Sunny Days

It's been very hot this week in Disley, and I have had to try and stay cool.  At Tammy's there is shade to lie out in by the fence.  She's started keeping the gate shut very tight because she said next door have got pet rabbits.  I'm not sure what the difference is between a pet rabbit and rabbit, except I saw them and pet rabbits are white not brown like normal rabbits and they live in little houses not in fields.  They probably need to live in little houses to stay clean because mud would show up more on their white fur.  

On the way home from Tammy's I got hot in the sunshine so when I got home I asked if I could take my collar off because I was hot under the collar.  Louise thought that was very funny and she let me take it off.  It was much cooler after that.

No collar on

It was hot in the morning as well and I woke up early and needed to avail myself of the facilities, so I tried to wake Louise up because Dave had gone to work.  She wasn't very happy because it was very early, but it was very bright and so I was awake.  I stopped to look at the sunshine and Louise got cross because she wanted to go back to sleep.  We went to have a nap by the fan.

Sunny Morning

A quieter weekend this week

We're having a quieter week this week, last week we went to see Dave's mum and dad in a place called Corby.  Dave's niece's came to see us too, they're called Ciarrah and Holly.  They have lots and lots of energy like me and I got quite tired.  They are quite loud.

We went to a park and they fed the ducks.  I tried to explain that ducks are not always nice but they liked feeding them so I just kept an eye on them mean old ducks.

Keeping an eye on the ducks

Dave likes spending time with the nieces.  They are very small and because Dave is very big they look even smaller, but even though their legs are very little we walked a long long way.

Walking with Holly

This weekend me and Louise are going to relax a lot.  Dave is driving buses a lot so I might be able to sleep on the bed (until he kicks me out when he gets home.)  I like relaxing with Louise because she likes sleep as much as I do. 

Another busy week for Disley's top dog

It's been a busy week.  Louise went somewhere called London at the beginning of the week and she sent pictures of a dog she saw on the train.  He was sitting on the seat, which is naughty, although I sit on the seats too.  He didn't look very happy, I don't know why, I like sitting on the seat.

Sad looking dog

When she got back she was quite tired so the next day we worked from home.  She said I could relax but it's only fair I help so I took care of her lap computer when she wasn't sat next to it.  She said she got a lot of emails.  They're like letters but they go through the air onto a computer.  I like emails better than normal mail, and if all letters were email the postman would never come, which wouldn't be a bad thing.

Reading emails from my home office

On Friday Louise was very hot and tired on the way home.  She gets poorly sometimes when she's too hot and tired so Helen came to pick me up and we all walked to get Louise a cold drink together.  I was hot and tired too and so I was a bit nervous that Millie was there, she pulls my tail sometimes and I don't like that when I'm hot.  I had a good look around then I could relax. 

Checking for tail pullers

After Louise was rested I hung out with my friend Lois.  I'm helping her to learn to talk - she could say my name before Louise or Dave's.  The next words I'll be teaching her are biscuit, treat, bone and chews.  They're my favourites; that way she can make sure I have enough food.  Lois's favourite food is cheese, and I'm the only person she shares with. 

Teaching Lois to say biscuit.  Bis - cuit.  Biscuit.

Louise returns for another Bank Holiday in Disley

The bank gave everyone another day off last weekend, and Louise went away to see her family but Dave's friend Boss, who is usually pretty nice, wouldn't let him have the day off so I stayed behind to keep him company.  I went to play with Tammy for the day and we watched football at night.  It's called Match of the Day, but it's really lots of football games, they don't just pick their favourite which is probably why it goes on such a long time and Louise doesn't like it.  Dave said I could sleep on the bed if I wanted, but I know that Louise doesn't like me to so I didn't in case she found out.  She's very clever, she always seems to know that it's me that's been in the bin and not next door's cat like I make out.

When Louise got back she gave me a lot of fuss but I was pretty busy eating the yummy treat my friend Helen had got me, so she had to wait until the next day for my full attention.  She told me that one of the friends that she met has a daughter that reads my blog.  That's probably because I have such a good understanding of the world, if I wasn't me I'd read about me.  When I told Louise that she said not to be so cocky.  Being compared to a chicken is even worse than being compared to a cat, and so I decided to be quieter after that.

