Saturday 31 August 2013

The dog walk of terror

Last week at agility, Mawson finally came over his fear of the dog walk. He had been quite terrified of going on top of it so far, even though he is going on look alike structures when we go for walks. Even not a problem on a very similar track of the bike park, so I think that was really the wobbliness which was a problem for him.
This time it was on the low setting and after a lot of encouragements, a few loads of treats from fellows agility trainee (thanks and sorry for using all the treats!!), he finally made it. And then proceeded to redo the walk again and again as if nothing had happened!

That's quite a step, because it is the last of the agility elements that he was unable to complete (except the fact we never passed through a chute... ah well we'll see...).

So we were wondering if he would remember that he didn't mind the dog walk this time or if all progress would have been forgotten.

Martin started running the course and arrived at the next item of "dog walk" and bam... Mawson started and freaked out mid ramp jumping off and continuing as if nothing had happened... Ah well... So at the break Martin and Cyril went to try and get him back on, and got him going very quickly.
The next few runs were close to perfect (well for us at least...) and he did the dog walk without any issue so yayyy!!!

Now however, we need to slow him down, as he jumped too quickly off the A frame and nearly missed the contact, and he arrived so quickly at the weaves that he slammed onto them while trying to get in (it wasn't pretty...). I guess there will always be something to work on. But overall a very successful agility training.

I even got to play with and run Monty on the course (Monty is Cyril's dog, our instructor). Monty is a funny working dog, he has a high energy drive and the most amazing eyes. In french we call that "vairon" but I don't know the english translation, basically one blue eye and one brown eye. It is always a bit funny when people run Monty as he tends to come back to see Cyril or goes a bit AWOL... I got a tad of coaching for the course and started (a bit of a false start). So restarted and yay, it went pretty well, I was real proud of myself and how Monty and I got around, yayyy!
I love running Monty as he keeps me on my toes, if he goes wrong, I know it's because I did something wrong, shoulders pointing the wrong way, bad indication, tripped over my own feet....

Hope I'll get to run him again in the future :)

Now, we'll see how the dog wok goes net week.



Mawson would say don't be fooled by the happy face on that dog from the website of that company selling agility equipment, this is actually a piece of doggy torture!! 

Friday 30 August 2013

Typical Mawson? Maybe, depends of the day...

I like the Off the leash cartoons. They are always a pretty accurate representation of what dogs get up to. And I am pretty sure that for most of them the cartoon is spot on. 
A while ago, there was a rare drawing with a GSP and it really made me giggle as I could potentially really see it happen. Though there might be a closer look down with ears and lips flopping first. 

The monster does like critters though, he half got a lizard last time. I tried to save it, but it had a nasty blow to the abdomen, so not sure the poor little lizard made it through... 
And the only time I saw Mawson really play with a fly, he kept staring at it on the window, then grabbing it in his mouth, then spitting it out with a disgusted air, then staring at it, then grabbing it in his mouth, then spitting it with a disgusted face and so on for about 4 or 5 cycles.... You would have thought that after the first or at least the second time he would have got it.... 

One thing that is definitely sure is that Mawson looks like a big strong boy but in most situation, he is a complete wimp. So I guess, it is quite accurate!


Thursday 29 August 2013

A quiet evening of begging

You got any food there daddy? No... Are you sure? I did think that I saw you bring something from the kitchen... mmmm... ok...

Need a face wash? No... Are you sure? You got a bit of diner flavour there... mmm...

Can I use your head as a pillow? No?... Are you sure? What, are you watching telly? But I'm your puppy dog. That's ok, I'll still put my head on your face. See that's nice!

You got any food by the way? Nothing big really, I'm just little, don't need much.... Crumbs?



Wednesday 28 August 2013

Defamation

How dare you accuse me of eating some of mummy's pop corn!?!? I am very offended and frankly quite hurt by this insinuation. I would never ever eat or beg for any food that is not for dogs. Lamb cutlets are for dogs right? Thought so... tssss some people I tell you... now what is mummy preparing? Ohhhh tea, I do feel a bit thirsty but I'd prefer some milk in the tea please! What is mummy muttering? What does "in your dreams" mean?

What pop corn are you talking about?



Tuesday 27 August 2013

Tiring work

Such hard work to keep an eye on mummy when she is working from home... I'm exhausted. 
And starving because she didn't feed me anything at all, just crumbs.
When is bed time again?

