Oh Poo!!!

That’s what my cyber friend Gypsy had to say to me when she heard my news. Oh Poo! And I had to agree with her.

My leg still hurt last week and I was limping most of the time, so on Tuesday Mum took me the vet. Not that I mind going to the vet – I quite like it there. But the vet leg felt my legs, and knees and hips and it hurt and wasn’t very nice. She told Mum I had something wrong with my knee and that it was moving about or something. I didn’t know exactly what was wrong but had to go back the next day. Mum took me there and then left me! So they did some blood tests, and made me go to sleep while they took some Xrays, and then I had to have an injection. Mum and Dad came to get me in the afternoon and spent quite a while talking to the vet. Apparently I have very slight hip dysplasia (whatever that is) in one hip, and my right knee keeps slipping out of its socket, which has caused something called arthritis. That’s why I keep limping. The vet gave Mum some tablets for me and said I had to go back next week. Apparently I might have to have an operation on it at some stage. Mum says that might be the best thing as it will stop my knee slipping. In the meantime she’s also giving me strange medicines called Glucosamine and Green Lipped Mussel. But they’re quite tasty as she mixes them up with peanut butter for me.

As we left the vets though, who should I bump into but Tyson and his sister. I was so excited (but not as excited as Tyson who wee’d on the floor). They’d been to the groomers.

I felt really strange when I got home and didn’t feel very well at all. I couldn’t settle down, and kept crying. And everything seemed to be really scary. I didn’t like it at all. Mum says it was caused by the anaesthetic that they’d used to send me to sleep. It took me ages to get to sleep that night, and even then I kept waking up. I was allowed to sleep on Dad’s bed though, mainly cos I was to scared to sleep in my crate.

On Thursday I slept late and still felt a bit odd when I woke up, but after a while I suddenly felt a lot better. Mum seemed to think she had to spoil me. The only thing is that I’m only allowed to go for short walks. But as my knee hurts I don’t want to walk very far. I was a bit confused by the fact that Dad spent the whole day in bed. Mum said he didn’t feel very well.

Then on Friday, just as I thought we were getting back to normal, Mum went away, so I’ve had a week-end with Dad. That’s been ok, cos I can twist Dad round my little toe. So I got to sleep on his bed with him. And even though I’m only supposed to have short walks on the lead, Dad took me up to Delph Woods yesterday. We had a short walk, then, just as we were going back to the car, I heard my friend Lenny, and went dashing off to meet him. We had a good old run around (Lenny is a lurcher, so can run really, really fast). I’ve paid for it since though, as my leg is really bad again today. I don’t think Mum was very pleased with Dad for taking me to the woods and letting me play with Lenny.

I’ve missed Mum though, and was really pleased when she came home this afternoon. So I’m just hoping that things are going to be back to normal now.

I don't understand

There are lots of things I don’t understand at the moment. I’m a very confused little dog.

Take last night. Strange things happened last night. First of all Mum got all dressed up and went out – and she didn’t take me! I wasn’t very happy about that. Ok Dad stayed at home with me, but that wasn’t the point. I didn’t see why I couldn’t go as well. So I spent some time letting Dad know how unhappy I was about it. She came back later on and I thought everything was back to normal. But then Dad put me to bed, AND DIDN’T SHUT THE DOOR TO MY CRATE!!! And he and Mum went to bed and left me downstairs. I didn’t know what I was supposed to do, so I stayed where I was for quite a while. But then I went upstairs to investigate. All the lights were out and they were in bed. What was that all about? I went into Mum’s room, but she seemed to be asleep, so then I went into Dad’s room and got on the bed. I stayed there for a long time and dozed off for a while. Then I got up and wandered around again, and had a bit of a bark. At that, Dad got up and got my duvet from the lounge and put it on the floor in his bedroom. So I slept on that for a while. But eventually I woke up, and then of course, wanted a wee. Dad let me out, but then put me back in my crate and shut the door this time. I knew what was happening then and what I was supposed to do, so I went off to sleep for the rest of the night. But why??? Did he just forget to shut me in the first time? And if he did, why didn’t he just take me back downstairs and put me to bed when I first went up to see what was happening. You can see why I’m so confused.

Then there’s this agility class. I was finally supposed to be starting it tomorrow. The weather has been nice, so we all thought it would go ahead. Then Mum got a phone call today to say that it was moving to a new, improved place. Which is really good. But that means there is no class tomorrow, so now we’re starting NEXT week! Am I ever going to start this stupid class??? Personally I don’t see what’s wrong with a bit of mud, but Mum says I might have hurt myself. And how am I supposed to hurt myself in mud? It’s soft, for goodness sake!

