Christmas

Hello,

I am now on holiday in Portsmouth with my Dad. I miss Mom, but I know I will see her soon. In Portsmouth I get to play with my cousins and see my grandparents. I like seeing them because they take me to the seaside and buy me lots of new toys. And I get treats. Mom's going to Spain this year and she gave me lots of kisses on the head, as I was leaving the house. She cried again this morning and we had a cuddle. But I will see her in a few days though and we will once again, visit the slopes.

Dad came to pick me up last night and I played with him, while he spoke to Mom. They are friendly-ish now. That is good because I get to see them both, but it is strange still. When I come home from Dads, I sulk for a while and I don't go into Moms bed the first night. It takes me a while to settle in again. It's kind of weird really, having two homes. But I know I'm lucky, some dogs don't have any home. Mom says that to me alot. Mom is good though she gives me my space.

I can't wait to see her again to do my back-flips and play football.

By the way I managed to find to boys in the park the other day to play football with. I headed the ball a few times, tackled them and ran round the basketball court with them and exhausted myself. This time though I bit my own tongue and it was bleeding. The boys were nice and had a look at it for me. But I just wanted to carry on. Mom stood and watched and made sure I didn't pop the ball. I'm not allowed to do that in a real game. The boys were impressed with my skills and said they wanted to train with me, so they could pick up there speed. They said, I'm very fast. And I am, I know I am. Mom thinks I'm great too. Can't wait for the next game.

Guess what I'm getting for Christmas.

Happy Christmas.

Sunday, A Treasured Day

Today I had a lie in with Mom. I love this day because this is the day I get to spent all day with Mom. I use to spend it with Mom and Dad. So sometimes I feel sad, because we don't spend it together any more.

The first thing we do is lie on her bed for a long time. Mom gives me lots of strokes and then we get up and have breakfast. I always have toast but on this day Mom sometimes gives me meat. It's red and crispy and very tasty. But today we went to the slopes and had breakfast after my big walk. It was fun. I ran out in to the sea and back in again and again. I did lots of back-flips and ran through the long grass. I played with some little people too and then after we went to the beach cafe. I'm allowed to go in and sit down next to Mom while she eats her breakfast. The lady there gives me a hot sausage, every time I go there. She's very nice to me and gives me strokes and calls me by my name. Today I met another puppy, a black lasbrador and he licked my face. I like puppies but I don't like big dogs.

Later mom's friend Naomi came to see us and she took me for another walk on the way home. She threw the ball for me lots of times. Mom was happy today. Some days Mom is not happy. Sometimes she is sad and she cries. When she does that, I lick her tears and try to make it all better. It makes her smile at me and she gets up and does things at home. She cries less and less now.

When we got home today Mom went away and I went to sleep until she came home again. When she came in, she had some bags. I always sniff the bags because sometimes she will bring me a treat and a new ball. Today she bought me a new football and we went to the park to play with it. There, I met some little people and they played football with me. They know my name and I remember them from last time. They like playing football with me. Today I hit the ball in the air again with my head and they tried to tackle me with the ball. I ran around with them and they laughed a lot. I love playing football with them. I was very tired afterwards and Mom had to take me home for some water. When I got home I drank lots and lots and had to lie down for a while. Mom laughed at me and stroked me to calm me down as I was still very excited.

Afterwards I had my dinner and then I went to sleep. Mom fell asleep too.

I love this day.

Explosions in The Sea

This morning I'n not a happy doggy. Mom has the morning off and she was going to take me out to the sopes again but I am afraid of the noise. THE NOISE is something that happens out in the middle of the sea. Mom says they're explosions. What ever they are they scare me to death. My ears are very sensitive and to me it sounds like an earthquake. I tremble all over and refuse to go outside. This upsets Mom because it disrupts her day too. Mom gives me lots of cuddles but I usually just get in my cosy bed and huddle up til the earthquake has passed. Life is hard sometimes!

Here is a some other things I don't like:

• I hate it when Mom gets out the Alien. She calls it the hoover. I chase after it and bark at it and try to bite it's head off.
• I hate the sweeping brush and the mop. I run at them and away from them. If the sweeping brush is standing next to my dinner bowl. I stay away.
• I hate feet; oh those horrible smelly things. Feet make me nervous. If anyone touches me with their feet, I growl very loudly.
• I absolutely and resolutely hate cats. I know the word CAT very well. If someone says the word CAT. I run out in to the back garden and go mental. Our neighbour has cats. They always come into the garden and I don't even have to see them. I KNOW they're there. Mom says I have a sixth sence.
• I hate going to the woods because I hear gun shots and I'm afraid of those too.
• Every year I dread fireworks night. It's the worse night of my life. Mom puts me on the sofa, wrapped in a blanket with cushions all around me and gives me Rescue Remedy to calm me. It works a little.
• I hate that my Mom and Dad are not together any more.

