Life Is...

...being caught unaware during a private moment

5 Things I've Learnt

Me and my human, why is she getting in the shot?? This is MY blog!

5 Things I've learnt in the last 3 weeks:

1) There is a world beyond the garden and house

Every so often, my humans leave the garden by passing through this doorway. I've only ever been out with them once when they set out on foot and the world beyond that doorway is amazing! A myriad of smells and sights. I even came across a particularly ferocious dog but I think he was just jealous because I was out and he was stuck in his garden. I'm told that I will be taken out more often after my vaccination program is done (hence the visit to Uncle Dom on Sunday). I can't wait to be out again!

2) I love Gardening

One of my humans spends quite a bit of time pottering around in the garden. I try to help when I can by digging holes for plants, trimming the flowers, rearranging the decorative stones and of course fertilising the garden. ;-) They appreciate all the help I do by shouting and waving their arms at me. I do love the attention. Although I found it as a chore in the beginning, I can't let my humans down and I now actually enjoy gardening.

Relaxing after a long day working on the garden

3) Running is good for you

I spend my evenings running around the garden with my human. We play catch and hide 'n seek. I normally hide behind the plants in the garden waiting for her to find me. I usually hide behind the same few plants each evening. We have been at this for 3 weeks now and she makes such a big fuss everytime she finds me. I don't have to heart to hide elsewhere as she might find the game a bit too difficult then. I must be getting stronger as my limp is now gone and I run and walk around like a normal puppy.

Notice how the background is in the blur? Things are moving fast!

4) Chewing is good for the teeth

My human bought me a chew toy shaped like a bone last weekend. She says it is good for my teeth as it helps clean them when I chew. I decided to test this theory on other things in the garden that are chewable. Things I've chewed on thus far are: plastic flower pots, slippers, my crate, door frame, my old water bowl, newspaper, flowers, the garden hose, bits of sticks used to prop up plants in the garden (see entry 1 above) and I have to conclude that none of these things work as well as the bone shaped chew toy. However, to ensure that I have come up with the right conclusion I will be widening my search by chewing everything in sight.

5) The Candy Store

My treats and leash are kept in a room which I suppose is to me like what a candy store is to human kids. My things are kept in a shoe box that sits in a small corner of a shelf within a room full of shelves filled with SHOES. Shoes of all different shapes, sizes and colours (some say dogs are colour blind, but if that is the case, why are all our toys multi coloured?). I am sometimes allowed in the room and I try to play it cool...but the smells and the shoes does something to me. I can only extrapolate from having my treats kept in there that the shoes are also my treats. Only given out when I've done the SIT, DOWN, ROLL OVER in record time.

Me and my favourite chew toy...if we are colour blind, why did they make this toy green?

No time to write, I've got to go practise my tricks to get my treats.

Life Is...

...spending the afternoon in the garden watching the world go by

Super Power

It is true, I have a super power: I can make things stand by looking at them intently...

Alert Dog

Hello! A Good Tuesday to you...

Much has been said by my humans of my barking. I may be small but my bark does pack a punch and it sounds very guttural. I guess this is to be expected, I do afterall have German blood running through my veins (some humans have likened me to a minature German Shepherd).

An awful lot happens outside the house sometimes and I really do feel that the humans need to be aware of all these activities taking place. As my paws do not lend themselves well to mobile phones, I have taken to barking to alert them of these activities. I mean, if there is a car that stops 3 houses away from me, I'd want to know! If a cat is anywhere near my house, I'd like to be the first to greet it! I also can't stand it when some birds walk around outside of the house, I'm not quite sure why I am so highly strung sometimes.

I'm actually in the mid-yawn here,

but this is the closest picture I can find of myself close to barking

A man came last evening to deliver a package and I was the first to notice. I did my part and started barking. Didn't like the look of this fella, so I did my extra special growl. It is a good thing my human held me back, else serious damage could have been done to this man. I was planning on launching a covert operation by barking from the inside of the drain. This plan is great from 2 aspects:

1) In the cover of the drain, said man would not know where the threat is coming from

2) My bark sounds that much more threatening with the help of the drain - I can't help being a little dog with a big dog's bark

I think the humans keep another dog indoors away from me. I often catch a glimpse of this dog when I am stood outside the sliding door. It appears to be the same size as me and the cheeky thing has the gall to follow my every movement. I've tried to alert my humans to this, but they seem to take great amusement when I bark at this imposter. As of late, this imposter has taken to appearing in my water bowl! I've tried to get rid of her by clawing furiously into the water and that seems to do the trick. We'll see if that haughty missy will be back!

