Ouchies!

"Stay on the boat" Mum kept saying. Well, I had no blimmin choice did I? We were moored against that nasty floor stuff that is made up of lots of little squares of nothingness. The grid of grey ridges around all those holes makes my paws ouch! I tried to walk on it but it made me go down on my belly like a commando. I backed back onto the boat again! Dad walked off across that ouchy grid though. I suppose that is the advantage of human pawcovers. When Dad left me behind though it made me squeak coz I couldn't get to him. He walked off and left me! Apart from which, I needed a weeeeeee. I had to wait until after we had been inside the lock and finally bobbed up to the top so I could jump off the boat and water the bushes. Phewwwwww!

Holy Moses!

We went to church. Then I met Moses!

It has been a good Sunday! A nice long workywalkies to church. Lots of humans to meet n greet. Another nice long workywalkies back, but via a different route - The one that runs through a park! That was where I met Moses, the little fluffy scruffy Jack Russel pocket rocket! We had a fantabulous game of chase! His human dad didn't seem too keen on doggy-style greetings though. He just doesn't understand the importance of our sniffing of various bits of each others' anatomy! Never mind, we just did a bit more chasing instead.

When end we got back to the boat, I was glad of my nice big bowl of water. Much better than that hot brown stuff Mum and Dad insist is good to drink! The rest of the afternoon has been spent busily getting stuck into a wonderful big juicy bone. I do like my Sunday bones!

Moses (Mo) and me playing!

Moses & me having a breather!

First Court, then Prison!

Naughty humans. Today seems to have been predominantly about naughty humans.

We set off for workywalkies under a very leaky sky, but didn't go far. We went into a huge building where there were lots and lots of humans; some just wandering around and some wearing strange fursubstitutes. Outside, there were some cars and a big vroombox, all with blue and yellow squares on them. Mum says it was an Open Day at Reading County Court. To me, it was just a fab fuss-fest! Of course, I worked hard too guiding Mum in and out of lots of rooms and up and down lots and lots of steps and stairs. In one of the rooms, there were people dressed in peculiar headfur things and they were all sitting behind lots of desks. There was some yackety-yacking going on around the room and it was all rather strange. Then, in another room, Mum and Dad took it in turns to sit on a huge chair behind a huge desk. They also put on a funny headfur thing while Dad's one-eyed-clickybox did it's thing. Then Mum asked me to 'hup' my paws onto the huge desk and she put the funny headfur thing on me. Apparently that funny headfur things makes the wearer a very important person who gets called 'Your Honour'. I think I prefer my own gleaming black fur and my name, but I do quite like the 'very important' bit.

Next, we went to another mahhooooosive building that didn't have so many people in it but we looked into lots and lots of tiny rooms. Apparently this used to be a very special kennel block for very naughty humans who got sent there after going to the funny headfur things place. It was, Mum says, an open day there too. Again, I guided Mum along lots of long corridors, in and out of lots of tiny rooms and up and down lots of horrible clangy open-backed stairs. I also managed to snaffle do few fusses from impressed humans. Well....it would be rude to ignore their admiration wouldn't it?

When we headed back to the boat, we met an old friend, Maffi. He disappeared for a few minutes to his boat, just along the towpath from us, then he came back. Better than that, he was accompanied by Molly, my little doggypal! Molly and I spent some fab time getting reacquainted (last year, we had some great time together during our Megawalk). This afternoon, we enjoyed a chewstick each and I allowed Molly to have a chew on one of my bones too. I also enjoyed some great ear-cleaning duty on Maffi!

Me with my paws up on the huge desk, wearing the creamy coloured funny headfur thing.

Mum and me behind bars in the naughty humans kennelblock place.

Mum and me looking into one of the tiny rooms, containing a two-tier strange bed thing with no mattress and a little desk.

Me almost on Maffi's lap, enjoying some wonderful fuss. Molly, the White-with-black-patches Staffie X Jack Russell, is on my bed beside us chewing my bone.

I Thought We'd Finished with MegaWalking......

