Special little doors!

The photo shows me using a special little door, Mum and Dad call it a 'cat-flap', but I use it more than Dylan! It makes a loud 'clacking' noise when I go in or out so it's difficult to be sneaky.
When I first came to live here I didn't know I could get through the cat-flap and I used to push my head through and watch what was going on in the garden. Then one day I, ever so slowly, put my front legs through, then my body and 'hey' my whole-self! Now I can go in or out in a second!!
Yesterday Dad took me onto what we call 'the hillies'. I found something really gorgeous (they said stinky) to roll in. I rolled and rolled and then rolled too much and fell into a dyke! Mum couldn't believe her eyes (or nose) when I got home. I had loads of green and brown 'stuff' all over my back and neck....Mum kept walking away from me saying 'pooh'. I feel the same about her 'channel no.5'.

Dad got kicked!

I had to go up to North Ferriby near the Humber Bridge today, to help Dad do a bit of whispering to a horse. He said the horse had come all the way from France (didn't know he could whisper in French!) Bit boring really as I had to watch from the car while Dad worked with the horse. Dad was trying to get the horse to understand that people are Ok and wont hurt her (she hadn't been treated very nicely in France). Unfortunatley, the horse didn't believe him and she kicked him (tee hee). Dad's got a big bruise on his thigh, but luckily he was Ok for a lovely walk this afternoon. Wonder why horses have wooden feet?

Yipeee snow

It snowed today, I love the snow. My dad made a snowball and threw it for me to catch. Here I am just about to catch it. We also went for a walk and got caught in something that my dad called a blizzard. He was really cold, but I stayed warm by running about really fast. Mum says dad should run around really fast too.

Maisie

This is me and my best friend Maisie. She's a Jack Russell and really beautiful! When I visit Maisie we play and play and play and then have a rest. Then, after we've had a little rest we play some more! In the photo I'm showing Maisie a 'play-bow' that means I want her to play with me. It's a different sort of bow than the one I give my Mum and Dad when they've been out. That's called 'the greeting - I love you stretch'. My Mum read about the 'I love you' stretch in a book called 'canine body language' by someone called Brenda Aloff. When she read about the 'I love you' stretch she got on the floor and sent a stretch to me. I sent one straight back and my Mum went all soppy and gave me a big hug. Now we give each other 'I love you' stretches all the time.
Mum and Dad never shout or smack me. Mum says shouting is human barking and just winds dogs up (a lot of things wind me up!). She also says that smacking or hitting does not make a dog see the human as an 'effective leader' and anyway who wants a dog to do as it's told just
because it's frightened? That's what she tries to teach people to do...be an effective leader. I really try to see Mum and Dad as 'effective leaders' but sometimes I just can't help trying to lead myself!