Why bouncy balls are sometimes bad, and cats are ALWAYS bad

Dave's got me a new ball from the Post Office in Disley, it's yellow and bouncy and I like it a lot.  He keeps throwing and kicking it for me to chase, which makes Louise cross; she says when she's cooking downstairs it sounds like a herd of elephants, so I've been trying to hide the ball to stop Dave being so naughty.  The ball is very bright and Dave is very tall so it's hard, but I'm trying to lie on it but it keeps rolling away.  I'm not too worried because Louise doesn't really get that cross a lot.

Where's the ball?

I'm very cross at next doors cat; Ollie.  He's the meanest cat in Disley and he's trying to wind me up by spying on me.  He sits on the bin that wheels and looks down his nose at me, so I show him how tall I am by jumping up and staring back.  Louise says I can't get him to move because he's not in our garden, but I'm sure I will think of something.

Ollie spying on me from the bin on wheels

Otherwise, it's Samuel's birthday soon.  Louise has got him a present and is going to draw on people's faces at his party (people like strange things).  I'm not allowed to go because there will be sooooooooo many children there that I might get trodden on and I don't like that at all, especially on my tail.  I'll be giving Samuel birthday kisses later on in the day; hopefully they'll be some leftover sausage rolls.

My New Sister as Louise and Dave are going to be Dogparents

I'm pretty excited because Louise and Dave are going to be dogparents to my little friend Lois.  They're my dogparents too so I think that means that Lois is now kind of my sister except she's a baby, so I don't really understand how that's all worked out.  Louise and Dave have to go to a church to be Lois's dogparents which is different to going to a dog home like where they went to be my dogparent.  They also have to say that they'll take care of her, so that's the same as being my dogparent.  Either way, I think it will be nice to have a sister, when she gets bigger she can throw a stick for me at the park in Disley but as she is so little right now, she only really throws me Cheddars.

Me and my dogsister Lois, with her brother Samuel. Mmmm, Cheddars.

I find all this figuring out kind of tiring, so I was pleased when Dave let me nap on his lap.  It's getting colder now and so his lap is nice and warm on my tummy.  It must be getting to winter because the radiators, which are boxes that measure weather and get hot when it's cold, are now sometimes warm.  This means that Dave and Louise's feet will be getting cold now, so I better get into bed with them in the mornings to warm them up.

Dave's lap is nice and warm, it's a dog's life.

Do dogs snore?

Me, not snoring.

Louise has said that the older I get the more I snore, and now that I am 6 I am snoring louder and louder.  I've heard Dave snore and sometimes Louise, when she's had a lot of apple juice from the pub, but I've never heard me snore.  Louise says it's because I'm asleep that I can't hear it, but I always hear the Disley postman when I'm asleep so I'm not sure that's true.

I hope that if I do snore that she won't make me sleep downstairs.  I like sleeping on my own green bed by their bed, and sometimes in the morning I get in for a cuddle.  Dave pretends he doesn't like my morning cuddles but I know he does, especially when I let him know that it's time to get up by licking his face.

It was Dave and Louise's anniversary this week.  An anniversary is a game they play where they try and find a present made out of the same kind of thing, and this year they had to find cotton presents.  I don't think that Louise really understood the game because she got Dave a book, which is made from paper (I got the game).  The book was all about dogs called 'Text from Dog' so she must have really got it for me, and she also sewed some dogs for Dave, which were a bit like me but grey not ginger.  I hope she's not saying that I'll go grey like Dave's Dad, but I am 6 now so I'll keep an eye on that.  Dave got Louise a cushion with lots of writing on it, which is definitely for me.  Louise says it's not, and that I'm not allowed to sit on it, but we'll see.

My new cushion

What I'd look like grey

A book, that is not made of cotton.  Louise is terrible at this game.

The Funniest Dog in Disley

I am easily the funniest dogs in Disley because I get all the people jokes, except knock knock jokes; they just make me think someone’s at the door and so I have to bark at an empty doorstep and peer out the window for a solid five minutes.  My favourite joke is:  What do you get if you cross a dog with a lion?

A really scared postman!  (I need to get a friend lion)

People think dressing up is funny though, which I don’t understand.  Dave and Louise were being very silly and made me join in the other day wearing silly costumes and took photos to send Helen.  I only let them because I like Helen, and she sent back pictures of herself with masks on, at least I think it was her.

