Miss DaisyMae's Diary

Clever Daysea Mae

2011-12-04T09:06:00.001-08:00

Ahhhhhh Ra! Ra! Ra! Well...... hellooo. There you are. I was wondering where you had all gone.

It's nice to be back. Especially as I have been so busy. Its not so good now because the evenings are dark and boring. Just time now for snoozing, and being brushed. Mummy tells me that summer will return again, but at the moment, I don't know when. All I can do is dream about the days which have gone.

So, on this dark, showery and windy evening I thought I would take some time to catch up on the latest news in Daysea Ville.

Well, since my appearance on the t.v. programme Pets For Life I have been involved in another professional shoot. In fact all the photos here are from two of those shoots, and I would like to say a very big thank you to Karen Parker for these fabulous pictures which make me look as stunning as ever darlings xx

Of course darlings, with the economy in the state it is, one wonders if one is going to get so much commercial work in future, so that's why we are hoping to join up with Karen Parker for us all to promote our work and our skills to the best of our ability . As I am DaisyMae, I do try my very best, and like to give everything my full attention....... well, most of the time - providing I enjoy what I am doing, because if it is boring, then I don't like it and don't do it. Simple ! Get used to it mummy ! I am a Setter after all.

Barkley has been boasting in his blog about his swimming antics. Well, yes he is a swimmer and a diver, but of course, he is nowhere near as good as me. I am the best !

Like Barkley, I was rather fed up with the lack of water in the local river. As you can see, there is no longer any swimming to be had there, because the water has all run away. It's OK I suppose, and a good place to cool down after a good morning run.

However, we do enjoy a proper swim, so Barkley and I took off

and ended up at the Grand Union canal, where you can do this:

See - I told you. I am better than Barkley. Look how far I can fly !!!!

I might not be as elegant as Barkley, but it is still a great deal of fun.

Especially when the weather is still warm and you can come out and do this:

and still feel happy. However, now the temperatures have dropped, it is not so much fun, and now I avoid it like the plague. Brrrrrrrrrrr. I am a girl of creature comforts of course, being a star of stage and screen.

Mummy doesn't encourage me to chew sticks, as they can be very dangerous to us dogs, when they get stuck in our mouths and throats, but because I am so happy, she allowed me to be pictured with this one - on this occasion only.

So back we went again

At top speed

to the next shoot with Karen, and staring in pictures for our new website, which will promote the new aspect to our training school, which is for dogs who would like to become stars too. In this new classroom, they will learn tricks

and also how to pose like this:

to show just how good they can be for professional photographic sessions. Oh what fun we all have.

Now, I might be good at flying into water, but here comes Finlay Fur Flyer who likes to chase clumps of grass which have been kicked into the air:

Whooo hoooooo. He looks stunning, but I don't quite see the excitement in doing that. I am far too much of a Diva to be bothered with such things. He is quite entertaining at times though darlings, I must say.

Well, photography isn't the only thing I am into. I am now learning competition obedience. This is not something our mummy has had a lot of interest in, especially as she thinks it looks stupid for a dog to walk around with its head and nose pointed upwards to the heavens, BUT I LOVE IT and I LOVE learning all the new tricks. Because I love it so much, I have persuaded mummy that it is a good idea to become a faffy perfectionist, in a world where everything has to be just so and precise.... ooooh you can just hear her whinging and whining now can't you? But IT IS FUN.....

"No its not - its boring !!!! I would rather chew this flipping stick woman" !!!

BARKLEY, that is sooooo rude butting in like that! I think it is really funny, really relaxing, and I just love roping mummy into this exciting world and making her enjoy our together time too.

Take a look

and this is me doing Heel work (or hell work as Barkley calls it).

In fact I am giving so much of my attention to this, and doing my very best (only because I enjoy it darlings of course) that I have been asked if I would like to train towards the team event at Crufts. Yes, me a Setter in with all those collies ! Do you think I walk like this on normal walks? hahahahaha. HAHAHAHAHA. What me? Darlings.... I like to get to where I want to be as soon as possible, so that I can get down to the real stuff of running and swimming.....

Hoooooooooooowl hooooooooooooooowl How true everyone - I can vouch for that. Hooooooooooooowl.

and finally. I must add that I too am soooooo happy about how well Tallulah is now. I love Tallulah very much indeed, and she makes a truly wonderful hot water bottle at night.

See Barkley's Blog for the whole story.

Lerve yew orl darlings.

Daysea Mae, Tallulah, Barkley, Alfie (little white), Mia (bigger white) and Finlay Collie

2011-07-24T17:29:00.000-07:00

RA RA RA - RA RA RA!!!!!!

Mwwwwwah! Darlings. What an exciting, busy and stressful time I have been enduring of late. You know, things can really start to get to you when one is in such high demand. Especially when it comes to male admirers, which I will come to shortly, but still, I suppose one has to learn how to deal with those over the course of time.

After the successful photo shoot of last year darlings, the phone has hardly stopped ringing, and once more I was selected to make another appearance at a place with lights, people, food, lots of attention - ooh all so very nice.

It was a horrible day to start off with. We left at silly o'clock in the morning, well before the crack of noon, and off we went down the motorway, to a place called "Lundun".

The rain had just stopped as we left Milton Keynes, but as we reached "Loo'un" the heavens opened yet again, and it rained so hard, that we could barely see where we were heading, or even hear ourselves speak. The traffic came to a dead halt for what seemed like an eternity. The humans had become very bored and were listening to the Chris Evans breakfast show, and you should have heard the singing !!!! As for the seat dancing - well that was another matter!!!

Eventually we reached our first destination which was Wimbledon Common, where I was to be filmed running around... but oh no. The weather had other plans, and was still throwing it down by the bucket load, so we had to go to a large spooky house in a place called Cheam to film the indoor scenes. They do ghost hunts there you know, but on that Monday there were none to be seen, or growled at unfortunately, although mummy said that she could sense their presents.

My first job was to lay behind a vet who was being interviewed about nutrition. I settled myself down and went to sleep. That part was very boring, and the man with the camera asked if I could move myself, because I looked like a dead dog lying there, which wouldn't do their product any good at all. I wouldn't like to tell you what mummy thought about that..... hehehe.

But just then the exciting things started happening......

Mummy had a cold ghostly message from the house spirits ........ "pssssssst you" they whispered into her head ....."what if the product Daisy is to promote is Beta or Bakers??? heh heh heh". Mummy gulped very hard as she was listening to the vet speak. Suddenly she had a real urge to visit the toilet - just as she realised the food I was to promote was Beta!!!! Her face went a whiter shade of pale. She wished it could have been almost ANYTHING rather than that. But we had travelled a long way, in appalling conditions. The house ghosts all laughed out loud as they watched mummy squirming and wondering where the loo was.

When I finished filming the interview, mummy was asked to take me in "to do the kitchen scene". Uh ho....... "and what does that entail?" enquired mummy, who had by that time shrunk to the size of mouse!

