Friday, 27 April 2012

End April 2012 update

I know it says I'm one year old, on the side view here. But I'm now five and a half. Soon to be six. Still fit and healthy though. Love my ball, love my agility. Don't like loud bangs, and especially don't like whooshing noises like what comes from air moving through a fan, or over kites. Yes I can hear that. But I don't like seeing them either. They really scare me.

Anyway. It's now April well almost May 2012. It's been very wet during April up here in Nairn and I've needed to be dried every time I get home after my walk/ball play/poo run. Yes I know. But well, that's what it's all about after all.

Don't know what May will bring. But I hope I'll soon be up to Grade 4 in my agility. That will mean I'll have to run with even faster dogs. I'm OK and quite quick, but I need to better understand what SHE wants with the dogwalk and the A frame. SHE says go slow to make sure I run all the way down and touch the bottom. Then SHE also says 'hurry up and get to the bottom'.

Not sure SHE really knows what she wants. Go slow, or hurry up. But there's clearly something not quite right with it. We'll get there I guess.

I am now much more confident and while as I said, I'm a bit scared of some things still. I'm really not that much scared of anything now. A few things I don't like though. Like 'other dogs'. Well they're so uncouth!!

Sniffing around your bum. Who says they can sniff around my bum? I certainly didn't give them permission AND I don't like it. So I tell them. But then HE gives me a hard time for telling them. Only giving a warning, which most take OK. But apparently, I'm not allowed to do that. It's not couth. I'll show HIM couth!

So now I don't grown or snap at dogs when they sniff my bum. I just sit down. He runs over and acts like a human windmill trying to keep the offender away from me. Mostly he manages, which is fine. Saves me having to play the 'hard nut Sgithanach'.

What else can I tell you?
I've been hurting my legs from time to time. What a performance? I tweak my leg. He refuses to give me my ball. I want my ball, cos otherwise what's the point in going for a run? He refuses. So I pick up a stick. Seems while I'm not normally allowed a stick, when I'm not allowed a ball, I AM allowed a stick. REALLY!

Where is the logic in this human world?

Meggie

Wednesday, 7 March 2012

Catch up

Well it's been a while. Check the date of my last post. I've been busy working on my agility. SHE takes me. Forces me to stay in a tent overnight. Then out in the cold morning. To do my 'running'.

Of course it's not proper running. That involves going fast in a straight line, chasing something for example like a ball. Not jumping over things and through things. That's not proper running at all.

But anyway, as I was going to say. I'm now an agility dog. And very good at it I am, even if I say so myself. I can jump over things. I can climb things. I can run through things - they call it a tunnel. I can weave. In out, in out, in out. No problem when you're lithe like me.

So the last couple of years, I've been teaching HER what she needs to do to help tell me where I'm to go next. Trouble is they (humans) can't think fast enough. They seem to have to complicate things where it's not necessary. Just TELL ME WHERE TO GO. That's all I say.

Funniest of all was when HE was at a show and decided to have a go tell ME how to do agility. Was fine with the commands, but where was he? Somewhere near the beginning of the course. Frankly he could not keep up, even though I was giving him a chance by going a lot slower than normal.

Well. More to come but got to go for now.

Tioraidh

Meggie.

Saturday, 4 April 2009

Wind and rain today. They took me to Grantown on Spey and I had to stay in the car. They came back out after AGES and took me into the wood to get a bit of a run. That bit was great. They found a really good wood AND I got a stick. I've been banned from sticks - ever since I cut my tongue on one in Inverness. Wasn't my fault!

I'd been playing away find and decided to have a wee lie down adn a chew at the stick. But HE hadn't properly taken off all the knots in this stick and a piece got stuck under my tongue. When I crunched down to break it into a more manageable sized piece. OUch! And I noticed something a bit warm and wet in my mouth. I staggered over to HIMself (the stagger really just to get a bit more sympathy) and he put his hand IN my mouth and pulled it out covered in blood. That's when the panic set in. But in five minutes or less, all the blood had stopped. And we could get on with the game. But he would not give me the stick! Don't know why?

So - ever since then - until today - I've been banned from playing with sticks. I've tried everything to get them to play iwth a stick. Picked them up and dropped one at their feet. Broken them off and ran around like mad with one in my mouth, then dropped it at their feet. But no - always the same story - not allowed sticks.

