Weekend Away

We're home today after a rather wet weekend away at Cannock Chase.  Michael was really busy working all Friday afternoon so we didn't arrive until 6.30pm, but like real heros Michael and Sandra got us organised and having dinner before the rain started.  We didn't get much chance to explore but did manage a stroll around the site after dinner and in between rain showers - I’m sure I smelt the presence of bunnies.

Saturday 5am - I was right ... there are loads of bunnies here and thanks to Murphy waking us all up really early we managed to see them having an early breakfast.  We went back to bed for a few hours and then after we had our breakfast and watched the rain for a while (it was really heavy) we went out for a walk on Cannock Chase. We had an interesting walk - it was quite hilly and on our way back to the site decided to take a short cut.    That was a bit of a mistake as we found ourselves in the middle of a mountain bike trail and it was classed as a black run, so VERY steep.  We survived and made it back to the caravan safely. 

Sunday - another early start but this time thanks to the cockerel that lives next to the site.  It was raining again this morning (is this getting boring?) so Michael got to watch lots of cars racing around on the television and when that was over we went out.  Sandra and Murphy both requested that today's walk was less steep and not as stressful as yesterday (avoiding those bikes was a bit nervy) and that's what we had - it was really nice.

We had one piece of excitement this evening when Michael took Murphy and I out for our last walk before bedtime ... I spotted more of those pesky bunnies and managed to break my new collar when I tried to charge after them.  Michael was not impressed, but pleased I think that I didn't go through the fence onto the chase as it was 10.30pm and very dark!

Today we packed up and headed home.  I'm not sure what we have planned for this week, but I did hear a rumour that I have a training lesson on Saturday and Murphy has an obedience test on Thursday so I can guess that lots of practice will be on the agenda.

Busy Week

We've had a busy week this week.  I've had two training classes to go to - one with Charlotte and one at 4 Paws.  With Charlotte I did lots of work on paying more attention to Sandra which was a bit frustrating as there were two pigeons in a tree nearby that kept distracting me.  At 4 Paws we did some heel work (I was told mine was very nice) and some stuff to music.  I like that as we all have a bounce along whilst we work.

Yesterday we went to see Aunty Debbie and her chaps.  I was really pleased to have a big play with Max  because we haven't done that for a while.  I also had a play with Dougal - he made such a noise when we arrived because Aunty Debbie wouldn't let him out to play.  It was very warm, so we played for a while and then Dougal went inside for a lie down while I carried on messing about with Fergus.  I was shattered .. and THEN Sandra took me into one of the paddocks to do some training on my attention paying.  After that we came home and I flopped for the evening.

Today has been busy getting ready to go away in our mobile kennel.  We go tomorrow (hmm .. hope Michael's back by then as he went to work really early yesterday and I've not seen him since) until Monday.  Sandra has been busy cooking meals to take with us and I helped by tasting the chicken and beef she was using along with the odd carrot.
Murphy is hoping to go to his agility thingy again tonight (that must mean Michael will be home so as I'm not left on my own) so we've had a bit of a practice in the garden this afternoon.  It makes going over jumps much more interesting when there's sausage on the other side.

Gardening

Sandra and Michael spent all day in our garden yesterday and now I've lost two of my favourite bushes.  They said that the bushes were old and overgrown - I say that they were the best two bushes for hiding behind, especially in the dark when it's time for bed.  I'll just have to find somewhere else now.

Day at the Beach

We had a great day at our favourite beach at Theddlethorpe on Saturday.  There were so many of us - Duggie, Fergus, Dougal and Max, Rufus and Jasper were there too as they were staying with Aunty Debbie with their Mum and Dad.  We also met up with a new Welshie friend Toffee.  She's from Sweden but lives near us now.  She's multi-lingual as she can understand Swedish and English commands.  Not sure about that - Sandra says I struggle to answer to one language never mind two!

Also there were Dougal's friends from his training class Fidget, Frisby, Jiffy and another Jasper who are all black and white English Springers.  Thank goodness 'our' Jasper had decided to wear his collar because all the black and white guys looked the same to me!

Here's some of us on the beach - it's a bit hard to tell who's who though.

We had a great day charging about the beach and swimming in the sea.  One wave went right over the top of me which I didn't like.

