Yappy New Year!

Heehee! I have a new profession! I am a car decorator and tshirt designer! Pawprints look fantabulous on both!

After getting back from taking Mum on a long workywalkies, I was just getting comfy for a snuggle on the sofa with Mum. Mum's talkybone dinged and she got up again, put pawcovers on and went out onto the front deck. It was obvious she was planning on going further so I simply had to get up and escort her. Well, I couldn't miss out on a chance for another walkies could I? Errr.... well, I mean, I couldn't leave Mum to go alone! Ahem! We only walked down the length of the floatyboatykennel place. When we got to the straight bit that leads to the cage doors, I spotted a car that I recognised. I may have slightly made a bit of a twerp of myself. I may just have squeaked all the way down the rest of the drive. Then I was a very clever boy: I hupped up and pressed the button to open the cage doors. The car came in and the window went down. I just couldn't help myself......my tail was wagging me totally out of control..... It was Debbi and Ryan in the car! Yipppeeeee! I just had to hup (Ryan did invite me to do it). Ryan's ears were very yummy! That was where my career as a car decorator started. Those paw prints were rather attractive I thought! Heehee!

Ryan then drove on down the drive and to the end of the floatyboatykennel and parked his car beside our's. Mum and I walked on behind them and, when we got close, Mum asked me to wait a moment. Then she released my lead and I zooomed off at top wizz speed to greet our visitors. I may have got a tad enthusiastic and my tail led me out of control again! I gave Debbi and Ryan my bestest happiest greetings, then raced back to Mum. Her T-shirt looks rather splendid with two bold muddy pawprints on the front!

It seems that I will have to share my bedroom tonight. Yayyy!

Mum says it is a special night tonight. She says we have to say Yappy New Year to everyone. She says tomorrow will be a whole new year. Well I have no idea what any of that means but YAPPY NEW YEAR to everyone!

Told you I know better, Mum!

Yayy! Mum actually got the right message today! We DID go into the right shop! See! Told you so! We did need to go into Pets at Home yesterday! You wouldn't have it though would you, Mum? Oh no! You knew better! 'Not today. Straight on' You said! I tried to tell you...... I knew we needed to go in......

Oh well, it did mean a good long workywalkies again! I shan't complain about that. And I did get to guide Mum to the right bit of Pets At Home. She did buy me yummies. Apparently I have to be a good boy to earn them though. They are only for that little pouch she keeps in her pocket when we go workywalkies..... I must work out how to open that row of teeth on it.... she does occasionally leave it lying around......

I wasn't allowed to do much hoovering in the yummies aisle. Mum told me to 'leave'. Well that is so not fair! There were yummies all over the floor! It was criminal to leave them all there! Then, when we got to the checkout I had to hup my paws onto the counter to ask for my biccie from the ladyhuman. Mum said that was cheeky and that I'm not supposed to beg! She also said that Pets at Home is not my personal larder! Hufffff! But the hoppetying fluftytufty tails, and the skittering squeaky no tails all eat constantly in there so why shouldn't I?

Dad's got a new Wheelybag....

Uh-Oh! Mum is clearing out a cupboard. She has emptied everything out of it and is now in overdrive with a stroking cloth and a bottle of squirt. Time for me to take Dad out of the way!

Earlier, I took Mum on a great workywalkies. We strutted our stuff along the towpath, up into town. Mum asked me to 'Find Wilko'. I had to work blimmin hard weaving her in and out and around all the crowds but I took her straight into Wilko's! Just inside the door, my triumphant bum hit the floor with a clear bump to make sure I got my edible proof of my cleverness! It made a couple of ladies laugh and, of course, that meant I got some fusses too!

The next bit of my duty was up through the rest of town and then along the busy road, down the slope into the tunnels under the road, up the other side, along the other busy road, across the triple crossing, then across the carpark. I did all this perfectly but Mum was sooo wrong! She said 'Not today. Straight on' as we came to the door of Pets at Home! How could she? That was a huge mistake on her part, I'm sure! Even the doors knew it was the right place to go - they opened for us to go in! But no! She was not persuadable. I simply had to guide her on to Lidl's - the next shop along. Huffffffey Huff Huff Huff!

Once we got to Lidl's, I guided Mum to the trolley park. There were only a few little trolleys left so I had to take Mum quite a long way down the line. She put her shinydisk into the slot and got a trolley and asked me to 'back back'. Well, I thought I had a better idea; I ducked under the rail. Then I came to a halt when my lead boinged on the leg of the rail half way down the line! Oops! Not such a good idea after all! A bit of jiggling sorted that problem out, then Mum asked me to 'go ahead' down the line and she followed with her trolley behind her. Problem solved!

Working around a shop without Dad means I get to show my skills in guiding not only Mum but also the trolley. Mum lies the handle of my harness on my back and holds my lead on the handlebar of the trolley. We take it quite slowly because she has to be very careful not to bump into anything or anyone, but I still manage to steer her around obstacles (there are usually lots of them in Lidl's!) and she still asks me to 'find left', 'find right', 'go straight on', 'wait' etc. Actually, there is a lot of 'wait'! It takes her ages to scan the shelves to find what she wants. From time to time, she stops and gets her talkybone out of her pocket. She tippety taps at it and it talks to her - saying things like 'Carrots. Potatoes. Mushrooms.......' Today, it seems, she successfully found everything it told her to find. I need to find out how to sort that thing out though; It failed to tell her to get anything truly important (well....it did say carrots, I suppose) - there was no mention of dog treats, chewies, bones.......

The final command on a shopping trip is always 'find the checkout'. I like that one. It means we are on our way out again, but it almost always gives me a chance to nudge someone in the back of the legs while we wait in the queue. That almost always succeeds in getting me some fusses! Heehee! Well, I have to alleviate the boredom of waiting somehow don't I?

While we were waiting at the checkout queue, Dad appeared with his wheeliebag. All the goodies got packed into that, and into Mum's backpack, and we all set off on the workywalkies back to our floatyboatyhome. Once again though, the Pets at Home doors opened as we got to them. Once again, Mum got it all wrong and said 'Not today. Straight on'.

What with failing to go the right way, and then with stroking the inside of a cupboard, I really do wonder about her sometimes......

Why Can't I Take Away a Takeaway???

Bags packed. Workywalkies (to give another calendar to the person in a cage at the Post Office). Car ride. Workywalkies in a totally new place called Shaftsbony or something - with a humdinger of a steep hill (Dad did his one-eyed-clickybox thing there). More car ride. HOME! Floatyboatyhome! Yippee!

It was really cold when we arrived. Mum had forgotten to empty my waterbowl before we left the boat last time. I stuck my nose into it and it went crunch! Mum emptied it, washed it out and refilled it with proper wet water so I could have a drink! Now though, the hotbox is glowing and it is really cozy. Much better!