"Oh we want her to eat a bowl of the food, will she do that?".

"yes yes yes, I will do that.... yes yes yes, let me go there now.... food, food, hungry, not eaten all day, mummy starve me, look how sleek I am".

"awwww no" said mummy, can't you give her something else in the bowl?

"like what?" they asked,

"well anything other than that or Bakers" cringed mummy.

"It's a good product" they lady retorted

"but it's NOT" mummy wailed, "its awful and gives dogs behavioural problems, we see it all the time. Have you got some ProPlan or Purina One - anything, anything please other than that stuff.

"Oh yes", they said and then disappeared.......

then they returned......

"Sorry, but we have looked and there isn't anything else".

The house ghosts watched mummy's face and laughed so loud among themselves that the house vibrated .... "hahahahahha, they have come all this way, in the biggest downpour London has seen in years only to be told that Daisy is required to eat some Beta hahahahaha".

Mummy went right inside herself, and said a quiet sorry to poor Kille dog who had suffered a gastric torsion years before, and it was because of him that mummy had done a lot of research into pet foods. "Oh alright" she snorted, as she resigned herself to my eating some out of a bowl, "BUT ONLY A SMALL AMOUNT YOU HEAR?".

Everyone, including me, was happy. I thought the food was delicious, but then I don't understand humans and what they do, and what they term to be 'nutritious' so I just trusted that because it smelt good, it must be good ... so I sat there and drooled as the bag was opened and the product tipped into a bowl.

The vet lady told them to take the bowl away because I was eating it very quickly, and not used to the product, so mummy was happy about that.

I then went out into the garden to play

NOOOOOO...... not with them..... wrong picture, but with a Hungry Viszla puppy who was also starving and had to eat some of their food.

We had a great time running around in the garden, because by then the rain had stopped, and all the humans were very happy again.

By now it was lunch time, and mummy was happy, because there was some gluten free food there for her and the really nice lady who lives in the house was very up on good food for humans, so had some gluten free cake and gave it all to mummy. She said it was really delicious, and made a nice change.

After lunch, I played again with the Hungry puppy. By now the sun was shining very brightly, and it had suddenly become quite hot, so after all the playing, my tongue hung out lots.

But there was no time to relax and go to sleep, because back into the car again and off we went back to Wimbledon Common.

It is a huge place, and lots of things to do:

and lots of places to run. There was a man with a camera, and he was really funny, and I smiled at him as I ran by.

Because of all the rain that morning, I managed to get my feathers all wet, and got quite a bit of mud on my coat, which spoilt my film star image a bit, but what do I care? I had a great time all round..... even watching mummy cringing during the morning. It was sooooooo funny.

I do hope we go there again one day. I would love to see the Hungry Vizsla puppy again and play with her. We got along so well.

Here is the show I was on, so that you can see me with the puppy. I come on at various points throughout the show, although the dog they describe as being a Red and White Setter at the start of the programme, is not me. In fact it is not an Irish Red and White Setter at all. It is an English Setter ! Thank you to Zola Boland, and to Marta Resio for giving me the video link to share, and for making it a very happy day for me.

I was sad to say goodbye to everyone on the common. It was almost as nice as the seaside, but not quite as, but at least it had dried out and we had a very uncomplicated journey home.

The interesting thing is, that after I had eaten that food, something very strange happened. I suddenly developed a smell around my rear end...... Barkley thought I smelt very attractive, so I had to keep running away from him.

and running, and running and running. He thought I was in full season, and was absolutely besides himself and threw himself into contortions:

Yes - that's him alright, and look at all that slobber !!!! This is how he normally looks:
.......
if you can call that 'normal' hahahahahahaha!!!!! As I said earlier, I suppose this is the price you pay for being a t.v. star. Barkley is a married man though, and he certainly should not be after a Red and White maiden like myself...... although he is a bit of alright really. A real handsome man.......

Well, that's it for another blog now. I wonder what the future holds for me now. I am so excited by everything darlings xxxxxxxx

DaisyMae

Getting better all the time

2011-04-03T09:38:00.001-07:00

Hoot hoot hoot hoot!

Ha ha. That's what I say when I bark now I am all grown up. I am quite grown up now, well almost. I'm now 16 1/2 months old and in agility terms that means I am almost grown up enough to be able to jump FULL HEIGHT !!!! That's what they say anyway, but mummy is being rightly cautious and wont allow me to do that until I am nearer two. She knows my growth plates do not close at 18 months, and wants to give me more time to mature, but more about that later.

Barkley was boasting in his blog about how he helped mummy whilst she was unwell, and how he wants to become a medical alert dog, so that he can assist mummy when she becomes very pawly.

Huh - but I am Daisy, and I can help mummy by leaping all over her, and bringing my toys, demanding walks, and barking at her when she can barely walk to the bathroom, let alone walk us. I thought that was really funny. This is the Daisy way of helping mummy. You keep on and on at her "COME ON, GET UP - there's a life out there which is for living, there is no time to be pawly and lie there sleeping.

You see, when you keep on, and on and on, eventually she gets up from her sick bed, takes us out, and then makes a recovery. If it were left to the Barkley way, she would lie there and he would fetch her medicines, make her hot soup, do the washing, hang it out (even when the rain comes) and then snuggle up next to her pawing at her until she wakes up again. You see, he is FAR too sympathetic. I think the Daisy way is far more positive, invigorating and motivational. Yah!!!!!

I must say, mummy must have been quite ill actually, because it has taken her quite a time to fully recover, indeed that's if she really has, because there are still a lot of things she wants to do but can't at the moment. However, she did take me to a lovely agility workshop which was run by a really nice lady by the name of Toni Dawkins. Mummy was still incredibly washed out that day, so didn't do a great deal with me, but what we did do was really good, very exciting, because the nice lady stood at the end with my toy and then when I got things right, she threw it for me and I had a good chase. What she said was also very interesting.

So I spent a good deal of time watching........

and listening. Unfortunately, because mummy had turned into a muppet who had just been let out of the washing machine, she forgot to charge up the camera, so there are no pictures or video's of what I did, because the machine thing was as dead as a door nail!!!!

Toni made a big point of the fact that many dogs are having to retire from agility early because of structural problems, because of the way they have been taught, particularly in how to turn off of a jump. We had to practice some new ways of doing things, which really confused Barkley, because he has been taught for 3 years to do it a particular way. However, because I am still very young, I have cottoned on to the new way very quickly and think it is great fun.

The interesting thing is that Barkley has now picked up the new way of doing things, and he has told mummy that he is FAR happier! He turns tighter now, and as he turns towards mum he is already onto his stride, so no more pounding upon landing, running on and then taking a sudden sharp turn back towards mummy. He says the new way has much more of a flow, and is much kinder on his front legs and spine. We know when Barkley is happy about something because he shouts '"AROO ROO ROO'" at the top of his of his voice - even when his mouth is stuffed full with a ball, so that it comes out more like "A-RMMM RMMMM RMMM"

Any new way of learning agility which takes into consideration our structure and the effects this vigorous sport has upon us, is more than welcome, because poor Tallulah is suffering.