It was great today to get back to running around like mad (my favourite thing, by the way) and chasing the stick. I got so revved up for it that even I gave the stick a good chewing to. That showed it. Gave it back in half.

After a while (and meeting a few laboradors) we got back to Nairn. And off we went down the beach. Great. I love going down the beach. But especially into the wood. Culbin forest is my favourite wood anywhere. It's great for chasing things, like balls or sticks.

Will soon be back and will write more then.

Meggie.

Wednesday, 21 November 2007

catchup

Well it's been a while since I wrote a few lines. But hopefully this will catch us all up.

September & October
Lots of walks along the beach and in the wood. I'm really good now and apart from the occasional 'accident' I hardly ever have to pee on the rug now. Mostly just to show them who's in charge of course. And to show my authority.

They don't seem amused, but then they have to clean it up, so I guess they wouldn't be.

November
21st today. Hurt my leg. Probably yesterday, but maybe even the day before. You see I've taken to running after and playing with a ball. Probably a bad idea to give in this early. He's been kicking a ball up and down the beach for ages and I've managed to totally ignore it. But one day during October, I spotted a ball on the 'new' bit of beach we were on. And I could not ignore any more. I started playing with. And to be fair to them, they picked it up pretty quickly. They throw the ball, I run to it. And leave it there. Then of course, there's the alternative. There's always an alternative. They throw it. And I bring it back to them. Well almost. Don't want to totally 'sell out', do I? So I bring it as far as I have to before one of them will pick up the ball and throw it again. It's pretty good fun. And I could do it for a long time. Probably all day. And in fact, all night too. Would be better than sleeping. In fact, I can think of only 'eating' that is better. Come to think of it, if they also fed me down on the beach.....I would only have to stop for a few minutes a day. But they seem to have other ideas. And we 'have' to go home. Why?

Anyway, as I was going to say. I've hurt my leg. He's been putting ice I think it is. It's cold anyway. Onto the back right leg. Silly bugger, it is my left one that's hurt. No only joking. It is my right back one. Well he's been putting this bag of ice onto the back leg and it has helped a bit. It was quite cold, but I think it is a bit better. Can't jump up onto my chair, which is a bit of a bugger. But soft git has put my 'new comfy beddie' in front of it, so I'm 'making do' with that.

Oh. last night She decided I should have a more comfortable bed. Probably cos i've started waking her up during the night, when I remember I'd forgotten to do a 'complete' pee. Well you never know when you're going to need to spray. So I usually like to keep some back!!

Anyway, I've started waking her up to let me out. I wait until about 4am before I do this of course. And she thinks it's cos I'm waking up because my beddie is not comfy enough. Well all I can say is RESULT!

This new beddie is a quilt. Very comfy and soft. So I slept all night last night, just to show my appreciation.

Well I'm off to rest my weary leg. I'm told I'm taking it easy today. Just to give it a little extra rest. Probably the correct answer. Although I will miss my ball today. And my beach.

Oh well. And he's off to make Beef Jerky. Runs ScottishJerky.com you know. But I don't seem to have seen any of it. Sherry, that's my cousin. She told me. she used to get some. Well find some from time to time. But me. Nothing.

Well I'm off to nurse my sore leg. I'm just going to mope about the house today, I think. A good day to do that, cos it's raining. And it's gonna rain - ALL DAY - although that doesn't bother me much.

Bye for now.

Meggie.

Tuesday, 28 August 2007

Golden Wedding - off lead - and running fast

Well. I've been with these folks for almost a month now - 4th September will be it. And they seem never to stay at home at the weekend. This week we're off to a Golden Wedding anniversary dinner. I got to stay in the car, cos doggies are not allowed in hotels apparently. it was interesting how people seemed to come out of the hotel - all dressed up in their finery, then burst into flames. Well almost burst into flames - plenty of smoke anyway. Just doesn't seem natural. Plenty of noise too, but I just slept through it all. Best way really. On one side the main road, on the other a wedding party's overflow of smokers. Fun fun fun - these humans!

