Don't they know what the time is?

I had a very peaceful evening, no trick or treat people came round and rang the doorbell, but tonight is the official Halloween so I’m taking precautions again tonight and getting into my bed nice and early. Very strange day today, everything seems to be at the wrong time – I can’t work it out. I’ve been for a walk but they tell me it’s not time for dinner yet but I feel hungry already, AND it’s getting dark outside so it must be dinner time. Humans are funny they just don’t have the same understanding as we do about these things – I definitely know it’s time for dinner but they just say “No, it isn’t time yet you’ll have to wait.” So I will, but I know they are wrong about this. It’s also rained a lot today and I hate getting my feet wet, although I will make an exception if it’s to do with a romp over the fields; that’s different to just getting wet feet, it has a purpose and is fun. Just going out for a cock of the leg in the rain is no fun at all. I’ve been at home today with my friend Louis and we’ve spent a lot of time in between the showers just hanging out and looking around. Here we are on the steps with a strange friend – he never moves at all from this position but he is good to cock my leg on !
Have a quiet and safe evening everyone……… See you tomorrow

Happy Halloween

Happy Halloween everyone...............do you like my friend, he looks frightening but really he's just a softie! Halloween can be fun but also it can be another scary time for us pets. I do enjoy all the dressing up and I like the idea of tricks or treats – if I'm very lucky I might get some treats but I’ve been practising my tricks,just in case! I know it's not the same as fireworks night and hopefully those dreadful small humans won't be letting off bangers or anything, but there might be a lot of noise and ringing of the doorbell and it's all very disturbing for us dogs. You never quite know what they might do, after all the whole idea seems to be to frighten people - and dogs! I suggest that you keep indoors and have some extra Scullcap & Valerian tablets a couple of hours before it gets dark, just in case. Be Prepared is my motto – I always wanted to be a boy scout but they wouldn't have me for some reason; shame as I'd love to wear a woggle or whatever it's called.......

The Pet Event - I was left at home again !

I’m a bit put out as I was left behind again yesterday when my owner went up to London to go to the Pet Event in the House of Lords. It was all to do with Hero Pets and there were lots of doggie heroes there, but not me – I may be a celebrity but apparently haven’t done anything really heroic (I think that helping pets overcome their firework phobias is pretty heroic but that’s not what it was about apparently). They had lots of support dog organisations there – Guide Dogs, International Search & Rescue dogs, PAT dogs, Dogs for the Disabled, Hearing Dogs for Deaf People, Explosive Detection Dogs, Canine Partners, Lowland Search Dogs, and of course Hounds for Heroes, who all went along to meet MPs and Peers and explained what they all do to help people in all sorts of ways. It was organised by NOAH and hosted my Lord Soulsby who is a big dog fan I’m told. Some of these dogs had worked in Afghanistan and during the bombings in London – so they are real heroes and do some pretty scary stuff. So I’m not complaining but I would really have liked to have gone to the House of Lords – do you think I could have worn an ermine gown? Talking of dressing up, my owner tells me that she talked to Marc Abrahams, the funky TV vet, when she was there and that instead of wearing his usual blue vet scrubs he was wearing a snazzy pin stripe suit and black and white brogue shoes – my, I bet he looked dapper! Just as well he doesn’t live down here as he’d get those shoes muddy for sure. Nice to know he made the effort though……… I would have been very impressed indeed. He's doing some great work to publicise how horrific puppy farming is for us dogs and remind people to always buy a puppy from a reputable breeder and to see the puppy with its mother - so I say "Well done funky vet, we're all behind you on that."

