As you might know, it rains a lot in winter in New Zealand. Usually we have some fine spells even on rainy days, but it is really hard to predict when we have them.
Today is one of those typical winter days. Luckily we had a morning walk without getting wet.
It wasn't so cold either :-)
But look at this! On our afternoon walk we got soaking wet!!
I, Mint, don't like wearing a raincoat!
Oh my god! I look like I had just had a bath!
We hope it stops raining by tomorrow morning so that we can have a walk without getting wet again!
I hope everyone had a great weekend! We had a very busy but super cool weekend.
On Saturday we went to the Auckland Beagle Club's Xmas Fun Day in Cornwall Park. Although there was also a walk before the fun event with lots of yummies (mainly for humans) and games (for both humans and dogs), we couldn't join it as Mum was unable to get ready early enough.
When we arrived at the park, only a few dogs were there, as most of the members were having a walk to the summit of One Tree Hill at that time. But, shortly after we arrived, this little one came to say hello to us.
His name is Luke. He is so adorable and friendly!
Like most puppies, Luke didn't seem to understand the concept of "consideration", though.
But, because I was being nice to Luke, a human rewarded me with lots of tummy rubs!
Although we couldn't run around with other Beagles as the venue was not an off-leash dog park, we enjoyed mingling with each other.
After people and dogs came back from the walk, we did some games, such as biscuit hunt, seven legs race, potato and spoon race, and bag race. In the biscuit hunt, we collected three biscuits but three was not enough to win the game, as the winner found nine biscuits!
After all the games finished, humans had BBQ.
We didn't get any sausage or meat from the BBQ, but Mum gave us the biscuits that we had got in the biscuit hunt, because we were sitting nicely and patiently. The biscuits were in a bone shape and very yummy (Sorry no photos of the biscuits, coz we ate them all ^^;).
As it was so much fun, I am already looking forward to the Fun Day next year!
Today I am telling you about what we were doing recently.
Over a week ago, we were told to get in the car and driven to somewhere we had never been. When we arrived there, Mum told us to wait in the car for a while and went into a nearby building. After a while, Mum came back with two leads, put them on us, and told us to get out of the car.
Because it was a new place, we had to check everything and every smell. Then, a man came out of the building and guided us through a gate into the backyard where several dogs were barking at us over a fence.
Next, the man opened a gate to an empty enclosure and let us in. Again, there were so many new interesting smells that we got very excited exploring the place.
But, when we realised, Mum had gone. We didn't know what was happening.
At first I thought that Mum would come back to take us home soon, but she didn't. Then, I knew that it was a so-called boarding kennel or pet hotel. I had stayed in one of them with Cookie before, but Mint hadn't. Being an older sister, I decided to take the responsibility to look after my younger brother, Mint, until our humans came back.
In fact we had a great time, playing with a couple of Spaniels and a Border Collie in the daytime while we were staying there. I have to admit though that I missed my humans a lot especially at night.
Six days later, Mum finally came back and brought us home! Nowhere is better than home after all!!
This is me resting at home after a week stay at a kennel.
This is Mint.
When our humans saw us at the kennel on their return, they were smiling of course, but those smiles seemed to have a somewhat different meaning. What do you think they said to us, as soon as they saw us? They said "You both have gained weight!!" Hmmmph! How rude they are!! Yes, it is true that we had lost our beautiful waist lines, but let me tell you that I had them back as soon as the next day. We just had constipation, staying in a new environment... Hee hee.
Today we are enjoying summery weather, but until yesterday one question everyone in New Zealand had in mind was "Where has summer gone?"
Since the New Year's day, I hadn't seen the sun much. Having lots of rain every day didn't seem like such a bad thing for my Mum, as she didn't have to water her tomato plants and the grass didn't turn brown like it usually does in summer. But, that was a big problem for us! Lots of rain means shorter than usual walks for us. Nevertheless, we were lucky, because many of my friends sometimes couldn't go out for walks at all, as chances for walks were limited for their humans who don't work from home like our humans do.
However, fortunately it was not raining when Mint and I met up with our big friends Lexi and Jasper the Great Danes at one of our favorite parks, Auckland Botanic Gardens, last week. This park is a wonderful place for doggies and their owners. Although dogs have to be on leash in most areas of the park, there is one off-leash dog exercise area. In on-leash areas humans can enjoy browsing a huge variety of plants and trees in well-designed landscapes, while doggies can enjoy many different smells, including familiar smells, exotic smells, and intriguing smells. When we had a walk with Lexi and Jasper, we had a great time finding new smells as usual.
By the way, do you wonder how we play with such big buddies like Great Danes? No worries! I have had a wonderful Dane friend, Honey, since I was a puppy. So, I am used to Great Danes at least. As for Mint, he seems to have some difficulty in understanding the size difference. He has never been hesitant in front of big friends. So, look at this! He was trying to hump this big guy who we met on the walk, as well as our big friends Lexi and Jasper!