I'm sooo tired

I miss my little car

That's days like these, when I miss my little car I had in the UK. Martin is going out at sea for the day for work to sample some seawater at the IMOS Port Hacking reference station. That means he took the car and left before 6am for an early start. When we didn't have Mawson, I used to get in the car with him and he would drop me at work on his way, a bit of an early start for me too but we'd be back home by 5pm so that was ok. 
But now, Mawson doesn't want to go to the park at 4am (nor do we really!) so it's more complicated...
I've decided to work from home today instead of spending 3h (minimum!) of my day in the bus for a return trip we can do in less than 40 minutess total in the car... Mawson is going to be happy to have mummy home all day! Even if I need to work, he just likes it when he can keep an eye on us...

But I still miss my little car :(


Ella, my 1994 Mini sprite

Monday 26 August 2013

Losing ones mar(balls?)

Sometimes, I wonder about what is passing through Mawson's head.
We have a deck in the backyard, and there is a little space where it's not stuck to the ground. Mawson has decided that it would be fun to push his bouncy balls through. Then whine because he wanted them back. Last time he put one under there, Martin succeeded to get it back as it was not too far in. But yesterday Mawson was in a whole new experimentation zone. He was hovering around there with cool yellow dude ball and I told him to be careful. Obviously a few seconds later I saw a flat Mawson whining, he had dropped his ball near and it rolled out of sight under there. I grumpily had a go and tell him that he lost it and that he had only himself to blame. We were still in a bit of a play/training mode so I went to get a new bouncy ball, but warned him to not go anywhere near that hole or that would be it....


certainly how cool yellow ball looks like now

He was obviously floating about there. Got warned twice to get away from the place and I had the bad idea to turn around to go and do something else for a couple of minutes... Only to come back to a flat Mawson pancake staring at the hole without ball number 2.... *sight*... That dog is a little shit....

And the worst thing of all is that we are convinced that he is not really upset because he lost his ball, it's not really about retrieving that ball to play with it. He knows we have a huge stash of them because: 1) he let's every dog steal his balls, 2) some of these dogs have such fun popping and destroying those stolen balls, so we always have a few with us, but mostly 3) we neeeed those balls, they are more efficient than food treats to get Mawson's attention and he is so conditioned to fetch back that even if we throw it he will always come back to the difference of ropes where he goes prancing around with his prize. Anyway I digress, back to the lost balls... He loses them in difficult places, more to look at the process we employ to retrieve them, to look at us wiggle about and at the most opportune moment jump on us to wrestle and lick our faces clean... I said that dog was a little shit....

according to Mawson balls go in here

Sunday 25 August 2013

Usual lazy sunday

The weather was beautiful today so it was time for another very nice walk on the fire trail. There are so many different entries and paths that every time, we end up going a different way.

We can definitely feel that spring is getting nearer as there was quite a few flowers out, even some from the grass trees. 

spear like flowers from the grass trees

After a bit of a run up the hill, we had a little stop to take in the view at Cliff top, and have a sip of water. Mawson is getting very good at drinking from his water bottle, just need to explain to daddy how to give him the water from the bottle, because he looked like he was waiting for mister pup to suck on the sport bottle....
The view

looking the same way

And back on our way home, but not before striking a pose on top of a big rock next to the cliff edge.

majestic pose in front of the cliff  :P
We followed the excitement of the walk by a bit of agility training in the backyard and a well deserved puppy shampooing. Now there is a beautifully smelling snoring pup on his bed under a pile of nice freshly washed blankies. Only the tuna breath is a bit of a let down....

Saturday 24 August 2013

RSPCA cupcake day at the NSDTC

Today is cupcake day at the Northern Suburb Dog Training Club where we go to do the agility and obedience with Mawson. All the proceeds go to the RSPCA. The club promotes quite a few rescues and not only the big organisations like the RSPCA, but also smaller established ones such as Monika's rescue. Somehow, I said I was going to make some cupcakes to help. Or did I actually say that? I think somebody volunteered me....
The issue: French don't do cupcakes. We do big whole cakes, not bite sizes that won't touch the sides of your stomach... hehehe ;). So that means I had to find a recipe and experiment. I could also have simply taken one of my trusted recipes for big cakes and placed it in small cups but where is the fun and adventure of that! 

After an initial full failure (very wrong recipe...) I had a much improved second practice (though my decorating skills are pretty poor).

Practice run of cupcakes without cups...

But now for the full final bake, eeeek... Hope they like it! Lemon and poppy seed cupcakes with lemon butter icing and the same but with orange replacing the lemon.

I forgot to take a pic of the final batch in the rush, but you can see them on the far left. There was plenty of yummy cupcakes with amazing decorations, but I was also pretty proud of my efforts. They did touch the sides of the stomach (maybe that was the number eaten!) so we had to run the course a few more times for the calories... Even Mawson had a mini cupcake made especially with dog friendly ingredients, he gulped it in half a second and looked at me for the next...