Ricky Cool

Pretty Ricky (I'm too butch to be pretty, silly Dave)

This weekend we have lots and lots of visitors.  Dave’s Mum and Dad are coming, and his brother, and his sister-in-paw (they must hold hands a lot).  They have two kids too.  I hope they like dogs, because I don’t like it when children pull my whiskers or jump on me.  Dave says he’ll tell them to be nice to me, which is good because most people don’t speak dog like Dave does.  He’s like a dog whisperer except louder.   A dog speaker.  A dog teller off-er.  He just talks to me, I don’t think there’s a name for him, except Dave.      

Happy Birthday Ricky!

My new rubber ring toy, MY TOY!

It's been a very busy week or so, I haven't had chance to write!!  Firstly, it was my birthday and I was six!  That's very grown up for a dog and I was really excited to get some presents.  Christine from The Crescent gave me a little bag full of treats which was very nice of her, and Helen, Stephen, Samuel and Lois got me a really really big chew, and a new rubber ring toy that they got from a pet stall in New Mills, which is just down the road from Disley.  It is really bouncy and so I can chew it as long as I want without it breaking.  Samuel picked it for me.  I think Lois felt bad that he got to pick it because when I sat next to her she kept giving me crisps.  I like birthdays a lot.

Lois getting ready to give me another crisp!

All about Tammy's house

Sun bathing when it's hot

I have been visiting Tammy's house a while now when Dave and Louise have to go and see their friend Boss who lives in Work.  I am sometimes a bit nervous with new people but now we're best friends.  She has put a bowl out for me for some food and water.  There is grass for sun bathing when it's hot....

.....and a nice warm bed to share for when it's not.

Snuggling when it's not

She has a really good window at the front of the house so that I can see everything going on in Disley.  The net curtains are tied especially so that I can see out and sometimes I see some of my friends walking past, like Helen and Samuel.  I know they are always pleased to see me.

The best view in Disley (looking out)

 It's a shame that Dave and Louise can't stay home and play with me all day, because I know how much they value my sparkling wit and the way that I chase my tail, but it's very nice at Tammy's house and when Louise or Dave picks me up I can listen all about their day on the way home before checking the fence for cats.  Booooo, cats.

Checking for cats.  Hate cats.  Booooo, cats.

How a Dog stays cool in a Heatwave

I have been so hot lately; Louise says we have had a heat wave which I have decided I don't like as much as friendly waves.  She read on her lap computer how dogs can stay cool the best and it has been a strange week as she has tried her best to make sure I don't over heat.

Firstly our walks have nearly always been near the water and Louise and Dave keep threatening to throw me in even when I can't touch the bottom which isn't nice.  It's even hot in the evening, and when I was getting really hot the other night Louise put a wet towel on me.  It was nice and cool but the only problem is that it was pink, which is not a boy dog colour.  I was too hot to care but in the future I am hoping she will be more considerate in her colour choice as I am a very manly dog.  Louise said I shouldn't worry because I am secure in my masculinity, which I don't understand, maybe it's like being secure behind a gate.

Not my favourite colour!

She has also been freezing my food.  Seriously; I went to my bowl and all of my food had been put in gravy and frozen!  How am I supposed to eat that?  I have to admit it tasted yummy, but it was a very strange thing to do.

 

Dog pops - Ice Lollies for dogs

It's a bit cooler today in Disley, because of all the loud noises yesterday called thunder. Louise doesn't like thunder so I pretended to be frightened too so she wouldn't feel bad, I even got into bed and pretended to shake.  I think she felt better knowing I was there.

It was a long way down at the Millennium Walkway in New Mills

Dave and Louise have both taken the week off so they can spend more time with me and we've had a great time so far.  It's really hot but Dave and Louise still took me on a long walk and we went to a place called the Millennium Walkway which is so far away it's not even in Disley any more, it's in New Mills.  It was built for new years eve before I was born.  It's really high up above a river, and I don't really understand why they built it so high up because it's not like you can go paddling from so high.  When I looked down it made my tummy feel a bit bad, like that prawn curry did one time, so I was glad when we got to the other side.

DON'T look down

The other side I went paddling.  I checked for ducks and chased a couple away so I could paddle in peace and then Dave threw some stones for me to chase.  He kept throwing them too far to paddle to so that I could practice my swimming but I pretended not to see those ones.  I don't like it when my little legs can't touch the bottom.