Dad went out and came back with a super yummy smelling bag. He said it was Chinese take-away, but he wouldn't let me take any of it away! Huff! Mum and Dad munched on it while I just had to endure the torture. They had some crunchy white disks with it and Mum dropped one of them. Well.... I had to do my duty..... I couldn't leave litter lying around could I? That disk stuck to my tongue and kind of flapped about on the end of it for a moment! I tackled it though and got it under control. It was rather yummy!

Now, time for cozy sofa snuggles with Mum. Night night all. xxx

Great day for a Workywalkies!

Took Mummy for a loooooong workywalkies this morning - just for the pure pleasure of it! I'm not sure which of us enjoyed it the most. Mum got to listen to all the tweeting, chirping featherballs - lots of them all doing a heck of a lot of tweeting, chirping, twittering and whistling - oh and some that were cawing and craaarking too, but they are somehow less pleasant to hear for a Mummyhuman. She likes the ones that sing! I got to meet and greet a fair few doggypals. I also got away with leaving a few weemail messages too. I can sometimes convince Mum that I REALLY need to be a busy boy - usually when there is a conveniently placed tree or bush! It seemed that most of the other dogs were lucky enough to be freerunning in the Upper Gardens and down on the beach. I, of course, was working in harness, so meeting and greeting was all I was allowed to do. I didn't mind though - it was a lovely long walk and I was enjoying strutting my stuff

When we got to the town and then the Lower Gardens and ultimately on to the pawmenade, I really had to work hard guiding Mum in and around all the crowds. It was heaving with gazillions of humans and dogs! I did it though! Actually, it seems I was doing a far better job than a manhuman who was trying to be a guidedog (or maybe that should be a guideman). He had a blind lady holding his front paw and front leg and he was guiding her through the crowds coming towards Mum and me. He bumped straight into Mum! (There was nothing I could do to steer Mum any further over out of his way because of the crowds). He stopped and said lots of 'Sorry' things to her. His face went a funny shade of pink. Mum says this was because he was embarrassed. I guess this pink face thing must be the human version of tail-between-legs-head-down-slink-away. He said he is a Sighted Guide instructor and he was super ashamed of his spectacular failure - especially bumping into a Visually Impaired Person! They all three did lots of laughing about it and I got some nice fusses from him and from his blind ladyhuman. She is now going to think about getting a Guide Dog as she now thinks we are better than humans! Heehee! Well.... of couurse we are!!!

The beach and pawmenade were super full up with humans and dogs. There were lots of humans on wheeliewizzers too but they couldn't whizz very much because they couldn't get through the crowds! We walked a long way along there. It was lovely. Mum really enjoyed it and I was happy to be just having a workywalkies for the fun of it. No shops, no kerbs, no crossings..... just lots of legs! The fireball was high in the sky and the wet splosh wasn't very sploshy. It was just pleasant and peaceful.

When we got to the place that Mum calls the PoshNosh CarPark (something about a very expensive human yummyery right by the pawmenade, where the road comes down to meet the beach) at Branksome, she asked me to 'find the seat'. There are a few long seats there and I found an empty one for Mum. She sat down, removed my harness and noseband and gave me some yummies to say thankyou for a good job! She then asked her talkybone to 'Call Tim'. While we waited (ages) for Dad to arrive to pick us up, we just sat together and watched and listened to all the sights and sounds of the ocean and all the happenings there.

There were still huge numbers of people and dogs and wheeeliewizzers coming and going. There were even some strange things on the ocean; They sounded a bit like vroomvroom-wheeliewizzers that go on the roads. They had humans standing or sitting on them, some of them wearing those strange domed alien-head things. They were whizzing about on the water and seemed to have huge long tails pointing up behind them and curling back down into the water. I watched them for ages.

There were quite a lot of doggypals coming along - some on leads and some freerunning. I tried singing to a few as I was sitting there. One or two of them responded to my wooing and came over for a sniff. Mum, it seems though, appreciates my singing less than that of the featherballs! I got told to shush! HUFFFF!

Double Freeruns, and Uncalled for Insult!

"You stink!" That was the greeting I got!

I had performed a really good recall when Mum whistled for me. I galloped back as fast as my legs could go. I did a perfect sit, right in front of Mum, ready for my treat. It was only a tiny yummy, but anything is worth having when you're having a fab freerun. I did not invite such insult though! My perfume was utterly delectable! Eau-de-foxpoop is top of the range! I had found a lovely free sample on the grass and had taken full advantage of the gift, as any self-respecting dog would simply have to do! It would be totally wrong to decline it.

It was a wonderful and very welcome freerun though. It came complete with Debbi and Ryan and, therefore, a superb game of fetch-the-ball-launched-a-long-way-by-Ryan. It was fun to run around on Goring crunchy-lumpy beach again. It is harder to do zoomies though - Bournemouth sandy beach is better for that!

Actually, this was today's second freerun. (Shhhhh..... don't tell on me! I'm only supposed to have one or two a week!) The first one was this morning when I took Debbi and Ryan into the little park behind the humankennelblock in Worthing, while Mum n Dad packed everything back into bags and then into the car. When that was all done, we went for one more visit to Rosie, James and microhuman Hallie. This time, I made the mistake of dozing off on the floor. Next thing I knew was that tiny human paws were biffing me! Rosie had put little Hallie right next to me! "Oakie stay" was the command! "Oakie good boy" was the praise I got. "Eeeeeeek!" Was what was going through my head! I thought I was very brave for staying! I even rolled over for her to biff my belly. She did rather grab at anything she could grab at though! My ears, my nose, my paws.....Rosie put her big paw over my doodah to keep it safe! Phew!

Today's freerun was also a great release after yesterday. That was most odd but quite yummy. we spent most of the day at Rosie's. There was a lot of human feasting, including Hallie in her chair-on-sticks. This, of course, meant I had hoovering duties to perform. (This, it would seem, in Mum's opinion, has contributed to my emissions today. She says I won't be getting sprouts or collie-flower very often). There were also loads of human visitors. They were all doggy-friendly. I got good fusses. I liked those visitors. Apparently they were James's Mum n Dad, and littermates.

Most of the day seemed to revolve around packages having their colourful skins ripped off - most of them by little Hallie. Inside them, were all sorts of colourful and sometimes noisy things for her to poke, prod, shake, chew and hold in her front paws. I git a package to rip open too! It had yummies and toys inside! I liked that bit of the day!

All in all, it has been a good time. After my freerun, we said goodbyes to everyone. Strangely, i didn't get any loves or fusses! Humans just have no idea of good smells! We drove a very short distance to a shop. I had to stay in the car. Mum said I was far too disgusting to go to work! Instead, Dad went in and Mum opened the car's bumdoor 'to let the stench out'! Dad came back with supplies to destroy all my hard work. There was a bottle of tge red stuff Mum sometimes puts on chips. She squirted it on my perfumed neck and shoulder, then rubbed it in. Next, she attacked the area with loads of those little damp white squares that get used on Hallie's bum. Apparently, that all improved my aroma! Well....I don't think so! I had to stay like that for the whole hour-and-three-quarters journey back to Bournemouth!

