Having a crazy-whiskers day!

See what I mean? 

Model release forms for dogs!

Well I guess it had to happen -  I was feeling a bit hot with the longer hair (as seen in previous post) - but the humans sent me for a haircut. Went to a new local place and the lady was nice to me and knew what she was doing - all good until my photo was taken without my consent.  And uploaded to Facebook!!

I know I look handsome enough to be a calendar model, but these type of photos have the potential to wreck my street cred. 

Woofs

Toby

Party with the family

Yours truly was rocking the Williamstown Botanic Gardens a few weekends back, helping to celebrate all the family February birthdays. Lots of fun for everyone - though there could have been more treats for me (thanks for nothing people). 

I felt like a bit of a rock star - everyone wanted to be seen with me. :)

Woofs

Toby

Why can't this Airedale jump?

I'm so wanting to jump up onto the bed and listen to music with Jude. But the bed's too high and I can't make it. 

Feeling sad. 

PS: my back feet remained on the ground at all times while the photos were taken. 

Return of the pig!

Great news - I got a new toy pig today. I was a bit annoyed when the humans went out without me, but it worked out well as Jude got me a new pig, one where the squeaker works. Yay!!! 

The new pig is blue. 

I had to put it down while I was being brushed, but I liberated him as soon as I could. 

Beach boy

Woofs! 

I went to Point Linsdale yesterday to visit Gran, Pa and Hamish! It's a long trip but I'm getting better at traveling in cars, and I even managed to lie down for part of the journey. 

Hamish was very happy to see me - we had fun together, barking at passing people (especially if they had dogs with them) while the humans were out. 

I had a good bonding session with Pa on the couch too. 

The only bad thing about the day having my dinner late! Small price to pay. 

What's happening dudes?

Happy holidays readers! I've been off on an amazing holiday adventure since I last posted here. I've been at Point Lonsdale with my extended human and canine family, having a great time. I've had more friends to play with, cuddle up to, go on walks with and bludge food from than ever before and I LOVED IT! It may have been a little tiring - Jude says I slept for 2 days straight after we got home - I prefer to say that I was finding my 2016 mellow!

Here are a few highlights of my most recent adventures:

Here I'm climbing down the stairs to the beach. I know, I know - dogs are NOT allowed to go on the beach at Christmas - unless they are there before 8:00AM! Luckily for me Jude hadn't worked out how to sleep in while we were at the beach so she took me for early morning walks every day. I enjoyed walking on the beach, especially as the waves weren't too big or violent. I don't want my fur messed up after all!




At the beach the humans sleep on a blow up bed. What I discovered was that, unlike at home where I can't jump onto the human's bed (too high) I could clamber onto Jude's bed easily! Here I am warming up the sheets and pillows for Jude. I also hopped onto the bed in the mornings to give her a good morning kiss most days too - I think she really loved those interactions!



In the third photo I'm sharing the couch with Nick. I didn't mind his sharing - but I got the impression that Nick didn't really like my wet whiskers (happens sometimes after a big drink despite my best intentions) or my sandy paws. Oh well - we got along quite well together regardless.

The best thing about the holiday was that I got LOTS and LOTS of Christmas presents. I am a very fortunate dog! In this fourth photo you can see my collection. There's the large (very loud and oinky) pig, the ocelot (thanks Parul), a duck and a long legged tiger. All my new toys made noise.   I'm not sure quite what happened (perhaps post-Christmas stress syndrome?) but one night the humans gathered all my toys and used them as musical instruments to play Christmas carols. Now that was something to hear - it was almost as loud as Hamish barking at people walking by.

I had a very wonderful holiday - thanks humans (especially Gran and Pa) for letting me be part of the family gathering.

My last bit of good news is that Aleina drew my picture recently. I think you'll see from the photo below that she is a talented artist as she drew the image from memory. I think she must have been imaging me just before I got my hair brushed!


Hope you have a happy and healthy new year!
Woofs,
Toby

Harbour-side visit

I had a fabulous day visiting Sally yesterday. Depite having to be in the car for a looooong time and having to listen to Jude cursig the traffic, and being LATE (OMG! yes late), we eventually arrived. Sally was happy to see me, and we did lots of chasing around the back courtyard. 

After lunch the humas took us to the dog beach, which is a wonderful, fenced off section of beach where dogs rule. When Jude first took my collar off I didn't realise that I could do whatever I like, and run wherever I wanted. I soon got the hang of thigs though, and was trotting around, meeting and greeting people and running around exploring. There were lots of dog at the beach. Most were friendly, though a few were very big and scary looking. There was lots going on - bum-sniffing, games of chasey, digging in the sand and even dogs playing in the water. When we'd been there for a while I got brave and put my front feet in the water - it was fun. Next time I might go in further ... maybe. 

This is me with Mike.

This is Milly, Sally and me. You can see the Melbourne skyline in the background.

Sally - here I come ...

Grrrrreat news - I'm going to visit my girlfriend Sally tomorrow. I can't wait to see her again. I hope she feels the same way about me but Jude tells me this may not be the case - she says the fact that Sally spent most of the time last time we met trying to get away from me may be a clue. Huh - that can't be right can it?

The downside is that Sally lives a long way away from us. I'll have to go in the dreaded car! For hours! 

I wonder if this is the way to Sally's house?

