Dummy!

OK, paws up everyone who is checking this blog out because they thought the title was referring to them?

Not you dummy! - gundog dummy!

Hang on a minute....

Searching for dummy

....this is a gundog training dummy (the green thing, not the brown thing!)

Here is it!

I met my Vizsla friend, Oscar, in the park this morning. He always gives me a good run for my dummy. We both want to get the dummy 1st!

Shall we swap heads?

To be fair, technically, it could be argued that it is Oscar's dummy as his Dad bought it - he gave it to me as a present after I "borrowed" one of Oscar's dummies for a few days went we were pups!

Come & get it!

I was joking - you can't have it really!

"Give me the dummy"

Resorting to illegal tackle

OK, we both found it!

Sometimes Owner & Oscar's Dad make us sit & wait for the dummy to be thrown. I get SO excited I quiver!

Wait!

Mostly the dummy is thrown away from us, but this time Oscar's Dad threw it at us to us! (I think Oscar looks funny because his eyes are shut in this photo - sorry Oscar, but you do look funny!)

Catch

I am really pleased with myself every time I get the dummy!

I've got it!

Sometimes if I get a little *ahem* distracted in the park by another dog's toy, or something I could roll in,  Owner will say "where's your dummy?"! That has 2 effects: 1st, I get to find the dummy which I love, & 2nd, Owner looks really stupid because all the humans think she is talking about something to keep a human baby quiet! It's a win, win situation for me!

Very pleased with myself!

I like it when Oscar's Dad throws the dummy because he can throw much further than Owner! Oscar watches the dummy to see where it goes, but I just run ahead & if I don't see the dummy land I use my nose to find it.

Ready?

Oscar has worked out that I usually overshoot my run so he can often pick up the dummy before me.

Fetch!

When Oscar has had enough of running he'll let me go & get fetch the dummy....

Come on Oscar, keep up!

....then  he will lie down to ambush me when I'm on the way back!

Ambush imminent

Regardless of who gets the dummy 1st, we often run along together both holding on (we also do this with a ball, but that's not quite so easy!)

It's very heavy - you might need help carrying it.

Joint effort.

Another successful day at the park!

It's a mistake! #destructogang

Many of you who are on Twitter will know about #destructogang - a group formed by @MissPishPosh consisting of anipals who destroy things.

Is this the face of a destroyer?

Well, I received a membership badge from the UK badge distributor @RealJoanneK. I'm sure you'll all agree that the design by @super_nat is lovely, but I think there must have been a mistake! I'm not sure why I have been included in destructogang - I mean it's not as if I destroy things!

Sniffing to check it's for me

Definitely my badge

There may have been a few *ahem* incidents that have occurred implicating me, but I can explain them all (Your Honour).

For example, this rope toy was cleared damaged by the friction of the floor, therefore not my fault it became a little dishevelled.

"Before"

"After"

The ball on the rope pictured below was a health & safety problem. I had to shorten the rope to prevent injuries to the humans (they get a bit tetchy when their legs get bashed during ball flinging). It also made the toy more ergonomic for the humans. So you can see what a selfless dog I am sacrificing my toy enjoyment for the love of my humans.

Health & safety nightmare.

The ring toy below was purely adapted for educational purposes. I think it shows my academic potential. Not sure I can do the whole alphabet with it though!

This used to be an "O"

Now it's a "C"

When I help with the gardening, Owner sometimes misinterprets it as destruction. 

See? The pruning worked a treat!

Just pruning the loganberry!

Mum & Dad have a problem with rabbits in their garden.

The photo below may look like I was destroying the toy, but as it was during the World Cup Football games, you can't be too carefully with security. Someone has to check for bombs. I didn't get any thanks for my bravery though.

I know it looks bad!

Owner sometimes takes random photos of broken stuff. I'm a bit annoyed really because it makes it look as if I did it!

I wasn't there & you can't prove it was me.

OK, OK, I'll admit that this ball was damaged by my teeth, but if Owner buys inferior quality balls I can't be held responsible for the consequences.

Brain sculpture

Owner brought this disaster on herself. She put some treats in the end of my toy, so I had to get them out somehow!

Why didn't she just give me the treats?

Sometimes there's no getting away from the odd accident. If a ball accidentally gets caught in my teeth & the fluff on the outside gets caught up occasionally the ball "falls apart".

Who said balls were supposed to be round?

 Of course there are times when a dog has to carry out a mercy mission. Free the squeak is an active mission.

Free the squeak

It's in here somewhere

So you can see, it's clearly a case of mistaken identity!

I'm an innocent dog!

Darting around Dartmoor: Part 2, Avon Dam

This is the walk I did on Dartmoor the day after my last blog. This time Owner & I went to a place called Avon Dam, with my friend Barney & his mum Annie. This is me saying hello to Barney!

I quite like to play, but Barney is more interested in carrying rocks, and rolling on them. It's not easy to see, but in this picture Barney is carrying a big rock in his mouth!

We had to walk along quite a bit of road, but there was lots of moorland either side to run on. Behind that wall in this photo is a huge puddle of water. I am leading the way, because Owner & Barney's mum were talking & not walking fast enough!

 This is the view from the bridge leading up to the big water puddle.

 This is what we saw when we got to the top of the hill. See? I told you it was just a big puddle!

There were some sheep on the hill & I'm not allowed to play with them so I had to go on lead for some of the time. When I was a pup I used to think that they were fluffy dogs with a woof impediment because they say "baa" instead of "woof"! I think it's a shame I can't play chase with them because they wobble when they run which I think is really funny & I could make them wobble really fast if I was allowed!

I might not be able to run with the sheep but I can look (& Owner can't stop me dreaming about running with them!).

We went along the road, up the hill, along some moorland, and down the hill, & then we got back to the river so we could cool off & have some water.

I got a better view from here!

 After our walk we went to a dog friendly pub called Turtley Corn Mill at Avonwick. They have some a lovely big outside area with tables and big garden chess set. They also have a river with ducks on. I had to stay on my lead because there are some baby ducks at the moment & Owner thought I might like to play with them!

This is Barney & his mum waiting for lunch to arrive. Barney wanted to lie down & rest, but I still wanted to play!

I did eventually lie down & rest (when we got home!).

Darting around Dartmoor: Part 1, Silly names

I love running & smelling stuff, so Dartmoor in Devon is a great place to be! I was lucky enough to go there 2 days in a row recently. The 1st day Owner & I went to a place called Postbridge with Owner's friend Helen. Our car was in a car park in the trees in this picture.

There was the remains of a dead badger near here. I had a lovely roll in it. Owner didn't notice until I didn't go back to her when she called & she sawing all 4 of my legs waggling in the air! There was lots of horse poo to eat too - yum!

Can you see me running up to the tor? Owner & Helen were a lot slower than me! There are some funny names of things on Dartmoor. This tor is called Laughter Tor - it didn't laugh though.

Owner & Helen ate lunch on Laughter Tor & I was running around while they were eating. I came back every now & then to see if they were going to move! It was really hot so I was glad Owner had taken a travel bowl & I could have some water when we weren't near the river. This is me & Helen on Laughter Tor. I had just licked her with my horse poo breath - you can tell she liked it because she's smiling!

From Laughter Tor you can see Bellever Tor which we walked to next - it turns out there were no bells there though.

At the end we walked past a normal bridge & a clapper bridge. The clapper bridge didn't clap - but it was broken.

Darting around Dartmoor: part two coming soon to a blog near you!