At last, the end of winter?

Please excuse the silly grin on my face but I do believe the signs are there that winter is drawing to a close and spring is in the air. I do hope so as I am much more of a sun dog than a "puddle pointer" (yes, that is an actual breed).

So what are these signs which give me such optimism? Well, for a start dad has gone on our daily promenades for several days now without a coat on - always a good omen. And then there is the flurry of activity on the gardening front. I am quite partial to this as it usually involves some hole digging at which I excel. The decks are being cleaned, the garden furniture is starting to appear, and loads of bloody flowerpots are being strategically placed, usually in my favourite sunbathing spots. And, of course, it has stopped raining and the sun has come out.

But more than all of the above, something happened today which convinced me of the seasonal change. I got my first tick of the year! Good job mum started me on the monthly drops this month, and I can now look forward to the daily "tick tock checks" as I like to call them. After each walk in the fields I come indoors, lay down on my back with my legs in the air, and am inspected. Not at all degrading and usually comes with a treat at the end of it so fine by me.

I suppose the next key sign to look out for is the formal reopening of my 42,000 litre drinking bowl, or pool as they like to call it. However, I don't think that will be for a few weeks yet as it normally happens around mid April. Then we all await, with much amusement, the first swimmer to venture in. This is an annual competition called Premier Plongeur for which mum and dad award a bottle of bubbly to the brave soul who dives in first, usually at a water temperature of around 18 degrees.

Rumours are starting to circulate that our neighbour has agreed to chop down the row of 8 metre high conifers at the back of our pool which should give me lots more sunny deck to stretch out on in the late summer afternoons.

So all in all things are starting to look hopeful for a bit of serious sunbathing and playing in the garden with my doggy mates. This usually comes with a bunch of humans all doing the bottle stuff thing but we dogs just have to put up with that.

All this talk of sunbathing and playing has suddenly made me feel quite tired so I'm of for a quick nap.

My first fight

I had my first fight today. Well, not a real nasty fight, but a severe baring of teeth, making lots of noise, and snapping at the enemy type of fight. As many of you know, I am a fairly amiable creature and am usually pleased to meet most humans and other animals. But you know how it is - sometimes you just lay eyes on someone for the first time and immediately know you dislike them.

That was what happened today when Auntie Jo and Uncle Roy came round to visit with my mate, Boudie. It so happens that they are currently dog-sitting this Tibetan Terrier called Bakti and they brought him along too. Well, I just took one look and knew straight away that I could not stand him. Don't ask me why - these things just happen. Initially I managed to restrain myself to a few noisy lunges but after a while I decided to really have a go. To give him credit, he did not really come back at me but instead tactically slowly backed off. That just made me even madder so then I went for it big time. At that point dad stepped in, grabbed me by the scruff of the neck, and hauled me away. Needless to say I was kept restrained for the rest of their visit but that did not stop me giving him the evil eye at every opportunity.

Now I must point out to any readers who are due to visit here in the future that this should give them no cause for alarm. It is the first time it has ever happened, I don't do it to humans, and I got such a telling off that I probably will not dare do it again even in the unlikely event that I take an extraordinary dislike to another dog for a second time.


Medical Update

For those of you who are interested, my rash is much better thank you. Over the last couple of weeks anything that I normally consumed has either had the brand changed or has been withdrawn, including my favourite daily lick-out of the yoghurt pot. Still, I must not complain as it certainly is much more pleasant not to be scratching and licking it every few minutes. Hopefully soon they will start to restore a few things to my diet one by one in the hope that they can spot the culprit. Just hope the yoghurt comes back soon.