Holiday time.

I went to stay with my friend Terry the Terrier for a few days, we had so much fun together and we got presents for each other.  (I got lots of treats and squeaky toys, by the end of Boxing Day I had killed most of them - tee hee).  There were some small humans to play with which was great fun and I can run faster than all of them.

I've been for a few walks in the last few days one in the hills and then on a walk in the forest I encountered snow for the first time, as I wasn't sure what it was I decided that the best policy was to eat it.  Tasted like...snow.  I heard that there was a yellow snow warning - but my human told me that means 'never eat yellow snow'.

 Hiding on the hillside!

Humm, so this is snow?

...and more snow.

The sun was going down so time to scamper off home!

Wow, I was so tired after my day in the forest I needed some serious snooze time.  I might not blog for a few days now, so Happy New Year everyone.

See you in 2015, wags and woofs, Dexter. 

Penycloddiau - a short walk today.

I walked up Penycloddiau  (440m) today!  Lovely sunny weather today for my short walk in the hills with my humans.

Wags and woofs, Dexter.

Pre-Agility Training

I'm back at school with k9brats and I started my agility training today.  My humans only managed to get one photo and it's a bit blurred because I'm so fast!

First lesson

Today I did jumps and a tunnel, I have to do lots of homework this week and practice putting my front legs in the right place while moving my back legs.  I'll keep you updated on this blog on my progress.
I'm now in week three so on to moving a bit faster over the jumps and through a tunnel, have a look at the photos of me in action (and don't I look smart with my coat stripped!).  It's great fun and my tail wags so much I hope it doesn't fall off.

Now I'm up to week 5 and hurtling over the jumps, I went over a bridge (no fear; I love it) and through the tunnel.  Next week I'm going to climb a small A-frame and then it's the doggie Christmas party.  I'll try and get my humans to take some more photos of me with all my friends.

Week 6 and I've finished pre-agility - and I got a certificate!!   Week 6 was a chance to put everything I had practiced together so I went over three jumps at right-angles and through the tunnel all in one go.  I did this three times in a row correctly and my humans were so pleased with me I had lots of treats.  I went over the A-frame and a bridge, I can stop when told to and wait for the 'go' command before I start running. I've added some more pictures of me in action - wow I really love this !

Woofs and wags, Dexter.

Mabinogion Sculptures

I promised to tell you about the Welsh legends of the Mabinogion, well it's really complicated for a young dog to explain the story so I thought I would show you some wood carvings at a campsite where I stay.  At the Pen y Bont site there are sculptures by Simon O'Rourke which are based on the Mabinogion legends. 

My humans tied me to a sword called Caledfywlch which is the origin of the sword Excalibur. 

Dragon

Tegid Foel

Bodeuwedd

In the Mabinogion there are two dragons who fight, this sounds very scary so I would bark at them and then run away as fast as I could.  Bodeuwedd was created by druids and after a bit of that falling in love stuff was turned into an owl. What about Tegid Foel?  Well he gave his name to Llyn Tegid and was a giant whose wife was a sorceress.  

So that's the world's shortest summary of some elements of a really important series of tales about Welsh history.

wags and confused woofs,

Dexter.

My first named summit

Hi folks,

It's been a long time since I wrote about my adventures but I have been having lots of fun over the summer. I have been sailing and swimming in Llyn Tegid while the weather was warm. I had lots of fun with the grand-kids (humans) in the summer, sometimes they are bit frightened of me because they are very small but they run around a lot which I like. Now that I'm older I can do some longer walks, a few weeks ago I walked to the top of a proper hill, Moel Emoel which is 549 metres high.  There's more information on Moel Emoel on the website Backpacking in Britain and more photos as well if you want to make it a longer walk. I walked about 4.5 km in total and climbed  about 300 metres, I walked really slowly, my humans thought I might get tired, ha, ha.  

Moel Emoel from Llyn Tegid.

Some photos from the top of the hill, I love hills!

There's a lot more walking to do and my next hill will be Penycloddiau (440m) in the Bryniau Clwyd (Clwydian Range) sometime very soon.

wags and woofs , Dexter.

Welcomes and wanderings in the Heart of England.

I've recently returned from a great trip to the heart of England where I was made very welcome in lots of different places by people who are happy for dogs to bring their humans with them.

A carving at Kilpeck c1140.

