Guest Rules

This week has been a jealous week.

My ‘jealous’ look

 

I’ve had to share my human with my big brother. The rules in the house have changed all at once and it’s been really confusing. At first it was really fun. Alfie gave me his bed, his dinner, his toys and he was always playing with me.

The trouble is, Alfie’s know all the rules and he is a good boy … so he’s just shown me up ALL week. Before, if I didn’t do something, then I would get told to do it again and again until I got it right.

Like ‘Wait’ … We’ve been made to do lots of ‘down … wait’ and ‘sit … wait’ to get some nice pictures of both of us.

Bella & Alfie do a ‘Wait’

 

 

But sometimes, I just couldn’t wait long enough for her to throw the stick or the ball, and I just HAD to get it before the fastest Entlebucher in England did.

Get that stick before Alfie does!

 

There’s another thing that’s not been fair AT ALL … something that I didn’t know about my brother …  he is a little snitch!!

The other day, I was bored watching my human fussing Alfie again, so I went into the bathroom to find some fun of my own.  I found one of those brown paper tubes, you know the kind, the kind that smells good and just has to be destroyed.

Anyway, I was happy and busy, ripping it up in the bathroom when a face popped round the door and barked at me. You heard that – BARKED.

I tried to wave it in Alfie’s face, to see if he wanted to play too, but he barked at me again.

Then, do you know what my big brother did? He went and got my human, he stood infront of her, barked, then ran to the bathroom and stuck his head in again and barked.

I’m not even sure what he was saying – I think he was trying to speak human. But it worked and my human came and found out that I’d been naughty. It’s a shame, I was going to blame Alfie for it *wag wag wag*

There have been lots of things that Alfie has taught me and I’m going to use them EVERY day from now on. First, he has helped me perfect my Roo. He said that now I’m over 6 months old, enough of all this puppy yapping, quite frankly it’s ear splitting. So he took me to the garden one night for a BIG practise and he says I’m almost there *wag wag wag*.

He has also taught me how important it is to have a little dance after you go to the toilet. Alfie says he’s not ‘dancing’, he’s covering his toilet up, but he’s not very good at covering and it looks funny so I prefer to have a little dance after.

The BEST thing Alfie has taught me is Bed Bargaining.

Alfie has the MOST PAWSOME bed. It’s big, it’s fluffy, it’s soft, it smells of nice things and it’s in MY house. It’s got another bed on top AND a blanket. SO COSY.

Alfie was cool, he said I could have it if he could have the sofa. We shook paws and it was a done deal.

 

 

Alfie’s allowed the ball in the house AND he’s allowed on the new sofa!

 

One day, we were talking about the bed situation and Alfie explained that he’s only LENT it to me while he’s staying, I can’t keep it, he’s taking it home with him, so I better put a plan into action if I want a big fluffy bed or a sofa like him. He said he’d help in any way that he can because he doesn’t think my smelly puppy bed is good enough and I need to start at least trying to bend some rules.

So we made a plan.

When the moment was right, I WE  got to work on my bed. I WE ripped it, I WE chewed it, I WE unzipped it, I WE pulled out all of the inside and I WE broke it into TINY little pieces.

Then, Alfie – the best big brother in the world worked with me to convince the humans that we had seen NOTHING.

”Someone’s” destroyed the puppies bed!!! WE didn’t see anything!

 

And you know what … it WORKED !!

The next night, we watched from the car as my human ran into a large pet shop and queued up with a BIG FLUFFY BED *wag wag wag* As soon as we were home, it got put in it’s place … my place … and I got sucking straight away.

Suck and paw it into shape

 

Yes, I know it’s a bit wet, but EVERY bed needs a good suck before you can call it MUM your own.

Even if I’ve had to learn some new rules and I’ve been told off a lot more than usual, it’s been absolutely PAWSOME to have my big brother stay with me. I think I’m going to miss him when he’s not there.

There is one small, teeny tiny problem though. Apparantly, when you have your big brother come and stay with you, a big brother that SHARES EVERYTHING … it is NOT cool to chew his stuff. Not cool at all.  But it’s going to be ok, because ‘It wasn’t me’ *wag wag wag*

 

 

Sleep Over

On Friday I was left at home all by myself.

