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