Pics thanks to NSDTC with part of the agility crew



Friday 23 August 2013

Hot summer's day

While looking through old pictures, I found that one. It just looks like there has been a bit of a hard play had by all. And on a hot summer's day, everybody was flat out of it, even mister broccoli, and he is usually pretty hardcore... Mawson is looking forward to summer again, but only for the light not the heat!

zzzzzzz

Thursday 22 August 2013

Routine is good for minions #4

Here we come to the last chapter of my daily routine training of the minions. Such a hard job, it exhausts me just thinking about it! This is the evening part, I like the evening part, except when they decide they can leave me and go out. Luckily they don't do that very often. I taught them that if they leave me I get imaginative the next morning...

So, when we come back from the walk, mum always thinks that I am tired Yeah right. As if a mere 5km was tiring...really? So I ask to go into the garden with my best puppy eyes. Of course I sit for the door to open, of course I will only go out for a spot of toilet.... Here comes the ruuuuuun. At least 10 laps at full pace with grass and dirt flying everywhere, woohoooo. It is always becoming to stretch after one exercises, if you don't do that then the lactic acid builds up in the muscles and you get cramps... veryyyyy important to stretch the legs.

Blanky run around the garden...

Then of course I come back in, because it's a bit dark outside right now, and I'm sure there are weird monsters lurking in the dark. Sometimes I have to bark at them, but then the minions get flustered. Inside it is still very important to continue the stretching. Legs have been done so let's do the neck and back. Utensils are always useful. I use a big heavy knotted rope myself. And as mum doesn't do any stretching, tut tut tut baaaaad.... I have to make sure her muscles are relaxed. I employ the well known swedish technique (or somewhere round there, I don't know never been there!!) of bashing the muscles with the knotted rope. It works at it's best when the minion starts to squeal.
After all that exercise comes the bestest part of the day. They start preparing diner. I like diner. It gives me the opportunity to rehearse some of my drama acting for my next big Hollywood role. I conditioned the minions very quickly. They thought they were teaching me the "cafe settle", that is to lay down quietly if they go have a coffee with me outside. But that then gives me the opportunity to settle nicely like a "good boy" in the middle of the kitchen where all the action is (let's not forget the puppy eyes here).
And just in case it's not my fault if they can't walk properly and trip on me and drop some food. A quick ninja crawl and the food has disappeared, mwahahahahahahaha.

Helloooo, somebody forgot me?

I have remarked that I was getting a lot more bits of food when I was a baby though, that's not fair. They seem to think that now that I am grown up I am just begging. I need to correct that, I'm making a note of it here. I have needs me.... and also as said before, I have a high metabolism.... And I'm starving. Why do they have to eat first and do a different diner for me. They could give me a plate of what they prepare so that we all eat together. That would be more polite for a start... and then, if they really feel obliged to give me kibble, they can give me some for desert. I can share my kibble with them... Nan! joking, I'm not going to share my kibble, anyway mum tried it (don't ask!) and she didn't like it.

But they don't do my sharing idea, they just torture me by gorging themselves in front of me and not giving me anything. They always use the excuse that it's "too spicy", or it's "not for dogs", or whatever fake excuse they can think of at the time. Who says I don't like thai beef salad, that beef looks very tasty to me. And it's not those small red "chyly" things or that yellow "ginger" thing that's going to be a problem. And there's carrots and cucumber! I loooove carrots and cucumber. See! They are just mean.

But I've been working on mum, she is definitely the weakest link on the food thing. Dad has developed a complete deafness and blindness to my pleas. But mummy feels bad yipeeeee, so sometimes she cracks. And she keeps a bit of juicy meat for me. Not that it's the best part mind you, and not that it's big. She could definitely pass some more of it my way to save her scale.....

Give me some of your food!

Then when they are finished to pig themselves. They finally realise that I am starving, at death's door, barely able to move. As for the morning, they, at last, prepare my diner. I prefer when it's daddy doing it because he is a lot less insane than mum and we usually do tricks, like manly high fives and play the western shootout. Mum is all obedience, right-left-up-down-twirl-around-through, pffff booooring. She even gets me to reverse, straight and around her. I heard that she was going to try to get me to reverse weave through her legs, yeah right what am I a circus poodle?!?! I'm going to cut that one short by tripping her a few times, that will make her think about it...

After the tiny speck of food they call my diner, I spend a bit of "me" time in the garden, then I can finally relax on my bed in front of the fire. But I still need to keep guard for the monsters who pass in front of the house. I have a very important job, and there must be monster flies as well because when I bark or growl, daddy seems to clap his hands loud! Or maybe he is applauding me! Ohhh yes that must be that...
I've had to do a bit of a modified whiny growl lately because mum's not looking impressed when I clear my throat. I can't express myself. My art is being strangled!

