Bichon Frise

The forecast was finally for a warm weekend, so we headed for the beach. It turned out to be so hot that we had to find shade for the dogs. They loved it down at the water's edge where the sea was cooling and there was a delicious breeze, but back up the beach, they sat happily in the shade, peeping out from time to time to see if it was time to go for another paddle.

I'm so proud tonight - Jenny and Star passed their Bronze Good Citizen award tonight. They came home with a certificate and a rosette, and a feeling of achievement. This scheme is run by most Kennel Clubs around the world, so wherever you live, check out if your KC offer the awards. There are three levels - Bronze, Silver and Gold - and each level is an eight week course. You can take each level again, if you don't quite make it the first time.

We went for a walk on Cannock Chase today, and Buddy and Star found some friends to play with. The child in the photo detected a child-friendly Lab and came straight over. From then on Buddy lay on his back to have his tummy rubbed by the child. All would have gone on peacefully, were it not for the presence of an enthusiastic German Shepherd Dog puppy and Star, because all of a sudden they both wanted in on the action. The child was happy to fuss all three, and Buddy was happy to lie on his back in the middle of it all!

We had a rare Saturday with nothing
already arranged. The weather was good, so we decided to ignore the various chores waiting to be done at home, and go out for the day. We are members of English Heritage, and we consulted the guidebook for a suitable venue. We were members of another similar organisation, but defected to English Heritage as they welcome dogs. When I say they welcome dogs, I really mean they welcome dogs, as opposed to just tolerating them. The organisation we left has some site which claim to welcome dogs, but that translates to permitting them in the car park on a lead. Which is absolutely no good to me or most dog owners. With rising crime it's asking for trouble to leave your dog in a car in a distant car park, apart from the dangers of overheating.

When I went to Good Citizen training classes with Buddy we met a lot of new people and dogs. Which was great for us both. Except that I'm not very good at recalling names, and suddenly I had lots to remember. The other problem I had was that many of the owners I met had given their dog a traditionally human name, which just added to my confusion. So I had not only to memorise Tara and Katie, Ellie and Sally, Nick and Harvey, and Connie and Sally, but I also had to remember which was the dog and which the person.

Tim Glass, author of Just This Side of Heaven sent me a link to a cartoon depicting what it can be like being an author with a dog at a book signing. I told him not to take it personally if people want to meet one of his lovely Beagles with more enthusiasm than they do him. Apart from the fact that dogs are usually cuter than their accompanying people, they are just more approachable too. You don't feel at all self conscious when greeting a dog, even a celebrity one.