I’m in BIG trouble …

Sorry to all my friends for not posting on time. You see, I’ve been having a lot of fun over the bank holiday weekend. Too much fun I’m told. With fun, comes BIG trouble. I’ve been told I am officially in the ‘dog house’. I don’t even have a house of my own! It’s not fair ! The humans have a house. The rabbits have a palace and I get a kitchen floor. Dog house! I’d be lucky.

There’s been some garden activity that I couldn’t help wasn’t involved in AT ALL. ‘SOMEONE’ has completely ruined the vegetable patch. In one go. They dug around all the roots of the plants and now the rabbits food is all gone. I think it was the foxes. I definitely had NOTHING to do with it.

My human is not impressed, then, the next thing you know, she heard a noise outside that sounded like ‘someone’ emptying a plant pot. She came running out, thinking that she was catching the culprit … of course, I had got there first, chased the culprit off and my human got outside only to see me coming over to her to tell her it’s all ok now.

You’d think that was enough mischief for one weekend wouldn’t you. But as my friends have pointed out before, it takes no time to dig holes chase foxes away from digging holes in the garden. So I came up with some more mischief …

On the Bank Holiday Monday, I got a drive with the girl one. She said she was taking me out for a special day with some friends of ours. The car boot opened and that smell hit me again.

ALFIE BOY!! We were in Alfie’s world!!! The best big brother a girl can have.

We normally go by train but decided to drive this time. My human had parked at the other end of the road than usual, so she was a bit unsure at first … Alfie had left plenty of pees around, so I could lead the way straight to his front door. We had our hello’s, then decided to play the bitey face game. It’s really fun. You both open your mouth as wide as you can, lay on the floor together and bash faces and teeth. You HAVE to make noise when you do it and you HAVE to wriggle about. If you’re a puppy, you HAVE to climb on top of big Alfie’s too!

I suddenly remembered I was supposed to be being naughty, so I got up quickly and peed on Alfie’s rug. The same one as last time. (yay! Victory Pee! The rug is MINE now) .. All in all, when I was there, I managed to pee on three different rugs. One of them was furry and didn’t go in the washing machine. My human was very embarrassed because she has told everyone that I’m house trained now. I just wanted to show Alfie and his human that she was lying. I think I did well. Alfie didn’t tell me off, or try to claim the rug afterwards, so I’m pretty sure he didn’t mind. I’m not sure why I was carried into the garden upside down though. Everyone knows you can’t pee upside down!

Enough mischief?

NO WAY!! An extra day means extra mischief.

Off we go, out for a walk. Alfie took me to his Wimbledon Common and showed me around a different part. This bit didn’t have a lake, so I knew they weren’t going to make me try and swim this time. I could just run around having fun. We were playing a great game of chase … there was a river, and a dog and some STEEP concrete slippery river banks. There was a dog running around in the water and Alfie shouted ”Bella, look, down there … come play” and ran down the slope to say hi to the other dog. Cooool. Another dog. I followed.

It was only when I got to the bottom that I realised there was a little tiny problem, which some of you may have read in my last few posts …

 

I.

CAN’T.

SWIM.

I was stuck. UH OH. I tried to scramble up but it was really slippy. I tried to call my human but she just called me back.

Nothing was working. My human ran along the river a little bit and called me but I was too scared to go through the water and there were some people above me calling too. They were much closer to me so I decided to stay where I was.  I started to panic. I tried calling my human, I tried calling Alfie, I tried EVERYTHING.

I started crying really loudly (Alfie was laughing, saying stop being a BIG GIRL and J-U-M-P). Then finally, someone showed me that they love me … Alfie’s human.

There she was, in the water, with her shoes on walking towards me. She reached out her arms and I jumped into them. I knew I was safe then. I’m never going to forget that.She’s going to get big puppy love next time I see her. At the time I was just so happy to be back on land that I didn’t really thank her properly. But I’m VERY GRATEFUL. I’ll even try really hard not to pee in her house next time I see her.

Enough mischief?

NO WAY.

Ok, I think this one is the one ALL the dogs will be proud of.

Time for a rabbit pupdate.

I protect them from the foxes and I herd them away from the vegetables. I’ve been doing a lot of training with them and it’s all been on lead. My human says I’m doing really well and because I don’t even pull anymore she has been thinking about giving it a go off lead.

Yesterday, I was SO TIRED from my day of play with Alfie that she thought it would be the perfect time to try it out. We got the lead on, let the rabbits out and it was all going well. She was thinking about taking off the lead because she’d put it on the floor a few times and I hadn’t even noticed.

Then something happened. There was a really fast bit of movement from the white one. Then all of a sudden, I felt really fast and awake.  I did my biggest most strongest lunge EVER and managed to pop the clip on my collar. FREEDOM!!! RAAAAAAAAAAA!!! I’m going to catch you!!!

I ran, I opened my mouth and I bit the rabbit.

Then I saw the grey one moving too … so I went and caught him. RUN RUN RUN, BITE!

