Winston's Birthday Party - All you need is love!

Dear Diary,

I got to go to my first eva party, and like a true party girl it was all about the boys for me! It was for my handsome friend Winston, the french bulldog. His human is some sort of super model, or something and bought us awesome treats. I think I love her! 

Winston was looking so handsome in his bow tie, I just wanted to kiss him and give him a special birthday present, but he's decided his one true love is Milly the pug and I just can't compete with that. After all I have a long noble nose and they've both had some sort of accident at birth and had their noses pushed into their faces. Poor things!

The party was super amazing! Lots and lots of my favourite friends were there. Lovely Frank, who is putty in my paws.

Come over here big boy!

Darling Lady Penny! How can I resist you!

You can't, now kiss me you fool!

Sexy Kaiser who doesn't love me anymore.

Gorgeous Otto, who I have a crush on, but he doesn't reciprocate.

Otto, forget what happened with me and Kaiser!

Run away with me, gorgeous sausage!

With me Otto, run away with me! Not away from me!

Amazing Blue, who is the fasterest dog eva! Even I can't keep up. In fact even super playful Kimba can't keep up!

Kimba's gorgeous older sister Kip was there of course. She even ran round and round after Blue. Lovely Kip is an ex-breeding bitch and until she was adopted by her wonderful human, had a pretty hard life. She used to be very grumpy and scared, but now she likes to play with us because our walks are so fun.

Gorgeous Bob was there, being cute and silly as usual. 

And lovely Meg. She has the biggest paws! Mum says she's going to be huge one day, but right now she's just a good size for playing! And rolling in the mud, good girl.

Don't look guilty Meg! You're supposed to roll in the mud.

Of course lovely old Stan was there. He's a lovely thing. He's not into the jumping around playing like us young pups, but he always finds the best mud and stinkiest dead things. What a legend.

There were lots of other cool dogs there I'd never met before too. There was some that had wooly mohawks and fancy names. And there was loads of others.

But there was also a very special dog called Charlie. My Mum used to volunteer for an organisation called Dog Watch. They rehome abandoned and pound dogs and do amazing work. Sometimes the dogs that end up there have had bad things done to them and they don't know how to be around other dogs or people anymore. The amazing Dog Watch team work really hard to make these dogs better and get them wonderful forever homes. If you want a dog please consider rescuing a dog from here, they are lovely.  Charlie is one of these dogs. She was really shy when she arrived and didn't want to play with us at all. Later she was still quite nervous, but carefully introduced herself to a few of us.

Then in no time she was running happily with us all, tail wagging furiously, jumping about and grinning from ear to ear. Mum got quite choked up watching her having so much fun and Charlie's mum was just amazed. Mum says that our gang is the best for helping dogs remember how much fun being in a pack is and we are great at helping dogs like Kip and Charlie. It's one of the reason's Mum and I started Penny Paws.

After the party was over I got to go home with my favourite human Aurora and play with my new boyfriend. Now I don't want you to judge me, and I hope my hero's Crusoe and Jeffery forgive me. But my new boyfriend is the Special Maine Coon Barry. Our relationship is passionate and tumultuous and if I that black cat I live would let me I'd have the same relationship with him. But he isn't open minded like I am, but I won't stop trying. 

Anyway my secret love has been caught on camera so here it is! I'm proud to say I love both ways! 

*Walking with Pennys and Giants*

Dear Diary,

I've been doing a lot of playing with big dogs lately. Now it seems obvious to me and to Mum that I am in fact a very large dog myself. Just because my body is a bit on the little side doesn't mean I'm a small dog. And I work very hard to ensure that everyone I meet knows how big I am. So it is no surprise to Mum that I love meeting giants.

Last weekend I met three beautiful ladies - all bears. Mum says I mustn't call them that because they are Leonbergers and if I offend them they could sit on me and squash me flat. But these lovely ladies would never do that. I particularly loved playing with little gentle Poppy, she's a little younger than me but is gentle and fun to wrestle. Even better I saw them again today! 