It could be that all the pounding and sharp turns she has made over the years has damaged her spinal cord, and started to make the sheath which surrounds her nerves break down. Mummy really doesn't want this to happen to me or Barkley in a few years time, so what Toni has been teaching us is very much appreciated. We are looking forward to another session with this lady and learning much more.

I must say, I do prefer shows where I am actually doing something and judged on my skills and ability rather than the way I look. In fact I would rather be out pointing at birdies, if the truth were known. However, my dog mum, grandmadog, and two of my sisters did very well at Crufts. My grandmadog and dogmum won their classes and my sisters came 2nd and 3rd in theirs. It was a great day for my family and there was much excitement. Mummy was very upset however, because she missed the great occasion and spent the day in bed instead. She was really happy when she saw all the photographs, but also very sad at the same time that she couldn't have been there to cheer them on and join in the celebrations.

I don't think you will ever see me at Crufts strutting around on the green carpet. I am a real outdoor girl who loves to run, and run and run. Jump and jump and jump, and oooh whose that coming towards us?

Ah - the other love of my life - it's Finlay

and we love to play, and play and play.

After all, that's what life is all about. Having fun and getting on with it ........ isn't it!!!!! Yah!!!! Let's play
xxxxxxx

2010-12-27T11:19:00.000-08:00

ARA RA RA RA!!!! RA!!!

Things outside have become so different. What has happened to the world? Why has it suddenly become covered in this white stuff which is freezing cold? I couldn't believe my eyes at first, and had to have a good think about it. Mummy said there was some around when I first arrived at our home, but I was so upset about leaving behind my sisters and brothers, that I didn't notice anything in particular going on outside. In fact, I cannot remember much at all about those days, as that was thousands of years ago and my memory doesn't extent back quite that far.

Out in the garden, I thought mummy had put the white stuff out especially for us to play in, but when I went out for my walk, I realised that the whole world was covered in it, and I thought WOW....

Once more, I didn't know quite what to do. So, I sat down in it, to have yet another think.

Tally was quite confused too as she said she had never seen quite so much snow, so that made it all a bit more unsettling.

That didn't last though, and I shall show you soon just how much fun it has all been for me.

But before I do, there is a little bit of catching up for me to do. November saw my first birthday. A year ago I looked like this:

and as you see, my name was Dotty. I am now Daisymae and I do prefer to be called Daisymae as I am definately NOT Dotty in any shape or form.

Here I am again, and this time I am with my sisters and 2 brothers. I am the third from the top on the left:

I am eating my dinner with my family. I do love my dinners you see, that's why I decided to select this picture. I LOVE FOOD X X X its my favourite.

The picture below is of my friend Pebbles Wood. She was a year old this month.

As our birthdays are within weeks of each other, and we have known each other for hundreds of years, we decided to hold our birthday parties together, and invited lots of other doggies along to celebrate the oocasion. We had a great time and managed to raise some money which will soon be sent to Irish Setter Rescue and West Highland White Rescue.

At out party we played games, such as "sharks and islands" and a recall relay, which was divided into two classes: a large dog recall relay, and a little dog recall relay. Everyone had a great time, and when the party reached the end, the young puppies all went home, whilst the older dogs remained behind and braved the freezing temperatures for a game of chase around our field.

It was such a lovely afternoon, and we all came home very tired, and slept for a hundred years...... yawn !!!!

and then.......

One night, mummy woke us up and said "come on, its time to get up!"

Oh but it can't have been. It was still the middle of the night. I stuck my feet out of the duvet, but soon whipped them back in again when I realised just how cold it was outside. There were icicles hanging outside the window ... and the fog was sooooo thick that you had to cut it with a knife to move around, honestly !!! Eventually, mummy hauled me, Tallulah and Barkley out of bed, and loaded us into the back of a strange car. We were then driven off to a place called "LUNDUN". Well, that's what Barkley told me it was called. You see, he went there last year and knows all about "LUNDUN".

It was a slow journey, probably because the humans were having to cut their way through the very thick and icy fog. We eventually arrived in "Lundun" and by then it was daylight. I was lead into a small building, which eventually opened up into a very large studio.

There were lights, people, a couple of other dogs, and some sausages, which were used to pay me when I did things for the production team and then got those things right.

There was a man who was sitting on the floor, and he had a very flashy thing called a camera. He flashed the flash at me and then laughed out loud, because he said my ears looked funny as I flew across a thing, which was supposed to be a jump. I didn't realise it was a jump a first, and mummy had to show me that I had to leap across it as I would one of the agility jumps in our field. It didn't look anything like an agility jump though.

I also had to jump higher than I have been trained to do. I am still only a baby, and am learning over very small jumps, so that I don't put too much strain on my growing joints. Mummy was a bit concerned about the height of the 'jump', but as I was landing on a heavily padded mat which absorbed the shock, mummy decided that it ought to be ok.

The people at the studio were very understanding, and didn't ask as much from me as they did the older dogs.

However, they did ask me to perform some other things, such as a play bow, which I had to hold for hours whilst the man flashed the flashy thing at me. Not satisfied with that, the man with the flashy thing then asked me to hold a play bow and to put my head down between my front paws, which I did...... and then not satisfied with that, he wanted me to hold a play bow, put my head between my front paws, and then turn my head towards him..... which I did. With that, mummy said "that's enough, if I had known you had wanted all these extra things, I could have had her here ready trained to do them". However, she needn't have worried, because I did them all anyway, because I am very clever and learn quickly.

To end on, he wanted some head and shoulder shots, and with that, I posed, and posed and posed. I absolutely delighted in the experienced and just bathed and gloried in the warmth and gaze of the spotlights. Oh darlings, oh lovies, I did feel a very special and pampered lady that day.

In fact, I love posing:

in the snow.

I love the cold........

I have decided the snow is great fun and want it to stay.

Tallulah loves it too, and tried to turn herself into a red and white setter - like me hahaha.

If you would like to book my services as a photographic model, please contact my agent......

Mummy !!!!

Before I close, I have some very sad news to impart:

A couple of days before Chrismas, one of my litter sisters met with a very tragic accident, and she is no longer here with us. Mummy cried for hours, as did a number of other people. I might write about it in my next blog post when I have had a little time to recover from the shock of what happened. Indeed a very very sad end to 2010.

I hope 2011 brings good luck and good times for all.

Lots of love,
Daisymae
x x x

2010-11-19T12:08:00.000-08:00

Ra ra ra. Ra ra ra. Ra ra ra!

I haven't posted for a while. Something really terrible happened to me one Sunday a few weeks ago. I had been out playing with my friends and having a great time and then Mummy said it was time to go home. As I got near to home, I stopped and dropped my ball. I looked up at mummy and said "my tummy doesn't feel right". Mummy looked down at me and as she did, I noticed a real look of horror going across her face. "Oh Daisy", she said. "I think you look a bit bloated, I am really going to have to keep an eye on you". A cold feeling went all the way through her at that moment.

