My First Award

I have great news! Yesterday when I went to puppy class I completed my Kennel Club Foundation Assessment. Next week I will be getting my very first certificate. To get my certificate I had to do a sit, down and stand. Then I had to walk "in a controlled manner" which apparently means not pulling or dashing off to see my puppy friends. I have also done the "socialisation" things and my 10 second stay. Last night Sally also did the "taking something out of my mouth" - it was just as well the toy she tried to take was a ball I didn't feel like playing with because "drop" isn't my best thing at the moment!

Next week I am going to the "big dogs" class. It is sad to leave my friends in the puppy class but I am now 15 weeks old and some of them are just babies. Although this week there was very big baby in the class called Indy. She is a Newfoundland puppy and was the youngest puppy there but also the biggest.

Here is a recent photo of me that I got Sally to take to show you how big I am now! (I am just trying to see how hard I have to pull to get the curtain down... so I can get a better view of the road outside).

My new best friend - Pippin

You will be pleased to know that my new best friend is Pippin - he is our black cat. When I first arrived he was not very friendly but now we are great friends. We love playing together. We have chase games, wrestling games and batting games (that is where he sits on a chair or something else high up and bats at me with his paw).

I did try and play with our other cat today - Willow - but she just ran off and I got told off by Sally for chasing her! She is a 'fraidy cat and a big spoilsport.

Here is a picture of Pippin sitting on the catbox and me ready for a game!

Ball Playing at Lepe

Today we went to another edge of the world.. well I thought it was an edge because it was like the one we went to last week except when I looked over the Sea there was another bit of the world. Sally said it was called the Isle of Wight. It is all very confusing. We were at a place called Lepe.

We had a lovely day out and I played ball with Jack. I had some good ideas for ball-playing when you are only a little puppy (although I am quite a big puppy now as I will be 14 weeks old on Thursday). You can play by yourself or with your Mum but with another dog is the best fun. Today I played with Jack. I am not very good yet and he took great delight in telling me how good Heidi used to be. Heidi was the black lab who lived here before me.

I heard that she played rugby for England (I'm not sure I got that right but I think so). Heidi was very good at marking. She danced around the other dogs when the ball was being thrown, and then tried to put them off when they were running for the ball. When they got the ball she would try and stop them getting it back to their owner.

However when you are only a puppy you get tired very quickly so you can't do all of that - so I just did the running bit. When I got tired I found the best thing to do is sit and wait while they chase the ball and then tackle them (a fancy way of saying jump at them) when they are on their way back. This is sure to annoy them but it is great fun. Here is a picture of me running to tackle Jack.. and another of me, Nan and Jack sitting on a bench (Jack is on the ground!).

My Puppy Class

On Wednesday evening I go to puppy class. I go to catch up with my puppy friends but we're not allowed to run around and play - we do some playing but we also learn to be good dogs. This week I was very good (well mostly).
We did something called "puppy recalls". I thought I had worked out a quick way of getting my treat for this. What normally happens is... Sally lets me off the lead.. then I can go and see my friends .. then Sally calls me and I run back for my treat. But this week when Sally let me off the lead I decided I might as well stay where I was. Surely that would be the quickest way to get it. But no treat! Then the trainer called me ... so I ran to him but he hadn't got a treat. Then Sally called me.. you have never seen a puppy run so fast I did... and I got my treat at last!

I also so did some very good walking on the lead - everyone was very impressed. But my "downstay" went wrong.. it wasn't my fault you understand.. one of my friends - Daisy the Border Collie - moved. I just got up in case she wanted to tell me something. But I did my 10 seconds at the second time of asking... and so I did get my treat.

If you are puppy - or have one - I would recommend puppy classes because I have made a lot of puppy friends and got a lot of extra treats!

My Trip to the Edge of the World

Today I went to the edge of the world where you cannot go any further. It is blue water and called The Sea. It must be the end of the world because there is nothing after the blue water. I went with Jack, Nan & Sally. It was at a place called Mudeford, near Christchurch.

I am sorry to have to tell you that Jack was a real pain on the journey down there. We were both in the back of the car where there is a lot of space for playing. So I thought Jack and me would be able to play. So I barked, and ran round him... and barked and jumped on top of him... and barked and pulled his ear... but he did absolutely nothing. I went on and on for about 10 minutes. He just lay there. Boring is what I call it - so I went to sleep.

I liked the beach and The Sea very much. I tried to catch the waves but I didn't catch any today. Sally says we will go again soon so I am sure I can catch some next time. After a little while I got so tired I just had to go to sleep. We had a really lovely day. This is a picture of me with Nan. I am looking at the edge of the world.

