Yappy New Year

Gosh, this year has gone by so fast but me and my sister have had an absolutely brilliant time and I can't believe how much fun we've had. You can tell we've been good because me and my sister are more chubby than we were and our new coats that Santa brought for us last winter have had to be adjusted a bit - actually, in my sister's case, A LOT! She has this thing for rawhide chews and if she had her way she would eat them none stop forever - she even tries to pinch mine off me so I have to growl at her to back off. I don't actually like rawhide chews - do they even taste of anything? - but I would rather guard them in my bed and not eat them than let my sister guzzle them when they aren't even hers. 

We've done lots this year and mum has taken me on lots of runs with her, and even my sister has joined us sometimes when it hasn't been too far. We got to meet some new human friends called Glady and Michelle and we love running with them as they are such nice people and so friendly. They even asked Santa to bring us some new toys this year because they knew we were good dogs.

I've been up some mountains again this year and in the summer I went up a really good one called Jasper Mountain with mum. We did walk up rather than cheating and going in the cable car thing, and we got to meet lots of people on the top although we both said we would have preferred things if it had been quieter. I saw lots of little critters up there too and of course I wanted to chase them but mum wasn't too impressed with me dragging her all over the place!

We've been really outdoorsy this year which has been ace as we have got to act like proper dogs. We've been camping in a tent lots and lots and although I was scared about the bears and other big things out in the woods, my sister is so big that I knew she could protect me if needed - see, I'm only a little dog and my sister always looks after me when I feel frightened - even at the dog park. We did see some bears early in the year and we did try to bark at them to get them to go away, but thankfully they weren't too close and didn't come any closer so we didn't need to bark very loud at all really.

Mum and dad also introduced us to this game thing where we chase a plastic bag around a field and it moves really really fast and you have to sprint for ages to try and catch it. Everybody kept shouting "get the bunny" but it didn't look like a bunny. I got really really excited anyway, and barked all the way around and even though I am not really a pure whippet, I got top marks for being the "cleanest" dog there. I'm pretty certain they didn't mean clean clean because I was covered in dust and dried mud when all the others had had a bath and smelt like pretty flowers, but even so, I felt really proud to be told I was cleanest. My sister had a go at chasing the bunny too and even though she is a big girl, she did really well and she made me and mum and dad really proud. It was so much fun and really hope we get to go again next year.

With chasing bunnies around a field, we thought it would be ok to chase the bunnies around the Mahogany Wetland thing but mum and dad keep telling us off when we try to go after them, so we just eat their poo instead as it's the closest we can get to them - the bunny poo that is, not mum and dad's - that would be weird and quite frankly pretty disgusting.

Both mum and dad have started new jobs this year, and mum especially now comes home with the smell of about 20 dogs on her everyday. Me and my sister are not amused, as mum is turning in to a right trollop with all these other dogs she's mixing with. The good thing though is that mum says that she still loves us more than anything else in the world, so me and my sister feel much more comfortable with things. Because mum started the new job, me and my sister had to do some doggy training. We were really nervous about it as it meant we would have to meet with other dogs and humans that we didn't know and it took us out of our comfort thing. It was really snowy and cold too so we wore our coats and we felt a bit self conscious that the others would laugh at us. We had to do lots of sitting and walking and things, and then one day I got dragged to the front of the class with a complete stranger and had to demonstrate the sit stay. I was so nervous, I was shaking, I  was licking my lips and sending out all these signals but nobody came to rescue me, and then when I didn't understand the down word, I felt really stupid and embarrassed and felt that I had let mum and dad down. Both me and Brandy were also sent to the naughty step at our first lesson so I think they were just picking on us because they saw us as trouble makers when really we didn't know what we had to do because it was all new and stressful.

There have been big changes at home too. We used to have the run of the whole neighbourhood and had tons of space to run around in when mum and dad let us outside as we used to knock down the fence so we could go further. For some reason, mum and dad decided to put some wooden stuff up and now we can get under or over it and even when we try to body barge it, it is solid and won't budge. It means we now have to just run around in circles in the back garden instead, and because we can't see the neighbours dogs anymore we can only hear them, we have to jump at the fence and bark lots just to let them know we are still here and it is still our turf. Talking of turf, mum and dad put lots of lovely green grass down in the summer and it was ace going outside and having a tumble in it. They even put some trees in so I now have 2 piddle posts to choose from. My sister thought it would be funny to dig some holes, so she got told off by mum and dad and she went all sulky because she'd got dirt under her claws, even though it was her own fault.

Gosh, I hadn't realised we had done so much and there are lots of other things that we have done this year like swimming, rolling in mud, digging in the snow and things. Ah well, maybe another time I can tell you all about it.

I've gone really tired again now because mum's been at home today and we've been out walking with her and not had much sleep so now I'm going to bed because she has promised me a run with her and Michelle tomorrow and maybe my sister will be able to come too because it's only a little run and it won't be fast.

Night night everybody. I will post again soon I think :-)

Yappy Puppy Days

It's a sure sign I'm now 3 years old as I forgot all about this and can't believe that it's been so long since I last wrote anything on here, and it's been such an amazing year although ages ago I was beginning to wonder what it was going to be like.

At the start of the year, I heard that my best friend Jakey Boy had been killed by a cougar and I was really upset and very down for a long time. I used to love going around the lake and having a play and swim with him at Bragg Creek but his mum and dad moved away shortly afterwards and with no Jakey to play with, we haven't been out that way too much this year. Not only that, but I heard another little dog had been attacked shortly afterwards, so mum and dad were obviously worried about me because I'm only a little dog and so we stopped going until things calmed down.

