Cuddles & water

In our last blog post we forgot to tell you about how I woke Molly up on Friday morning. It was about 7.15am & she heard me barking & crying at the front door. She suspected her dad had just left for work but I don't usually make a fuss like that. She had to come down & get me so I didn't wake her mum up. Molly later discovered that her dad had popped back to put the bin out but hadn't come into the house. So I'd seen him outside & got upset that he didn't come in to see me! After that Molly tried to get back to sleep but I started barking in the garden. It wasn't my fault though, I heard another dog barking first so of course I had to reply!

On Friday I helped Molly's mum in the garden by chewing up some plastic plant pots amongst other things. Molly's mum also helped me show Molly how I like to drink from the hosepipe - Molly said she really doesn't understand my complicated relationship with water! I did a fantastic "leave it" with a dead bee I found, Molly was impressed! And we did some more "stay" practise in the house & garden as Molly had some chicken to use up, yum yum!

That evening Molly's dad took me out for a walk to the playing fields. I'm usually too independent for cuddles but I knew Molly needed some that night so I snuggled up to her in bed which she said made her feel loved <3

Yesterday morning Molly's older brother called round. I'd not seen him for weeks so got a bit too excited & silly so had to be shut out of the living room til I calmed down. Humph!

Me & Molly had a great local walk early that afternoon. I did a few things that made Molly proud of me - I didn't bark at or try to get to another dog we saw while Molly distracted me with food, I completely ignored three adult cyclists (although I did want to play with some children we saw on bicycles), I did some great "stay"s in a new location & when I came across a horse I only looked - I didn't bark or try to get to it.

When we walked past a house belonging to a friend of Molly's I kept stopping because I remembered & wanted to visit her. That made Molly laugh.

Molly said I'm doing really well but we still need to work on some things - my recalls were hit & miss, she had to drag me away from a couple of dead things I found ("leave it" doesn't work with any kind of meat - it's too valuable) & I refused to get onto the grass verge when a car came along the road because the grass was wet! You can't blame me for that! We set out in light rain but about half way through our walk it got really heavy. I don't like rain, it's too wet! Then to make things worse, just after I'd dried off at home, Molly & her younger brother insisted on washing me so I got wet again! I'm not allowed in the new bath in case I scratch it so they washed me in the old bath in the garden! I was much calmer though & didn't object too much. After that Molly groomed me (& brushed my teeth) so I'm all fluffy now & apparently I smell much better. I disagree though & intend to find some poo to roll in as soon as I can!

My beard is also completely knot free for the first time in a while thanks to detangler, a special brush, scissors, lots of patience from Molly & lots of food to bribe me! Molly says she's going to try to brush it more frequently now to stop it getting so matted again.

Molly bought a bulk order of liver paste a few days ago because I responded so well to it in training. I changed my mind yesterday though & don't really like it any more. Molly isn't very happy, oops! She's hoping I might change my mind again because she's got 12 tubes of it! We'll see...

Molly's cousin left yesterday afternoon, I think I'm going to miss her.

Today I spent most of the day with some of Molly's friends while her & her Mum went out. I was well behaved & had lots of fun playing with the children & another dog. I've been exhausted since I got back but did find a little bit of energy to welcome Molly home.