Monday, June 14

Life is exciting. We are getting ready to leave for Toronto to celebrate TBC and Margi's 35^th wedding anniversary. We are going to be staying in a downtown condo, while Barbara and Biscuit come and stay here. Another new experience for me, but that's what being a traveling dog is all about.

Do you know what TBC did yesterday? Well, we always go out on the deck for 10 or 15 minutes before supper to practice obedience training. Yesterday, TBC just sat in the sunroom reading. I had to bark at him and grab his hand and practically pull him out of the chair to get him out on the deck. Has he no sense of tradition? Sometimes I wonder where he was when the brains were handed out. Yesterday morning he went into the drugstore as usual to get the Globe. I was waiting in the car for him to come out when suddenly there was a clap of thunder. I jumped up, and there he was standing inside the door chatting up the cashier. I had to bark at him to tell him to get back to the car fast. Janine had to e mail him to ask him if he figured he had made out my entry forms for the Sarnia show correctly. And the day before, he was on the roof washing windows. I was down on the ground in my chicken coop, and he thought it would be fun to drop pieces of sticks on me. Margi had to tell him to stop doing that. Sigh.

Sunday June 20

Toronto. Truly a great city! Actually, that was the opening line of a speech that Nancy gave when she was in grade 7, but I thought maybe I could borrow it. What an exciting weekend! The crowds! The people! The dogs! The noise! The garbage! I loved every minute of it. Barbara and Biscuit arrived about noon on Thursday. Biscuit is really a nice dog. I would have liked to stay and play with her, but you can't have everything. Her condo in Toronto is really neat.. It is on the eleventh floor, and there is a fast elevator which takes you up and down. The windows are all cairn terrier height so that you can sit and look out at everything that is going on in the courtyard and all the other apartments. Not that I had much time for sitting and looking out. We kept going for walks, and John and Betty and Nancy and Rob were over one night, and the Waddells came over another night (Cat people, I'm afraid, but they seem nice. What can you do?) Two or three of our walks took us over to the St Lawrence Market, which is really good eating for an alert cairn terrier. The way I look at it, my nose is 3 inches from the ground, and TBC's is 5 feet 3 inches, which gives me a fighting chance if I spot something tasty. One afternoon we went over to the Toronto Island on a boat. That was exciting, because it was my first time on a boat. TBC and Margi kept saying, "Sh-h-h-h" and "Hamish, be quiet" I bet I got to meet about 100 people. All sorts of little kids wanted to pat me. Margi is making progress in getting me to sit down so I don't scare them. And there were all sorts of other dogs in Biscuit's neighbourhood that I got to say Hello to. Hey, it's Father's day too. Happy Father's day Max. On the way home we stopped at the Royal Botanical Gardens in Hamilton, which was sort of boring. I kept wanting to lie down in the shade, but all in all, it was a great weekend.

Monday, June 21

Hey Nancy, Congratulations.

I don't know exactly what "being accepted into the Physiotherapy Program" means, but TBC says it is sort of like winning Best in Show and an Obedience Trial in the same day. And I know you really really really wanted to be a Physiotherapist and are really really really happy, so I am really really really glad too. I hope they teach you things like how to treat repetitive strain injuries in cairn terrier paws, and exercises to promote straight backs.

You will probably be leaving Kingston for Camp Borden in a couple of days to run the Highland Dance program. I hope they have internet access so you can still read my web page, because I know you like to know what is going on. I will keep writing it anyway.

Thursday June 24

Hoo Boy!

I think TBC started it all by posting a message on the Cairn List about me burping. You would think he would have more sense of judgement. He gets carried away with trying to be all "cutesy", and this is what happens. Anyway, next, Janine couldn't keep her big mouth shut, and goes and posts my web site address on the Cairn List for all 300 people to see. I know a lot of people were reading this site anyway, but this is getting a bit overwhelming. We even heard from one lady in Australia.

Hey, maybe we should go to Australia. TBC and Margi won't take me on a plane, but maybe if we got on the Toronto Island Ferry, because they take dogs, and just told it to keep going, we would end up in Australia. Wouldn't that be something?

Speaking of Toronto, I forgot to tell you about something sort of amusing which happened while we were waiting for Barbara and Biscuit to arrive for our home exchange. TBC had gone out to pick something up at the last minute, and Margi was upstairs, so it seemed like a good time to climb up on the top of the HiFi/TV complex. There is about a four inch gap between it and the wall which I had never explored before, so I sort of climbed/fell down into it. Then TBC arrived home and said, "Where's Hamish". They looked in all the usual closets where I manage to get shut in, and then started calling me. I heard them calling, but couldn't turn around, and figured they would come over and fish me out. It really didn't occur to me that they might not know where I was. So this went on for about 10 minutes while they got more and more worried. At this point I figured I had better just keep my mouth shut, but then the doorbell rang and it was Barbara and Biscuit, so I started yipping and managed to get my head poked out above the speakers. They came over and extracted me, and showed Biscuit around the house and then we were off to Toronto.

I almost forgot. We heard from my old litter mate Henry yesterday. He is alive and well and living in Guelph. He doesn't like being stripped, but who does? I sure wouldn't want to be shaved. If he thinks being stripped is bad, he should go to a dog show and see what they do to some of the other dogs. Unbelievable! Being stripped is part of growing up, Bro. Get with it!

Friday, June 25

Really hot day today. TBC was out mowing the lawn, Margi was gardening, and I was hanging around in my chicken coop.

TBC finished doing the lawn and came in to take a bath. The tub was full of water, and I had never really tried swimming, so I jumped in. TBC fished me out after a minute or so and got in himself. I though he might like company, so I jumped in again. What does "God DAMN it, Hamish" mean?

Anyway, we both got out, and TBC started drying himself off with a towel. There was a fair bit of water on the floor by this time, so I knocked down a pile of towels on a shelf beside the tub so I would have something to roll around on.

The subsequent conversation was along the lines of "Look, you bloody stupid ratty looking miscreant terrier, what is Margi going to say when she comes in and sees this mess?" TBC doesn't usually resort to that sort of language. I was impressed.

Monday, June 28

Why can't I do the things that all the other cairn terrier's do? Like giving God what for when he starts the thunder?

It had been really hot and humid all weekend, and there was a big thunderstorm tonight. When the thunder started, TBC decided we should go for our usual walk before it started to rain, which was fine. Smells were at their peak, and I didn't pay much attention to all the commotion. Hey, I can get focused when I want to. But then we got home and got ready for bed, and I thought it would be more fun to bark at the thunder. TBC and Margi just told me to shut up, and then they turned off the lights. I never can keep my eyes open once the lights go out.

