Flynn's story - home comforts

I have two cages.  One is my daytime cage and that sits in the living room and the other is my night time cage and that is in the bedroom. 

I am still chewing......anything that isn't mine, like my Mum's shoes, I run away to have a nibble on the insole.  Hey what does it matter they are only her old garden shoes.  My Dad says I have to learn right from wrong, and whether these garden shoes are tatty or not, they are not mine.  "Here, Flynn, you have this, this is yours" he says and I get this old chew stick.  I am fed up with that I want something more exciting to sink my teeth into.

Because I still chew, my Dad and Mum, want me to be "safe" for half an hour whilst they get some jobs done.  So they pop me in the cage and close the door.....ha ha not without a fight though.  The door on this one is pull up and over and lift onto the catch and you have to be pretty quick to shut it before I am sitting behind them with a grin on my face and Dad is looking into an empty cage.

Oh well I never win in the end, so like a good boy I sit in there.  Its not long, not long enough even for nap.

Now my sleeping cage is a different matter.  As I said I have a busy day and I just don't want to close my eyes in case I miss out on something.  But.....as soon as 8 p.m. is here I am asking to go to bed.

 

 

 

 Now look at this.  Comfort!  When I arrived three weeks ago, it had just a cloth on the plastic tray.  Now look at it!  A real cushion under a red fleece blanket.  Heaven!  I could not wake up this morning I was too comfy.  I even have a black and white cloth draped over the top and round the sides, talk about colour co-ordinated - and when I go to sleep, I have a folded duvet in front to keep the draught out.

I think my Mum and Dad have forgotton I am a sheep dog - I should be rounding up sheep when I am older, but who could say No to a bit of home comfort.

There is a chair in the sitting room that belonged to their pet dog before me.  When I arrived it looked huge, but now I can do a little spring and I am in it.  Can't beat that for home comfort either, but I have to stop chewing before they can trust me to just settle down to sleep here.

I am trying, but see my eyes are still open.

Now what did I do today?  I did a lot of watching and learning.  Dad was busy with doing up the bathroom, so I watched from the door.  Facinating it was.  Dad and I watched a film on TV this afternoon.  I watched it close up, it facinates me how these people move about the screen.

This afternoon Mum asked if I would like a Bonio.  Of course I do, and I know exactly where to find one.  I wasn't hungry, but it is fun to throw around the room and watch it shatter into pieces all over the carpet. Easier to eat don't you think.

Well it is another day tomorrow, lots more to do and learn..........

Flynn's story - making new friends

Hello everyone, here I am again.  Been living at my new home for two weeks now.....see how much I have grown!

I have a new collar!!!  Green.... .  I had one of those lightweight puppy collars after I arrived, but with a bit of tugging and pulling that soon came off.  I still wear it all the time, but I have been given another one for when I go outside.  It was rather too big for me, but my Mum she wriggled it about, and tucked that bit into that bit, and moved it about and put a piece of tape across the ends, so that I don't try to chew it when I have it on.  It worked, and I love it!!

When I arrived two weeks ago there was already two animal residents in this home.  I heard my Mum call them "cats".  Now they did not want anything to do with me, they snarled and threw out their paws.  I thought they wanted to shake my paw so I put mine out too.  But no ...they just did not want me as their friend.  So up until yesterday I just left them alone.

Then last night Jade came in to the kitchen and I had her cornered near the back door.  She snarled but just sat there, so I went up to her and put my paw around her neck, and gave her a lick in her ear.  Then my Mum came up and patted Jade on the head and said - Jade this is Flynn who has come to live with us.  And then patted me on the head and said this is Jade.  Now we know each other.

So....today I also made a special effort to get to know Amber.  I did try but she just run away.

 Now how did you get up there, I thought I would try and do that too.

Nearly there......

Up we go......not sure if I can make the top level.  Whoops where has Amber gone.  Must go and find her.

Gone!  She doesn't want anything to do with me!  I can't get across there.

Oh well, I will go and find Jade again and see if she is OK with me now.

Huh there she is ....."Jade, Jade  I only want to play!!!"