Chickens.  Me.  Very clear difference.

 

She was taking me for a walk, and we were all ready when she lost something called keys.  I think it's some kind of musical instrument from the noise it makes and I wasn't sure why she couldn't walk me until she found it.  I had my lead on ready to go, so I encouraged her by calling her and wagging my tail a lot.  Wagging nearly always works.  Eventually we found keys, and went to chase ducks.  Grrr, ducks.

Wagging.

After I showed the ducks in Disley who was the boss, I was pretty tired and I think Louise was too so we watched a bit of TV and Louise did some writing on her lap computer.  I had a bit of a nap.  Dave came home after all the people got off his bus which was nice.  He says he'll give me a long walk another day.  Although I don't have a favourite pet parent, he has longer legs, so I can't wait.

Duck chasing-ed out.

Mist, hide and seek, and fetch at Fernilee Reservoir.

Louise has been sooooooo busy, she hasn't even had time to write all about our great great weekend. (luckily she's made time for feeding and fussing me).  Last weekend her friend Boss let her have Friday and Monday off so we got loads and loads of time together to play, and I think there must have been a shortage of buses because Dave was allowed to stay home too!  We had lots of fun walking and sleeping and eating and sleeping, but one day that was the best was when we went to the Fernilee reservoir, which is a little drive from Disley, so I got to ride in the car.  I have my own seat called Boot.

A reservoir is like a lake that people drink from, that's where the tap water comes from.  I'm lucky, as a dog I can drink straight from it.  I can drink from rivers, lakes, puddles and bowls, but not the sea because there is something funny about the water in the sea.  It was really nice there for wading (I don't swim) and the weather was something called misty.  This means that after a bit the trees turn into sky.  It's a bit confusing but Louise seemed ok with it.

Trees turning into sky - its called mist.

There was lots of long grass to jump in which was good so I could play hide and seek.  Can you see me in this picture?  Probably not, I'm very very good at this game.

Boo, there I am!

We also played another fun game, it's Dave's favourite.  It's called fetch.  He likes collecting sticks but forgets he has them so accidentally throws them away, but I bring them back for him.  He's so silly, so I run around with them for a bit to make him laugh.  He found a huge stick that day.

Carrying Dave's stick

After all that running and wading I was pretty tired so I slept a lot.  It was a really great weekend.

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.

The longest walk in the history of Disley

Cooling off in the stream!

I had a VERY busy day yesterday, I went on one of the longest walks I think I’ve ever been on, even dog walks with Aaron.  It was a really nice day because the sky was blue and Dave and Louise walked me together which was a special treat.  We went down to the canal but we went a different way and ended up walking through the woods which was dark and there were lots of funny noises in the trees and bushes.  Louise and Dave got a bit tired and sat on a giant stick that is too big to throw for fetch called a log, and then we carried on to find some water for me.  

This stick was too big to fetch

It was very hot so I was pleased to find a little stream, but then we found a bigger stream called a river and I think it’s where Aaron takes me, except this time I had it all to myself.  I like the water but not when my little legs can’t touch the bottom.  Dave was trying to get me to swim a bit more, and so he threw sticks for me to fetch into the deep water.  I tried barking at them to get to get closer but when that didn’t work I found out that the water makes the stick move, and so if you stand further down the river in the shallow part it floats to you.  This is a much better way of playing fetch; when the stick comes to you.  Even then, I got very wet and had to shake a lot to get even a bit dry.  I had a good mind to make Dave go into the deeper water himself, he has very long legs; he’s much bigger than any other dog owner which is good because big dogs don’t mess with me.  

Shaking off

 After the long long walk Louise said she was gasping, which is a funny kind of breathing, and I don’t know how a pint would help with breathing but it seemed to make her and Dave feel much better and Dave looked a lot less red.  I don’t drink pints but it was good to rest and dry off in the sunshine.

 

A pint on the way home

I like sunshine better than any other kind of weather, even snow and I love snow.  Sunshine means longer walks and fun in the water, and if we go to the pub everyone likes to sit in the beer garden with me even more than they already do.     