This big black dog looks puzzled, but Mint doesn't take any notice of it. *
Hey, Jasper, what are you doing? Have you found anything interesting? *
Let's see what Jasper has found (Jasper has already lost interest and walked away)
We never fail to do our job, sniffing!!
Mint fetches a ball only because ... *
... he can get some treat every time. *
Mint, behave yourself, at least in front of our friends! *
I am a big sister, so I need to watch what Mint is doing. *
We posed together for the camera after a great walk :-) *
*) Courtesy of Lexi and Jasper's human
After the walk, our humans wanted to have a cup of coffee in the outdoor area of a cafe in the Visitor Centre (Dogs are not allowed in all areas under the roof), but all tables in the outdoor area had been taken by visitors with dogs. So, instead, they sat on a bench in a different area to have a chat before going home.
We had a wonderful time with Lexi and Jasper! I hope we can meet up with them again soon!!
I hope everyone is having or has had Christmas and New Year holidays.
This year we had a very quiet but relaxing New Year's Day, partly because we couldn't go out as it was raining. But, yesterday we did a New Year photoshooting at home where both Mint and I wore a new collar that our Mum had just made for us. This is one of some hundred photos that our Dad took yesterday.
We had a really busy and exciting year last year. I wonder what is in for us this year.
Can you believe that another year has passed already? What was the year like for you? The year has brought us a lot of changes and surprises.
January 2011
In mid January Mint was hospitalized. It seemed that Mint had eaten something toxic, which paralysed his nerve system, but the vet couldn't figure out what Mint had eaten. It took a few weeks before he got back to his normal self.
In the following week after Mint came back home, we moved from our previous house to a rental house where we lived for two months until our humans found, bought, and moved to our new house. When we were living in the rental house, we had a chance to go on a trip to Rotorua.
In late February there was a big earthquake in Christchurch and many humans and doggies lost their houses, which was really sad. And less than three weeks later there were even bigger earthquakes in Japan. Watching roads and buildings being pushed away and flattened by big waves caused by Tsunami was really saddening. Many lives were lost. Now, more than nine months later, there are still areas no one is allowed to enter because of radiation contamination. All I can now is believe in people's strength to overcome challenges.
Four days after the earthquakes and tsunami in Japan, we moved from the rental house to our new house. Our previous house was close to the city centre, only fifteen minutes by bus from a bus stop in front of the house to the city centre. Our new house is far away from downtown, but for giving up the proximity to the city centre, we got a great living environment for both humans and dogs.
In early June, I had the honor to be a member of the judge panel for my friend Honey the Great Dane's "Dancing with the Doggie Stars" contest. It was rewarding to see so many doggies and their humans with no experience in dancing working so hard on their routines while enjoying the time spent together. A few days later Mint got placed the first for the first time in an Obedience trial!!
In late July I turned four years old and on my birthday I enjoyed my birthday cake that Mum had made for me.
In late October we went to Porirua, Wellington, 600km away from our house, to compete in a national dog dancing competition, and, as many of you know, I won and Mint got the second place in the Elementary Freestyle class!
Merry Christmas, everyone!! I hope you all are having a great day with your family and friends.
Well, do you want to know what Santa brought for us this year?
It's SWIMMING!!
How do you think he brought it to our place? By bringing along a swimming pool? No way! That's impossible, you know. Instead, he arranged so that we could have a swim in a doggy swimming pool at a place called K9 Aqua. (Yes, it means that we didn't need toclean our veranda. But, that's OK, as it anyway needed to be cleaned.)
Actually Santa's present for us arrived a day earlier, on the 24th.
In the morning Mint and I had breakfast a little earlier than usual, and its amount was less than usual. I didn't know why, but I just thought that Mum might have forgot what time we usually have breakfast, as she is so forgetful.
Three hours later Mum and Dad told us to get in the car. Neither Mint nor I knew where we were going. About twenty minutes later, we arrived here.
But, I still didn't know what we were in for. We patiently waited in our crate for whatever was happening.
Then, as a dog came out of a building, Mum took me into the building. Inside I was put on something thick and uncomfortable. I knew what it was, as I had worn it several times before. Then, it rang a bell ... It's swimming!
At first I was a little scared of the deep water.
But, I quickly figured out what I needed to do.
Yes, I can swim!!
After I enjoyed swimming for about twenty minutes, it was Mint's turn. For Mint, who had never swum before, it was going to be the very first swim!
Even wearing a lifejacket was a completely new experience for Mint, so he looked really timid when he was walking up the ramp.
It was so funny to watch Mint trying to keep a hind paw up above the water surface!
But, thanks to the instructor's assistence, he was able to float about ten minutes later.
And soon he started swimming!
I was very impressed how brave my cowardly little brother had become!
Here is a video of our first swim.
Both of us enjoyed Santa's present for us, our first swim at K9 Aqua. I hope everyone has got a nice present from Santa too :-)