When we arrived, the first thing that happened was a serious attack in the big white trough. This attack started with a load more of that yummy red gloop (I had to clean some off the wall!), followed by TWO froth frenzies and oooooooodles of warmrain squirt! It took a good supply of yummies to make all that tolerable! Mum seems to think I now smell much nicer. Harrrrrumph!

Two photos of me playing on Goring (Worthing) beach with a passing fellow black Labrador.

Yay. Visitors! Yay. FREERUN!!!!

Yippeeee! We had visitors! Even in this humankennelblock!

I took Mummy workywalkies into town, where we met up with a fellow Guide Dog, Esme and her ladyhuman Julia. We turned a few heads as we both worked side-by-side guiding our respective humans through town. Esme is a dinky little golden retriever who just happened to be going the same way as Mum wanted to go, so we both strutted our stuff through the crowds!

After that, we returned to the humankennelblock where we found Daddy downstairs in one of the yummyery rooms. He was busy clicketyfingersing on his tappetytoy. I was happy to lie down for a snooze while Mum joined him. Once finished, it was back up to our room where I got to put some serious effort into a huge chewybone while Mum did some clicketyfingersing of her own and Daddy went out and left us.

After a little while, there was a knock at the door and a manhuman came in. He did some huffing and puffing and twiddling with shinysticks in the bathroom. The light works in there now! Then, shortly after he left, there was another knock on the door and in came Debbi and Ryan! Well, my tail went so berserk that my whole body wagged! They stayed a while, just yacketying (and I entertained Ryan by presenting him with my lovely soggy slimy chewybone), then, when Dad came back, the bestest possible thing happened: We all went out for a FREERUN! I love freeruns when Ryan has my ball launcher coz he launches it a mega long way! That gives me a fantabulous run each time to go fetch it back to him. He is also great fun because, if I don't give him the ball back, he plays chase to get it! He can run nearly as fast as me - but, of course, four legs is far superior to two, so he doesn't get me! Heehee!

This evening, we all went down to the yummyery here in the kennelblock. I did my good boy duty and settled down under the table, but then, they all got hold of some strange shiny stick things and did a kind of game of tug with them. There was a nasty loud bang as each one broke and I was super scared! I hidded between Mum's legs and went all shaky for a while. I didn't like that at all. Mum reassured me though and I eventually managed to settle down again.

It is good to be enjoying snuggles with Mummy now to make me feel all safe again. I think I will survive!

Mummy tells me that tomorrow is a very special day so I need to say HAPPY CHRISTMAS from all of us. We hope you all have a wonderful day, whatever it brings.

Hob-nobbing Dog!

Workywalkies, weird humans, microhuman hoovering and dressing up. That about sums up today!

It was a great workywalkies - around Worthing town centre shoppyplaces: old stomping ground! I even remembered where to "Find Costa" when Mum asked me to. We didn't stay there though as it was packed. Instead we went to a place called Nero. In there it was much quieter and more relaxed. i had to guide Mum to "Find upsteps" then I found her a nice seat by the window. It was a pleasant relax in the midst of the work of guiding Mum around the crowded streets. A chance also to lick my poor nose after its donk from a lady's bag as I tried to steer Mum around her on the pavement.

We met a manhuman that Mum and Dad seem to know. He looked a bit weird - all in unusual fursubstitutes and holding a big shiny dingdong thing. He had a kind of triangle thing on his head and his outside fursubstitute was Guide Dogs colours! I figured that makes him OK! He smelled friendly too, so I posed with him for Dad to click his talkybone at us. Dad says he is Bob the Town Crier. I didn't notice any leaky eyes so I don't think he was crying!  There was another nice manhuman there too. His name, apparently, is Dave Hunt. Mum and Dad used to listen to him when he was inside the tiny talkybox beside their bed and in the car.

Also, as we were going around town, I met another little doggypal who was dressed up. Her name was Dotty, the Dachshund. She was wearing a red and white costume. Hers covered her whole body whereas mine was just my santa bandana and reindog antlers, oh, and a big fluff of shiny sparkly stuff all around my harness handle! Dotty and I greeted with a mutually consoling sniff! The things we dogs go through to please our humans!

After a return to our humankennelblock room for a snooze while Mum and Dad did some of their wrapping stuff (like in the wrapping up shop last week!), we then went to another couple of shops, which involved guiding Mum around a huge dark carpark with no pavements. (I don't like it when there are no pavements. My training was all about keeping Mum safely on pavements!).

Next stop was Rosie's home again. That's where my hoovering skils were truly appreciated! Microhuman Hallie scattered loads of nosh from her chair-on-stalks! Rosie makes yummy nosh!

I dragged Daddy out for a bit of a leisure walkies in the evening, while Mum and Rosie were occupied doing microhuman stuff and choppy-sizzly kitchen stuff. I reckon Dad and I got a lucky escape there!

Me with Bob the Town Crier (dressed in royal blue ceremonial coat with bright yellow trim, plus black tricorn hat, breeches and long white socks, pkus shiny buckled shoes, and holding a huge handbell). On the other side of me is Dave, the radio presenter, dressed in normal human stuff: jeans and a zip up fleece.

Me enjoying a mutual nose-sniff with little Dotty.

Busy Day to Human Kennel Block!

Life in Oakleyworld is certainly never dull! Or predictable!

This morning I rather got the impression something was going on. Mum was flitting about packing bags. Then, leaving all the bags and Dad behind, we set off workywalkiesing. So, I thought, maybe I was wrong. A deft bit of guiding into the Clifftop Park worked a treat and Mum soon got the right idea; she asked me to sit, then very kindly removed my harness, lead and noseband, then gave that wonderful command: "Go play". Yippeeeeee! I hit the Weemail highway! Then, to my great delight, I found my buddies; Lucy and Lola the whippet pups, and Doofus the Cockapoo. Well, did we have a poochyparty! I haven't seen them in ages! We had a lot of chasing and butt sniffing to catch up on!

After that bit of legspring uncoiling, it was back on duty to guide Mum into town. "Find Boots" and find "Smiths" were the two instructions. Both carried out faultlessly of course. I made sure I got my due edible acknowledgement of my superb work! I'm (?) sure (?) I remember something in my training about my bum having to hit the floor in a triumphant 'sit' upon entry through the door!

In Smiths, I had to "Find upsteps" and then we had to wait and shuffle along in the Q thing to get to the cage where the humans are kept to take white rectangles and brown boxes. Mum says that our white rectangle was one of my calendars to send to a kind lady who has contributed shinydisks to our fundraising.

When we escaped from there, I had to put my superworking head into action to weave Mum through the crowds. I got a wump on the nose from a bag in the process but the ladyhuman then made a big fuss of me to say sorry! I forgave her! She did super nice chin rubs!

We went around the corner and across the road and found Daddy in the car, which was all loaded up with all those packed bags!