Taking (photos of) the Ricky

Dave has been driving the bus at night this week.  This means that when Louise picks me up and we get home he's not there, although I always quickly check upstairs to be sure when we get home in case he's having a nap as I like to.  It's a bit quiet without him because he has such a loud laugh, but it's nice to spend time with Louise too.  She was looking on the lapcomputer last night and found some photos of me when I first moved in with Dave and Louise.  It was in another village before we moved to Disley or even Cheshire.  I looked so young and skinny!  I was worried this meant I had got fat but Louise said I was too thin back then and now I am just right.  This is good news; I was worried I wouldn't be allowed any more Pringles.

I look so little!

 This is a funny photo, I thought I must have been being helpful, but Louise said I had taken the brush to play with and wouldn't give it back!  I'm quite sure I was never that immature I'm sure she must be thinking of another ginger haired dog that lived in the area.  I am very helpful these days.  I always make sure that there is no food left on the floor in the kitchen and if someone leaves a wrapper anywhere I make sure there are no crumbs going to fall out of it.  I am also an accomplished bed, sofa and lap warmer, face washer and patio jet sprayer.  Overall seeing as all Dave and Louise have to do is feed me, wash and brush me, walk me and give up half their bed and sofa for me, I think they get a pretty good deal.

I am one helpful dog

Who put all the salt in the sea?

We went to the beach yesterday in Crosby, a long drive from Disley, and it was the first time I have seen the sea which was exciting.  The sea is like a huge river that is so big you can't even see the other side and the water tastes funny.  Louise says it's salt water, which is like what you put on chips so I don't know who put all the salt in the sea.  The ground is made of sand which is wet soil that you can write on which is handy as there are no pens at the sea.  Dave wrote my name for me.

Sand, dirt you can write on

 The best thing about this beach was there were loads of big statues of men which were funny.  I needed a wee but Louise said it was naughty to wee on them because it was art.  I thought art was painting so I wasn't too worried when she told me off and Dave thought it was funny.

Me and Dave making friends with the statue

I went in the salty water too and pretended to play fetch for Dave with stones.  I know you can't fetch stones but Dave seemed to be having fun and I didn't want to let him down especially since he got me a cone that normally has white cold stuff called ice cream in.  I was hot and the water made me cooler which was good.  I was very tired at the end of the day and so when Dave and Louise watched a film I laid on the sofa with them.  Louise said I took up a lot of space but I was just making sure that Dave got a good cuddle.

Cooling down in the salty water

What Easter means to a dog

This weekend is an extra long weekend which is great because I get to play with Dave and Louise more.  Sometimes weekends are longer because on the Mondays the banks decide everyone should close, and so it's called a bank holiday.  I don't know why the banks get to choose but I'm not complaining except the buses don't have to stop, which is a shame as Dave's out driving a bus in Stockport over Easter.

These bank holidays are very confusing to me.  This particular holiday is called Easter, which is a holiday invented by someone called Christian celebrating how people can eat a lot of chocolate.  Someone called the Easter Bunny brings everyone eggs made out of chocolate, which is even more confusing as bunnies don't lay eggs, chickens do.  Dogs don't eat chocolate but I'm sure Louise will buy me treats instead.

I like the look of chocolate...

... But Louise and Dave have treats for dogs instead!

I hope everyone enjoys their Easter too. I've been for walks with Dave and Louise and played fetch, the snow is mostly gone so there were birds to chase, and then had some naps.  It's very light and Louise says it's because the clocks have gone forward, although I've checked and they're all in exactly the same place.  As I said, Easter is confusing, I think I like Christmas better because of the presents.

Destroying Something Purple - For Louise

Louise says yesterday was Purple Day.  Purple is a colour for girls so to start with I wasn't very interested, but she says it's to show people we can about people that have something called epileptic seizures.  Louise can have these even if she takes the white sweets she eats to stop them, so then I was very interested.  Louise wore a purple top and Dave wore a purple tie so that way we could show we care about everyone that has epilepsy like Louise.  Not everyone has a dog like me to help them and that makes me feel sad, and I hope that other people help them instead.