After I'd had a bit of a rest, I was very very hungry and ate all of my dinner in a fraction of the time it would normally take. I then went outside and started pulling up lots of grass. Mummy became even more afraid than she had been earlier, and started to watch me continually.

I then tried to settle myself down, but couldn't, so I kept on pacing up and down. I tried again to lie down and went into the 'sphinx position' instead of relaxing. With that, poor mummy turned a whiter shade of pale, and started shaking. "Oooooh noooo Daisy" she quivered "Pppleeeease don't do this". For a while more, I paced up and down, tried settling again, but I just couldn't. Everytime I tried, it hurt and hurt even more.

When I started getting up and down, and then spinning round, and taking in a lot of fluid, mummy decided enough was enough and I was rushed off to Vets Now, the emergency service. When I got there, the nurse came out and said that I looked ok, and for mummy to take me back home and observe me. She was sure I was not bloating.

Mummy took me home, but when I got back home, I was worse than ever, so mummy called the Vets Now people again and took me straight back. This time I saw Michelle the vet. Michelle said that large deep chested dogs can be bloated, because we can hide the swelling away under our deep girths. She took me away from mummy and put me under a machine which had radiation arrows on it. After about 10 years (well, that's what it seemed like), she brought me back out and gave mummy a huge smile. She said there was absolutely no sign of gas in my stomach at all, and nothing sharp, or sinister looking there either. Because I was still very unsettled and in a lot of pain, she took me away from mummy again, and said that I had to stay there over night, because I was slightly de-hydrated. As soon as Michelle said "de-hydrated" mummy knew I would not be going home with her that evening.

Mummy left me and was very sad. She was sad all night long.

I slept like a log all night long. They gave me some medicine to help my tummy, and to ease the pain, so I stayed very quiet and - well , just slept. They woke me up a few times, and prodded me, and made a fuss of me, which I really liked... well, I liked the fussing bit, but not so sure about the prodding!!!!!

Mummy called first things in the morning to see how I was, but they said I was still very quiet, and still sore, so they would be keeping me there until at least mid afternoon. Once more mummy was very sad that I wouldn't be coming back home that morning.

Tally and Barkley were very worried, because one day Lotte left the house in a panic and never returned, and then Nalle left in a similar way.

Mid afternoon, mummy called again to see how I was, and was pleased to hear that I was much better and she could come and collect me. I was so happy when she arrived and gave her a big tail wag and showed her all my lovely white teeth in a big broad smile, which reminded her of what Nalle used to do.

Mummy and Auntie Tracy took me out into the orchard so that I could potter around with my playmates. Alfie, Mia and Finlay.

I did potter around a bit, but mummy noted that I was extremely quiet. Abnormally quiet as it happened. I then went and had a poo. Auntie Tracy said "she seems to be struggling a bit over there". Mummy agreed, and came over to clean up what I passed out.

It was as she was putting the poo into the bag that she noticed something very narrow which had some sharp pieces sticking out. Mummy couldn't make out what it was, but she almost went into a state of shock when she realized that it could have potentially caused me major problems, maybe even tearing my tummy to pieces. Mummy took the bag home, and managed to pull something out. It was like pieces of sharp wire!!!

Mummy explained this to Steve, our usual vet, so he checked the xrays but couldn't see anything there which explained the problem.

Whatever it was, mummy said "better out than in", but she was so upset about it that she couldn't face going to the puppy classes that evening and postponed them until the following week! Thankfully, the puppy mummy's and daddies were very understanding.

That night I slept like a log. So glad to be safely back home, and so relieved that all the pain had at long last all disappeared.

The following morning mummy was delighted to see that my horns had grown back.

and I was able to get out again, and have a run around and a nose at the world as it passed me by.

Mummy thought that we would probably never know what it was that I had eaten, but
the day before yesterday, a lady from the community services came to check the bed alarm which mummy has in case she looses consciousness and cannot get up to take her medication. The lady looked at mummy and said "did you know the bed sensor is broken? the wires are sticking out!" Mummy hadn't noticed, and was quite surprised. However, she certainly remembered what had come out in my poo!!!!!

Mummy says that I am a very lucky girl, because yesterday was my first birthday and that I had actually made it here! You can see pictures of me taken this time last year in my blog archives, but here are some pictures of me taken to celebrate my birthday:

Hopefully I wont give mummy so many frights in the years to come!

Happy birthday DaisyMae and your Courtdown sisters and brothers.
from us :

Barkley x x

and

Tallulah x x x

You are invited to join the celebrations of my birthday, and that of my pal Princess Pebbles (West Highland White). It is to be held at Blackjacks paddock, which sits to the side of The City Discovery Centre, Alston Drive, Bradwell Abbey, MK13 9AP. There will be fun, games and prizes, and we hope to raise money for Irish Setter Rescue and Westie Rescue. If there is snow, then please arrive on your ski's. We have 3 huskies who will be there and ready to assist us if their services are required.

Love, DaisyMae
x

Being a Setter (with horns)

2010-09-08T15:05:00.000-07:00

Arrrrrr arrrrrrrr roooof roooof roll roll roll roooof

Well, I have been having a great time. Doing this. Doing that. Doing things to make mummy's hair stand on end and sometimes it all curls up!!!!! She doesn't need Jo the hairdresser to come and help her with her hair. Daisy do it! I do her hair very well. She looks SOOOOOOOOOO funny when her hair is standing on end!!!! HA HA HAHAHA.

Mummy has been teaching me some puppy agility, by putting me over very low poles, which are barely off the ground. She has also been teaching me to go through the tunnels, and just recently, she has lead me across a lowered dog walk, and shown me how to touch the target at the opposite end. I have mastered that very well indeed, and mummy is extremely pleased with me. I have always had the nick name "the mountain goat" but one morning I wondered what it would be like to climb on top of my cloth cage, so up I went, and it was actually very nice and quite cosy to lie on.

Mummy was busy talking to the phone (as she often does) and as she was chopsing away, she was looking out of the window at the nice view. When I had become bored of snoozing and listening to her talking to that thing, I thought it would be a good idea to take a look at the view myself, so I stood on top of my cage, and climbed up onto the window ledge. It was a bit narrower than the dog walk on the agility course, and the surface had no grip, but that didn't matter! I would just balance my way along. Well, the view was really nice, and I noticed the window was open. Perhaps I could climb out and leap down into the garden? Just as I was half way across, mummy appeared at the side of me with her mouth wide open and her hair standing on end. Hahahahaha it was soooo funny, and I couldn't stop laughing as she lifted me down and placed me on the floor. It was that funny that I immediately leapt back up on top of the cage and back onto the window ledge. Hahahahaha!!!!