The French Fancies

Just a week to go – I hope you’re all feeling nice and relaxed and prepared. If your owners are being a bit slack and haven’t contacted Dorwest yet then for goodness sake make sure they do – I find that leaving leaflets lying around where they can see them really does help. Humans are very curious creatures and always pick up things lying in strange places, so just leave them all over the place where they wouldn’t expect and you can be sure that they’ll read them – they says cats are curious but humans are worse I think. I went to visit my French fancies yesterday, two black miniature Poodles called Lola and Lily – my they are a feisty lot, always on the go, I just don’t know where they get their energy. If anyone needs to relax a little, they do, so I told them all about the Scullcap & Valerian tablets but it turns out that they know all about them already because they are given them before they go off to the grooming parlour for their monthly haircut. What a palaver that must be, I’m glad I’m a terrier and don’t have to go through all that fancy stuff, although I must say they do look very, very smart when they come back and with their sparkly collars on they make good pin ups. I must put their picture on my wall. It was good to see them again, nothing like a couple of young, black French ladies to give a boost to your ego !

Get with the music

What a lot of rain we had yesterday, I really don't like getting my feet wet but they forced me outside on the wet grass and then I had to hop around puddles on my walk. Fortunately they didn't want to get wet either, even when they're all dolled up in their wet weather gear, so I only had short walks which suited me fine. Today the sun's out and things seem back to normal, thank goodness. So this morning I'm sitting outside playing with my ball - nice and relaxing. I must say I do feel relaxed too, must be the Scullcap & Valerian tablets beginning to do their work. Right, now for today's project for you all - it's time to get the music sorted out. Rock, classical, country & western, blues, rap or whatever rocks your boat. You need to decide what you like best and when you’ve decided get your owners to play it for you over the next couple of weeks. It’s a good idea to play it when you’re home alone or in your bed having a well earned afternoon nap! There’s two things about music that are good – it can be very calming and reassuring, especially the classical music or the crooning Frank Sinatra type, which if it’s played when the fireworks come will do a good job of chilling you out. If, like me, you prefer something a bit more rock and roll or rap and hip hop, then the noise will help to cover the noise of the fireworks, especially if it’s nice and loud. Either way music is good for the soul and good to help at this time of year.

10 days to go...........

Just 10 days to until 5th November , that’s when the bangs, whizzes and things that terrorise us all will begin. That’s just the start as being a Friday I’m sure that there will be even more fireworks going off over that weekend too. I’m already taking the Scullcap & Valerian tablets, they give me 2 tablets every morning and every evening with my meals – to be honest I don’t even know I’m having them as they just go right down with my food. I’m sure you’ve all got very clever owners and they’ll have already got their supply of tablets in, so now all you have to do is to make sure that they give you the tablets twice a day as well. If they haven’t got around to buying them yet, then tell them that Dorwest have got special offer prices on Scullcap & Valerian tablets and Valerian Compound which go on until the end of the month – so they should get onto www.dorwest.com and check the prices out. Remember the saying “keep taking the pills”, that’s just what you all need to do starting as soon as possible.

Thank you Lily's Kitchen...................

I’m glad to say that they didn’t forget me when they were up at the London Vet Show, they brought me back a present – some of the new Bedtime Biscuits from Lily’s Kitchen which they sent as a gift especially for me. So I’m not sharing them with any of the whippets – they’re ALL MINE! Lily’s Kitchen are following my blog and we often chat on Twitter too – so thank you Lily’s Kitchen, much appreciated. My these biccies are jolly tasty too, I quite look forward to going to bed now and what’s more they give me TWO at night time. I think that having a really tasty treat all ready on hand that your owners can give you when the fireworks start would be really good. It would keep my mind off the bangs and whooses so I’m sure it would with you too. So that’s another tip to pass on for you all.

Being in the country is fun

Well I’m stuck in Dorset while they are at the London Vet Show, but it’s not so bad really as the countryside has lots to do and you can’t say that about everywhere, so I’m a lucky Border Terrier really. All summer lots of the fields round here have been so much fun – it’s maize you see, grows really, really tall and the great thing is there’s lots of room for me to run between the plants and chase things. I have to be careful as the fields are so big and once you’re in a field of maize it all looks the same and it’s difficult to find your way out again. I often go missing in there for ages and ages but it’s great. This week though they’ve cut all the maize down so I know that winter’s on its way. All that’s left is fields of stubble – have to be careful with that is it is just belly height and is very scratchy. I am very well camouflaged when I’m in the field so can sniff around to my heart’s content and no-one can see where I am – can you see me in this picture, I bet you can’t, but I am there, honest !