And last night I met a beautiful big St Bernard, appropriately up on the hills. He wasn't carrying any delicious warming drinks around his neck, but he was gorgeous! He wasn't too keen to play though so I found a beautiful bearded collie who wanted to run with me.

Then I met another Penny! 

She was very fast and fun and Mum was particularly taken with her because she looked so much like Mum's dog growing up, Sage. I played with her for a bit before heading off to check for badgers in the forest.

Then today I met another Penny, but this one was small and black like me and ran really really really fast. I had to sit down and wait for her to tire out a bit before I could play!

Fast poodle Penny is fast!

Then this afternoon I got together with my sausagie (and wanna be sausagie) friends to celebrate another giant's successful battle against horrid cancer. My friend in the UK Lottie. 

She is a giant dog, who is doing so much good with her story and I really wished I could get on an aeroplane and fly over to London and celebrate and raise awareness for canine cancer. So instead I got my mates together and we said BUTT OUT CANCER! over here in NZ. Love you Lottie!

Lovely Ruby is a spritely old woman!

And now I'm curled up at home having quiet time with Mum because we both are sending all our love and healing vibes to the most giant dog I know - Winny Woo. Lovely Winny's Mummy Di had some bad news today which you can see on Winny's facebook page. Mum and I having been following Winny's life since she was born. She is an extraordinary girl whose spirit and determination have touched people across the world. She truly is a giant. Some of us are meant to be giants and fill up a much bigger place in the lives of those around us than our physical size would suggest. Winny fills up an enormous amount of space with love, she is a gift. 

 I am a giant too, I came and saved my Mum when she was very sad because she can't have children. She got me instead and is now happier than she's ever been. I'm too modest to talk about it much, but I know that I am a very special dog and that makes me a giant like Lottie and a bit like Winny. Love to you both my special English roses!

Tuesday *A Dachshund's Guide to Visiting your Friend's House*

Dear Diary

Correct etiquette when visiting someone else's home is very important, or your human will get all silly and growly and you might offend your chums.

When first arriving it is extremely important that you announce that it is you by barking and yelling as loud as possible. This will let your chums know that it is you arriving and not some border incursion by evil badgers and their minions. 

Once your chums know you are there they will return your greeting with gusto and the formal invitation into the house will be given. To humans this probably seems the same as other barking, but it is our secret language to ensure that no spy from the badger camp is admitted into a friend's house.

Once inside there are different rules for different members of the household. Firstly my favorite sort of chum, the gentleman of the household (note, this only applies to female visitors, male visitors must wait for the female of the house to initiate). If the gentleman of the house wishes to welcome you into his home by having his wicked way with you it is important (and fun) that you comply. It would be rude to do otherwise. This is the most affectionate of greetings and should be carried out away from humans who just don't get it and will try and break it up. It is important not to carry it out ON the humans, that seems to particularly distress them - sensitive souls.

At the home I visited last night there are two gorgeous girls, one is a wise older woman. When dealing with your elders try not to jump all over them if they seem reserved. The elderly dog deserves you respect and ear pulling and pushing over are not manners. If the elderly dog wishes to play he or she will come to you and they will tell you in no uncertain terms when they are finished. 

It may be that there are shy dogs at the home you are visiting. You must not scare the shy dogs and you should try not to be grumpy if they tell you to go away with lots of barking. Just play with your other chum(s) and every now and then check on the shy dog. With time she (or he) will learn that you are fun and will stop shouting and want to play.

Now for some very very important advice. It is possible that the house you are going to will have cats! I know it is shocking. Obviously you need to put those cats in their place and teach them that you are the boss. However your human and the house human(s) will not like this at all. You need to learn to be sneaky and wait till the humans aren't looking before barking at (and if you are lucky chasing) the cats. Do not get caught, especially more than once, or you will be taken home and called a bad dog. Be warned though, some cats do not understand that they are below us and will attack you with their ninja death claws. It is a risk we all have to take. 

