The life and times of an English Airedale Terrier puppy

Thursday, May 31, 2007

Gardening and Grooming

Phew, I think I have finally recovered from all my barkday pawtying! That was quite a day as I'm sure you could tell from all the photos and videos on my last post. I wish I could have a barkday more than once a year!

Anyway, as you may have heard me mention, the weather here has been really showery for about a week now. It can be blue skies on minute, then the rain clouds roll in really fast and the rain is torrential. It's very frustrating, and me and mum have got soaked through a few times this week after setting of for a walk when it seemed like a perfect May day only to be caught in the middle of the fields in a deluge!

Due to all the rain and sunshine, the garden is going crazy! When we moved in, mum and dad thought this vine was dead and almost pulled it out. The next door neighbour said it did grow so they decided to leave it until spring and see what happened. Oh, it grew alright! You can practically see it growing it's so voracious. Like any good son, I thought I would help out with a little pruning so that it does not take over the garden altogether. Also, I like to be able to see
though the fence as I like playing the "run up and down the fence game" with the little boy next door. I think you can guess the rules! We both love that game! I don't bark, I just love dashing back and forth with him.

I thought I'd clear all the bits that were encroaching my view through the fence. Can you see my pee pee spots on the grass, whoops!

I didn't realise sneaky mum the paparazzi photographer was sneaking up on me, grr. I was only trying to be helpful, honest! And don't worry pups, mum knows that this plant isn't a harmful one.



Well, after all that gardening I was pretty tired, so I decided to have 40 winks. Find a comfy spot and relax, ahhhh. I know it's a bit selfish to block the doorway, but when you've got to snooze, you've got to snooze, am I right or am I right?

I can't believe mum was poking the camera right in my face while I was dreaming. Thank doG it was daytime and she didn't use the flash or it would have been a rude awakening. Mum said I was making really funny noises while I was asleep, kind of whimpering sounds and twitching my front feet. That made sense when she told me as I was dreaming about catching a rabbit after reading about Simba's attempt the other day!

When I woke up all refreshed I soon wished I hadn't, as I was whisked upstairs to have a bath. Apparently the "eau de pond weed" from my birthday dip was not appealing to the hoomans. Charming.

So I was dumped unceremoniously in the bathtub. Is that any way to treat a birthday boy I ask you? At least this time the photos are more flattering that that scary swamp monster one I showed you the other day!

Look how scrawny my legs look when I'm wet! I don't love having a bath but I do behave pretty well. I will stay put while I am hosed, and I quite like the shampoo going on as we have a rubber mitt things with bobbles on that massages me while it shampoos. But the best bit is trying to get a good shake going on once we're finished before mum or dad can get me towelled off!

Luckily these were the only photos as it got pretty steamy and mum didn't want the camera to break. I wouldn't have minded!

Once out, it was time for a good old "Aire-dry". I stole a sock while I was upstairs (every cloud has a silver lining!), so that's what I have and what goes down the side of the couch. It kind of put me off my crazy drying procedure at first, but I soon got back into the swing of things!



After my busy day I was ready for some R & R, so I sat on the sofa and watched some Animal Planet channel. Mum keeps telling me that this is not how you sit on the couch, but I don't see what's wrong with it!

Licks

Oscar x

Tuesday, May 29, 2007

Birthday Boy

Hello everyone! Wow, thanks so much for all the lovely birthday messages and good wishes! I'm sorry it has taken until now to tell you all about my exciting day, but I was so busy having fun and then in the evening I literally collapsed on the couch and could not be moved for love nor money (well, food actually!). I had such a fabby day - being 1 is great!

When I got up this morning there was a HUGE pile of packages and parcels on the table and mum and dad said they were all for me!!! I am such a lucky boy!

Lots of parcel ripping action quickly ensured!

Mum had sneaked a peek in the envelopes I think, as all the cards were safely removed before I got my teeth on them, hehehe!

Oh it was such good fun pulling the envelopes to bits that at times I almost forgot that there were actual goodies lurking inside!

I found wedging the parcels under the furniture worked well to stop them scooting all over the place on the stoopid wooden floor.

Anyhow, I have lots of thanks to do, so I better get on with it. The first parcel I opened was from my Faya! Well...I tried and tried to open it but it was really tricky...