Woofs

Toby

Oops!

You remember how I told you about my new toy, Quacky Duck? Yes well, her head fell off - I'm not sure how. Oh dear! 

Sore paw

The last few weeks I've had a sore paw. I think one of my paws is allergic to grass or something, because it gets very itchy, then I can't seem to stop licking it. A few weeks back Craig & Jude took me to the vet, who said that because i have lots of bacteria in my mouth (that was a bit personal I thought!)  I've been infecting my own foot with my saliva. Anyway, the vet prescribed my some digusting pills that were shoved down my throat several times a day, much to my disgust. It helped for a while, but now my foot is sore again. 

Craig came up with the idea of using some special vet cream on my paw. It has some local anasthetic in it, which stops the itching (yay!). It also has some special medicine that helps the sore bits to heal up quickly. The humans have been putting it on my paw several times a day, and so far so very good. There might be a few ointment-y paw prints around the place but the humans say that is a small price to pay for me not to be constantly licking my paw. 

Hopefully I'll be all happy and healthy for the Christmas holiday.

Woofs

Tobes

 

Getting ready for Christmas!

Wooo Hoo! We've been getting ready for Christmas. I'm excited because we'll be going to Point Lonsdale to stay with Hamish (and some human relatives too). Craig and Jude have been shopping and have purchased my gift for the "shift and lift" game - phew. It's a really good gift - a bone-shaped tin of dog biscuits - and I hope that who ever ends up with it is good at sharing.

The other important preparation for Christmas is that I've had a beard trim. Gran says that my beard is long and straggly and drippy (I can tell from her expression that she's thinking it's disgusting). She says that if she was my owner, my beard would be kept very short, or perhaps shaved off completely. I say that I wouldn't look like an Airedale if my beard was missing - so Jude just gave me a light trim. She says I look much younger now that it's so beautifully shaped. What-evs ... I'm sure you'll see that I'm looking very fine now.

Woofs,

Tobes

Supplies!

The humans got me some new biscuits- two packets. Yum! They unpacked them on the bench then went off to do something. I thought someone should check and make sure that they are the right flavour. 

Here I'm standing up on my back legs, paws on the bench checking them out. 

Next comes the taste test. 

Woof to that. 

Tobes

Hallo-what?

Something strange was happening at our place last weekend. There was a strange witchy looking woman hanging around that looked a bit like Jude, especially the nose.

We also had a bunch of kids ringing our doorbell (waking me from my afternoon sleep) and asking for treats. Strangest of all was that Jude gave them treats from a bowl she'd prepared earlier...

I'm confused - these humans have strange habits! 

Woods,

Toby

New friend

IYay! I got a new friend (toy) today. Jude got it for me because my old toy, Brendan, is all beat up. He's has so many operations (repair jobs) that there's no fabric remaining for necessary fixes. 

I love my new toy 'Whacky Duck' - it has a really loud squeaker. I think Jude might have forgotten how much I like squeaking my toys - he he he! 

Yippee! It's Saturday

I was out walking early this morning in preparation for a trip to Ballarat. (I'm coming Hamish!). You might be thinking that I am looking particularly handsome- that because I had a haircut this week. 

We saw lots of kangaroos - some of them were enjoying nibbling on grass and plants in house gardens. 

The valley is looking beautiful today. 

Woofs

Toby

Spring has sprung

I woke Jude up early this morning - so she could feed me. She pulls the sheet over her head & pretends she's asleep when she doesn't want to get out of bed. But I'm persistent so eventually she gets up. 

The fog was very thick today so we couldn't go for our walk until mid- morning. It turned out to be a lovely day! We saw lots of kangaroos & sqwarking magpies & people walking dogs. (Where were they in winter?). Everything is looking very pretty at the moment. 

Visiting Hamish

I'm in Ballarat visiting Hamish and saying 'happy Father's Day' to Lloyd today. As regular readers of my blog would know, Hamish absolutely loves to see me (not). While the humans were off having a celebratory lunch Hamish and I stayed home end enjoyed the Spring sunshine. 

How our fun time together goes is - I run around Hamish like a maniac and Hamush stands in the middle and barks at me. 

In the photo above you may also see my beautiful new collar - purchased at Fifth Paw pet store in Gisborne. 

The only way it could have been better is if people gave me more food!!

Woofs

Toby

Thinking ...

Here I am, sitting thinking intelligent thoughts. How to solve global warming challenges, whether the Pope is a Catholic and when I'll get more food? 

So much to do, so little time. 

Happy birthday Gran

We went to Ballarat yesterday to say happy birthday to Gran. I had to put up with driving in Jude's car for hours! She said she had it set to 'comfort' mode but I didn't feel very comfortable to me!

It turned out to be a good day - I got to play with my best friend, Hamish, plus Gran gave an entire scone to eat! Good thing she doesn't know that I am supposed to be in a diet! There was a birthday cake (Jude cooked it herself) but I didn't get to eat any of it - because "chocolate is bad for dogs". Humph! Jude almost dropped the cake when she was getting it out of the container - i would have swooped in and gobbled it up if it made it to the floor. 

While the humans all went off for lunch somewhere Hamish and I spent some fun time together in the garden - I can't tell you the details because apparently what happens in Ballarat stays in Ballarat. 

HAPPY BIRTHDAY GRAN. 

Woofs, Toby

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