We've got visitors - from Queensland

Woof-oh and New Years Eve greetings. 

I'm home from the beach. While I really enjoyed the holiday it was quite tiring - I found it hard to fit in my usual 12 hours of sleep a day with so much happening there. I had to sleep for about 24 hours straight when I got home. All good now though. 

Yesterday Mark & Cathy Veal arrived. Cathy is Craig's sister. I love having visitors stay at our house - i get to practice being charming and talented and cute. Cathy thinks that dogs like me (Airedale Terriers) are good because we don't shed our hair. Plus of couse we are gorgeous! 

I took Cathy and Mark for a good long walk this morning and showed them the Valley. I was in my best behavior for the entire walk and only ate horse poo once! 

On holiday!

Woofs and hello. I'm on holidays at the beach this week - at Point Lonsdale. I'm having heaps of fun playing with Hamish and the human members of the family. We've been walking on the beach every day - I particularly like sniffing all the plants along the promenard. 

On Friday when I was out alking with Jude we found a little baby Ringtalied Possum on the bike path. We think thtat he had fallen out of his nest but we couldn't see his mother anywhere so we thought we should help him or he'd die. For the record, I didn't even think of trying to eat the little possum! Jude wrapped him in her scarf and carried him home - then later the humans dropped him off at Jirralinga - a hospital set up to care for injured wildlife. According to Jude he was very cute (they wouln't let me play with him so I can't say for sure) - we hope that he will be OK.

I hope you're having a safe and happy festive season too. 

Tobes

I lurve Woof-mas!

As soon as Jude got home this afternoon I knew something good was about to happen. I made my usual thorough inspection of her carry-all bag, and immediately noticed a trace of 'new toy' smell. (Maybe I should sign up to be one of those Customs dogs? Is it illegal to bring toys into Australia?)

Jude got quite cross with me when I insisted on keeping my head in her bag and surveilling the parcel I suspected of containing a toy while she was trying to walk down the hallway, but it was worth being in trouble because inside the bag was a Christmas present from Aunty Parul.

I could hardly wait while Jude unwrapped the present. I was so excited that I ran into the kitchen - where I am not allowed ever under any circumstance. I was SUPER EXCITED to find that I am now the proud owner of a wonderful Christmas gingerbread man toy. 

Aunty Parul told Jude that the gingerbread man only had a quiet squeaker - well ha ha ha to that! I'm working on tuning it up right now, and it's sounds pretty loud to me. Thanks Aunty Parul. 

Merry woof-mas to everyone - Tobes.

Ready for Woof-mas!

Hello happy readers! 

Just thought I'd upload this latest photo of myself, taken with Jude's new iPhone6. I think I look particularly handsome - amazing what a good camera can achieve. 

Woof-oh, Tobes. 

Ho ho ho - it's nearly Woof-mas

It has been quite a busy weekend. The human are getting ready for Christmas (which I think should be called 'Woofmas') ... this has involved:

> putting up coloured lights on the verandah (that took Jude an entire day - and she climbed up and down the ladder about 100 times)

> cooking shortbread - I fully support this activity because Jude gives me the ones that get a bit too brown (Craig used to get these but he shot himself in the foot by saying that they were too thin and tasteless, so now I get the bounty - he he he

> getting ready for a trip to Point Lonsdale.

So, with the getting ready for the beach the humans bought a queen-sized inflatable bed, Jude is a bit like that princess in the story about the princess and the pea - she says that she needs a supportive bed because her back got so banged about with falling off horses when she was younger. Falling off a horse sounds ike a pretty stupid thing to do to me. Anyway, they inflated the bed yesterday for a practise and I love it! It's just the right height for me to clamber onto and so big that I could bring all of my toys onto the bed and still have lots of room for me to sleep comfortably! I'm going to try and convice Jude and Craig to let me sleep on it when we come home from the beach. In the photo below you'll see me trying to express my requirements to Jude (who was testing the matress). 

Well I'd better get back to work - Craig has just given me a carrot to eat. He thinks that carrots keep my teeth clean.

Woofs

Toby

Haircut or massacre?

Woofety greetings!

I need your opinion - have I had an expensive haircut this week, or been caught in a massacre? You be the judge ... look at the photo below then compare it with the photo on my last post. 