It smelt so good and I wanted to get the box open. Mum eventually helped me and look what was inside! A seriously HUGE cuddly bird, some tripe treats, some cheesy treats and a beautiful photo of Faya with lots of kisses on it!

I had a good sniff. There was a lovely aroma of Faya, tripe sticks and cheese treats, hehehe!

Dad let me try one if the tripe treats. They looked really hard and dad thought it would last me for a while. Here is dad asking me to wait nicely for it.

Well, chomp chomp and it was gone, so it didn't really keep me quiet for long. It was very tasty though! Right, next...

I had a good chew on the birdy. The white fluffy hair on his head was particularly attractive, even more so than the eye balls which as you know are normally my first target!



Ah little birdy, I hope I can look after you as well as Faya looks after M le cochon (Mr Pig) that I sent her for her barkday.

Merci Faya pour mes cadeaux fantastiques! Je t'adore ma belle!

I also had a package from Boo all the way from Malaysia! He had made me a cool card with a picture of me in my Doggles on the front. There were 2 different packets of yummy treats and a cute bookmark for mum. Thank you soooo much Boo, what lovely gifts!

I also got a package from Girl Girl in Singapore. Look, I got a very cool bandanna and a Garfield card! Mum really likes Garfield so she was impressed with that. You can see me wearing my bandanna is some videos further down. Thank you Girl Girl, and I'm glad you liked your pizza and sign too!

And here's yet another parcel from Singapore! This one arrived a few weeks ago so I have been very patiently waiting to open it. It's from Boy and Baby! It's a Petstages chew/tuggy toy and I really love it!

All the different textures feel nice on my teeth to chew on. I seem to be going through another phase of needing to chew at the moment, so this will be very handy. Mum says my adult teeth are settling into place. This toy is also really strong, so great for playing tuggeeeeeeee!

Look at my teethies! You should see how HUGE the back ones are! I hope they stay nice and white.

Next up I opened the parcel from Simba! I wasn't tiring of opening stuff at all and was zooming all over the house like a crazy as I was so excited about all my new toys and treats! Mmmm, Simba, you may notice that the original blue ball isn't on the rope any more. Well I played and played with this toy yesterday and the tennis ball came apart at the seams. I was really sad as I was having so much fun with this toy, so clever dad put one of my rubbery balls on the rope instead, cool! Thank you for my pressies Simba!

Here I am opening Simba present. You can see that although I love my Kong squeaky ring and REALLY love the ball on a rope, I knew there were treats further in the envelope and was on a mission to get to them!



And here I am playing with the original ball on a rope before my big old jaw wore it out. We have a pink toy the same as this at obedience class and I always choose it for retrieve. Now I have a macho blue one all of my own!



Can you believe there are still more presents! Next was a parcel from Putter! Look at the cool card. I am trying to learn to balance a treat on my nose then toss it into my mouth like this doggy. I got a HUGE Kong squeaky ring. Cool! This will be great to take to the lake when I go swimming. There were also 2 very fancy bandannas! You all know how I love my neckerchiefs so I was very impressed! Thank you Putter!

Here I am opening Putter's parcel. I am sorry if I kind of tossed the presents out there Putter, but your padded envelope was great fun to tear up, hehehe!


Here I am modelling one of the bandannas. What do you think? I think it goes great with my black and tan! You may also spot that I am wearing a new tag. I'll tell you about that in a minute!

Nearly there! Next was a parcel from Sunshade and Jaffa! There was a pretty pop up card, a rope toy in the shape of a doggie, some truly yummy peanut butter and kelp treats and a tag.

Mum found it hard to take a photo of the tag which did it justice as it's really beautiful. On one side is a etched photo of yours truly.

And on the reverse is a message from Sunshade and Jaffa to wish me a Happy 1st Birthday! Isn't it cool?

The rope doggy is really good to chew on.

Oh little blue doggy, I will try and be gentle with you I promise, but you're just so good to gnaw!


When I checked my pee mail yesterday I had this really pretty e-card from Ruby Bleu. She even manages to look good with a silly party hat on and a whistle thingy in her mouth! Thank you Ruby!

I also got a very funny card from Billy Boo! The punchline on the inside is "But it turns out, they're not very good at knitting!" Thanks for giving us a good chuckle Billy!

Here are all my cards! I was very good and none of them have any teethie marks in them!

Last but not least, here are my presents from mum and dad. Mum thought there were cool as the all had a cowboy/sheriff there, and I am called "Sherifs Sundance Kid", cool hey?

