Wet Wet Wet

I'm not referring to my human's terrible taste in music but the weather outside.  It is so wet at the moment and there have been these strange loud noises in the sky and flashing lights too.  I know it's not fireworks -- I love watching fireworks with all their pretty colours and shapes, so I'm not too sure what these recent bangs are.  Anyway, when the flashes and bangs come so does the rain and lots of it.

Me and superior human and the other superior beings have been soaked every single day and when I've been out with my human we've been soaked too.  I don't really like rain but I do like walks so I put up with being wet.  My human says I'm funny because I love going in rivers and puddles so she doesn't understand why I'm not keen on rain.  I can't explain it, it's just different.

What A Year

Soon I will have been living with my human for a whole year and I still love being here.  Loads of things have been going on so I'll try to think about it and tell you all about it.

The superior human was looking after me quite a lot because my human was having to go to hospital every day to get something she called "radiotherapy".  I'm not sure what that is but it made her feel really ill so I stayed with the superior human for a little while so my human could get better.  She is still not well but she's getting better.  The superior human takes me for walks most days with other superior beings and I have a brilliant time rolling around in the wet grass and jumping into rivers.  The other superior beings play chase with me which is great fun - we're all really good friends now.

My human has been taking me on new walks up into the hills and forests.  I love going up there because I can chase rabbits and squirrels and scare the pigeons so they flap away into the sky.  One day I scared a pheasant and it scared me back but that was at the beach.  The beach is a strange place to go, it's got this stuff called sand and when I run on it my paws get all covered with it.  Then when I pick up my ball my nose and chin get sand on them too.  My human and one of the visitor humans had to get me clean after that because I was nervous of the waves coming towards me and I wouldn't go in the water.  My human called me a "silly beastie" for running towards the waves then running away again.  I smiled when she said that.

I can't think of anything else to tell you all about.  I'll try and write here more often.

A Long Break

I thought it was about time that I updated this old blog of mine.  My human says I have plenty to tell you about and for once she's right so, here goes.

Way back in November my human went away to visit her parents and because it's such a long way I got to go on my very own holiday.  I stayed with lots of other superior beings in a place called a "boarding kennel".  I made some new friends and had a nice comfy bed to sleep in with meals, water and walks all thrown in.  To be honest I did miss my human a bit and I was very pleased to see her when she came to collect me.  I was even more pleased when we got home and I got to play with my own toys.

After all that excitement I managed to catch a thing called "kennel cough".  I'm not sure what it is but I got taken to see the vet and I was feeling really awful.  The vet was very nice, my human was all worried about me and she had that water all over her face again.  I've had to keep nice and quiet indoors for two whole weeks but I have been very good.  My human said she is really proud of me.  I'm starting to feel better now but I am so tired.

Tonight my human took me to the park for the first time since I got ill and I enjoyed it.  She even let me play with my ball for a couple of minutes but I was so tired that I didn't want to play for long.  Now we're back home and I'm going to lie next to a radiator and have a snooze.

Missed Me?

I haven't had a moment to myself this week so I decided that an otherwise boring Saturday evening would suit to try and catch up with this thing.

So, I've been out this week with the Superior Human three times, he's great but I keep trying to make him take me away with him for more adventures and he never does.  One day I'll smuggle myself into his car and go off on a little Superior tour.  Yes, that sounds grand.

Then another new human came to my house to meet me and said I'm gorgeous and very clever.  Well, while I already know this it's nice to be reminded.  Anyway, this new human appears to be another Superior one and is going to take me out next week to see how I get on with her and the Superior Beings that she also takes out.  I'm very much looking forward to that, more friends for me!

I was out on Thursday with a superior being sitter person.  It didn't go very well, I'm not going to be going back to her again.  She is brilliant but she has two of her own Superior Beings and one of them really didn't like me.  I tried hard to be nice and friendly but it didn't work.  My human and me think that it's not very fair if me being around will upset the other Superior Being so I might just go with that human if its an emergency walk.

My human had to go to the vet yesterday so I stayed at home with one of my favourite visitor humans.  He was doing something called Work so I was very good and didn't bother him too much.  I'm not too sure what work is but it seems to consist of talking on his noisy metal contraption a lot.  My human does that, I think its like a bone because most humans seem to carry them around and wont let other humans touch them.  Yes, I think that they are human bones.

