Snooze control

In the past I've moaned about Marley for his antics. Today however, he was a real star - he didn't wake this morning until 10:00am which was a real treat. This probably means it will be 05:00am tomorrow!!

Flying lessons

Easter Sunday started off much like any other morning with the ritual dog walk. On arrival at the recreation ground I did my normal visual checks to ensure there were no little dogs around for Marley to terrorise or children with footballs.

 In the distance I could see some 'friendly' dog owners so I let the dogs off lead. Marley headed across the field to meet his chums but quickly changed course and headed for the pavilion, I noticed with dismay someone sat on the steps repairing a remote control helicopter. Marley saw someone new to play with!! It was only a matter of seconds before he had got hold of the helicopter's battery pack and was bounding around encouraging the owner to take chase.

I ran across the field and was advised to recover said object from dogs mouth. I politely explained that although this seemed a good idea in reality it was not that easy. I did manage to recover the battery pack but not in time to save it. This little incident cost me £50.....

Seeing Red

Regular visitors here will remember that I have an assistant who does my shredding. It appears he has learnt a new trick, after completing the morning's paperwork he ate my glasses.

Dog School

It is interesting where this project takes you. At the start I thought it would be much more a diary of my daily life but it quickly became much more photography, rather than subject based. I would never have believed that I would be spending so much of my free time taking pictures on inanimate objects. So much, that when I post a picture like today's I almost feel like I have let myself down - which is clearly stupid. I think part of this has come from joining the Flickr groups where we wax lyrical over out of focus pictures of bananas. I have learned a lot from some fantastic photographers but need a bit of a reality check!
Anyway, enough waffle. Today's picture was taken at Dog obedience classes and features my daughter Hannah and Marley, who collectively are very much stars of the show.

Crime scene

 

Sadly no time for anything creative or artistic today. I did however get the opportunity for some crime scene photography - there is little doubt who is guilty although the evidence is circumstantial. Ironically, tonight was the dogs first visit to obedience classes - we did sit, stay etc. but didn't learn the, 'don't dig the plants up!' command. Oh well there's always next week....

Shredder

 

Paperwork is not one of my strong points.Anything online I am fine with but if it involves pieces of paper, stamps etc. it gets put it off to the last minute. I was however fairly proud of myself for preparing my latest travel claim, all the necessary receipts in order and in the special envelope ready to post. Now if I'd been super organised I would have photocopied everything ... but I didn't. I left the dogs for minutes - returning to find my carefully prepared returns shredded. I recovered what I could but suspect many VAT numbers are on their way to being digested. The next hour was spent with a reel of sellotape trying to piece together the puzzle. Another argument for the paperless office... or dog less house!!

Poo

Apart from normal work Marley had to go to the vets - nothing serious, just to get his nails cut. As the nice vet lady went to grab him I noticed what looked like poo sticking out of his rear end. It was one of those awkward moments where you either pretend not to notice - risking more embarrassment or just say something. So I pointed it out and she politely explained that it goes with job - but then she started to pull on the foreign object. "Has he been eating grass?", well not actually grass but he does like reeds from the pond - about 30 inches of reed actually. Anyway the tenuous connection is obviously, reed, pond, Goldfish. I will try much harder tomorrow - could do with some people pictures.

Bait

The weather was great today which meant we could take the dogs to the beach. We drove to Kingsdown and had a nice walk. Marley went and introduced himself to a some fisherman then stole some of their bait - raw squid. I went and apologised but they weren't too bothered - in fact they told me they didn't expect to catch anything anyway. I managed a reasonable picture of Bob but next time I will take my light stand and umbrella.

  

Bob Dog

In a previous post I mentioned that we were supposed to be getting a retired sniffer dog 'Bob' but the arrangement had fallen through. We got a call this week and were told that Bob was now looking for a home and we had first refusal.

 

On Saturday morning we took Marley to meet Bob - we needed to know if the two dogs would get on. Bob as ever was very calm and almost timid - Marley displayed his usual psycho Lab puppy tendancies but they seemed to get on. We brought Bob home with us and we will see how they get on. We have had an undisturbed first night and as I type the dogs are charging around the garden in the snow flurries. Hopefully today Marley will be less of a thug and Bob will settle down and come out of his shell a little. Oh, and by the way I feel a real numpty shouting, 'Bob, Marley'

Ahh bless

Well we have had him a week now. That timid, shy little pup that we brought home is gaining confidence minute by minute and developing his own character. At times he is also influencing mine.

   

On our first afternoon we visited the local vets for a check up and injection. I expected him to yelp and whine but he didn't even blink as the needle went in - it hurt me more than him. Well actually it hurt Hazel most as she paid the bill. I have built him a small pen in the corner of my office where we have put his bed and food bowls and he has quickly accepted this as his space. During the day the door is open but I can shut him in at night or when we need him to be safely out of the way. He now collects things, shoes, trainers, sticks and anything else he can carry and takes them back to his lair. He has even attempted to steal Thomas' school rucksack - he can't carry it but drags it along the floor. -- Cheers Alan