There's a tree in the living room...

Something's going on... a tree has appeared. In the living room. Lots of interesting little spiky bits dropped off it when they brought it in last night; I tried eating them, but then I was sick this morning, so I guess perhaps not a good idea. But this tree, though - very strange and not at all sure what that's about. Daisy is having fun trying to get round behind it and for some reason Jo and Lou spent ages yesterday evening hanging stuff on it. Mind you, they also put lights on it and when it gets dark they are all twinkly... There are new toys, too - they came out of one of the boxes, so we're all having fun - and Theo, Lily and I all have matching coats to wear in bright red with white fur trim... very smart!

Problems with Temperature

Hugo wouldn't get out of bed this morning. He's never really keen, I have to say, especially if it's a bit on the chilly side, but he hadn't got up even when I came down from Loubie's room for my breakfast, so we knew something was amiss! Jo wrapped him in a blanket and put one of our wool rollnecks on him (which actually looked really nice - he does look good in red) and he stayed in front of the Aga. Theo and I laid on either side of him to help him feel better. Jo and Loubie took him to see George the vet at lunchtime, and it turns out he had a high temperature. He had some magic injections to make him feel better, but when they brought him home Jo noticed that the Aga wasn't as hot as it should be! Disaster! (I think maybe Hugo had stolen all the heat.) This evening Hugo is much better and bounced around while supper was being prepared. He's still wearing his jumper (I think he likes it!) and I suspect his temperature is back to normal. Unlike like the Aga, which is now getting even cooler... hope they get that fixed soon, or nobody is going to want to sleep in the kitchen!

Christmas is on the way (and hopefully Loubie too!)

Loubie has disappeared! I've been looking for her everywhere, and I just can't find her... every time the dining room door has been open I've sneaked upstairs and looked in our bedroom, but there's just no sign of her. (They told me she has gone on something called a holiday, but it sounds fishy to me.) The other really weird thing is that I've been sleeping in a different bedroom, with Jo and John, and no jammies cos Jo says I would be too warm. The first night after Loubie disappeared they tried to make me sleep in the kitchen with the others (how very dare they!) but naturally I soon sorted out that little misunderstanding - following John back up the stairs each time after he'd taken me down to the kitchen worked a treat after the fourth attempt. I made sure I guarded them well - barking at the owls which made a lot of noise in the middle of the second night; you just can't be too careful.

Anyway, apparently Loubie will be back soon so I won't have to put up with this strange state of affairs for much longer. I'm just about coping by sitting on Jo's knee a lot, but I can't wait until tomorrow when Loubie gets back!

The other exciting thing about tomorrow is that we have our first Poppy Puppy Christmas event - we're going to The Blacksmith's Arms in Naburn, near York. Really hoping the new Santa coats arrive in time...!

Hugo back at the vet's again....

So Hugo was only just recovering from his last operation when he got something wrong with his eye! It all swelled up and he had green oozy stuff and everything... anyway, they took him straight back in to see George and now he's on all sorts of tablets and eye drops and things. Poor Hugo - at least he's feeling better again now.

One thing that's been very confusing this week is that suddenly our meal times are an hour late; I'm not sure if I approve of this development at all. Also, there seems to be a lot more dark around and the garden is full of leaves. (When one's legs are as short as mine, that can become a problem.) I've also noticed a distinct absence of warmth outside - they've obviously noticed that too, as the fire is lit every evening now. Daisy loves it - particularly the bit where they are screwing up the newspaper. Lily and Theo for some reason like eating the coal - I've done some investigation into that and I think it's definitely worth further research. Certainly the hearth tastes very interesting...

How to Travel In Style!

Of all the amazing presents I've received since I arrived - the Chewy Vuiton bed, the Hamish McBeth collars, the Haute Diggity Dog toys... I think I love this the best. It's pink! It has handles so Loubie can carry me about! It has a padded inside! It has little holes in the end so if I want to I can hide inside and look out! It has - best of all - a padded chin rest! Life just doesn't get any better than this...

Poppy loves Bolt!

Loubie bought me a special present today - because I loved the film so much she bought me a real live Bolt! He's fantastic - he barks when you bite his head and he wags his tail.... and he does a Superbark if you stand on his foot and his eyes glow green... brilliant! And then, as if life couldn't get any better, they brought us sausage and chips back from the pub. Om nom nom nom!

