Life In The Old Dog Yet or I Iz Bugger!

Hello everybody

Sorry I haven't written in a while but Mummy has been too busy and tired to help me since she went back to work. My epilepsy hasn't been too bad - I had a couple of small fits last week and made poor Mummy lose a chunk of sleep but other than that (God willing) things have been calm.

I had my annual check up at the vet and I have lost weight and am now a very trim 44kg and looking very good for my age. Mummy had not given me my tablets in case they wanted to do a blood test and we walked all the way there (and got the bus back - woo hoo! I like that!) and I wasn't dragging my feet at all so Mummy says that proves that it is the tablets that make my legs weak (she calls it ataxia), but she calls it a Catch 22 situation because I have to have the tablets. The vet said that my epilepsy is getting worse because the tablets are less effective as my liver gets better at processing them but there's nothing to be done about it as I can't take any more without my legs going too wobbly. They are already a little too wobbly and do cause me problems. Mummy says as long as I am happy, that's all that matters and I am quite content with ambling, short walks and a play in the evening. Especialy with my new tennis ball which I get out when Mummy is watching Wimbledon and she says I am being sarcastic!!!

When we got the bus back, the driver said I could come on as long as I behaved and Mummy was quite offended because of course I would behave. He told her some story about a dog that was on the bus and growled at someone and five people complained and now the owner is barred from the buses. Must have been some growl!

The weather has been variable - Mummy says it is Wimbledon weather as it is so showery. This is because she has a new sun chair and she can't sit in it for long because it always rains again. We haven't been having very long walks - Mummy was worried until she remembered that I never do want to go far in the summer. My back legs are getting weaker and I fall over more often these days so Mummy makes me walk a certain distance to keep my legs strong but she also listens to me if I don't want to go too far if it is warm. We will have a long walk one day and then the next one, we won't go far, which is fair.

It is grass seed time of year so every morning, I have to put up with My People going through my feet to check for seeds and I also lick at them a lot which annoys My Auntie very much indeed. I don't really mind them doing my feet as it's attention but a man has to make it seem like he doesn't like allthat fussing, doesn't he! Mummy trimmed the fur between my toes today with scissors without checking first with Auntie so she is hoping that she won't be cross with her as they usually make decisions about me together.

Today, we had a longish walk and I was warm so I snuck into a pond and Mummy was frightened. She thought I wouldn't be able to get out again and was all ready to break her way through the hedge and pull me out, but I refused to even try to get out while she was watching so she had to walk away to get me to move. I got out no problem - there's nothing wrong with my forelegs. Mummy called me a bugger and is a little afraid to tell Auntie what happened in case she goes all disapproving.

We saw my friend Figaro on the way home whio is a little black spiky dog. The lasty time we met up, my Melody was still around and Mummy hadn't had her operation yet so Our People had some catching up to do. Mummy and I then raced the rain home as she had some washing on the line.

Mummy has been doing ok back at work and is nearly well again and is doing more and more. I was quite content when she was at home all the time and we didn't walk far, but it's ok having her back at work, I know the routine. That said, she is off work this week, watching the tennis and shouting "Go on, Roger" and "Oh for God's sake!" when she thinks somebody is using dirty tactics. She will go back to work next week and she says the next time she has time off will be Our Holiday in September when she wants to go back to the Chalet where we went last year. It was 10 minutes walk from the sea but she said it was better for me as caravans have steps I have to jump up and My People would have to lift me if I couldn't jump. I liked the Chalet - it was bigger than a caravan with lots of room for me to spread out and a proper living room. I like Holidays because My Mummy gets a downstairs bed and I climb on it and share it with her and she calls me naughty but cuddles me all the same.

Andy and Emma did come to see us and I gave Max the hard word when we met up over the fields and told him not to come any nonsense and then he was a good boy and didn't growl at me or anything on our walk. He even walked off the lead some of the time and then My Mummy had him on the lead and did some training with him (which I didn't like) and we walked quite far because I forget not to when I'm with another dog. When we got back to our garden, Max got a bit growly but I ignored him until he stopped it as I was tired and couldn't be bothered so he shut up in the end.