The Wag and Bone Show

It was my most exciting day yet! Me, Sally, Nan & Jack went to the Wag and Bone Show for the day. Nearly all the dogs in the world were there. I said hello to as many of them as I could - its called networking you know! There were some dogs who were busy working - we watched some "hearing dogs for the deaf" and then we went to listen to a talk by a very nice chap - Roger Mugford - who thought that people if they wanted to have dogs should have more than one. I'd really like another dog to live with me and Sally but Sally says not until I am a bigger.

There was lots to see and do but it was a very warm day so after lunch I had a rest in the shade with Sally. Jack was very good - he did the "Super Sit" where you have to sit or lie down for two minutes with lots of other dogs without getting up. Sally said I was too little to join in but I could have slept for two minutes if that would have been alright.

Then Nan and Jack did the "Have-A-Go-Agility-Course" - he was brilliant and the woman with them said he was a "natural" and should go to classes. I think Jack would like that. I couldn't do it because I was too little (again!). So I'm really looking forward to next year when I will do everything.

Here is picture of Jack doing the agility course and another one of me and Jack having a rest.

Eight New Things I did on Friday

What an exciting world this is.. I've been out and about on my own feet for a week now and just as I thought I'd seen most things in this world I had a whole lot of new experiences.

On Friday lunchtime Sally took me to Eastrop park. I have been lots of times before and I really like it because we always meet people who want to make a fuss of me and tell me how cute I am. But when we got to the fountains at the end of the park instead of going back we went through the underpass and into town!

The first new thing I did was walk along a road in town which was quite busy with some big vans .. then we crossed a metal suspension bridge which felt very funny under my feet because it was metal grid and I could see and hear lots of cars going underneath. Then we went through some sliding shiny metal doors into a dark box. There was just me and Sally in it. I didn't much care for the floor which was very slippy. Then all of sudden it started going down.. and then the doors opened and we walked out into a place where there were lots of buses and people getting on and off the buses. Apparently it is called a bus station.

Then we walked through a big outdoor cafe by the cinema before getting back to the park. When we got back to the park I sat on Sally's knee and had a good sleep. Then I was woken up by some very loud screeching sounds - when I opened my eyes I saw some boys whizzing along with wheels under their feet (skateboards I'm told!).

In the evening we went to another park to something called "Balloons over Basingstoke" where I saw big balloons with fire underneath them going up into the sky - never to be seen again! I met some people with bright yellow jackets in the park who made a big fuss of me. Then we went to the funfair but that was very noisy and I really didn't like it so we went home. Now I really must have seen everything in the world!

The New Forest, Training & Thatcham Lakes

Yesterday we went to the New Forest and we had a lovely day except for one thing - I nearly died (of starvation). All was well as we were driving down there - at one point my ears pricked up as I heard Sally say she would feed me as soon as we arrived. But then when we did arrive there was panic..Sally had left my bag at home... with all my food in it! Help.. I was going to starve to death. I waited anxiously with Grandad while Sally & Nan went to find a petshop but apparently it was closed! I was doomed.... but then my luck turned... cos Sally got me some very nice roast chicken from the grocery store and mixed it with the kibble she had in her pocket...what a feast! (But no photos because Sally's camera was in the bag!)


When we got back we only had a little rest before it was time for puppy class. There was one new dog in the class called Alfie. He is very long and has very very short legs but is a friendly chap (Sally says he is a dachshund). Some of my other friends had gone up to the big dogs class but Milly the chocolate lab, Molly the Jack Russell, Marble the whippet and Daisy the Border Collie were all there, so it was great fun.

Today I went to Thatcham Lakes with Sally, Nan, Carl and of course Jack. I very much enjoyed watching the ducks and swans. Here is a picture of me watching the swans, and another one just of the swans and their cygnet.

My favourite toys

Today I thought I would tell you about my favourite toys. I have several sorts of toys. I like "moving" toys very much - like Sally's feet or the cat's tail but it Sally does not seem to like me playing with these which is a shame.

But it doesn't really matter because I have lots of other toys which I am allowed to play with. Here is a picture of me with my sausages! I like running around with them and tossing them in the air. Sometimes me and Sally play fetch with them.. and sometimes we play tug. I like tug games because sometimes Sally says "drop" - then if I let go of my sausages really fast I get a treat! Then we can start again.

My next favourite toy is my dog (it is in the picture in my profile). It gets me very excited because it woofs and pants just like a real grown-up dog!

Tomorrow we are going out to somewhere called the New Forest for the day. It sounds great fun and I am pleased to say my friend Jack is coming too! That is good because I'm much happier meeting other dogs if I've got him to look after me.