Our new shop!

Well - here it is - our exclusive new Poppy Puppy shelves in Helmsley Walled Garden! It looks very fancy, and I hope lots of people (and dogs!) come to visit... We really love our new bunting and we're looking forward to lots of parties coming up soon where we can show it off - and all our lovely products too, of course...

And some more really exciting news - Daisy has finally learned how to climb the stairs! Jo's very pleased as it means she doesn't have to keep carrying her upstairs now. I don't know whether that aspect has occurred to Daisy as yet.

I have chewed it, therefore it is mine...

We have some exciting developments at Poppy Puppy - we've been invited to display our stock at two locations now; Helmsley Walled Garden and Edgemoor Veterinary Practice! All the staff are very excited and of course we wanted to help when Jo and Lou were putting together the boxes of goodies and labelling everything with our gorgeous new labels which Lou has designed.

Anyway, I thought they wouldn't notice if I took it... it matches my bed and I decided it really did belong to me; it's very small and furry and squeaky and it says "Chewy Vuiton" on it, and everybody else was really busy... if I take the label off it they might think I've had it ages, anyway... Lou wasn't very pleased - she says the price is coming out of my pocket money, which I think is hardly fair since everybody else really likes it too - Theo likes it nearly as much as the pink iPaw and Lily has taken it upstairs three times already!

Beech Nuts or Acorns...?

Tracy came again yesterday and we all had our haircut. Theo was very disappointed - he'd been working hard on a lovely knot on his foot and now it's gone. Daisy won the award for the most amount of fur grown in the last four weeks. Hugo also had a trip to the vet's in the afternoon and George says he has to have an operation next week... poor Hugo! Probably have to have one of those bucket things on his head afterwards too, so we will all have to be extra nice to him to make up for it.

Our new collars arrived though - I was very excited! My new one is brown with pink bones on it; our Poppy Puppy corporate colour scheme, so a proper uniform at last! Lily's is purple with pink cherry blossom on it and she looks very beautiful indeed...

Theo really enjoyed his walk this morning - he says he can't quite decide whether he likes beech nuts best, or acorns, so has to keep eating both for research purposes; interspersed with the occasional conker husk for variety. None of the rest of us can quite see the attraction...

Night-time adventures (without my jammies...)

So Lou went out and left me.... she wasn't there at bedtime (where were my jammies, I want to know?!) so I assumed I would be sleeping with Jo and John, since we all went upstairs with them. But no; apparently when Jo and John want to go to sleep they take us all back down to the kitchen again - and they expected me to sleep down there! With the others! How very dare they....! Naturally, I wasn't having that, so as soon as the lights were out I jumped over the barricade at the bottom of the stairs. Unfortunately I was detected before I could sneak onto the bed, and I was unceremoniously repatriated to the bed in front of the Aga. I watched carefully as John reinforced the barricade and as soon as he headed back up the stairs I tunnelled underneath and met him half way up. After that he had no choice - it was duvet time for me - what a result! I made sure I was on guard for them, though - even though they didn't seem very grateful when I barked at people leaving the pub around midnight - and then finally I heard Lou getting out of her car outside - she did say she heard me, too. Then it was good to be back in my own bed, with my jammies on...

Afternoon Tea!

John took all the girls out for afternoon tea today... we went to Lastingham Grange - it was very exciting! We sat out in the garden and had cake, then went for a walk around the grounds. I met a duck, which I wasn't too sure about, and a pretend duck which didn't seem to mind my investigations as much as the other one did. All canine members of staff were presented with a chewy thing when we came to leave, too, which is definitely something I'd like to see become compulsory at the other places we go for tea. Daisy ate hers really slowly so I tried to pinch it, but Lou took them off us and then gave some to the boys when we got back, to which I have to say I took grave exception. We're now reading the paper on the floor in the sitting room and for some reason John doesn't like me eating the edges... I'm hoping they are going to have supper soon as I'm after a bit more of that lamb...

New Favourite Colour: Beef (Med. Rare)

So they went to the Sinnington Hunt Ball and they didn't take us... I'm sure we'd have had lots of fun playing with all those hounds. Anyway, just to make us feel better, Jo managed to bring back a doggy bag - an enormous piece of roast beef! It was amazing... but we were a bit cross that John took some for his sammiches on two days. Daisy had never had beef before - she was very excited. I just tried to steal everybody else's.... and sometimes I succeeded. Last night we had roast chicken and I stole some of that too... things are looking good!

