Oh yes readers I’m in training, serious training for my epic sponsored walk. Yes indeedy your very own Tex (and his mum) will be participating in the Wokingham stage of the ‘Go Walkies for Guide Dogs’ event on Saturday 4th September. I’m really pleased with the amount I’ve raised so I have to make sure I do my sponsors proud! I pretty sure I won’t let them down – it’s about an hour walk so I should be able to manage it! But good training for these things always pays off I find.
It’s been a nice bank holiday weekend, dad gets an extra day off work so the number of tickle opportunities doubles. However, if you can meet up with other people the number of opportunities is endless. We went out on my boat on Saturday afternoon, the plan was to meet up with some fellow members of Bray Cruiser Club and to have a barbecue. Our dinner companions saved us a lovely mooring in Cookham and we all met up for dinner. It was a very nice evening. I wasn’t allowed any of the barbecue (of course) but our guests were unanimous on how cute I am. I find my cuteness factor is directly related to the amount of fuss I can get – so a high cute factor is good in my opinion. I wonder if some clever scientist could work out that correlation – what is Einstein doing these days?
Me on my training walk
On Sunday we went for a looooong walk, and this time I had to climb a hill rather than sticking to the very flat Thames Path. It was a good walk though and when I got back I had a big sleep.
The best place to sleep - under the table!
Then my crew took our boat home. As usual I attracted a fair amount of attention in my life jacket as we cruised along.
Hang dog
BUT I don’t think I’m going to wear it any more – look what they did to this poor chap in his life jacket!! Now mum and dad haven’t hooked me to the top of a tent yet – but now they’ve got the idea I’m worried that they may just try it. I must admit I thought the stunt dog was taking it very well, he didn’t bark or anything!
This chap was at the National Waterways Festival where we went on bank holiday Monday. It was very ‘boaty’. You think they’d get fed up with boats but apparently not!
Anyway we had a good look round and mum and dad bought a few things. Using a plan I had very craftily planned between me and a set of passing Newfoundlands I nearly got to sample one of their purchases.
The Newfie kindly executing my plan...
You see they had just bought some freshly cooked doughnuts. My plan was to get the Newfie to jump into the lake to rescue some daft woman who had also jumped in for some reason. Whilst mum and dad marvelled at the brave dog I took a swipe at the momentarily forgotten doughnut in mum’s hand. Oh how close was I?!
Sadly I was foiled by a man behind who was watching me and made a noise just as my nose brushed against the forbidden fruit (or dough in this case). Alerted to the plan, mum whipped it away and swallowed the lot herself! She’ll pay the price when she’s fat and I’m as slim as a whippet!
So that pretty much sums up our activities this week. Keep your fingers crossed for me as I complete my gruelling ‘training plan’ in preparation for the big event! And mum says keep your fingers crossed it doesn’t rain as she’s sick of getting wet!
Yes me – yes really. We got back from our holidays to the usual pile of junk mail and bills (well mum and dad did – I don’t get junk mail thankfully!). Anyway, in amongst all that stuff was a little red card addressed to me Tex Saunders. It was from the nice postman who’d left me a note to say that he’d tried to deliver two packages for me. Yippee – I’ve not had post here before.
Sooo I sent mum off to the post office to collect said parcels and eagerly awaited her return. Well how lucky am I? Both were birthday presents just for me and birthday cards too.
I am very fortunate that I have a lot of human friends and relatives out there in the world who keep tabs on my progress.
My first parcel - that's a sausage dog's bottom you can see
There’s the Weaver family who looked after me when I was a puppy. They took me lots of places so I’d get used to the sights and sounds of the big world. They also taught me all my good manners. I’m glad they did because my mum says I’m an absolute pleasure to have around and I think that’s good. I should give a special mention to mummy Brenda here because I think she has the biggest claim to me turning out to be a very good boy.
Not content with having done all that for me, they also remember my birthday 🙂 So I got a sausage dog toy, a rawhide bone chew AND a pack of tennis balls (how they knew tennis balls are my favourite thing I just don’t know) from the Weavers. And I got a card which says ‘3 Today’ on it.
Ooooh tug toy...