"Did you call Dad.........what?  Going to the supermarket did you say".  "Oh yes please".  Did you know I just love travelling in a car.  I hint every day by going to the front door, but I can't go with Dad on my own.

Today Mum is going to watch me in the car while Dad does the shopping. 

This is all I can see when I am sitting on the back seat.  It doesn't matter because I am with my Mum, or my Dad or both of them and thats all that matters.

Here I am in waiting for Dad to do the shopping.  Soon after this my Mum and I both fell asleep.  It wasn't until Dad opened the boot to put the shopping in that we both woke up with a start.

So....lots to do and lots of play but I will tell you about that another day.

 

Flynn's story - Wind, rain and shadows.....

Aah you wonder what I have been up to this week, I bet!  Well my Mum couldn't take any photos because she ended with a flu virus and everytime she held the camera she had a coughing fit - so she just let me get on with it.

I'm fine thank you!  I don't think puppies catch flu, do they? 

I have learnt lots this week - I have also grown a centimetre or so.  Every day Dad gets the tape measure out and measures me from top of my shoulder down to the paw.  He says "he is thirteen inches today".  My Dad doesn't do centimetres - can't get the hang of it!

Now one day this week I was taken out to the garden on a lead (hey I am getting real good at doing what I am supposed be doing out there!!), but I need to sit too and watch the world go round.  Well the other day, it was gusty and I didn't really know what to think of it, so I kept looking up at my Mum for her reassurance it wasn't going to hurt me.  "Don't worry, Flynn" she says, "its only the wind"!  Well it was a bit scary for me, so much my fur was standing on end.

Did you know my Mum is scared of the dark, especially when noone is at the house.  Well that particular evening she turned the outside light on.  When I went out on the grass there was this scary thing flitting across the back fence and shed.  Whoa whatever is it?  I could see Mum was a bit scared too - I think she thought it was someone walking by.  And then we both saw what it was - together - there was a plastic shopping bag on the clothes line and it was a shadow (well thats what I was told).  Haven't been scared since.

Then another day it rains.....I could not work out it out - I licked my coat, I looked up in the air, and I looked at my Mum.  She says "don't worry Flynn, its only rain".  It didn't last long and it was only a short shower.

Well there you go all that learnt in a week.

Today was photo day!  Mum is feeling better and she says "Flynn sit", and what do I do?  I sit, and I keep still. 

I think I have posed for enough photos today.  I am off for my nap now. See you soon.

Flynn's Story - 05.10.2013

Its Saturday!!!  I didn't know it until I was told this morning at breakfast.  To me its just another day, early to rise as usual and early breakfast.

Now today I did not last long after breakfast, I felt so tired that I just went into my daytime cage and fell asleep.  The door wasn't even closed.  I only needed an hour and was ready for my day. 

The knotted fabric, I found what I could do with it, throw it in the air and catch it.  And then when my Mum took the other end, I pulled it off her and we had a bit of a tug of war.  That was fun.

I watched a lot today - from the patio.  My Dad had to pick up some rotten apples and put in the wheelbarrow ready to be disposed off.  I never seen a wheelbarrow before.  Then he dragged this large bag to the centre of the lawn and pulled a cord on what I heard was a lawnmower, and the mowed grass was put in a bag.  All very interesting.  I didn't even attempt to join him.  I sat like a good boy on the patio.

Today Mum studied me very closely.  She said I had fur like a Collie on my chest (white and fluffy with grey specks).  I also have Collie fur along my back to my knees and around my neck, and from the knees down its Kelpie fur.  I have broad paws, so I guess that is the Kelpie in me, but I do have flecks of white on each foot and I have a broad back side.  I have lovely black and tan markings on my face. 

Actually I am a handsome dog.  Even if I say so.  I do have the cutest face, but I am full of mischief. 

Mum's battery was low on the camera today and she couldn't take any more photos.  What a pity as I was a really good puppy and I learned lots today.