I got even with them by giving a piercing yelp in the middle of the night. They don't know if I was dreaming, or if I rolled over on an open safety pin in the duvet at the end of the bed. Needless to say, they didn't get up to find out.

To change the subject, I have this new way cool posture that I have been practicing. It involves lying down with one paw stuck out in front of me and the other curled under. I saw a picture of a cairn doing it, and thought it looked cool, so now I do it all the time. TBC should get a picture of me doing it, but he broke his camera and had to send it away for repairs which will take 4 or 5 weeks. A good opportunity to buy a digital camera, and then he could put pictures of me on the net the same day he takes them. There is a new Canon Powershot A50 out which he is thinking about buying. Except he will probably wait ten years to see if the price comes down.

Thursday, July 1

Hey, it's Canada Day, and I am going to be in 2 more dog shows this weekend. Isn't that fantastic? They aren't as big of shows as Toronto was, but I will get to meet some other dogs, and stuff my face with garlic fried chicken and do my think in the ring and lick the judge. And we are going to stay at a motel which is always really fun and I will get to go for lots of walks and meet people. I am so excited. Got to go and pack my stuff.

Saturday, July 3

Dog oh Dog, was that ever a great trip!

We started off by going up to Janines's Thursday afternoon, and she spent about an hour working me over. But it was O.K., because I got to meet all five of her dogs. Ceilidh is really nice. She sat on TBCs lap almost the whole time I was there and let him scratch her ears. I don't really like having my ears scratched, but I thought that was a bit -well-blatant. As we were leaving, I peed on Janine's door frame. Sorry Janine. The Devil made me do it.

Then we got in the car and drove to a nice motel in Sarnia. There were lot's of show dogs staying there and I got to meet some of them. After dinner, we went for a great walk along the river bank. It was Canada Day and there were hundreds of people walking around, and we kept stopping and talking to them. It was really good. There was supposed to be a fireworks display, but it was canceled because of expected thunderstorms. Apparently the thunderstorms did arrive, but by that time TBC and Margi and I were all sleeping soundly and didn't hear a thing. A bunch of airedales got up early and started barking, which woke TBC and Margi up, but I slept like a log. Eventually we got up and TBC took me out and then came my big accomplishment for the weekend.

There was a chesterfield in the motel room which was about two feet away from the bed, and I climbed up on the arm, and decided it would be fun to be on the bed, so I gathered myself and with one powerful leap cleared the gap! Wasn't that something?

Then we went to the show, and that's always fun. I walked around the ring and stuffed my face with garlic fried chicken and won a bunch of ribbons. If Janine expects me to show even a modicum of decorum in the ring, she is going to have to start using something other than garlic fried chicken. DON'T ANYBODY TELL HER I SAID THAT. It was my last show as a junior puppy. I have won Best Puppy in Breed in all four shows I have been in, which I think is pretty good.

So then we came home and I slept until it was time to help TBC make dinner, it being Friday night and all. Cairn terriers like raw eggplant with garlic salt on it, but not as much as garlic fried chicken, and cairn terriers like polenta with sun dried tomatoes, but not as much as garlic fried chicken. We are going back to Sarnia on Monday for more garlic fried chicken.

Monday, July 5

The pre show is always as exciting as the show. Yesterday was a bit confusing, because Margi got up and got dressed in her band costume and left. So I was hanging around in the window waiting for her to come back, when TBC started packing the car. I wasn't sure what was going on at this point, except that my sleeping crate got loaded in the car, which is always a really good sign. Then TBC and I drove up to a place called Fanshawe Park I tried to sit in his lap on the way up, but he wouldn't let me. I thought this might be where the dog show was, but I couldn't find Janine. Instead there were a bunch of people listening to Margi's pipe band, so TBC and I hung around too, and I met a bunch of people in the band. They all said how much I had grown. It was really hot. I did persuade one lady to give me part of her ice cream cone, and TBC kept pouring water over my head, which was mildly annoying. Anyway, then we all piled in the car and drove back to the same motel in Sarnia where we had stayed Thursday night. Some of the same dogs were there. We went out and got a pizza for supper. Cairn terriers like pizza crust too. After supper we went for a walk beside the marina. They have a neat series of pools shaped like the Great Lakes. I wanted to go swimming in Lake Erie (after all, it is my lake) but TBC wouldn't let me. At least I got to try and drink it dry.

I knew we had an early ring time this morning, so I woke everybody up with a bark at 6 A.M. Judging by the strong "No" from the top of the bed I think they were awake anyway.

Then we went on to the show. It was my first show as a senior puppy, and my first outside show, so it didn't really seem like a show at all. I didn't win anything this time. Janine says I have to learn to calm down in the ring. Not bloody likely with her feeding me garlic fried chicken. Nancy says that she learned in biology that dogs pant in hot weather because there is a direct blood supply from the tongue to the brain. So panting cools down the brain. If this is so, then you could consider the tongue as being hard wired to the brain. The corollary of this hypothesis is that cairn terriers are hard wired for garlic fried chicken, so lets just forget this calm down crap.

Hey, I have an idea. How about a BIG bowl of garlic fried chicken before we go into the ring?

Friday, July 9

Every show is different. Today we got up early and drove to Woodstock. The show ring was all long grass, and it smelled really good, because it had just rained, and the grass was wet. So I was thinking more about smelling the grass than I was about garlic fried chicken, which I guess was good, except Janine wanted me to look up. Down was a lot more interesting. There were little white bugs hopping around in the grass, and I kept watching them. Janine had to take Devil into the ring at one point in the show, so Margi took me in. This was fine, because then I could devote my full attention to the bugs.

I won another Best Puppy in Breed rosette, which always makes TBC and Margi happy. The only other male puppy was disqualified because - maybe I shouldn't say this - HE ONLY HAD ONE TESTICLE! Isn't that gross? Not half as gross as what McKenzie (one of the other dogs) did to Margi, but I don't even want to talk about that.

After the first part of the show, TBC decided he was going to tire me out and do some serious obedience training so we walked and walked and walked in the park, and I was doing pretty well at heeling and we stopped and talked to several nice people. I see myself as a sort of cairn terrier ambassador. That was probably the most fun part of the day. Then we went back in the group judging ring for Best Puppy in Group, and I sort of blew it by grazing the grass again. Oh well. It beats obedience. TBC keeps sneaking off to watch the obedience trials, and always comes back and says, "Hamish could do that". Forget it.