My Auntie has started her new Team Leader job and comes home every night all tired and stressed then waits until Mummy wants to get the meal out and starts talking about work and Mummy tries to advise her. Then Auntie will apologise for keeping the meal waiting or talking over a programme and Mummy will say that she is more important than food/meal/whatever which, of course, she is. Auntie has had her hair cut short, which she doesn't like, and has started going to water aerobics with Auntie Geri and coming home late from work, which I don't like so I either give her an extra big cuddle or sulk at her. Mummy had her hair cut the other day too, for the first time in a year. She thought it would have to be short but it is still quite long and now she doesn't have to tie it back all the time. When Auntie's new wages start coming in, My People say we cn have more treats and they can have things like haircuts because we will have some spare money each month. This is the first time in years that things have been like that. It will be nice for me because they will be less stressed then. I like it when My People are happy.

Oh, and Mummy says Eurovision was a stupid result and Denmark should have won because theri song was brilliant.

regards to all,

Bruce xxx

Mr Fuzzhead

Hello everybody,

I wasn't myself last weekend and I took a while to get my brain back so sorry for the delay in writing to you. Mummy says I had three proper fits over three days and lots of partial fits when she says I suddenly get up and wander over to her looking confused and then she pats me on the head and reassures me then I go and lay down again. I don't remember any of it but good old Mummy for seeing to me and poor old Mummy for having her sleep disturbed. I felt very very tired for a day or so when I was having the partial fits and then after so Mummy didn't make me do very much in the way of walking and kept me quiet and wouldn't let me play. When I picked up my Ziggy Piggy cushion and threw it at her, both she and Auntie grinned from ear to ear and said that meant I was myself again and were very very happy and had a game with me.

The weather has been a bit cooler for the last week or so which is better for me. I hurt my leg when I was fitting - Auntie says I fell over in the kitchen. My legs were really wobbly for a day or three and Mummy was worried but they are ok now - at least they were until I fell again yesterday but I was ok for my walk today, when we went almost to the Wood but then it went bang so we came home again.

When my Auntie was little, she and Mummy used to go The Park every day and they would meet a little boy called Andy who would play with Beauty (who was the dog they had then) and share Auntie's chips. Andy had to move away when Auntie was five but he read on my blog (Hello Andy!) that we needed a Guinea Hutch and got in touch. He and his lovely wife Emma came over last Saturday. They brought the hutch, which is huge and has all sorts of accessories which have made My People very happy, and they spent time chatting to My People and rubbing my head and stroking me and scritching my bottom which is one of my favourite things ever. I liked having some Man Time with Andy and My People liked seeing him again and I liked Emma very much indeed as she was good at stroking me and talked to me so nicely.

They are going to come back to see us and bring their young rescued dog who does not get on with other dogs too well so I will have to teach him some manners by moaning at him or ignoring him, whichever I think is best. Mummy says we will go for a walk together as I might be A Git if he comes in my house i.e. my territory which is very offensive but also quite possibly true because, as Mummy puts it, Bruce Doesn't Share!

Mummy went back to work this week and was really quite unhappy about something that happened there. She wishes we had more money and she could just retire and stay at home with me and so do I. However, I was a very good boy and settled into routine no problem, though I did of course sulk at Mummy and refuse to give her a kissy goodbye on her first day - it's tradition, I always do that to her when she goes back after having time off. She shouldn't leave me!

My People have been watching Eurovision this week which is boring for me. Mummy says she wants Blue to win. I don't mind them watching it tonight so much because they are having pizza and I will get some.