Things I Love:

• My Mom and Dad.
• The seaside.
• Little people, because they throw stones for me and run fast with a ball.
• I love running through long grass.
• I love doing back-flips.
• I love buttered toast in the morning. Mom gives me a little bit every morning. I love the taste of the butter and the crunchyness.
• I love sneaking upstairs at night night, and getting onto Moms bed, when she's asleep. It's so cosy and warm.
• I love waking up with Mom. She gives me lots of strokes. Sometimes I play-fight with her on the bed. She laughs and calls me petal. She calls me busy lizzie too.
• I love sitting on the back of the sofa, people watching out the window. If I see someone I know I wag my tail a lot and wriggle my bum. Everybody smiles at me in the window
• I absolutely and resolutely love football. I play football as much as I can with the little boys in the park. Last year I was in the newspaper, playing with the local school boys. The paper said I'm a very skilled player. They call me the Woofing Winger and there's photo's of me tackling and heading the ball. I would play football everyday if I could.
• I love running out to sea when the tide is out. Mom throws a stone all the way out there, which is amazing. I don't know how she can do that but I run out as far as I can, splash around in puddles and then come back again. Mom calls me Thunder when I do that.
• And of course I love my food. Sometimes Mom gets me a bone from the butchers. She says it keeps me happy.

I think the explosions have stopped so Mom will take me out. Later.

The First Year: continued

I am tired and cold today. Mom took me to the slopes again. It was fun. I chased the ball up and down the hill. Mom cheated though, she used a strange object, it's long and red and the ball sits in the end of it. Mom uses it because she's not able to throw the ball far enough for me. I got bored, running after the ball but then I saw two people and ran over to them and dropped the ball in front of them. Ha, they had no choice but to throw it. Mom called me back a few times but I ignored her. She gets angry, when I do that. The man threw the ball for me a couple of times but he was a bit of a wuzz. Got tired fast. I went back to Mom and she made me sit and told me off. I pretended I was sorry.

She took me to the the long grass patch further up the slopes. I love it there. It's where I play my favourite game. Mom pretends to throw a pebble and I chase after it and come back again for another one. She does this until her arm nearly falls off. She tells me it's the only way to tire me out. Sometimes I run right down the slope and crash into the sea and have a swim. It's very cold but I don't care.

I met two new dogs today. Another Collie and a Dashhound. Didn't like the look of the dash. Not very attractive. Not crazy about other dogs, prefer little people. But I had a sniff anyway. Mom said that one of the dogs is a rescue dog and was treated badly once. Mom said I was a very lucky dog, that I had a good home and a good mom and that not every dog gets a good home. Mom says, 'a dog is not just for Christmas, a dog is for life'. That means I get to stay with Mom forever.

When Mom gets tired I go do back-flips on the beach. One of my favourite games. Football is my all time favourite. She throws a pebble up in the air, and I do a back-flip to try and catch it. Mom loves me doing that. I jump high in the air like an acrobat. Mom tells everyone I'm talented.

After a while she went back to the ball thrower though. I knew then it was nearly time to go. So I ran after the ball but dropped it half way back up the hill and made Mom come down and get it. She was not happy. Then before she got to it, I ran over and picked it up and ran down to the sea, had a swim and dropped it in the water. Mom got really angry. She said, 'there goes another ball floating out into the sea. The sea is full of lizzie's balls.

Mom put me on the lead and took me home and I was grounded with no treats!

Can't wait for tomorrow. Mom calls it Ground Hog Day. I don't know what she means.

The First Year: to be continued

Hello again,

I am still getting use to this blog. Tune in later, for more of the first year.

Lizzie

My name is lizzie. I am a doggy and I was born in October 2005 in Portsmouth to a family of Border Collie's. My real Mom, well my dog mom, had short hair, is a collie crossed with a whippet i think- so my human Mom keeps telling me and everyone else she meets. The first time I ever met my Mom was at Christmas time. She came and saw me with all my other brothers and sisters and picked me. She said she like my lines. I am black and white, but I have a white fluffy chest and snout and a white line that goes up my nose to almost bewteen my eyes. My eyes are deep brown and I'm told they are characterful and expressive. I love my Mom and Dad. When I first got to my new home Mom had a new bed for me and new toys. My bed is blue and white and flowery and Mom says it's from Kath Kidson. Who that is now, I couldn't tell you. My favourite toy is the burger that squeeks. I love the burger, it even looks like a burger and when I play with it I squeek alot. When Mom comes in from work sometimes I tell her my news with the burger. If I'm very happy I squeek it alot. If I'm under the weather I squeek it a little.

When I first came to my new home which is by the seaside in a place called Whitstable, in Kent it was very exciting. I couldn't go out for a few weeks because I had to wait till I had all my jabs. I also had to be toilet trained. Mom was rubbish at it but Dad, well.....? It was very hard work for my Dad. Any time I'd wee in the house he would rub my nose in my own wee, weirdo, and then put me outside in the shivering cold. Mom was always the one to let me back in. And Dad well he never looked impressed. One time I lost control and went a wee wee on the rug in the front room. I was scared so I ran behind the sofa so Dad couldn't get me. He would try for ages, but could never catch me. Eventually he would laugh alot and tell me to stop playing games with him. But isn't that what I'm here for? I would think to myself. I got my nose dipped into my own wee quite often until I learned to wee outside. I got so sick of it that in the end I went to the door and asked to go outside to wee. Then I would get a treat when I came back inside. Cool!

Once I got settled in, I started to love Whitstable and my new Mom and Dad. Mom took me out early every morning up to the slopes. She said it was the best place for me because I had so much energy. She still says that now and that she can never tire me out and she still takes me to the slopes even now, my favourite place in the whole world.