I like the cowboy horsie best. He still has his eyes, amazingly. I think I got so many toys yesterday that I was too busy playing with lots of different things to give him my full attention, lucky for him.



I'll report in a few days to let you know whether he needs a guide dog!

Can you tell how much I really wanted to pose for this photo?! I just wanted to got on and play!


Once I had opened all my presents, played with the toys, sampled the treats and remembered to have some food, dad put me in my car harness and we set of in the car. I soon realised we were going to my favourite walkie spot, Nightingale Wood! As soon as we turned up the road that leads to the woods I started making my silly squeaky noises and peering out of the car windows!

As it had been raining on and off all day I think a lot of people had stayed home, so we had the woods pretty much to ourselves. I did meet a couple of dogs, but no-one who was really fun to play with. Ah well, I still had fun!



There were lots of good smells but I didn't spot anything exciting to chase. It was fun running through the long grass feeling it tickling my tummy!

We have not been here for a couple of months and it looked so different now all the grass, shrubs and undergrowth have grown over the Spring. It made it more exciting to run around now the woods are more dense.

As I was the birthday boy, mum and dad let me go into the really stinky pond, yes!



As you will see on the video, I got a good sticky out of the water, yummy yum yum!

Once we got home and I'd had my dinner, a birthday phone call from my brother Fergus and a bit more of a play with my toys, I flopped on the sofa for the rest of the evening as I was completely exhausted!

Being 1 was so much fun! Thank you for my gifts, cards and lovely messages. You made it a very special day for me.


Licks
Oscar x

Monday, May 28, 2007

Oscar Fact Overload (7 Things You Never Needed To Know!)

So I got tagged by the lovely Sitka to tell you 7 previously unknown facts about me. OK, let me see...

1. I love having the inside of my ears rubbed (especially by dad) and will groan loudly with pleasure while it is being done.

2. I love my cat sister Flakes more then she loves me. She likes nothing more than swiping my nose. To me, that's not a fun game!

3. When I was little I really used to love eating gross stuff- cigarette ends, slugs and dirty tissues were particular favourites.

4. There is a gate on our stairs so I can't go upstairs. I don't care how many times people go up and down the stairs in the morning or during the day, or even at bedtime, but go up there in the evening and if I see you I'll stand at the bottom and whimper like a baby.

5. I have just learned how to howl - arooooo! I treated mum to an impromptu concert the other evening while she was watching that bit in "Moulin Rouge" where Ewan McGregor and Nicole Kidman are singing their medley. Weirdly, I don't think my sing-a-long was appreciated!

6. I am greedy, and even though lots of things disagree with my tummy, I will still try and eat almost any food. The only thing I have ever tried and didn't like was kidney. Yuck, I would barely even sniff it let alone eat it.

7. Today it's my barkday and I am 1 - yeah I guess you all knew that actually but I'm so excited!!! I'll post to tell you all about my day later on!

I'm pretty sure lots of you have been tagged, so let's wait for the next tag game as there have been some great ones the last week or two!

Licks
Oscar x

Friday, May 25, 2007

Boyz In Da 'Hood

...Or one boy in his hoodie!

Alright? Check it out! Do I look mean and moody in my hoodie? I'm trying out my mean moody teenager look (well, I am nearly 1 now, so surely that qualifies me as a teenger in hooman terms, right?).

Do I look any meaner if I show you my teeth?

How about if I put my Doggles on? Do I look like I should be hanging out on the mean streets of Swindon with my crew?

I think to look cooler I should wear them on my head.

I am practicing my bad boy swagger so I can cruise down the street with my homies.

And my mean "Am I bovvered" stare.

Here I am eating my Scooby Snacks, hehehe.



Noooooooooooooooooooooo. Thanks mum, street cred right out of the window!

This is so not a cool look! Take my hood down mum!

Ah well, guess I better just stick to what I know best - being cute!

Have a great weekend everyone. It's my barkday weekend! I will be 1 year old on Monday and I'm soooo excited! Mum and dad even have the day off in my honour (OK, OK, so it just happens to be a Bank Holiday here in the UK, but it's still pretty cool that we can all spend the day together!).

Oh, and the winning look-a-like was Einstein. You guy! I'm so honoured (even if it was the goofiest photo EVER of Albert)!

Licks

Oscar x