Christmas Day

Apparently Mortimer has been a very good dog this year, not that anyone asked my opinion, and so Santa paid a visit.

Are they all mine?

Smells interesting

Getting there

A leg revealed

Success

So far Christmas Ted is intact, bar the jaunty bow tie.

It's all mine

Mmmmm chewy

Thanks to everyone who sent Mortimer a Christmas gift, his stocking included two large hide chews, a cracker full of Christmas goodies and a large packet of pigs ears - so gross but apparently so good.

Merry Christmas

Mortimer is now in position just waiting for all those presents to arrive.......

Waiting for Santa

Wishing you all a very Happy Christmas.

Jim's hat

You may have noticed that Jim usually wears a rather fetching red baseball cap for our Sunday dog walking meet.

Jim & hat

Last week he bent down and his hat fell to the ground. Like a bullet from a gun Mortimer swooped in and grabbed. Fortunately he had an inkling that this was not really the done thing and brought it back quite swiftly.

I was only picking it up for you - honest

And not a mark on it.

Mucky pup

About an hour before we all met up for our Sunday dog gathering a weather front came through and the heavens opened. But it passed very quickly, the sun came out and off we went.  The dogs had a good chase around but seemed to home in on a very muddy area of the orchard.

Mortimer in the mud

Rootling

For once Mortimer came away quite clean, he wanted to play tag more than anything else. Young Krispin however had other ideas and started deep mining the mud.

Mud hound

Step away from the puppy

Canine Santa Claus?

One of my current projects is the re-upholstering of two wing chairs. Inherited from the Co-owners family, I said that I would like to have a go at re-covering them. Unfortunately for me they cannot just be re-covered as the way that they are constructed means a complete re-upholster. Anyway Mortimer finds the whole thing fascinating.

Smells interesting

First they had to be stripped down and he found all the old fabric and stuffing full of great smells. I had to be careful though as there were hundreds of staples to be pulled out. But the best bit was when I started to rebuild them again. Any scrap of hessian or webbing disappeared. At one point I saw, out of the corner of my eye, my wooden web stretcher gently move across the floor. But favourite of all was the manmade horse hair stuffing, mysteriously it just kept disappearing from the bag.

If I lie quietly.........

Success

Maybe he's just practising for Christmas.

New friend

Because we are spending so much time working on the house our Sunday morning dog walk has become the highlight of our social life. The usual suspects are Zelda the guide dog and Krispin the trainee. The last few weeks have also given us Hamish who is a retired guide dog. This week we were joined, much to the delight of Mortimer, by Suki a Japanese Akita.

Introducing Suki

Suki is only a month older than Mortimer and has the same energy so it wasn't long before they had made acquaintances and were off.

Plotting

Complete obedience

Why does Mortimer always look so dishevelled?

And the best thing is Mortimer spends the rest of the day like this…

Exhausted

One year on

Friday marked one year of dog ownership - although sometimes I'm not sure who owns who. Last year we had been talking about a dog - well co-owner had and I'd been making mmmmming noises. I've never had a dog, I'm a cat person. My Mother had had three Yorkshire Terriers in the past but I hadn't really got involved with them. We did have a German Shepherd  - Duke - for a while but he terrified me, I think I was about 13 or 14. We should have known better as he had been owned by the police force but was deemed untrainable. He was big and he was strong. If my parents went out in the evening I would become marooned on an armchair, before they left I would tuck a dog treat under the cushion. Then, when I wanted to go to bed I would hurl the treat as far from me as possible and while Duke was distracted I would make a run for the hall and slam the door. He didn't stay around for long.

Back to the present. We were in a position to have a dog as we are at home most of the day. Our garden was small but we lived by the sea so canine walking was not an issue. Anyway, we happened to be at our sister in laws one Sunday and mentioned that we were thinking about getting a dog. Just thinking. She got very excited. On the way home we got a phone call from her - could we see a Labradoodle tomorow? She knew someone who had a sibling of one and it was gorgeous. Wednesday we took Mortimer home.

First day - exploring

What?

It's all too much

First beach walk

Totally at home

 

 

Me & my dawg

Do I regret it -no.