Flynn's Story - 04.10.2013

Its only 5.30 a.m. is it really time to get up - ok ok you want to put on my lead and take me outside. I know I know I got to perform before breakfast.  Its dark out here....I can't see.  There all done, so can I now have breakfast.

Thanks that was good.  Now playtime.  Lets see what shall I play with first.  The green bone, the yellow ring, the red ringggs - thats too heavy, leave that one til I am bigger.  Ah yes the Christmas Pudding ball thingy.  What can I do with that? 

Hang on - you say I have to tap it with my nose, like this.....whoa whoa where is it going.  Hey look at me - I can make the ball go....through the door, into the hall, back again and under the table....whoa. This is fun.

Now what next -

Hey, this is something new.  A pipe my Mum says.  Whatever that is.  What can I do with it.  Like this my Mum says and rolls it towards me.  Wow that was scary nearly ran over me.
Hey let me have a go......like this Mum ....is this how you do it?  Not sure if I like this toy, its a little too big for a puppy like me.

Look at me arn't I just the loveliest boy?.....

This is a good pose.  My Mum has been trying to take photos of me all day - tell you what this one is hilarious.  I posed for Mum under the chair, and when she clicked her camera this is what she got.

 

I disappeared!!!  Well actually I got very tired so I decided to go to sleep, here I am at the back of the chair.

After my short sleep - I thought I would have some fun.  I was getting use to the tiny patch I could use in the back garden, but I wanted to see more, so I started to be naughty with the lead.  Everytime I was asked to wander about on this patch I threw myself onto the ground, and wriggled about.

 

I tried to take my Mum's slippers.  She has these ankle type fluffy ones, a bit hot for the summer, but they were sitting there in the hall doing nothing at all.  Now I took a liking to the fluffy part, so I dragged the slipper towards my cage, and settled down to chew it.  Didn't get far as it was whisked away and in its place I got these piece of fabric with three knots in it.  Now what am I supposed to do with that....well I couldn't fathom it out so I left it near my cage. 

I tried to make friends with the resident cat, big black snarly thing, she didn't like me at all.  Just hovered in the corner, spitting and her tail waving about.  I will leave her to get on with it and find something else to do.

Sometimes when my Mum or Dad are sitting down I make a leap towards their laps, but I just don't quite make it and slip to the floor.  But they do pick me up and let me sit on their lap for a while.  I kinda like this for a short while, but then I tire of it and have to explore some more.

Soon it was time for bed again....I am too tired so its not long before I fall asleep in my sleeping cage.

Flynn's story - 03.10.2013

"Hellooooo....its 6.30 a.m.....I am awake, anyone there...yahoo...I need to go outside!!!" .  Ah she is awake and getting a lead to take me outside - just for a minute - now I want some breakfast.   Mmmmm that tasted good. 

Now to explore some more.  I was just too tired yesterday to take everything in.  Today I feel better and I adore all the attention.  Now to explore the television again. "No....out"....I heard it, I am coming out.....see my bottom going backwards...."Good Boy"!  Oh that sounded nice, does that mean I have done something good.  Lets see...tuck my head around the television.  "Out"!!!  I hear.  "I know, I know.  I got it now, I am not allowed behind the television - okay it won't happen again.....for now".

Where is my Mum going....."Won't be a minute" she says and disappears upstairs.  I can't follow because she has shut the stair gate.  She says the stairs are too steep for me at the moment.  Ahh here she is - whats in the big plastic bag.  Must help Mum with that. 

Mum dips her hand in and out comes an old chewed rubber ring.....that looks good, then another three ring looking a bit grubby, but who cares.  Whoops that one is a bit heavy.  Nearly fell over with that.  Oooh now whats that coming out of the bag.  A mouse bigger than me.  What you doing Mum.  Looks like she just popped out the squeaky.  I would have liked a noisy toy. Whats next.....a ball she says shaped like a Christmas pudding.  I like that - but what do you do with it?  Now I already have a rubber bone and a hide stick to chew.  I can't see myself getting bored can you?.