Wonderdog!

I've got a new t-shirt; it's fantastic! It says "Wonderdog" on it and it has a cape... At last they have realised how special I really am! And it's very exciting - when I'm wearing my new shirt it seems I really do have special powers... suddenly I am able to get down stairs. Mind you, I'm not sure how much of an advantage that is; I quite like the airlift feature - so it's pretty useful that my new powers only seem to work when I'm actually wearing my Wonderdog outfit. Of course all this superhero stuff is extremely exhausting!

Daisy is doing really well, though - stitches out and now she can join in the Mad Half Hour with the rest of us!

Daisy Bulletin

Daisy is recovering well, although continues to have mad dashes around the room periodically when her stitches irritate her. She's cleverly arranged things so she cannot possibly be left on her own... went completely mental when John tried to put one of those lamp-shade collar things on her to stop her licking her stitches, so we have to make sure we keep her company at all times! Theo's on guard here in the photo... Can't say I blame her about the lamp-shade thing, though - not at all elegant! She looks pretty good in my spare jammies at bedtime, though... Jo's promised to buy her a set so I can have mine back again. We're also very excited to hear that there are some new collars available for the season - purple cherry blossom! Woo! Lily wants one of those, too. Theo fancies one of the new Argyll design ones... have to start a wish list I think.

A new member of staff!

Well it's all very exciting; I went out in the car on Friday with Lou and Jo, and we came home with a guest - her name is Daisy and she looks quite like me, but a little bit bigger - and she was really fluffy! Then the day became even more exciting when Tracy arrived to give us all a haircut - including our guest... After that she looked totally different!

Anyway - turns out she's actually not just a guest but a whole new family member; that takes the Poppy Puppy canine members of staff up to five now and I've been promoted to a management role! At the moment I'm managing her being asleep in my spare jammies because she's just had her little girls' operation yesterday... feeling a bit under the weather. I'll keep you posted with bulletins to let you know how she's doing...

Rose Petals.... Om Nom Nom Nom!

Have discovered that the little pink round things which appear on the terrace outside are really tasty! Am also finding lots of other exciting things in the garden... chewy bits of twig are fun, and beech nuts - they are good too. Have also found out (I followed Theo) that if I get trapped on the top lawn (steps? I don't think so...) then I can tiptoe through the border and jump off the little wall onto the lawn below.

Have been having lots and lots of fun chasing Theo around - he's completely bonkers so it's brilliant. Until he stands on one of my feet... ouch.

We have visitors here- it's all very exciting- Loubie's parents- funny... I never have visits from my parents. But anyway- we all went somewhere very very exciting, called 'Beach'. It is a very strange place and we went on 'Big train' which was a bit jerky and very noisy and smelly and there was lots of smoke and people but I got lots of cuddles and strokes and some Fish and Chips!
Loubie had also bought me a bowl for water in the pet shop but it was for a hamster so very small!
'Beach' was a wondrous place and was yellow and soft... a bit like dry mud, but suddenly it was wet! There was a lot of wet and then my feet got a bit full of soggy yellow stuff and it got difficult to run!
Lots of fun and I hope we go back soon- maybe with Jo, John, Lily, Theo and Hugo next time... or auntie Amanda...

New collars and leads had arrived by the time we got home so I am now wearing a beautiful Purple collar and also have a black & white one too! And new Jammies which are fab and Pink- I was very happy because I was so tired after all day running at 'Beach' and had even fallen asleep on the train...

More on Banana...

Do you know - it's a really funny thing.... but I've decided I quite like banana now! It seems that all the others eat it, and if I don't eat mine, then Theo steals it! (This happens even when I've hidden it in my bed so that whoever gave it to me doesn't feel bad about me not liking it.) Anyway, obviously I had to start eating it so it didn't get stolen, and now I've decided I really quite like it... especially the bit I had the other day that had jam on it. Still not sure about that bathroom floor, though - I think much safer to stay on the carpet. There might be sharks... you never can tell.

Our Poppy Puppy Party was a big success! We had pink champagne and food that smelt very interesting... (I was allowed to try one or two things and discovered I really, really like falafel!) Lots of lovely dogs brought their people to see me and everyone admired my new collar and the rollneck sweater I had on for the evening - apparently other people now want to have parties for their dogs too, so maybe there will be more falafel! Hurrah! Somebody bought the pink fleece jammies I had my eye on, though, so Lou is going to have to order another set for me...