Then I was caught by my human.

I had a mouthful of white fluff and grey fluff (Alfie says rabbit tastes nice but it just tasted really fluffy to me). I don’t think she was very pleased with my herding skills. She took me inside and locked the door. I heard the keys moving and EVERYTHING. Then she left me there for a long time. When she came back I sat on her feet to show her that I was sorry.

She ignored me.

She walked away, didn’t look at me and locked me in again.

I don’t know what I did wrong? I’m supposed to chase them. It’s my job. I looked it up and it’s a real herding move. It’s called heeling. If you can’t get the animal to move then you’re supposed to bite their bum or their back feet to make them move and if that doesn’t work, you’re supposed to run and bash them with your whole body. So I was doing the right thing. I think.

I just don’t understand *puppy dog eyes*.

My human said to tell you that I didn’t hurt any of the rabbits and that they’re just fine. Of course they are!  But I’m pretty sure when Alfie comes over I’ll be able to show him I’ve got so fast I can catch a rabbit.

But I’ve been told I’m never going near them. EVER AGAIN. It’s not fair. They’re my favourite toys.

 

I WANT TO SAY A SPECIAL THANK YOU TO ALFIE’S HUMAN – FOR TAKING PICTURES AND FOR SAVING MY LIFE.

Big Boys, Little Girl.

There’s a rumour going around Dog Town at the moment. The rumour is that Bella Entlebucher is a big girl … I mean, I’m not sure whether to be offended or not. There are the obvious facts; I’m a girl and I’m getting big.

If any of you know my big brother Alfie, you would have heard all about my swimming lesson last week. (You can read the full story here : Bella’s Lesson).  My human forgot that there wasn’t a card in her camera, so she couldn’t take the glamorous shots of me posing by the lake that I wanted. I was going to pretend that I swam … really far. I was going to take a picture of Alfie at a distance and pretend it was me! But instead, Alfie dropped me in it and told everyone I can’t swim and that I’m a silly girly puppy!

What is it with big brothers!

I’ve got a friend called Marvel. He’s a handsome fellow and he invited me out to meet his big brother, Vinny. Marvel’s always bragging about how big he’s going to get, it’s his favourite subject when I race round and round him. I think he’s just jealous because I’m super fast and he’s got clumsy feet. He told me Vinny is 3 months older than him and I thought that it would be fine, after all, my big brother is 1 1/2 years older than me and I’m nearly as big as him.

When I met Vinny, I suddenly understood why Marvel’s been bragging. Especially if he’s going to be THAT big in 3 months time … I’m going to have to keep up my running so I can always get away.

We were playing just fine. Then something happened. A river came along out of nowhere. Marvel just went crazy! He started running around, playing in the water and calling me in. I said No. I was happy to just stand on the river bank and bark at him. I got my paws wet, but I knew what Marvel wanted. The same as Alfie … To dunk the girl. I’m not stupid. I know that’s what boys do to girls when you play in the water. You dunk us and we don’t like getting our heads wet.

But big brothers actually love you, where as Marvel’s don’t. Alfie didn’t push me, or try and make me go in. All he did was try and show me how much fun it can be in the water and I have to admit, it did look like fun. But a lady can’t rush these things … We gently step into the water, we don’t JUMP and see who can make the biggest splash (boys!!).

Marvel wasn’t impressed. He said all I needed was a good push …

Of course, I managed to get away.

And I thought about what Alfie would say about all this. He’d tell me not to let the big dogs push me around, that’s his job.  So I thought long and hard about what to do. Then … my moment came. Marvel and I were rolling around … having a play … being nice to each other …

‘Awwwwww’ they all said.

‘Aren’t they cute together” they all said.

‘Aren’t they evenly matched at this age” they all said.

I waited for the right moment.

I layed on the floor, rolling around on my back … enticing Marvel in. I waited until Vinny was having a wee, all the humans were looking the other way …

Then I showed Marvel my scary face …. AAAAAAAARRRRRRRRGGGGGHHHHHHH!! You can’t mess with me buddy!!!

I’m not sure Marvel understood the seriousness of the situation.

I’ve now got myself a good idea. I’ve made sure that if anyone wants me to go in the water, I’m sorted. This way, I can go in the water without actually getting my feet wet.

Mischief ? Never …

It’s been a great week. The prison has been chewed up. I’m allowed to go the park, my leg isn’t hurting and I’ve taught the humans to walk me properly on the lead without pulling at my neck, so the walks are mostly forwards now. We’re not having to stop that much any more. With all the excitement and energy I’ve got, there’s been a lot of mischief. Too much to single out and talk about.

After being told that I’m not allowed to bury pigs ears in the corner of the brand new sofa that I’m not allowed on, I’ve been digging holes in the garden. Which means I’ve now got 5 1 holes for treasures like pigs ears and treats. One of them is so big I can climb right into it! My humans are trying to give me a spot in the garden that I’m allowed to dig around in, but they’re not exactly understanding the point of hiding things are they!

