines alike stuff themselves like bears with good nutritious meaty food. To dogs this is the antidote to the long fruit and salad festival that takes place between the months of May and September when the long days and warm weather mean that humans eat more salads and fruit and canine tip bits are in short supply. So with only a few days to go until the feasting begins, I can’t wait to eat and snooze, eat and snooze, eat and sleep. Merry Christmas, and happy feasting everyone.

Best Dog Walks

So the aim of the week was camping, you may remember that I have tried camping before with little success but, mum loves a trier and I said I would give it another go. It wasn’t until mum started packing the rucksack (I was doing my usual of unpacking all my toys) that I suspected that camping might be off and I was right. The UK was a flood and our campsite was under water so instead it was a week with the grandparents we had to look forward to. I arrived to a very warm welcome as always, there’s always finest HAM on the menu from nana, and a Labrador doesn’t forget something like that. So as I slept under the dinner table the people started plotting what ever could they do with their week’s holiday….

DAY1

Run of the mill kind of day went for a local walk to the shops and back had a quick run around in a field. The people went out and I stayed home alone, (doesn’t bother me, get some down time , people always talk too much and if they are not talking, the TV box in the corner talks for them) so much to say I was very well behaved.

DAY2...... Hamsterley Forest

 Click here to see where it is on the map

Wow this was a great day out, a giant forest in County Durham, with walks a plenty. We had fantastic weather not a drop of rain in sight. We were there from about 10am till about 2pm and we walked, there is a river to paddle in and we stopped and had a picnic (more HAM supplied by nana) There was a tea room for the people to get a hot drink, I just prefer water which was supplied from a bottle in a bowl. I don’t question where such things come from; just glad it was there when I was thirsty. The bowl however was somewhat misleading it defiantly had a picture of Ice cream on it, but I checked it thoroughly and it only contained water.

So Hamsterley Forest as a day out I would rate 3 out of 4 paws, it has excellent facilities including onsite parking (very reasonably priced £3). It has a tea room, gift shop and toilets. There are Picnic areas and a play area for children in which dogs are not allowed. In contrast there are open areas where I can play with the tennis ball or Frisby. For the most part they have tried every effort to keep mountain bikers and walkers separate, so if you want a stroll with kids or dogs or both then you don’t have to worry about bikes speeding past. So why only 4 stars, well at times the walk came up to the road which I would have preferred it to be sign posted that the road was coming so my owner can safely put me on my lead. At times the road was concealed until the very last minute especially if you’re a dog like we that likes to run on ahead a bit. Second reason only 4 out of 5 was that the routes were not always sign posted that clearly, so if you want to follow a specific walk you still need a map of the walk. We just turned up and wandered and to be fair there was always a path to be found that was off road.

DAY3

Day 3 was meant o be torrential rain so nothing was planned for this day, nana and mum went shopping in the morning and came back with a new toy. At home you may have seen from earlier pictures I have a deflated football to play in the river with. I have never found a better dog toy for the water than this. It’s big, it’s tough , it floats above the water line unlike some more expensive dog toys that float with the top just showing above the surface which makes it hard for me to see. It's brightly coloured so I can see it, it’s cheap and with the right amount of air taken out, it’s incredibly easy for me to get hold of. So mum having left my ball at home, Nana bought me a new one to play in the river with and being an amazingly bright and sunny day (most unexpected) we had a great walk down to the local river and a long play with the new ball which I absolutely love.

DAY4 .... Keswick

Click here to see where it is on the map

Day 4 was a long road trip almost two hours it took to get to Keswick. Wow what a fantastic place. It has walks galore from gentle strolls through the park like we did, or you can go out into the Lake District National park and climb mountains if you wish.  Right at the edge of Keswick is Derwent Water a large Lake (I say large because by international standards it’s a puddle) but in the UK it’s a big lake. The water is calm, shallow and perfect for boats and water sports including fetch, which I played all day. In total we spent 5 hours there and I loved every minute, my paws were aching from all the running around when I got home. I don’t remember the journey home because I slept all the way. There are numerous tea rooms around Keswick where you can have food. We did the same as at Hamsterley we picnicked (with Nanas best ham)  but went to the tea room for cakes and hot drinks. The town its self is incredibly dog friendly, unlike everywhere else in the UK you can take your dog into the shops with you, so no waiting outside the door for me. There are also some good shops there for buying dog stuff and they sell books etc on the best walks for dogs around Keswick. The scenery is awesome and the town caters for all types of staying over night from dog friendly Bed and Breakfasts to hotels to camping and caravanning.

I would defiantly visit both Hamsterley and Keswick again , but I would give Keswick a 4 out of 4 paws except at Lambing season when Dogs have to be kept on leads, be aware though that parking in Keswick is pretty expensive, although if your willing to walk about 20-30 mins to reach the town there are little spots you can park for free.

So I have one more day here before I go home so I will post todays adventure in my next blog.

Speed Sniffing

Dogs, as a general rule, experience most things as pups, but I seemingly missed a very important, and exhilarating past time that many other dogs enjoy. I have been missing out on this hobby simply because of the unfortunate design of my parents car, i.e. the back window doesn't open. So today they borrowed a car for reasons I don’t know but Oh My God! where has the window been my whole life, it was amazing. Check out the video.