Grr, Toby

My colorful garden

Woof oh - hello. Just reporting in from my very colourful front garden - regular readers will know of my strong commitment to gardening, and generally making the world a better place ... (what's that? I'm not a politician? OK then would you believe that I like messing about in the garden?). 

I've been working hard with Jude on planting and caring for some bright colourful flowers. I especially like helping with the watering - I bite the water as it comes out of the hose or watering can, to make sure that it doesn't batter the flowers around too much! I'm sort of a filter! I'd like to help with digging holes for new plants but Jude is quite discouraging ... not sure why.

In the first photo you'll see me looking at the yellowy-orange paper daisies - they make a strange crinkling sound when I bite them and they prickle my mouth so I'm keeping clear of these flowers. 

In the second photo I'm checking out some of my favourite purple blooms. I've found that they taste quite delicious so when the humans aren't looking I nip into the garden and nibble a flower or a few leaves. Delicious! 

The pink flowers are good too. In the picture below I'm trying to hypnotise the plant into growing quickly. I stop each day and give it a burl of my most concentrated thoughts - no luck so far but I'll keep trying.

We have visitors staying with us at the moment - I'll see if I can get a photo with them and feature it on my next post.

Now I must rush off and have a sleep.

Best wishes - Toby

I've been bad!

I'm sorry to report that I've been a bad boy! Yesterday afternoon I was cranky that Jude wouldn't take me out for another walk (after all, I'd only been for two walks that day) ... I took out my frustrations by taking Craig's favourite Merrell boot into my bed and chewing the inner sole. Worse - I got caught in the act! I got a hard smack on the backside from Craig. Oh, the shame of it all!

Jude said it was partly Craig's fault and that he should have put his shoes away in the wardrobe - but I note that he didn't get a smack!

Later I was trying to get back into the humans' good graces by being super good and compliant. When Jude wrapped a scarf around my neck I left it there for ages, and even sat still to have my photo taken. You'll see from my face that I was still feeling very sad.

Here you'll see me wearing a lovely scarf ... I just hope the other dog's in the neighbourhood don't find out about this!

Woofs
Toby

I'm having a grrrreat week!

We're just back from a few days in Mansfield, where we stayed at a lovely B&B - Rosedale House (see picture below). I think it was lovely because it was a dog-friendly place and I was allowed inside (yay!). The house was large, well equipped and had a beautiful big log burner. It was very quiet, and had fabulous views to Mt Bulla. The best thing about the place from my perspective though, was that there wasn't a dog-proof space outside, so I had to go everywhere with Craig and Jude - it was brilliant!!! 

Jude and I went for long walks each morning to buy the papers and get Jude a coffee - while Craig got the fire going (or so he said ... I think he just slept in, and stoked up the fire at the last moment). I had to go with them when they went out for lunch - which meant that they had to sit outside the 'Produce Store' no matter how windy it was - lucky it wasn't too cold. The food must have been delicious there because I didn't get passed anything. LOTS of people stopped to give me a pat and say how cute I am. I must say that the people of Mansfield seem particularly insightful! 

Craig took us on a walk around a local wetlands - a place he'd read about in the visitor informaton centre. Jude found out later when chatting to a local that the wetlands are infected with tiger snakes and that the locals don't go there when it's warm because the snakes come out to sun themselves! Maybe Craig was trying to get Jude and me killed for the insurance money - I think I'd be insured for a large sum, not too sure about Jude! 

Anyway, we had a great time. I'm even getting better at clambering in and out of Jude's car, which I have previously mentioned I didn't like. I've worked out that it's better to go with the humans (even if the car's suspension is a little firm) than to stay home alone or worse, be sent to a kennel. 

While we were away I must have really bonded with Craig and Jude - they went out this morning and bought me a smart new bed! Jude had been worried that I was getting too big for Ted's old bed ... How cute do I look? I got other booty from the petshop too - my special very expensive dog food, some new charcoal biscuits (not sure why they got the charcoal flavour?) and a new hair brush. 

So all in all I'm having a GRRRRREAT week. Hope you are too.

Woofs,

Toby

Bathurst Day!