When my human got home yesterday she was very tired again, the vets seem to make her more tired than she usually is but I'm not sure why.  Anyway, she went to have a sleep and I went with her to make sure she was ok.  I had to wake her up to give me my dinner but she didn't mind and then later I woke her up again to let me out in my garden.  My human is really kind, she doesn't get annoyed at all and gives me loads of cuddles.

Today I've been making my human play with me and my toys and we went to my park for a little while too.  She says that tonight there might be some loud noises called Bangs and some pretty lights in the sky.  Apparently humans do this deliberately today I'm not sure what the point of it all is but so long as it doesn't wake me up I don't care.  I'm not scared of loud noises* or lights so I'll just tell her she shouldn't be either.

Now I need my dinner.




*note from Danté's human: he certainly doesn't mind loud noises having been in the city this week when the One O'Clock Gun went off.  I jumped a mile, he just looked over his shoulder and carried on walking.

Tired

My human took me out yesterday.  I thought we were just going to my park because she took my ball with her but we ended up going for a really long run in among trees and loads of mud.  She told me that we'd been out for something called 3 hours but I told her we'd just been out for really good fun.  I met some other superior beings and their humans, one of them was going to be in big trouble with her human because she was rolling around in a big muddy puddle and her black fur was all sticky and horrible.  I was laughing at her all filthy but I never went in to try it out, I think my human was pleased about that.

When we got home I had a huge drink of water and then decided to go and sleep on my human's bed.  She made a cup of that hot stuff she drinks and then came to keep me company.  She fell asleep too and I had to wake her up to give me my dinner.  Honestly, what would she do without me?


Today has been very quiet, I'm not feeling very well.  I was sick all over the livingroom rug and the hall.  My human doesn't get annoyed she just gives me cuddles and makes sure I'm alright.  She says I must of been eating something that disagreed with me but my human disagrees with me all the time and I don't eat her!*  So I've been sleeping today and now I'm feeling a whole lot better, my human gave me a little bit of dinner and a drink of water and now I'm going to go back to sleep.

Goodnight.


*Note from Danté's human: he's doing fine, I think he must of eaten something in the undergrowth yesterday that's made him a bit sick.   I'm keeping a good eye on him but he's eating/drinking and his nose is cold & wet so I'm not at all worried.

Up In The Air

I had a great day yesterday.  Me, my human, two human friends and their two superior beings all went out for a walk together.  I had the best time ever.  My human says I've got dreadful manners but I was just very very excited and wanting to play.  We went to some place that's up a hill and had to walk through a wood with loads of mud and old leaves which was great fun, then up on the hill was loads of rabbit poo and stuff for me to roll around in.  I don't think my human was very pleased with me for that but I thought it was funny.

We met loads of stranger humans with their superior beings so I chased around with some of them for a while, I did hear my human and our friend humans telling me to come back but I just pretended I couldn't hear them and carried on playing.

One of the best bits of the whole day was when the humans stopped to eat something they called a picnic.  This turned out to be lots of sandwiches, crisps and cakes.  I was very careful to make sure my human knew I would like to try bits of the picnic but I was good and shared with the two other superior beings.

The funniest thing was when my human got her paw stuck in a rabbit hole and fell right over on her face.  She wasn't hurt or anything so I think it's alright to laugh at her, she was laughing at herself too.  Honestly she always laughs when she falls over or walks into things.

Bedtime.

Busy Days

My human had to go and see the vet yesterday, she was gone for hours and I did wonder if she was going to ever come home.  I wasn't on my own though.  The superior human took me out for a long run with my new superior being friend and when he took me home one of my visitor humans was here to spend all afternoon keeping me company.  I tried hard to be very well behaved and I think I managed that quite well.  My visitor human gave me loads of attention and she spent ages playing with me and then gave me my treat ball and a bone!  I've got her figured out already, all I need to do is look gorgeous and drop little hints and I get anything I want, it's like magic.

When my human got home I knew she was feeling tired because of how her face looked so I didn't jump around too much.  She and my visitor human had a drink of that hot stuff that humans like and then my visitor human had to go away to do other things.  I thought me and my human would have a rest but instead we went to my park to play for a while.  My human said she felt good after so I was very pleased about that.  She told me that she had to think about what her vet had been saying and the best place to do that was with me in my park.