Uhhh uhhh - got some problems with my water works.  Still not sure where I will go.  Decided to do it down one side of the room, but my Mum was just too quick and lined the whole of that wall with thick newspaper, just in case of accidents, but I already know I can go out on a lead to the edge of the path and go there, that is if I remember that is what I am supposed to do.  Have to admit I am getting better at it.   

This is as far as I can go for another two weeks.  I do try to pull the lead further into the garden, but my Dad  says not yet.

I am now getting used to where I can go in the house and where I can't go.  I did sneak through into the room where the cats were fed, and got ticked off for eating their biscuit.  I didn't like it very much anyway.

Today my Mum went off to see a lady at the pet shop to buy another cage for the bedroom, a lot smaller, because the big cage wouldn't fit in.  This one had sliding catches, so there is no way I can escape at night.  Who wants to anyway - bed is bed and you stay there for the whole night, don't you?  I have a new fleece blanket in the new cage.  Its not really new it was their other dogs favourite blanket.  I hope she doesn't mind me having it now. 

Oh well off to bed, tomorrows another day for more adventures.

Flynn's story - 02.10.2013

My name is Flynn, I am a Kelpie Cross.  I lived on a farm until today, when my new owners came to collect me.   I was really frightened. While my sisters all clambered for the gate to jump the queue, I hovered in the corner, with those sorrowful eyes.  I was whisked off the ground of my pen and handed to this man, I shook like a leaf.  

Then everyone went into the farm kitchen for a cup of tea whilst my sisters continued to yap outside.  Whilst everyone, except me,  were having a cup of tea, I was able to explore this big kitchen. 

Eventually it was time to go and I was carried to the car.  In the back of the car was a very large cage with bedding inside.  I was placed carefully into the cage and the door was shut.

I can see you - but you can't see me - well not all of me anyhow.

Then there was this strange noise as the car started, and I hopped up the caged wall to see out the back window.  I had only been in a car once, so everything was very new to me.  The noises, the funny smells, all very frightening for a little puppy like me.

Hours later, we arrive home I guess, and again I was lifted from the cage into a house.  I could see my new owners were just as excited as me, but when I got excited I wanted to pee......but where?  Too late, can't be thinking of that now.  Its done.

I am thirsty so I head for this enormous bowl of water and put my foot in it first, then lapped the water, but oh no I have a soaking wet foot and its leaving behind watery foot prints all over the kitchen floor. 

What are they doing, putting something nice and light round my neck, says its a collar just for Flynn til he gets a little bigger, and then he can have a leather one.

Now whats happening?  The large cage is  being bought into the sitting room.  It is enormous! Too big for a little puppy like me, and why would I want it in the room. 

Oh I am so tired......I am fallen asleep and I feel my little body being lifted and put into the cage and the gate being closed.  Can't be bothered, I am just too tired to care......

Ahh wake again!  The door is opened and I am allowed to wander round and explore my new surroundings.  So many places to go, but why are they being so stearn when I am only looking behind the television, and then the sideboard.  There it goes again, they are yelling at me - I am only retracing my steps and gone behind the television again.  I will try that again and see if they yell again. 

Oh what is that noise.....what are you doing, can't they see I don't understand and I have to sit and watch and cock my head from one side, and then the other to try and evaluate the situation.  That noise - what is my new owner saying - "its only the vacuum cleaner you will get used to it"!  I did back off, but I came back to investigate again.  Ooooh whats this, something nice to sink my tiny teeth in?  What....yelling at me again...."don't touch"!!  Why its only a piece of something to chew, whats wrong with them, I will have another go.  There is goes again in a raised voice ...."Don't touch".  Mmm I wonder what they mean.

Time for bed - I have my very own sofa in their bedroom  - how spoilt is that - it was their previous dogs chair, but I am all lost in it, and I might fall off.  Look see, I just dropped to the ground.  Oh dear now they have popped me in the cage again in the sitting room. Never mind I am so tired now, I may as well go to sleep.

Guernsey - Day 7

Almost to the end of our stay in Guernsey.  Still so much to see and no time to do so.  Today we decided to visit two places.