Haircut!

Friday was haircut day! My friend Tracy came to see us and gave me a bit of a makeover ready for my party; all the others had their usual haircut, and at the end of the afternoon we all looked really smart - even Hugo! We all got lots of cuddles and biscuits too, so it's all good!

Poppy Puppy News Release!

So we sent a letter out to lots of newspapers and radio stations to tell them about our party on Friday! We sent them this photo - we had lots of fun dressing up in the outfits and Theo didn't want to take the Jammies off again.... I think Jo is going to have to buy him some of those!

Lily and I went out for lunch today - it was very exciting! We visited a cafe in a place called Helmsley and had the crusts off the toasty sammiches - mmmmm.... I'm discovering all sorts of things I really like; chicken is good!

New Collars!!

It's arrived! An enormous box which Jo said came from the other side of the world where the dogs walk upside down. (I can't imagine that - what happens to the biscuits?) When we opened the box it was full of all these amazing collars and leads and - most exciting of all - Doggy Jammies! Theo tried on a red one and didn't want to take it off! Then we all got to choose a new collar. Mine is very beautiful with a big butterfly on the side! Lily's is a very pretty red with white daisies and Theo's is brown with blue and tan spots. Hugo's is red with paw prints on. We all look so smart! Lily has a matching lead, too - she's very fancy. I also tried on a beautiful purple wool jumper and fell asleep on my back on the sofa - it was sooooo cosy.... I had to take it off, though; it's part of the stock for my party next week! There's going to be a bubble machine and everything; I'm very excited! Now all we are waiting for is the toys....

Are you sure that's something I can eat...?

Banana. What's that about? The others go, well, bananas over it but it just smells weird to me...

I'm very excited, though - a party is being planned just for ME! Apparently Jo and Loubie got fed up trying to find really nice collars and clothes for us all and they thought that other people must be having the same problem, so they decided to start a business - and they've named it after me! Woo hoo!

Anyway, they've planned a big party on the evening of Friday 31 July at the Village Hall - there will be things to eat and everything (although I hope no bananas) and everybody is invited to see the fab new collars and jumpers and things, and bring their dogs. There's even something called a website at www.poppypuppy.com so people all over the world can see pictures of me and the other members of staff! Lily and Theo have picked their favourite things to tell people about - Hugo's too busy being asleep in front of the Aga...

Friday!

Today it was raining so much nobody wanted to go out on a walk so I got to have a lie-in! Apparently though I snore


My new in-car seat belt arrived yesterday so today I had my first outing! Wasn't too sure about it at first but we went to a city and met lots of exciting people!


Today I have also discovered that the bathroom floor is safe to walk on, though the shower is a bit splashy!

Thursday's Discoveries...

This morning I discovered a horse! Never seen anything like that before - gave me rather a shock so I shot backwards and barked a lot whilst jumping up and down... but that didn't seem to scare it, for some reason. Theo said he used to bark a lot at horses too (not surprising as he seems to bark a lot at most things!) but has discovered instead that if he doesn't bark, then Jo gives him biscuits so he thinks that's a pretty good deal.

Have also discovered that if I squeeze through the gate at the bottom of the stairs then I can sit at the top while they are all out! (Downside is that I can't get down again. Pants.)

Fancy new walking harness arrived today - it's pink, with angel wings on; love it! Lily has one too! Maybe we'll wear them on our walk tomorrow...

Also discovered today that I like pasta! Woo!

Stairsurfing

This morning we all had a lovely walk and then I had a nice snooze with Lily & Theo. Stairs are still proving tricky as I think they are taller than my legs! When Loubie came home from work I was so excited I forgot about the stairs and my descent got faster and faster unil my tail overtook my nose! But there were hands to catch me at the bottom!
Today I got to try Banana and Rice Krispies... but dont fancy either much. Squeaky toys are still a little startling but I do like Loubie's bed...

Tuesday's Discoveries...

Everything is very exciting in my new home... today I learned about stairs! I can now climb all the way to the top, provided I don't stop on the way. If I stop, I get stuck and have to be rescued. Unfortunately I haven't managed to work out how to get down yet, which can be a problem. Still, someone always seems to be there to carry me back down again, so it's all good!