A dogs life

Hi, we're still here, you thought we'd forgotten about the computer didn't you! nah, just been lazing around and hadn't gotten round to updating the blog, SORRY! anyhow, me and Mags are doing good, but we are a bit laid by with the heat, it has been sooooooo warm in the last few weeks and not a good idea having to wear a permanent fur coat in the current climate, hey must be this global warming they keep banging on about! Thought we'd better post some new photos so here we go!

So here we are, home again after our stint at Boot Camp, oops Da Kennels. Hey I am not knocking it, I had a great time, all that K9 pals to play with. Maggie was a bit put out to begin with, cos she's not used to other dog's, well apart from me that is, so she barked for a few days then she kind of got into the swing of it. I actually thought I was just there to help out and followed Davy and the lass around thinking they would take me inside to their house to a cosy sofa and telly, but realised that I had to stay in the Kennels with Maggie.
When Mam and Dad came to pick us up I knew right away when I heard the car, but Maggie actually forgot them for a split second before realising and going absolutely hyper.
We got home, went for a long walk to the beach where Maggie ran and ran and ran (I think the whole couped up thing had gotten to her more than I thought), we then went home had a shower each (Maggie was a bit pishy, as she tended to go under the big dogs when they were having the toilet), and laid down in our comfy sofa.
p.s. Rolf was no where to be seen.

It's surely that time of the year when you owner's start to take holidays. Our Mam and Dad are away to Venice for a long weekend (you would think they had enought water around them here without needing to treck all the way over there), so me and Mags are away to somewhere called the Kennels in Gott. Apparently it's a place where dog's go on holiday when their owners are away, Mam say's she has been for a look and it's fine (she was a bit worried about leaving us in an unken place). She says we will love it cos we get to stay together in a double kennel and there are loads of other dogs we can play with when we get let out, and after all it is only 5 days, so roll on holidays.
Our weather is getting a lot better, me and Maggie can get out in the garden without getting covered in gutter, and we have even been to the beach again, we went in swimming this time, Maggie was a bit unsure but soon came around to the idea.
You can see from the photo that we had one really hot day which completely laid me by, I ended up having to go inside to lie down, and Maggie having dark fur was even worse cos the sun caught her more, but we are getting used to it.

It's a moorie caavie here today! The snow has come and it's grrrrrreat. Me and Maggie are having a fantastic time running in and out, mind you Maggie is still only small so when she jumps in the drift's she ends up pretty much up to her oxters (just as well she's not white like me, then we can find her).
We went out yesterday morning with Rob (as the schools are closed) and made a snowman, well she made it, but we did help, I ate the snow and Maggie ate the carrot, which was the snowman's nose!
There's another shower on now, I feel another snowman coming on, and there is a lot more snow today so maybe we will get a bigger one this time! Watch this space.

Soooooosie came along today, she visits every now and then with one of those things on wheels that you plug into the wall and it makes a really loud noise, and just when you thought that was bad enough, it makes all the furballs that roll up and down the passage simply disappear. Now I quite like this machine, you human folk call it a hoover, I like to play with it and bark, cos when I do that it comes after me and tries to get me. Maggie is not quite so keen, she greets and runs away, but she is getting more brave, and she loves Sooooosie.
Anyhow, I was glad Sooooooosie came cos my feet are getting itchy again (it's my dust mite allergy), you see my Mam doesn't really like housework and she doesn't take out the hoover as much as she should do, so thank da loard for Soooosie Shine, even thoough she calls us the 'Four Legged Furballs' (I'm sure she means it in the nicest possible way).
I have to give a weather update as I know how much you humans are obsessed with it. It has been pretty hellish lately, not that it bothers us dogs, you know we are happy to go out in whatever the sky decides to drop on us, it's only hellish because that's when you think you cannot bear to take us outside, even though you put on jackets, scarves, gloves, boots and whatever else you can find to cover yourselves in, were not bothered, what's wrong with a furry coat and no shoes, never did us any harm - think about it!!! Although I must admit, Maggie nearly turned in to a kite dog the other day, it was a bit windy and she was on her extendable lead at the top of the Muckle Road, get the picture?
So here's hoping for a better day tomorrow (God, you've got me at it now, dogpseak, dogspeak, dogpseak).
Hey Floyd, keep up the comments, Mam thinks I can't work the computer either, stupid humans eh!

Mam went back to work yesterday, so me and Maggie are stuck out in the shed all day, but we're not on our own, you see she work's in the shed, she makes something called Burra Bears, from old woolly jumpers.
It's not so bad, the shed is quite small so we can't run around so much, but it's really warm and cosy and we have a bed each.
We have to get up really early as Rob is back at school and everyone is up and dressed before 9, so no more lie in's!

