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