Oh all right. I know I just said that heeling in the park with TBC was the best part of the day. So I'm ambivalent. You never heard of ambivalent already?

We didn't get back home until about 4:00 P.M. and I was really tired. I crashed for the evening. We do it all again on Sunday.

Sunday, July 11

Hey Halo! Well done, Sis. I was really proud of you winning that Best Puppy in Breed rosette today. I am just a ratty looking little terrier who goes to shows to have fun, and I always do, but you are a beautiful dog. Besides, my Reserve Winners ribbon almost got me a point.

I'll let you in on a new project that I am working on. I think it has real potential for cairn kind.

TBC always sits down on the sofa to watch the eleven o'clock news before we go for our walk. Sometimes he sits there for ten minutes and sometimes he sits there for half an hour. If I sit on the footstool, my face is about level with his. So as soon as the news comes on, I get up on the footstool, and stare really intently at his face and think "Walk Walk Walk". I think it works. After a few minutes he usually stands up and says, "Oh, all right. Let's go for your walk". Mind over matter, you know, and a determined cairn mind is pretty powerful.

Thursday, July 15

I have spent the week learning how to howl. It's really neat. You take a deep breath, and you put your head back, and your nose in the air, and go "Owowowoww-ow"

Hey man, when a dog's gotta howl

A dog's gotta howl--Owowowoow

Cause nobody will take me for a walk Owowowowow -ow

I haven't been for a walk for hours Owowow

Owowowowowowowow I wanna go to another dog show

Right now ow ow ow ow.

TBC and Margi are less than totally enthralled by this latest accomplishment.

Sunday, July 18

I think TBC and Margi are hooked on taking classes. This morning we went to a dog handling class. It was at a different dog obedience school in London, and was taught by a guy who raises Airedales. He had a beard sort of like TBC's, so I had to more or less pay attention. I was the only dog there, and we spent two hours talking and walking around in circles with Margi. Then I had to listen all the way home to them telling each other how great this was. I mean, come on folks, we're not talking rocket science here. Blah Blah Blah, Trot Trot Trot. And this is only the first of four lessons. Oh well, there are supposed to be more dogs there next week. The guy (Roy Atcheson is his name) spent 10 minutes trying to teach me NOT to sit. Come on people! For cat's sake, make up your so called minds.

Then we got home, and they spent the whole afternoon stroking the deck. Sometimes I just don't understand people.

Thursday, July 22

I suppose, into every cairn terrier's life a little rain must fall, but it sure has been a rainy few days.

First of all, they went and got this thing called a Halti, which is supposed to take the place of a choke chain, and which I absolutely and totally despise. It is a sort of a halter thing like a great big stupid bloody horse or doberman or retriever might wear, and it looks really stupid. I mean, I really am embarrassed to go out for a walk wearing this thing. And it feels awful, with a strap around my nose just below the eyes. When it is hooked up to my lead, I can't get my nose into the grass for any decent snuffling, so what's the point of even going for a walk? I lie down every ten feet and try to paw it off. TBC tried for a while taking me for walks with the Halti on but without my leash hooked to it, but it still looks stupid and feels worse. I think he is finally getting the message, since he didn't put it on yesterday. My choke chain is fine. The next stupid cat licking person we meet who tries to tell TBC not to use a choke chain is going to get growled at. I have never growled at anybody in my life, but if people won't mind their own bloody business they deserve it.

So as if that hasn't been enough psychological trauma for the week, then they have to go and tell me that they are doing a home exchange in Manhattan for ten days and not taking me. Not taking me, the dog who loves to travel. What kind of crap is that? I would love Manhattan, and I don't believe for a minute TBC's stories about the push carts on the streets where they sell hot dogs. Anyway, I will get to stay at Marlene Evelan's place, and there will be other dogs there to play with, so maybe I will have a good time after all, but I would sooner be going with TBC and Margi.

Finally, this morning TBC and I got home from getting the Globe, and the washing machine was squealing and thumping. This always scares the bejeezus out of me, so I started barking like crazy. TBC didn't know what to do (try putting a Halti on it, TBC), so we went to get Margi, and she said it was all my fault because I had poohed on the mat inside the patio door (oops) and she was washing it and she wasn't going to do anything about it. TBC told her to make it (the washing machine) stop, and she wouldn't and I kept barking and it was really a bad scene. They sometimes leave me in the laundry room when they go out. What if the washing machine started doing that when I was home alone? You see what I mean? It has been a bad week.

Sunday, July 25

I dunno. I just don't know. We went to another handling class this morning, and that was sort of fun because there were two other dogs there, and the three of us trotted around and pretended we were at a dog show. But now Margi wants to handle me herself in a show in St Catherines in 3 weeks. I mean, I'll be fine, but can I trust Margi to behave? What if she tries to kiss the judge? Or walks out of the ring when she's not supposed to? Or gets in a fight with one of the other handlers. After all, I will be sort of responsible for her.

It is a hot afternoon, but everybody is rushing around to get ready for Neil and Natalie who are going to be staying in our house while TBC and Margi are in New York and I am at Mrs Evelands. I have been shut in the study with TBC while Margi vacuums the bedroom. I guess you won't be hearing from me for awhile. I'm sure I will have a good time, but I would feel better about the whole thing if Mrs. E. had central air conditioning, and if she knew how to cook garlic fried chicken.

Wednesday, August 4

We are all back together again, which is good. The ten days went by really fast, and I had a lot of fun. TBC keeps telling me how hot it was in New York, and how sorry he felt for the dogs who had to pound the pavement in 100 degree heat. Maybe he is just saying that so I won't mind missing the trip because he knows how I like to travel, but Mrs. E turned out to have central air conditioning after all, and she let me spend most of the time inside. She has a new puppy of her own, who was owned by a Mennonite farmer and was run over by a farm wagon. He had a broken hip, which had been pinned the week before I got there, so he needed lots of physiotherapy. I got really good at that Nancy, and we spent a lot of time playing together. Then there was a big black lab who came to visit for a few days. I would run up and jump on him and then be half way away across the room before he figured out where I was. But he was pretty good natured about it. Mrs. E. calls her new puppy Hamish, after me, which was sort of confusing. The poor puppy is going to think that Hamish is a generic term, like "Dog" and that he doesn't have a name of his own. Mrs. E had a wading pool in her back yard, and the two of us had fun splashing in and out of it. So all in all, it was a good holiday, but it is good to be back home again too.