That's all for now,

I send my regards to all,

Bruce xxx

Gone Home

Hello everybody,

The Guinea Pigs have gone home now. Mummy is pleased in a way because their cage attracted flies. She hates flies and goes all ninja with a fly swat when they come in the house. She is going to try to get a hutch off Freecycle so when they come back, they can live outside. I am pleased they have gone because their cage goes in one of my favourite places to lie on the nice cool kitchen floor! I went straight there and chilled out as soon as they left yesterday...

The weather cooled down a bit, which was easier for me but now it is starting to warm up again. On Saturday, we walked all the way to the vets for my yearly check-up but it was OK because we went really early and then we got the bus home before it got too hot. The vet was happy with me - I have lost weight again (I am now 44kg) and he said I am in very good shape for an eight year old. Apparently the tablets for my epilepsy are going to get more expensive but at least I don't have to have any more yukky blood tests because I can't have my tablets put up any more anyway as the dose is already massive. That's when I don't spit them out or puke them up (hehe)!

I enjoyed getting the bus home. The bus driver made a bit of a fuss and said I could only come on if I wouldn't cause any damage - as if I would! What an insult! And he told us that somebody's dog growled at people the other week and then the people complained and the dog's Person is now banned from the buses - for life! I don't growl at people. I might mutter occasionally at another dog sometimes if it really annoys me but I never growl at people.

Though I might answer Mummy back occasionally when I'm fuzzy but that isn't really growling, it's just complaining....

My People enjoyed watching the Royal Wedding. Mummy got up early and walked me up the airfield before it came on and then My People sat and watched it on TV for hours. I was pretty fed up because I wanted to sit outside. On Saturday and Sunday, we sat outside a lot then on Bank Holiday Monday, Auntie and Mummy spent the afternoon going through a box of what they called Archives, which had lots of stuff to do with The Daddy, who I never met. They want to trace their family but are having lots of problems because their name gets used for other things, like people who like things.

Auntie Claire took My Auntie out with her and Baby Ethan. Baby Ethan doesn't take much notice of me but I am friendly with Baby Skye next door. She had a friend round who kept looking at me and squealing. I am glad Baby Skye doesn't do that and I am glad that she is learning now to stroke me and not just poke me with her finger. I go over to the fence and let her reach through to me. I try to stand very still and not scare her and she says my name and giggles. When I went into her garden, she cried when I went home. My Auntie and Auntie Claire went to the Discovery Centre. I went there once when Mummy still saw Hippie Tracy and I liked it there, I played in the pretend houses and jumped in the lake and ate a lolly.

I met a little Spaniel called Bonnie this morning. Mummy and Bonnie's Mummy have both lived in Our Village for many years and yet they had never met! I used to know a Spaniel who looked like Bonnie who was called Ben and was horrible but Bonnie was really nice and we had a nice walk together after a funny start - she kept running up to me then throwing herself flat on the ground then running away again!

Oh yes, Mummy says I have to have a different food for a while as I keep stinking her out with smelly blow-offs hehehe......

That's all for now, I send my regards,

Bruce xxx

Hot, hot, hot!

Hello again

My Mummy has been told that she isn't allowed to say how she is on the internet so I can't tell you how she is. My face here tells you what I think about that!

It has been very hot and sunny this week, much warmer than it usually is during April. We have been sitting out in the garden lots and lots under the shady trees. Mummy says if anyone knows of good products for keeping dogs cool in the hot weather, please let her know and maybe she can review them here (if she asks me nicely!). Auntie Steph and Nes kept coming outside to chat to Mummy and when she sat in the bottom garden, they took it personally, but Mummy was only down there because I like the cool grass and didn't want to move.

The Guineas' claws were really long when they first came to stay so Mummy has been putting their run on the cement and the mud and feeding them dandelion leaves, but the other day Bella cut her foot and bled lots and lots it seems ok now though.

Stan next door has been trimming our grass again and Auntie says she is going to do the shrubbery tomorrow so she will probably get sunburn as Mummy says she is part vampire as she rarely comes out in the sun. She did join us outside tonight for a while when Mummy was lying on a towel - I went and bundled Mummy when she lay down then sat ion her then threw my toys at her then Auntie came out and gave me a doggy massage and I was like a pig in mud enjoying all the attention.