It was MEAN.

I was SO lonely. The only thing that kept me staring at the door was that my human told me that she had a BIG suprise for me when she got home. I spent all day wondering what the suprise would be. A new chew toy? Something to eat? A nice walk somewhere new? Something to eat?

When she got home … nothing happened. I didn’t even get my walk!

I was busy waving my toy in her face in protest when I heard something … ROOOOOOOOOOOO!! ROOOOOOOOO!!

I know that sound! *wag wag wag* ALFIEBOYISHEREOHWOW!!

You see, his humans had to go on holiday so they’d brought Alfie round to look after me and my teach my humans some things while they were away. I don’t mind. I’m happy to share Alfie’s bed and his toys and his treats *wag wag wag* . Alfie is such a gentleman and we quickly came to an agreement. I get first call on the food and he gets the first fetch. *wag wag wag*

There was no way we could sleep that night, we were both just too excited and ended up being separated by my human in the middle of the night for ”playing”. She said the new sofa is not a mountain, no matter how much we pretend.

We got to go out on a big pack walk too. My human said that we had a child to train for the day so we made a plan in the car and got to work immediately in the woods. Little Jack was with us too and he’s so tiny Alfie didn’t even notice when he was trying to get in his mouth.

Jack tries to disctract Alfie from the ball

It’s really fun having my big brother stay over and he’s teaching me LOTS of new things.

I’ve perfected my Roo … Alfie says I need a bit more practise but it’s coming along nicely, even if I do sound like a big girl.

I’ve learnt a new game … You have to get a toy and push it as far as you can under the sofa. Then you stare at the humans until they get up and get it for you. When they’re laying on the floor I jump all over them while Alfie gets the toy back.

I’ve learnt that there are plenty of places in the garden that you can find sticks and it’s fun taking them from the tree because trees like to play tug of war just like dogs do.

We went to the park this morning at sunrise … to take stick and ball for a game of fetch. I love having my big brother around. *Wag wag wag*

Alfie & Me at Danson Lake

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Fear

It’s more scary at night …

I’m 6 months old now and something strange is happening.

When I was a little puppy, I wasn’t scared of ANYTHING. Not the vets (he’s my friend), not foxes, not people, not dogs, not ANYTHING.

I was the BRAVEST puppy around.

But I think when you’re a little puppy you must not see everything, because all of a sudden I’ve been seeing some REALLY scary things.

BLUE MONSTER

First, there was a blue monster. He was flying down the road towards me. He rustled and crashed into a wall then ran at me down the road. I didn’t know what to do, so I barked at it and ran towards home. I was taking my human for a walk at the time. She was on the lead and not doing a proper ”look at me”, so I didn’t get very far.

Then, my human, who is really truly brave stamped on the monster. I was still scared. She got a treat and she made my nose walk to her … I left my back feet behind just incase I needed to run. Oh I felt so silly. It wasn’t a blue monster, it was only a carrier bag blowing in the wind.  But I felt safe knowing that if it was a monster, my human would have stamped on it anyway.

BLACK MONSTER

There’s also a dark monster that follows us everywhere. I only see it sometimes. I have to bark at that. When my human picks me up, the black monster moves just like her and it looks like it’s carrying a dog too … but I think the monster is just copying us so I bark even more at it. I think it works because when it’s dark it goes away.

THE REALLY SCARY HUMAN

Last week, after the Entlebucher Fun Day, my brother Alfie asked if I wanted to come to his world to hang out. We were all hungry and tired so we went to his pub for some food. So far, I have only met one horrible human. All the others have been REALLY nice. Everyone was sitting at the table, eating some food when I felt some eyes on me. I looked up … and I came face to face with the most scary human I have ever met.

You see, it’s easy to tell if it’s a human. They have two legs in the right place and two legs in the wrong place (so they CAN’T run fast). They’re tall and they always say ‘helloooooo” in a really high voice.

This human was SCARY.

She didn’t have legs – not in the right or wrong place.

She didn’t say ‘Hellloooooo’ in a really high voice.

And she just STARED at me.

So there was only one thing to do, in the peaceful, quiet pub that people are dining in.