We then went to Wales to the wedding of Barkley and Grace. I was quite jelous of Barkley getting married to that Grace girl, so I wore my best girlie perfume, as well my best head piece. I really flirted with the boys who attended the wedding, epecially Finlay the border collie, but he was a little bit too young at the time to understand what I was telling him!

Just look how beautiful I was at the wedding, all dressed up, and smelling like a real grown up lady.

Despite the fact that I was jelous, I had a great time, and when mummy was packing everything away, ready for the journey back home, she left me in the caravan with the top part of the door open. Not wanting to be left out of all the preparation, I decided that mummy and Auntie Tracy needed my help, so I leapt over the top of the caravan door, and down onto the concrete below. Mummy and Aunty Tracy cried out in horror. I then noticed mummy's hair had suddenly gone all curly!!!! For some reason, it was difficult to to walk on my front legs for a while after that. They really did hurt for several days after. I had to have some anti-inflammatory tablets and about a week of doing ..... well not a lot really, it was really boring!

How I wish we could have stayed in Wales and not packed everything away to come back home. Perhaps Barkley and Grace could get married again?

Once I was back up on all fours and running about, I was very happy. Very very happy. One morning I was so happy that mummy had mentioned the "w" word. Did she mean it? Was I going for a "w" ????? yes, it looked like she was getting ready to go. I was soooooooo excited, I decided to race mummy down the stairs. I went so fast that my feet never touched the stairs. This time I noticed mummy's hair go all spikey, then it curled up, and then went all spikey again, just as I ground to a halt with my head just pressing up against the wall at the bottom of the stairs.......

Mummy thought that I was going to crash head first into the wall. Once more, I got up and found myself limping because my shoulders hurt, but fortunately not for long this time.

Mummy said that my horns had grown far too long and she had some very strong words for me to take on board, but what do I care? I am Daisy. Out on the walk I stopped in front of the cattle grid and then decided to leap over the top of it. This time mummy's hair had spikes, stood on end, curled up all at the same time. I also noticed the blood had drained out of her. "Oh Daisy, what are you going to do next?" she howled. I didn't make it across the grid. I went splot right down into the middle of it! That did frighten me, and I ran off towards home, with mummy in hot persuit. It really did make me think about things though.

I have been a very good girl since. In fact I have passed my Kennel Club Good Citizen Award at Silver level and have completed all my training ready to take the gold award very soon.

I have promised that now I have grown up, I will start to behave more like a grown up. I have been on my best behaviour these past couple of weeks, I really have. Butter doesn't melt in my mouth...... no - not at all.

I am very good really.

Anyway, its getting very late, and despite Barkley being married to Grace, he still allows me to curl up with him.

2010-07-03T00:31:00.000-07:00

Arrrrrrr arrrrrrr

My goodness, what has happened to the world? In my last blog I said things had become lovely and warm, but this is just sooooo HOT. I don't know what to do, or where to put myself. Mummy has been very good and has taken us out either very early in the morning, or later on in the evening, saying the best place for us to be during the hottest part of the day, is at home - in the shade. I was therefore quite shocked and amazed to discover that some people think it is great to run us dogs around agility rings during the mid-day to mid afternoon sun, when the shade temperatures have reached 25C or more. Humans may really love the heat, but at least you are able to peel your cloths off. Our clothes are stuck to us, and as much as we try to cast them off, we can't and still some of us are asked to perform for their humans. Some dogs will because they are quite robotic and only do what they have been trained to do, but others have far more intelligence, and realise that the best thing to do on a hot day is this:

and this:

and this:

Oh what great fun, and what else could be better for us with heavy coats, on a very hot day, than this?

Phew that's sooooo much better, but Barkley warns me to be careful. He says there are snarks in the water who bite your toes whilst you are swimming along. He tells me that a snark bit his toes in the river last year. I don't know what snarks are, but they must be really horrible, because he sometimes dreams of them, I know that because I can hear him squeaking in his sleep, and I also see his legs kicking. Oooh, I think I ought to be a bit careful.

I am now fully recovered from my operation, and my tummy feels an awful lot better. I no longer have a large button poking out. Mummy says that she can still feel some of the internal stitches around the area which was operated on, but they are disolving away now. She says some of them can take a while before they are completely gone.

I am growing very fast too, and can now almost look Tallulah straight in the eye. Some people think I am going to be taller than her, but mum thinks I am not going to be quite so tall. Whilst I am having growth spurts and the fact that my jaws are changing, means that I need to chew lots. There are plenty of things available to chew on which mummy doesn't like, such as the garden fence and my brand new grooming brush. When I do this, she exchanges them for things I should be chewing on, such as lovely raw bones. She also doesn't leave me unsupervised for very long whilst she is at home with me. However, there are times when I try to trick her. I go very quiet, and she assumes I am asleep out in the sunshine and being really good.....

But really, I am gnawing away on something, hoping that she won't notice. Then all of a sudden I hear her voice "Oh DAISY - you naughty girl". Ooooh, she nearly always spoils the fun.... but hey, I then get sometime really nice to get my teeth around, so perhaps she isn't so bad after all.

I am still very much learning about the world, and a couple of things recently have been quite shocking. A few weeks ago, when the weather turned warm, this thing... this weird thing appeared in the bedroom. It had a BIG face on it and it said "ffffffffffffffffffffffff". Oh my goodness it was soooo scary. After a while, mummy realised that I was avoiding the bedroom as though it was full of aliens who were out to get me. She also realised that the "ffffffffffff" was the cause of my avoidance. I was lead back into the room, whilst the thing was turned off. That was ok, but then it was put back on, with me at the opposite end of the room! I tried to run but mum calmly put me back to to where I was, and sat near me. Huh, did she really think that would help? Noooooo. Somehow though, it managed to hypnotize me, so I lay there staring at it in a trance whilst it made me drool!!!

I then discovered another one had appeared next to my food area. It didn't say "fffffffffffff" but sat there watching me, so eventually I gobbled up my dinner before it could pounce on me. Over a couple of days the thing just sat there, saying nothing, but one day it was "fffffff- ing" AND fairly close to my dinner bowl, so I eventually had to pluck up the courage to go and eat my dinner. As I did, I realised the "fffffffffffffffff" was actually doing something rather nice to me. It cooled me down and made me feel so much better. After that I wasn't scared of it anymore, and in the early hours of the following morning, mummy laughed because she discovered me upside down with my legs in the air, with the "fffffffffffff" thing fuffing all over me.

Somedays I wish the fuffing thing would come outside into the garden.

With regards to scary things, mum spent a great deal of time trying to help me understand the world. She took me out and about to meet lots of people of different shapes, sizes and colours, in lots of different situations. I have also met hundreds of different dogs of varying shapes, sizes and colours too. However, as I am growing, some of the people seem to look very different, and I can see right into some of their eyes.