Next stop was in Worthing, at a humankennelblock. Mum and Dad unpacked the car, taking everything inside, but they forgot me! Well.... OK..... it was only for a few minutes! When they came back, I had to step into workmode again (after watering a bush!) and guide Mum round the corner to Rosie's home. Dad also came but in the car. We went upstairs for a little while so I could do my duty in hoovering up the yummies that the hissing furball so carelessly left on the floor. Then we all set off in the car again. That was me, Mum, Dad, Rosie and microhuman Hallie.

We went to Papa's where I found a carrot to hoover! Then it was back into the car again. This time with Papa too! I'm glad I've got my own kennel in the boot. The humans were all a bit squished in! I got to eat my picnic tea inside the human yummyery, while the humans all munched theirs! Such luxury! AND I had to clean up from under Hallie's chair-on-stalks! She is a delightfully messy eater! Heehee!

Now, having done the reverse journey via Papa's and Rosie's to empty the car of all the extra passengers, we are in the humankennelblock! We have a big room and Mum got out my campbed. It was all little and rolled up, but she huffed lots into a little hole-spout and it grew big and cozy!

Two photos of me on my big inflatable campbed. It is grey and nearly as big as a human bed. The bottom flat bit is kind of ridged but comfy squishy, and the sides are big and puffed up, making a lovely all round pillow. In the first pic I am lying on my left side, bum towards the camera, right front paw looped over, looking back over my shoulder at the camera. In the second pic, I am curled up in a ball asleep.

Zoomiessss....

Yayyyyy!

Sandy paws. Sandy nose. Soggy belly. HAPPY OAKLEY!

Yesssss! A fabtabulous freerun on the beach - after a session of workywalkies taking Mum (and Dad) around some shops in a big shoppyplace where we've never been before. (That always mean I have to work extra hard - not only keeping Mum safe in the unfamiliar environment, but also, finding the way back. Mum is absolutely hopeless when it comes to any sense of direction!)

Oooh! It was soooooo good to do those zoomies on the sand, and to fetch my ball back from the sloshysplashy stuff when silly Mum threw it in there - many times over! She is so daft! I even found a couple of doggybuddies to play with briefly.

A very happy, sandy, soggy face.

Mum about to launch my ball. She is standing on the wet sand, holding the blue ball-launcher wand in her right hand - up above her shoulder. I am standing at the edge of the water waiting for the action.

Me running at full speed into the ocean to retrieve my ball.

New Territory, New Lidl's...

HUFFFFF! Blimmin leaky sky! I most definitely heard mention of a freerun, but it didn't happen because the sky leaked. Huffffety grump!

I did my workywalkies duties - first of all to the Post Office in Westbourne, where we had to wait in a Q outside the closed door for aaaaaages before going in to give some of my calendars to the nice ladyhuman in the cage. She sticked stickers on them and promised to get them to the nice people who have ordered them. (I promise that the shinydisks will be going to my fund to sponsor another Puppy to be trained to be a lifechanger like me!)

I also did loads of other little bits and bobs of workywalkes - in between hops in and out of the car - in all sorts of different shops. One bit was on completely unfamiliar territory - I took Mum to Lidl's while Dad went to play in a one-eyed-clickybox shop. This involved a bit of a walk along a busy shoppystreet and across a bleepycrossing, then around Lidl's (this one was laid out very differently to any others we've been in). Mum couldn't work out where the checkout was so she asked me to 'find the checkout'. Well - of course I did! Sometimes she can be so slow to put her trust in me! Then I had to 'find the way back'. No problem! I even find a suitable minor diversion to the route to do a very necessary necessity! Mum burbled something about 'bone bum' and then triple wrapped my offering. She said something about not stinking out the shop as we couldn't find a bin! How rude!

Well, I may not have got my freerun but my jaws have had some good exercise - that bone is now less than half the size it was yesterday!

Now, could somebody please arrange for some non-leaky sky tomorrow so I can take Mum and Dad for that freerun......

Hmmm..... Bone.....

Forgiven! Yayy! Maybe I wasn't such a terrible ardlehead yesterday after all! Well..... even if I was, Mummy let me off today! I did do good workywalkies to my forgiveness but oh! boy! That forgiveness was good! The workywalkies was to a human yummyery in Newbury called the Corn Exchange. I strutted my stuff good and proper to get Mum there, including a 'Find the twitten' bit that we have only done once before. Then, 'find the door - right'. Once inside, I found not just Harley, my impromptu buddy from yesterday, but also Patterson the Goldie Guide Dog Puppy (who is way bigger than me and still has growing to do!). Well, we dogs left the humans to do their boring greetings, yackety-yacking and drinking of hot black/brown water in those strange tiny bowls that they lift to their mouths. We just got on with the bestest kanoodling under the table that we could get away with! At one point, Mum and Kim (Harley's humanmum) had to enlist the help of a sighted ladyhuman, Sue, to untangle our leads! They are so daft! If only they had removed our leads and let us play properly, we would never have got into such a boffle! Never mind their worries about tables and spillages and chaos!........

Next duty was a trip to the mouth-dripping shop. The one with red and white stripes everywhere. The one where heaven is kept behind a seethrough wall! My hopes rose a little when Mum asked for turkey, beef, gammon, bacon and sausages......but it seems those hopes were only to sink again. I wasn't even allowed to try to help carry the load! Then the right thing finally happened: Mr Rednwhite-stripes handed Mum a hugenormous bone! Well.... two actually - each with a knobblyend and a straight end. Of course, I still wasn't allowed to carry them but I knew they were mine! I kept that bag under close scrutiny all the way to the car!

Next stop was Bournemouth - very briefly at Granny's flat, but then into a shoppyplace called Poole. I remembered the route to take Mum straight to Boots and then upstairs to a sort of human vets place, where we went a few weeks ago. In there, we saw a nice ladyhuman called Kara again. She seems to be very interested in Mum's back paws. She checked them, along with the strange little flattish things that seem to live inside Mum's pawcovers. They did a whole load of yacketying and all seemed happy.

Now, we are finally at the flat and I have taken Daddy for an inspection of some weemail hubs locally. And I have had a chance to do some serious work on one of those bones! Yummmmmmmm!

Photo shows me - from waist forwards, head down with my nose right by a huge fresh raw beefbone.

Exhausterated.....

I am aaaaaaalllll fussded out!

It is exhausting being so adorable! It has been fun though - even with furry reindeer antlers and a santa bandana!

Oh! Errrmmmm....ahem! I maaaay just have had a momentary lapse of attention at one tiny point in the day....... well..... I had been uber good aaaaaallll week.......I hadn't attempted to wander out of the shop....... but spotting a colleague was just too much to resist! Guide Dog Harley was strutting his stuff, guiding his Mum, Kim through the indoor shoppyplace, right past our wrappyup shop. I just happened to be 'free' at just that right moment! Well..... I couldn't let him get past without a greeting, could I? Heehee! I may perhaps made a bit of a twerp of myself by wizzing around in leapy circly spins....... well.... it was just sooooooo good to find a buddy!

5 photos -
1) me lying on my back on my sofa-bed sending up some zzzzs after all the hard work of the week
2-5) various head and shoulders poses of me wearing my red furry santa bandana and furry antlers

All Wrapped Up!