Actually, while I’m talking about hurting myself, one of my back legs hurts again. I seem to be stiff all over, especially if I’ve been asleep for any length of time, and don’t seem to be able to get going. And my right back leg keeps hurting and I can’t put it down properly. It doesn’t help that Mum keeps trying to feel it, and massage it and pull it about. So I’ve been steering well clear of her for the past couple of days. I’m hoping she’ll eventually get the message. Today she fed me something called Cod Liver Oil which she seems to think might make it better. And she keeps talking about me resting. Ha! She’s got to be joking. I’m a year old Staffy for goodness sake. I don’t do resting.

Have you noticed Mum has changed the photo of me in my profile. She took some new photos of me at one year old yesterday. I’m rather proud of them. Here’s a little selection of them for you.













Lastly I’m going to leave you with something Mum found on the Staffy Bull Terriers forum. I can relate to this – it’s my way of thinking exactly!

Staffie Property Laws

1. If I like it, it’s mine.
2. If it’s in my mouth, it’s mine.
3. If I had it a little while ago, it’s mine.
4. If I can take it from you, it’s mine.
5. If it looks like mine, it’s mine.
6. If it’s mine, it must never be yours.
7. If I saw it first, it’s mine.
8. If you have something and put it down, it’s mine.
9. If I chew something up, all of the pieces are mine.
10. If it used to be yours, get over it.
11. If it’s broken, it’s yours.
12. If it’s edible, it’s always mine.

I'm a big girl now

Or at least, that’s what my Mum keeps telling me. It’s cos I’m 1 year old!!! How cool is that???

Yesterday was my birthday, and we had a really nice day. First of all, Dad took me for a walk to Delph Woods in the morning, where I met quite a lot of dogs to play with. We were there for ages and ages. Then no sooner had we got home than Eric and Pat arrived, so I got all excited as I love to see them. And then the humans all had a glass of sparkling wine and I got given lots of presents!!!

This is my Dad helping me to open one of my presents…



And here’s what I thought of Mum shoving her camera in my face…



I had a Big Mean Kitty and a Real Mad Cow, and something called Hurl a Squirrel, which Mum seems to want to throw for me but which I think is best suited to chewing. Anyway, here’s me with by Big Mean Kitty…





And with my Big Mad Cow and Hurl a Squirrel…



There is also some video Mum took of the occasion…



As well as my presents I was given my favourite chicken for lunch, and a nice big bone. Plus I had a box of cheesy shortcake biscuits for dogs. Mum had made me some chocolate chip muffins (although she says to tell you they weren’t really chocolate but carob) and I also scrounged some of Dad’s Victoria Sandwich (which I love). So all in all it was a pretty good day.

Today we have been back to normal. Mum has taken me over the Heath and that’s where she took that photo of me that I put at the beginning. It was supposed to be my first agility class today, but it has been cancelled again as the field is too wet. I don’t think much of this – I’m waiting to get started!

What else have I got to tell you since last time? Well, Mum wants me to mention a really nice dog called Bobby I met in the week. He’s with a lady who’s fostering him at the moment, but is looking for a home. You can see Bobby here. He really is a very nice dog.

And then I managed to get inside my duvet again the other day. I was all nice and snugly, so Mum took a photo. She’s says sorry it’s a bit blurred.



I need to have a bit of a snooze now before the sun goes in again, so I’ll leave you with one last photo of me on my birthday…

Disappointment

I was supposed to be starting agility classes today, and was going to tell you all about it, but Mum says it’s been cancelled cos it’s so wet. It’s been raining lots and lots here. We’ve been lucky though – we’ve hardly been rained on at all on walks. It’s ever so muddy and wet everywhere though, and today there was lots of water in the stream. I tried going in it, but it was rushing past my legs so fast I didn’t really like it, so came out again.

Anyway, now I have to wait a whole week to start my agility class. I hope I like it – it all sounds a bit energetic to me. But there will be other dogs there, so it won’t be all bad.

I’ve had quite a good time since I wrote about Tyson. First of all walks have got a lot better, as most of the time I’m allowed to run off the lead now. Mum and Dad say I’m getting much better behaved off the lead, so they let me off more and more. Mum lets me off more than Dad. If I find something interesting to sniff then I tend to get left behind and have to run after her, but she never goes too far away. We’ve also been for much longer walks across the heath. I’ve been quite worn out when I get home. There was one place though where there were two big GSD’s in a garden along the Roman Road, and they barked and barked at me. They weren’t very friendly at all and I got scared.

The best walks recently though have been when I’ve met Bailey. She’s a couple of months younger than me and is a border collie / spaniel cross. Last Saturday we’d just got to the heath when we met her, and we were allowed to play together for over an hour! We had great fun dashing around, going in lots of boggy places and digging in the mud. We were so dirty we had to go to the stream in the end to wash all the mud off. I met her again in the week but her Mum was in a hurry so we only had a short play that day.

I’ve been over to Eric’s as well, and we went out walking on a different heath. So this is me up on Burton Heath.



Then on Wednesday this week Eric came over to lunch. I was really pleased to see him. In the afternoon he came with me and Mum for a walk at Upton Country Park. And I heard Mum invite him and Pat over next Friday cos it’s my birthday! I don’t know if we’re having a party but I hope there’ll be cake. I like cake.