Dove Tale

So I wandered out for my last wee wee of the night, and as I was standing doing a pee something small touched my nose, I looked around to my owner (whilst still peeing) then looked back and it had turned around, so I sniffed it’s bum, in order to discover if this was friend or foe. I looked again to my owner for some sort of confirmation that this intruder was meant to be here, then I turned round and we were face to face again (still peeing). Then I finished up my pee and wandered happily into the house to go to bed. Seemingly what I didn’t know was that this was indeed an intruder, a tired and lost, racing pigeon.

Dad took him in and he spent the night in a cardboard box on our kitchen table. Now the interesting thing being that a few months ago we got a new fridge and we read through a lot of reviews about each fridge and you might be thinking worrying thoughts now because I mentioned a fridge during a pigeon story, but I assure you there’s nothing sinister about this story, so you can read on.

On the review of our fridge one of the comments was that it was a little bit noisy but specifically that the noise it makes sounds like cooing doves. So this poor pigeon spent the night thinking he was talking to someone outside the box, when in fact it was a fridge. Bet he thought he was talking to a right nutter. Or being a pigeon maybe not, they are not known for their massive intelligence. I think if he had rated us as a Bed and Breakfast we would have scored 1 out of 5 for noisy tenants and no sleep. The next day he was released according to the instructions given from his owner over the phone, and we have not seen him since.

Best Dog!

So! Sometimes in a dog’s life a big thing happens, a large event, a time of significance and on the 10^th of April I was invited to be best dog at mum and dad’s wedding. It’s a big responsibility, there was no one else could take my place if I couldn’t make it, so the pressure was on.

The wedding was a in a big Scottish castle and the one thing you can rely on in Scotland is the weather – not. The day started with snow, not the best, it was that horrible slushy wet snow that doesn’t lie on the ground, within hours the weather had turned to rain and the skies were dark grey. Dad drove me to the castle in the car and helped me put on my bow tie and brushed my fur so I was looking my best. I waited patiently in the car waiting to see mum and the rest of the family.

I was fully intending to wait until after the ceremony to see mum and have some photos taken with everyone. So I settled down for a wee sleep in the car. The next thing I know Dad came rushing out and said I was to come into the chapel, wow how exciting. Mum will be so surprised to see me there, what a special treat. All was well, I was handed over to someone to hold and advise me on what t do. It was very exciting and I couldn’t pee. As mum came down the aisle I was squeaking with excitement, I just wanted to say hi, hey I’m here, but I had to stay in my place until the signing of the book. All in all a great day, even got to wear dads hat, and appear on the wedding cake!

Dog on TV

Hi all, today I launched my new TV cahnnel, ok it's not on TV it's on You Tube. My channel is used for me to review and Lab' test dog products and accessories on behalf human beings. Hopefully the reviews will help give other people that own dogs tips and advice on products before they buy. Todays review was about head collars that stop dogs from pulling on the lead - check it out -

Thin Ice No - Ice Cream Yes

What a start to a new year, a letter arrived from the vet asking me to make an appointment for to update my injections - doh. I have been training hard with my Frisbee since the bad weather arrived. I’m such a pro now, I can catch it out of the air and everything. The only thing is I can only catch it if it flies right. If it flies left, it doesn’t exist, I try to find it, I run round and round in circles until I see it land, then fetch it.

It was after such an enjoyable afternoon that I accidentally tried to drown myself. I decided to jump in the river, not realising it was in Flood. Fortunately I had my Frisbee in my mouth which was helping to keep my head out of the water. I swam and swam and swam but made no progress. Each time I tried to put my paws on the bank the mud gave way from beneath me. Fortunately my owner made his way down the steep bank to save me. It was at this point that I noticed a lower part of the river bank behind me and I managed to quickly stop swimming, float backwards, climb out, and engage four wheel drive to get myself up the steep bank. From the top of the bank I shouted down to my owner, “what are you doing down there, it’s dangerous, quickly get back up here you silly man”. It took him a while to climb back up because the bank was slippy and the trees were not very supportive shall we say, so all was well in the end.

Last weekend we went to the park with the Frisbee and the ground was frozen solid, it had been raining for quite a few days before and the ground had large puddles which were now frozen. So you can imagine the scene. The Frisbee flies, he runs, he jumps, he catches, he lands, he skids, he’s upside down, he’s gone through the ice, he’s wet, he’s still sliding on his back, he's out, he’s upright, he’s totally and utterly confused.  What happened?

I don’t know but from then on every time the Frisbee flew I used every tiny muscle in my body to avoid touching that slidy stuff again, The Frisbee even landed on it a few times and to get it I stood with my paws at the edge, and stretched my neck as far as I could to rescue it.

Since then my friend showed me some equipment I can borrow in future. 

The other thing I have discovered since Christmas is ‘Haargen Dugz’ ice cream; it is amazing, especially strawberry cheesecake flavour. It’s like ice cubes but with flavour and loads of sugariness, I’m restricted to a teeny tiny amount on the end of a tea spoon, but that just makes me even more obsessed.