Yep! 'Twas true! We have done looooooaaaads more of that wrappingshop thing today! Aaaaaallll day! My tail has never done so much wagging. My head has never been so well stroked or patted.

I did, of course, get to take Mum workywalkies a few times throughout the day too. Well....a dog's gotta do what a dog's gotta do sometimes! And, it seems, Mum has to sometimes too, so I had to take her to the human spending pen!

At the end of all the wrapping stuff today, a whole lot of humans turned up all wrapped up themselves - in red and white floaty fursubstitutes. They all stood inside the shop and did a load of human howling! There were no toot-toot parp-parps like the other day in town though, so I didn' t join in this time!

Me, wearing my red jingly Santa bandana and reindeer antlers, sitting on the mat in front of the shop. Immediately behind me on the floor is a pile of giant presents wrapped in green and gold paper with ribbons and bows. In the background can be seen tables and chairs with humans sitting wrapping presents. By the door, is a sign saying Free Gift Wrapping.

A closeup of me sitting in front of the giant parcels.

Me sitting outside the shop on the shiny lino floor. Behind me is the choir of red and white robed people.

Wagged out Well and Truly...

Zzzzzzzz..... I am totally meeted and greeted and fussded and admireded out!

We have been in that meeting-greeting-wrapping shop all afternoon. It was fab getting soooo many fusses! I'm not complaining!

And apparently we will be doing more of it tomorrow. My tail will be all wagged out! 

Closeup of my sleepy nose on my blue and white stripey blanket.

Blimmin Dull-Elm....

Daddy abandoned us again this morning, so I took Mummy workywalkies. She actually obeyed my directions! We went into Pets at Home! Yippeee! Not only that, but she accepted my guiding straight to the yummy aisle! AND she actually scooped some yummies from one of those boxes into a rustlybag! She didn't let me get away with much hoovering though. She conned me. She told me to 'Sit', which I very obediently did, thinking I would be getting a yummy for doing so. All I got was a 'Good boy', a quick ear tickle and a 'Find the checkout' command! Hufff! All that time I was sitted I could have been hoovering the floor and shelves! The ladyhuman at the checkout was nice to me. She gave me a biccie!

On our way along the busy road where the pavement is also a wheeliewizzerway, a ladyhuman was coming towards us on her wheeliewizzer. (She was only wizzing quite slowly!). She kind of slowed right down and then wobbled and then went whump sideways. I speeded us to her and rushed in to check her out. Mum held out her paw and helped her get up again. She assured Mum she was OK and got back on her wheeliwizzer and rode off. Another big vroomvroom-wheeliewizzer then appeared on the pavement with a strange alien on it. This alien was all green with a huge round green head. It sounded like a muffled manhuman when Mum yacketyyacked with it. It was asking if everything was OK. Mum said yes and thanked the alien for stopping to check. Then the green wheeliewizzer went vroom again and the alien wizzed off on it.

We carried on our walk and ended up at that blimmin Dull-elm place. Mum got some funny looking blobs of multicoloured wound-up fluffy megalong-whiskers and two sharp sticks. I'm not too sure what she plans to do with them but I hope she keeps them away from me!

We returned home along the towpath and arrived back on our floatyboatyhome a little while before Dad returned.

The next workywalkies was to the shop in town where we spent the evening and where I got a picnic dinner!

Apparently time is fast running out for ordering calendars in time for Christmas so, if you haven't ordered yours yet to help raise funds to train another pup to do a lifechanging job like me, then NOW is the time!

Just click this link and place your orders, then I get my staff straight onto the job of dispatching them.

www.guidedogoakley.org.uk/shop.html

FreeRun. Yay, I gotta FreeRunnnn!

YEEEAAAAAYYYYYY! Back to normal! Well, actually, perhaps better than normal!

I got to take a much better Mummy and Daddy for a fantabulous FREERUN on Snelsmore Common! Oooooooh! That was just sooooo good after the last few days of staying in so much.

I found some great fun pals to play chase with - and a few who didn't want to play, but it was still nice to meet n greet them anyway. I also got to water just about every tree along the way! It is a weemail superhub! Mum and Dad really enjoyed their relaxing version of a free wander too. They are sooooo slow! And they only walk in lines along the pathways. Humans just don't know how to do these things properly! It is so much more fun to run and zoom and leap about in zig-zags and random circles!

My jaws got some further exercise working on my latest bone when we got back to our floatyboatyhome. Then I had to take out of the way for a while so Mum could stroke everything with whiskersticks, cloths and squirtyniffystuff. Home now smells most peculiar but Mum seems to prefer it that way. I can handle this on an ongoing basis as it means I get more walkies!

Four photos from today's freerun:

The most handsome, happy dog in the woods today! A closeup portrait of me with my smiley face looking to the left.

An Irish Wolfhound who didn't want to play but was happy to greet in true doggy style. I did have to stretch up a bit to sniff though! 

A wild pony - not for playing with! Mum steered me away while Dad did his one-eyed-clickybox thing here.

Me and a fellow black lab. She and I enjoyed a fab game of chase - she kept pinching my ball so I had to chase her to get it back! In this pic, it is my turn to get her to chase me. I have the ball in my mouth and she is looking straight at me. We are both poised to run, tails high and very waggy.

Get well soon Daddy!

Mum says 'Thank you for all the kind words'. She seems to be a bit better. At least she got out of bed today! Actually, better than that; I got to take her for a bit of a workywalkies. Dad has been in bed all day today though - well, mainly in bed.....in between visits to the spending bowl! He hasn't been barking in a bowl though like Mum was! I rather suspect that the workywalkies with Mum was because Mum was slightly less icky than Dad, so I had to take her to get some essentials. One of those essentials was apparently VERY essential: a bottle of those squirtysuds they use on their paws!

It was good to be out strutting my stuff and I think Mum really needed my help. She was a bit wobbly sometimes, especially on the way back. When we got back aboard home, she flumped on the sofa and didn't do much else all day.

I think she was pleased with me though. She told me I had been a super good boy and gave me a huge knobblyknucklebone. Suddenly, the rest of the day staying in was rather appealling!

Oh! I should have told you all; my fame is spreading! I feature in something called a blog, done by a nice visitor who came to our boat a little while ago. The nice manhuman Bob, with his teddybear Bertie.

www.mindfullybertie.org.uk

Get well soon Mummy...

Strange goings on! Last night I got a double sized bed. Dad made my sofa into its bed format. I had to share it though. Mum spent the night on it with me. Well, most of the night. She kept getting up and going into the bathroom, sitting on the spending bowl, then barking and growling into a bowl.

This morning, instead of getting up, she went to bed! Her normal bed, that is. She stayed there all day. I had to take Daddy walkies, but we've ended up having a very lazy day.

I've given Mummy my special loves so I hope this helps to make her better.

Toot Toot, Parp Parp...