I'm with my daddy :)

Hmmm, I feel a bit of a sleep coming, yawn. There must definitely be flies because dad's sometimes exclaims peewww and waves his hand in front of his face while looking at me. Those pesky flies must be annoying him. Anyway, I leave him with those flies, I can't do everything for him... and I still have a few things on my to do list for the day, hmmm let's see, ah yes to: roll on my comfy bed, tick. A little stretch, a little yawn, all is well. Let's watch telly. Zzzzzzz. NO I DON'T SNORE!!

zzzzzzzzz

That's it, I'm going to my real bed, and mum has to tuck me in with my blanky. Dad always leave a bit of a gap and there's a cold draft through... Night night everybody. Long day ahead tomorrow...

Wednesday 21 August 2013

Getting ready

I must say, sometimes it's how I feel I'm going to end up when mum and dad are getting ready for a walk... Seriously!!!

Australian museum, Sydney

By the way, if the museum need any help for clearing some space for new exhibits, I can help...

Tuesday 20 August 2013

Need help?

Are you really going to eat all that? You're sure?? I can help you, you know, I don't mind really...

(cheese and cracker in the hand...)
We should really have called him Gromit!

Monday 19 August 2013

UFO

Is it a bird? Is it a plane? No it's SuperMawson! We just need to make him a cape now...

I'm flyiiiiiing!

Sunday 18 August 2013

Ready for training class...

On saturday, Martin did the morning agility class with Mawson, plus a bit of play around with the dogs. Then I started to get ready for the afternoon obedience class, and it seems that Mawson was really enthused by the idea...


However, that was only a 5 minutes recharge snooze, as we did continue with the full social novice class (plenty of agility in there too!). And another hour of agility in the backyard afterwards too: we will get those weaves perfect!

After that he was definitely pooped, but still trotted about until he felt it honourable to crash on his bed in front of the rugby, which we all did.... (crash that is but not on his bed!).
One has to upheld the GSP status of endless amount of energy after all...

Saturday 17 August 2013

Tracking and rescue

Mawson is still a pretty young pup, and it is fair to say that I am (still!) new to being a dog slave. So, we are trying a bit of everything with him. That's as much to see if he will enjoy it, as well as us. If we are completely bored by something, there is little chance to make it fun for Mawson!
So far we have done obedience, agility and swimming. A tiny bit of Rally-O and trick/dance but that's just for fun... We wanted to do something for which he was meant for.
Hence, while Martin was away, I went to one of the rare tracking and rescue club training day. The club assembles only one saturday of each month for just about 5-6 months in the year. And saturdays are the agility and obedience training days, so it always clashes. But this time, all the stars were aligned.

The group gathers in a large area with fields and paddocks, they get together earlyish and you need to be at the locked gate by 8.15am. That wouldn't be too much of a problem if that place wasn't more (quite a bit more) than 1h  drive away and if I had gone there before...
Anyway we made it!!! and I didn't forget anything, even had my dirty socks as sniffy end of track targets...

Mawson is a little natural. He got really excited when it was his turn. As it was one-on-one training and there were a few dogs we ended up only having 3-4 goes each and it lasted to 2pm.
I was also very happy with the fact that, though we had a lot of waiting around, he was very settled. Even so settled, that he helped a little pup who had had previous bad experience with dogs.
A very interesting day. I got quite a few ideas so that we can do the training alone a bit closer to home. When we get the time, we will definitely do a bit more work on that.
I got a slight roundabout road on the way back, obviously entirely on purpose...! And mister pup was completely shattered and collapsed on his bed snoring.

So overall, that was pretty good. We will definitely continue some nose work. We also had a test at seeing Mawson under the gun. Not that we are hunters but we visited a winery a little while ago and they were chasing pesky birds away, and we thought why not seeing how he reacts. Amazingly, mister pup who is afraid of everything was entirely at ease!!! Not even a blink... He is weird...
The main thing that I would foresee as a big issue for his hunting prowesses would be his unability to contained his excitement when there is a prey anywhere near.....

Duck retrieve at a young age

Friday 16 August 2013

Weeeeeeeeee

Yehaaaaa, I got daddy's boot!!! I stole it and ran like the wind around the garden!
No minion can stop me, yep, I am the great thieving escape artist. Mum and dad were even looking at me unimpressed. I got them gooooood!!!
The only thing is that the boot was a bit strong on the smell department...
I was running sooooo fast that I could see my back paws at the same place than my front paws!
But mummy stormed back in the house and back out, then the kill joys got some of the jumps and stopped my way. Then they got that slip lead around my neck and mum frog-marched me to my crate. Uh oh! Crate with comfy bed removed... I'm seriously in the dog house! What do they mean by time out to think of my actions? Can I go back out? Hey... who turned off the lights?? Remove that blanket!!
Pfff, I had so much fun.... I quite liked my "actions", grump :(...