Jude was laughing her head off when she saw this Mark Knight cartoon in the newspaper today ...  The humans think this Bathurst thing is a big deal - they were watching qualifying and practice sessions with great interest over the past few days - lots of 'arghhh's and 'eeeeks' when drivers crashed - which happened a fair bit from what I heard. Don't tell anyone but I think Bathurst is a bit boring! It goes on all day and no-one in this house wants to throw the ball for me while they are watching. I'll have to see if I can time things for the ads. 

Went for a walk early this morning, so the humans could be home in time for Bathurst. The only thing that might make this a less boring day for me is if Craig shares some of his delicious 'big race breakfast' with me 

Woofs,

Toby

Plant is blossoming

Hi ho and woofs!

I've just been enjoying the evening on the verandah - noticed that one of Craig's plants has flowered. It looks good - I just wish it wasn't so high up on the wall because I'd like to taste it.  Turns out Craig is a good at gardening ... who knew?

No post on my blog would be cmplete without a picture of me ... so here it is. If I look pensive that's because I'm thinking about which toys I'll be taking on holidays next week. We're going to Mansfield, to a lovely dog-friendly place. Should be fun - though Jude is a bit worried about my smelly farts. Ooops!  Woofs, Tobes.

I love my elephant toy

Parul bought me a great toy to play with when I visited work - it was an elephant climbing up a rope! I thought it was strange that an elephant would climb a rope and what do you know, somehow he fell off the rope. Now I have two toys - an elephant and a rope - who's a lucky boy?

Happy birthday Stephen!

Picnic at Williamstown Gardens

We went for a picnic at Williamstown Gardens yesterday to celebrate Stephen's birthday, and to say a belated happy Father's Day to Lloyd. All the family came along, even Hamish (my best canine friend). It was a beautiful day, and the humans all sat around in the sun and ate delicious looking sandwiches, and birthday cake. I say it looked delicious because I don't really know - no one was sharing with me except Cate, who gave me what she called the crusts of her sandwich (but was actually about half of it) - yum!!

After a while Cate, Nick and Jude talk me for a walk. The kids loved seeing how fast I could run - I was able to convince them that I was the fastest by sprinting ahead and running in front of them so they had to slow down or stop (or fall over me at speed) ... he he he ... so I was the winner. After a while I needed a rest (the sun was shining and I'm wearing a warm fur coat at the moment so I was pretty hot). I thought I'd join Cate sitting on the park bench. I like the view from up here! 

Cate was in the State School Spectacular last weekend (that's why I couldn't upload a post to this blog last weekend - Jude was too busy going to see Cate - humph!). Anyway, Cate's Mum bought her one of the costumes frm the show - a monster outfit, consisting of a headpiece, arms and hands. Cate brought it alomg to the picnic to show the family - and we were all interested in it. Nick wanted to take it away from Cate to tease her and so that she'd chase him. Gran wanted to try it on and see how it felt. I wanted to chew it - after all, one can't be too careful with monsters. 

After a while Cate let people try it on - what do you think? Looks pretty crazy doesn't it.

Hamish was a bit shy with me. I can't understand why - I am pretty sure he thought of me as a beloved cousin and totally loved spending time with me last time we were together - see my posts from February. He was happy enough to share my water bowl, but he didn't want to play rompy-bompy with me. Hmmm - I'll give this some thought. 

We all had a wonderful time - though there really could have been more food for me and Hamish! The only bad part was having to travel in Jude's car - which as you'd know, I don't like the feel of. I stood up for about half of the journey to the park (about 30 minutes) but I was so tired and relaxed that I lay down almost all the way home. So who's a clever boy now? 

Woofs

Toby

Repelling uninvited guests

I had a bit of a shock this morning. I was happily dozing after having taken Jude for a long, brisk early morning walk (whether she liked it or not) when I got the sense that something wasn't right. I was shocked to find Jude lying on MY big blue pillow on the floor reading a magazine! She had some crazy story about it being her pillow originally ... What the?

I tried several strategies to get her off the pillow:

• I stood on the page of the magazine she was tryng to read - that was a tip from Charlie, the cat next door which didn't work, but what else would you expect from a cat? Jude just laughed and said what lovely big hairy feet I had.

• I tried chewing the corners off each page of the magazine as she turned the pages. That made her laugh too - she said it was just a rag from the newspaper and she really didn't care as long as I spat out the paper eventually!