Loads of fusses. Loads of admiration. Loads of meeting and greeting. That seems to have been the main order of today. Most of it was in the shop that we have been setting up. It is a slightly odd shop though. There are no shinydisks or flappy rectangles involved. Nobody is buying anything. Instead, people seem to bringing things in, getting them all wrapped in colourful stuff and taking them away again. Lots of minihumans have been coming in to do stuff with markysticks, markysheets, stickystuff, shinydust and various other peculiar things. Some of them have been putting colourful stuff on yummies too. That meant I had a bit of hoovering to do. Minihumans are messy - maybe they could be worth getting used to!

I also had to take Mum on a few workywalkies missions too. These were around town. One was to Wilkos where I managed to steer her to the checkout where my friend Pauline was. That was another nice meeting and greeting!

As we walked back through town there was a group of humans standing making noise with various toot-toot, parp-parp, oompah-oompah shinybones. I tried to join in with a few hearty big woofs but Mum didn't seem too impressed! I think I made her jump a bit with my first note. Heehee! Oops!

Disappearing Food...

Workywalkies in soggy Newbury. Fusses and a lie down in the shop where we were doing all that setting up thing last week. It seems it is now all setted up. More soggy workywalkies to Sainsbury's. In there, I guided Mum and her wheelie-cage-thing aaaaaaallll the way around. As we were going down the final aisle, I tried to be patient while she squinted to find the little green balls she wanted from the chilly cabinets. The problem was though, that I just couldn't wait to do my duty in guiding her to the most important aisle in the shop. I had to work really rather hard in pulling her to that very last section. When I had succeeded and my nose was firmly planted for a good hopeful sniff around, she told me I was a cheeky oik! She said we don't need more doggy treats. Well, I dispute that very much! How could she possibly think that way! It was clearly a blimmin good job I had done that firm tugging! It would seem that a pack of dried chicken strips 'fell' into the wheelie-cage-thing! Heehee!

After a little wait outside, Dad came and picked us up in the car. We went to that place where Dad gives the car a drink from a green squirtysnake with a big long nose that pokes right into the hole in the back of the car. (Strange place to have a drink!) Then we went back to our floatyboatyhome where Dad took the shopping aboard and came back a few moments later.

A bit of a longish drive later, we arrived at Rosie's home. Now, I remembered that last time we were there, I found a yummy bowl on the kitchen floor. I went straight into the kitchen this time and, sure enough, there it was again! Sadly though, Dad rumbled my plan and hoiked me away. Then meanie Mum disappeared the rest to where I couldn't get to it. Hufffff! She also wouldn't let me at the sausages in the gravelbox in the hall. Doublehuff! At least I didn't get spiked at by the hissing furball this time though. Actually, I didn't find him. I'm sure he was there - way under the sofabed, but I don't fit there.

I did get quite brave with little Hallie microhuman. I plucked up the courage to hoover right next to her. Well... she was making a right megamess with her yummies. I couldn't leave it to get squished into the carpet could I?!!!

I workywalkiesed Mum along the road in Worthing for a bit of the way before Dad rescued us from the soggies again. We are now back home afloat and I can definitely declare that my positive guiding in Saibsbury's was worthwhile. That dried chicken strip was delectable!

Another Packet...

Back on our floatyboatyhome again! Aaaah! Cozy snoozy snuggles!

It certainly hasn't been an idle day. Nearly 4 miles workywalkies and a couple of good games of chase in the Clifftop park started the day nicely. I took Mum into town where I had to "Find the arcade", then the little shop with lots of shiny sparkly things and lots of tickydisks. I got lots of lovely fusses in there and Mum got a shiny sparkly thing to put on her pawpointer. She seems really pleased with this.

After a successful mission in guiding Mum on the best route back, ie the route along the pawmenade then up the zigzag, we found ourselves in the Clifftop park - Heehee! Well, to be truthful, the 'heehee' came at the bottom of the zigzag; I gave Mum my bestest pleading look and it worked! She removed my lead, noseband and bra and decided to puff and pant up behind me! I really don't understand why she finds it so hard. I just whizz up there. Four paws vs two paws - no contest!

The freerun fun continued around the park too, where I had two great games of chase - one with a tiny toy poodle pocket rocket whose little legs went so fast they were a blur, and then a littlish black who-knows-what-mixture lad. Both were such great fun that we didn't even stop to exchange names! Oops!

Mum ended up slightly ahead of me going through the twitten that leads from the park back to the road. She whistled for me to come, which I did - but not before finding myself a lovely stick. I raced to Mum with my prize and she laughed at me before giving me my recall reward yummy. That, of course, meant I had to put my stick down. Next thing I know is my noseband, lead and bra going back on. That's fine. I don't mind that at all......except that it meant I couldn't pick up my stick again. That was mean, Mummy! She said something about sticks being dangerous and not allowed! I gave her my most pathetic whimpering sad look I could muster but it was no use. The stick stayed in the park! Harrrumph!

Upon return to Granny's flat, we found another little parcel on the prickly mat. This one was OK though, unlike yesterday's little surprise (Mum says the Directors of the block - whoever they are! and The Guide Dogs for the Blind Association (UK)​ - are dealing with that incident!). It was a delivery that Mum WAS expecting. When she opened it, she put this neck-wrapper on me. She says it is very smart and that my waggly wand is my waggly tail! I have no idea what she is on about but I am happy to wear it as it makes her smile - and it gets me extra fusses and attentions! Heehee!

I've taken Dad for a longish walkies this evening here in Newbury so I am definitely ready for MummySofaSnuggles!

Photo of me lying on beige carpet wearing my new bandana. It is black and has white squiggles on it saying "DOGWARTS SCHOOL OF WAGGERY" and a Harry Potter zap!

Meany Mum!

Mummy is soooooo mean! Humans get to have a whole tree indoors and she won't let me have my little twig!

Photo of me in harness, sat on tarmac with a large (maybe 2 feet long) curved thickish stick on the ground in front of me. Looking most miffed!

Downloading.....

My poop must be something very special!

Every time I do a download, Mum or Dad gathers it up in a little bag, does a fiddlytwiddly thing with the top of the bag, then puts it inside another bag and fiddlytwiddlied that too. Next, I have to 'Find the bin' and my offering is placed carefully inside the bin. That was exactly what happened this morning. Little blue bags with pawprints on. Placed safely inside one of the huge bins in the bin-prison here at Granny's flat.

I then took Mum workywalkies into town. When we got back to the front door (inside - the actual door to the flat, not the outside door to the stairs), there on the little prickly rectangle by the door was that little blue bag! If I hadn't pointed it out to Mum, I think she would have squished it with her back paw! This has never happened before, so I guess I have to conclude that I produced something very special today!

Mum didn't seem too impressed! She then found a folded up white markysheet with black squiggles on it. Apparently this came through the flap in the door a couple of days ago. Apparently it says something about "Stop filling our bins with filthy dog mess". Well! I know I'm not exactly a tiny dog but "FILL" the bins? Really? There are three of them and they are huuuuuge!