Irresistible temptation

Thursday 15 August 2013

Actor training: the dramatic look

Mawson is still in training for the next big role in his Hollywood breakthrough. After the perfect pout, he is now trying to perfect his dramatic look. Best applied when mum and dad are getting ready to get out, obviously. And in case of "force majeure", let's use the sofa's arm to rest the poor little head to appear so weak... 

We had to leave a bucket to gather the tears

Wednesday 14 August 2013

Routine is good for minions #3

So, here is what I have to do in the late afternoon to train my minions. When they come back from their "work" I need to get them exercised a bit. After all they haven't done anything all day, it's a bit of a stretch for me, because I have been real busy but, you have to do it. And I have noticed a bit of a belly on dad lately... Though it's mum I'm making run in the evening, if you see what I mean... I'm not saying anything in case she sees that post, because she will get mad...

Anyway, mum seems to think I am some sort of horse, I indulge her as you have to think of the emotional well being of your minions. She must have some sort of repressed horse needs.... She keeps strapping me in all types of horse tacks, on the head, on my back, around my neck. I'll very soon look more like a mummy than the beautiful majestic and handsome dog I am, if you ask me! She says that's because she still needs her shoulders and I can't contain myself when I see fluffies, she just doesn't know how to have fun, but I will exemplify she is a kill-joy a bit later (this minion needs more training...).

Anyway, after I put my army gears on, I let her think that she selects one route for the evening. In reality, I subconsciously send telepathic waves about which route I want, like a jedi! And we go where I want on my preferred path. The thing is, I love all the routes, they are all my favourite, I am never disappointed because she always chose... euh... which route did I think of tonight? mmm I can't remember if that was the one.... Oh well still loved it!

We usually do around 4-5km each evening, with a pass through a shopping village (I've had issues with people from puppyhood, but I'll talk about that somewhere else) and if she wants to be very mean with me to try to make herself more "in charge", we pass somewhere around kids. I don't like kids, don't trust them a bit, they are scary! Mum tries to explain to me that they are ok, but I'm not convinced. She says I'll get used to them eventually, mpf, still don't trust them...

Let's go to my happy place ahhhh, yes, dead possums, rotting...ahhhh, good I can continue now.

My favourite pass-time, when we are on a walk is trying to get mum all flustered. I found two easy ways:

A- Smelling every single little thing, and every blade of grass, stone, you name it. So that a short stroll of 45 mins ends up lasting more than 2h. I did it last time, my record: 2h30 for 4km, yeeeehaaaa. Who's the doggy!

B- Doing what mum calls "poo-ling" (between you and me I think she is a tad obsessed with poos, but anyway...). She is always sooooo slow walking anywhere, so I'm trying to get her to move a tad faster. And there is always something super dupper cool just out of reach in front, oh! Or on the left... Oh no it moved to the right! Ah nope back in front. The only thing is she keeps stopping and telling "back with me". I think she's insecure and needs cuddles, that must be it.

The best part of every walk is when we pass to the houses with cats. I know all of them. All the cats are pretty fearless in the neighbourhood, they never move away, they even sometime come to me meowing!! My delusion mist must be working. They think I am a harmless wimp!! They do not know how I am the master hunter and it is only just a trap for them to come closer (no mum not only in my mind!! What is she doing here that one!!).

The even besterer part is when we go somewhere with RABBITS. On one side of the road, where we used to go when I was a tiny pup, there is a serious rabbit infestation. They are everywhere, I looooove it. Mum keeps grumpying about shoulders and joints, whatever...
We never go there enough really. I like rabbits!!! Ah well...

The idol of a rabbit seen on an evening walk.
Very good job I must say for old fallen flowers!

I always end the outing with a bit of a boring walk part (she calls it "good" walk...), you always need to finish a training of the minion on a good note. I just need to not "pool" for 10m to the house and she's all happy. It's so cute how simple mummy is really...

I'll continue later, got to go watch telly, there's "minuscule" on! I like the animated flies and ladybugs *** head tilt***

Monday 12 August 2013

Long legged beast

Large dog breed puppies always appear to be all limbs when they are very young. You can usually see a cloud of legs, tail and ears when they run. Mawson is out of that uncontrolled leggy puppy phase (most of the time.... as you can still see a cloud of legs, tail and ears and a complete idiotic pup running around but that's more due to the GSP genetics!) but on this occasion it looks like I might have accidentally stretched him!
Mister was lounging on his bed n˚3, out in the sun, so maybe that's all the vitamin D that gave him a few extra centimetres. 
Look at those front legs!

Mawson's personal stilts!


