Last weekend when I was with the female human we decided to go to a new place and have a new walk! Hilary said it’s a bit like being on holiday! I decided to go to Newburgh, which is a few miles from here on the river Tay. It is actually across the water from my old stomping ground of the Carse Of Gowrie, where I lived as a pup. Indeed, looking at a map we realised if we looked to the left we must be able to see the land at Gallowflat, where I used to walk most days!
We drove there in my car and parked near the waterfront for a look round. There was a park area with grass plants, flowers and lots of people. It was sunny and there were people fishing and having picnics so i had to stay on my lead, but I got a good sniff. I met quite a few dogs most of whom were very friendly, and we saw a strange fishy sculpture thing. We kept walking along and eventually the path got more track like and Hilary decreed I could be off lead. There were tall plants one side of us and behind them was the water – there were rowing boats on the water which were fun to watch.
We had a nice walk along the path which was quite muddy . I ate some grass but that made me sick, and Hilary decided we had better go home in case I was going to be really unwell. It was also starting to rain. We retraced ourt steps and found our way back to my car and got home in the pouring rain. The car park by my flat was flooded and I had to jump into water to get out my car!! However it was a very nice walk and it was good to go somewhere new. Hilary says we will go back there too!
Now I am out of prison I am having a fun weekend with Hilary. Yesterday she arranged for one of my friends to come and see me. She is a female human called Helen who goes to the male human’s church in Dunfermline. Helen lives with a cat called Suzy but does not have a dog companion of her own so I always try to make her feel very special. I gave her a huge hug when she arrived and made sure I licked her and covered her in my hairs.
Helen is a very sensible human who visited me not Hilary, and therefore instead of leaving me alone to go out somewhere dogs are not allowed, after a cuppa and a long chat (how to humans find so much to talk about?) we headed off to my forest. It took the humans ages to get ready as they phaffed around with walking boots, socks and waterproofs (it is so much easier being a dog- we are always ready!) We had a lovely walk in the forest and I showed Helen and Hilary some nice smells.
They also played with my ball. Helen is very good at kicking it (most of the time) and I am excellent at finding it and sniffing it out in the long grass. At one point though I put it down and it rolled under a gate! The gate was padlocked shut and the humans had great fun using a branch to poke it back to within reach again. I tried to help by getting through the bars of the gate but only my head fitted and I couldn’t reach the ball. Eventually we got it back safely!
When we got home to my flat the humans had another cuppa and soem chocolate chip brioche which Helen had brought. It looked lovely but I was not allowed any and had a dog chew instead.
After Helen left Hilary and me watched another Harry Potter film . We have only one more DVD to watch now before he new film comes out!I think Hilary is taking me to the cinema to see it next weekend!
Posted in friends, walk
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I have spent three whole nights incarcerated this week in a prison ! The male human has gone gallivanting away on more holidays and Hilary had important commitments… so I was banished! She took me in first thing Monday morning and the warder introduced me to the other inmates, including another German Shepherd Dog called Max (he wasn’t as superior as me though).
The prison was very full with nearly all the cells full with dogs of all kinds. I think there were 28 of us there so you can imagine the barking!
Life in prison is pretty boring despite the barking, although there is a lot of comings and goings to watch as dogs come in and go out. We also get fed (prison rations!) and I still got my tablets – actually the full three a day on time every day – prison warders are obviously better at counting than regular humans. I got out for a short stroll every day on my lead which was fine although the warder insisted on walking me past some Very Scary Thngs. He called them bird scarers and said I shouldn’t have been scared of them as I am a dog!
I was very relieved yesterday however when shortly before tea time I heard Hilary’s car arrive, and sure enough she paid the ransom fee and I was allowed out- I ran bounding out the cell block to greet her and nearly pulled the warder over! She then took me for a nice off lead walk on my Superior so I could bound around and enjoy my freedom!
So, home again, and pretty exhausted so catching up on my sleep. Hilary says I am Very Smelly and is threatening me with a bath, but I think she is too much of a wimp to try and give me one on her own. Its only a prison smell and will go in time especialy if I get lots of fresh air!!
Have a good day folks! Enjoy being free!!!
I find myself in prison for a few days!