Scouting for ducks

It was cold in the water so I shook off and sat in the sun for a bit while Louise and Dave sat in the shade.  They don't like paddling so they were a bit hot.  I don't know why they didn't come in, maybe they're not good at swimming and embarrassed about it

Shaking off

Sitting in the sun

A Walk in the Life of Ricky the Dog

Dave has had a few days off which is great because we've had time to catch up; I like to keep up with what's going on in his life.  He always insists on trekking around Disley when he's off, and I like the walks so I don't mind taking him; the exercise and fresh air is good for him.

Setting out for Dave's walk

We set off at a leisurely pace, I sniffed all of the walls to start with to see who'd been about.  I could definitely smell Ollie, next door's snooty cat.  He's a big old meany but I try to rise above it.

Then as we got walking Dave seemed a bit bored, probably because we were on the road and there were no pretty flowers for him to look at so I tried to entertain him by doing some agility balancing tricks.  He seemed impressed so I'll have to look for some higher walls in Disley to balance on.

A few balancing tricks to keep Dave occupied

Then we turned around and went down to the canal.  Those damn ducks were there again, it doesn't seem to matter how many times I tell them that it's a canal for dogs - they're always there.  I gave them a good talking to but those sneaky little flappers went to the other side of the canal.  Hopefully now they've learnt who's top dog in Cheshire.

Teaching them Disley ducks a lesson

Sneaky little flappers

Dave was pretty tired when we got back, so I curled up for a nap so that he knew it was alright for him to kick back too.  I think to have a well trained owner it's best to lead by example.  Dave's a very good boy. 

Setting a sleepy good example

Puddles in Parks and Puddles on Carpets

Dave had to drive his bus all weekend so me and Louise went out a few times together.  I like walks with Louise because she lets me off my lead and just play.  We went to the park today.  There were lots of children playing on the swings but Louise said that swings were not a good idea for dogs, which is probably for the best because I don't know how I'd hold on.  Instead I looked for some puddles to play in.  There was only one in the whole field but I found it.  I was a bit worried about getting muddy so thought about it for a bit but there was no way I wasn't going in that puddle!  Louise was a bit cross when she saw the mud so I got out and did some running instead.  I'm a very fast dog but I'm not as young as I used to be so I had a lay down after a bit.

Thinking about going in the puddle...

...Yup, definitely going in the puddle ....

....Oops, Louise looks a bit cross, so getting out the puddle....

....And rest

Harvey with his newspaper

 One dog who is a young dog is Hilda's dog who's called Harvey.  He's only a puppy and we were giving her newspapers for his toilet training.  Toilet training is when you learn that tinkling on the carpet means no treats and no fuss.  It is not fun, so I hope Harvey learns soon.  He is very bouncy and barked at me a lot.  I know he just hasn't learnt how important I am in Disley yet, so I let it slide.  Hilda took some nice photos of him with our newspaper and put them on Facebook, so she must like that newspaper a lot!

My Online Friends

Louise has been showing me all of the different countries where people have been reading about me from.  There are a lot in a place called America, which is a country across an ocean from us; that's a long swim.  There are a some a bit closer in lots of countries called Europe, which Dave says you can drive to but it would be a very long drive.  The furthest away are people in New Zealand, which is where Louise's sister Julia lives.  It's so far that you can't swim it even if you want to.  Julia lives with her husband Tom and her two kids called Isabella and Jack, and my new online friend Lucy.

Lucy from New Zealand

Lucy is a clever dog because she uses a webcam all the time to talk to Louise's Mum and Dad; Hazel and Peter.  A webcam is where you can see each other on computers even though they live a long way away, and Louise's Mum and Dad talk to Lucy nearly every week.  When we visited Peter and Hazel, Lucy said hello to me too, although I had to sit on Hazel's lap to see the screen which I think she enjoyed.  Lucy said it's great being a dog in New Zealand because it is warm at Christmas and she has her own stream.  I said I like Disley very much because there is snow to play in at Christmas and I have my own stream too, I just choose to share it with other dogs in Disley!

My stream in Disley - which I share like a good boy

One of my readers from America is friends with Helen and Stephen, and they say he might visit some time.  He's from a place in America called Florida, where a mouse called Micky lives.  I'm not sure how I feel about mice, I hope they're not as mean as cats.

New Friends and Big Parks in Disley

It's been a happy and sad week.  John, who usually looks after me when Louise and Dave go out all day has to start going somewhere new every day called Job.  I think it's the same place that Dave and Louise go, and it means he can't play with me during the week, and I'm going to miss him and Sox.  I'm going to go somewhere new now though; to Tammy's house.  She has a garden with grass where the sun shines and I can sit in the warm and always has food which is good, and she lives nice and close in Disley too.