Then I have mummy Sue who I went to live with when I started my job as a guide dog. Sadly when I changed my career I had to leave her, but she is really kind and she keeps tabs on me on Facebook and my blog AND she sent me birthday presents too. So I got treats, which are yummy but, as with all things edible, they are rationed by mum (I think I should have been allowed to eat them all in one go – well it was my birthday!) and I got a tug toy which is great because I didn’t have one and all dogs should have one I think. So it’s a very welcome addition to my toy box. And I got a card as well which has a 3 badge on it – I was keen to pin it to my chest until mum pointed out that it would hurt and that the RSPCA might get involved if I did – so it’s above my bed instead!
So what with my holiday pressies and my birthday parcels I think I did very well overall and I am a very lucky boy.
All my presents and cards
The rest of the week was quite quiet really. Sadly all good things much come to an end and Dad had to go back to work (which cuts the number of tickle opportunities in half immediately) and then eventually mum went back to work. That’s not so bad as it just means I sleep on a different floor (or in my new office/boat bed which I am really quite fond of) for the day and I can still get tickles from her whenever I like.
There we go – all back to normal now. Hope you had a good week dear reader.
Sorry it’s been a little while since my last post, that’s because I’ve been away on my holidays. As you can imagine it’s been quite a hectic time. For my holiday this year I invited mum and dad to take me away on my boat. There aren’t a lot of destination options on the Thames (it’s either Oxford or London) so we went Oxford way. Here’s what I got up to…
Saturday
Was a hectic day of getting stuff ready for our trip. The bunnies had to go on their holiday (to Winnersh – rabbits don’t ‘do’ boats). And the Guinea Pigs went with them – they went back to their real home while we were away so I won’t be seeing them for a little while now. It was busy, busy, busy in our house – in the activity sense – not the guide dog sense, for my guide dog associated readers who will be panicking by now 😉 But in the end we were ready to go. You understand that I mostly supervised this activity – I do like to help but I tend to get fur in everything (and mum doesn’t trust me to sort out the food).
Sunday
Stopped for lunch day 1
We set off from Bray, boat laden with all the things we’d need for our trip. Things got off to a slightly dodgy start as that boat decided to give up the ghost at Bray lock (about 1 mile from our parking spot) but we decided that this was just a small hiccup and need not affect our holiday plans, so we pressed on to Henley on Thames. We moored up on the famous Regatta reach. I undertook my civic duty to clear as much goose poo as possible off the tow path. Mum didn’t seem too happy about this – possibly as I’d had to visit the vet just days earlier with an upset tummy. She kept mentioning something about the impact on her credit card but I’m sure Henley council will agree that I was just being helpful!
Anyway she can’t have been too annoyed as I was treated to trip to the pub that evening. I didn’t get a pint or anything but I was well behaved and attracted the attention of most of the (very few) punters they had in that evening.
Monday
I wasn’t sure where the planned destination was (I’m not convinced mum and dad did either!). Anyway after a nice cruise we stopped at a place called Moulsford. We moored in the middle of nowhere, next to a nice big field. It was an ideal spot for a good run around. Typical though – you’re in the middle of nowhere when a mad, boating Hungarian Vizsla turns up and wants to play!
Tuesday
When you gotta go...
Oh my goodness what a day! It did rain, and rain and rain. Mum was keen that I stayed inside and kept dry but I had other ideas. I do like to keep check on my crew when we’re in locks and things, so I put on my life jacket and patrolled the decks as usual – we’ll if you have a job to do then…Anyway, we ended up in Abingdon, all very wet and bedraggled.
My back garden in Abingdon
On the up side we found a lovely mooring spot next to a big field. It’s good this boating lark it’s like you get a new back garden every day. Having arrived Mum decided that she and I couldn’t get any wetter so she might as well take me into our new back garden and throw some tennis balls for me so I could stretch my legs. That was fun, flipin wet but fun 🙂 . Anyway then we all dried off and we went to the pub again for dinner (well not my dinner you realise – I’m not allowed steak and chips!)
Wednesday
We decided to stay for 2 nights in Abingdon as it was a nice spot. Today was a very important day as it was my birthday. Yes on Wednesday I was three years old. Mum and dad decided that we’d celebrate with a big long walk. So we went along the Thames Path to a little village and then mum and dad had a pub lunch (do you see a pattern emerging here!) Then we walked back. I enjoyed my walk and managed to root out a tennis ball along the way (sadly it didn’t make it home with me it was rejected – failed Mum’s quality control – but I know where it is!!)