WOOF. WOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOF. WOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOFFF …

I had to tell my pack that there was something wrong. At first they didn’t realise anything was wrong, but after another bark at her … they realised what was the matter and my manhuman introduced us.

But she doesn’t even smell like a human …

 

I dont’ think it’s mischief. I think EVERYONE in the WHOLE pub needed to know that there was something strange going on.

I hope I never meet her again. *shivers*

 

Entlebucher Fun Day

So much has hapened since my last post and I’ve now reached the 6 month mark!

There was also a HUGE day that was really important. It was my mum and my big brother’s and sister’s birthdays AND another A litter too. The one that belongs to Shadow. So there was only one thing to do … have a BIG PAWTY!!

Even the puppies were allowed to go and we got to join in all the games! It was the best pawty I have EVER been to. There were SO many Entlebuchers there. I was one of 17 that managed to make it. It was really cool. The best thing was that I got to meet lots of my family that I haven’t met before and I got to see most of my brothers and sisters … AND my mum AND Uncle Orsen. And of course, my big brother Alfie was there too.

The ‘B’ Litter & Mum Queenie

 

There were LOTS of games to play and LOTS of prizes to win.

One of them was a relay race. I joined the boys for this one … Eiger and his manhuman & Alfie and his manhuman. We were winning, because the boys were taking it REALLY seriously, but then Alfie’s human fell over and then we lost. *sigh* The girls would have NEVER fallen over ! Alfie picked him up and we finished the race … which my manhuman says is the main thing. (He races an old car and he says it doesn’t matter where you come as long as you finish and don’t crash)

 

Me and my butler running the race

 

There were lots of competitions … I didn’t come 1st in anything …  Alfie said there was no way I would because puppies are stupid, but I managed to copy my big brother. He came 1st in Waggiest Tail and I came 3rd. I’m going to practise my wag and beat him next time. Although, I don’t know if I’ll ever be as waggy as Alfie. He’s got a crazy boy wag that doesn’t’ stop … mine’s more slow and lady like but he was really happy that I got 3rd.

There was an Agility race as well. Alfie’s been BORING me with all his tales of run through, run round, run in and out and I really couldn’t see what the fuss was all about … until I saw him do it … WOW … Alfie was SUPER FAST! If my buddy Marvel thinks I’m fast, he hasn’t seen ANYTHING.

Guess what?

Alfie came 1st in that one too! See, I told you my brother was COOL.  I’m going to remember to bragg to Marvel about my big brother, because he is ALWAYs talking about his. I bet his haven’t won TWO 1st place prizes. One for being the fastest and one for being the happiest.

I’ve never had a go at Agility, but I looked expectantly at my human and she said we could give it a try. I did well on the slalom and went wiggle wiggle until I was at the end …

Follow that Sausage!

And then I had a go at the tunnel. My human thew some sausage in … so I ran in, got the sausage and backed out to come and find her

I FOUND the sausage!

So my human took me back … and threw in another bit of sausage. This time it went to the other end of the tunnel so I had to run right through it to get the sausage. It wasn’t that hard, all I had to do was follow my nose, but my human was smiling after and it made her very happy. She said it was my first tunnel and she was very proud.

*tips head to one side*

 

My 1st tunnel

 

I didn’t win. BUT Alfie did because he is the FASTEST Entlebucher in England. *wag wag wag* It’s official now.

There was another game that I REALLY liked. It was called the Ball and Spoon. The humans had to keep a ball on the spoon and the dogs had to leave the ball on the spoon while the humans were running. Well … that’s what I was told afterwards, but all the dogs said that if I got the ball then we could play with it. I think they were trying to get the puppy in trouble … but I couldn’t get it. No matter how hard I tried.

If you flap your ears then you get extra height …

 

After all the fun we were allowed to play, so I went and found my brother Eiger, jumped on him, rolled on him, let him lick my bottom and had a play of the bitey leg game. Eiger won. As usual.

The Bitey Leg game – Eiger showing the bitey leg move. I provided the leg.

 

All in all it was a PAWSOME day. I’ve never had so much fun in my WHOLE LIFE.

 

Lastly, I got an award! YAY !!

I’m supposed to write 7 things about myself and then pass it on, so here they are.

