The Vet

They took me to see the vet last Monday. I have a couple of bare patches, in my "armpit" and on the bottom of my tail. I like licking these bits, and my skin has become ugly and itchy, making me want to lick even more. There was a lot of other dogs in the waiting room, some of them quite undisciplined. I needed to growl at them, to remind them of their manners. As usual, dad had to carry me into the examination room, because I will not go in there of my own free will. This time it was really bad. I got felt all over, and the vet used cellotape to take samples from my bald patches. I hate gluey stickers and cellotape. The worst was to come - he stuck his finger up my bum! The whole time he kept saying "good dog, what a good dog." I know I am a good dog, or I would have bitten him. Now mom sneaks pills into my dinners, as I have some kind of fungal infection. She also believes that a dog on medication should be well fed, which is great.

Shiny Dog

People do admire my shiny coat. It must be in my genes, although I do not remember whether Avonstream Eva (my real mom) was shiny, and I don't know whether I ever met my dad, Avonstream Kaiser. I think it helps that I shed my coat completly twice a year and grow a new one. I have just started my spring moult.

Housecleaning

"The house smells of dog and there are hairs everywhere!" That means they will start cleaning. I hate that. The noisy vacuum cleaner, the smelly furniture polish, and all my favourite rugs have been hung out to air. Wherever I try to sit I am in the way. "Move, Tess," or "out of the way Tess!" Then they are almost too tired to take me to the park.

The Ritual of the Biscuit Packet

When my biscuit pakcet is empty, I get it. I like to tear it to pieces to check whether there is anything left in it, and funnily enough, there always is one biscuit there.

Queen Elizabeth Forest Park

That's where we went today. We had a picnic and a walk. Unfortunately we could not find the woodland path we had ment to explore, and mainly walked circles around the car park looking for it, and as it was a bit chilly we had to have our picnic in the car.
Still, I had a great time. A little paddle in a clear stream makes my day.

Garden Days

There I am, relaxing in a flower bed, while mom and dad slave away in the garden. Yesterday we all went to a big garden centre to buy plants, and as I innocently walked on my lead beside dad, two horrible little white terriers came running out of the building and attacked me. Now, I am a dog who is well capable of defending herself, so there was a bit of noise, and dad hurriedly took me back to the car. The terriers then started patrolling the car park, looking for me in every car, and dad got worried that they might get a sniff of where I was, and scrape his new car. So we left in a hurry and mom only bought half of what she had meant to buy.

Freedom

They were busy digging the garden, and I wandered through the back gate on my own, into the woods. After a while I heard them calling, but I was too busy exploring to bother. They became a bit frantic, running up and down the path, calling me, but it was not until mom went back to the house, fetched my collar and shook it, that I reappeared. The sound of that collar means "walkies" to me.