The art of pouting

Martin and I have slowly discovered that Mawson has got quite a perfect pout. I have been trying to catch the full vision for a while, but haven't really succeeded. He usually pulls out a proper pout at the exact right moment too. We always have a good giggle, as it seems so appropriate. It normally involves Mawson staring at either of us, because he wants the food we are eating, and we are not giving him any...

I will continue on my quest to capture the pouting pup. But for now here are a couple of my attempts...
I'm sure there will be a few pouts coming soon as the monster is on a bit of a teenager phase since last weekend, and that means a stricter regime, starting by not giving in to the needy eyes demanding at least half of my rice crispies breakfast.... 

1, 2, 3 POUT

The disappointed half pout

Sunday 11 August 2013

Sunday walk on the trail

Today was one of mum's drive to keep us both fit. As if I needed to be fitter, yeah right mum, that's me puffing like whatever after a small agility course.... Anyway, the cool thing is that she decided to try a trail through the national park (allowed for me!!) that we hadn't done before. Yipeeeee!

There was a bit of a sun out so she took a tiny bottle of water for both of us. I had to drink after her! Bleh, I'm sure she spat in it!!!! I liked the new route, plenty to sniff and quite a few slopes. I had to wait a few times for the dead weight I was dragging...

You're done crawling yet?
But I tried to hurry things up a bit. Mum is sooo sloooooww, I could have had time for a few naps on the way...

Traditional view for mum on our walks
Fasteeeeeerrrrrrr
We passed through some little streams, so I got to jump in the water and try to get all wet. It was hard because there wasn't much water, but I did a good job I think. Not as good as the brown lab we crossed a few metres before! He was pretty drenched!! He must have rolled through, oh why didn't I think of that this morning?
We did cross plenty of other dogs running through the trail like us. They weren't all enslaved like me, lucky them were free to have fun. But as usual mum had me all strapped in....

Even so, it was pretty good. We also saw that the bus stop mum had talked about before got an upgrade. Mum said she suspect somebody had snapped up the previous seating arrangements because these ones were tied up to the post.



Then when we were nearly back, mum finally realised why I was glurping all the treats she was offering. She hadn't given me breakfast!!!! I was staaaarving! We did leave pretty early it's true, but we came back at 12! Midday and I didn't have any brekky!! Only a few tiny biscuits and water!! Isn't that what prisoners get? 
I'm quite snoozy now, because they made me do all sorts of other stuff during the afternoon. I am shattered. Night night everybody. zzzzzzzzzz....


Sniff sniff, treat detected!

Mum and dad are always very forgetful. They don't understand that I need my treats all the time, because I have a high metabolism, you see... 

They always leave them somewhere I can see, and I am never allowed to help myself. 
They are so mean :(! If I try to get it, mummy tells me right off with a big scary "Mawson". Even when she has her back turned, she always seems to know what I am doing! I'm sure they have put cameras in the joint... So now, I stand there, staring at the food, occasionally whining a bit (I get told off for that too! Poor me!). 

It doesn't always work though, so I really need to find how to make sure I get all those treats... I am pretty sure that if I stare at it long enough, and really concentrate, it will magically fly into my mouth...

It's there!!! I can see it!!

Saturday 10 August 2013

A new house rule

A couple of weeks ago, we came back from work one evening to find a proud puppy sitting on his bed. He had such a smug little smile on his face that it was obvious he had found something slightly naughty to do. And indeed, here it was in between his front paw, mummy's T-shirt that had been originally left on the bed (ok my fault, I should have put it away but can't I have rights to leave ONE T-shirt on MY bed!! tsss). Anyway, after a quick check for damage, it appeared that he had only picked it up and snuggled with it all day. I don't know if he was giggling to himself in glee so much that he didn't succeed to chew it or if that was just really to make himself a comfy pillow, all I know is that my T-shirt was safe. But this instated a new rule in the house. The one who steals, wears... Hence, mister pup had to be subjected to wearing my T-shirt for a bit. Ironically, that was my Fat Fluffs Rabbit rescue T-Shirt (Fat Fluffs) which made me giggle even more as Mawson isn't exactly in line with the ethics of rescuing rabbits.

That seems to have done the trick though as he has not touched any item of clothing around (not that he was really prone to it before...). Oh alright except socks, but that's daddy's fault because he throws them  everywhere, what's a pup to do!?!?!

Bouncer looks
He did seem to be a bit annoyed with us after a while, mostly as we were laughing and taking pics of him looking like a pumped up club bouncer. But hey, he had only himself to blame!!

gnnnnnn, that's what I think about it :(((

Friday 9 August 2013

Preparing for auditions

Lately Mawson has been seriously thinking about his future. He is trying to sort out what he will do when he is all growed up. Mawson has always been a bit of a drama queen, he is definitely a self taught actor and a natural at that... but I think he might be trying out for a bit of Hollywood fame. Personally, I am not convinced but I don't want to crush his puppy dreams...