Off to the London Vet Show

I’m pretty excited because the London Vet Show starts tomorrow where there will be lots of people that know ALL about dogs, cats, phobias etc. I’ve never been to London before and hear it’s a big, busy place.
I thought it was funny that they haven’t given me my Scullcap & Valerian tablets yet, and I need those to keep me relaxed on the journey. So I’ve just checked and would you believe it they DON’T ALLOW DOGS to go, so I’ve got to stay back here in the offices – I can’t believe it, a celebrity like me not allowed! Still now my typing skills are improving I can keep in touch by email and so they can get in touch with me if they can’t cope without the doggie input and my specialist view of things. Some things never change – they didn’t invent the word “underdog” for nothing did they? I will have to explain more fully what being a celebrity is – I need my public……………….

Get yourself a copy quick

Well apparently you can tell your owners that they can read this leaflet themselves as it’s on the Dorwest website at http://www.dorwest.com/files/1401ba31-5140-4dd7-a898-9dfe01118660/Dorwest%20Fireworks%20Leaflet_Web2.pdf

I strongly suggest you get them to do it. It’s got lots of tips and ideas – most of them were mine of course, but that’s humans for you, always taking the credit when it’s me that really knows what’s what and tells them. Still, I suggest you have a look for yourselves, I think you’ll find it useful. If you’re as clever as I am you could download it yourself and put it somewhere where your owners can see it. You can also pick it up from all those people that sell Dorwest products – lots of the independent pet shops and veterinary practices. If you’d like to know where your nearest one is then email laura@dorwest.com and she’ll let you know. Get to it my friends, don’t delay!

Studying hard

Everyone is very busy in the Dorwest offices, rushing here and there. Carrying papers, packing parcels, taking orders, talking to customers. They never seem to stop, especially at this time of year and this is apparently to do with it getting nearer and nearer to November 5th. Luckily for me they haven’t got a lot of time to watch what I’m up to and today I found a leaflet called FIREWORK PHOBIA? NO FEAR! I grabbed it quick and it was just what I needed as it explains all about what needs to be done to help poor phobic animals like me to get through this wretched few weeks. I’m going to read it all thoroughly in my bed tonight and tomorrow I’ll tell you what it says.

I've got all MY faculties......

I found out a lot about this Noise Phobia business and I think that all you canine friends should know about it too, so here’s the result of all my studying. It seems that if I start to go deaf then it may not worry me as much – well that’s no good to me I’ve got all my faculties thank you very much! Still it’s interesting to know I suppose and could explain why Bracken, the old Golden Retriever next door, doesn’t seem to worry about fireworks and loud bangs. He’s as deaf as a post and so he can’t hear them – that explains it. The bad news though is that if my owners don’t take action to help me then I’ll probably get worse and worse every year. Well that’s it, I must force them into action – and the sooner the better!

When things go bang and crash

Definitely it’s a noise phobia I’ve got – yesterday we had a power cut, well not so much a power cut as a power crash. A tractor and trailer going along the lane by us hit a big tree and pulled one of its big branches down onto the road. The trailer hit the tree with a great crash, the branch hit the electric cables, there was a flash and a big bang and that was that. I wondered just what on earth was going on – were we now getting flashes and bangs during the day? I thought they only happened after dark. Eventually some repair men came and made even more noise as they cut down the big branches with a chain saw. I kept well out of the way – all that buzzing noise, just like a great big bee, best avoided I’ve found. We have electric again now so I can continue with my research. I’ll tell you what else I’ve found out tomorrow.

Searching on the internet

Have I told you that I’m a very clever Border terrier ? I’m sure I must have. Well I put all that education into good use today and got onto the internet to find out about dogs that are frightened of noises. They call it NOISE PHOBIA. Apparently a phobia is when you have an unreasonable fear of something – well that sounds about right. After all I’ve never been hurt by a noise, but I still don’t like them, so perhaps a Noise Phobia is what I’ve got. Hey something with a complicated name, that makes it sound important.