Mum ended up yacketying loads on her talkybone. She has been assured that she IS doing nothing wrong and that this note and returned offering is out of order! I have no idea what any of that means but I kind of got the impression that Mum was not happy. She said something about there must be someone here who hates me! Huff!

I gave her my loves and snuggles! I also got to take her for another nice long workywalkies this evening. That cheered her up. It was much nicer than this morning. We got very soggy going into town! The silly sky was leaking. Now, I do love getting wet - but NOT when I'm working. My kind of happy wet is mucky wet. Sky leakage is far too clean!

The little blue bag of my doggydownload on the doormat. White front door, brown patterned mat, my head to the right.

The notice saying "STOP FILLING OUR REFUSE BINS WITH FILTHY DOG MESS"

Share and Share Alike!

WooooooEeeee! Mum says I have 1850 'likes' on my Facebook page. She says that is a big number. She says that if I had a treat for every one of them, I would be seriously porky! Now that sounds like a good plan to me! In fact, I think I rather fancy the idea of getting up to 2000 'likes' and then having a treat for each one......... I don't have to eat the ALL at once ...... I could stop for a drink in the middle!

So, if every one of you would be willing to share a link to my page and encourage your friends to follow me, I might just get to find out what it feels like to be porky..... Well, maybe I could dream about it anyway.....

More importantly, it will help to spread the word about us Guide Dogs and what a difference we make to our Visually Impaired human partners. A bonus would be to have a few more people order my calendars so we raise some more shinydisks to sponsor another puppy to be trained to change another life.

Zoomies and ZigZags.....

I'm sure I must have shrunk today!

I've worked my paws off workywalkiesing nearly 7 miles, taking Mum into town and into Westbourne. I've played my butt off doing zoomies on the beach, chasing and romping with a Vizla puppy called Dylan. We both had a good play in the cold sploshystuff, got well and truly coated in sand too! Heeheee! Then chased a bit more of my butt off playing with a little Jack Russel Pup. I've run zigzags alllll the way up Middle Chine (there were sooooo many weemails to catch up on!). Then, I got subjected to the white tub, froth attack and warm rain spray.

Now, if all of this really has made me shrink I think I need a trip to the vet. I need to do a 'sit' on that platform thing that gives humans my numbers. If my numbers are smaller that means I have to have more food rations...... Now how can I engineer this one?.......

Bournemouth.

Dad is still barking and growling so we've had a largely quiet day. We are back in Bournemouth again. Mum says something about more sorting to do. I shall have to make sure I take her for a good long workywalkies in the morning to prepare for the snoozing necessary to get through such activity.

Don't forget to order your Oakley 2017 calendar/s. They are selling fast! ALL profits will go to sponsor another pup to learn to be as clever as me!

www.guidedogoakley.org.uk/shop.html

No Energy Left....

Ella and Bella. Two girliedogs well worth meeting up with. Ella the bloodhound and Bella the staffie X lab (neighbour boatydog).

The day started with a workywalkies to and from Church, back via a 'Find Boots, Oaks' to get some stuff to help stop Dad barking and growling. Then I demolished a whole knobblyknucklebone. Yummmy! Then on went Mum n Dad's pawcovers again!

We went to a place with a big tall bit-of-a-building on top of a hill. We climbed up the hill. Mum and Dad were panting by the time they reached the top. I had whizzed up and down and back again several times! And I had helped a fellow labrador fetch his ball. He couldn't run anywhere near as fast as me so I saved him a bit of his energy. I'm not convinced my kindness was entirely appreciated by his humans though. They grumped a bit and I had to give the ball back and move on.

At the top of the hill, Dad stopped to play with his one-eyed-clickybox toy. I led Mum on to explore. We found a kind of low wall around the edges and went in to check it out. Mum says it is the remains of Donnington Castle. I just thought it was a fab place to do zoomies and leap on and off the fat bobbly walls. Then came the super fun bit: Ella the Bloodhound appeared and we had a superb game of chase all around the hilltop. The humans were all complaining about being cold! Well, they should get chasing shouldn't they? We dogs were perfectly warm and happy!

When we got back to our floatyboatyhome and got out of the car, I had the unexpected bonus of another playtime with Bella the Staffie x Labrador who lives on a neighbouring floatyboatyhome. Great fun!

Now, the hotbox is glowing nicely and I think I have snoozed off the excitement so now I think it must be time for my dinner. Actually ..... Oi! Mummmmmm...... it's past my dinnertime.........ahem! No wonder I had to snooze...... no energy left! Please rectify this terrible situation....... urgently......

A couple of photos of me on the hilltop, enjoying a good sniff about and watching to one side in the hope of maybe another buddy coming along for a play.

I am Super Good!

Meanie meanie Mummy. Didn't share that bacon this morning! Left my mouth dripping and leaving her leg all soggy. I pleaded and pleaded with my bestest 'I'm starving down here' pleads. I nuzzled her to remind her of the serious error of omission. Nothing worked! I remained baconless! Harrrumph!

Then I had to take meaniebum workywalkies! We went into town to a shop that was being all wrapped up. Most peculiar! I just laid down while Dad and lots of ladyhumans did all sorts of strange things: sticking long sheets of paper on the walls, wrapping up boxes in different coloured flappysheets, using markysticks to squiggle in the walls.....and Mum spent the whole time using those funny crossover-snippy-sticks to make big flappysheets into smaller flappysheets! All most peculiar!

Next came workywalkies back to our cozy floatyboatyhome for a bit of snuggletime. Then Dad left us. I had to take Mum on another long workywalkies. This time, we went around the other side of town, firstly to a fursubstitutes shop, then to Tesco, before heading back home. I had to really strutt my stuff guiding Mum in the darkness, especially as we headed along the towpath. It was VERY dark there so Mum had to put every ounce of her trust in me. I think I must have done good - I got super fuss and a big juicy carrot when we got home again. Then I got my dinner. All yummy and worth being supergood-at-my-job for!

Now Dad is back and it is nice to be using Mum's lap as a snuggly pillow. I think I forgive the bacon issue!

Photo shows my head looking up from under the pale wood table. Chin on Mum's blue leg, looking very hopeful.

Photo of this morning's strange goings on in the shop.

Super Zoooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooomies

Beeeeeeeaaaaaccccchhhhhh! Yayhayhayhay!

Wooohoohooo!! That was fun!

I took Mummy through the Clifftop Park, down the zigzag and along the pawmenade. Well.... Mum walked along the pawmenade but why would I want to do that and pass up the chance to do huuuuuge zoomies, play with lots of pals, get wet, roll in the sand and just generally have a fandabbydoozee great time? The best bit was a brilliant game of chase and tug with a Patterdale Terror puppy named Ben. He was awesome fun company.

When Dad came to pick us up in the car I was delightfully soggy and sandy. Mum says I've put half of Bournemouth beach all over my bed in the car! Well.....if only.....I could get to play chase and do zoomies everytime we go in the car!

Now we are back home on our floatyboatyhome. The hotbox is glowing, it's time for sofasnuggles and my eyes won't stay open! Mum, shove over a bit.....now, put that leg there......just there.....yep! That'll do.....my head is far too heavy to stay up any longer! Zzzzzzzzz.......

