The death of wubba kong

It is a sad day, wubba kong has been thrown away. I really thought this one was going to last, he managed to stay with me for 4 weeks but then his skin started to look like baggy stretched tights and finally his balls popped out. We have bought another floating kong on a rope, we have had one before but it only floats because of the sponge like bit in the middle of the kong and it doesn't take me long to shake it out. My owner R is on a quest to find the perfect Kai toy which must be on a rope so I can shake it about (and it has to be strong or I will shake it apart); it must float or it will be lost in a lake or in the sea; it can't be too big as it is my job to carry it and it can't be made out of anything that soaks up water or it will be full of muddy water and spit which R says is not good for when she is throwing it. Anyone with knowledge of a toy that fits this criteria may email me with a link.

Gone

So I was walking this morning with crazy saluki (yes Zak is fine now, he is still very bruised but doesn't seem to be in any pain) when he made an unscheduled detour into an adjoining field. Crazy saluki's owner decided to go in to retrieve him as by the looks of his joyous bounding about sniffing rabbit trails and chasing birds, we were otherwise going to be in for a bit of a wait. Unfortunately, crazy saluki did not notice his owner had relocated herself into the field and when he saw she was not where he expected her to be he had a mad panic and streaked off (a saluki flat out running really is something to behold!) down the path. As I have appointed myself crazy saluki's protector I decided to run after him, I know he isn't supposed to to be running off like that. In his panic he went quite far before I was able to bring him back, but as we both ran back round the corner you should have seen the look of relief on our owners faces! I really don't know why they were worried, I always look after crazy saluki. I must admit I do quite enjoy bossing him around AND I was fussed over and given cheese (yum) by crazy saluki's owner for bringing him back.

Zak

An update on my friend Zak: Zak is doing fine, his wounds which looked purple and swollen yesterday are looking much better after only one night and he is back to his usual doggy walks with me. Unfortunately, the dog warden hasn't been much help. She seems to think the fact that this happened right outside the collie's garden gate confuses matters because it was on it's own property when it saw Zak. Is anybody else baffled by this? Zak was on a leash on a public road; the collie ran out of it's garden onto the road and attacked Zak, this did not take place on the collie's property so what is the problem? The warden is going to send them a letter, yes you heard right, a letter. Anyway, Zak is very forgiving and doesn't seem to have been mentally affected by this horrible incident, in fact he seems more bothered by the fact that he accidentally chewed off some of his ear hair yesterday (what can I say, yesterday was not his lucky day) this horrified him beyond belief as he is very proud of his long silky ear hair. These are the trials you face when you have long ear hair and are eating your food, his owner is going to buy him a snood so it doesn't happen again. I have been giggling all day as I have seen the bright yellow snood that he will be wearing at mealtimes!

Attack

It was a horrible day today, my friend Zak (aka crazy saluki) was attacked. It was a completely unprovoked attack, Zak was walking down the road and as he passed its gate a collie came shooting out and attacked him without even stopping to sniff. As it was running over Zak was wagging his tail in anticipation of making a new doggy friend but as it attacked he just cowered on the floor crying and trying to get away. It bit him a few times and at one point had a mouthful of his skin stretched so far out his owner thought he was going to be left with a huge hole in his side. Zak's owner was kicking the collie but it had no effect; the collie's owner came out and had to pull his dog off, after which he turned round without saying anything and went back into his house. Zak lay down on the floor crying while his owner looked him over and a lady from the house came out to see if he was ok. "we always make him wear a muzzle when we walk him" she said, which leads me to believe this is not the first time something like this has happened, yet they had the front door and the gate open allowing the dog to attack. Zak is the sweetest most gentle dog I know, he didn't fight back at all and he was left with horrible bite marks along his side. Both Zak and his owner were left shaking and upset. The stupidity of some people astounds me, this should not have happened and was easily preventable.

AWOL

We were out walking in the forest today when we came across a doberman pinscher with a harness on but no owner. It barked at me a bit and then ran into a garden through a hole in the fence and proceeded to growl and bark some more through said hole. I was a bit nervous about passing the fence as I was attacked quite badly once when I was younger (not by a doberman) and am still a bit wobbly about dogs that I don't know. I (very bravely I thought) walked passed the doberman without a problem, actually I think he was scared of me. A little further down the path a frantic looking young woman came running up, apparently the doberman belonged to her. She had been running around the woods looking for him while he had run home and was sitting in her own garden barking at people through the holey fence! She looked very relieved and set off again at a run. Crazy saluki's owner (I walk every day with crazy saluki as he is my best doggy pal) grinned knowingly; as a saluki owner she is quite used to having 'My dog has gone AWOL' moments!. In fact it is my special job to find crazy saluki when he has disappeared in pursuit of some rabbit hole he wants to try to jam his entire body down. On our way home we met up with the young woman, looking less frantic now with doberman pinscher in tow this time. She explained she hadn't had him for long and he was still young but she had come back out to try again, I hope she managed it this time!

Ticks!

I've had what seems like hundreds of the little chaps on my head (yes my HEAD) today. Seriously R has had her work cut out, "No way, not another one??!!' has been a recurring sentence in our house. Crazy Saluki from next door doesn't seem to get as many; I am beginning to suspect that his owner has been flicking them into my garden.

Bath

Today R decided it was time for a bath. I have to admit, although I live to leap into water (puddles, lakes, I'm not fussy) I'm not really into all that shampoo and conditioner type stuff. I do like to make R happy though so after a few sighs I sat still through it all. My day perked up a bit when the crazy saluki from next door came round and was subjected to the same torture by shampoo. While R and the next door neighbour were busy with crazy saluki (who behaved very well I might add) I took the time to roll about on the floor making sure I hit all the dusty bits which feel the best. Seeing that R was still busy I felt I should have a dig about in the dirt; I think I look quite good with dirty paws, kinda like I'm wearing funky black socks. When she caught sight of me, R seemed a little funny and kept muttering 'Why do I bother?' under her breath, not really sure what all that was about.

Gardening

Today I thought I would help R (my owner) with a bit of gardening. As I didn't have a rake handy I 'borrowed' a large stone from the rockery and helpfully scraped it over the lawn with my paws. Every so often I would pause to dig a hole which I believe helps the lawn to breathe. This was exhausting work in the hot sun so I didn't feel able to make the distance over the garden to the clean water in my dog bowl, instead I drank the old dirty water out of a disused plant pot. Most disappointingly R seemed very unappreciative of my work, I really worry about her sometimes. I decided to abandon my gardening duties after R's negative reaction and spent the rest of the day sunning myself and peeping through the hedge at my friend Zak (the crazy saluki) trying to catch birds.