Mum said she’d look on the internet to see if there is a search and rescue organisation I could join – but I’d only be any good at finding lost tennis players, assuming they were carrying a ball when they got lost. But, hey, there are niches to be filled everywhere!
Opening my presents
Anyway, back to my birthday. I did well I think. I got a new bed (which is my boat/office bed) I’d been bonding with that for a few days by the time it was my birthday, it’s very nice and comfy. I also got a new collar and lead and I got a new toy – a Snugga Wubba (!) (now known as flubber – for some reason). Not a bad haul for a three year old I think. I enjoyed trying to unwrap my present on the boat but mum had to help (especially as I found the wrapping paper a bit freaky!)
Thursday
Thursday we headed off to Oxford – this was as far as we could go as there is a particularly low bridge there which Juneau won’t go under because she’s too tall! However, we wanted to go as far as we could, so to Oxford we went. We had lunch out on the patio of a nice Spanish restaurant – and I was very well behaved (mum and dad are sooo proud of me). Then we went for a stroll in Oxford to buy carrot cake. Just like lunch, I didn’t get any! We got back to Juneau just as the rain started – good timing! Mum and I went for a walk later. I got a tickle from a nice man who swore he’d met us before – somehow I doubt it! I got lots of compliments particularly on my nice shiny coat. I think getting drenched on Tuesday helped to ‘shine it up’ a bit, see there’s always a benefit!.
Friday
Well the plan was for us all to go on a walking tour of Oxford but the weather didn’t look great so we (well I say we…) decided to turn around and start the journey home. It was a good choice, by the time we got down river to Benson it was chucking it down. But all was not lost, the advantage of a boating holiday is that you’re always on the Thames Path – lots of good walking opportunities for ones four legged family member – me 🙂 . So off we went, I had a great time bouncing around in the fields, eating grass and generally earning the title of mucky pup. Mum and dad were thrilled – eight very muddy feet got back on that boat later that day!
Saturday
The forecast was not good and for once in their lives they were not wrong. 😦 The problem with the Thames is that it has locks and do you know it ALWAYS rains in locks. And of course you have to stand outside and hold the rope. Well I don’t hold the ropes of course (no thumbs) but I feel I should supervise all lock activity which means that we all got very wet, regularly! We tied up in Pangbourne for lunch and I had a run in Pangbourne meadow. I made some new friends and found a spare sock (yipee) it was quite small and even though it was bright pink mum didn’t notice I’d been carrying it with me until I put it down to eat some grass! (Then it was ‘confiscated’ 😦 ).
After lunch we headed on until the weather was soooo bad by the time we got to Caversham lock that I decided that I’d let my crew deal with the ropes whilst I stayed ‘below’, warm and dry in my favourite place – under the table.
Sunday
Homeward bound…Mum and dad decided that it was time to go home. However, on the way we stopped off to see Debbie and Mark, we went to Debbie’s ‘club’. Well I don’t think it actually belongs to Debbie – I think it belongs to John Lewis but as Debbie is a Partner (sounds posh doesn’t it) we could go and have lunch. It’s verrrrry nice in there.
As ever I wasn’t invited to join in with lunch, however a small child nearby took pity on me and tried to source food for me (recognising that starved Labrador look that only a dog like me can deliver effectively 🙂 ). Unfortunately his idea of a good dog meal and mine differed – he brought me a leaf, a stalk freshly plucked off the carefully tended flower bed and a fuchsia flower (similarly sourced)! Of course mum intervened before I managed to sample any of these delicacies (as I would have done – just to be polite you understand). We decided it was time to leave when he brought me a tissue to try! Why oh why didn’t he come across a spare plate of steak and chips lying on the floor? There is no justice.
Action dog...
Anyway, we headed back to the boat, dad treated me to a game of tennis ball chase (he threw, I chased – one day I’ll surprised him by doing it the other way round!). Then we set off and a couple of hours later we were back in Bray. After a bit of packing up we got into the car (forgotten what one of those was) and came home.
I love the boat but there are advantages to being at home, carpet to rub my fur into, more kibble than you can shake a stick at – still meanly rationed though, my toy box – which I instantly emptied between the kitchen and the lounge.