Sun bathing at Tammy's house

She took me to the biggest park in Cheshire which is Lyme Park.  I thought she might be worried that I didn't like her as much as John so I made sure I ran around and rolled in the mud a lot so she knew I was having fun.  Louise wasn't quite as pleased because when I got home my collar was very muddy but I know she's just happy that me and Tammy get on so well. 

Exploring at Lyme Park

Having a break from running and rolling

Me and Tammy even go drinking together now.  She took me to a different pub to Dave and Louise do called The Albert.  They have put tables out front just for me because they know I like to sit in the sun and then I can see people walking past and find out what's going on in Disley.  Louise says I'm being nosy which is silly because I don't smell people, just watch them.  Well, sometimes I smell them but only if I think they have food.  Maybe I'll cut down on sniffing people.

Disley Dog travels around England

Last weekend was very busy, I think we drove all around the whole of England, which is a very long way from a little dog from Disley.  First we drove to see Dave's mum and dad in somewhere called Corby.  They had made their garden look nice just for me with grass to roll in and flower beds to sniff.  They didn't have to go to so much effort but it was very nice of them.

In the car driving to Corby

The next day we drove to Louise's mum and dad in somewhere called Lychpit which is near and old village called Basing.  They took me to a carnival.  I was the only dog allowed to go so that I could look after Louise so I felt very special even in the rain.  It rained quite a lot and we had to stop in a pub on the way home because it got so very wet.  We all still sat under a big big umbrella and had a drink.  In my opinion it wasn't really beer garden weather but I think Louise's dad likes the rain because we had a BBQ later.  I ate a lot of sausages and felt very full so I slept very well.

I am one wet dog in Old Basing with Louise's family (her Dad likes the rain so much he has a whole rain outfit)

The next day we drove even more to a place called LONDON, which is all in capital letters because someone once decided it is the capital letter city of England.  I was kind of tired of the car by then but they had a BBQ too so more sausages for me.  I helped tidy up the hall after the BBQ because there were a lot of children there that had dropped lots of food.  I like to be helpful.  Then it was back in the car and all the way back to Disley.  I admit I was moaning by the end of it and when we got home I was very happy.

Oh my God, back in the car driving to LONDON, the capital letter city of England

I like traveling and seeing all of Dave and Louise's family.  I liked Corby and Lychpit, and even LONDON, but I am definitely glad to live in Disley, I think it is best to be a dog in Cheshire.  

The best BBQ in Cheshire except for trampolines - they are not for dogs

I was very excited to go round Samuel and Lois's last night (Stephen and Helen live there too, kids can't live alone just like dogs can't.)  Stephen cooked a barbie queue for us, although because the shop gave it to him in a box he had to build it first.  He took some time so while I was waiting for my sausages to be ready I watched Samuel jump up and down on something called a trampoline.  It is something that helps you jump higher, I'm not sure why but Samuel loved it.  He let me go on it too but the floor didn't feel right under my paws so I got off again, they are definitely not for dogs.

Trampolines - not for dogs

Samuel and Lois are two of my best friends in Disley and so I thought Louise should take a photo of us all on her clever phone, but it didn't go very well.  The sun was in Samuel's eyes which he didn't like and Lois, because she's only a baby, didn't really understand that she had to sit still, even though I explained it quite clearly; maybe she doesn't speak dog.  She was more interested in drinking her drink.  To be fair I think Louise and Helen were too.  A bird kept distracting me as well, so I gave up in the end. That bird was plotting something and needed monitoring.  Birds in Cheshire are sneaky, you should see the ducks on Disley canal.  They are mean mean mean. 

I see a bird, it's looking at me, why is it looking at me?

The sun in everyone's eyes, where is that bird going, what is it plotting?

The bird has completely ruined the moment; Samuel celebrates as I give up and Lois continues with her drink.

Overall, it was a great night; I ate burger, sausage, chicken (but not the bones as they make dogs poorly) Pringles, cheese and bread that Helen calls muffins that are really buns.  Louise says Helen calls them muffins because she is a monkey from 'The North'.  Cheshire is in 'The North' which is where we live because you get gravy with everything and pubs serve dog biscuits.