Supermodelling is not for me

I am a star at last! We had a photo shoot yesterday for the next Dorwest Catalogue and naturally they wanted me to be in it. Well three of us dogs were chosen to be in it actually, Hector the Whippet, Hawk the Lurcher and me of course. We all went off across the fields and Louise, the photographer, did lots and lots of shots of us – walking this way, walking that way, sitting, jumping and everything else that people and dogs can do together. Didn’t leave much time for sniffing and cocking, but not to worry I’ll make up for that later. Then I had to do all sorts of posing on my own; in the herb garden, down the path, at the computer – well you name it I did it. All very tiring it was, I don’t think I’d want to be a full time super model, much too much like hard work.

No one is mentioning fireworks today

Suddenly no-one is talking about me being frightened of fireworks – very strange and I wonder what’s up? I think they’ve been reading about not reinforcing the fear by talking about it so they are practising at playing it cool and making out that it’s nothing unusual to worry about and not mentioning fireworks at all. Well of course it is just three weeks away and so I guess they need to practice! I’m not stupid, I know it’s coming and frankly I am scared – every year it seems to get worse and worse and go on for days and days, sometimes weeks. I shall have to take action and force them to think of me and how I feel…………… into action Dr Monkey !

One terrier who isn't going underground !

I was very relieved to hear about the Chilean miners who are being rescued from underground after two months. As a terrier I know all about being underground, it’s in our blood you know. I must confess that I’ve not done it myself but lots and lots of my Border terrier friends go down holes underground looking for foxes, rabbits and other wild things. I am a bit of a woose myself and as well as having noise phobia I also have a touch of claustrophobia and so am not too keen on small dark places, and you’d have to give me a regular amounts of Scullcap & Valerian tablets to steady my nerves if I had to go down a hole. I wonder if they gave those miners the human equivalent to keep them calm down there? I’d have been terrified to be stuck underground all that time – give me a nice romp across the fields anyday.
I have been writing this blog now for over two weeks and I know that there are lots of you out there following my activities each day, but I’m worried that nobody has put any comments on the site – please let me know what you think and let me know you really are there following me. See you tomorrow………

Travelling to see Barney!

The trip to visit Barney is worrying me a bit because although I’m normally a brave terrier I’m not too happy about all that travelling, it makes me nervous. It’s because when I was a young pup I used to get sick in the car, which was horrid. Then they gave me Dorwest’s Digestive Supplement tablets and that stopped the sickness but I’m still not very keen on cars. I think I’ll write to Barney and tell him about getting his boss to get him the Scullcap & Valerian tablets and then he can show the letter to him. I reckon that he will need to have them twice every day for a while to relax him as he seems to have got himself into a real state and so needs some serious calming down. If he does that and then gives Barney a larger dose a couple of hours before he goes on a shoot, I reckon that should do the trick for him. Thinking about it what I should do is to persuade my owners to give me some Scullcap & Valerian Tablets too, then perhaps I could manage the journey to Yorkshire without too much trouble. I’ll talk to them about it.

My friend Bertie

I do believe the Autumn social whirl must have started already – I was invited to ANOTHER PARTY last night, and there were lots of nibbles and a very large and very delicious bowl of fresh rain water, which I love! The party was at my friend Bertie’s house, he’s a 10 year old Schnauzer and a very handsome fellow indeed. We had to guard the nibbles very carefully because those humans kept eating them and so we both did our best at looking appealing and longingly at them to get them to give us some. We are well behaved dogs you see and wouldn’t ever think of stealing anything, especially not at a party. I do like Bertie very much but he is a strange sort of chap, he has a long beard which gets very wet when he’s had a drink and he shakes it everywhere – his owners get very cross about it and have to wipe his mouth after he’s had a drink. It’s really funny to watch but must drive him mad. He’s also got big eyebrows which make him look a bit fierce, although I have a feeling that he has them because he thinks they make him look intelligent. He’s had a bad time over the past year and had to have an operation on his leg, cruciate ligament I think they call it. So he was a bit out of sorts for a while but he’s better now and hardly limps at all thanks to his owners giving him the Dorwest Glucosamine & Chondroitin tablets every day to keep his joints in good shape. He is very, very worried about the forthcoming fireworks though – he suffers like I do from a fear of the bangs and crashes and is worried that his owners might forget to give him the Scullcap & Valerian tablets this year. He needn’t have worried as we had a good discussion about it all and decided to have a sneaky peek in his owner’s kitchen cupboard while they were busy doing what humans do – drinking and eating. When Bertie saw the Scullcap & Valerian tablets there on the shelf he was so relieved that he jumped up and down, ran around a lot and barked. Everyone wondered what on earth was going on, but I knew it was just relief. I reckon he’ll have the best night sleep for weeks now he knows that everything’s under control. Thank you for the party Bertie, it was good to see you and I did enjoy the nibbles……….