Finally before playtime can commence you'll need to run around and check the house for badger surveillance equipment (and any yummy dead flies) that might have been missed by the occupants. This is very good manners and one of the reasons sneaky badgers have not yet got the upper hand with us! 

Then it is play time and I think we all know how that works.

When it is time to leave be polite and say goodbye nicely. A few licks and quiet grumbles will suffice. And that is that. Another successful play date.

Monday *My Gang*

Dear Diary

Do ya wanna be in my gang, my gang, my gang?
D'ya wanna be in my gang, my gang?

Well yeah you probably do, because my gang is super radtastic with a side of awesome sauce. And my gang gets bigger all the time, so I thought I'd share some of my super mad fun friends from my gang with you.

This is Kaiser. For a while he was my extra special boyfriend and showered me with affection (and other things). He's fallen out of the love with me now because the gorgeous Frank has come along and Kaiser swings both ways. I still have a soft spot in my heart for him though and try my best to get his attention with kisses and subtle bum sniffs when I can. Kaiser is very fancy an has been the best in NZ twice (whatever that means).

This is Otto, Kaiser's brother. He is not as fancy as Kaiser, but just as gorgeous. He loves a good play and will run through the long grass with me. Mum has an extra soft spot for him

This Bob the Bullied, he is a big softy and often gets picked on by the other dogs in my gang.  He is lots of fun to roll around on top of and he likes lots of kisses, and you know how I like kisses.

This is Shouty Harry. He's always feeling lucky punk and his house overlooks the park where my gang mostly meets so he's always on patrol and barking at any interlopers. If there's trouble he's there straight away to mix it up. I like that in a man.



He's rather regal when he wants to be, but that isn't very often. He's secretly a mummy's bog though.

This is Hunter the Shark, although I like to secretly think of him as Hunter the Womble because he's always picking up rubbish and carrying it around. He's a great playmate and knows the importance of a long nose for finding mischief and getting a good grip on your rival's neck (often mine, but I can take it).

These two are the "Perfect Pups". Lets be polite and just say their name is ironic. They are a real laugh and love nothing more than to run up, down, and along the hills. They are really real brothers from the same litter and they speak a secret language to each to keep their naughty plans secret.

This is Magic Marv. This is a dog with the special powers of cunning. Those big cute eyes say "I am just a little angel who needs a snuggle", but really they are looking for someone to pounce on and play with.

Here we have Walter the Barbarian. He is a teenager and galumphs about in the long grass as much as possible. He does a great troll impression and is all legs. Despite his sometimes loutish ways he really is a soft touch and will sidle up to unsuspecting humans and lean into them till they give me pats. Clever!

This is my nemesis, Monstrous Millicent. She is just a baby girl, but boy does she want to run my gang. I, of course, am well mannered and know not to beat up dogs smaller than me so I let her have the upper hand and then secretly laugh when she gets in trouble for being all too growly and bitey. We are slowly coming to a lady's agreement about who's the boss. She is Walter's baby sister.

This is Kimba Smiling Lips. She is new to my gang, but a great addition. She is a little younger than me, but loves to run through the grass and play chase, a perfect companion for a dog of my great stature. I hope I get to play with her again soon.

Crazy Cooper is hard to photo. He is always running and jumping because he's very young and everything is so damn exciting. I remember that time of my life (4 months ago), they were good times. Cooper is besties with my new boyfriend...

... Baby Face Frank. He is the youngest in the group so he gets all the snuggles from the humans and gets picked up and carried lots. Which I think is rather silly given he's enormous! I love playing with him most of all, his ears are soft and delicious and he's a big gentle honey. Cooper almost always joins it so it becomes even more fun!

So that's most of the regulars in my gang. They are all super cool, obviously to hang out with me, and I get very excited every time I see them. My gang carries out all sorts of important business like meetings...

...races...

... and of course chatting at the bar after a hard day's walk.

Although often there's a fool who drinks too much and jumps in the pool!

And finally there are the kisses, there's always lots of kisses to go round.

So that's some of my gang. I'll fill you in on the rest in the future, but for now I've got rumbles to plan and hijinks to sort out.