Auntie Geri and Mummy took me out really early before it got hot today and will do so again tomorrow. It is nice going out in the morning and I see some different dogs and smell different scents so it is nice.

regards

Bruce xxx

Get Better Soon Mummy

Hello

My Mummy is feeling proper grotty today and doesn't want to walk me. I'm sure she will gather the strength to take me a little way. When she feels poorly, I don't ask her to take me any further than she can manage and I turn her round if she tries to go further, but it is nice to get away from the house and do some sniffing once a day. In the evenings, if I didn't go far on my walk, we go down the garden and I chase my ball and woof at cats. I enjoy that.

Also when Mummy is poorly, I lie next to her when she lies on the couch and i nuzzle her and hold her hand with my paw to comfort her. Sometimes I climb up and share the couch with her - it doubles as her bed as she sleeps downstairs with me in case I have a fit. And sometimes I sneak up there anyway and then she calls me a horrible dog but I don't mind because she says it fondly, like a compliment.

Uncle Ricky came over yesterday. I like seeing him. He plays with me and plays bongo-butt on my bottom. We are having warm, sunny weather at the moment so Mummy puts the budgies and the guinea pigs outside and we sit out there with them. Our new neighbours, Auntie Step and Nes and Skye all come out and Mummy and Auntie talk to Auntie Steph, who they think is funny, and I go over to the fence and stand nicely so that little Skye, who is only one, can stroke my fur. She has learned to say my name now and waves at me and says 'hiya'. I like her. I am a good boy around children. I stand still and let them stroke me.

Mummy won some Encona Thai Sweet Chilli Sauce sachets the other week in a Facebook competition and she put some up for auction as part of Darcy Deerhound's Party On The Web, http://darcyswebparty.proboards.com/index.cgi which was held to raise money for research into osteosarcoma, which was what My Melody got. Mummy found out about it on dogpages which is a rescue forum where you can look for a rescue dog or chat to other dog people about doggy issues - Mummy goes on there to talk about epilepsy and tries to help other people whose dogs have got what I've got.

I send my regards,

Bruce xxx

Sylvia and General Thoughts

We saw Sylvia yesterday. I like Sylvia - she has always made a fuss of me and said how gorgeous I am and often has gravy bones in her pocket especially for me. Sometimes, when she hasn't, Mummy slips her a bit of Schmacko and she gives me that instead and we all pretend she had it in her pocket in the first place.

Sylvia used to have a German Shepherd Dog before me, and he was called Rommel. Mummy says he only got to my age and then got really slow and stiff and could only walk as far as the smallholding and back and then he went All Gone like Melody. I am lucky (God willing) that I cans till run and play.

My poor Mummy is ill again - her infection is back and she is taking horrible tablets again. This means she can only manage very short walks with me which I don't mind so long as I get a good game at home. Yesterday, she threw the ball for me lots in the back yard and then I was tired. I like it when she hides the ball in the pampas grass and then I jump up and find it. I pee on the pampas grass too and walk round and round it in circles. The mud near it is flat and all the proper grass is gone and the pampas grass is ruined. Mummy says she will never have a nice garden as long as she has me!!!

Auntie Angie's son is going to sort out the little problem that Mummy got shouted at over and I am hoping he will come to see me because I like Ashley. I hope seeing him doesn't make me feel sad like I did when I saw the girls. I do know that Auntie Angie's gone but I still get the urge to go in her house and look for her, and when I go to the door, it makes Mummy sad.

I like it when the Guinea Pigs come to stay. Rainbow has made friends with me and she even comes and eats her food in her cage next to me when I have my dinner and she says 'weep weeep weeep' to Auntie and asks for food when I get fed, which is funny because I don't think she would enjoy my food! I did try one of her carrots earlier. I used to like carrots and apples when I was a puppy but I didn't fancy this one. I like the apples off our tree when they're small and bitter. I like to chew on them and Mummy says 'yuk' and isn't that sour?'