Yesterday I got a HUGE shock. Vanessa, who delivers the organic box to mum, always makes a big fuss of me, and gives me some lovely treats. As she was talking to mum and fussing me, a little girl came running up the path towards me. I hadn't seen her for quite a long time. All of a sudden she was there standing right in front of me. I leapt right back inside the house and growled at her to stay away from me. I also wet myself because she was very very scary. The little girl was really shocked that I didn't want her near me anymore. When I met her before, she was right up there towering over me, but now she had suddenly shrunk down to almost my size. Mum had to think very fast as to how to get me out of my terrified state. I then heard her say to Vanessa and the little girl's daddy "I know, I'll get Tally out". Well, Tally came out of the door, trotted up to the little girl and was very happy, smiling and made a big fuss of her. Well, that made things an awful lot easier for me to understand. I then came out of the door and said hello to the girl, wagged my tail and smiled, just like Tally did. Everything was made so much better. Then a little boy appeared, and he was great too. I invited them to play with me because they were so funny. I spent the remainder of the afternoon out in the garden with them, whilst mummy watched over us, and I really enjoyed them fussing, playing and feeding me. Mummy soon intervened though if the little people became too excited around me.

Yes, the world is changing. It gets hotter. Some people, dogs and objects are suddenly becoming much smaller than they used to be, so you have to be a bit more careful and sensible.

But some things remain the same..... a good run, swim, play and a rest. Yes, I am having fun, and on the whole, mum says I am a very very good girl, and she loves having me very much.

My 6 months birthday surprise

2010-05-21T12:06:00.000-07:00

Rer rer!!!

Well, things have really been looking up. The weather has turned really nice, and everything has become warm and cosy outside as well as inside the home. The door is open all the time so that I can take my pick as to whether I would like to be in the house, or outside the house, enjoying the sunshine. There have been cold and grey days, but I must admit the sunshine is just so nice. I wonder why it has suddenly changed from freezing cold to this? Very strange I think. I know which I prefer though. I wonder if this will be the way things are forever from now on? Oh I do hope so.

As well as outside becoming very warm. The rivers and ponds are really very nice now. They are lovely places to cool myself off after I have been running around. I have also learned how to take my feet off the bottom of the pond and float away after my kong toy. This is such great fun, and I always beat Tallullah to get to the kong first. Mummy is so proud when I fetch it back to her.

Here is a picture of me taking my first journey in the pond with my feet off the bottom. Mummy told me I was "swimming".

As well as swimming, I like to pretend that I am a mountain goat. I love to climb things and go as high up as I possibly can. I have seen all the other doggies running across some plank things which look like a bridge. I heard mummy telling the others that they were good for doing this, so when nobody was looking, I took myself across. Mummy looked up, and her face dropped. She came running over so fast that I thought she was going to give me some extra special treats for being so good. Instead she seemed quite worried and helped me to get back down. As I was only then 5 1/2 months old, she had to explain to me that I am far too young to play such games and that I must wait until I am older for my own safety. I therefore decided this would be a much safer option. This is me on the canal bridge:

You see, this thing has railings, so surely mummy couldn't worry about me climbing up here? after all, the ledge is about as wide as the planks the other dogs run across. Oh I do have such great fun when I am out and about and I often see mummy's hair standing on end. She looks soooo funny when that happens.

There are so many adventures for me it seems. Almost every day brings some new adventure. One such day we went off to an agility show, and for the first time ever, I saw the rings.

What an amazing sight it was too. Dogs rushing round and around. So this is what it is all about when the doggies come to our school. My goodness, I am being blown away by it all. You know, I can't wait until I am old enough so that I can join in the fun too. This was one adventure I truly would love to experience again, and get my paws well and truly stuck into.

The next big adventure was a very strange one indeed.

We got up very early one morning this week, so I assumed we were going to another agility show. However, we arrived here.

It smelt very scary, but there were lots of people for me to say hello to, and smile at. There were other doggies there too, and a kitty. There was also a tiny little green monster thing in a little glass box which went in ahead of me.

A lady then came out and called "Daisy Griffin please". So I went in through the green door.

The lady asked mummy lots of questions, and then made a fuss of me. She asked if I could roll over and look at my tummy. I liked that, because she would tickle me. She did, but she also had a good look at the thing which stuck out of my tummy. Mummy had become quite worried about the sticky outie thing, and I had heard her telling people that it wasn't getting any smaller, and if anything it was getting bigger. After a lot of thought (stress) and discussions with quite a few people, I heard her say that she thought I was old enough and strong enough that it would have to be dealt with before it became a major problem.

The sticky out thing is called "an hernia" (I think). Many puppies have them, but mine was big, and stuck out like a huge button.

Mummy gave me a big cuddle and some very big kisses and said "you come back to me safely little one and I will see you later". She seemed to be very worried. Off I went with the lady who tickled my tummy and poked at the button, looking to see where this particular adventure was taking me.

The next thing I remember is seeing mmmmmmeeeeeerrrmie fadddin in an out an me smiiiiilin an feeeeeeeelin oooohand arrrrrrr. "heerrroo avrywun".

Mummy was floating and looking very happy. She took me home and put a tee shirt on me, to stop that Barkley Blog Dog finggg frmmmm lickin at me with his big slobbuberrrrry loooooooong tnge.

Then i dddidd seee mummmeee llawkin at me wibb a fing powntin at me. Owwwww wereee mmmm I. Wozs goi orn?

A bit later she took me ouside into the warm shungshun and put me on my favrit bed...

errrwwww

a bit later on came the funn i din dina

I ammm shhhur it had shluggs in it.

I did cry in the night and mummy said she felt very guilty for putting me through all this but it had to be done. The next morning I woke up, and mummy was delighted to see that my horns had re-appeared and as far as I was concerned - it was business as usual. As far as mummy was concerned - it was anything but!!!!

I heard her telling people that she'd had a fright when the phone rang and the word "vet" appeared on the phone display when I was fast asleep in that strange smelly place. The Graham vet quickly explained that there was no bad news, but the hernia was very large indeed. In fact much larger than he had expected. It was sooooo large that it went almost all the way down to my ovaries he explained to mummy. She was quite shocked to hear this, but the main thing was that I was alright, and I would soon be on my way back home.

Because the hernia was big, I have lots of stitches and a bigger incision than there would normally have been. Mummy insists that I must take it very easy for a few days. Normally I wouldn't agree, but the past couple of days have been quite warm, and today has actually been huh huh huh hot! So I haven't wanted to do an awful lot.

Some better news now. Yesterday was my daddy dog Jem's 2nd birthday. They had a party at his house and friends and relations were invited. Because I was unable to attend (and because she felt sorry for me this week) mummy bought a cake for me. A lovely gluten free ginger cake. I couldn't wait to take it out of her hand and made a grab for it before she could change her mind and eat it herself.

Yummy yum. Happy birthday Jem daddy. I love you x x x

Daisy Daisy Give Me Your Answer Do

2010-04-18T13:09:00.001-07:00

Rer rer rer!!!!!