I'm a dog and don't really like wearing clothes, not even coats like my friend Rupert wears.  Also, purple is kind of a colour for girls and it doesn't matter how much I love Louise I'm not sure I want to walk around Disley wearing a girl colour.  Instead, Louise has got me some purple balloons to play with; my teeth always make them go bang!  Today I will destroy something purple, for Louise, and all the other people that have epilepsy.

Pringles are good - Postmen are bad

Louise is very happy with me today because the vet says I am healthy.  Well, I already knew that, but Louise has been very worried about this little bump on my side.  The vet says it is a fatty lump, which I thought was a bit rude but he meant the bump was a fatty lump not that I am a fatty lump.  I was worried that if Dave thought I was a fatty lump that he wouldn’t share his crisps any more, which would be a shame as I am particularly partial to Pringles.  Pringles are special crisps that are all the same shape, so they must be made with funny shaped potatoes.

Looking for the Postman - we don't want your junk!

While Louise has been worried about me, I am more concerned about our postman, who is posting more than ever through the hole in the door.  I said that we should plug the hole up but Louise said no in case we miss an important Bill, although I don’t know anyone called Bill let alone an important one.  Louise calls it junk mail, and when I looked up ‘junk’ it said ‘useless material.’  Why our postman would choose to post us something useless I do not know, so I am responding by shouting at him every time he posts anything.  Hopefully soon he will get the message that we don’t want his junk and give it to the woman next door who has a snooty cat called Ollie.  I don’t like Ollie because he can sit on fences and window ledges when I can’t.  I don’t get on with most of the cats in Disley; they are like bigger meaner squirrels.

Me and Ollie - the snootiest cat in Disley

I'm an Unofficial Seizure Dog!

Louise takes care of me a lot, so it's good when I take care of her too.  Dave is very healthy except when he gets the flu that is especially for men or hurts his leg playing 5 sided football (I have never seen a football pitch with 5 sides, it sounds very interesting).  Louise gets poorly sometimes though with something called epilepsy, which makes her fall down and get confused.  This makes me feel sad for her but she eats little white sweets that keep her well most of the time.

Today I could see that she was a bit ill but she couldn't tell and was walking around just like normal.  I was worried she'd fall down and so when she went to the stairs to go downstairs to feed me (which is normally good news) I was very worried, so I called her back into the living room and she sat down.  She seemed cross, like I was being silly, but then she looked very ill and confused.  After a short bit she breathed out and looked much better.  I laid by her feet to check she didn't try to get up too quickly, I figured breakfast could wait a bit.

Keeping an eye on Louise

Louise was very very grateful.  She sent Dave a message on his cleverphone to tell him too (it's a cleverphone because it takes photos and orders shopping.)  I hope that Dave will be just as happy with me. 

Louise says that she read that there are other dogs that can do this.  They're called seizure dogs and normally dogs need to go to school to learn how to help people and they earn a special collar and coat.  I learnt all by myself.  I can't have a proper collar and coat because I haven't been to the school, but Louise says I'm definitely an unofficial seizure dog.  I'm pleased with that because I don't really like to wear coats.

Louise took care of me back by taking me for a walk and buying me Rodeo treats, which are very nice treats.  She bought herself dieting cola and has eaten some lunch so she must be feeling better, I've eaten some Rodeos; life is good. I'm kind of tired from all the excitement so I'm taking a nice, long weekend nap.

Weekend naps - they rock

Coming up... Dogs night out with Aaron and Scrappy!

I am going on a special special treat; this Saturday Louise and Dave are letting me go for a sleepover with Scrappy at Aaron's house.  Aaron is professional dog lover, which must be the most important job ever, and he lets dogs go walking with him and stay at his house with Scrappy.  Scrappy is one of my most favourite friends. He is little and fuzzy and grey but he is very well behaved as he has to set an example for all Aaron's friend dogs; some of them are a bit naughty, which is why I work so hard to be one of Aaron's bestest behaved friends.

