Newbury welcomes me!

It has been such an exciting weekend... yesterday I went for my first walk with Jack. His friend Dylan came along too. We went to some woods on Greenham Common. I was allowed off the lead which was really good fun. I came everytime I was called...except once when I was still saying hello to some new people friends.. manners must come first.

Today I went to Victoria Park in Newbury.. and it seemed everyone in Newbury had turned out to welcome me! There were stalls, children's rides, bands and donkeys... and everywhere I looked there were people (and other dogs) who wanted to say hello to me! Someone said it was the Newbury Waterways Festival but I think that is just another name for the "Welcome Kimba Party". There were people of all ages, one very nice lady with what I believe is called a Zimmer frame was very friendly and I made special friends with two girls from the Czech Republic. I also met men with beards, people with hats, and people in funny dress (called uniforms I'm told). One lady even said it would be very good for my socialisation whatever that is!

These are some pictures - the first one is me having a rest while my friend Carl is looking after me... next is me saying hello to one of the donkeys... and finally a picture of me having my tummy tickled by some of my fans.

World .. here I come!

Are you ready? If not... too bad! I launched myself on the world today.... and what a big world it is. I've been for a walk round the local roads... to the town park.. and this evening I'm going out to "the hill" to play with other dogs. You should understand it is not that I haven't been to these places before.. but today I went out on my own four feet! I did get a bit excited to start off with .. I just couldn't decide which side of Sally I wanted to walk on ... so I kept get my lead wrapped around Sally's legs.. but I soon realised that we weren't getting anywhere and there are so many places to see.

You get a totally different perspective from down here near the ground... and then of course there are the smells... and all those interesting things lying about. One of my favourite things today was a plastic drinks bottle I found.. but unfortunately I couldn't quite get my mouth around it. People laughed at me when I kept trying to get hold of it. But I am growing... so perhaps next time.

I met lots of people today... I'm very popular you know. I still look very cute and people who appear to be "in the know" say I have lovely markings. I like all sorts of people - wobbly little ones (better known as toddlers I believe) to old wrinkly ones (sorry I'm forgetting my manners - senior citizens). I am very patient with all of them.

My Friend Carl

Yesterday I went with Sally to Nan & Grandads. I had a good time playing in the garden with my toys. Then Sally got the hose out which I didn't think I liked very much. But I watched Jack and he liked it very much so I thought I would give it a go - and its really not so bad. Sally thinks this is good news because she says she will want to hose me down when I get really dirty on walks.

The reason I went to Nan & Grandads was to see my friend Carl. He is Sally's nephew (I can't work out what relation he is to me). He came to our house the other day which I thought was good fun because he has a wheelchair and I kept get underneath the wheels! I like to sleep on Carl's knee and when I am not sleepy he sometimes holds my lead. Here is a picture of me asleep on Carl's knee.

p.s my training is still going well - I did a 45 second downstay today... and Sally is now training me to touch the end of a long black spoon - I can't imagine what use it will be!

Escape into the Jungle

Great news... I have worked out how to get out into the jungle. It has been a problem ever since Sally had the the really bad idea of opening up the playpen and placing it across the bottom of the patio.. that I meant I couldn't get out into the jungle unless Sally was with me (and I really would prefer to explore on my own!). She was very pleased with her idea I could tell.. it meant that I could potter around on the patio to my heart's content while she was reading or working at the table.

But this morning when Sally went down the garden to look for Pippin and left me on the patio.. it suddenly came to me. The little fence was made for climbing.. and in no time at all I was out into the jungle (and the nice basket of yellow flowers made an excellent step down on the other side). Now I can get out whenever I feel like going exploring.

My Own Den!

Today it has been very hot and I have slept a lot of the day because it is just too tiring to run around and play for very long but this evening Sally gave me some ice cubes to play with and that was great fun - every time I thought I had caught one it slipped away!

I want today to introduce you to my own den which was waiting for me when I got to my new home. I like it very much because when I am inside I can still see everything that is going on - in the kitchen and outside on the patio - but feel very safe in it. I sleep in it at night and go in it when Sally goes out .. but Sally also leaves the door open so I can go in and out as I like.