Hello. Well, it's all been happening here. I am now 5 months old, and I am growing so fast that each day I have to stop and check where all my feet are, and where my teeth are (or aren't). I might only have few teeth but that doesn't stop me from eating HAHAHAHA, I LOVE my food, even if I have to swallow it whole, it still gets down inside me. Mmmmm

The weather has changed too. I thought the world was cold. Either there was snow, cold winds, cold wet rain, or just grey, damp and very boring. Even mum became grey, damp and very boring. She hardly wanted to go out of the house, but all of a sudden things became very bright, sunny and warm. Oh, I am enjoying the weather and so is Barkley. Yesterday we spent the afternoon lazing around the garden and it was really nice after our walk to come home just to relax and chill for a while. It has been a very busy week you see.

I am not the greatest traveller when it comes to going anywhere, because like Tallulah when she was my age, I become very sick. Either that, or I drool and soak all the blankets which are put across the seats and I also manage to put a huge drooly puddle on the floor. Mum was advised by Sue (the lady who bred me) to give me a Stugeron tablet before a journey, so one day last week mum woke me up VERY early one morning - well before the crack of noon and offered me one. I ate it (if anything is edible then I eat it). A bit later on, everything was packed and off we went.

The journey twisted and turned, went up and down hills, round corners on two wheels, down one lane, and then back up the same lane again but in the opposite direction, and then we arrived ..... no sick, a bit of drool yes, but nothing like I had been drooling out on previous occasions, and what a wonderful place it was we had arrived at.

There were so many people and so many dogs. When you looked to the left there were people and dogs, and when you looked to the right there were people and dogs. When you looked straight ahead and also behind, there were more people and more dogs. Mum said we were at the Spring at Shuttlewoof agility show.

It was so exciting. At last I had arrived in heaven. As well as all the people and dogs to play with there were nice walks to be had too. Here I am running along with Tallulah, Barkley (in red), Alfie and Mia (in white) and Aunt Tracy.

I was like a dog with two tails. That's not to say there weren't some boring times over the weekend.

See - we were bored.

This was because when Tallulah, Barkley, Alfie and Mia weren't competing in the ring, there were long periods where there was nothing to do, but there were still lots of people and other dogs walking by to watch, and by then the sun was shining brightly and that's when I experienced being warm for the first time. It was lovely, just lovely.

The following day was different..... it went back to the usual cold, grey, windy and boring. The sun did come out a bit, but it was still very cold, and all the humans were dressed in their winter clothes again. This time instead of watching the world go by, we spent a lot of time inside the car fast asleep. It really was boring for me, especially when one by one, all the other dogs went missing, and then came back grinning from ear to ear and panting. They had obviously been out there having fun. Aunt Tracy cheered me up though when she re-appeared with some yummy treats in her pocket.

Arrrr, food. Now that brings a BIG smile to my face.

The other bit of news is that I have changed. I am no longer Dottie. I am now Daisy. I told mum that I was very unhappy with her calling me "Dottie come" huh! I am NOT a Dottie. I am a very pretty girl and I wanted a prettier, more cheerful and flowery name to match my looks and my personality. When mum said "Daisy" I looked up, smiled and said "arrrra, that's better" I like being Daisy, even if I do get called "crazy Daisy", or "Daisy Daisy give me your answer do". Diasy Mae.... now that's me.

This was Aunt Tracy's Mia first thing yesterday morning. Mia is my bestest friend outside of my immediate family, mum says that I sometimes become "Hazy Daisy" when I am with Mia because I become so absorbed in the fun we have together. Anyway, yesterday Mia thought she had better hide behind me "pssst, Daisy" she said "Daisy, you had better hide me away. Mum is going to collect a new puppy. I thought you were the nearest thing Alfie and I were going to get to a new puppy. I think you are ok, but what is this "Fin" fing mum has been on about all week, and is on her way to collect? "Fin", it appears that "Fin" is a Border Collie. Now, is he going to fit in with our little pack? Will Alfie and Mia like him? Will I like him? Will he become a playmate for me to chase, or will he chase me?

We will have to wait and see what "Fin" is......... next time.

Oh, something else. Today we met Marley, of the Marleygrams. He is one very cool dog. I hope you enjoy reading his posts. I do.

Luv Daisy Mae x x x x

Running and Playing

2010-03-18T13:28:00.000-07:00

Rarara!!

Wow what a life I have found myself living in. I was so unhappy when I left behind my mum, dad and all my other relatives down there in beautiful Devon. I really thought life was never going to be the same again. Everything was so scary and shaky.... but not now. I run, I play, I have Tally and Barkley to grab, chase, steal toys from. I even have lots and lots and lots of doggy friends to play with on a regular basis, many of whom I meet at the puppy classes. Add to that, I have made some really truly scrummy good mates who all come running up to me in the park and give me a really nice greeting. I feel that I am a really lucky girl to have so many friends and so many things to see, do and learn.

Just recently, the newswires were buzzing furiously, which resulted in mum receiving a call from a lady by the name of Judy who is a member of the Irish Red and White Setter Breeders Club. Mum hadn't seen Judy for about 5 years and had lost contact, so it was really nice for them to meet up again. The Judy lady said I am a lovely puppy and she gave me lots and lots of hugs and cuddles. She loves Setters very much, especially us who have white and red coats... we are FAR superior to those who have the red coats you know ......... !!!!!

Na na! HUH!

I really do enjoy my training with mummy. She makes it fun. I gets lots of rewards which can be food (which I really really like - ooooh I really do love my food) or it can be a throw of the ball, which I chase and then take back to mum so that she can throw it out again. I can now understand many human words and I just love it when I get things right. Many people (mum included) are amazed at how quickly I am learning to be a good girl. When the next Good Citizen bronze award comes around, I am going to take it, and I will pass. I will then very quickly go for my silver and then gold awards. I can now do all the exercises, for all the levels, and I can even do them with distractions. Mum wonders how I have managed to take all this on board and she says that she finds it a bit spooky..... well have I got news for her..... I am growing up, and it wont be long until I decide that there are other things out there which are more important than being mummy's girl.

This is me practising my down stay, but of course I am posing for the camera, because I don't want that Barkley dog to get all the photoshoots in future. I want to be the one with my face on advertisements and in magazines such as "The Lady". After all, I AM a lady... which is more than can be said for Barkley!!!!

The picture above was taken in the place they call "the paddock". It is the best place ever. It's soooo exciting. It's where dogs and their humans go to play a really crazy game. The dogs run up and down, round and around, leaping over things whilst their owners shriek words such as "GWARN".

As they go around doing these crazy things, I like to stand and yell at everyone. Not because I am cheering them on, but because I get jealous. But then me - Dottie gets her turn, and I love it. See:

That's me - I having my turn, and then I am really happy, and want to go home and have a nice rest and some lovely dinner.

I am growing so rapidly now that mum says my legs look like spiders legs. I am also loosing my little teeth and growing bigger, stronger ones. Because I love my food so much I started to grow outwards rather than upwards, and then developed a waddle. Mum looked at me and called me "Fatima Round Pup" !!!!! How DARE she...... since then I get less food and mum says that I am now starting to look fit enough to become a cover girl.

