SNAKES AND LADDERS

Well, I've just been given a smaller than usual breakfast (1/3 of a raw chicken wing instead of a whole half) which means it must be Agility Class this afternoon. She seems to think that if I'm slightly peckish I might try harder - as if I'm THAT desperate for a miniscule piece of dried liver! 

Now, unlike all those irritatingly keen Collies, us Heelers have a slightly more nonchalant attitude to negotiating an agility course so, actually, I'm not particularly excited at the prospect of toddling in and out of poles, scrambling up A-frames and rushing (sort of) down a line of jumps.  The tunnels aren't too bad as there's always the opportunity for a quick rest in the middle.  It's quite amusing peeking out to see where she's got to on the course before she realises I'm not with her.

Last week she had to really concentrate as Amy (our jolly teacher) had them all working out where the hidden 'snakes' were in the course. And we had to do some strange exercise involving stepping along a ladder laid on the ground. It was supposed to teach us to pick up our paws and develop 'rear leg awareness'. Well that was fine for Rufus as Tollers have fine elegant legs but for me it was like having to do a dozen mini jumps in short succession. I pity the miniature Dachshund in the next class...

Just spotted her rummaging in the freezer so, with any luck, she's getting out a bag of yummy turkey leftovers so perhaps I might deign to kick in the turbo-charger occasionally this afternoon. 

WIND TUNNEL TEST

Looking back on my last post (Coat Testing 18th Feb), I don't just have to stand around in icy puddles you know, I also have to run as fast as my little legs can go just to prove that the harness won't come off. Honestly, it was really hard work and all I got was a measly piece of cheese though it was a piece of local Dorset Blue Vinney.

Photograph by David King who brings his Weimaraner, Wilson, on my Turbo Tours (www.dk-capture.com)

COAT TESTING

Right, let's get to grips with this blogging lark. I'm going to assume right from the beginning that anybody reading this is going to be fantastically interested in absolutely everything I get up to which, being a Lancashire Heeler, can involve such diverse activities as sofa-testing to rat-hunting to "heeling" my owner's Vietnamese pot-bellied pig away from the Aga. At the moment I'm looking forward to this Sunday and our monthly social dog walk in the New Forest which my owner kindly organises for not just me, but also my big sister Silver (a German Shepherd) and about a dozen of our 4-legged friends. These walks are, of course, known as 'Turbo Tours' and the only downside can be when I have to mix work with pleasure by testing out coats for Collarways.

You see that really fancy stretchy red number I'm modelling in the posh shot at the top of this blog? Well, I had to wear that same coat first of all back in

November on a Turbo Tour just so that it could be checked out for ease of movement and washability (I, of course, only had to do the movement bit). Actually, don't tell anybody but I was quite glad I'd got it on after negotiating that freezing puddle. Not long afterwards I found a great bit of pony poo to roll in but it all came out in the wash - shame.