Jedi impersonation
I'm pretty sure the Jedi impersonation was to try and manipulate our mind as Obi-Wan Kenobi does with the guard looking for the droids, but he forgot that it wasn't working on mummy and daddy...

Rocky before his match

Martin and I are more edging towards getting his fame into the world of agility and obedience trials. He is such a good pup already that I think he deserves to show the world how good he is. And really he seems to have a lot of fun with agility, so why not hey! But we'll see if Hollywood calls...

Thursday 8 August 2013

Privacy issues

It's raining outside today, hope mummy won't make me wear my raincoat tonight. It cramps my style and doesn't display properly my rugged handsomeness, but I have more important things on my mind. I have been thinking for a while that I needed to share something with you all. It is quite unsettling really...  But I think it is time...

Everywhere I go, and when I try to relax on my nice comfy bed, I can hear something like footsteps following me and the clic of a camera.... 

It's creepy MUM! Shoo go away, nothing to see! I think it's hard to be as good looking as me really, she can't stay away, bless her little cotton socks! Now let's try to hide for my next quiet snooze, I'll go find her when I need to beg for some food...

Go away! I can see you!

Wednesday 7 August 2013

Another one for the record!

I'm telling you, they are trying to get me depressed. They are inventing numerous ways to torture me. For quite a bit, they have decided under the false pretences of keeping me steady and focussed on my stays (whatever all those silly words mean...), that they were going to make me wait and leave the food and treats they place in front of me, until they release me. For EVERYTHING I have to wait for an eternity!! And they usually leave the stuff right under my nose, sometime even on my paws!

Last time, they made me wait so long with my dinner under my nose that I nearly had soup... Well, yes that makes me salivate a bit you see, when the food is under my nose, so I end up dribbling a tad, or a lot, fairly quickly too.... Mum says she is amazed how I can slobber that much that quickly... Well next time she gets her dinner, I'll put it under her nose until she starves and we will see if she doesn't have a bit of salivation going.... They never feed me enough but they get plenty for themselves, I've seen it. I'm not even going to add I have seen mum eat some of my treats from the saturday training, YES, MYYYYY treats. She says it's good stuff, but it is still MYYYY treats. And she didn't even sit or down for it, or any of that malarkey, tsss.... Will their villainy have no limit...

You see what I mean...

Tuesday 6 August 2013

Gardening pup

Mawson is a very helpful pup around the house. But, what he loves most is giving a hand when we do a spot of gardening. Cutting and pruning large leaves of the ferns and other plants is bad enough, but the worst is weeding. For the leaves he comes to carry them away wherever he wants and starts to chew them. Obviously changing his interest as soon as you cut a new leaf... But for the weeding you have to kneel down and get the double whammy of licks and kisses and weeds being pulled out of your hands, then half chewed and spat around.
If we are really lucky (that is to say we forgot to close the door...), Mawson takes a bit of work into the house and succeeds to render pieces of bark or wood into the smallest chips. I have had to de-clog the vacuums for so many times that I cannot confess.... Now if he could help with removing the scale insects off the trees, that would be helpful.

"helping" to carry those big leaves to the bin

wood chipper

Monday 5 August 2013

Oz garden visitors

We have a pretty nice Australian (quasi) native garden in our house. I like the fact that we also get a few indigenous species of fauna passing through, and I am not talking about all the birds and the possums... We have seen two blue tongue lizards (one big and one small). I am really happy about them being around, I am making sure that Mawson never gets to play with them. Not that he would be courageous enough to go near, but you never know with him. They are great lizards that love to eat snails like me! And slugs (not like me!!). This means I can't get rid of slugs anyway, because I do not want to poison the lizards nor the snails... I'm hoping we will see them back when the weather hots up again :).

The biggest of the resident blue tongue lizards

In a less popular and less attractive way, but also very useful, we get a lot of spiders of all sorts, the most impressive are the golden orbs, they are huge! I also like the silver orb much smaller and they have a shiny silver abdomen, very cute...

A "little" golden orb spider (the body was at least an inch)

I'm sure I'll have a few more visitors to show later on. For now, we are trying to eradicate some pesky parasites that eat up our trees :(

Sunday 4 August 2013

Agility trial

Today was a bit of a crazy day. The Northern Suburbs Dog Training Club, where we do our obedience and agility training with mister pup, was having their annual agility trials. It was our first agility trial attendance, but definitely not the last. We might be crazy and do some agility competition and I have started thinking that I might also go for obedience trials! I must be mad!!!
Mawson did not enter for this year's NSDTC competition, because he is just a little pup (the lower limit for competing dogs is 18 months!) but he took notes of what to do, and what absolutely not to do (I am a bit concerned he might have put gold stars on the what not to do stuff...Martin will have to see...).