Today has been very quiet, no-one has knocked at the door and my human hasn't been fiddling with that noisy metal bone she carries around with her.  She's been sleeping and I've been playing with my toys, chewing my bone and snoozing a bit too.  This evening she took me to my park again, I love going there and I'm learning that I can trust her all the time.


My new home and my new human aren't new any more, they're just mine.

Bog Dog

I had a wonderful time this afternoon.  The superior human who was here the other day came back again but this time he took me out for a run and play with another dog.  It was such a rainy day I got totally soaking wet but superior human gave me a good rub down with a towel before he brought me home.  When I got out of his car to go to my door I got all wet again so my human had to give me another rub down, she took my collars off too so that my neck can dry properly and not get irritated.  I can't wait for the superior human to come back again, he really likes me but everyone does I know, he called me a fantastic dog and said I'm really brilliant but he said that to my human not to me so it must be true.

When I got home I was still looking to play but my human had other ideas.  She decided it would be better to unpack the new hoover contraption thing.  Not only that but she also thought that she needed to try it out.  Next time I see her getting that thing ready to roar I'll be very fast in telling her that it's a bad idea.

Another Day, Another......

Parcel!  Yes, I know I'm incredibly spoilt but I think I'm worth it.  My human thinks so too - I can tell.

We had another visitor at Danté Towers today, a very nice human who I totally ignored in favour of my bone.  Well I have to have my priorities straight.  Him and my human spent ages just talking about me and the other superior beings they know or have known in the past.  Anyway, I was listening to their chit chat while I pretended to be not interested in them and it seems that this visitor human is going to be taking me out for some of my walks so that my human can rest and hopefully get better.  I think he's a superior being in disguise so that makes him a superior human.

I'm looking forward to going on some walks with superior human but I think I'll have to be on best behaviour because he seems to understand how to keep control of superior beings who pull and mess around.  He says he'll introduce me to some other superior beings so I'll be able to get to know them and make new friends.  I think that's brilliant!

The human vet had better be good at their job, I need my human to get mended.

Steady As We Go

Today has been a quiet day, just me and my human.  She's still not well and I'm getting worried about her because she does try to play with me but seems to get too tired to play for very long.  The human vet spoke to her on that noisy contraption she carries around and I think that was a good thing.  She's going to take me round the block in a while, I'll enjoy that and will be careful not to pull too hard.

Busy Day

Well today has been quite busy but very exciting.

One of the humans from yesterday came to take me out for a walk again and we had a brilliant time.  She let me run around and play and I love doing that.  I managed to chase one of those strange squirrel creatures again but this time I went tearing straight after it.  Oh such good fun!  The walk human has taught me a couple of new tricks, I think my human was very impressed and happy that I'm being so good.  She just took me out today, her two superior beings from yesterday were at home but we had loads of fun.

Then another new human came to visit me and brought me a present.  Its a ball that food goes in and she taught me how to nose it along and make the treats fall out.  She told me I'm very clever to learn that so fast.  I got to chew a bone while my human and visitor human had a chat.  I am starting to think that all my human ever does is chat.


Last night was sort of funny, I was all tucked up and fast asleep and my human was too.  Then, in the dark and unexpectedly she started singing.  I don't like her singing in the daylight but it's 10x worse at night.  So I jumped up on top of her but it didn't stop her she just started singing something else!  What am I to do?  I decided to sit right on her back to make her stop breathing and eventually she did go quiet.  I'll have to remember that if she decides to sing ever again.

The song went a bit like agadoo doo doo shake a something up a tree.  It didn't even make sense!

Anyway, its time for a snooze to make up for the disturbance in the night.

New Visitor Humans

My human isn't well again so she asked two of her human friends if they would mind taking me out for a walk.  I had a great time but I decided to be a bit naughty and go back to pulling very hard on my lead.  My human doesn't let me do that but maybe I won't do it if I see the new visitor humans again because they are really nice people.  They had two of their superior beings with them so I've made another two friends and met another two wonderful humans.

Its a bit rainy today but I like water so that's ok by me.  Now it's definately dinner time.

Not Just A Walk In The Park

Well yesterday was a bit strange really.  My human took me out to play in the park as usual but there was something wrong with her and after she'd thrown my ball for me a few times she had to sit down on the bench because she was feeling all wobbly.  I don't know much about how humans operate but I knew something in her circuitry must have gone wonky.  Two new humans stopped to ask if my human was alright and then the next thing I know is a thing like a Bus Contraption had come into my park and two very strange new humans got out.  They put my human in a chair and took her into their Bus Contraption and to be honest I wasn't too happy about that but I wasn't allowed to go with her.  Then, the Bus Contraption drove off with my human still inside it.  So I was left behind in the park with the new humans.

