I didn’t tell about the interesting but not very tasty thing I found last week... well, Kate and Nigel went out and Kate left the door open to the kitchen. She also left a cupboard door open.  He he he... I found an interesting tub with some white mushy stuff inside.  Apparently they call it White Wizard and it is used for cleaning cooker tops. Anyway I took it back to my bed in the hall and trid to eat it.  Not impressed. I managed to get it out of the tub and onto the floor in a white mushy blob.  I then proceeded to thoroughly chew the container and the lid.  Lovely!

Today I went to dog training again.  Its lovely fun to meet lots of new dogs and have lots of things to smell. I did sit really well, but was far more interested in all the lovely friends. Red ball and treats are so boring in comparison. Kate handled me this time.  They are apparently taking it in turns. I tried to pull her over but I couldn’t.  A man advised her on the best way to hold me.  I was not best pleased.

Today I also discovered that I have a friend in one of the glass fronted cupboards.  She looks really pretty but is very quiet, even when I bark at her.  She can bark silently, which is really interesting.  Kate calls her ‘Reflection’, which I think is a really strange name for a dog. She wanted to play whenever I did but couldn’t get out of the cupboard.  I don’t think she was even trying, so eventually I gave up and left her.  I check back periodically and she is still there.

Today was my first day at puppy training. I really enjoyed it and was not keen to return to the car at the end of the session.  So many puppies to greet, so little opportunity at the end of a lead.

I was asked to train Nigel and I lunged at everything, just to check out his strength.  He did fail on one occasion where I managed to pull him over and release myself from his grip so that I could socialise with a very pretty yorkie next to me, but generally he did quite well. I lunged at everyone, and all the other dogs, with half a minute or so in between to give Nigel a chance to give me a treat.  At this rate I am going to get quite fat. I think I spent a lot of the time on my back legs at full stretch of the lead.

There were several small terriers, a tiny black poodle and a hairy something or other who was the same size as me but not so bouncy.  He was wearing a type of harness; I hope Nigel and Kate didn’t notice it.

The training lady was very kind and showed me how to walk nicely on a lead, Nigel and Kate have yet to get the hang of it, and I am not going to make it easy for them...

We had to do ‘sit’, ‘down’ and ‘stand’. I am great with Sit, if there is a treat involved.  Down is being worked on, and I have no idea about Stand yet.  We also did ‘Leave It.’  Not so keen on that one as it involves ignoring biscuits.  Tricky.

We are going back next week and I will show them how well I have Nigel trained.  I am working towards the Kennel Club Good Dog Citizen Awards.  I am so proud of myself, and very tired.

I only wanted to help in the gardens as I saw Kate doing at the weekend.  They had kindly left the door open this morning so that Daisy and I could enjoy the spring sunshine.  I had a close look at one of the pots. I thought there was parsley growing in it, but I’m not very good at plant identification. I find the best thing to do is have a good dig, get the plant out by the root, chew it to pieces and check the flavour.  I was right, it was parsley.  Afterwards I did notice that there was a lot of soil all over the paving. Very messy.  Someone really should clear that up.

Later I tried to sneak a shell from the top of another pot into the house so that I could chew it in the comfort of my bed, but I was spotted and my cunning plan was foiled.

Nigel took the other two for a walk without me this afternoon. I thought that was a bit mean.  Anyway, Kate got ready to take me into the tennis court and I shot out of the door, round the side of the cottage and my luck was in: Nigel hadn’t shut the side gate or the gate to the main gardens... I was out and away.  Actually, I got a bit distracted by the group of Berkeleys and their dogs who were gathered by the peacocks. A great game of catch ensued, with me playing with Charles Berkeley’s dog Jarvis, the cocker and Mr Berkeley’s black lab Milly.  We really enjoyed ourselves, but eventually I was caught.  Someone in the party thought I was an Australian Cattle Dog.  Maybe I will change my birth certificate as it sounds better than Lab cross.

I again put in a request for a lovely new pink collar and what do I get?  A bright red webbing collar. Pah.  I would have preferred a pale peach, lilac or even a smart burgundy at a push, but red. It is so passé.

That's done the trick. Nigel made a mistake and tied the rope round my collar instead of to the D ring on the collar.  I took full advantage of this mistake, made sure the rope got pulled really tight, and Bob’s your uncle... the collar snapped.  Cheap tack.  I am now sporting a rather worn, red collar belonging to Daisy.

I am not impressed.  They came back from shopping with a new collar. Granted it is leather but it is so black. Black is not my best colour, it does nothing to bring out the highlights in my eyes. I will see what I can do about that....

Today my strength took a severe bashing.  I was running wildly in the field with the rope and watering can bouncing along behind me.  the wind caught the can and blew it round behind Nigel where it caught between his legs.  He got bashed but I nearly got strangled.  Thankfully I am made of tougher stuff.  I just broke my collar buckle and carried on.   The collar is now useless so I am looking forward to a new  trendy accessory. I am trying to put in a request for a pretty pink collar with perhaps a sprinkling of rhinestones. They don’t seem to be listening.

It was quite cold this evening but lovely and warm in front of the fire in the lounge.  Suddenly I had a brilliant idea....  I went into the hall, collected my bed mat and dragged it into the lounge in front of the fire.  After I had given the bed a good rearrange, I was able to settle down comfortably in the warm. Lovely.