Luckily there is a computer and I have sneaked out for a few minutes to blog! I am in the prison near the forest in Auchtermaxty, with quite a lot of other dogs, incuding another German Shepherd called Max! He is not as handsome as me though!
It ws quite a surprise to be admitted here yesterday- I thought being a Monday I was going back to Dunfermline to look after my male human but it seems that he is away somewhere on yet another holiday! So I am in prison for a few days but Hilary has promised to release me soon! I have two of my rubber ball toys with me, but no TV and no sofa!! And there seems to be a distinct lack of human beds!
But Hilary said I would have company and would prefer it to being home alone in her oven of a flat all day!
Anyway I ,ust go I think I here the warder… it might be breakfast time!
I heard some very sad news last night.
My blog friend Wanda sadly passed away yesterday. She was 17 years old which is a good age and I know she had a full and happy life.It was a peaceful end but very sad for everyone she has left behind.
I never actually met Wanda, but she was an early blog commentator many years ago and I got to know her through her comments and antics, especially since Belle joned the family! Belle and Wanda seem to have been quite a team and (at times) tested the patience of their caring human,. Maggie.
So, Wanda- who I think first described herself as a Princess in a Dog’s Body – may you rest in peace and enjoy the endless bin parties in animal heaven in the company of many others inclduing the esteemed Henry and Cat and of course my old arch enemy Jojo!
If you click my link to Belle and Wanda on the right you will see some pictures of them both (Wanda is the very pretty brown spaniel I think) and can see she had a well spoilt lifestyle lounging on the sofa!
And my sympathy goes to Maggie and Belle and all you friends and family.
Today I have been thinking about mice and men. That is a literary allusion by the way, I think it is a book by a human called Steinbeck! I also have a canine friend called Steinbeck who I sometimes meet in my park in Maxfermline but he didn’t write it!
So to the Mice – I have been reading the lovely long comment to my last blog by my feline friend Piccolo. She is an incredibly clever cat you know. here is an extract from the comment in case you haven’t seen it yet:
I have had some excellent hunting and my humans say I have caught 29 mice this year. They are very pleased with all the mice I bring and I know my female human puts them all in the freezer and later makes a nice mouse pie. I am not sure why she has to go in the garden first as the freezer is in the kitchen – but there you are. The other day some of my human friends came to tea and when they left they thanked my humans for the delicious pie they had had for tea!
29 mice! And its not quite half the year yet! I am very very impressed with you mice catching skills, Piccolo, and also with your counting skills. (you can obviously count better than humans who as I told you struggle to get to count my three daily tablets) And so generous too! The mouse pie sounds delicious. I have asked Monty to try and catch us some mice so we can have mouse pie too. He used to be very good at catching them and bringing them in as gifts but since he moved here he has been a bit lazy I think! I have sent him outside now to see what he can hunt!
Secondly the men bit. And here I am using the term “men” for all humans not just the male variety. Humans are really very odd beings you know. They moan a lot and never seem happy. Surely a walk with me is the highlightof their day but today for example the female human moaned she had to get up early to walk me before work, and then moaned again she had to walk me on return! And when I say walk she was not happy at all.. said I either pulled her too fast so she couldn’t keep up or else stopped to sniff so long she had to struggle to drag me away! Strange things men and women!
Hmm,., maybe she needs a nice meal of mouse pie to cheer her up!
I have been busy this week teaching my humans to count. It really is simple . Even a cat could do it. One two three. That is tablets a day. One two – meals per day (plus yummy snacks from the fridge and stolen cat food when I am with Hilary)
However the humans just don’t get it! Not consistently, anyway!
Hilary to be fair has managed the meal thing very well. She follows the vets advice very strictly- morning walk, 45 minutes rest time, MEAL and then 30 minutes observation time before I am left home alone. This is to try and help ensure I digest my food properly and don’t have another episode of the nasty bloat thing I endured a few weeks ago! She checks the clock religiously when we get in from a walk to make sure the magic 45 minutes can pass before I eat! She calculates what time she needs to get up to walk me and then follow the eating regime before going to work or out with out me! I am already aware its a 6 am short walk tomorrow so she can get to work on time!
Tim on the other paw just might have been known to forget to feed me , or to run out of time so he says I will get fed later… and then it gets later and later and my tummy is really rumbling! I have resorted to havign a bin party all to myself , ideally alfresco. I have quite a collection of things I keep in the Rectory garden these days- mainly food related!
