Friends?

Well, the brat has been with us for nearly 3 weeks now and quite honestly he is driving me maaaaaaad!!!

OK, so I softened a bit and made him feel a bit more welcome and now he is really playing on my good nature. He follows me everywhere. I can't do a thing without him being an inch away. He steals my ball when Herself is throwing it for me and I have to let him have a play with it.

He sleeps in my bed whenever he gets the chance and drags all manner of uncomfortable items into the bed, so that when I do get a chance to have a nap I find shoes, clothing, bones, toys, paper, brushes, balls and whatever else happens to be left around within his reach.

Sure he's very funny and very cute and we all get a laugh out of him, but he needs the occasional belting. I draw the line at my bones. Yesterday he tried to pinch a particularly juicy bone that I was in the process of eating. He got a sharp nip for his pains and did he ever holler. For once he was the one that got no sympathy from Herself.

Well, I was going to show you some more photos, but for some reason Blogger is not letting me do that today.  Some days nothing goes right. OK. Now it is, but I had to open a Picasa account to do it. Technology - will I ever get the hang of it?  Ooops!!  Now the bluddy photo has gone again. I give up!! I think if you click on the blank space it might show up. Maybe???

Well, now it's back again.  Just a shot of me exploring the water pipe. I did get a roasting for digging up the pipe.   Oops, now the photo has gone again. Weird!! I think the first attempts were too big. Seems to like little photos better.

And are Alfie and me friends?  Well, I guess so - or beginning to be anyway.

Ollie

Alfie?

Well after that first traumatic evening, things only got worse. The brat got all the attention and whenever I even looked at it, I got a smack. They wouldn't let me near it and it spent most of the next two days sleeping on Mark while he watched TV.

All it did was piddle, poop, eat, sleep and drive me mad when it woke up.  Spoilt brat. If I'd tried some of the things it got away with, I'd have copped a whalloping.

 Every time I tried to show it who was boss, it ran to someone to be rescued. It slept wherever it felt like it.

It even tried to steal my ball and I had to sit by and watch. I can tell you I was getting pretty fed up. 

Finally on Monday morning after an almost sleepless night, I snapped!!  I grabbed the brat by the scruff of the neck and shook it!!!!  Everyone yelled and the brat took of screaming blue murder. It finished up under the bed with me following.

Next moment Mark reached under the bed, and grabbed me and hauled me out by the scruff of the neck. Then he whalloped me.  Me!!!  Why should I get the whalloping. Me!!  Nothing wrong with the brat, but I was dripping blood from the nose where he had sunk his nasty sharp little fangs in.

Then to add to my indignity the Boss waited until Herself had gone off to school  and he dreamed up my punishment. I was attached to the leash and all day I had to walk around with either the Boss or Mark. Everytime I even so much as looked at the brat, there was a jerk on the leash and I was told off.  When Herself came home, she joined in and to make matters worse, she even smacked my nose each time I voiced my displeasure.

Of course they did try to make me feel one of the family and I got lots of pats and cuddles when I behaved, which was rather nice. After two days on the leash I had had enough  and I decided that the only solution was to try to put up with the brat  -  after all he was here to stay and I CAN ALWAYS AMBUSH HIM LATER WHEN NO ONE ELSE IS AROUND.

BUT, I am letting them all know that I have not given in gracefully and I have not forgiven anyone, especially Mark who smacked me.  I can hold a grudge for a long time!!!!!

Ollie.

PS.  By the way somewhere in all this the Boss decided to call the brat ALFIE - Alfonzo for formal occasions.  The name does kind of suit him.

What's It All About?

Well, what a week I've had - the most traumatic in my life. Full of drama and unwelcome things.  But, let me go back and tell you all about it.


Me, feeling blue.



Since Jeb died I've been moping around fretting about losing my old mate, so much so that the Family decided - in their wisdom - that I needed a new mate.  Without asking me I might add!!!

Last Tuesday Herself came home from school waving the local paper. Dad and she pored over the newspaper, then finally they said, "OK, lets do it."  Then they decided to take me. Now I'm always up for a ride in the car, though not usually when they're both going, but I was game.

They pulled into a driveway and suddenly I could  hear dogs - hundreds of them, without a lie. I got left in the car thank heavens because I got a glimpse of dogs everywhere -  big red ones, black and white ones, a fierce looking Jackie, and a few other mongrel types. Well, maybe not hundreds, but more than I could handle on my own.

After a while Herself came back, opened the door and told me to hop out. No way!!! She grabbed me!!!!!!!

There weren't too many dogs around - they'd obviously been locked up, but She took me over to a little yard and put me down.  Suddenly I was besieged by a multitude of small hairy, yapping, jumping things - puppies!!  Seven of them. They were trying to jump on me, bite me, chew my tail, terrorise me.  I hid behind Herself's legs backing as far into a corner as I could. Not that I was afraid, you'll understand, but I needed time to collect my thoughts, plan my strategy, work out how to escape. I jumped the fence and headed for the car!!!

Next thing I knew a strange woman opened the door. "Come on Ollie, come and choose your little friend."  For a rash moment I did consider biting her, but wisdom prevailed and I submitted, though not happily.  Horror of horrors, she put me back in with the little monsters. I did the only thing I could think of. I jumped up onto Herself's lap and burrowed my head under her armpit. Maybe, I though, if I don't look, it will all go away.

Finally after what seemed hours of talk, we got back into the car and headed for home. Relief!!

You can imagine my absolute horror when, two days later, they disappeared for a while and came back with  this tiny, fluffy, black scrap of teeth and tail.

One of those puppies!!!

 How could they do this to me?? replace me with a younger model - one that piddled on the floor, carried on yelping when I growled - and I got a smack for that too. And of course it got all the attention. Sure, they made out they still liked me. I got patted and played with - but so did the pup.It even got to sleep on Mark's bed that night because it carried on when left in the doggy bed. Sure Mark made sure I slept there too - on the opposite side to the pup, but I knew it was just a transition period and very soon I would be ousted.



Making sure I don't get a chance to kill the brat!!



How I hated the little brat!!  Read the next post for more in this absorbing drama.

Ollie

Farewell Old Friend

It's a long time since I wrote anything on my blog, but I have been a very busy chap helping Mark around the farm, keeping Dad company when he snoozes in his old armchair and keeping Herself busy and fit chasing balls with me. Added to this I have had to help out with old Jeb as he was getting blinder and deafer by the day.

Sadly old Jeb passed away in his sleep three weeks ago - he was almost 17 so he had a good innings and led a very active and useful life here on the farm.  Although we had the occasional disagreement and drew blood more than a few times, he was my mate and I miss him dreadfully. Even when he was so old we still used to go for walks and each night I used to wake him up so Dad could take him out for a wee.

So Goodbye old friend. I'll always remember the good times we had hunting and chasing together and I'll remember the great epic fights we had and the scars we have to show for it.

Jeb's got me down

But now I am top dog!

We'll miss you old mate.