I was going to tell you about our cousin's in Whiteness, Mak and Millie. Mak is a black lab (still a bit young and hyper like Maggie), Millie is about the same height as me (she's really old thought) and is what you human's call a mongrel (we don't like to think of ourselves by that name), the vet thought she was a cross between a Jack Russell and a German Shepherd (Yeh, I know what you're thinking????), but anyhow, she was a street dog in Glasgow and came from a Rescue home, My Mam's, sister's lass took her up here to live and now she has a huge garden and a lovely house, but still has a bit of a problem with food (all those years on the streets), and she can be a temperamental now and again.
Mak is still quite young about 8 years (or 1.5 years in human years), he came from Yell as a puppy.
I don't really see much of them, especially now Maggie is here, as I don't get to go in the car very often (only when we go to the vet).

So I was trying to explain to Maggie what happens at Hogmanay, but first I thought I'd better try to get her to say it right. I started by saying it really slow, 'Hog man ay', and all she kept repeating back to me was 'Ma hog an y', so I eventually gave up, in fact I think I like the word Mahogany better, so we'll just stick with that for now. So I said basically folk sit around in other folk's houses and watch telly, have drams and food (that traditional Reestit Mutton soup) and wait for the clock to strike midnight, then they all get up, kiss one another say Happy New Year or Happy Mahogany and then they all go on the phone to speak to other people and say the same. It's all a bit strange looking at it from our point of view, but then humans are a bit strange, I mean imagine only having 2 legs, god you would completely fall over!
Anyway, it looks like we'll be in the house again because Mam, Dad and Rob are all going out again. So me and Mags will just have to make our own entertainment, guess that means we'll run up and down the passage for a while then fall asleep till they all come back.
Maggie's a bit crazy at the moment, think it might be all the excitement of Christmas, or it could just be because she is growing up, the other day when we were out for a walk I caught her eating chewing gum (well it's better than dog poop, that's just gross), well I put a stop to that right away, it was a bit too Chav/Vicky Pollard for my liking.
So here's a Happy Mahogany to all dogs in Shetland and beyond, oh and to my relations in Glasgow, I saw the photos of the latest additions they are soooo cool!

Well, Christmas is actually over now, but thought I'd better fill you in on the festivities. But first of all an update on the dog bed/babygate situation, It's actually working quite well. Amazingly enough, Maggie is actually sleeping really well, and even later when we don't get up with the alarm clock. I guess that's because us dogs don't like to be alone, we're pack animals and like to have company, and I must admit it's not so bad having to share a bed with her (I even got to have my furry blanket off the end of Rob's bed in my dog bed).
So Christmas came and went, and we were pretty much stuck in the house. I got to go out last year as it was just me, but as Maggie is still a bit hyper, we had to stay in while Mam, Dad and Rob went out for supper, dinner, visiting (you know the way).
We did get lots of present's though, I got a hat and scarf set from Millie and Mak (cousin's in Whiteness), and as you can see me and Maggie look rather fetching. We got lot's of presents from Rob, I got toys and Maggie got chewy things, cos normally I don't like them, Mam and Dad get mad cos I tend to bury them in the garden then pretend I haven't (the white fur mixed with mud kind of gives it away!). This year I thought I would try a chewy thing, but I just can't get away from the burying thing, and I hid them all over the house, then of course, I had to stand guard over them (couldn't let Maggie get them back), so I spent the most of an afternoon behind the Christmas tree. I also got a proper leather football (they don't buy me the plastic one's as they rarely last more than 5 minutes) which I am still trying to get into.
We did get to go to the beach as we have been having lovely weather, every day is like springtime. This was Maggie's first time at the beach and she loved it, but was a bit unsure of the waves, I thought I'd be tough and show her what to do, so I went out to fetch a bit of wood, but it was pretty cold. We had to have shower's when we got home to warm us up.
So Merry Christmas to everyone and here's looking forward to Hogmanay, must remember to explain that one to Maggie!

So you will never guess what happened today, wir Dad came home with a metal gate thing which is apparently used for babies, and I am thinking to myself well there are no babies in this house, and then I remember, Maggie. And so he puts it all together and bolts it onto the wall so that we can't get through to the bedrooms, and I am thinking, what's going on here, then I remember when I saw that vet man that came up from Glasgow and he asked where I slept and my Mam told him that I mostly slept on the end of Rob's bed and he said that probably wasn't the best place with my dust mite allergy and all. But I know that's not the reason, you see peerie Maggie, who normally sleeps in her dog cage thing in the kitchen has started to wake at all hours throught the night, and then wir Dad has to get up and put her out just in case she needs to pee, then he puts her back and she greets and greets, so the idea is that I have to sleep with her in the passge in a dog bed (oh the shame of it!) to keep her quite. Now I am not conviced, and don't think that me being there will keep her quite, she doesn't do anything I tell her, so I don't think she will start now. And all this after three and half years of sleeping on a nice cosy HUMAN bed, it's just not right! But time will tell.

Oh and Hi to the Quarff dogs and thanks for your comments, don't worry about the weather, it's pretty normal for this time of year, god I still haven't got used to the wind, rain, cold, snow but Shetland's really a pretty good place to be, imagine having to live in a big city, nah, I don't think so.

Speak soon.
Sparky