Tablets are another story for both humans. My initial supply of cosequin DS (dog superior) tablets should have run out on Monday – but there were several left in the bottle. I think they are known as Missed Doses. I now have a huge new container of 120 tablets – still at 3 a day for the next few weeks- but the humans seem incapable of counting to three and remembering how many I have actually had. Even Hilary got confused but managed to work it out eventually. I think I need to make them a chart to tick, That might help but I expect the male human will forget to use it anyway!
I will keep up my training by making them count aloud one two three, and I might teach Tim Hilary’s technique of looking out three tablets in the morning and making sure they are all gone at the end of the day. The problem will be that shortly I will need a reduced dose. The prescription says 1-2 tablets a day so if they aim for two a day then I expect I will get 1-2 most days!!!!
I am back at the female human’s for a few days and I must say she is reading a very interesting book at the moment. It is from the local library and when she first saw me looking at it last night she got worried in case I chewed it up- fearing the hefty fines and the wrath of the Fife library service. But I have reassured her I was interested in reading it not tasting it so that’s good.
The book is called A LION CALLED CHRISTIAN and is all about a lion, who is called, surprise surprise, Christian! A lion is a big fierce cat, but unlike Monty or Piccolo a wild beast who is indeed the King of the cat world. A true superior cat, nearly a dog in fact! This lion called Christian was bought in Harrods in 1969 by two Australian men who lived with him in London , and then they manage to take him to Kenya and reintroduce him to the wild. It is full of pictures too including one when he was reunited with his human friends a year later and gave them a huge hug. Almost as big as a max dog welcome! You can see it here : Lion and humans reunite It shows the strong bond between animals and their humans!
I havent read much of it as the female human has been shutting me out of the bedroom for some reason but I am looking forward to reading some more later!
I am pleased to report that my male human did indeed collect my new arthritis tablets from the vet person, conveniently dispensed in two containers so I have a bottle in each of my homes. They are full of big tablets but the manufacturers have cunningly made them taste nice they are chewable and actually surprisingly tasty, so at the moment the humans just give me them by hand and I chew them up like a good dog! Obviously at some point I will start to spit them out and refuse them, just to be awkward.
I get three of them a day but I have a feeling the female human only gave me two yesterday. She says she can’t remember but will make sure I get three today as per my dosage instructions. It is a bit confusing for her to have to count to three I think as she is only a female!
The tablets should slow down the arthtitis and help me be pain free and mobile. No worries on that score now – I am running arounf like a puppy and had good fun chasing a new friend called Murphy yesterday. he had long legs and could run faster than me. But I was much more handsome than him – even his humans said so!!!
It’s good to be back to my normal superior self now! I have had more days of rest, and another trip to the vet human, but am glad to report that the nasty episode of bloat is behind me now ! I am having proper meals and proper walks again (phew) and apart from a more rigid 45 minute rest time after my walk before I get fed things are much as before that horrible weekend. And the humans have agreed not to make me have the possible operation – but they will keep a close eye on me in case I get ill again!
The bad news is though that the xray the vet took of my tummy also showed I have spondilosis in my back. Thats a form of arthritis, and, although at the moment it doesnt seem to me giving me any pain or restricting my movements, it is likely to get worse over time. There are various things that can help but at the moment the humans are only going to try the mineral supplementy things which they have told me are like extra treats. I am going to get three a day for the first month. I will make sure I get some chicken or something tasty with them- I am very good at spitting out tablets and eating the tasty treat that it was disgiised in!
The tablets I am getting are called cosequin DS. The DS means double strength as I am a Big Dog. They have been ordered from the vet person and I should have had them by now but the male human stupidly forgot to collect them, so we will have to wait till tomorrow! These tablets should slow down the progress of my arthritis and help me be bouncy like a young dog!
I am at the female human’s as usual this weekend and we have had a nice time with some nice walks and sleeps on the bed and the sofa. At the male humans I watch cricket but here it is Coronation Street mostly, which is Ok as there are a few dogs in in on occassion. It was very dramatic this week with what Hilary called “far fetched” story lines. Actually she tweeted “fat fetched” buy mistake!
