Tess, the Golden Retriever

I’ve been away on a big trip!

We went in this big car thing (mum and dad call it a motorhome), and it has a high comfy seat which lets me look out at all the things and people we pass. Anyway, we drove for ages and ages, and eventually arrived at this big field with lots of other motorhomes. Although it was quite cold, I met lots of nice people and lots of interesting dogs.

A couple of times, mum and dad went out and left me on my own. Anyway, I’m a big girl now, so I didn’t bark and complain, but went to sleep on my bed under the table. It was quite nice for me, to be honest.

I wonder when we’ll go away in the big van again?

We’ve just had this thing in our house called Christmas. I got some presents, which were balls of paper which were great fun to play with.

Thanks, mum and dad.

There were some things inside them, but I didn’t know what they were, and didn’t play with them.

Wow! (or should that be Bow wow?)

I didn’t realise it had been so long since my last update. Time flies when you’re having fun.

Dad has changed my login again, so I have more rights to edit things around, so that’ll be good. He obviously trusts me a bit more.

Such a lot has happened since I last wrote. We’ve had this thing called Christmas, which meant I got some nice things with paper on them, which I could rip apart. I’ve done some big travels in the car, and although it’s a bit boring, it’s nice to go somewhere different. I’ve met lots of new people, and I think I need to get mom and dad to make me a nice warm winter coat, with my blog and Facebook addresses on.

I’ve had another dog visit me, although she was much bigger than I was. We had great fun together, and we went onto the beach and my mom and dad let me off the lead. Hurray! I’m a big girl!

Those two cats that live with me still don’t want to play with me. How miserable is that?

At last, my dad has organised a proper internet connection, and I can get back online. I’ve joined Facebook, which is really great for keeping in touch with my fans, and I’ve created a Photobucket account, so when my mum and dad take photos of me, I’ll get them to upload them to my Photobucket, so everyone can see them. Apparently, I can show thumbnails in this blog, so I’ve got to learn how to do that.

I can a little reoccurence of my wee problem, and the nice vet has told mum and dad to keep my bits clean every day. It’s funny, it really tickles, and I can see them pulling funny faces. Tough luck, guys!

Finally! My dad has registered me as a user on my own blog, so I can type things under my name, instead of using his. Hurrah!

I haven’t posted in a while, because we moved house! There was an exciting morning when those small furry dog things (that I now know are called cats) got put into crates, just like mine, and then these two men came and started moving all my furniture around! Can you believe it? And then they put it into a big van which was parked outside our house. I really didn’t know what was going on.

My dad then put me in my crate, although I didn’t really want to go, and carried me, in the crate, into this big car thing with seats and a table and all sorts - a bit like a house on wheels it was.

We then drove a really long way, and I wasn’t very happy, I can tell you. I may have even howled a bit. Sorry, dad.

We stopped at one point, and dad got me out and stood by the side of the busy road with lorries and cars flying by. I think he wanted me to go to the toilet, but I was just too scared. So he put me back into the crate, and off we went again.

After a little while, I was starting to feel a bit ill, and I asked dad to stop, but he ignored me, and I was sick. Thankfully, a little while later, we stopped in this nice quiet road, and I could get out. There was the big van again, and the same men were moving our stuff into a different house!

Everything smelt so different, but the garden was lovely, and there were peanut shells everywhere that I could pick up and crunch before my dad caught me. Hee hee!

And then mum came with those cat things, and a little while later the men finished bringing all our boxes in, and they left, and we were in our new home!

What’s all these loud noises? I heard lots of them last night, and it disturbed my toilet activities. I was a little frightened to go outside, like I’ve learned. Mummy and daddy were very good, though, and didn’t shout at me.

The training of my new parents is going well, and I just need to sit down every so often to get little bits of my food. I’ve also encouraged mummy to ask me to lie down, which gets some more titbits of food.

I met a new person tonight - Auntie Lesley, and I was a bit surprised that I could train even her. More little lumps of food!

Something is going to happen soon, because I heard mummy and daddy talking about a “travel crate”, which must mean I’m going on a journey somewhere. How exciting!

… for me. I think I’m going to like it here. I teased mummy by letting her think that I understood the word “STAY”. I was just having a rest, before trotting over to collect my treat. It’s easy, this training lark.

Mummy let me stay outside a bit longer today, and it was fun trying to eat mouldy leaves and carrying this big grass thing around. It’ll be nice when I can spend a lot longer out here, exploring.

When daddy came home, I entertained him by chewing on his hand - he really seems to like it!

One thing - my bed is starting to feel a bit small. I can stretch out, with my back legs on the back wall and my front legs out the front. I think I can see them buying me a new bed soon

I had quite a nice night, and mummy was there whenever I needed the toilet, so I didn’t make a mess on the newspaper. I think I’ve got her trained well!

Daddy went out all day today - something called “work”, apparently - so it was just mum and me, and we played some good games. I’m still a bit tired after the long journey yesterday, so I needed to have lots of sleeps. Lucky my bed is so warm and comfortable!

When daddy got home, they took me in the car again, and we went to this very strange place. There were lots of other doggies there, some of them very big indeed! We had to wait a long time, and I was getting bored, but then we went into this little room. I met a lovely lady who said some nice things to me, before jabbing me in the neck with something sharp. It didn’t hurt much, and I tried to be brave. I didn’t much like the treats she gave me. And what on earth was it she stuck up my bottom???

I’ll write more soon

I was so excited when I discovered my new mommy and daddy were into blogging - I’ve been wanting to create my own blog for weeks. I haven’t worked out how to create my own webspace, so I’ll host my blog on mom & dad’s website for now.

They’ve called me Tess, which is quite a nice name. I’ve got a ‘proper’ name, of course, from the Kennel Club, but it’s too long for me to remember. I quite like being Tess, anyway.

They took me back to their house today. It’s quite a nice house, but I don’t understand what all these big boxes are for.

They’ve bought me a nice comfy bed, and they keep it inside a wire mesh den, so I can keep them out whenever I feel like it. I’ve already learnt if I sit down when they say “sit”, I get a treat. I hope all the tricks they want me to do are that easy.

More soon …

Hello, everybody! My name is Tess, and I’m a Golden Retriever, born in September 2008.