Friday, August 6

Some dogs sure are lucky. We went up to Janine's after supper tonight to let her groom me for the dog show next Sunday, and I got to play in her back yard for an hour or two with Ceilidh and Devil and Zoe and Spirit and her Hamish. They have a huge backyard and we all raced around and played together and it was just great. Every so often one of us would spot a rabbit or a squirrel, and then we would all run at top speed and bark at it. When it was time to go home I didn't want to leave, and made TBC and Margi and Janine run around the yard to try and catch us, and Margi slipped on the grass and fell down and got grass stains all over her shirt, which was pretty funny.

Imagine how wonderful it would be to have a yard like that and five other dogs to play with all the time. Except I wouldn't have TBC and Margi to myself. Devil and Ceilidh really seem to like TBC, and kept snuggling up to him and then growled at me when I came over. I couldn't help thinking, "Hey guys, he does belong to me", but I am not a snuggly type dog and they are, and that's fine. I would sooner watch for rabbits anyway.

Of course, in between the running around I did have to stand still to be groomed. Oh all right. Let me amend that. I should have been standing still, but I thought Janine and Margi would enjoy a good wrestle.

Tuesday, August 9

Spent the last couple of days helping TBC build me a grooming table. It is going to be a handsome table, and I don't have the heart to tell him that I didn't really want a grooming table. It is patterned on the one that Janine has. We have made a couple of trips up to London to get parts for it. Meanwhile, Margi is practicing grooming me for the show in St. Catherines on Sunday. I will be the only Cairn Terrier in the show, so no points, but it will be good practice for Margi. I hope she does O.K. because shows are really fun, and if things go well on Sunday, TBC and Margi are thinking of taking me to a series of shows Labour Day weekend in Leamington. We had another handling class in London Sunday morning, which was pretty good, except that Roy Atcheson thinks I am "spoiled". I hate it when people yell "No" at me.

Sunday, August 15

You know, I really feel sorry for all those dogs who don't get to go to dog shows. Shows are so much fun. We were at a show in St. Catherines this morning that Janine couldn't go to, so Margi and I did the whole thing by ourselves. Margi did fine, and didn't make any of the stupid mistakes which I had been worrying about. Maybe I worry too much.

Janine and Ron came over Friday night, and watched Margi do the pre show grooming thing. They thought my new grooming table was pretty nifty, and Ron got down on the floor and played with me the way that Nancy does, so that was all fun.

Then on Saturday we were off to the show. We stopped to look around the grounds when we arrived, and it was as exciting as shows always are with all the other dogs and the people and the great smells in the grass. We walked around a bit, and then went to our motel. There was a noisy party going on across the hall, but I slept in my crate and ignored the noise. We were up really early Sunday morning. When we got to the show site, the grass was still wet with dew, and it smelled really great. We set our table up beside some other folks who were showing a Siberian Husky puppy themselves for the first time, just like TBC and Margi were showing me for the first time themselves. I was the only Cairn in the show, and I kept my nose down a little too much, but didn't do too badly. Maybe I am getting the hang of outdoor shows. So I got ribbons for First in my group and Best Puppy in Breed and Winners Dog and Best in Breed. Yeah, I know, the competition wasn't too stiff, but the Siberian Husky was the only one in his breed, and the judge refused to give him Best in Breed because he wasn't behaving in the ring. TBC and Margi didn't know that could happen. Then we had to wait around an hour and a half or so until the group judging. There were 12 dogs in the group, and I didn't place, but it was good practice for Margi to handle me in a show ring with a bunch of other breeds. After that was the puppy group, and by this time I was getting a bit bored with walking around in circles and was paying more attention to what was going on outside the ring, but TBC and Margi seemed to think I had done pretty well, and that it had been a good show.

Then home to Port. TBC wasn't feeling well, and he went to bed. I licked him for awhile but that didn't do much good, so Margi and I went down to the beach and I waded in the lake and dug holes in the sand and got really dirty. All in all a great weekend.

Tuesday, August 17

Well, TBC is feeling a lot better. Devil and Ceilidh (two of my c.t. friends) had upset stomachs too, from eating crabapples. Maybe that was TBC's problem. He scared the bejesus out of me yesterday afternoon. He was lying on the bed in the bedroom, and I was lying beside the bed, playing the man's best friend role. I guess I must have gone to sleep, and when I woke up, I forgot that TBC was on the bed. He turned over, and I had no idea who it was. So I ran over to the door, which luckily was open, and started barking violently at whoever was in the bed. TBC in typical fashion, let me bark for about 3 minutes before calling me. Did I ever feel stupid! So much for the m.b.f. role.

Sunday, August 22

A good weekend. We had a dinner party Friday night for a couple of Margi's friends who were back from a year of sailing in the Bahamas. It doesn't sound like much of a life for a dog, even a cairn terrier who loves to travel. Their stories of crossing the gulf stream were downright scary. I demonstrated the sort of trip which cairn terriers would prefer by climbing up on the deck railing and looking down fearlessly at the ground far below.

Saturday morning TBC was off to the village to give one of his historical walking tours, and suggested to Margi that she and I come along. So that was good, except the historical part, which was pretty boring. The walk ends up by crossing the lift bridge. I wasn't paying that much attention, and started across, and then all of a sudden looked down. There was nothing beneath me except water. I really freaked out. TBC and Margi probably did this deliberately to get even with me for climbing on the deck railing the previous evening, but it was all I could do not to disgrace myself on the spot. I just froze, and Margi had to pick me up and carry me across. Then when the walk was over, TBC tried to coax me to walk back myself. No way. I mean, I am as brave as the next cairn, but I'm not stupid. I don't understand how Margi and TBC can walk across like they do. Maybe they just don't look down.

Saturday afternoon we drove up to St. Thomas to take some books back to the library and discovered that there was a street fair going on on the main street with roller coasters and ferris wheels and games of chance and booths selling food. So we walked around and I did my best to scarf up all the garbage which was on the ground. We met Mrs. Eveland, who was really glad to see me and made a big fuss over me, and we met a family from St. Thomas who own a cairn terrier.

This morning was our final conformation show handling lesson with Roy. We were the only ones there, which gave us the chance to tell him all about how well Margi and I had performed at the St. Catherine's show last week, and he gave us some final pointers. We are going to a show in Leamington for 3 consecutive days on Labour Day weekend, so that will be fun. Ah, it's an exciting life.