This was a very different few days to what I'm used to, there was no sailing or swimming but I was able to get the right amount of exercise  for a young dog.  This meant I slept very well and didn't get up until around 7 o'clock most days, my humans need a rest from time to time . I visited Herefordshire and Shropshire, staying at the Riverside Inn which is a very old building (even older than my humans who are very old) and I was allowed to stay in the bar under a table at meal time. My humans would not let me try any ale or cider which was a shame because there are some excellent local brews available.

One day I went to Ludlow and I was allowed into St Laurence's Church this was very interesting and I behaved myself very well in the church, I loved the colours in the stained glass windows and found one with a nautical theme.

Ludlow

 

 A window in the church.

I went to Westonbury Mill Water Gardens, I saw a Giant Cuckoo Clock, a stone tower with lots of water splashing about and best of all a folly dome made from wine bottles. How long did it take to drink enough wine to build the folly?

 So much wine...all gone.

So as well as wanderings in Herefordshire some time was spent in Shropshire where I went on yet another steam railway and a type of railway called a funicular railway, all very interesting experiences - I think I'm now quite an experienced travelling terrier.

 Bridgenorth Cliff Railway

 And finally, before I went home, a trip on the Severn Valley Railway...you'll see from the photos that I travelled First Class, you'll also see that I was very naughty because I had my head peering out through the window at one stage.

Bye for now, wags and woofs, Dexter .

(Just to let you know that the only photo editing done on my entire blog site is to crop pictures or alter the contrast - it's all genuine me,me,me!!)

(A note from Dexter's humans: Dexter does not advertise for any of the places linked to his blog but he does think that by adding links to the things and places he's talking about that will make it more interesting for you.)

Canine University - wow!

Guess what?  I'm now going to Canine University I've met some of my friends from Puppy School , Kizzy and Thelma,so it was really hard to concentrate during the first lesson.  During the session I did some recall, walking on a slack lead ( I don't like doing that) and leaving things. 

My humans are doing OK but I do think that they will find things more difficult as I try to train them to give me treats for everything I do, when we were going through the 'leave' command they wouldn't give me treat until I stopped sniffing the hand holding the treat. 

What's that all about ?

I've had my six month check with my favourite vet, Mr. Ross, I'm 6.3 kilos now so I have still got a bit of growing to do before I'm at my adult weight.When I see Mr. Ross I like my humans to tell him a joke, here is one of the jokes.

A man took his Rottweiler to the vet and said to him, "My dogs cross-eyed. Is there anything you can do for it?" 
"Well," said the vet "let's have a look at him" 
So he picks the dog up by the ears and has a good look at its eyes. 
"Well," says the vet "I'm going to have to put him down." 
"Just because he's cross-eyed?" say's the man.
"No, because he's heavy," says the vet.

(thanks to  Yuks'R'Us! for that one)

Holiday time in Wales

I’ve been to Wales for my holidays, I stayed at Bala at a great camp site called Pen y Bont where there are some wooden carvings about a Welsh legend called the Mabinogion.  I’ll tell you more about that in another blog as it's a complicated story and it will take a little pup a while to understand the story.

On the first day of my holidays I went sailing again, I’m really getting used to sailing and love looking over the side of the boat at the sparkling water rushing past.  There were lots of wonderful smells blowing across the water.  However... I seriously question my humans taste - just have a look at the baseball cap they wanted me to wear.  I think this is un-cool and would rather have a pair of mirror shades.

The second day of the holiday was a real surprise as I went on a train that travels alongside Llyn Tegid.  The train is pulled by a steam engine, I'd never seen a steam engine before and I really like the noise and the smell from the engine. I had my photo taken with Roger the engine driver.  

The railway is called Rheilfordd Llyn Tegid in Welsh. I met Theo the Labrador on the train, he had come all the way from Scotland with his humans.






I went to the beach one afternoon, I did go into the sea for a while but the waves seemed very big so I ran out and played in the shallow water, this was great fun.  The water was very warm and I had a special sunshade-tent on the beach to keep me cool.

I got to like water (without waves) so my latest skill is to fetch a stick from the water and bring it to my humans - this seems to be a good way of getting a treat or a cuddle.

I got a chance to do some short walks on the hills near Llyn Tegid and you'll see from the photos that the weather was lovely.

 

So with that view of the sunset over the lake I'll say bye !

 Wags and woofs - Dexter.