Since then though I've got a new bestest friend and although I still think of Jakey sometimes when it's quiet and I'm alone, I'm finding that things have got even more bonkers since my new friend came along that those quiet times have become few and far between.

Brandy is my new friend and big sister - well, she's only one year old but she is soooo big. We moved house when the Easter Bunnies were out in force and that's when Brandy joined our pack. She was only little then, but as the days went by, she just kept getting bigger and bigger and now she sits on me to try and squash me just so she can pinch my toys whereas before she used to run under my belly because she was so small. She really is pretty though and we really protect each other when we go the doggy park and mum and dad say that we have bonded really well. 

I remember when she came along and she was such a girl. She didn't like mud or water, and she wanted a girlie pink sparkly collar and whilst she would still like to walk around with fairy wings fastened to her back (because she really IS girlie!), she's also a bit of a tom boy and likes a bit of rough and tumble. You should see her at the doggy park - I just keep myself to myself and play ball with mum and dad, but Brandy is always in the thick of it and is usually chasing after another dog's ball or being chased because she keeps stealing the other dogs' balls. She also does this body barge thing and pushes her bottom into them to knock them over, but she comes to me for protection when they bark or growl at her and I end up having to threaten them with my ball and shake my head at them to tell them off.

She also likes her food and sometimes I have to tell her off for trying to have my portion as well even though mum and dad give her a little bit more because she is bigger than me.

Brandy really is pretty so when we had a visit off my nana and grandad and then my uncle carl and kevin, I was so excited to introduce her to them but didn't want them to prefer her to me, or take her back to England as she's my sister now and nobody else can have her. Thankfully we were both treated equally and I was told I was still a handsome little chap and Brandy was told she was a pretty lady. We couldn't stop smiling and wagging our tails for days!

Me and my sister playing at the doggy park

This year I've done lots more running with mum and we have done lots of running in woods and on trails and a little bit in the mountains. I've always loved my running, but recently I've started to dribble because I get so excited, and I can't catch my breath in the first 5 minutes of running because I have to bark and tell everybody how happy and excited I am. We run around the lakes now and it's so good because we keep seeing lots of Jack Rabbit although I've also seen the big local coyote and I wouldn't want to cross him as he does look big and furry. It's been really good though as Brandy has done a few little runs with me and mum too, but it's obvious I am the lead dog as I just focus and look ahead whilst Brandy just stares up at the stars and mum has to keep reminding her to focus and move on.

Puppy cuddles and kisses for mum after a run

We've got some new collars and harnesses and they are nice to run with as they are more padded and it feels like I am more free as they are longer than the old ones and I really am leading the way. I wore mine for the first time at a race with mum recently, and I felt so smart in it and everybody commented on what a handsome boy I was. Even Brandy was told she looked pretty in hers when she ran with mum later the same day and we both look like professional huskies but without the big fur coats. I get so excited when I see mum get the harness and leads out of the cupboard now and I just know that we are off on some other running adventure and have to howl in excitement. Even Brandy has started to howl with me and it makes us all feel like we are a proper pack – its ace.

Me and mum with our medal

Me racing along the river with mum

It was my 3rd birthday recently and I had a new toy and some really posh dog biscuits. I thought that was it, but then mum surprised me and I went on a run somewhere with lots of other people. Well, I had to bark at them of course to let them know I had to be at the front, but when we got going, some of them thought they were faster than me so I had to go really fast to get ahead of them and dragged mum along with me. There were some pretty lights in a park that we saw,and when we stopped running it didn't feel like I'd been far enough so I encouraged mum to do some more and we ran in some deep snow for a bit longer. I was so happy and it really made it a good birthday - especially with dad been at home all day, and having a cuddle off Brandy once I'd done my run.

Now it is winter again, I have started to wear my coat and booties, and mum has made me wear a Buff thing on my neck to keep me a bit warmer. I don't know exactly how cold it has been but my whiskers have frozen lots recently, and a couple of weeks ago, my paws got so cold that I had to keep holding them up one at a time for mum to rub them to keep them warm. It's hard work in the snow as well as although I've got long legs, I am only a little dog, so although I love bounding through the deep stuff, sometimes I get buried in it so I really do have to bound to make sure I don't sink. It makes my tummy really cold sometimes and other parts that I can't really disclose on here because it sounds cheeky. For Christmas, I asked Santa for a new coat to keep my belly warm, and he brought me a Canadian Dog Arctic Explorer Jacket and it is really really good and really really warm. It’s red like mum’s and has a furry hood which is ace as it keeps my ears warm although it really tickles as well. Me and Brandy had some new toys too although my sister pinched my squeaky duck and started to pull the stuffing out and she’s already shredded her smiling octopus so mum and dad have told us no more toys – yeh right!

Ready to explore the arctic

I have got so much more to tell about my brilliant year - things like the new house which is so big that we can run round and not really need to go outside, or meeting the dogs next door who think they own our turf so we have to bark and tell them off, going on holiday to different places and staying in a log cabin, swimming in the rivers and lakes, walks with Brandy up her very first mountain, and so many other adventures, but I'm tired now and need to sleep as I've only had 17 hours so far today, but what I will say is that I really do feel like a lucky dog and I am so happy to have such a loving family around me :o)