Monday, August 30

Another great weekend. I can always tell when something is up because TBC and Margi get out the suitcases and load my sleeping crate in the back seat. I didn't think we were going to another dog show until next weekend, so didn't quite know what to expect, but I am always up for whatever is going on. We drove for quite a while, and then stopped at a sort of crummy motel with dirty brown carpet with stains on it. Not our usual standard. I hope the money isn't running out. We were only there a few minutes and then we drove on to Kincardine where a big crowd of people had gathered. I still couldn't quite figure out what was going on, except there were a bunch of people milling around playing the bagpipes, so I figured it was a Margi type thing. We got out of the car, and there were Nancy and Rob. We hadn't seen them since the end of June. So joyful reunion time. It was a real crowd scene with everyone milling around a beer tent and eating hotdogs and corn. Great snarfing up opportunities. We all went for a walk down to the beach, and I got to run into the waves, except TBC wouldn't let me off the lead, so I only got wet up to my shoulders. Then back to the car where Margi changed into her band uniform and went off to join the other pipers. The rest of us found a spot to stand and watch all the pipers go by. TBC has been reading on the cairn list this morning about cairn's who don't like thunder. They should try watching a parade of 275 pipers and drummers. Mind you, phobias are funny things. There was a bridge at Kincardine that we had to walk over. It was a solid cement bridge, but had a metal railing. I insisted on walking on the road side of the sidewalk, as far as I could get from the railing. I am a great climber, and don't mind looking down at things from a dizzy height, but that Port Stanley bridge last week really scared me. Anyway, I am getting sidetracked. We had to wait quite a while for the parade to start so I spent the time practicing my starving dog act on people eating ice cream cones. I would spot one of them in the crowd while TBC was busy talking to Nancy and Rob, and then edge up to them and sit down beside them, staring with great intensity at every bite. This would amuse all the other people standing around, who would make remarks to the people with the ice cream cones like "Hey, aren't you going to share any of that". TBC was doing his best to ignore all this, and I did get several bites of ice cream. Then the massed pipers and drummers all paraded past, including Margi. After they had passed, Nancy and TBC and Rob and I joined a thousand or so other people and fell in behind the bands and we walked for maybe a mile behind the parade. All sorts of people stopped us to admire me and pat me. "Great way to meet Babes," according to Richard Lanning, a friend of TBCs who was there.

So by this time it was dark, and TBC didn't want me to get stepped on in the crowd around the beer tent, so I got put in the car for a little while, and then Margi and TBC and I drove back to the crummy motel which we had stopped at earlier.

The next morning Rob and Nancy came over to the motel and we spent some time showing them pictures of the summer, and Nancy told us about her summer teaching Highland Dancing at Camp Borden, and her bug taxonomy course and we talked about her trip to Hawaii with Rob next week. Then we went for a really long walk in a conservation area beside the Maitland River and I chased leaves and made friends with a golden retriever and walked and ran for miles and miles. Then back to the car for a long drink of water and I slept all the way home.

Thursday, Sept. 2

Up to London to visit the Jaansoo dogs this evening. Man, are they ever lucky. Shadow (Devil's litter mate) was staying with them and Devil and he and I had a wonderful time. We ran and rolled and screwed each other and Devil tried to chew my leg off and I tried to chew his balls off. It was really great. We were just fooling around of course. Devil and I are going to be competing against each other at a dog show this weekend.

It would be so incredibly exciting to live in a household with four other dogs. TBC had a manic depressive patient who came into his office one day and said, "Doc, if I were any happier I couldn't stand it". When I am playing with the Jaansoo dogs I know how he felt.

Monday, Sept.6

"In order to insure that your Cairn Terrier puppy's personality and intelligence reaches its full potential, frequent stimulation with new sights, smells, sounds and situations is imperative. One of the best ways of achieving this goal is with frequent trips to dog shows and other venues where your dog will have the opportunity to sample a full panoply of personality expanding experiences. On such excursions it is mandatory that your dog be allowed to walk around and if possible visit with cairn friends. Although the pernicious habit of "crating" must in general be discouraged, if the weather is very hot short periods in a crate with an ice pack on the floor and a fan on the door may be permissible. Good food and drink and a constant supply of garlic fried chicken is of course mandatory. Periods of time in the show ring must always be balanced with recreational activity such as runs on the beach to find dead fish to roll in, or lengthy rambles in the woods to find patches of burrs to delve into."

O.K., I just made that up. But Hey, while Nancy is in Hawaii, I think this site should be a source of good solid advice to other Cairn owners. I mean, that paragraph is the sort of thing people could print out on little cards and hand to new owners.

As you may gather, we had a great time in Leamington. I am not sure I can remember everything we did. We went down Saturday morning, and after checking into our motel, met Janine and Devil at the show. Margi did all the pre show grooming again, and hadled me in the ring, which was O.K. and there was lots to see and smell. Then we went for a long walk along the beach with Janine and Devil. Devil didn't seem to want to get his feet wet, but I think he had fun anyway. I was too busy running into the waves and digging in the sand to spend much time with him, but then we all went over to our motel, and Devil and I had the chance to wrestle and roll around on the bed. Then TBC and Margi and Janine went out for dinner while I watched the passing scene from the rear window of the car. Back to our motel for a good night's sleep. The next morning we drove down to Port Pelee and went for a long walk along a nature trail. There were full size statues of people along the trail which all had to be barked at furiously. Then to the dog show, where Devil and I got beaten by a Cairn with a real poofty hairdo ("Really, my dear") and then Devil and Janine had to get back to London but TBC and Margi and I went for another long walk at Point Pelee on a board walk that wound its way through a marsh, and we met a lot of people who wanted to stop and pet me. Dinner and bed, and then we were up and drove down to Amherstburg and saw the far end of Lake Erie. Back to the dog show in the afternoon. It had been raining off and on so that the grass smelled really good, and Devil and I got to play a bit while I was waiting for puppy group. Margi didn't want me to get too mussed up, which I guess was reasonable, because it had been a really good weekend, and Janine thought I almost won the puppy group. We are going to Oakville next Sunday.

Sunday, Sept. 12

Welcome back from Hawaii Nancy. It sounds like you had a great time except for Rob stepping on the sea urchin and all. Tell him if he's not in a dog show he should keep his head down. And you pee on funny looking rocks, you don't kick them.

Speaking of dog shows, I have finished my show career as a puppy. The next time I compete I will be in the adult dog class. TBC says, "And it only seems like yesterday that we were at his first show". That is the sort of thing you say when you get old. It has been a long hard slog. Well, no, that's not true either. Every show has been fun. TBC, who keeps track of these things, says I have competed against 20 puppies (counting repeats) and only been defeated twice.