Tyson comes to play

Do you remember my new friend Tyson, who I met on my walk last week? Well Mum found him chasing a cat in our front garden today, so asked his Mum if he could come in and play. And his Mum agreed. We had a great time! Even if he did eat most of my food! And keep biting me on the ear and cheek and trying to pull me along! Mind you, I gave as good as I got.

So this is me and Tyson.



Isn’t he a beautiful dog?

And here’s a bit of video of us playing…



I heard Dad tell his Mum that he was welcome to come and play any time, so I hope he comes back some time soon.

More Music

Another damp miserable morning. Mum took me to the Country Park for my walk. There were lots and lots of people there, and quite a few dogs. Mum had me practicing sitting and waiting while other dogs walked past. Now where’s the fun in that???

In the afternoon we went back down to the Park for the Music festival. I was pleased to see that there weren’t quite so many people as yesterday…



In fact, there was sometimes even room for a little dog to stretch out and get a bit of piece and quiet.



Mum had also remembered to take some chews and things down to keep me occupied. Although I didn’t need them that much – there were so many people who wanted to say hello to me. I was a lot more comfortable with all the attention than I was yesterday, although Dad obviously felt I needed a drink to help me relax a bit. As you can see, I declined – I’m still far too young! I don’t want to turn into one of these teenage binge drinkers.



That’s about it really, other than a nice photo of me and my Dad…



Oh no! I forgot. When we got home Dad took me out for a short walk. But I discovered a little bit later that he forgot to shut the back gate when we got home, so I was able to get out of the garden and go looking for next door’s cats. I didn’t have much success – they ran away from me. And then Mum heard me barking and called me back in – and I was a very good little dog and did as I was told.

Bye!

More fun and a 'bad ear' day

Well I don’t think much of this weather – where has that thing called ‘the sun’ gone? It only seems to pop out every now and then, and instead we’ve had clouds and rain. Which has meant that I’ve spent a lot of time lying in bed, although I have given in at times and actually gone out in the rain. I’ve discovered that it’s a really good time to find slugs and snails and frogs. But the weather hasn’t stopped me from having fun this week.

Mum has been taking me over different parts of the Heath, so I’ve been able to have a good look around and run about. And sometimes I meet other dogs there that I can have a good play with. The best day for that was last Friday, when we’d almost finished our walk and met another staffie out with his Mum. He’s 15 months old and called Tyson and our Mum’s let us play for ages and ages. We had such a good game – I didn’t even notice when I scratched myself on the barbed wire fence – and he is such a nice dog. We got on really, really well together. He lives near us, so I’m hoping that I’ll meet him again.

Then on Saturday, after another good walk, we had visitors come to see us. I really liked them, especially the two boys, Marcus and George, who were with them. I spent a lot of time showing them how well I could sit and lie down and things. Mum wasn’t too happy when I jumped up to George and knocked him over though. But Saturday was a day when we had lots of sun, so we spent a lot of time in the garden…



Sometimes it just got a bit too much though, and I had to just have a bit of a lie down…



I was really sorry when they had to leave, but hopefully we’ll see them again sometime soon.

Yesterday morning I had what my Mum called, a bit of a ‘bad ear day’. I personally couldn’t see what was wrong, but Dad couldn’t stop laughing at me, which I thought was a bit cruel. After all, a dog can’t control what its ears do all the time – and I bet Dad can’t control his ears as well as I can. Just because they got a bit stuck in a flapped back position after I’d been lying on my back in the sun. I didn’t think it was particularly fair of Mum taking photos either…



Yesterday afternoon was a new ‘first’ for me: I went to my first music festival. Well, actually it was something called Poole Park Fest, where they have all sorts of stalls of people selling things and a big music stage with lots of live music. We went down towards the end of the afternoon but there were still loads and loads of people there, as you can see.



First of all we walked round the stalls, which was a bit boring until I found a white staffie to say hello to (Dad wouldn’t let me say hello to any of the other dogs we saw). But then I met a really nice staffie who I think was called Silas. Our game was a bit restricted as he was tied to a fence, but we did the best we could. I heard his Mum tell my Mum that he hardly ever gets to play with other dogs, which I think is a real shame. I felt really sorry for him. Still, I did my best to make up for it.

After that we went and sat in a big crowd of people while Mum & Dad had a drink and listened to the music.



Personally I found it all a bit boring, but I did get to meet lots and lots of people, who kept walking by me and saying hello and stroking me. This is me with two little girls I met.



After a while we moved forward, and I got to meet a whole new bunch of people, some of whom were really nice. After that it all got a bit embarrassing as Mum decided to dance to the music. When the music finished we came home again. Apparently we might go back down there today if its not too wet. If we do, I hope they take something to entertain me, like my chew. After all, there’s only so much sitting around doing nothing a little dog can take.

Last of all I’m going to leave you with a new photo of me that Mum took the other day.