Dr Monkey meets Tumble

Went to a party last night – well that’s a bit of an exaggeration as it was actually our local dog training club but I’m sure that all the dogs there, about thirty or more, didn’t know it was training and just thought like me that it was a good opportunity to talk to their mates, have a good sniff at both ends and get lots of praise. There was food and drink though – well a water bowl and some training tit bits, but nice anyway. I wasn’t there for training of course, I did that when I was a pup and I’m very well behaved and have certificates to prove it. No, I was there because the club had asked the local council to donate some money for dog poo bags and the council hadn’t come up with the dosh, so they’d put an appeal in the local paper and we saw it and thought that we could help. So Dorwest gave them a cheque for £50 (my that’s a lot of poo bags, but they are biodegradable ones) and I went along to present it to them so they could make sure that everyone does their bit in clearing up the smelly dog poo. It struck me that many of the dogs there, in particular the young ones in the puppy class, might not know about the bangs and crashes that happen over the fireworks period so I should have a word with them, and their owners, and explain that help was at hand. I told them about my blog and my Facebook page so they would know where to go for help if they thought they might need it. I must say they were all very nice to me, I met lots of different dogs – a Westie, Springer, Boxer, Staffie and lots of crossbreeds and a very cute and pushy Border terrier puppy called Tumble. She was VERY impressed with me and my superior Border terrier knowledge and wisdom, as you can see from the photo, and I was pretty impressed with her too! So thank you to Bridport Dog Training Club for a lovely evening – and I hope to see you all again soon…………

Barney gets in touch

I’m quite excited as I had a letter today from my friend Barney, he’s a working Springer Spaniel and he moved away to Yorkshire where he works on a shoot so I don’t see him very often. He’s invited me to visit him as he needs some advice. He’s in a bit of a bad way as he’s worried he’s going to lose his job. The problem you see is that he’s suddenly got frightened of loud noises and of course working closely with people firing guns, they have told him he will get the sack and have to stay at home. He’s only a youngster and the thought of not working and being stuck indoors is really frightening him. So he’s asked me to explain all about Dorwest’s Scullcap & Valerian Tablets so he call tell his boss to get some for him so that he won’t be scared in future. I’m always happy to help with advice and I’m sure I can help Barney. I’m looking forward to the trip up north I’ve never been there before!

Trouble again - and on with the music

Oh dear I’m in trouble again today – is this becoming a trend in my life? It’s not really my fault, they should have known what would happen. It’s the new toy we bought the other day that’s the problem. They were supposed to save it for when the fireworks come, but they let me have it because I nagged and nagged them and I whined and whined and looked pathetic – every trick in the book. They tried to hide it but I knew where it was and in the end pester power won the day. So far so good, the problem was that I loved it so much I chewed and chewed it to make it stop squeaking and then to make doubly sure it was dead I ripped it to pieces. As I said it’s not my fault, I am a terrier and it’s what we do. My mistake was that I left all the bits lying around in my bed and when they saw them there was hell to pay! Now they are going to go and get me another one, but this time they say it won’t have a squeaker and I can’t have it no matter how much I nag them - spoilsports.