 

1. I was born with 5 dew claws. The extra one was removed when I was a very tiny puppy so I’m left with the normal number. They’re proper ones with bones and movement, not like Marvels silly flappy ones.

2. The girls in the house have ganged up on the boy and won. We’ve managed to capture one whole sofa for ourselves.

3. When my humans tell me ‘no’ … I distract them by scratching.

4. TIME-OUT is in the bathroom. I hide my treats in there behind the sink.

5. I suck and paw my bed and pretend it’s my mum.

6. I like getting my buddy Marvel to chase me through trees, then I change direction quickly infront of them because I want him to crash.

7. I got SWIPED by a cat last night and cried like a puppy. I was only smelling.

 

I want to award this to lots of people … but the winner is …

Chester & Gretel

(cause some of you have had it already!)

 

 

 

 

 

Find It

I’ve spent the last week looking EVERYWHERE for some fun.

Any fun down there?

It’s quite hard finding fun all on your own. I think sometimes a puppy needs a friend to help them have fun, otherwise our fun turns into mischief quite quickly.

There are lots of different ways to have fun if you can get someone to play with you.

There’s fetch for starters.

I got a new stick the other day. My human says that she’s always watching me play with sticks and think’s that I might hurt myself with one. I don’t think she understands the point of a stick. They’re supposed to be chewed,  eaten, thrown around and disguise themselves with their background. My stick doesn’t really do that. The only thing my stick is good for is fetch. And sticks AREN’T meant to have treats inside them either! It’s a STICK. The stick is the treat. *shakes head*

Me & Stick running REALLY fast.

There’s another way I like to have fun too.

I really don’t know what the shoe was doing in the garden … I think it MUST have been left there for me.

Now here’s a tip for all those teething puppies … shoe laces are really really soothing.

First, make sure no one is watching

Get the shoe in the right position

Then … chew chew chew! (oh it’s SOOOOO good)

It’s MUCH better than any of my teething toys.

BUT … the best way to have fun is with your buddies.

I have a buddy called Marvel. He’s such a funny guy.  He’s a hansome chap and we always have lots of fun. Every week we go to puppy classes together and we’re always trying to distract each other. Last week I had to bark for a whole 20 minutes until Marvel noticed me.

No Marvel … it’s mine. ”Look at me”

The humans also do an extra training session with us once a week. Last time it was really hard. They were training us in a car park that was also a dog walking spot AND a football pitch, so there were lots of dogs getting in and out of cars and lots of mancubs and footballs flying around. It was really hard to pay attention to my human. Especially when I only have dried chicken and Marvel had freshly cooked meatballs. I made sure that I didn’t do anything right until I was given a bit of meatball. The humans need to learn that I want the best treats if they want me to perform their circus tricks.

Marvel is only a few weeks younger than me but he’s bigger than me. I’m the fastest though. Marvel will NEVER be as fast as me but that’s ok, because what he doesn’t have in speed, he makes up for in humour. Marvel is ALWAYS clowning around. He said that when the humans try and take nice pictures, what you have to do is pull silly faces for the camera. He said that puppies AND mancubs have to do that. I was trying to do it but Marvel kept making me laugh.

Loooook at me Bella …

Down … then UP

Stop it … you’re making me laugh

Do you have a friend that makes you laugh?

My ball!

There’s been a lot more water mischief this week. This time, it’s not been me that’s causing it. Why would it be me? I’m a good doggie! *wag wag wag*

Last time I went to see my brother Alfie, I got a little bit over excited and ran into a river that was way to steep for me. I had to be puppy rescued! I am a brave puppy so I’ve not given up, I’ve just realised that if I am going to go into the water, then I need to be careful how I get there and I need to make sure that my feet can ALWAYS touch the floor.

I’d taken my human out for a walk early in the morning. We went to the river and I was looking at the fast flowing water, remembering the horror from Beverly Brook.

I’m not going in there!

And do you know what my human did ? This is every puppies worst nightmare … she threw my favourite ball in the water!

How am I going to reach it?

I remembered that I’m a mountain dog and that I should be brave. Really brave, otherwise I’d have to say goodbye to my favourite. I walked up and down the river bank to find the best place to get in and then I went for it ..