Loons called Morris dancing In Disley - a stressful night in Cheshire

I have had a very stressful evening last night.  I was perfectly happy when I heard bells and banging so I looked out the window and there were some absolute loons out there dancing.  They were loons for several reasons.  For starters, they were all wearing matching clothes and even though I'm colour blind I could tell they were not nice colours.  They all had bits of bird stuck in their hats and their faces were all painted black.  They must have birds as friends instead of dogs, but you'd never see Dave with my dog hair in a hat, even if it is lovely soft ginger coloured hair.  They had sticks that they weren't even throwing to be fetched and they were loud.  I asked Louise what was going on and she said they all danced because they were called Morris.  Not liking your name is no excuse for making such a racket. 

Loons called Morris

I stood and watched them for a bit, hoping my steely glare would stop them in their madness or at least get them to throw one of their sticks for me to fetch but it was no good.  I tried my really grumpy glare, the one that makes Louise walk me when she has a bad head on Sundays but no.

Steely glare turning to grumpy glare

I began to get quite upset in the end and stood on the arm of the sofa, which I am absolutely not allowed to do, to get a better view of the crazy people.  I can understand why they were in the White Lion car park, if I ran a pub I wouldn't let that go on I'd kick them out too.  In the end they stopped and I tried to settle down a bit but all night I kept getting up to check they were definitely gone.  I no longer like anyone called Morris.

So upset that my eyes glazed over.  Bad boy, off the sofa.

Barking mad this summer in Disley

It is very warm outside which is exciting, because it means that Dave can try out his new massive barbie queue soon, hopefully that means lots of sausages for me!  It's warmer because it's summer, which is a group of months when it's hot and there's no snow.   I like it a lot except it's harder to relax in the evening because the heat makes everything louder and I don't know why.

People walking past talk louder and cars drive louder, even dogs bark louder.  It's very annoying when I'm trying to watch my favourite shows.  Dave says it's because the windows are open but I don't see how the windows being open tells people it's OK to be noisier.  I'm extra loud back and glare out of the window to show I'm not happy.

Noisy people, interrupting my evening

I thought I would have to bark out of the front window all of the time anyway when Louise said she was going to put some bark down in the front garden so she doesn't have dig it up again when the weeds come back (not sure how they're going to get out the wheelie bin).  I was pleased to find out that it's little bits of trees.  It's nice to see that trees are good for more than just weeing against, although I know they're mainly there for me.

I'm a good dog - no bin unturned.

I was particularly sleepy today.  It's Friday and it's been a long long week of getting up early and trotting along to work at John's, where I am in charge of guarding the house and playing with Sox; John's dog.  I know Louise works hard as a marketer - which is actually not running a market stall like I thought, she just tells people they want stuff, and Dave drives a lot of buses, but I work too.  I have to stand by John's window and look at everyone in Disley going past, occasionally barking.  I also have to run around the park with Sox.  I'm faster than Sox and so I try to motivate him a bit.  I do get a few naps but every job has perks, like Louise gets to ride a train and a tram, lucky!

Because I'm so tired from a long week I wasn't too keen to get going but when I was a bit slow to get off the sofa Louise said I looked guilty and asked what I'd done!  How rude!  I am a very good dog; I keep laps warm, water the outside plants, deter cats and greet delivery men very loudly.  Louise better have a good apology tonight and gravy bones, especially as I emptied the kitchen bin to make sure those chicken scraps didn't get wasted.  I'm too good to them.

How is this a guilty look?!

I am BatDog!

It was a pretty good weekend, Dave's parents did come and although Jen forgot the treats (luckily I have my own!) I got lots of fuss.  I was a bit sad because my friends Samuel and Lois had gone away for the weekend but luckily because the banks gave everyone the Monday off again, I still got to spend some time with them, and Helen and Stephen (they're their parents, they have to go everywhere with them like Dave and Louise do with me although Samuel and Lois don't have leads).

Samuel has an awesome T Shirt with a cape so that he looks like Batman, who is what Louise calls a superhero.  Superheros are supposed to crusade against evil, and seeing as I crusade very well against ducks and the postman, Samuel let me borrow his cape.  I'm not sure about being BatDog because a bat is a different animal and they are a bit scary.  I'm hoping Samuel will get a Superman T Shirt with a cape because I would definitely like to be SuperDog; me and Samuel could fight against evil together.  Louise took a photo of me as BatDog; I am trying to look like a noble superhero, fighting against the injustice of mean ducks and junk mail posting postmen.

I am kind of BatDog