Fergus and Me

Duggie

Rufus

After we had all eaten our picnic (check out our website for a yummy biscuit recipe ideal for picncs) we went back to Aunty Debbie's house to do some agility stuff. Rufus and Jasper hadn't done it before but seemed to really enjoy themselves.  Jasper even managed to jump OVER the hoopy jump instead of through it!

By the time we had finished Dougal had woken up from his snooze so we had a play.  Michael said he was very pleased with me for playing so nicely and being very gentle especially as I'm so much bigger than Dougal - check out some of these photos .. young Dougal didn't hold back!

That's my head ..

'Time for a sit down little man'

Murphy writes ...

Merlin is in the garden at the moment busy checking everything is where he left it last night so I've stolen his loggy-in thing to let you know what we did yesterday.

We had a quiet but interesting day watching a man fit a new window to our car.  Sandra had managed to make a big dent in the windscreen on our way back from 4 Paws on Tuesday and we were worried that if she couldn't get it fixed in time we might not be able to go to the beach on Saturday.  (Rumour has it that there will be special biscuits for all us dogs.)  Thankfully the nice man came to the house yesterday and its all fixed.

After dinner Sandra took me to a training class - I haven't been to one of those since I passed my Kennel Club Good Citizen Gold about 3 years ago.  I was a little bit unsure of everything when we arrived, but after a bit of a woof I settled in fine.  I met Charlotte!  She was really nice and asked me if I was going to be like Merlin and a bit scared of her - Sandra said no I was a much better behaved boy.

We spent the evening doing agility which I love.  We had jumps -I learned how to turn a corner quickly although I'm still not sure why I need to be so quick about things.  We also had weave poles, a tunnel and other stuff.  It was great fun and I'm hoping I will go back next week although I think that's just for obedience and not fun.

Anyway, must go now as I can hear Merlin coming back and he might get jealous that I'm on his 'puter.

4 Paws Day

Off to training at 4 Paws today and looking forward to seeing all my friends and especially Pebbles as I've not seen her for ages.  It turned out that Pebbles didn't come but Rosie did so I had a great time catching up with her.  She's a black Labrador and very friendly.  I was very polite and let her have some of my water as it was quite warm in class and she'd had loads of treats!

I did quite well today although I still didn't retrieve my dumb bell.  I'm not sure about all this retrieving stuff.  I much prefer just to chase the dumb bell / ball / dummy to show Sandra where it has landed and then head off on my own.   Anyway, I did do a 'stand' whilst Sandra walked away from me and then came back.  I got a big piece of liver cake for that!

Spaniel Day

Yesterday I went for a training day with three other spaniels, Holly and Milly who are ESS, Percy who is a Cocker and Hobson who is a very handsome Red Setter.  Ok so Hobson isn't a spaniel but he is a gundog and like me isn't keen on retrieving, so he joined us for our day.

It was really good, although very tiring (both Sandra and I had a nap before dinner!).  In the morning we did lots of heel and steadiness work both on and off our leads.  We also did a little bit of hunting, recall and stopping to a whistle.  There was also time to play which we did in an enclosed area.  Us spaniels charged about all over the place, while Hobson was much more controlled about things and not quite so mad-dash.

After lunch we did some more steadiness work which I found quite frustrating as I was made to sit still when some pigeons were flying around us.  There were rabbits in the field too, but I think only Hobson and me saw them.  Sandra and Charlotte were pleased with me and we now have quite a few things to work on before we go for our next lesson.  I have a feeling I'm not going to be allowed to chase the pigeons and doves out of our garden anymore after yesterday.

I had a great day and made four new doggy friends and four new human  friends who all though I was lovely -very handsome and 'cute'.  (I made sure I got lots of tickles and even got one from Charlotte too.) I can't wait until we meet up again in about 6 weeks for another day together.

Murphy stayed at home with Michael but I think I heard Sandra say that she might take him to the agility class that Charlotte runs.  He'd like that as he enjoys it when we do agility with Aunty Debbie.  He might even beat Fergus's record times if he gets some sneaky practice in!

Picnic

We had a great day today when Sandra's nieces Victoria & Hannah came for a belated birthday visit.  We all went for a nice walk and then while Murphy and I tucked into a Bonio each, the others had a birthday picnic of smoked salmon sandwiches and chocolate cake that the girls had brought with them.  It looked really nice!!

After lunch we went home and spent the afternoon in the garden.  I have always been a little shy when Hannah visited, but today had a great game with her in the garden and was sad when she went home after dinner.  I still think she could have shared her chocolate cake with me though!