Time for an update I think... Now that I'm hairy again!

Hi all! Too long, I think, since I've delved into this blogging lark, I know... Sorry to all of those who have been waiting (No?) well, OK... But it's been hectic and, to be honest, when the days just roll over, one after another you become unaware of the development of things and... well, personally, amongst all of the walking, running like a nutter on the beach and eating that I have to do I'm beginning to realise that uprights CAN give a stuff about a scruffy dog from Crete. I was picked up by those nice people at the shelter in Gouves and then...a quick photo-shoot placed on Facebook; I was 'Dog number 4 on October 14th 2015' then "Voom"... I was off! I still run away from dustcarts, men wearing baseball caps and I don't like it when sparks jump out of the fireplace, but apart from that everything is up to scratch. Which reminds me... I have also totally recovered from my problem with Demodectic Mange; not something I like to admit that I ever had - but I'm glad it's over. It's not the one that foxes get which is apparently the real killer. But it still screws you up bigly (have you heard of Donald Trump?). 'Bigly' is something he thinks is a real word... and it's not the only mistake he's been making either. I like to stay up to date with world affairs... Here's a couple of photo's of me doing just that!

Well, I'm just practising with a toy rabbit until I see a real one (apparently this is a mouse - but do I care?). With Mange I lost about 40% of my body hair (not a pretty sight - so there aren't too many photo's of that period of my growing up). These days, even if I say so myself, I am looking pretty good. I went for lunch in a pub in Somerset last weekend and got mobbed by a load of psycho people all wearing headscarves, waxed jackets and walking boots... acting like some kind of fan-club... Mental! Anyway, I've also been to France about seven times now since arriving here in the UK. And I've had more stamps on my passport in 15 months than Henry Kissinger back in the 70's. I have to spend the night below decks in the van whist the uprights disappear until the morning but it's worth it because I get to run along the canal and round a huge garden every day when the van stops.

This is me talking about old times with Rosie... She's from Greece too. But we've both been done - so it's just platonic - Yeh!

Also... big news - I HAVE now, definitely, and in spite of earlier false claims, definitely been castrated! Yep, I've just come right out and said it! I know that I thought that I had had the 'procedure' before I left Crete but, as it goes, I was too young to have it done back then. I also think that my new uprights in the UK wanted to get any potentially expensive stuff done and dusted in Greece because it's cheaper over there... Cheapskates! Well, actually, they have been well and truly done in with costs over me since I've been with them. I have not been a cheap date by any stretch! But they love me to bits and I get star treatment all the time - so it's symbiosis....Everybody wins. The delay in the nut job? Oh yeh...Well, the rule of thumb (I picked this up whilst I was at the vets) is that once you begin to cock your leg, instead of squatting (like a girl)... then's the time you are in the frame for castration. Knowing this I kept up the squatting as long as I could but one of them must have seen me practising the leg lifting routine and voom before you could say 'knife'... - ouch - it was time for 'the lampshade' again for a week or two. My nuts, which had been huge by the time I had the operation, actually appeared to get even bigger after the operation. Apparently there had been a complication and they had to keep me in overnight, at no extra charge, so I'm thinking they must have let one of the Saturday kids have a go. A vet must have slipped up with the scalpel or something and caused some internal bleeding). So my mazoomahs were big and bruised and would bang against my inner thighs like a bell clapper (screens please nurse) for a few weeks until the extra blood was re-absorbed. But now you wouldn't know I'd ever had any. Neat job! Sleek!

The most recent time in Brittany was punishing. Not for me necessarily - but for the uprights - they were scurrying around like mad things; it was so cold. There were two wood-burners on the go all day long and for the first couple of hours each day they were both outside sawing and splitting logs as if it was a proper job. I had to watch from indoors. There is some work going on there that the uprights seem to get very excited about. It seems it involves a lot of pain and suffering and moaning about aches and pains and the danger of scaffold towers and ladders - fear of falling and stuff! As long as there is somewhere to stretch my legs every day and someone to keep up the supply of fresh chicken and opening the sachets and stuff... plus...I like sitting in front of an open fire... whilst the uprights just run around providing the logs... all in all... I'm quite happy...

We're off to France again in a few weeks time... watch this space pet lovers! I have been asked to write a proper informative article about taking your pets abroad... Ooh err! Actually here it is... Click the link...
http://wwwahouseinbrittany.blogspot.co.uk/2017/02/when-pets-travel-abroad.html