He came out at various intervals to see 'I was alright'. More like to check that I wasn't eating the car! he took a couple of 'little people' with him one time who proceeded to speak in very high voices and 'prod' at me. All very amusing really.

So then it was back to another house I did not know and a 'sleepover' again. This time, I decided it would not be appropriate to 'adopt' the house by marking it. Seem to have lost much of the urge since my 'season' has finished. So I was complemented as 'very good' and only insisted on getting up once at 4.30 for a quick pee. Didn't really need one, but I was bored and fanced getting Her up from her bed. She looked far too comfy!

So next day we went for a walk in Perth. Down by a burn along a path. It was quite nice and I met 'Fred' an Airdale terrier who was very nice. Had this terrible habit of putting his front paws out and high above my head though. So I was not amused by him.

Next I met this big dog who seemed to want to play, but wasn't allowed. Then a very fat lab, which was only 9 months old and was at the height of her season. Her owner said she was 'keen'. Owner could have done with losing a bit of weight too if I'm brutally honest.

So it was back to the house - via a couple of bikes - that I kidded on I had not seen. Then into the car and back up north. That was a long journey, but we stopped once and I had a ball running over some rocks first by a waterfall, then running through the heather as we took off up a path. That was my idea - a good one I think. Brian moped off back to the car - something about being cold without his jacket, which he'd forgotten to take with him. Left in the garage. Eejit!

I was very tired by the time we got home and slept very long. Couldn't move before 6.30 so allowed them a long lie. Only seemed fair - once they'd fed me, of course.

I'm now being allowed off the lead most of the time, which is good. I also like very much to run from one of the humans to the other, as fast as I can. It's quite food fun really. Seems to amuse the folks too. I can run up the sandbanks much faster than they can. They're a bit pathetic at it actually and continuously fall down. So I bomb them by running at them and straight over them. Good fun really, although they seem to complain about sand in their faces.

Yesterday, we were playing 'hide and seek'. He hid below the bank, and I'd walk on the top then come down onto the sand and find him.

One time I took a dive from the top of the sandbank and slightly misjudged it and landed flat like a belly flop on the sand. Then ran along and found Him and trying to get close, I pushed my back paws too far and fell on my back again. So I was covered in sand.

Then she'd hide above the bank and I'd run fast and find her. Pretty easy really, but it seemed to amuse them. Part of the job description of a pet and not too difficult to do, so I'm fine with it.

Life is generally pretty good. They do sleep a bit late and I have to admit to having fallen into this trap. I'm now sleeping right through to 6.30. Trouble is I have to get Her up to feed me, cos I'm ravenous at that time. I do continue to sleep after I've got a full tummy though. Not much to do really until I get my walk. I'm then back and 'doss' around a bit until 'teatime' and a walk, then it's just a short sleep until breakfast again. It's a god's life! You think that's a mistake. You're mistaken. Got to show them who's boss you know!

Wednesday, 22 August 2007

Slept all night - Off the lead - and my first tick

Slept all night last night. Right through to 6.30am. But then I was 'ready to rock and roll'. So I started trying to wake the folks up. Hey you guys. Cumon, it's late now. Time to go. I'm awake and 'full of beans' and bursting to get moving. So I did a bit of running around and trying to lose some energy. Eventually I got fed. That helped, cos I was hungry. But in a way just gave me more energy. I was bored waiting by this time, so thought I'd investigate a pair of 'binocliears' I found. They were made of rubber and metal. So quite good to chew on. I also found a medal thing with a piece of ribbon holiding it. So I threw that around for a while too. He kept 'instecting' and trying to find out what I was doing. But I was two steps ahead of him, cos I'd taken the evidence outside. So he didn't discover till later. But by then I'd forgotten what had happened. So that was fine. I got a good chew at the binocliears though and managed to get most of the rubber off. Who needs the rubber part anyway? So I've helped in a way.


Today for the first time on a walk, I was allowed off the lead. I stuck pretty close to Him, just in case he got scared. But he was fine. Called me back every so often for the first while, but I did n't really want to go that far ahead anyway and kept checking he was alright. He was fine.

On the way back, we met a whole lot of dogs that were splashing around in the water. It looked great fun. One was doing dive bombs into the water and bouncing out the other side. Another was copying. I wanted to have a go, but he wouldn't let me. Something about learning bad habits. It looked great fun though.