Please let me in! I know you have a dog inside!

Visit to the Vet

Stop talking amongst yourselves and play with me!

Yesterday marked my 2nd visit to the vet. My humans and I bundled up in the car and I brought my favourite chew toy along with me for the ride. These car rides can get quite boring, I don't really enjoy watching the world pass by, so I took a short nap.

We got to the vet's, who also happens to be my Uncle Dom quite quickly - must be the Sunday traffic or lack thereof (for a dog, I'm quite well informed about these things).

This visit was much more enjoyable than my first when I had coughing fits. Everybody made a big fuss of me when I was put on the table, so I decided to repay their kindness by licking the surface clean. You see the world with a different set of eyes when you do a taste test!

Uncle Dom gave me a tablet of some sort which I devoured...afterall it is rude not to accept gifts. Somebody mentioned something about needles, but I didn't feel a thing. I think it was for one of the humans.

I spent the rest of the visit exploring the clinic and making sure the humans have someone to coo over (that will be me). I also came across what I think is a cat, it is hard to tell as it seems like a large mass of something. It did hiss at me so I assume it is a cat. I was happy to play with it but it didn't want to have anything to do with me. No worries, I don't hold grudges, life is too short for that. You should dispense of bad energy as poos. That explains all the poos I leave in the garden, it is the only way I can keep happy and sane in this dog eat dog world.

The hissy cat...my humans insisted on coo-ing at it

Several puppies and a kitten dropped by the clinic while I was there but I wasn't allowed near any of them. 1 puppy in particular seemed quite panicked when it came in, all rigid and yelp-y. It startled me for a bit as Uncle Dom's place seems like a haven for us four legged creatures...I was even allowed to explore the entire place without someone screaming my name "NO!" for attention. (some humans are quite the attention grabber) The puppy left after a while, still all worried looking and rigid. I wonder if he has heard of the bad energy-poo philosophy, he seems in need of it.

Got a bit bored when the humans started chatting amongst themselves and after a long morning of exploring, I took a short nap at the clinic. I love naps, they are right up there next to eating and playing!

We left after a few hours and got home just in time for lunch and another quick nap before my afternoon of play and fun starts.

Vet visits aren't that bad, I wonder what all the fuss is about

Hello World!

Me, 3 weeks ago - note the droopy ear

I really should have started this 3 weeks ago when my humans picked me up from PAWS, but they have kept me ever so busy (you know how needy humans can get). Plus typing isn't exactly easy when you do not have opposable thumbs.

A lot has happened in the 3 weeks though and I don't look like the picture above anymore. For one, my floppy right ear decided to stand up last Wednesday afternoon. The world does look like a different place now that I hear in stereo and I am only discovering the range of movements my ears can make. I also hear better when my humans call me by my name which I believe is "NO!". It is said an awful lot and mostly when I'm out in the garden playing with the variety of toys they have left for me. I especially like the shoes they wear on their feet when they are out, how quaint of them to cover their feet when they enter my play area as to not contaminate it! They also leave it out for me to try out when they enter the house.

Me, yesterday with 2 fully erect ears.

I've gone for the same pose as the picture above for ease of comparison

I've been told that I'm quick to learn and have mastered the art of Sit, Down, Roll Over and Stay all in the space of 2 weeks. In fact, I'm so good at it, they don't even have to tell me to do it - total recall when I see any treats!

I'm going to use this blog to track the progress of my humans, they are a bit slow to train (bless 'em) but I know they mean well. There is so much to teach them, the art of playing in the drain, playing in the mud, playing with the frogs, flower eating. I'm surprise that after 3 weeks they still can't do any of this. They really shouldn't feel shy about joining in and there really isn't any need to yell my name when they want to join in. I am perfectly happy to share all my toys!