• I tried sitting on Jude, but the slope of the pillow made this too uncomfortable for me

• I tried burrowing my head in under her shoulder - I was trying the flip her off the pillow but she just thought I was being loving and snuggling up to her - I ask you, how dumb can people be? 

Eventually Jude finished reading the magazine and got up to make herself a cup of tea ... Ah ha!! At last I had an chance to regain possession. No way is she getting back on MY pillow! 

And I will keep a careful watch on her reading habits from now on.

Woofs,
Toby

Happy Dog-Father's Day Craig!

Well I'm broke! I spent all of my pocket money on sending Craig to Fowles Cellar Door Cafe for lunch and buying him two bottles of his favourite wine - 'The Rule 2010 Shiraz'. I even made this special card for Craig - and he really appreciated it!

Thanks for being such a good dog-dad Craig!

Have you noticed - humans are crazy?

Hi and Woofs,

I went to Jude's work on Friday - thought it was time I introduced myself to the team again. This meant I had to endure a 40 minute ride in the car (each way!) - and even though the suspension settings were on COMFORT I didn't feel that comfortable!

Things went well at work - lot's of people thought I was cute, and who can blame them? I had my photo taken lots of times - sometimes by team members (see example photo of me looking intelligent, taken by the lovely Melinda) and sometimes by complete strangers. Lots of people wanted to pat me, and were impressed that I'd shake hands with them, do drops etc.

The highlight of the morning was that Parul brought me a new toy. It's an elephant holding on to a chew rope. I could smell it in her handbag as soon as she came into the office (Editorial note - what is it about toys that broadcast their arrival? I can never get a new toy into the house past Toby without him being on high alert.) Anyway I gave the toy a good work out - and that squeaker was gratifyingly loud. I'm sure Craig's going to love having another squeaking toy in the house!

Each time I went out for a walk the pesky little bird would squawk and shrill at me - they even tried dive bombing me. I totally ignored them, but sometimes the people holding my lead got a bit frightened, perhaps because being a bit taller than me they were in imminent danger of having their eye taken out!

Before .... 

During my lunch time walk we visited the Marketing crew in the Treehouse. It was great to see Benita and Vanessa, who I remember from my visit back when I was only a puppy. They'd been reorganising the furniture in the office - I think I really should have hopped up on the couch to check what can be seen from there but we didn't have time apparently!

About mid-afternoon we went rushing out after a meeting (from which I'd been excluded - huh!) and across the campus only to see four of the Digital team members standing on the grass in matching t-shirts. I was just thinking what a good looking bunch of people they were when they up and tipped buckets of ice and water over their own heads - something about raising money for Motor Neurone disease research I think!!! Talk about CRAZY - it was only 12 degrees Celsius for goodness sake! Anyway, on the positive side, there were little plastic ducks in their buckets - I thought these might make great toys for me so I tried commando crawling over to get some, but Jude caught me. Oh well, good try huh?

After the buckets were tipped!
See the little ducks by their feet?

It was a busy day. Before you ask, no, I was not awarded my PhD at the end of the day - apparently that takes a LOT of study and work - more than 1 day even. I'm going to think of a topic for my PhD though - then I'll just need to find a supervisor! Much to do ....

Woofs,
Toby

I've got a new toy

This is one of those 'good news / bad news' stories ....

Bit of a sad story - Mr Banana Man has gone to heaven. We think he was attacked by the racoon! We mysteriously found him under the dining room table with all of his previous surgery unpicked (and almost no stuffing at all - Jude's wondering where that went?). Dr Jude tried to save Mr Banana Man but there weren't enough bits left to sew together. Craig suggested that it would be a better use of human time if I got a new toy ...

So I'm introducing 'DUCK DUCK'. He's a duck I think but he makes a really strange quacking noise so I'm not sure, maybe he's a goose! I'm not letting Jude or Craig play with the duck - he's all mine - yay!!! Here's a picture of me holding him in my mouth.

Woofs,
Toby <quack quack>

Soooo much has been happening!

Hi and woof-oh!

Sorry it's been so long since my last post. So much has been going on that I've hardly had time to keep watch for passing baddies, let along keep up with my blog.