Then someone called 'murphy' came running towards me. He had a sniff at my bum but didn't really know what to do. So off he trotted again. Well galloped actually. He was quite fit looking and was really enjoying the water. Just wait until I'm able to run through the water like that 'off the lead'. Still got to get his confidence up a bit first, I suppose.

Then when we got back. I wanted to get back into the house and quickly. Never know when these pesky kids are going to start their inane chanting and screaming. He decided it would be a good idea to take me for a walk down to play with the traffic.

The first couple of cars scared me quite a bit. But after that I decided to lie down and take it easy. After that it was fine. But then he made me stand up against the wall and 'watch' the traffic going by. That was a bit scary, but again once I got used to it, I was fine. I decided I'd had enough and wanted back home. But he said I couldn't get home till I was calm. Calm. Next thing I see is this person on a bike. As readers will know, I don't much like bikes. Well this was a woman at the other side of the street on a bike. I was fine though. Trying to be calm.

Just before we came back. And I thought he was going to take me back first. I saw Stella. She's the little yappy thing from across the street. She's alright though and we had a nice chat the last (which was the first) time we met. So I wagged my tail. And she wagged her tail ready to meet up. We had a grand 'blether' and she sniffed my bum. I sniffed her nose afterwards. And we had a grand chat about where she'd been on her walk. I told her about murphy and the boys in the water. She also thought it sounded great fun. Then her owner said 'come on puppy' and they were off. We followed back into the house after that and I slept.

My first tick
Yesterday I was really itchy and Brian said I had a 'tick'. Isn't that something to do with a clock?
Anyway, he put some greasy stuff on my neck before we did our walk. Then when we came back he insisted on 'instecting' my tick and my neck. I didn't like that much. Especially as he then started prodding around my neck and pulled the thing out. Felt a bit better for that, although I'm still a bit itchy.

Last night they seemed to think (or so they said) I had a tick in my bum. Cos during my walk my bum got instected for ticks. He didn't find any he said. I think it was just an excuse to put his thumb of my bum actually. Funny habit these humans. Woudn't it be nicer to just sniff?

Tuesday, 21 August 2007

I barked

Well it's Tuesday and I decided to give Him something to think about. So I barked. Did not overdo it. Just barked once. He was delighted 'good doggie' and all that. You'd think I'd just had a litter of puppies or something.

So I barked. I heard something outside and wanted to warn them off. But there was nothing there. I had a look outside to check.

This morning - went ot beach for walk. Another couple of dogs there. Barking barking barking. Honestly, what's all the barking for? It must be strange for people. I guess they don't know the dog was just repeating 'throw my ball', as they obviously were not doing it. What 's a ball anyway?

The other dog was also barking - 'me too' it was saying. Then they decided to walk right in front of us. So we took off in the opposite direction. Down onto the beach. Nice..

Got back and He wanted to play. How can 'squash the dog' be play? Well I sucked up to him anyway. Only he can reach the food now since he caught me yesterday. Didn't do any good though. Some of the games are quite good though. They're getting a bit more inventive. Has been a bit boring until now. But hey, they take a time to settle down and into my routine I suppose.

She does seem to understand that I need to get up and have a walk about during the night. Thought that was going to be more difficult to train her to do. But no - she seems to be able to leap out of bed quite quick now. Couple of poos on the kitchen floor sorted that one out.

I've had a hard day today. Since my walk, I've lain around mostly in the bedroom, but also a bit under my table on my own blanket. Well when He closed the bedroom door, I had no choice.

Looking forward to my tea. Comes around 6 o'clock. Tonight I'm getting 'dry stuff' again. Quite like it though. Such a pity He caught me in the food yesterday. I could have had two teas. One around 5 and another when He gives it to me at 6. Such a shame, because I can't reach it now.

Never mind. I'll find a way sometime soon.

Must go for now. Have a bit of sleeping to get in yet. Otherwise I'm going to be too tired to get up at 4am and parade around a bit kidding on I need. Why do humans waken up so late? I'm ready to go around 6.30 every morning. But they just want to continue sleeping. Don't they know the best of the day is passed by 7.30?

Signing of for now.

Yours

Meg