Very Serious Career Dog

Dear Diary,
I've been taking my new job at Penny Paws Petcare very seriously and helping Mum get some clients as much as I can. Of course I'm great at initiating play with potential clients and then it's up to mum to seal the deal with human who owns my new friend. But recently I took on a huge job. I had to be the spokes-model for Penny Paws at the great big Pet Expo we had in Christchurch! Luckily for me a special delivery arrived from my lovely friend Maria at Walk Me This Way so I looked fantastic with my gorgeous leads, collars and bandana!

This was quite a Big Deal. The expo had thousands and thousands of people come through and Mum couldn't be there because she had some sort of wedding thing to go to and was abandoning me (again!) Lucky for me that I was staying with my favorite aunty Aurora from Pet Care Services. She's part of a group of clever ladies who make up Pet Solutions and they have all sorts of great services.

Anyway Mum took me there and I helped set up stalls by being cute. Then I got Mum in trouble because I wanted to have a walk round and we went and looked at all the fun cats. The cat ladies didn't really like me being there even though I was super quiet and nice and most of the cats were bigger than me! So unfair.

Soon it was time to go to work and I started schmoozing all the people. I was super friendly to everyone and let all the children and adults hold me and gave them lots of snuggles. I had my photo taken about a million times and gave out lots of kisses. At one point I needed a wee break from all the snuggles so when the lovely ladies weren't paying attention I made a quick dash to see my lovely friends the Leonburgers who were just round the corner. I was so fast that I managed to get through the thick forest of legs and make in into the cage with two of the big bears and burrow into their lovely warm fur for a nap. I didn't burrow deep enough though and it was back to work with me.

I also was a good model for the groomers. They breed miniature sausages too, but they are lovely smooth reds. I liked them lots. This one looks so much like my lovely friend in the UK Lottie it is amazing! And I really like the big floppy bassett hound that was there. He was funny.

I did all this stuff for two days and when Mum arrived to pick me up I was so exhausted from all my hard work and so pleased to see her that I immediately fell asleep on her shoulder. She's so nice to sleep on. Thanks so much Aurora and Els and Chrissy and Annabel and Jo and Becky. I had a great time! You all should go and check their websites, they are all linked from Penny Paws!

Oh, by the way, Penny Paws has a special offer till the end of April - don't miss out!

New ventures and adventures

Dear Diary,

What a crazy time it is! Mum and I are business partners! That's way she's been so slack about being my secretary, but I forgive her because if our new business takes off I'll have lots of new friends to play with all the time. We are starting a dog walking service, it's called Penny Paws Petcare (after you know who) and anyone lucky enough to use it will get to hang out with me. So everyone (based round the Port Hills in Christchurch) should go to our website and ring or email us to arrange for us to visit you! Your dogs will have the best time EVA!

While Mum has been busy organising everything I've still been having great adventures. I've been hanging with my gang and teaching that naughty Frank not to be too rough with me, but he's a bit of a slow learner. Sigh.

He's also crazy about water. Personally I don't see what's so great about it, but each to there own.

Oh, and I officially have a boyfriend, according to Facestalk anyway. He is a Lord, a title befitting a Lady of my breeding and he is rather gorgeous. His name is Louie Lord von Houndlinghausen, I am very much looking forward to our next date!

Mum had to go for a meeting with the lovely Aurora who owns Petcare Services Ltd and is the BEST dog walker in Sumner (and perhaps the world) because she is helping us with our business. I got to play with my sausagey friends Otto and Kaiser (and Barky Harry), but I also met some giants.

I meet Barry the giant cat, who unlike that black cat I live with, loves to play with me.

Unfortunately he lives in something called the pussy palace, but seems more like a fortress. I tried to conquer it, but I just couldn't manage it. Yet.

And I met a giant rabbit called Graeme. I thought he was a delicious treat for me, but then he told me off and I had to run away. He's crazy and scary!

Yesterday I got to go the the Agility Trials. It was very hard work for me because I wasn't allowed to go and talk to every dog I saw and had to be good and be on my lead all the time. To make the most of being on my lead I kindly offered to model one of the Safety Collars leads for my lovely Aunty Els. This time I had a much more appropriate one!

We watched lots of fun running and jumping and lots of people asked me if I wanted to do it, which I do! But I'm not old enough yet, I have to wait till my bones have finished growing and got all tough. I can't wait to fly through the air though.

I did get to met some really lovely dogs though, and I met a tiny puppy who was only 9 weeks old. He had to stay in jail because he hadn't had all his shots which made me sad because we really wanted to play together.

Mum finally let me have a run around the big grounds and I was so excited I decided to be a charging bull and run very seriously. See I can be a serious dog. I'll be great at agility!

Anyway Mum took a bazillion photos of dogs jumping so here are some of them. And don't forget to check out Penny Paws Petcare. I can't wait to play with you!

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.