Harrier here, Marty is still staging her lie under protest.  I can now report on the conclusions from yesterdays trip to the horse trials now the collie has been debriefed.  It would appear that the horse trials is a suitable venue for the acquisition of freebie dog treats which have been well received especially as they are wheat free ones.  The shopping area also had dog coats, collars, leads etc. although nobody thought to buy us anything.  Collie did initially think that it was a waxed jacket and striped jumper convention with wellies or country boots as compulsory footwear until she saw a horse run past, followed by other ones at regular intervals.  A lot of the fences showed skilled woodwork, Aunty Biscuit particularly liked a wooden prawn thing at one of the water jumps and a row of carved dogs sitting in kennels.  Mums favourite was a big wooden owl in the middle of a fence....

Harrier here.  Marty is staging a lie in protest, so I'm deputising today.  She had comissioned mum to stitch up her new blankie now that all the hexagons have been completed, as mum has a less random way of arranging things and would also do it in a way that would require extra ones to even things up (part of her master plan to end up with a bigger one).  Work has stopped completely whilst mine is being completed.  She has tried looking pathetic, then felt that testing my blanket would move hers on. (It didn't).  Desperate times call for desperate measure!  She now impounded mums extra thick fleece lined throw and is staging a lie under protest.  She is also considering contacting the U.N. who she is sure will support her cause.  I'm not convinced on that one as I think they have a lot on their plate at the moment.  That aside we've had a relatively uneventful day as mum and Aunty Biscuit have been to a horse t ...

Mums pond has frogs in it.  One of my (unsuccessful) hobbies is frogging.  I checked on woofapedia to see whether I can improve my success rate although I gather that would not be appreciated either by mum or the frogs.  For the benefit of any would be froggers I’m prepared to admit where I’m going wrong.  It would seem that my main stumbling block is that I won’t venture into the pond, I’m convinced that the frogs know this and taunt me.  I’ve hated water ever since I was a puppy.  On the plus side, I don’t think any of our frogs are poison arrow tree frogs or similar so should I ever succeed in catching one of the little blighters I won’t be paralysed.  I am trying to persuade mum that she should design a frog scarf to go with her other scarf designs, she has agreed in principle to give it a go, I suspect the froggy feet will give her something to think about.

• Oh dear, I think we may be in trouble (again) over what was from our point of view was a very exciting evening security breach.  I think mum is being a tad unreasonable.  It started about midnight from what, if I remember correctly, was a passing local alley cat out for a midnight stroll, which took it a little close to the house.  This prompted a rush of adrenaline among the canine members of the household, we were after all just defending our property.  Unfortunately the hyperactivity continued intermittently for several hours until mum got very cheesed off and let us out to do a full security sweep of the garden.  As if we weren’t in enough trouble at this point, we failed to return after checking the boundaries....

There is nothing quite like a pamper evening is there?  We’ve each had our claws trimmed.  I don’t mind this but Harrier hates it.  He has retreated to his man cave (probably to sulk but he’ll claim its to catch up with important correspondence) leaving the rest of us to make it into a girlie pamper evening.  The trimming has been followed by a good grooming session which I adore, so all my loose hairs are gone.  A full doggy massage was next on the agenda, invigorating yet relaxing at the same time.  I then booked myself in for a Reiki session so now everything is good in my little world after my hectic weekend.  I’m just finishing off by washing a front paw and will then drift off for a light snooze whilst mum & Aunty Biscuit are doing some work on an upcoming project, I think it may be a dolls clothing pattern. 

I’m having a bit of a lazy couple of days after the trials and tribulations of the weekend.  It is that time of year again that when we go for our walks where the horses live, the grass is very long.  If like me you are a small dog, you can’t see where you’re going and it’s not as easy to play chase.  I find that the best way to move through it is to bounce.  To see where everyone else is, I stand on my back legs meerkat style.  There are advantages to the long grass,  as long as you’re not the collie no-one can see what you’re rolling in until it is too late.  It also enables mum to play spot the dog.  I invite you to play from the photograph.  You get 1 point per dog spotted! 

Mum and Aunty Biscuit went to the garden centre yesterday to buy some bits and pieces.  The main items on the agenda were some chew sticks as Harrier will only eat certain ones, and some sweet pea plants.  I was also keeping my paws crossed that they would buy some compost for our new sandpits.  They were a while coming back as the garden centre has a good café.  Listening in on the conversation it became clear that mums cake of choice had been a very large, delicious meringue which had to be eaten in a somewhat less than elegant manner.....

My new sandpit has arrived.  This event has been eagerly awaited by the canine members of the house since the tragic demise of the previous one, cruelly slain in its prime. It was murdered by a lawn mower.  The new one is square and exclusively mine (Harrier has one too) whereas we previously shared one.  We have compost in them so that we have somewhere to dig which is great fun, other than the middle of the lawn which tends to result in a slightly disappointed and resigned look from mum, or the vegetable patch which evokes a similar response.  Aunty Biscuit was in charge of carrying them to the car as she blotted her copybook with the last one....

The Collie stole my tennis ball.  She says it was an accidental case of mistaken identity but I’m not convinced.  We each have tennis balls according to size.  The Collie's is full sized, comes in a nitrogen sealed tube purchased from a local discount sports store.  Research performed by mum over the years has shown this to be the most cost effective option.  Mine and Harriers are both proper dog ones complete with squeak, his are slightly larger than mine as he has a bigger mouth. ...

Aunty biscuit had just come through Gainford on her way to a craft fair recently when she drove past a foraging chef.  Not often seen in these parts, these are recognisable as they wear strange white tops and carry a plastic box.  Found in hedgerows and verges, they scrabble about looking for wild bits of vegetation to cook or garnish things with hence are of no real interest to dogs unless they are garnishing things that can go in a doggie bag.  What amused Aunty Biscuit was that about 20 metres down the road was a pheasant running as fast as it could in the opposite direction.  I think it would have been safe from him as there is no way it would have fitted in the box.