Barkley is in love with a young lady by the name of Grace. They are planning to get married very soon. Evidently she likes food too, so she WONT be coming to live with us after they are married. They will have to elope and set up home elsewhere!!!

This little piggy went to market

2010-02-05T10:47:00.000-08:00

Rap rap rappity rap. My bark is starting to change as I get older. I am getting older you know. Older by the day. I have been doing quite a lot and been to soooooo many new places.

Two weeks ago today, I went to a place called Lambington Spa. I think that's what they called it? It wasn't a long way from home.

Aunt Tracy went to look for a new puppy for herself. She asked mum if she would go and look at the pup with her to give her opinion, but unfortunately, this was not the right one for Aunt Tracy so we came back without the puppy. I upset Alfie and Mia (aunt Tracy's little white dogs), when I threw up right next to them just before we reached our destination. Alfie complained that I had made the car smell and almost jumped on top of mums head to get away from me. He didn't want to sit next to me on the way home and neither did Mia. They have been a bit wary about me going in their car since.

Mum says that I will get better in time, so now we do very short journeys which have nice things at the end of them, such as the puppy classes. I just love going along there and have made some nice friends to play with. In particular, Honey the little red Cocker Spaniel. She is great fun and lives very close to our home too.

Last Saturday something very exciting happened. Aunt Tracy came into our house and collected me from my cage. She put me in her car, then off we went on an extremely short ride and ended up in an enclosure where dogs were doing the most amazing things. They were leaping across some odd shaped items, and going across a thing which went up into the air. I saw this dark hole which looked very scary. Mum said it was called a "tunnel" and that I would have to get used to it.

Well, it didn't take me very long. I saw Alfie and Mia disappearing inside, so I just had to go in and have a nose around. With that, Alfie shot past me and went scuttling out the other end. Wow, and so did Mia. That was it. I went in after them and what great fun we had. After that, mum and her friends had trouble getting me to come out of it. Oh I was so happy, and it was lovely to go home covered from nose to tail in the thickest mud you could ever imagine.

During the week, I went to see the canal, which is very close to our home. I heard a boat chugging along, and I really didn't like the sound of that!!! I wanted to run back home, but mum wouldn't let me. The next day she took me back there with Tally and Barkley. They weren't scared of those things , so I guess there is nothing to be scared of down there after all. If Tally and Barkley say its ok, then it is!!!

However, if they say something is not ok, then it can't be.... but oh my goodness, what do you do when one says it is, but the other says it isn't????

Take for example, the noisey thing which lives in our house. What is that all about? Mum chases us with it every so often, but Barkley stands in front of it demanding that mum puts the long tube (with the brush on the end) across his coat! "It's WONDERFUL - you try it - perhaps you might disappear up it" he says.

Errrm, I think I might stick with Tally on this one!!!!

Here I am with my toy box.

Here I am with a new box which arrived yesterday. I met the man who brought it to our house. Mum said there will be more boxes arriving. I like that, because the man made a big fuss of me, so now I look forward to him coming again soon with more boxes.

Yesterday was very exciting. Mum took me to "market". Wow, what a lovely place "market" is. Lots of people to fuss me, lots of things to see and sniff, and I even managed to see another puppy who looked just like me in a window. Oh I do wish there had been time for her and I to play together, but then mum said that we had to go home!

Finally, this evening, whilst I was waiting for my photos to upload, mum took me outside to see the dark street and the cars and their huge eyes. Mum thought I might be scared, like I was of the boat, but nah, after going to "market" yesterday, everything is old hat, and like I said. I am now getting old and quite grown up - see!

Mum says it is always good to take puppies out in the dark, so that they can see the huge eyes, because many are frightened of them, and a lot of people don't take their puppies out and about enough to experience such things, and then they grow up into very fearful dogs. That's why she has been taking me out for a few minutes each day, into new situations, so that I grow up into a good and very steady girl. She says that eventually, I will be experiencing agility shows.... I wonder what she means by that?

Anyway.... there is one more little thing.... Barkley ..... his blog isn't only BORING - he tells lies.... click on the underlined please: here is the video he doesn't want you to see!!!

HE LOVES ME REALLY!!!! YES!!!!!!!

2010-01-20T09:52:00.000-08:00

Yap yap yappity yap. That's me. I am Dottie and I am very naughty. I am very clever and can work things out very quickly. So having already figured out how to put my paws to the keyboard - here I am !

The story starts with these two:

My mum and dad, Dawn and Gem

They live in Devon with their family. They decided to get married and have puppies, and here's the result:

We are grrrrowing very fast and here we all are being very good at meal times.

My sisters (and a couple of brothers) had a really good time running around our home, and getting into all kinds of mischief. It was such great fun.

But all of a sudden, my brothers and sisters all started disappearing, and then these two arrived:

and I found myself being carted off with them....

to their house, and that's where I now find myself.

Awww it is soooooo strange. It is very very scary. I have been shaking from head to tail.

I arrived here on Sunday to start the shaking. I did cry lots in the dark night, and I did cry lots on Monday.

The new "mum" did take me to the needle place on Monday and I didn't like that at all. I hope I don't have to go there again. The lady with the needle offered me a treat, and I told her where she could put it. No thank you. I only do REAL food!!! Who does she think I am?

During the evening mum took me to a strange place with lots of other puppies, and after I spent some time shaking. I decided I liked it there, but then we came back home. Oh dear. Once again, I did cry in the night.

On Chewsday, I did go back to that place again, and I did have a whale of a time with the new puppies whom I met there.

The human mum did take some pictures of me, and I did stick my face into the thing that flashed because I wondered what it was:

Hehehehe. It is funny and I did like it.

After I came home from the place with the puppies. I went straight into my bed. It is very nice and very cosy.

The "mum" explained that some people think these bed things are cruel. Cruel???? why???? They are really lovely. I like my bed.

Then I woke up again and it was "today"........ I did have lessons with the "mum". She was worried because I wouldn't do anything for a food treat. Huh???? what when I get good meals like I get here? Why should I want to do anything for a food treat? So she had to put on her tinking cap, and then got out a kong toy on a rope, and I can now do "sit", and I do "sit" wherever I am when I hear the word, and I have also learned what "down" means, without mum putting a hand anywhere near the floor. The second I get it right, she clicks a thing with her hand, and then the toy comes out and we have a really wonderful play. I think I am going to enjoy living here.

This afternoon, Tallulah and Barkley had a raw chicken carcuss for dinner. I stole the carcuss right out of Tallulah's mouth and ran off with it. Mmmmmmm. It certainly is cool living here.

She - the new "mum" says she is going to video my training and put it on youtube whatever the youtube thing is. I haven't seen it. I suppose she will show me when it is all ready to be seen.

Please come back and see me again.... don't bother with Barkley's Blog. That's boring!!!

Thank you. Miss Dottie.