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.

Rashes come, rodents go, and mum tones up.

Had to go back to the quack today. That annoying rash on my thigh has reappeared and is annoying the hell out of me. Apparently it is most likely some sort of food allergy so now it is down to a process of elimination by progressively depriving me of all my favourite things to eat one at a time and noting if it stops. I wouldn't mind but apparently this is just the cheaper option as there is a nice expensive laboratory blood analysis which would do the job without me being deprived of any nourishment whatsoever. I know we are in financially tight times but you would of thought that the odd 90 euro blood test was not beyond the means of my far from underfed or deprived parents. If that new iPad appears on my dad's desk anytime in the next few months I shall have something to say about it, you can be sure. In the meantime I will continue with the above or something similar to ease the itching.





However, the good news is that we seem to have cracked the rodent problem. No nocturnal activity in the roof and no bait being taken anywhere. Total tally is so far three with an unpleasant odour in the neighbour's shed which suggests a possible fourth! Glad to see all my advice has paid off.



Mum is currently on this fitness drive. She has got herself a Wii Fit box and now spends an hour or so each day in front of the TV doing yoga, step ups, hula hoops and running round the island (whatever that is). By the way, that is not her above - she has not lost that much weight!

Whilst I am all for her getting fit, it is rather disturbing my morning kip, and with it raining cats and humans at the moment, I can't even retreat outside for a bit of peace and quiet.

However, all is quiet at the moment so I will just have to start catching up on my kip right now. See y'all.

"Of rats and dogs" (sorry to John Steinbeck)

How many of them are there up there?


It seems that my earlier optimism about the cessation of rat activities was rather misplaced. I realised this yesterday morning when mum and dad emerged from the bedroom end of the house looking more ragged than usual. This was on account of having had very little sleep because of further attic rearranging activities going on above their heads all night long (apparently! - not that I noticed). Now as we had already removed one of the little so and sos, this implied the presence of at least one more.

Not wanting my reputation as Chief Vermin Control Officer tarnished any further, mum and dad were promptly dispatched for reinforcements and returned a short time later with more poisons and traps. Having distributed same generously in the roof space, we all settled down rather tentatively last night to see what would happen. The night was, however, once more disturbed by noises from above, although this time less mobile and intermittent. Some sleep was achieved by all.

This morning dad inspected the attic once again to check traps etc but to no avail. We were all baffled. Imagine my surprise, then, later this afternoon when I rounded the corner of the house to come face to face with another one - this time stone dead. It seems at least some of the preventive measures had been successful.

However, even as I write this more sounds are emerging from above so god knows how many of them there are up there. I will keep you posted.

Infestation update.

Good news! Further to my news below about our war on the vermin in our roof space, I am pleased to report that my advice seems to have worked. At just before 4am today my dad was woken by a loud bang in the attic which turned out to be our humane trap springing. Obviously the local vermin are very partial to the bait of Werthers chocolate and dad proudly emerged from above this morning bearing a rat in a trap. Mum then insisted that he drive it a mile up the road and release it in the vines. I was all for having a bit of sport with it but that was apparently frowned upon. Still, now, hopefully, we will no longer have the patter of tiny feet overhead all night long. A dog has to sleep after all.

Spots before my eyes

Only a week after my annual maintenance visit, I was back there again yesterday. It's all a bit embarrassing but I've got this rash on my tummy and the insides of my back legs and it won't go away. Mum says it looks a bit like nappy rash but that is stupid because I don't wear one.

Although it was great to see the lovely Marie-Christine again, I would rather it was not necessary as once again I had to endure the full poke, poke, prod, prod routine to assess the situation. No needles this time fortunately. Bit of a puzzle apparently but it seems to be some sort of allergy, although nobody can figure out what to. (Personally I reckon it is stress caused by that little squirt Tommy passing each day.) So it's a course of antihistamine tablets for the next ten days in the hope that they will sort it. Must admit it would be nice not to have spots before my eyes when I look at my underside!

Annual 15,000 km maintenance

Just as my dad has to have his car serviced each year, so, each January around this time, my mum drags me off to my "garage" (the local vet) for my annual maintenance visit. This involves a general checkup and topping up all my vaccinations including the very important rabies booster. Not only does this allow me to go visit other places in Europe but also means that if I ever happen to meet Jon Tack and accidentally bite him, he won't get "la rage" and start frothing at the mouth. Bet you are pleased about that, Jon!

Although I find visiting the vet a somewhat scary event, I do really like our vet, Marie-Christine, who is very kind and gentle and gives me lots of cuddles. As most of you will not have met her I got dad to take a photo so you could all see what a nice lady she is. I know I look a bit fed up in the photo but remember I have just been prodded and poked all over and had a needle stuck in me so wouldn't you.



Heard the other day that my old mate, Tasha, who now lives in the UK, has broken her leg quite badly. Not only that, but apparently they have discovered that, whilst in France, she had contracted Leshmania which is a nasty parasitic disease. Really hope that they can sort her out and that she will be up and about and fighting fit again in a few months time. Licks and kisses, Tasha.

All this medical stuff is quite draining so I am off now for a bit of a lie down. Speak to you all again soon.