5 photos of today's fun on Bournemouth Beach. 2 playing with Ben the Patterdale and 3 of me racing back to Mum when she blew my recall whistle. That is good yummy practice and I do like to check on Mum from time to time!

Oops! May have slightly Forgotten myself!

Now THAT  is what I call a GOOD workywalkies!

Nearly 5 miles in total, two fellow Guide Dog colleagues meeted, greeted and kanoodled, a tree-scamperer-skitterjitter to chase and a lovely little freerun! Happy Oakley!

Dad disappeared without us this morning (apparently he had to go and swear at somebody about some legal paperwork stuff - whatever that means) so I had to look after Mum. I took her out for a glorious walkies. The hotball was in the blue sky but it was not very hot - in fact the ground was rather crunchy under my paws but it was really lovely nonetheless. We went around the streets of Westbourne, then into the peace of the Upper Gardens, all along the path by the babbling stream, then into town. There, after a couple of calls into shops, I firmly guided Mum to meet a colleague - a golden lab x retriever. We had a brief kanoodle but his manhuman was munching something much more interesting. We both kept vigil for any dropped morsels. We were both disappointed!

Next came another shop duty then a human yummyery. Now this was a great trip to a human yummyery - it came with a really good kanoodling session with Goldie - a little (even littler than me!) golden labrador Guide Dog who brought her mumhuman Beth. We doggies had a wonderful time under the table while the humans did the inevitable yackety-yacking and noshing.

We then took Goldie and Beth to the bus stop and said goodbyes (I'm sure I heard mention of another meet up for a freerun on the beach......Oooooh! I do hope so!). Then I guided Mum on the next bit of our lovely trip - on through the Lower Gardens. This is where I may have ..... errrrmmmm ..... errr..... made a slight mistake! Ahem! Well...... you see, I had been a very good boy - I guided Mum to the bin after she had bagged up my necessary download...... It was one of those bins where she needs both front paws because it has a pull-down-mouth thing ..... well...... errrr..... it was just at that moment that I spotted the skitterjitter - right in front of me! I think I may have just forgotten that I was on duty.....wearing my harness.....Oooops! Well.....I nearly got him! If he hadn't scampered up that tree, I would have had a new toy! Ahem..... I don't think Mum was exactly pleased with me! She actually didn't know why I had shot off - it was a manhuman sitting on the bench who grassed me up!

Mum must have forgiven me though because, after a lovely wander along the pawmenade, we turned up into Middle Chine and she de-harnessed me and said those lovely words "Go Play". It was a wonderful chance to run and catch up on the weemails all the way up the chine! Yippeee!

Dad was back when arrived back at Granny's and I was quite happy to snooze off all the exertions while Mum and Dad did a whole load of clicketyfingersing and sorting stuff.

This evening I have taken Dad on another couple of miles walkies - apparently it was essential to go get one of those bottles of stinky red water. Now, the squawkybox is on and Mum and Dad are both on the sofa - now ...... chin on knee ....... little pathetic squeak ..... yep! That worked! Invitiation to 'hup' - Squeeze in between them back against Dad - paws against Mum and SHOVE! Heehee! Works every time!

Three photos of me and Goldie - two of us kanoodling and one when Mum so rudely interrupted to ask us to pose - looking up from under the table.

That's what I call a Great Day!

4.46 miles workywalkies, a good catch up on weemails in the Clifftop Park, a long snooze under a table in a human yummyery, a good bone-munching session, a big juicy carrot and a leisure walkies to round it all off. It's tough being me! :D

Calendars Awayyyyy!!!

Mission accomplished! Workywalkies into town, to Wilko then on to the Post Office. I was allowed to 'hup' my front paws onto the counter to supervise the nice manhuman who was tippetytapping his pawpointers on his little clickysquares, then sticking rectangles onto the pockets containing my calendars. When he had finished doing such important work, he came out from inside his cage and made a lovely fuss of me! Of course, I was happy to greet him and tell him he had done a good job!

The workywalkies continued on through to the other side of Newbury where I had to take Mum into a yummyery to get a big cup of hot brown stuff to warm her up. Then Daddy came and picked us up in the car.

We are now back at Granny's flat in Bournemouth and I have some serious work left to do on my bone.

Thank you to those who have ordered calendars. Here again, is the link for those who would like to click to order - and please do share this link among your friends too! ALL PROFITS GO TO GUIDE DOGS UK VIA MY FUNDRAISING TO SPONSOR A THIRD PUPPY IN TRAINING WHO WILL BE NAMED IN MEMORY OF MY GRANNY

https://www.guidedogoakley.org.uk/shop.html

Front of my 2017 Wall Calendar.

Butt Sniffing....

Bone bum! That's what Mum says I have had today! She says that is what she meant about a bone being good for both ends. She also muttered something about taking out shares in poobag manufacturing companies..... It seems that six bagsful of concrete conkers is a generous offering for one day. Well, I am happy to be generous! At least it gave her something to do! Better than aaaaaaalllll the waiting around in the human vet's kennelblock. That has taken up the biggest part of the day; waiting around for something called a follow-up check-up for Mum, after her stay in that bendybed last week. In the end, it turned out that none of all that waiting was necessary at all. Something about a communication breakdown. Oh well, it got me some fusses and admiration!

Next came some welcome workywalkies around Reading to find a shop full of those strange double bowls that ladyhumans have for their chesthumps. I kept Dad company while Mum went to do that 'trying on' thing. I think it was a good choice for both us boys to stay out if that bit! Mum seemed happy when she came out. Dad and I were happy with our little chill out time!

Another walkies this evening was nice before going to another snooze session through a human yackety-yacking time. They call it a meeting. It's not what I call a meeting. A proper meeting involves the civilised art of mutual butt-sniffing and hopefully a game of chase. Humans are so peculiar!

Knobbly Knucklebone.

Pyoing! Pyoing...pyoing...pyoing! Mum says that was my springs uncoiling. It followed a bit of a squeak when I looked out of the car to see trees and doggypals all around. Then, when Mum opened to car's bumdoor and let me 'go play', I simply couldn't contain my joy! My legs just went beserk! Mum was laughing at my crazy zoomies and bendy, sideways bucking bronco barminess! Oooooohhhh! It was SUCH a fandabbydoozee freerun! I needed that!

I think I now declare Snelsmore Common Country Park to be my newest favourite place in the world! Trees, puddles, miles of paths (for humans to follow), acres of sniffing-grounds, space to run and jump and roll, and loads of doggypals to meet, greet & play with!

Now I have a superb knobbly knucklebone. Mum says it is good for cleaning my teeth and my bum. Well.....I get that it is scraping my gnashers as I do serious work on it .....but....my butt....???? Oh well, I shall enjoy humouring her. nom..nom..nom.......

Four photos of me amongst all the crunchy leaves on the gravel path, trees and bracken all around and various different doggy pals that I met to play with.