Bichon Frise

You know the saying about if you want the best seat in the house move the dog? Well in our house it's often if you want to work at the computer move the dog. Star has tried out most possible resting places in our house, and because she's such a small dog, she can squeeze herself into spaces you wouldn't think possible. She is less adventurous these days, but when she was a tiny puppy there were many times we carried out full scale searches, only to find her blissfully asleep in a cupboard.

She certainly has a knack for getting comfortable, and

We had our day at the beach yesterday, and it was marvelous after the winter we've been having. The dogs had a great time; as soon as I opened the boot and let Buddy out, he was leaping about, quivering in excitement that he was going to get a run on the beach. Star takes it all a bit more in her stride, and her passion is digging. What was really enjoyable was that the beach was not crowded, so although we had the leads with us, we didn't have to attach them once. Bliss!

As I type this, Star is lying in a patch of sunlight in front of an open door. This is one of her favourite positions. She likes it best with the door open, so that should the need arise, she can potter out into the garden, but she will accept a door closed situation. Eventually. Today though, the door stands flung open, because on opening it a lovely spring day, complete with warm sunshine, was waiting for us. (It had been waiting an indecently long time in fact, as we tend to lie in on a Saturday morning.)

I mentioned in a recent show that Star, our Bichon Frise, has certain preferences. Call them preferences, or idiosyncrasies, or eccentricities. Whatever you call them, she has them. She has definite ideas on how her life should be; when she should go for a walk, when she should have access to the garden, when she should be on your lap, and so on. The basic rule seems to be that all these things should happen whenever she jolly well wants them to happen, thank you very much!