We have been sitting out in the garden lots while Mummy has been off work. Mummy says she will go back to work with a suntan and they'll all think she's been skiving!!! She says she might have to have an operation to get herself sorted out which means she will have to stay away from home for two days. I don't like that idea. She has never left me overnight or even for more than a few hours. I'm sure Auntie will look after me very well, but it will be strange. It does, at least, however, mean that Mummy will be home for another bunch of weeks while she recovers so like Mummy says, there is some good in everything (well, almost everything, she says), if you only look hard enough.

I still don't see what's so good about Greek music though. Mummy has it on the computer all the time. And American Idol - why do My People like that so much? They said it was shocking that Pia went last week but the result was right this week. I mean - who really cares? I certainly don't! I do like Classic FM though as that means it's Quiet Time and Mummy will rest and I will get a cuddle. When I had a fuzzy head the other week, Mummy put that on and she says it helped to calm me down. The magic of Quiet Time! Even the budgies know they have to be quiet at Quiet Time!

I send my regards and welcome to new readers from bloggers,

Bruce xxx

Disturbing The Peace

Hello again

The Guineas have arrived. They don't have an outdoor hutch any more and their indoor cage is where I like to lie on the cool kitchen floor. Also a big package arrived which needs to go back and that is in another place where I like to lie. Not happy. Not happy at all. My People were disappointed because they had a call to say there was a big heavy parcel coming and they thought they had won a big prize (Mummy enters competitions for a hobby) but it was just something from the boring catalogue that Mummy thought had been cancelled.


My bed has grown since the picture was taken (above). The brown bed was from Melody, but now I have two more of her beds in the same place. At first I didn't lie on them (and mummy says I bit them when I was having a fit) but now I lie on them sometimes. Now the weather is warming up though, they're a bit too warm.

Mummy did start letting me sleep outside again but the deal is that I can only sleep outside if I don't woof at cats and I woofed at cats and I knew that was wrong so I brought myself in before she could moan at me and slept indoors. Maybe she will let me try again soon.

Mummy is still at home sick and has started to get worse again. She was feeling much better and was taking me for longer and longer walks but now she is feeling grotty again, she doesn't want to go far. I don't really mind so long as I get a good play in the evening, especially as my right shoulder is playing up again at the moment.

On Saturday, Mummy had a woman shouting down the telephone at her. This woman has some pictures that belong to somebody else and Mummy had been asked to be a go-between. She didn't want to get involved and after she had been shouted at, she wished she hadn't bothered! I would like to tell you more but Mummy says it's not our business to gossip about.


I have settled down now after my last bout of fitting. I am meant to be going to the vets for a check up but Mummy wants to put a bit longer between the cluster and the excitement of going to see Alan and also she wants to feel stronger herself. She says we might go at the weekend if she feels up to it or we might wait for our friend Dan to come home and give us a lift.

We are going outsdie in a minute or maybe for a very short walk. Our retired neighbour Stan, my friend who I like to spend Man Time with, is outside doing our garden ( Mummy has never asked him to, he just does it! She gives him whisky every now and then to say thank you) and he gets embarrassed if Mummy thanks him so she wants to wait until he has finished.

That's all for now. Welcome to all my new readers.

I send my regards

Bruce xxx

It's Me!

Hello everybody, Bruce here.

So much has happened since I last spoke to you. Auntie Angie had some very big problems and then she disappeared last year. I have been into her house many times to look for her and I have seen all the rest of her family but I think she has gone forever. Mummy says she has died and is All Gone.

That makes me sad.

The Judy sent my Mummy to Coventry which apparently doesn't mean she has to go away (phew!) but that she isn't talking to her. By the time she wanted to talk to Mummy again, Mummy realised that she was much happier not talking to her - she was certainly much more calm and had stopped being so cross at times - and so Mummy doesn't speak to her now. Things have improved a bit with The Mother though Mummy still doesn't see much of her, but when she does, she doesn't come home all angry and talking and talking any more.