Only a month now ‘til Guy Fawkes – must keep on track, forget all this frivolity and get down to the serious stuff. My tip for today is music - yes music for dogs and cats! Some dogs like classical calming music, others are real country and western fans; myself I'm a big fan of Snoop Dogg. I like a bit of rapping and hip hop, it's the steady beat that I find reassuring. If you make it clear to your owners that you like to have music playing too then they can make sure that when the bangs and crashes start they will put on the radio for you when the fireworks start. Nothing like taking your mind off it I say.

Sorry boys!

I’m in trouble – I told a little white lie when I showed you the picture of me in my day bed on Friday. The thing is that it’s not really my bed, it belongs to the whippets, Louis, Hector and Smithy and it’s where they spend their days lazing about while their master is at work. Louis was not impressed with me when he saw my picture and now the truth is out – when they are not around I sneak into their office and relax on their bed. Oh damn, now they’ll close the door I suppose and make sure I don’t invade their privacy. They are very snooty dogs you know, not rough and down to earth like me. Anyway to try and make amends I’m going to show you a photo of Louis on the bed, looking very superior, and also one of him with Hector and Smithy at his feet – just where he likes them! So sorry boys, I won’t do it again (at least I won’t let you catch me!).
It’s getting colder now and they’ve turned on the central heating here which is great, but now they also light the log fire in the evening as well and I don’t like that at all – it makes strange crackling noises and sometimes loud bangs as well. I try and keep away from it and go and lay in my bed where I feel safe and secure – no one bothers me there and so I can sleep and dream of nice calm things. I’ll have to remind them to give me some Dorwest Scullcap & Valerian tablets if they are going to keep lighting fires – that’ll make me more reeeelaxed.

I'm a bit stiff today

I’m a bit stiff today, must be that running around after bunnies and the buzzard. They say it’s my age and that I have to expect this sort of thing now I’m getting elderly – what rubbish! Anyway they’ve decided that I might have a touch of arthritis so I’m having two Mixed Vegetable Tablets and two Garlic & Fenugreek Tablets in my food twice a day, which they say will make me feel better and have me dancing about as usual in no time. I’ll let you know how I get on. I thought I was supposed to be talking about nasty whizz bangs and thuds not telling you about my ailments but they say that I have to be honest about everything as that’s what a blog is all about. We’ll see about that………… anyway I’m taking it easy.

Do you know that I have my own email address? It’s drmonkey@dorwest.com and if you want to get in touch then I’d be pleased to hear from you. I had an email yesterday from a lady asking if it was absolutely necessary to have a bucket on your head while Monkey dancing . No it isn’t Susan, you can do it with a ball, a ragger or anything else. I’ve even tried it with balloons, but they always seem to disappear with a bang which frightens me so now I steer clear of them.

What a dilemma.........

A miserable day yesterday, not much fun for dogs ‘cos it rained all day so I didn’t get a decent walk until the evening, but what a walk it was – gave me a bit of a dilemma actually. We walked into this field and believe it or not there was a large fat bunny sitting there and a few feet away was a buzzard sitting looking at it. They just stared at each other, well I just didn’t know what to do. Doggie instinct took over so naturally I chased the bunny, but the buzzard wasn’t at all pleased as the rabbit popped into the hedge and disappeared, so it flew up and circled me a few times – I didn’t know what to do, did he think I was a rabbit? I hope not, I may be small and brown but for goodness sake I am a DOG. So the upshot was that I saved a bunny, which goes right against the grain as its not what dogs are supposed to do, I upset a buzzard who didn't get his dinner and finished up just running around a field on my own! Some days things just go like that – oh well better luck tomorrow.

I love my bed !

I love my bed, it’s where I feel safe and comfortable. My owners have made it really comfy for me, it’s warm and dry and I can hide in there when I need to and it makes me feel safe. When I was small they gave me a cardboard box and covered it with a blanket to keep me snug, but now I have a more grown up bed as befits my status! If, like me, you’re happier in a safe, secure place then ask your owners to make you a place to hideaway and feel secure – if they do it now then it’ll really feel like home when those bangs, crashes and zooms start at the end of the month. Here's a picture of me on my "day bed" at work - very smart don't you think?