In my den I have newspaper (which is quite cool to lie on) and two blankets. In the picture you can see my special blue blanket which I brought with me from my first home. It very nice cos it is very smelly and reminds me of my Mum Saffron. You can also see "Softie" which was a present from Sally when I got here. In the picture I am drinking from my water bowl which is in my den - it hangs on the side which is a great shame because I like to tip water bowls upside down!

In the second picture you can see I am rearranging the blankets. Sally thought she would tidy the den before taking the pictures but no self-respecting dog (and I am of course nearly 11 weeks now) would lie on neat blankets - they are much more comfortable in a heap!

The Clicker Game

Today I thought I would tell you all about the clicker game which is the best game in the world because you get lots of treats... I wag my tail lots and lots everytime Sally gets the clicker out!. The clicker is a little yellow box and everytime it clicks I get a treat! So the game is to work out what you have to do to make it click. I've learnt how to touch the clicker with my nose... and how to do a "down" .. and now I'm learning how to walk properly on a lead. I'm learning that because Friday is my big day when I am allowed to walk outside on the pavement. At the moment I have to be carried which is getting just a little frustrating... there are so many lovely smells to explore.. and today when we went to the duckpond I saw another dog which I just know wanted to play with me. So roll on Friday!

Back to the training .. I arrived knowing how to sit.. at my first house I was very quick to learn that sitting nicely was the way to get picked up... and I also arrived knowing my name (Kimba in case you've forgotten - everybody thinks its a very nice name too!). I am quite good at coming when I'm called unless I'm playing with Pippin (our cat) or otherwise engaged. I can do a downstay for precisely 18 seconds ... and next I'm going to learn "stand" - not sure I understand the point of this as I learnt how to stand when I was very little! This is a picture of me doing a very nice "down".

Me and Jack

On Sundays we go to visit Sally's Mum & Dad... I reckon that makes them my Nan & Grandad.. anyhow they have a dog called Jack who is I believe what people call a collie cross.. but I call him a cross collie! I first met Jack the day after I came to live with Sally. I was so pleased to see him because in my first home I had all my brothers and sisters to play with and my Mum to look after me. I thought Jack looked a bit like my Mum "Saffron". So I bounced up to him to say "Hello" but he just looked at me.. then growled very quietly and ran off. I was very puzzled but I have since discovered the Jack is a grown-up dog who is very busy with his own affairs - he has the garden to look after - the pigeons to scare off - and his ball to chase - all of which are a very serious business and he certainly does not have any time to play with me!

I have seen him lots of times in the last couple of weeks and although I couldn't yet say he is happy to see me, he is not as anything like as cross and even lets me lick his face sometimes. I'm sure we're going to be very good friends! This is a picture of me and Jack getting a treat from Nan.

My New Home

I am 10 weeks and 2 days... and weigh 4.1 kilos. At this precocious age I have decided to write a diary of my life. Here is my picture. I am told that I am an English Springer Spaniel and I know that I am very cute because everyone I meet says so. I have big black ears and a very soft silky coat and a long tail! I now live with my owner - Sally and two cats. Well I think there are two cats... there is certainly a big black cat who seems to be called Pippin. He was very rude when I first got here a couple of weeks ago - he just sat staring at me and then he looked down his nose at me when I tried to say hello. You see I came from a very nice home in Benson, Oxfordshire where I learnt some good manners - but more about that some other time. Anyway back to the cats... there is another one called Willow who I think must be ours because I've seen her eating out of the cat bowl on the patio table, but she keeps herself to herself and I think she is much more scared of me than I am of her. She lives mainly in the garden and I know she was very upset when I found her hiding place the other day. I was just charging through the jungle (apparently better known as a flower border) when I suddenly came across her. She screeched and fled. I promise I didn't touch her - she is just a scaredy cat! Not much fun at all!

I have much to tell you about my life in my new home but that will wait until another day.