We went down to Burlington on Saturday afternoon after Margi had finished piping with the band at the Western Fair, and stayed at a really nice Comfort Inn with a bunch of other show dogs. That let us get to the site of the show in good time on Sunday. It was at a big Provincial Park, so we parked in a shady spot under a tree, and went for a long walk around the park. There was a Great Dane next to us that I made friends with. He kept putting his paw on top of me to try and hold me down. When Margi started grooming me TBC went off to look for Janine and the other cairns, and the Dane's owner held me for Margi. Then we went and socialized with Devil and the others, and then competed and I won a bunch of ribbons. TBC thinks I am pretty good now at holding my head up compared to when I was a little puppy in Sarnia and Woodstock. The judge was really nice, even if he did tell me I was no gentleman for peeing on one of the ring markers.

We didn't get home until about 7:00. I was really tired and went to sleep in front of the fireplace with my paws in the air, which always freaks TBC out. It's a good life.

Friday, Sept. 17

Nancy!

TBC is being weird again. I mean, when I was little this wasn't so bad, but now that I am an adolescent dog, and have a lot of cairn terrier acquaintances, and get around to dog shows and such, I don't want to have an attached human acting weird. You grew up O.K. Nancy. How did you cope with the problem? What I am talking about is his latest contribution to the Cairn list, which is read by hundreds of cairn owners all over the world, and he goes and posts things like this:

"With a full moon due next week, I thought it might be appropriate to warn the List of the dangers of Lycanthropy. Lycanthropy, as I am sure everybody realizes, is the condition in which you believe yourself to be a wolf. Less well known is the fact that there are wereleopards, werelions, werefoxes, werecats, werebirds, wererabbits and even weregerbils. I am quoting the Toronto Globe and Mail here, which cites an article by psychiatrists at McLean Hospital in Massachusetts.

Can werecairns be far behind?

In the interests of preserving the mental health of the readers of the Cairn List, and perhaps even breaking new psychiatric ground, I would like to suggest six early warning signs of werecairnism.

1. When the moon is full, you feel an irresistible urge to unexpectedly leap on your significant other and lick them wildly. We are not talking about a little gentle sexual titillation here, but something more in the nature of a full body wet towel massage.

2. If an object on the mantel has been moved more than 12 inches, you feel that you have to announce the fact with a five minute volley of barking. After all, it could have been done by aliens who snuck into the house from a space ship which landed on the front lawn when no one was looking.

3. You get sudden urges to run around the house wildly with your ears laid back, just because it feels good to run around the house wildly with your ears laid back.

4. When getting up from an impromptu nap you always give a "Cairn shake" to get your hair feeling right.

5. You tend to double pee on things (sticks, rocks, leaves). Why be half safe?

6. You feel that any animal or animate object more than ten times bigger than you are should be treated aggressively. The best defense is a strong offence. Besides, potential opponents smaller than this can always be beaten in a fair fight. It is only the real biggies that may require a bit of preliminary intimidation.

If you exhibit any of these tendencies, please examine your canine teeth carefully in the mirror next week. You may require dental assistance.

So what did you do Nancy? Just pretend you didn't know him? I guess you just have to say, "There goes TBC being weird again", and get on with your life.

Sunday, Sept. 19

Today was the big Cairn terrier Fun Day at the Mair's place just east of Woodstock.

There were over 100 Cairns there, and I probably got to meet about a quarter of them. Great socializing, although maybe not as much fun as a dog show where there are a bunch of different breeds. It was still a good afternoon. We put our lawn chairs next to my old litter mate Henry, and I really enjoyed getting reacquainted. Gracie and Halo were there too, and I said "Hello", but didn't get much time to play with them. Remember that Gracie and I did the puppy socialization class together, and then we went on to different adult obedience classes? Well, it turns out that Gracie won the final competition in her adult obedience. Dog, are we a talented litter, or what? Devil and all the Jaansoo dogs were there, and Linda Kettlewell of course. She thought I was looking good. She was trying to persuade me to make friends with a pet mouse she had, which was a bit strange. I mean, I think it was probably a nice enough mouse, but it was in a plastic cage so you couldn't really play with, and all the other cairns there seemed a lot more interesting to socialize with. The idea was that you met the mouse, and then you crawled through a wooden tunnel to sniff at it again. Some of the dogs did it. I guess some dogs are pretty hard up for friends. Maybe I missed the point.

Then there was an obstacle course. The most interesting part of that was bales of straw which you could pee on. This is really a good idea. TBC should get a couple of them and put them beside our driveway, so that all the dogs in the neighbourhood could pee on them, and I could go out every hour or so and smell who had been along and pee on them myself. The dogs who had kids with them had to do things like climb over the bales of straw, which didn't look like a lot of fun, but their kids were enjoying it.

Another thing which was a bit strange was a cage which you got into with three other dogs, and when the doors were opened you were supposed to chase a pink stuffed toy on a string which they pulled down the middle of a race course. That probably would have been fun if you were by yourself looking for excitement, but since there were 3 other dogs there that you hadn't met, you would have to be a bit anitisocial to go off and chase a stuffed toy, wouldn't you?

There was also an agility course where you jumped over bars and ran through a yellow plastic tunnel. Well, yeah, but "Why?". I mean you are supposed to wake up in the morning and say to yourself, "Think I will go out and jump through some hoops today?" Oh well, anything to amuse the humans.

When we arrived, there was a conformation show going on for Cairns who weren't show dogs. Not to put too fine a point on it, I saw why, but it was a good way to let a bunch of dogs who don't usually go in the show ring see how much fun that can be. So all in all, it was a good day, and I got to meet a lot of other dogs which was fun, but I don't think it was as much excitement as an actual dog show. I sure was tired when we got home, though.

Friday, Sept. 24

Nancy is coming down tomorrow. TBC and I recorded this really exciting program for her about bird songs because she did that field biology course in the Spring. You are really going to enjoy it Nancy. I have to admit, I got so excited while we were recording it that I had to go out and sit on the step to calm down. Well, I mean, I didn't really think that the birds were there in the TV set, but they might have been, and it was a good excuse to do a lot of barking. Besides, I have to keep practicing to scare off the eagles and falcons and stuff. That is a problem that Cairns who live in the city probably never worry about, but down here on the lake you never know when a hawk or something might swoop in for an easy kill. Hey, I don't even like thinking about it. There was a really high wind yesterday, and an immature whistling swan got blown in to the mouth of our creek. Now THAT is a big bird. And this morning when we woke up there was a Great Blue Heron on the rocks beside the lake. But I think they only eat fish.

Monday, Sept.25

It was great seeing you again, Nancy, and I really enjoyed running around the parking lot with you when Margi was piping. That's the sort of thing that TBC never does. Of course, I wouldn't want him to fall down on his face, which he might do if he tried it. Margi has started taking me for a walk every morning, which is good. The more walks the better.

We didn't have time to watch that exciting bird song program because Nancy was so busy telling us about her trip to Hawaii, but she is coming back for Thanksgiving in a couple of weeks, and we can watch it then. She brought me a really good paper bag from Hawaii which I have spent a lot of time tearing up.

In other news, TBC is talking about building a better railing around the deck so that I can be out there when other people are sitting on the deck I don't like much having to stay in my chicken coop when TBC is sitting reading on the deck and I complain a lot about it. Good old TBC. I hope this isn't another of those things that he talks about for 6 months before doing anything about it.

Speaking of my chicken coop, TBC and Margi were working in the garden yesterday, so I dug a huge hole. When Nancy comes back, I will hide in it and then jump out and scare her. I can also use it to escape from eagles.

Monday, October 4

Happy Birthday to Me

I am one year old today. It has been quite a year, too. When I read back over this journal, I can't believe what a little puppy I once was. I hadn't even met TBC and Margi at that point, and I had never been to Port Stanley, and didn't know what obedience training was all about, and didn't know what fun it was to go traveling, and if you had told me about dog shows I wouldn't have known what you were talking about. Now that I am a year old, no more Best Puppy in Breed rosettes for me!

Speaking of shows, we went to a Wood Show in Woodstock on Saturday. No, really, I am not making this up. I had to wait in the car, so I don't really know what it was all about, but I suppose they judged best stick (the puppy class), and best piece of oak, and best Ash. If you were a piece of wood and won Best in Species then I suppose you would go on and compete in the group ring for Best Hardwood, or Best Softwood, and eventually,... ta Dah ...Best Piece of Wood in Show! Maybe not. I dunno. Wood shows are not half as much fun as dog shows. But TBC bought a bunch of stuff and seemed to have enjoyed the show.

He is talking about a big trip to New Mexico, and I will get to go along. So I will greet the coming year with my usual alert and intelligent expression, trying to remember that I am now a mature dog, and hoping that the coming year turns out to be half as exciting as the year just passed.

Monday October 11

Merry Thanksgiving everyone.

Why don't people say that? Nancy is here, so we are certainly having a merry thanksgiving. It is always fun to have Nancy around, because she plays with me and pays attention to me and stuff, but we seem to do great things when she is here. She arrived Friday afternoon, and then Saturday morning everybody was up early and off to Dorchester where Margi was marching in a parade. It was a really long parade. Nancy and TBC and I parked near where the parade was going to end , and then walked all the way back to the start, which must have been about 3 miles, and then marched back along beside the band. There was a good turnout of dogs to watch the parade. A big Irish Wolfhound went nuts when he saw me, and a black lab pulled over the chair that he was tied to so that he could come up and say Hello. Saturday night we had our big Thanksgiving dinner, with me in my usual spot under the table. Yesterday afternoon I got to hang out on the new fenced in part of the deck while TBC and Margi and Nancy worked on making stepping stones out of cement and coloured glass. The new part of the deck is really nice, except I am not supposed to climb up on the railing. It is about ten feet to the ground, but they worry that I will get excited and try to jump off. Then we went for a long walk on the beach, and I wore myself out running in and out of the waves. I got swept off my feet a couple of times, but TBC had a good hold on my leash so that he could haul me in to shore. He wouldn't let me roll in any of the dead fish, which would have been good for my coat.

I don't understand exactly what Nancy is studying at Queens, but part of it is learning how to assess posture and measure range of movement and stuff. So she and TBC measured me really carefully. I am 11 1/4 inches tall, and 15 inches long, which is supposed to be really good.

Saturday, Oct. 16

Wow, what a great two days! Actually, I should back up a bit to Tuesday night when Jamine dropped over. Janine is my fourth most favourite person in the whole world, and she smelled really interesting. She fussed with me for an hour or two, and then turned me over on my back and pretended I was a dust mop and dusted the sunroom floor with me. TBC and Margi never do things like that.

So I figured a dog show was in the works, and sure enough, Friday morning we went up to London to a huge building with hundred and hundreds of other dogs and a lot of other Cairns. Halo was there, and Devil. And there were about 50 or 100 little kids who kept asking if they could pat me and what kind of dog I was so that they could check me off their list. Before we went in the ring TBC took me for a walk around the whole building and let me say Hello to a lot of them.

Then we went into the ring, and I admit I didn't behave terribly well. The floor smelled interesting, and I kept trying to scarf up bits of bait as we walked. But the judge was good, and seemed to be paying a lot of attention to me. After he had finished examining me he said, "You can tell he is a purebred". Well, duh. What did he think, they found me in a basket in the bulrushes or something? Then later on he asked me and Kieran (another dog in the show) to stand nose to nose. I figured maybe he was going to let us play with each other, so wagged my tail and looked up at him, while Kieran just sort of looked puzzled and backed away. In the end, Devil took Winners dog and I was Reserve Winners. This was really good, because now Devil is a Champion, so Ron and Janine were really pleased. And another really good thing was that Halo took Winner's Bitch so that now she has points towards her Championship. So everybody seemed happy and we came home and I went to sleep in front of the fire.

Saturday we got up in the middle of the night while it was still dark, and all got into the car. This was pretty exciting, but I really had no idea what was going on, because we have never done that before. So we drove up towards London and the sky gradually got lighter. I guess that is how morning happens. Wow. We have really heavy drapes in our bedroom, and I always thought when you went to sleep in was dark and when you woke up it was light. Not that I ever thought about it much, but I guess I figured TBC turned on the sun or something when it was time to get up. So now I know about dawn.

We got up to the same dog show place we had been at yesterday, and went into the ring almost right away for the 12 to 18 month old Sweepstakes. There was another nice judge who kept smiling at me and my ring deportment was exemplary (according to TBC). So I won first place in the Terrier group. Then there was a long wait for the Cairns. There were 23 Cairns in the show, which was a lot of Cairns. We sat and watched the Scotties being judged, and talked to a bunch of people. When we finally got into the ring again, I took first place in my class, but got beaten out for Reserve Winners by Kieren, the same dog that I had beaten the day before. A junior puppy took Winners Dog. I think Halo took Reserve Winner's Bitch, but I'm not too sure because right away we had to go back in another ring for the Sweepstakes final. An Irish wolf hound won that.

Then back to Port Stanley. It was a beautiful October day, and TBC sat out on the deck reading, and Margi was raking leaves while I sat on top of the patio table. You get a great view from there. You can watch the waves pounding in against the shore, and listen to the leaves rustling down off the trees, and keep an eye open for any cats who might be skulking around the boundaries. I started thinking about how lucky I was, and wondering if any of the other dogs at the show had this great of a life. And then I started thinking about all the other poor dogs who don't even get to go to dog shows, or the dogs who do get to go to shows but don't want to be there.

Eventually we went back inside, and TBC gave me a Buster Cube which he had bought for me because he thought I had behaved so well in the Sweepstakes ring, so I played with that for an hour or so and then went to sleep under the dining room table. Life doesn't get much better. And there is another show tomorrow.

Sunday, October 17

Hey, remember me telling you about teaching myself how to howl? I haven't been practicing much, but I knew it would come in handy some day. Yesterday at the dog show I was sitting on top of my grooming table. TBC wasn't around, and I was feeling a bit bored. There were a group of Basenjis in their crates just next to us, and they all started howling, so I joined in and howled harmony. I wanted all the other cairns who were in a clump around us to join in too, but I guess they didn't know how. Too bad. I think it would be really great if we could form a choir, and travel around the country giving concerts. Anyway, then we went in the ring, and I took Reserve Winners again. TBC said he was really proud of my behaviour.

After we got home, the Paveys and their friends the Benoits came over and we had a big party. I hadn't met any of then before, but the Paveys are Betty's parents. All nice people who like dogs.

Thursday, October 21

I forgot to mention one of the best parts of last weekend. Remember my good old sheep? Well, after I disemboweled it, I assumed that it had gone to that great slaughterhouse in the sky, or wherever it is that disemboweled sheep go to. But after the show on Saturday, it suddenly reappeared, all stitched up. So I have been having a great time with it, and trying to be a bit gentle. Love that sheep. I think I will take it to New Mexico with me, although TBC may have different ideas.

We have a new tradition. Margi has started giving me a dog biscuit at about 10 o'clock in the evening. I play with it for a few minutes, and then give it to TBC, who hides it in his pocket or under the chesterfield cushions, and then I find it and eat it. Speaking of eating, it finally dawned on me that when TBC has breakfast and lunch in the sunroom, he usually sits on the front 10 inches of his chair. This leaves room for a stealthy cairn terrier to jump up behind him and sneak his nose around to the table every so often.

High winds last night, and great leaf chasing when we went out for our bedtime walk. I love this time of year.

Monday, October 25

A good weekend with Bob and Marion. Bob and Marion were the folks I met on that weekend we spent in the condo in Toronto four months ago. They aren't used to having cairn terriers around. Marion kept leaving her purse or her needlepoint or her shoes someplace where I could grab them, and then the chase would be on. Except with 4 people to corner me, it wasn't really fair. Never mind, when I get frustrated, there is always my sheep to beat up on. This is probably why other families have these dominance problems you hear about. In our house, everyone knows that the sheep is the low creature on the totem pole, and anyone who wants to kick it around can. Good old sheep. It's holding up very well.

Another dog show coming up in Toronto, which will be fun. I expect Halo and Devil will win, but Nancy and Rob are coming down for the show, and Linda Kettlewell is going to be there and of course Janine. All my favourite people. Janine asked TBC if he would hold Devil for her. You would think he might have said "No". Sometimes I wonder if TBC's competitive instincts aren't as sharp as they used to be. The effect of ageing, probably. Oh well, I can't talk. In the last dog show, the judge wanted to square me off with another dog (this was in the Sweepstakes Saturday morning). I had no idea what was going on, so I just wagged my tail like crazy and kept looking up at the judge to see what he wanted me to do. I guess the other dog was equally mystified, because he sort of backed away. Apparently I was supposed to act fierce. Which seems silly, because it was another Cairn. Mind you, I have met some Cairns at shows who seem a bit snappish. I always just figure they are having a bad hair day and ignore them.

Sunday, October 31

Another great dog show weekend. And guess what, Halo finished her championship. Of course, you know that already Nancy, because you were there, but didn't I say last April that she was a great looking chick? So I am really proud of her.

As soon as Margi got back from her piping lesson on Friday we loaded up the car and headed down the 401. I wasn't sure whether it was going to be a dog show weekend or not, but after we checked into the motel, we went and found a big trade center and set up our grooming table and walked around a bit just to get the feel of the place. It always makes you feel that there are an awful lot of other dogs in the world. Then back to our motel and out to dinner. After dinner, TBC took me out for our evening walk in a big grassy area behind the motel. There were some other dogs around, and lots of good smells, so I was just enjoying nosing around when all of a sudden I caught sight of Janine and Devil and Halo coming out of one of the other rooms. Wow, was I ever excited. So I towed TBC across the grass. I wish he would learn to run. When something exciting like that happens it is like trying to run with a 150 pound weight attached to your neck. But eventually we got over to say Hello and then we all went back to our room and Devil and Halo and I had a wonderful time running around the room and rolling around on the bed and crawling all over TBC. Margi took some good pictures, but discovered when we got home to Port that there was no film in her camera. Duh!

So anyway, the next morning we were up pretty early, and did the show thing, and then spent the afternoon doing some shopping and walking around Unionville. There were a huge number of people taking wedding pictures. None of them seemed to want a good looking cairn terrier in their pictures, but a lot of people were nice to me.

The next morning we just sort of hung around the motel because I had an afternoon ring time. TBC moved a chair over to the window so I could watch what was going on outside the window. And then Nancy and Rob arrived. I think humans often know in advance that these things are going to happen. Being a dog is different. You just take things as they come, but that can be good too. I was really happy to see Rob and Nancy, and they came to the dog show and watched me do my thing. Linda was there too, and of course I was glad to see her again. She told Margi to strip my head off tomorrow, but I think that was just a Halloween joke. Devil got Best of Breed, but we didn't stay around to see how he did in group. We got home and lit a fire and I got my sheep. TBC remarked, rather unkindly I thought, "Go ahead, Hamish, at the rate you're going that may be all you get". He is just mad at that remark I made about him losing his competitive edge as he ages. Maybe he does have an edge after all. I should watch my mouth.

As we were having supper, a bunch of kids came to the door dressed up in costumes, but I was too tired to really pay much attention. Oh well, Margi got pictures of them all with her camera that didn't have any film in it. HaHaHa.