Puppy Tales

Everyone has been so impressed with Aoife's puppy pictures that I thought maybe I should let them see I was pretty cute too not that long ago. I came to live here last summer from Essex. We are all from different parts of the UK: Alfie Crybbe is from Renfrew in Scotland; Kaska is from Hartlepool and Aoife is from Hertfordshire. Anyway back to my puppy pics:

This was taken on the day I arrived here.

This is me in my favourite bed.

And this is me helping Kaska guard the back door. I have grown up quite a bit since then!

And this one was when I was nearly old enough to be schnauzer groomed for the first time - my hair is a bit long I suppose. Can you see Isadora the hen in the background. She keeps escaping from the hen run and digging out the plants in the borders - Leigh & Judith have to catch her and put her back. I keep well out of the way though those hens are pretty scary if you get too close - all beaks and claws. Anyway I will try and get Leigh to take some pictures of where we live for next time.

Aoife settling in

Well that tiny pup has a great big personality - AND she thinks she is top dog after Alfie C! Here are some pictures so you know what I mean:

Not content with keeping all the toys she thinks she might play with my tail...

jump on my head!..

and then have the sun bed cushion all to herself.
She can be quite rough with me when she plays but I don't like to tell her off 'cos she's so small. Alfie Crybbe doesn't mind telling her what for though if she tries anything with him. Leigh has to step in to rescue me when Aoife gets too much and take my tail or my beard out of her teeth. She says Alfie was like that when he was a pup only he used to trouble poor Kaska. Leigh says schnauzers are really soft-hearted - and affenpinschers just like to be top dog. I do like playing chase games with her though - she can run very fast.

Selby Game Fair

Yesterday little Aoife was sleeping so Leigh & Judith said I could go with them to Selby Game Fair to make up for missing a day out on my birthday. There were so many dogs there - and other creatures - we went into a big tent and it had cages with hens and cockerels, ducks and geese and strange turkeys.. and a pen with 4 pigs! I just couldn't believe my eyes - especially when I saw the sheep with little monkey jockeys on their backs as well! They had a notice saying they were going in for the Lamb National? Anyway I could smell lots of food about but I wasn't getting any so I hunted out some chips for myself that someone had dropped while Judith & Leigh were watching the working dogs. Then we were looking for a harness for Aoife - the breeder had said she could have a ferret harness while she is so tiny - ha ha she wasn't taking account of her fat little tummy. When we got the harness home it wouldn't go round her middle at all. She will have to grow a bit and get a proper dog harness. Anyway here are a few more pictures of Aoife making herself at home with our toys:

Keep away - these are mine..

I'll just sit on them to make sure no-one else can get them.

Maybe if I sleep in the toy basket I can keep them all to myself.

Birthday and Banshee!

Well it was my first birthday on Friday - they told me it was called Good Friday but it wasn't so good as Leigh was ill with a migraine and I couldn't blog or do much special at all! I did help Judith plant some potatoes though and had some games in the garden. And I have got a brand new rainbow collar:

Alfie Crybbe is getting a bit better now although he can still be a bit grouchy and he was not impressed with getting a new sister - yes we have a new arrival. Her full name is Orlock Baobhan Sith (pronounced bahvanshee) which is Gaelic for a banshee! We are going to call her Aoife (pronounced Ee-fa) which is plenty long enough for such a tiny pup. She really scared me when she came bouncing about like a little furry black jumping bean!

This is me and Alfie Crybbe checking her out - and this is her when Leigh was holding her tight:

She looks quite sweet I suppose but I think she may be planning trouble. She has already tried to take Alfie's octopus toy and my special furry ball when she has a a whole bag of puppy toys for herself! We'll have to see how it goes.

Poor Alfie Crybbe

Poor Alfie Crybbe - I was making fun of him and now he's really not well. He had to go to the vets twice and yesterday they wanted to look at his pad with a sharp needle so they took him in and sedated him first - but they used too much sedative and when he came home yesterday he was so-o tired and groggy he could hardly move. He's still not very good today either and is sleeping even though it's a lovely day.
They said he must have got a thorn or something in his pad and now it's all swelled up in a lump so he has to have medication to fight infection and take away the pain - I hope he gets better soon so we can run up and down the garden again.

Baby on the way!

Scary news on Friday - we may be getting a new arrival here. They have told me a baby sister is arriving - an affenpinscher sister - oh no..will she be as bossy as Alfie Crybbe? She will be coming next Saturday so I will keep you posted when she arrives. Alfie has a strange lump on his toe and has had to go to the vets twice - they don't seem to know what it is but he has to stop licking it  - he has to wear a little orange boot now to keep it dry. I don't think he's too happy - he is putting on a great dramatic performance of a wounded dog and hobbling even though he doesn't have to. When he forgets he walks fine.

Kaska has been out and about checking all the boundaries for us - he thinks that's his job and he barks very loudly if he can hear or smell anything suspicious - or even if he can't.

Cherry blossom time

Thought I had better get back to updating our news. So much has been happening. The cherry blossom came out overnight on the tree but after a day the winds were beginning to blow it down - which pleased the hens as they love eating it!

As well as all the flowers coming up there are peas and onions growing in the vegetable plot and tadpoles swimming around in the pond. I have tried to catch them but no luck! There are butterflies everywhere now. Leigh saw some holly blues the other day and tried to get a picture of them with her phone - they move so quickly they are hard to see:

I have been going to some more shows and have got two more rosettes for third place - yellow like the daffodils. Alfie thinks I should be trying harder to get first - he says I'm too bouncy but it's hard to keep still for ages when there's so much going on. When we came back from the show at the weekend I heard funny noises coming from the chimney. Too early for Father Christmas I thought but someone was trying to get down - or up! Leigh & Judith had to investigate and after a while a very sooty bird flew out into the sitting room - there was soot everywhere. Luckily Leigh caught the bird and took it out into the garden and it flew away safely. Anyway - good news about the conservatory - it is just about finished now - and there are chairs and a table in there now so I can lie in the sun without any cold winds - it's like being in the garden only better for snoozing:

You can just about see me on the sofa. Here is a better picture of me:

At least I've got the sofa to myself - Kaska can't get up because of his bad legs and Alfie 's not keen on jumping this high - lucky me!