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: