Good Friday was a very good day...

Every day is a good day when you're a terrier, right? There are always new dogs to bark at, humans to ignore, smells to sniff, things to be grumpy about...But I just knew that Good Friday was going to be an extra special day because J1 was tidying up, which let's be honest, doesn't happen often around here.

I had no idea what was in store until a car rolled up outside and J1 took me to the front door to greet our visitors. And guess who it was???? None other than my pal Asta's humans all the way from the good ole US of A. And who was with them? My square pal Eric and his humans too! My eyes nearly popped out of their head!

Here's Eric and I saying hello:



He's the pipsqueak in the photo. Remember that I'm substantial, NOT fat!

Eric then decided to take up sentry duty:



The humans were ooo-ing and ahh-ing over us both but Eric and I took it all in our stride. I even fell asleep with my head resting on Ami's foot, probably because I noticed she was wearing socks with WFTs on them!

As if the day wasn't good enough already, they then showered me with shedloads of pawtastic gifts! I made a start on destroying a chipmunk but this was swiftly removed as I am supposed to be quiet and resting after my recent stroke.


(Don't worry about the eggs, they were for the Js). I'd just like to point out that the socks are great but rather too big. What's that? They're for the humans? Oh, I thought they were for ME!

After a couple of hours J1 and our guests went out for a stroll but I was too tired to join them so I stayed behind with J2 to try out another gift, my new Cath Kidston Bandana:


(please ignore dead plant growing out of my ear. J1 says it's a work in progress)

and then dream of destroying all my lovely presents...Thank you pals for a truly pawsome day...

Please form an orderly queue for Pawtographs...

Some of you may have already read on my wirey pal Eric's blog that the pair of us were going to be featured in the February 2010 issue of the UK magazine, Your Dog. Well, it's finally out and we are included in a 6 page breed feature about Wire Fox Terriers.

I was dismayed to discover that J1 has muscled into MY photo and is mugging away. I have blanked out her face to spare you all the horror and you'll see that I am turning my head away in disgust. Eric's human was much more sensible and stayed out of the limelight but she did include some wheelie photos. Pah!

J1 was huffing and puffing a bit about the article because it says we are "relatively easily trained" (yeah, right!) "especially good with children" (Mmm, couldn't eat a whole one) and "friendly" (ha!) .

[Click on article to enlarge]

Anyway, now that I am officially famous I need to be escorted everywhere by my security team to keep my adoring fans in check. Please form an orderly queue for pawtographs...

Paw power

Ok pals, I'm back and I'm feeling much more like my old self today...

The Js and I would like to thank each and every one of you for all your posts, comments and emails. We've been overwhelmed by the positive responses from old friends and new. All power to the paw, we're going to fight this!

The Js were absolutely delighted to receive a beautiful bunch of sunflowers from our special pals at Dogs with Blogs. That was really kind of you all. Thank you.

Anyway, I think it's about time I got back to normal. This of course means returning to my very important day job of toy tester extraordinaire. Luckily enough my wirey pal Eric sent me a new toy a couple of weeks ago. It's a set of squeaky teeth...

He challenged J1 to get a photo of me wearing them before they need to take a trip to the dentist for emergency repairs. Mmm, not an easy task as you can imagine. Here is the best out of a bad lot...

OK, I know that I've got them in back to front, but they didn't come with fitting instructions!

And here is the obligatory "after" shot...This was taken after about 1 minute when J1 had to wrestle with me to give it up...

All in a day's work.

Ears, Nurses and Vampire Prevention

My ear is so much better now and I don't have to go back to the horrid vet unless it drops off or something. Thank you for all your good wishes. My speedy recovery is due in part to expert care from the dream nurses team. Asta and Agatha made a lovely stinky garlic potion to ward off any vampires after my encounter with Buffy and I have to wear this garlic necklace for another week or so. It's a bit uncomfortable, but I'm getting used to it.

To help with my recuperation, my wirey pal Eric and I decided to take the nurses out for dinner to old London town. First we had a few cocktails...

Photo by Asta

Why is Lacie still in her grundies* you may ask? Your guess is as good as mine!

Later we got separated but here's a photo of Asta taken by a policeman who was giving her directions. Look at how much luggage she's got!

Photo by Asta

Sadly there are no photos of us later in the evening. Best skipped over I think because SOMEBODY (mentioning no names) got rather tipsy.

PS Buffy's owners were very decent about the whole incident and paid all my vet bills. They even bought me a chew which I'm in the process of demolishing. So Buffy, if you're reading this, please thank your lovely owners for me. I'll look out for you on the beach so I can bark at you but I probably won't come too close next time!

*underwear

International Goodie Exchange

I was delighted to discover that my new pal Eric the WFT was going to be sending me gifts as part of the International Goodie Exchange. My parcel arrived last week and it was ram-jammed full of pawsome stuff, all beautifully packaged.

J1 had to shut me out of the room to photograph it, cos I wanted it all RIGHT THIS MINUTE!

The bonanza box included:

2 x chocolate flavour tennis balls (one has already been eaten, thanks pal, it was yummy!)

Carrot treats (apparently they're suitable for Dogs, Rabbits and Rodents). Sorry, but I'm not sharing with any rodents! Or Rabbits for that matter.

Lamb toy. As Eric said on the label, "a lamb to the slaughter"

Dog pyramid (strangely, I'm more interested in the plastic-y deliciousness of the outside, rather than the treats hidden inside).

My own brand of Fairtrade tea for the Js. Plenty of slurps for me!

Hand made Kitty biscuits. Probably the closest I'll ever get to a kitty, unless I manage to catch one again.

Here's Eric supervising the baking:

There was even a book for J1 to read to me before snoozies, called Tips the Terrier.

Thank you Eric for your bumper box of goodies and thanks also to Mr T-Bone Beasley and Chef for the great idea of the goodie exchange! I'm going to be busy enjoying this shedload of stuff for quite some time!