What is going on??

Did you see a fly?, originally uploaded by Wonder Westie.

Not much to report from Down Under other than a complete whinge about the hot weathe - boy, has it been hot - we have had 7 days of 38-42 degrees (celcius!) and I'm over it. I have to wait until at least 8pm for my evening walk (it's usually 5pm) and even though I've managed three long walks to the river (and a lot of swims) over the weekend, it's not the same. I'm over it. I'm going to whinge about it, I don't care - the Two Legged Ones say 'oh, well, it could be worse' - yes, I know it could, but it doesn't make me feel any better.

And, on top of that, I've heard the Two Legged Ones are going to Melbourne for a short break soon - without me, AGAIN. Boy, am I grumpy today.

On a completely separate note, thank you for your kind comments on Lily. She will be greatly missed and all our thoughts are with Kay.

A very grumpy, fed up woof for now.

Groucho

A sad day

There are no photographs today as we are all very sad. Lily, my first ever buddy, has gone to the big park in the sky. The Two Legged Ones are very sad and so am I - when I was a wee puppy, just new out of the pound, all bouncy and 'energetic' (some would say 'annoying' but I prefer energetic), Lily put up with me - she let me run around, being all 'energetic', she let me eat her food when I went to her house for a doggy date, she even stood by while I dug up her bones and ate them. Lily was a Westie, just like me, although a lot smaller so it was very good of her to let me be so 'annoying'.

When I first moved in with the Two Legged Ones, the She Two Legged One was working from home most of the time, so, every day,around lunch time, we went for a walk with Lily and Kay, Lily's two legged one. I loved those walks - Lily helped me learn to be around other four legged ones and she and I would run, run, bark, sniff, do Westie Rolls together and, I have to say, we looked very cute - two Westies, one big, one small, out and about together! And, often, after our walk, Kay would take me back to her house because she had a big garden, and I would stay with her and Lily all afternoon, eating treats, taking over Lily's bed (well, in fact, the whole house, what with me being the sort of Westie I am!) and Lily took it all with good grace.

I haven't seen Lily for a while, well, not since we moved Down Under, but I always thought she would be there, ready for our walks again, when we moved back to Ireland. We are all very sad and this post is in memory and honour of my wee friend, Lily, who we will miss so much. And it's for Kay as well, as we know she will miss her Lily so very, very much.

Until we meet in the Big Park in the Sky, Lily.

Woof for now.

Groucho

My after dinner ritual

After we come back from a walk in the evening, I often do 'homework' (currently, my homework is learning 'turn' and 'back' - I know how to do them, I'm just pretending I don't so I can get more 'training treats') then, after I have my dinner, I go upstairs:

and I wait for my after dinner treat - apparently I wait impatiently although, in my humble opinion, I believe my expression indicates a very patient Westie:

BUT, if the treat is not thrown up to me in a timely manner (ie when I want it, not when the Two Legged Ones think it's appropriate), I am sometimes forced to become demanding:

Usually, when I adopt the demanding pose, the Two Legged Ones realise the error of their ways and the treat is thrown to me immediately. I let them off if they are a bit tardy - it's not their fault, after all, they are only Two Legged Ones .....

Woof for now.

Groucho

PS I don't have green eyes, don't worry, I haven't some strange disease, it's just the She Two Legged One again - she really doesn't have any idea does try hard to take decent photographs of me but fails dismally has a lot to learn. (edits by said She Two Legged One!)

It's a bit cooler ..... so ....

Well, yesterday afternoon, didn't the sea breeze come howling in (thank goodness!) off the ocean. Oh, we love the sea breeze, the Two Legged Ones and I as it turns a horrible, sticky hot day into a lovely fresh, almost cold day - it's like a huge outdoor air conditioner, sitting right there, in your face. It's just the best thing - without it, summer where I live 'Down Under' would be like Summer back in Dubai! So, in celebration, the Two Legged Ones hurried home from work, collected me and off we went to - well, take a guess - my favourite river - and I had a swim (not at first though as, really, seriously, that sea breeze makes it rather chilly!) and I ran like crazy around the cricket oval. The Two Legged Ones kept saying that I was like a puppy again (in my mind, I still am - I may be 6 years old but I have the mental agility and attitude of a 6 month old!), I was running and doing circle work and I did so many Westie Rolls that I was dizzy. And I met loads of other four legged ones who, like me, said how wonderful it was to have that sea breeze in as we could go for long walks again!

Woof for now.

Groucho

The Jetty

The Jetty, originally uploaded by Wonder Westie.

This is one of my new favourite jetties - now that my other one is supposedly 'No Entry', the Two Legged Ones take me here every once in a while. It's been soooooo hot here the past few days that even a swim hasn't managed to cool me off. The Two Legged Ones make sure I'm as cool as can be but I'm longing for some cold weather!!!

Woof for now.

Groucho

Erik

Erik, originally uploaded by Wonder Westie.

This is my friend Erik. He came to visit last weekend. Unlike Erik, who is exceptionally good at allowing me to 'share' (the Two Legged Ones are snorting and saying that 'share' is hardly the word - 'steal' is more like it!) his treats when I go to his house, I'm afraid that I'm not quite as generous and do tend to sulk a bit when he comes over to play. Usually, I will play a little bit and we follow each other around but I much prefer to go to his house and invade his space! I don't mind him sharing my space, I'm just not as generous as he is! And, in my defence, I was quite pawly on the weekend - I've hurt my left paw and I was a bit out of sorts. But it's fine now so you can imagine the huge run I'm going for tonight!!!