Where to begin? In July I went and stayed at Linda's place (Pawfect Manners) and worked on improving my manners. Apparently the world doesn't revolve around me - who knew! Well that went well: I had a great time playing with the other dogs at Linda's place and even lost a few kilos from all the extra exercise. I also learned to keep a low profile when Linda's very tall German Shepherds looked my way, and clarified my understandings of the human's commands. Craig and Jude were VERY impressed with my behaviour when I got home.

Winter has been very cold so I've been growing my fur coat. I'm told that I am looking very handsome.

Last weekend was Gran's 80th birthday celebration. Everyone in the family went to Ballarat to celebrate, including me. We drove there in Jude's new car - the sporty suspension made me feel sick. Craig says next time I go in that car Jude should change the suspension setting to 'Comfort' - I was pleased to see her checking how to do that in the manual this afternoon. She says it's easy. I hope it works because I had to stand up on the back seat and pant noisily all the way to Ballarat and home - and that wore me out, taking the edge off my showing off once we arrived.

The humans went out for lunch leaving Hamish and me at Gran's place. I think they had fun ... they took a lot of photos anyway ....

In case you are wondering, Nick had a scooter crash during the week which is how he hurt himself.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY GRAN!!!

I want to be a physio-dog-therapist when I grow up!

I've been putting in a lot of hours lately supervising Jude's at home physio exercises. Each week she visits the human physio, Sarah, and gets new exercises to add to the collection - what's annoying is that Sarah gets all the kudos for the improvements with Jude's shoulder while I go unrecognised! It's me who gets up at 5:15 every morning and supervises the workout (even when it's cold and I'd rather be in my warm bed) and it's me who supervises the evening workouts too.

Well I've had enough of playing second fiddle, and have come up with some new exercises to add to the collection - here are some of my favourites:

1. Row exercise. Jude does the basic exercise while lying on the bed or fitball with her arm hanging down the side. My new version is that I place my head between her arm and the bed/fit ball and lift her arm away from her body quickly. I know this is having an impact because Jude yells (with joy I'm sure) when I help with this one.

2. The shrug. Jude holds her arm out at 20 degrees from her side holding a weight in her hand, then shrugs the shoulder in a pattern specified by her human physio. My adaptation is to add challenge - I do this by grabbing the weight in my mouth to increase resistance. Jude's not keen on this exercise yet - I'll keep trying to convince her of the benefits. 

3, Abdominal strength. This is a complementary exercise - might as well get as many muscles working at once as possible don't you think? While Jude is lying on the floor raising her arms and shoulders over her head, I sit on her stomach - to build up her abdominal strength! If it seems like she's handling that easily I wriggle around and dig in my boney feet. 

4. Moral support. Another thing I like to do while Jude is lying on the floor is to lie down right beside her, lean against her (to keep her warm - it is winter you know) and lick her ear or whatever part of her face I can reach. 

I think you will see from readng this that I am well suited to a career as a physio - in fact I'll probably get early entrance into the course via La Trobe's 'Aspire' program, and recognition for prior learning / credit for all the practical experience I have, don't you think? 

Where are you Aunty Sandy?

Feeling very sad at the moment because I wasn't allowed to go with the humans to see Aunty Sandy today! I'm sure that Sandy would have wanted to see me - remember she said I was cute and hugged me when she visited us back in January?

I tried to convince my humans to take me with them but would they listen? NO! They kept yabbering on about how dogs aren't allowed into restaurants - that's discrimination if you ask me.

It's definitely autumn

Woof woofety woof and hello!

Was out walking this morning ... we were going very slowly because my human was dragging the chain - something about not feeling well ... Honestly, just because she's got a cold shouldn't be an excuse for walking slowly! Anyway, because I was going soooo slowly I had time to check out every tree, and I noticed that it really is autumn here in Hidden Valley. All the leaves are changing colour and falling off the tress - amazing.

Jude was saying stuff like:
"Blah blah blah look at the beautiful trees blah blah blah." I must admit she is right.

I love the cold weather - it makes me feel very energetic, and sprightly. And I luuurve getting my whiskers and legs and tummy all wet and messy too  - it makes me feel like a real dog. I pretend that I hate it when I get home and the humans rub me with a towel to dry me off, but secretly I love that too.