Martin was doing his duties and helping at the stewarding tables. He got some good tips and an overall very educational day. During that time, I was keeping mister pup busy with some walks, doing some bits and pieces of obedience training and a big bit of crowd mingling. We even behaved like a good pup with a little girl coming for a pat! I was very pleased.

So for the occasion Mawson got a new collar especially for agility (can't have a dangling tag for that so need an embroided collar with his details) and also a stretchy lead that doubles as a toy - also for agility. Who's a spoilt boy, hey?
Even more than that, we got some old agility equipment that we are going to revive, and get Mawson in tip top shape.

We are all a bit snoozy now as it was a fairly early start for a sunday. We had to get there at 6.30am so we got up at 5.30am!! Even Mawson was yawning...


A little distraction from looking at agility

Saturday 3 August 2013

Mister Flea's demise

Mawson is pretty good for a big silly pup, and has not chewed/destroyed too many things in the house (considering...). At nearly 17 month old, he still has toys that he got when he first got here, at 9 week old! One of the first toy he had was a soft toy in the form of a flea. We found that so cute with Martin that we had to get it... And Mister Flea became an instant hit with Mawson, was being carried away and squeaked everywhere.
The original look of Mister Flea

Now, a little while ago, Mawson decided that mister Flea needed a bit of a revamp... I don't know if that was part of an imaginary puppy horror story, or if mister Flea gave him "the look", but all I know is that we came back one day to a fully blinded Flea, looking rather sorry for himself! I succeeded to do a saw up job and gave him back a bit of his dignity (I was quite impressed with myself, I must say!) but mister Flea has never been the same flea ever since. And somehow, I am not sure there was a lot of remorse, from a certain naughty pup, at the demise of his life-long faithful friend...

doesn't look remorseful to me...

Friday 2 August 2013

Routine is good for minions #2

I am finally back on, after I got mistreated by that vet. Did I tell you he stabbed me? And not only once, and mum saw it and she didn't say anything at all!! I'm sure that's abuse!
So anyway, where was I about the adequate training routine for my minions...
Oh yes, the right preparation for my daily occupations.
Well you see, I have to send both mum and dad to work during the day, so they can pay for my expensive tastes. They just overdo it and abandon me for the full day, but anyway, they try to make up for it by leaving me some stuff to do. What they don't know is that I enjoy having a biiiiiig loooong snooze while they are out, oh the bliss of silence. Until those pesky birds wake me up, or the neighbours' barkers.

So, after the whole faff about my breakfast, I go out to make sure the birds know that I am on duties. Then mum and dad get their stuff. Usually dad disappears and mum grumps that she has to make the place monster proof. That gets me a bit uneasy because there might be monsters in the house, I looked everywhere but so far, paws crossed, I haven't seen any! 

At this point, I am so sleepy that I go have a snooze on my bed to leave mummy choose my treats, I have some favourites and I realised that, the more miserable I look, the more I get treats! She always falls for it and gets a few more, yayyyy... Here comes the sad puppy eyes mwahaha! Anyway, I don't see why she needs to take only a few things out she should just leave me the boxes and I'll sort it out... :) 

Barely enough for a week, if you ask me

Amuse gueules

It cost the pig an ear and a foot,
instead of the usual arm and a leg,
though I wouldn't mind the usual...
So my day overall goes as:

1- When I am finally allowed (when mum is AT LAST ready to leave and stops running around), I go and hoard all my treats and start the hard work of eating them all
2- I go on my bed and fall in a treat induced coma (NO I don't snore!!!!!)
3- I wake up, I yawn, I have a scratch and a stretch
4- I do a little round of the perimeter of my kingdom
5- Oh a forgotten treat!
6- I go and have a snooze

7- I wake up, I yawn, I have a scratch and a stretch
8- I do a little round of the perimeter of my kingdom
9- Oh a forgotten treat!
10- I go and have a snooze

11- I wake up, I yawn, I have a scratch and a stretch
12- I do a little round of the perimeter of my kingdom
13- Oh a forgotten treat!
14- I go and have a snooze

15- I wake up, gah that's getting boring! What time is it? Damn, I need to remember to learn how to read that round stuff with moving part. Hmmmm let's go and rearrange a few things, oh a rug, tut tut tut shouldn't be there!!! Let's move it in the next room...
16- Go wait on the bed patiently...

And then at last they come back, never early enough if you ask me. And I am always bursting for a wee. But now we can start the end of day routine, yay.
Alright I'll paw that later, got to get ready for my walk.

Mawson