I can’t smell it …

And then … after all of that, my human didn’t even manage to get a picture of me rescuing it. She wasn’t fast enough. *sigh*

I celebrated my ball back with a quick lap on the grass. I had to hide my face though, I didn’t want any more ‘picture opportunities’.

Don’t let her see my face …

You can’t see me!

It’s not naughty is it?

What’s naughty is making your tiny little girl puppy … who welcomes you every morning and every night with a waggy tail and friendly chew on the hands and feet … go in the water after her favourite ball, all because YOU want to take some photo’s!

I’m really going to have to teach this human some manners soon.

The New Chew Toy

I’m 5 months old now. I’m getting big. I keep putting on weight and then losing it all over night – at the same time as getting long legs! It’s really funny. One day I look like a little fatty and the next I look starved.

BTW – I am starved, if anyone want’s to feed me, that’s OK  *tips head to one side*

I might have mentioned that my man human is a plasterer, so he has a big van. My other human works in Central London, so she gets the train to work. She can drive motorbikes and cars, and although she thinks I’d look pretty cool on the back of a motor bike, or in a side car, she says it’s not safe or very practical.

We usually rent cars if we need one. It doesn’t cost that much and every car comes with a doggy biscuit. (They’re in the back office in a box). They like me at the car hire firm and always have treats and water ready for my arrival. I often inspect their work before I leave, just to make sure that we got the best car they had.

Can we take the Ferrari please?

This weekend, my human woke up early, got everyone walked, watered and fed and said she was going out to get an old banger for Bella. My ears pricked up at that. For me? What’s an old banger?

She took her pennies and the man’s wallet too … and they both went off. They came back a few hours later – she was DEFINITELY stressed out. She told me that she was finding it hard to make a decision as they were all bad cars for the price that she could afford. I offered to come and help choose one with my nose. Finally, with my help, we managed to purchase what my human is calling ‘A Dagenham Special’.  It’s one of those car’s that’s already had a happy life. The family before definitely had at least one little girl and a naughty doggie. We found some evidence in there, but mostly all it needs is a good clean. It will probably last us through the winter and maybe even some more. But I’m so happy to have a car all for me. It means lots and lots of walkies to nice places.  *wag wag wag*

My New Chew Toy

Other big news is that we have a guest staying with us for a week. Rosie the Boxer is back by popular demand, although quite frankly, I’m getting to the age where other doggies are trying to tell me that they’re the boss and in some cases I actually disagree … so I’m starting to stand up for myself a little bit now. Especially around the food bowls! Bottom line is, it’s MY house, MY food, MY bowls and MY water. GET OFF IT.

Other than that, we get along just fine. My human is trying to teach me that I can’t take a ball from another dog’s mouth. But I’m trying to teach her that I can. I guess it’ll just be another battle to keep up with.

There’s something else I’ve been learning.

I went to see my big brother the other day and he was teaching me all about being a pack leader. He said that 5 months is about right to start picking up the tricks of the trade and all I had to do was watch him and ”follow his lead”.  He said the most important job is security. It’s our job to make sure that you know what’s around the corner before it gets there, so you can be ready to protect your pack at all costs. You must NEVER EVER let your pack split up – herd them if necessary and you also have to warn your humans when someone is coming. Alfie explained that we have better noses, ears, eyes and fur than humans do, that sometimes they only notice things when they’re nearby.

We were out on a walk the other day. I was minding my own business and getting lots of doggie jobs done. Smelling, rolling, hunting for cat poo and rabbits and chasing sticks. Then I used my super-doggy sense and heard someone coming. I ran ahead and got myself ready to defend. As you can see by the woman’s face … I’m doing a great job …

To get to her, you have to go through me …

See, she didn’t want to walk past us!

But there was one little tiny problem that hadn’t occured to me at all …

Woah … ! He’s a big surprise!

RUUUNN!!!

We made friends after. This dog explained to me that I was doing a good job protecting my human, but he had to protect his too. That’s what a dog’s job is. We have to meet first and decide if we’re going to let the humans play together or not.

These two humans had a nice play together, they played the moving mouth game for about 5 minutes and then we all went our separate ways. But then, that is why we take our humans for walks. To give them exercise and to help them to socialise properly.

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