After a little while our visitor human came and got me, I was very pleased to see him!  He took me back to my house and kept me company.  He's a kind human and made sure I was alright.  I got taken out by him for a walk and a play in the garden but I was missing my human a lot and wondered where she was.

Visitor human said that my human would probably be home soon but it was ages before she came back.  I was jumping around and jumping on her to say hello and tell her I was very glad that she came back.  I get a bit anxious when I get left on my own or don't know where my human is.  Visitor human told her I'd been very good and no trouble, I sort of ignored him when she got here but I really did like him looking after me because I know him.

My human has been talking about me to people today.  She is hoping that I'll be able to get looked after by dog humans who spend all day looking after superior beings such as myself if their humans have to be somewhere else.  I like the sound of that because I'll have superior company and my human won't need to worry about me.


I've made a friend of the superior being who lives next door.  She's lovely, my human says she's too old for me but I don't think that matters.  I gave her a good sniff the other night and saw her with her human yesterday on the way to my park.  I might have been a little bit too keen to show I like her because she did tell me off after a while.  All day today I've been trying to listen for her and her human going out so I might see her again, I've also been sniffing her front door.  My human says I'm on a highway to nowhere and I need to give up.  We'll see.

Batty

I managed to get my human to take me out to the park this evening.  Being lazy all day is nice but I do love a run around with my ball.  We saw a few other humans and a couple of other Superior Beings like myself but my human wasn't amused when I ignored her and tried to play with the others.  Earlier this afternoon she told me I was driving her batty because I wouldn't pick a spot and lie down, I kept getting up and moving to cool spots on the floor.

Well, that was a funny thing for my human to say because at the park there were lots of strange little creatures flying around.  I knew they weren't birds, well not any kind of bird I've seen before and they were moving so fast I had to run in circles to keep watching them.  My human said that they are bats but she didn't say they were driving her batty.  The cheek.  The wretched things were flying around in circles above my human and me when all I wanted to do was play with my ball.

I think my human rather likes bats, she didn't make any noise or try to run away.  Not like the other human I saw.  That human looked really scared.  Honestly, the tiny little things weren't interested.  In fact, those bats are more aloof than I am with the humans.

New Humans

Today was a real adventure and I really enjoyed most of it.  I was taken on a Bus Contraption, a sort of half size thing with no upstairs like the other one.  I did sit down most of the time but kept my eyes on the door and plotted my escape.  Unfortunately it would appear that my human was wise to this and she kept me close and on my lead.

We got off the Bus Contraption and had a nice walk through some old hospital place or other, my human didn't seem too impressed and kept telling me about it being a disgrace that it's going to wrack and ruin.  I think I'd rather enjoy ruins, especially if there were rabbits and other jumpy things living there.  I decided to behave well on my lead today because my human had my favourite toy in her bag and I get it to play with when I'm good.  I suspect she may be trying to bribe me but I don't mind too much because it's a nice bribe.  Not like going to the vet where I have the indignity of getting poked and prodded then only end up with a biscuit.  I think a vet visit is worth at least a new ball.

After we'd walked we got to another hospital but this one was busy and not in wrack and ruin.  Well, I don't think it was but what do I know.  We went to some building with a garden and trees around it but the most exciting bit about the walk there was the squirrel I saw.  I was pulling, jumping...trying anything to let my human know I wanted to go and play with it.  She had other ideas and said no.  One thing about my human is there's no point arguing if she says no because she really means it.  I'll have to work on that.

So this building we went to was really lovely and there was a huge bowl of water waiting for me.  That was a great relief because it was very hot today.  A few humans were sitting at a table, talking as usual because that seems to be all humans ever do.  When they saw me coming they all came to say hello and make a big fuss of me.  My human said I'm antisocial because I mostly wasn't interested in them but I was really just pretending not to be interested.  Under my calm and aloof exterior I was loving all the attention.  I think my human will take me there again because she says it's a very special place.  This is why she says that;

A long time ago there was a lady called Maggie and she wasn't very well.  Maggie wanted to make a special place for humans who are ill to go and be able to talk and have a nice place to sit together and get help or support.  Maggie cared such a lot about getting it right and did design and everything to make it just right.  It's very sad but Maggie died before it was all finished and so she never got to see her special place.  Maggie's husband has been into the special building and he thinks it's brilliant.  The name of the building is Maggie's Centre and it's in Edinburgh but there are others all over the place now, even in Hong Kong which is a very long way away.