P.S for those of you who follow us here , yes that is a photo of the nearly finished sitting room.

Old friends & new

You may remember that on Sunday mornings we try to be in the orchard at about 10 a.m so that Mortimer can have a play with Zelda, Jim's guide dog. Unfortunately we've been so busy with the house that we've missed a few. But this week we made a real effort and managed to meet up.  Zelda ad Mortimer find that windfall apples make for a great game.

Zelda finds first

Sensing a distraction, Mortimer's off

This week however Mortimer was in doggy heaven. Patricia & David, who puppy train guide dogs, have a new addition - Krispin.

First sighting of Krispin

Krispin is a gorgeous bundle of trouble who was keen to play with the big boys.....

Too big to fit

Mortimer didn't seem to mind

Doggy hug

However at just 18 weeks old Krispin flagged early and needed a healthy snack for an energy boost.

Looking weary

As well as Krispin, David & Patricia are looking after Hamish for a few weeks. 'Handsome Hamish' is 10 and a retired guide dog. Although happy to see the other dogs he was more content to lie in the cool grass.

Meeting Hamish

Enjoying retirement

Complete obedience

Dog bundle

Back home & exhausted

I think Mortimer will be setting the alarm for next Sunday.

Look into my eyes.....

Like most dogs Mortimer is very food focused, he sees endless opportunities to eat. His evening meal is usually at about 5.30 but he starts to think about it around quarter to five. About this time he wakes up from his afternoon siesta and comes into the office to  see what we're up to. He'll look hopeful and then wander off. 

At 5.15 the whole 'feed me' routine starts, beginning with 'the stare'.

The stare

At first this is usually done from behind us, the first you know is that feeling that someone is looking at you, feeling slightly uncomfortable. If there is no response he will come round to the side of your chair and gaze unblinkingly at you.

Next is 'the nudge'. A large & wet nose prods your elbow, just to see if you're paying attention. If that doesn't work then said nose pushes up between your forearm and body (usually he does this when we're typing) and his chin rests on the desk.

Spot the damp jeans

If all of this fails he starts to nibble at bits of your clothing, or flesh if available, and I give in.

At which point I get the whole ' dinner - did someone mention dinner? Well I hadn't even considered that but if you insist........'

Exhausted

We were away for the weekend visiting family, and as it's a three hour journey we decided to let Mortimer stay in a boarding kennel. We've done this once before and although he was fine we didn't like the owner. She didn't make any contact with Mortimer and just put him in his section. We also weren't allowed to say goodbye, 'best for the dog' apparently.  Now I know we're probably a bit soft but it would be nice if the owner had appeared to like dogs.

Doing more research we found a new place just a few minutes away. As soon as we arrived Mortimer was greeted with a big hug. His chalet had hanging baskets, a heater and his own radio as well as a proper bed. He was promised walks in their twenty acres and could play with the collie.

When we arrived to pick him up he was very reluctant to get into the car. Apparently everyone had walked him, he'd been playing with the other dogs and had been given a session on the dog agility course. And he'd had a good groom - we're definitely going back.

As you can see he got home and slept the rest of the evening.

Exhausted

Let it rain

Last week it was my birthday and the Co-owner had listened to my whinging about wet feet and soggy jeans.

Bring on the puddles

And they came with removeable fleecy liners -hope we get snow:)

P.S. Mortimer was also generous and gave me a large box of Bonios - how thoughtful.

House Guest

Last week we had friends to stay and much to Mortimer's delight they brought their collie, Ben. Mortimer was over the moon as he loves other dogs, particularly ones who bring him belated birthday gifts.

Full of treats

There were times however when Ben, who is senior to Mortimer by a few years, found it all a bit much.

First he tried to escape up the stairs.

Please let me up

And when this didn't work he hid under some old chairs.

Am I safe here?

Mortimer was very disappointed when he left but slept solidly for hours.

Apple Harvest

Today they started the apple harvest - for at least three hours until torrential rain stopped work. Having watched for a while Mortimer felt he'd got the technique and was eager to help.

Maybe this was too big

Slippery devils aren't they?

Is this better?