I’ve been barking a lot at the foxes and as I’m getting bigger and my bark is getting louder, they’re starting to understand that it’s my garden now and they’re not allowed to come in. The human next door told us that he heard me the other night when it was late, so I know if I keep practising then the whole street will be able to hear me and the foxes will really listen then!

I’ve been doing a lot of work on training the humans and they’re nearly good at taking me for a walk and I’m still going to puppy classes. This week the man took me in the class. He was doing really well walking in and out of some cones and giving me treats. I don’t think he understood that he could have given me the treats without walking anywhere, but I’ll play along. Then I saw the lady human (she usually has treats in her pocket ! ssssshhhh!) so I thought I’d sit down. I wanted to see if she has learnt that when I sit and look at her, I get a treat. Oh, this made everyone confused  (I told you humans are simple!) and the man tried to walk away while the lady tried to hide.

Hide … from a dog!!! *shakes head*

And wait … I love this one, we (dogs) have to ”learn how to play properly” … ha ha! Whoever heard of actually needing to teach a dog how to play … we know that already. Apparently there’s a fine line between play and mischief and big dogs in the park will tell you off if you don’t play properly. It’s true, and again, we know that already! We learnt how to speak dog from our mums. It’s learning to speak human that’s the hard part.

I love ALL types of playing. Yesterday I got to go and visit my big brother again. I wanted to learn how to swim you see! Alfie said he was going to just push me in and I better hope that I float! That made me a bit scared so although we went to the water, I didn’t really have a proper swim, just a teeny tiny scared one. I’m much more of a dry land girl at the moment. Thats not to say that I won’t like water in the future. … but the best type of playing is big brother play. When we got back to his place I had a play with him there instead. I think that it’s better to play in someone’s house, not in the water, don’t you ?

Here’s a little video of me playing with my big brother.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dgrsDpoQTIc&feature=youtu.be

Back to mischief

I’m 18 weeks old!! You know what that means?? It’s really important for a puppy my age … for socialising. I’m allowed a facebook page! I’ve been after one for ages, but I had to wait until I was 18 weeks old, so now I’ve got one. You can check me out here …

www.facebook.com/bella.entlebucher

Well … a girl’s gotta do something when she’s holed up indoors for OVER 2 WEEKS!  *sympathy call over*

So, I’ve been on rest for a while due to chasing the foxes too much and jumping about. My human says it’s important that I look after myself. I can’t go chasing and jumping around like that, not unless I want to spend another two weeks indoors. I can tell you that I most certainly don’t. It was enough to drive me mad.

There was one good thing I got to do. I got to go to obedience class. My human said my leg was looking better and she was happy that nobody would bother my stitches. With all the tips I got in the previous post I managed to be ”one of the good ones”. To be fair, we’re all good … I’m just an Entlebucher, so I stand out.

Here’s me training my human to ‘belly rub’

And this is me teaching the dog trainer and the rest of the class how to ‘walk on a lead’

We went to the vets (AGAIN!) on Friday, I went into the girls room, of course. I had my stitches out and was good as gold while they all had a chat about my leg and even turned the lights off to look at my special leg pictures.

They decided to wait and see what happens with my leg. I don’t think there’s anything wrong with me at all and I’m definitely, 100% ok to go out for walkies! So they decided if it’s not better in a month or so, they’ll look at other things.

We got back to the house, minus the stitches and the t-shirt and I had a run around in the garden to prove that I was ok to go for a walk. My human was watching me closely. I heard her saying  that she thought it was better I was out on a controlled walk than going crazy around the house. (THAT’S WHAT I’M TALKING ABOUT!) That they should build up the walking time and see what happens.

I was taken out. PHEW. It was such a relief just to get out of the street! I had so many lampost to sniff and I needed to see who’s been walking around lately.  We went around my world a few times that day. Not far, but every time a little longer. My human thought that perhaps I needed to ‘work it off’. I was happy because I had a play date with a pal from puppy school in the park, Marvel the Mastiff and I really wanted to go.

It was so good to go to the park, just to run around, sniff the floor, pee on the grass and be free. I didn’t even mind it when Marvel kept flattening me, it was just so good to be out again!

All in all, I can tell you what I’ve learnt in the last few weeks.

You can’t beat a Mastiff

You need to run through the flower bed when you’re chasing foxes, not jump down the stairs.

I need to practise my bark.

Never show your weaknesses (limping)

Puppy school means treats

You see, there’s a lot to learn and there’s a lot to remember. Do you think I’ve missed anything?

Alfie’s Initiation – Part 5 

There is one good thing about being made to ‘rest’ for a while … you have plenty of time to come up with plenty of mischief. You can plan it all out and you don’t even get told off that much because … ”she’s got to get rid of her energy somehow, we should expect some bad behaviour” ha ha ha ha!

Oh they’re so silly those humans. I know what I’m allowed to do and what I’m not allowed to do, but sometimes a dog just has to make a point. Or three.

A closer look at the winning points evidence