Mega-mega-workywalkies today! It went on and on and on - aaaaaaaaalllll along busy roads (of course I kept Mum safely on the pavements!). Four miles of it with the hotball in the sky making my tongue hang out. We finished at the Guide Dogs big house place. Mum says it is called the headquarters of the Reading Mobility Team. I called it miffing! There were doggy pals there - I saw several of them - but I didn't get to play with any of them! Huffff! They were going in and out with various Guide Dog Mobility Instructors (aka OMOEs - Obey Me Or Else). I was with Mum and Dad and a nice lady called Maxine and all I could do was squeak to them from the inside of the see-through wall. Actually, maybe it was a bit too hot to play anyway, and maybe I was just a bit pooped from that big long workywalkies.

Nice Maxine brought me a lovely bowl of cold water. I was making a good job of sloshing it all over the carpet but she spoilt my fun by getting a big towel and putting it underneath the bowl. I left it then and settled down for a little snooze while the humans did their inevitable yackety-yacking.

Mum gave a white floppy rectangle to Maxine. Inside that were some other floppy rectangles with squiggles on them. Apparently they were given by people instead of flowers at Nanny's funeral and that will add to our Name A Puppy fund. Mum says that means we are now less than £400 from our total of our second £5,000 so we hope to achieve that very soon and name a Guide Dog Puppy in Nanny's memory. If you would like to help us reach the target, then please click on the link below:

www.justgiving.com/GuideDogOakley

Photo to of Mum and me outside the Guide Dogs Reading Mobility Team HQ

Redid my walk into Reading!

Just like old times! I took Mum workywalkies on exactly the same length of towpath that we did last year - the very last bit of our MegaWalk from Bath to Reading.

It was a great walk today but last year was better because I had the company of Andy, a Guide Dog Puppy in training and my Puppymummy and Puppydaddy Sue and Mike. Andy is now well on his way to becoming a professional like me and Sue & Mike are now training another puppy, Raymond, who is named after my Grandpa.

Sorry seems to be the Hardest Word....

OOPSIE! Sorreeeeeee! Mummy I do love you really...... I just could not stop myself - that water came up to drag me in....it was utterly irresistible..... Thank you for the treat for being a good boy and obeying your first 'Oakley stay out of the water' command. But......it was so yummy it made me forget why I got it! The next thing I knew, I was up to my shoulders in that looooooovely cool water! Ohhh! It was so nice in there.....

You weren't impressed with me were you? I could tell that from the way you barked loudly at me. I didn't like that. :( It made me sad. I think I really got the message that I had got it all wrong when you put my lead back on and marched me off to the other end of the lock. Then having to 'sit and stay', with you ignoring me just made me sadder. I was very glad when the lock was nearly empty and you came to my end of the beam. That gave me the chance to give you my very bestest I-love-you-I'm-sorry-chin-on-knee-please-love-me pose. Your scratch under my chin at that moment was just bliss. That told me that you know I was sorry for being a bit naughty.

I hope that soggy patch I so lovingly left on your knee cooled you down as much as my dip in the lock-side cooled me down. Oooooh! It was lovely in there....

Now - I need to remember......
I must obey my mummy
I must resist the lure of the water
I must obey my mummy
I must resist the lure of the water
I must.......

Cruising and Relaxing!

Watching the world go by. This is more like it! Just lying on the back deck as we cruise, inspecting the quacking featherballs as we pass them on our way. Plenty of this today, interspersed with working a few locks and bridges (and a few yummies for remembering what I'm supposed to do).

After all of this hard work and relaxation, when we moored up, I took Mum for a bit of a walkies just along the towpath. It just happens that there is a field there. It just happens that Mum brought along my ball launcher. It just happens that Mum was daft enough to hope that I would stay dry when this field just happens to have several places where I can go paddling into the canal/river...... well..... OK...... I may have just happened to wade in just a tad further than paddling point......just maybe I may have happened to enjoy a good swimming session! Well, I had been good..... It was hot..... that water was lovely and cool......

Heehee! Mum gave up and started her daft game of launching my ball into the water so I had to go rescue it - over and over again! It's a tough life being me!

Photo shows me lying on the back deck of the boat gazing at the water as it glides by.