Finally all that fresh air and exercise got to me and I took the opportunity for a loooooong sleep where I dreamed of boats and ducks and geese and swans and that golden moment of finding a plate of steak and chips just waiting for me on the tow path.
So there you go that was my holiday. Phew it was a long blog post but I knew you’d be eager to hear all about my adventures. My weeks aren’t always that exciting so make the most of this one while you can.
Hello reader, I hope you’ve had a good week. There is a lot to report from here.
Firstly I should introduce the other animal inhabitants of the Saunders household. Of course there’s me, Tex, dog (but I think you know me). In addition I have two lagomorphic friends (that’s rabbits to the uninitiated). Oh yes I have two very cute rabbit companions, Pippin and Willa.
Pippin (L) and Willa (R)
I mention this because this week was a landmark, it was Pippins 6th Birthday. She’s the matriarch of the pet household as she’s been here longest but she’s not always been the healthiest of bunnies so I think mum felt this was quite a milestone. However, I am a bit concerned. I didn’t notice Pippin opening any presents. But then again that do you buy the rabbit who has everything?
So then Pippin has a companion called Willa (he’s a rescue bunny, Mum didn’t give him that daft name!). Willa looks very like my toy bunny, so when I want a laugh I drop my toy rabbit randomly on the patio. This gives mum a fright every time as she thinks it’s Willa flat out in the garden 😆 Pippin and Willa live together. Willa is a very brave bunny and he likes me. Pippin is always a bit more wary but I’ve taught her that not all dogs want to eat her so she has got better as she’s got used to me!
THEN, as if two rabbits weren’t enough to contend with these little chaps came along.
Patch and Tigger
I mentioned my friend Katie came to see us last week. Well the purpose of her visit was to deliver these little boys. Apparently they are called guinea pigs (but they don’t look like pigs to me!)
They are called Patch and Tigger! Patch is quite smooth haired but as you can see Tigger has a riot of hair! So with Pippin, Willa, Patch and Tigger you can see it really is a small, small furry world chez Saunders right now!Anyway, what news of me, it has been an exciting week. On Tuesday we went to training class and it was end of term fun day.
We did musical sits (I was doing quite well until I was nobbled by a dog on the side lines). And musical statues, here I let myself down. You see mum was bribing me with a treat but I got a bit bored with this and jumped up mum to get the kibble (which I never normally do you understand – the temptation just got the better of me), I had to put my paws up and say “I’m out”.
But the big news from the day was ‘the show’. We didn’t know that there was going to be a little fun dog show. This was a novel thing for both of us but in we went (with a bit of trepidation). But I should not have worried, I’m delighted to say that I triumphed in Most Handsome Dog taking first prize. I was thrilled – I won two bags of treats (which mum is eeeking out in a rather stingy fashion I feel). Mum was also thrilled because I also got a red rosette that she thinks is fab (goodness knows why – you can’t eat it!). Anyway I didn’t stop there – I went on to get a respectable fifth in Short Haired dog – and there was some tough competition in there I can tell you.
My rosette haul
So flushed with success we’ll fast forward to the end of the week. I was entertaining on my boat on Saturday. My guests this week were Wendy and Rex. My mum has known Wendy for ages and ages so it was really nice to meet her and Rex.However, I do have to admit to one small faux pas. Temptation got the better of me (again), this time on the tennis ball front. It wasn’t my fault that a big group of people picnicked right near my boat. It wasn’t my fault they decided to play Rounders. It wasn’t my fault they used a nice, bright tennis ball…
Yes you’re getting the picture of what happened next I’m sure.
Whilst mum and dad were sitting relaxing, I got off the boat and joined in the game by nicking the ball Well…I thought they would be thrilled to have a sprightly young Labrador on the team, but apparently not! Maybe because I don’t actually know the rules! 😕
Sadly dad had to come to the rescue by substituting the ball in my mouth (theirs) for one of my foundling tennis balls, drying off the very patient picnicker’s ball (which was a bit slobbery by then) and by making lots of apologies on my behalf! I had to return to the boat under something of a cloud! (It’s OK the cloud soon passed – I’m just too cute really)
So that’s my week – I’m keeping a close eye on my furry friends, looking forward to my impending holiday (and my birthday 🙂 🙂 🙂 )
Tex's Blog 