My Auntie was made redundant from another job last year and stayed at home with me for a while, then did a couple of jobs for a few weeks and then got the job she is in now. Uncle Ricky had lost his job and came to see me lots for a while and he became a much calmer and happier person too. Now he works where Auntie works but he is still calm and happy and has kept off the weight he lost when he was out of work and going for long walks all the time.

Mummy is OK. She hasn't been well recently and went to the hospital for an operation and came home really really tired and then got sick and even more tired. She is still off work now but I think she is going back next week. I have liked having her at home and I will miss her very much indeed.

My Melody got lame and sick at the end of last year. One day, a couple of weeks ago, she tried to chase a bunny and then stopped and screamed with pain and then I never saw her again and Mummy says she is All Gone like Auntie Angie. That makes me sad too. I have two of her beds and one of her toys and I didn't like them at first but now I have got used to them, I like them.

I have been OK. Mummy says my epilepsy is worse because my fits come in clusters of 5 or 6 over a few days and I pace a lot in between but I don't really remember anything about it so it doesn't bother me. I have to go to see the vet this week for them to talk about my tablets. I like going to the vet, especially to see Alan as he is always so nice to me and tells me I am handsome.

I am enjoying the Spring weather and sitting out in the garden a lot. Since Auntie Angie went, her daughters went to live with their Daddy. Their Guineas Pigs stayed with us for a while and then went to their new home, but they come back and stay with us in School Holidays. They arrived today and they are in a run in our garden and their Daddy put one of MY toys in there for them to play with. I am not impressed. One of the Guineas is called Rainbow and she likes me and follows me around. I like to sniff the Guineas and they sniff me.

That's all for now, I hope you enjoyed this update,

I send my regards,

Bruce xxx

Not So Good, Al

Hello. Mummy here again. Melody's Mum has been everso brave and positive and has come for a couple of walks with us to help Brucie to understand that Melo has gone. He has got the message now but that's not necessarily a good thing as he is so sad and has had three fits in the last few days. Now the vets want to see him but I'm not risking taking him in while he's still fitting so after this cluster has finished (God willing), than I will take him in. He has to have a medication review, which is a legal requirement and possibly a blood test, which I'm not keen on. He can't have any more medication without it making his back legs too wobbly and I don't really want him to have a liver function test as what's the point? If the phenobarbitone is harming his liver, there's nothing we can do. He has to have it to control his fits. He can't have less. It's all about quality of life for Bruce, not quantity.

And it hurts me so much to say that as I want him to live for years and years....

Anyway, he has perked up a little this evening and wants to play ball and can't understand why I'm telling him to stay quiet. He yawns at me to let me know that's boring. Cheeky dog!

Hopefully Bruce will feel up to writing again soon. He sends his regards,

Mummy xxx

RIP Melody

Mummy here. Melody went to Rainbow Bridge today. Bruce knows something is going on and is sad but not knowing why. I don't know how to make him understand or if it's better he doesn't know.

We will miss you Mel.

regards

Mummy xxx

Melody is sore

I saw my Melody today - she popped in last night and her Mummy brought pies but today we had a sneaky evening walk. It was sad thoough because Melo tried to b*gger off and made her leg really sore and had to hop home. She really yelped when it happened and i wanted to go to her but Mummy made me wait and Mel's Mummy went and got her. Mel was being really naughty and ate some poo that we thought was human too. She has decided to do what she wants while she's still here.

I don't really understand what's happening to her and it makes me go all quiet and worried....

regards

Bruce xxx

Wow!

A couple of people have looked at my blog! Maybe I'll start writing it again!

Just to let my friends know that I am still going strong, still norty, still love playing with my toys and love my Melody. Melody is very poorly and not long for this world and I try and try to remember to be gentle with her but if I forget, I have to walk on the lead until I remember.

regards to all

Bruce xxx