Woof for now.

Groucho

Belle of the Beach

Belle of the Beach, originally uploaded by Wonder Westie.

We visited another beach a few days ago - we go there only sometimes, it's not one of our 'regular' beaches but I love it when we do go as it's great fun, there are loads of new smells and new sculptures as well which the Two Legged Ones love. I usually don't pay much attention as, well, being a four legged one my main interest is the smells on the sculptures, not so much the craftmanship involved but I have to say, I was well impressed with this one. isn't she just lovely?

What I've been doing ....

It's been a busy 10 days or so, what with Christmas and the holidays. I haven't really had much time to tell you all about it - other than the update on my presents, trip to the river etc. More photos below of me enjoying tat river! That's one of my favourite jetties that I'm walking on - there's a sign that says 'No Entry' but I've chosen to ignore it. The Two Legged Ones say it's safe enough for me as I 'only' weigh 12kg (and, again, apparently that's an issue - it isn't you know, I carry the extra 0.5kg very well) but they can't walk out on the jetty any more which is great - I can do what I want.

Well, the biggest thing, other than Christmas (and yes, there was baked ham and I was allowed a tiny bit - and I mean tiny - and it was delicious!) was my trip to the dog-tist on 28th to have my not-so-pearly whites cleaned (ref: My Pearly Whites post below). It went ok - the dog-ter knows all about my dog-ter phobia and cage phobia etc and everyone at the four legged one clinic was very very nice to me. I was a bit groggy afterwards (I didn't even ask to go for a walk!) and the Two Legged Ones were told I would be groggy for most of the next day - humph, they snorted, as if (they had heard this before and refused to be taken in by it again). They were right - I wasn't groggy at all - at 5am the next day, I was doing circle work on the living room carpet (in my defence, there was a crow outside, taunting me - he's been taunting me for weeks and seriously, he's just asking for it - I've about had enough) and I was ready for my walk by 5.30am. And the good news is that now, my gnashers really are pearly white and providing I behave sufficiently toallow the Two Legged Ones to brush my teeth (which is going to be a very, very interesting event - I've smelt the toothpaste - blah, 'beef flavour' my left paw), I won't have to visit the dog-tist again for a long, long time.

So, that took up a few days, then there were all the trips to the river to swim and then there was a bath - I wasn't happy about this, I never am, but apparently I 'stunk'. I'm not quite sure what this means - I don't think I 'stink' and no other four legged one thinks I do. And then, of course, there was all the talk about the colour of the bath water - the She Two Legged One kept going on and on about it being 'filthy'. But, afterwards, I have to (grudgingly) admit, I did feel better and as it was New Year's Eve, I suppose there was no harm in me being white and fluffy for all of, oh, one day. I was out the next day doing Westie Rolls and trying to get rid of the girly shampoo smell!

Well, I'm off to bed now - there are more tales to tell as the He Two Legged One is on holidays and I'm going everywhere with him - today, we collected the She Two Legged One from work so I got to walk around the city and made everyone smile which was great fun. I'll bring you up to speed on my other adventures later.

Woof for now.

Groucho

Truckin'

Truckin', originally uploaded by Wonder Westie.

So, we were out and about the other day, just taking in the sights when we saw this - a wee four legged one seeing Australia through the window of this very cool rig. I'm thinking well, I could do that for a while but I'm not sure I could persuade the Two Legged Ones to buy a purple rig!

Woof for now.

Groucho

More about my Christmas

OK, so now it's on to the important stuff - what did Santa Paws bring me? Given that I have been a very well behaved Westie all year, I was expecting something quite special and special it was - the Two Legged Ones heard about Farfetched Doggie Delites - home baked, made to order treats and, because of my diet of no chicken, no wheat etc, this was great news. The She Two Legged One used to bake my treats but it's a bit harder now that I can't eat chicken, wheat (basically, anything that I used to love really) so she was really happy to find out about Farfetched. I told you in an earlier post that I had sneaked a peak of my present - well, it wasn't really my fault - the two lovely two legged ones, Nina and Liz, who run Farfetched were very kind and hand delivered my Xmas present - but I wasn't allowed to eat any of them until Christmas Day - I got two lollypaws (yum), Pooksies (especially made for four legged ones like me who can't eat wheat etc) and because apparently I need to lose weight (I still dispute this), some Waist Watchers. Delicious!!! Nina and Liz will have a 'live' website soon so you can order on line but in the meantime, if you want to try these amazingly delicious (and healthy - which, in my mind, means I can eat twice as many but well, in the Two Legged Ones' minds, this is not the case. Spoilsports) treats, you can contact them on farfetcheddoggiedelights@gmail.com.

But, really, much as I love presents,the best part of Christmas is being grateful for all the wonderful things I have.

There is a photo of my present below - unfortunately, it doesn't do the treats justice as the She Two Legged One really is quite useless inexperienced with the He Two Legged Ones' camera ......... but trust me, these are some awesome treats.

And by the way, a huge Happy New Year to you all. Here's to a happy, healthy and peaceful 2012.

Woof for now.

Groucho