First Cobo Bay - why because my OH thought it a ring to its name.  For me I wanted to explore St Peters Port and see what it has to offer. 

So not so early this morning - 8 a.m. for the bus into town, then catch the No. 42 to Cobo Bay.  It would be an hour before the next bus, so we walked up the road - 10 min walk we were told to the public loo - which turned out to be a good 20 mins. 

 

Taken on our way back along the beach.  Lots of seaweed, and a few rocks. 

Lots of seagulls

 

Where we walked from.

 

 

Almost reached the bus stop when we saw it coming.  Too late we didn't make it!  Now I know it was too early, but the timed one did not arrive on time anyway. 

 

Next stop "Elizabeth College".  The only landmark I recognised on the map to be close to the Candie Gardens which led towards the Libary.

 

We had to walk some distance down the hill and across the road, and then a very steep incline up the hill to the Museum. 

 

Looked very interesting, but we were running out of time to fit other things in.

 

The sign to the Library. 

 

Here it is.  I could spend all day here, but since we short for time, I picked out a couple things I would like to see.  It was truly beautiful inside.  Books were displayed from floor to ceiling.  There was also an exhibition of the Guernsey Press.  We did find this interesting, and spent some time looking through all the news for the last 200 years.

 

 

 

No time to hang about - we must find the High Street.  We wandered through Candie Gardens to make our way down the hill.   Here is the High Street with all the well known stores - Boots, M&S etc. 

 

Of course we are not buying anything.  We wandered down the cobbled streets to Market Square.

 

 

Look what I found - a blue letter box! 

 

Not sure what this building is or was.

Market Square.  Lots of tables, and a couple stalls.  What a shame it is a lovely place to visit.

This lady was selling cupcakes. I did ask if I could take a photograph.  Don't they look delicious?

These were my favourite - just looked like pots of flowers. 

We are back on the sea front - yellow telephone boxes? 

Another St Peters Port photo.  The tide is in.  We are now off to see Cornet Castle.  Its a long walk down the end of the pier.



I can't believe this.  We hunted every where for fresh fish and never found anywhere and just on our last day whilst walking down the pier we come across this one. Personally I hate fish, but my OH loves it, and would eat it every day!!!

Never mind, maybe next time.  We walk towards the castle. 

Look a Condor Ferry arriving.  Going at such a speed before slowing down to enter the harbour.

 

There is an admission charge to enter the castle, we do not go in.  We manage to read some history about the castle on the outside. 

Afterwards, we walk further down the pier. 

 

Part of the castle backing onto the water, rock below.  Long pier to the lighthouse

 

 

A warning sign pinned to the wall - that you go past that point at your own risk.  The break water can occur anytime.

 

 

 

A long walk back to the bus terminus, but first before we catch the very last bus, we will go back to The Yacht Hotel, where we had first enjoyed a huge pot of tea. 

Finally Bus No. 81 - this would take us to Jerboug - we would not return to the town terminus but get off the bus at St Martins Village and walk the rest of the way back.  The bus stopped for a couple (an elderly lady and a younger lady) who had been walking coastal walk from St Peters Port.  I admire their courage. 

So now we are back at the Apartment, for a refreshing cup of tea, but still some daylight hours left.  I wanted one final walk down to Fermain Bay.

So my poor OH comes with me.  We get to the end of the road and have to make the descent down via a track to the bay. 

We did not get far because the descent was steep, and we had been told earlier on in the holiday by another couple it is a touch climb back up again, so we aborted that idea and followed the other lanes instead - without a map!!!

An hour and half later we did find our way back. 

And so now the end of our holiday is drawing to a close.  We need to tidy the apartment, and have everything ready for when the taxi collects us at 7am the next morning. 

So what did I think of the holiday?  Yes 100% recommend Guernsey as a place to visit.  If you don't take a car, the seven travel pass is great.  Catch any bus, go anywhere.  My only regret is that we did not have more days.  There was still three buses we didn't catch, there was masses of places to see which we never had the time to do so.

And if you do get a chance to visit - try their butter.

So now to bed and an early rise in the morning for our trip home.