NWESSR

Well hoomans,   Today is a good day as the hoomans have told me it is my 'Gotcha Day' which means I have been at the madhouse for one whole hooman year. This is amazing as when I came the vet people thought I may only stick around a short while due to my poorly ticker. But I am enjoying myself so much being a real Springer that I am still here. I am a good chap and take my many medications twice a day with no fuss and often a little pate or cream cheese! For my Gotcha day walk we went to the woods and river - we all played fetch in the water, except Stanley who is a funny spaniel 'cos he does not like the water.

Ellie is the coolest at getting the ball, Edgar is the loudest , he gets soooo excited, Hilda is a bit rubbish at catching but she is my Princess so I don't care and I am pretty good and sometimes get the ball from Ellie if I am very quick. Gladys likes the water but she is very small  with only three good legs, so stays on the edge sometimes and pushes us all back in to entertain herself and then steals the ball!..

I have been very busy as always. Last week the Lady dog could not speak to us as she lost her hooman voice - I thought it was a bit careless of her and wonder where she put it. Anyway, she could still speak with us without talking, as we can follow the whistle and her body movements. Stanley was very clever as he won an agility competition with lady dog when she could not even speak to him! I still love jumping and tunnels and obstacles. I am very fast and think I will give those collie dogs bit of competition. Lady dog has not entered me into any events yet as we are still working on lots of skills. She has to be careful of my little cough when we train as sometimes I get a bit over excited so then she makes me rest and lie still for a while. I am going to see the vet person next week for my annual jabs and a thing called a booster against a very nasty dog illness called kennel cough. At the same time I have to have my man chip renewed - no fish again but the chip will stop my manley bits getting  in the way of my fun life! I like the vet place as we gets loads of treats and cuddles. There is a visitor next door - not sure if it is a real dog as it is very small - I heard the hoomans say it was a puppy and made from a thing called a terrier. I have not met him yet but he played a bit with Gladys and Edgar who said he was cool!

Anyway, as it is my Gotcha evening the Big Dog is cooking us some ears from pigs and other yummy dog things so I am going for a quick snooze before the feast begins.

Woof again soon,

Lots of licks,
AlfrED
X
Here I am enjoying my Gotcha day fun, racing with Miss Gladys and resting with my Princess Hilda

Woof woof hoomans,

Very sorry I am late again with my blog entry. My hoomans have been busy looking after me as you will see and have only just got around to telling you all about it.

There was a thing the hoomans called Christmas. This was really fun as loads of people gave them pretty boxes for us dogs which had loads of toys and treats in. I did hear the hoomans say it was funny that we got more treats than they did, but I did see the man hooman drinking lots of the stuff he calls beer and the lady hooman made a thing she called a ‘snowball’ which we all had some of. We also had lots of a thing called Turkey – I think this is like the birds that live by us called chickens, but bigger and it was not running around anymore!

Anyway, soon after the Christmas time was gone, the strangest thing happened. Loads of white stuff fell from the sky into our garden and everywhere else. It was very cold on our pads but we ran around, jumping in it and screeching around the fields. We ended up with things on our legs which the lady hooman also called snowballs, but this time we did not get to drink them! I liked the white stuff, me and Gladys ran like nutcases, we lost sight of Edgar ‘cos he is white like the snow. Stanley and Ellie were very cool about it because they said they are now grown up and have seen it all before! It lasted a long time and we skidded and slipped but we were very careful. Now it is gone, I wonder where it went?

I have been every week to the event the hoomans call ‘shooting’. I love this because although I stay in the van when Ellie and Hilda go out to find the birds and make them fly, I get to wander around the yard and smell all the birds and guns and run in the fields too. Gladys has been out to find the birds but is just learning how to do it properly and Edgar is now in school again because the lady hooman said he was naughty and did not come back when she said because he was having too much fun finding the birds – I don’t think that is the idea of the game! Talking of games, I am still enjoying my agility game with the lady hooman. She promised to teach me how to do the pole things she calls weaves by Christmas. Well, I worked very hard and can now do 4 in a row very very fast. Sometimes I am too fast and forget the first one but then I give myself a talking to and get it right. I am now adding another set of two poles so will soon be whizzing by 6 poles and then the world is my weave. Stanley is clever, he does 12 all the time, from loads of different ways so I am going to do that and when I do I will be faster than him. It is good because we get loads of treats or toys when we play agility to show us when we get it right. I love jumping and running and tunnels, almost more than the toys or treats!

Just as my practice was going well, I got a bit of a bad tummy, not sure how as none of the other had anything wrong. I did not feel very good and so I didn’t want to eat anything. I was still having my medications and lots to drink but my hoomans got very worried as I did not get better after two days like the vet person said I would. They took me to see the vet person and they said I was very hot which is why I did not want to eat and that my poorly heart probably meant my body could not fight the infection I had caught somehow. The vet person said they would try something they call anti-biotics but if they did not work then the hoomans would have to decide what to do as I was very poorly. They put a sharp thing in my neck and then the hoomans gave me some tablets and I felt much better very quickly. I was soon making up for the days of food I had missed. The hoomans keep doing a strange thing though, by looking at my poo. They say it is to make sure I am now fine since the tablets have finished – I am not so sure! The vet person says I am a walking miracle as my heart is so poorly and that I probably cannot fight any other problems but I know my hoomans will look after me and if I get even a tiny bit poorly again they will give me the tablets straight away. I am now back to bouncing around with all the others and in my proper bed in the kennel usually cuddled up with Hilda who is my Princess.

Hope to catch up again soon,

Woof woof,

AlfrED X

Dear NWESSR peeps,

Sorry I have been away for a while - TBH it has been so hectic at the madhouse that I have only just had time to put paw to pen. We have been busy with the hoomans going to a thing where the hoomans try to make the birds fall out of the sky by pointing a big loud thing at them once the clever dogs have made them fly. I have only been to watch so far as I get very excited and my Mum says I cannot let my cough start. But I enjoy wandering around and seeing all the birds and smelling the smells. I don't worry at all about the loud bangs. My lady Miss Hilda, she goes out and finds the birds for the hoomans and so does Miss Ellie and Master Edgar. Then at the end they bring us some back and after a while the Big Dog takes all the feathers out and cooks us them for our tea. They are really scummy with a dash of garlic!

I am doing really well in the game we call agility. I am a good jumper and I love running through the tunnel. My Mum is teaching me how to do something we call the weave poles. I like to run very fast, it is my favourite thing, so sometimes I get it a bit wrong but I always get to have another go. I am still not keen on dogs running fast into my space and sometimes I see them off but my Mum is helping me work on it so I can just ignore them. When I do, I get loads of lovely treats. I always ignore my own pack even when we run fast together, I just don't like the dogs who I don't know and sometimes my Mum says they are rude to run straight at my face. This week my Mum is taking me for a special agility lesson with a lady all to myself. This is my treat as it will be 8 months since I came to live at the madhouse. TBH, I have forgotten that I have a poorly heart, no-one makes a big deal of it, least of all me. I just take my meds twice a day with a nice blob of pate or cheese and get on with my lovely spaniel life. I will try and get my paw to paper before they thing the hoomans call Christmas. I hear it is a good time with lots of lovely food for us dogs!

Lots of licks and woofs,

AlfrED XX