Wordless Wednesday- tennis ball

Poor George

On Thursday it snowed for hours and now the snow is a few inches deep.  Last night it was -15; we had to take to the pond with a saw to get through the thick layer of ice. Boiling water and hot saucepans literally weren't cutting it!



All this crazy weather seems to have driven my dogs a bit crazy too. Millie who normally gives affection sparingly, has been super friendly. Even coming to sit with me on the couch this morning. Dexter appears to have been hit by a dose of puppy hyper-activeness.

Dexter's worst puppy habit was chewing and destroying stuff, especially clothes. He hasn't done this for a year or so now. But this week the chewer was back. "Do you think he is stressed out?" I asked David. "Does he look stressed?" David replied as Dexter ran and bounced round the room, jubilantly carrying one of my socks.  The chewer even progressed to my handbag, and fetched out my gloves and took them off to chew under a duvet.

However the biggest crime was the destruction of George. George is Millie's well loved teddy. Millie takes excellent care of her soft toys, they can last her years.  Only their flattened, blackened faces where Millie has regularly groomed them give a clue that their owner is a dog.

George sadly had his stuffing removed this morning, and spread around the house. Here is Millie taking a few moments to remember her very special bear (not closing her eyes, because Mum tried to take a picture  where she had to look into the sun!).

Wordless Wednesday- Snow!

(No) Monday Mischief Millie

My sister Millie thinks that because all the other dogs have had a turn at Monday Mischief, she should have a turn. But I say no way. If I let Millie write on my blog you would all be at snooze town after two sentences. Millie is such a big sister. She loves rules, order and being good (apart from the brie stealing incident at Christmas, but I am not allowed to talk about that).

Here she is being good, not on the lead. BORING.... She should have run off, jumped in the stream, and then put her wet muddy paws on some people walking by. That's what I would do.

When Mum was doing some tidying she stacked our dog beds on top of each other. I sat in her bed for 2 minutes, just while Mum sorted things out, but because it was not my bed Millie actually sat on top of me. She said the rules are dogs stay in their own beds.

But when Millie's sleeping, I cuddle up to her, because even though she is very grown up my sister is very special.

This is a Blog Hop. Thanks to Alfie’s Blog, Snoopy’s Dog Blog, Luna, a Dog’s Life,and My Brown Newfies for setting up this hop.

Cat and mouse chase in the snow

We finally got some snow last night, Nice thick powdery snow which I thought Millie and Dexter would love to play around in. But no. After years of loving the snow, Millie put one paw outside, said too cold and came back indoors.

When she finally did come outside, no amount of roughhousing from Dexter could persuade Millie that it would be fun to play in the snow. This picture of Dexter isn't very good but I wanted to get a picture of his pyjama legs! The long fur that he has on his legs, that looks like snazzy seventies flares or a pair of cool boots. I don't clip his fur (he would never stay still that long), it's just the way it grows. But on a snowy day, it  just traps all the snow.

Dexter's amazing furry legs

The snow also told us the story of what happened in the garden last night. See these little mouse prints, (you have to look hard) well looks like they ran into some cat paw prints.

Then the cat had a little stand on the frozen pond, hopefully not trying any ice hole fishing. You can just make out a fish under the middle paw print. Don't worry - I have made a big hole in the pond for the fish.

The birds managed to dig the snow out of the way so they could have some breakfast!

Dexter goes training (for the first time)

A few weeks after we adopted Dexter from Battersea Dogs and Cats Home, I thought it would be good for him to go to some dog classes. In his previous home, Dexter had never worn a lead or collar, and never been for a walk.  Considering his limited his experience of the outside world, Dexter loved to meet new people and go to new places. At home I had already taught him a sit and wait which he learnt fast, so I thought he would love dog classes.

 If Dexter was human, he would be the type of character Owen Wilson tends to play in films like "You, Me and Dupree". Dexter likes to walk into a room and shout "Hey everyone let's party". He knows all the ladies find him very handsome, doesn't want to take things too seriously, and loves attention.

I had signed Dexter up for a class, and the first time I took him along I quickly realised that the whole dog class idea of sitting nicely, and being calm didn't appeal to Dexter at all.  He barked and barked and... barked, desperate to run round the room and play with the other dogs.  Who knew a dog could bark constantly for an hour.

From super barker to superstar 

Every week it was the same Dexter would bark all lesson.  I am not ashamed to say, some times I cried before I went in to that class dreading another hour of barking. Some of the other dog owners, and (some of the other dogs) did not look kindly on Dexter's behaviour, which made things harder.   But as time went on, with lots of praise and lots of rewards Dexter concentrated for a little bit longer. The first time Dexter sat for 1 whole minute, I was the one running round the room, completely over excited.  Dexter even won a rosette in an obedience test.

 A year later- Dexter will be taking part in his first obedience competition this month. He also does agility classes too now, which actually much better suit Dexter's personality, he can run round and go a little crazy.  For some  dogs like Dexter it can take a little bit of patience to get them used to dog classes, and some weeks are like going back to square one,  but its so rewarding when he does well, and he really loves all the praise (especially from the ladies).

Wordless Wednesday- Slow day at the vegetable patch