Some famous human (Albert Camus) wrote:
"Autumn is a second spring when every leaf is a flower." 
I think there is something in that for all of us ... so I'll leave you with  that thought.
Woofs,
Toby

I'm just trying to help

Woofs and hi!

Just a quick post today - I'm very busy! Jude is home sick today - don't worry, it's only a cold. She's lying in bed with her laptop (perhaps unsurprisingly) on her lap doing work.

I am trying to help with the emails and updating important documents, by standing on my back legs by the side of the bed and pressing the laptop keys. I look very intelligent don't you think?

Jude is not too happy - she says that although I am a great helper, my spelling isn't good. I thought there were at least 5 x 'a's in most words - isn't that why the A key is so conveniently located on the keyboard?

Now I must rush - I have to watch for the postie.
Woofs,
Toby

Happy Birthday CAITLIN

Hope you had a wonderful, amazing and very happy birthday!

Woofs,

Toby

Reporting in from Hidden Valley

Woofs and happy Saturday!

Jude and I went for a walk again this morning. We set off late because Jude was sleeping in (ridiculous) - she said it was so she could recover from getting a cortisone injection in her shoulder yesterday. It must have been true because Craig shut me out of the bedroom after we went for the papers ...

Anyway, she eventually got going. While we were walking along Valley Boulevard we encountered a huge flock of Corellas and Sulphur Crested Cockatoos feasting in the grass. We don't usually see this large a flock - maybe they are getting ready to migrate north for winter or something? There were so many of them that I decide not to try and chase them away - Jude has told me about that Alfred Hitchcock movie "The Birds", so I was respectful.

In other news, it's been a tough week for me this week. I crossed the acceptable behaviour line last week (not sure if that was the uncontrollable barking and crazed behaviour when the handy man rang the doorbell or my latest self-taught trick of jumping up with both front feet and trying to push them over when people walk down the passage?) Anyway Craig has been taking me back through the basics. It turns out that I'm not the boss of the family (really?) and I'm responsible for listening to commands and obeying. I must be doing OK - Jude said that she thought my manners were a little better when we went for our walk.

Now I must go - I need an afternoon nap since no-one is willing to take me for another walk just now.
Woof-oh
Toby

At last! We have chosen our next car

Good news readers ... at last Jude has chosen her next car. Yay!

The current Peugeot's lease will expire at the end of June, so a replacement car is required. Jude loves the Peugeot 3008 she has now but a new version is coming out at the end of the year, so apparently that makes it less than an ideal time to buy a new one. She liked the Peugeot 508 and thought she might get one of those, but had some difficulties getting the version she wanted at the right time. So it was back to the slightly more expensive than ideal Audi A3 Sedan - and this week she placed her order! Very exciting to a human apparently. What ever! 

I'm so glad that she has made the decision. I was sick of hearing about cars, and sick of being left home alone on weekends when the humans go test driving new cars. 

Best thing about the new car is that the back door step is quite low (especially compared to the 3008) so no more clambering up a virtual Mt Everest to join in for family drives. I just hope those leather seats aren't too slippery for me.

Woofs,

Tobes

PS: This is what the Audi A3 Sedan looks like - we're getting 'Monsoon Grey' colour.

I've got a girlfriend

Her name is Sally, and she's a Ridgeback. I met her last weekend when her humans came to visit mine. She is beautiful - and she loves playing and running around like a maniac just like me. Sally's family is good friends with mine - in fact they gave me my favourite toy, 'Mr Banana Man'.

Sally is 4 or 5 months old, and came from New South Wales to live with the Harbours ... she's lucky to have found such a nice family.

Anyway, Sally and I get along really well. I think she is really impressed with my soft and shiny coat - I hope she still likes me when she works out that I'm usually a curly coated scruff.

The humans seemed to have a good time too. Milly specially liked the whipped cream! After a few serves Jude just gave her the bowl to finish.

Mike seemed to enjoy himself too, sharing some of Craig's Christmas and birthday bottles. 

By the end of the day, we were all really good friends. Me and Sally .... 

and Isabella and Sally too ... (no nay sayers, I'm sure that Sally wasn't trying to get away from me by sitting on Isabella's lap).

It was a very fun day - I can't wait to see the Harbours again, especially Sally.

Woof-oh,

Tobes