I get tired after seeing Aaron as he goes on the longest walks ever.  Dave and Louise take me on nice walks but Aaron's go on FOREVER.  I suppose it's because he works full time at loving dogs and Dave and Louise have other jobs.  I don't know what training you need to be a professional dog lover, it's probably a very hard course.  Aaron is easily the best dog lover in Disley, so he must have done very well at dog loving college.

Me and Scrappy looking for squirrels last time I went to sleep over

I just feel bad for Dave and Louise, who have to go on a crawl in Manchester, which is a big city outside Cheshire with less squirrels and parks.  I don't know who's making them do this, but it does not sound fun at all.  Luckily whoever is in charge is letting them stop at some pubs in between crawling.  That's probably a good idea as they aren't used to walking so close to the floor like me.  It's a real skill, one of my many.

Maybe Baby

We have had a pretty quiet weekend.  We went to the park in Disley both days which is always fun, although Louise laughed at me when I ran into a tree.  I just get so excited running and chasing I don't always look where I'm going and I'm sure that tree wasn't there last week.

We went to the meat raffle on Sunday as usual to see all my friends; they mainly come to see me.  Louise had a drink or two and I had some crisps.  They had a party there on the Saturday night and so there were balloons, but the children had already taken them which was sad as I like balloons.  Louise says I can have some next time we go to the shops.  (I don't get to go in as the man that runs it; Mr Tesco says not dogs in the shop - rude man)

Helen was there with baby Lois, who is getting very big now, I even let her hold my lead.  She chewed it a bit which was yuk, I hope she didn't get dog hair in her little mouth.  I like Lois because she drops toast and crisps just for me.  She must like me too.

Me and Lois

I love weekends in Disley!

It's the weekend again, which is great.  During the week Dave and Louise have to work and so they don't have as much time to play, but today Louise is home with me, and they are both around tomorrow to play.  Louise likes to sleep in at the weekend, and I like snoozing as well, as long as  can cuddle up in bed with her once Dave goes to work.  Sometimes though it gets a bit late and I have to remind her to get up.

The best trick to get Louise to get up it to paw at the bed; this shows her that I remember the 'give us your paw' trick as well as waking her up.  If she manages to ignore that I say 'wake up wake up.'  She doesn't always understand what I'm saying but she gets the picture because my funny noises make her laugh.  I like it when she laughs.

 Wake up call

Tonight when Dave finishes work, we're going around to see Helen and Stephen, who are two of my favourite people in Disley.  Their kids, Samuel and Lois will probably be in bed which is a shame because they drop a lot of food for me to eat, but Helen always fusses me and Stephen is funny.  They are going to play a game called Mr and Mrs whether they see who knows the most about each other.  I don't really have a girlfriend (although I like Poppy a lot), so I'm going to help Dave, because Louise talks so much that's it's not really fair to expect him to remember it all!  I hope we win!

Poppy (she's pretty)

Sofa Wars in Disley

Me, Dave and Louise had a night in last night.  We all watched a film called 'Up' which had a funny dog in it.  He kept looking for squirrels that weren't there.  Louise said I was a bit like that but I always know when there's a squirrel.  They confuse me because they run like rabbits but they go up trees like birds.  There are a lot of squirrels in Disley, mainly in Lyme Park and the playground, and I think Disley squirrels are mean.  All I want to do is play but they run away and hide up trees, which I think is very rude.

 
After the film we all sat and listened to music and I tried to get comfie on the sofa.  The problem was that Louise and Dave kept getting up and down to get drinks, go to the toilet (if they didn't drink so much they wouldn't need to as much, I manage to hold it) and so I had problems settling.  I tried sitting one the end with my head on the pillow but then Louise wanted her space back, so when Dave got up to go to the loo (he's like his Dad, when Grandad Dixon comes he goes to the loo a lot too) I tried his seat.  Then of course he wanted to sit down again so I had to sit on the other end next to Louise, and then the pillow fell on me.  The best thing was that me and Dave ate Pringles.  The man that makes Pringles is very clever as he manages to make every crisp exactly the same shape.  I find that very impressive.

Anyway, I have decided that we need a bigger sofa, and it's something I plan to bring up when everyone's in a good mood and they haven't had any grown up apple juice.

Not comfie.

Still not comfie!