My human goes to Maggie's Centre because she isn't very well and the other humans there help her to figure stuff out and they make sure she understands all the hard medical bits.  She told me that Maggie's is not only a special place because of the lady called Maggie but because everyone who goes there is really kind and understanding to each other.  I like it because I get biscuits.

When we were finished meeting all the new humans we had to go on another Bus Contraption to come home.  I was tired after the day of adventures and I decided to lie down and sleep.  After we got home I had some dinner and water and now I'm going off to cuddle down for the night.


PS, my human says I need to share the URL for Maggie's Centre so other people can read about what it is, what it does and a bit more about it.  So I'll oblige - here it is: http://bit.ly/pHVmWd

Duped

Last night I was duped by the human.  She made out that we were going for a run in the park but actually it was a test and we went on a monstrous contraption called a Bus.  Thank goodness we didn't go very far as it was the most unexciting thing I have ever experienced.  Worse even than the chit chat that the humans have with each other.  Anyway, I did get a good run around in an enormous park after getting off the Bus Contraption and that did sort of make up for the indignity of it all.

Today I was taken to a shop to get a new tag for my collar.  The human got her name and phone number written on it which is all fine unless some inferior being thinks that's actually my name.  So if I get lost she'll get a phone call on that noisy thing she carries around everywhere with her.  Really, she treats it as if it's a bone or something actually precious.  Noisy piece of metal rubbish.

It was hot outside this afternoon, I didn't enjoy the walk to the shops very much there was lots of traffic and noise.  No, I like my parks a lot better - even if I do get taken on that Bus Contraption to get to one.  Hopefully the human will realise I don't particularly like going on the Bus and will walk me everywhere instead but I suspect she intends to take me more places on it.

I don't intend to get duped in this way again.  I must restore my superiority before the human thinks she is in charge.

Don't They Know It's Sunday?

I had the human up and awake at 5am this morning.  Unfortunately it was not to play with me but to clean up my vomit in the hall.  She was remarkably calm about it all, I had suspected that she might be somewhat grumpy considering the mess but all she did was put paper over it and take me out to the garden for a bit of fresh air.  Then we went back and had a nice sleep.  I was surprised but she was very kind.

One thing I have noticed about my human is that she doesn't seem to raise her voice, she tells me that she doesn't like noise very much and when we're inside she tells me things in a whisper.  This is new to me but I like it.  I am getting to know the House Rules but of course being of superior intelligence I only need to be told twice.  I have been following her from room to room so that I can keep an eye on her and make sure that she is behaving properly but soon I will let her out of sight for a few minutes.  Once I know she's not going to get locked in the bathroom or something like that.

My main complaint at this point in time is that humans don't seem to understand that Sunday is supposed to be a quiet day of doing nothing, sleeping the time away in peace and quiet.  The only point of being awake is to go out into the garden.  But, I will have my work cut out on this I fear.  I was all nice and settled when the human decides it's time to go for a walk.  A walk!  I ask you, what exactly did she think the purpose of that was going to be?

So, off we trotted, and I tried very hard to show that I remember the "lead manners" she taught me yesterday and she seemed to be very pleased with me.  I still tried to pull her along but I have realised that there may be no point to doing that as she just stands still and waits for me to come back.  She keeps saying "Dante Heel" which is her way of telling me to walk without pulling.  I might not make it obvious yet that I know that.  Anyway, it was so hot outside and I was pleased when we got into a shaded spot.  I stopped to scratch my ear and along came another human.  She had a bunch of flowers with her but I sniffed them and they weren't my type of thing.  The human wanted to pet me and that's all fine but I'm a boy and don't really go in for the mushy stuff.  I let her scratch my head and she told me I'm a handsome boy with lovely eyes.  Well, I know that but it was nice of her to remind me.  My human and that other one started to chat, the way humans do...I sat down and looked as bored as I could to make them talk faster.

Now we are home, its lovely and cool in this room so I'm going off to have a deserved nap.  The human is watching television, some kind of rubbish about nothing in particular.

Honestly, being energetic on a Sunday.  Whatever next.