Wiggle - Day 1,290

Our first night in London started off with a good sleep for everyone - on my bed! Wiggle was on the bed when I went to sleep and Sofy was in the spare room. Then I woke in the night and found Sofy had come in with us. An hour or so later, I woke to find Toby making himself comfortable next to my pillow! Beenz had gone to bed in his own doggy bed in his bedroom and didn't bother coming up the extra flight of stairs.

This morning, once everyone had had their post-breakfast nap, we headed off to Nonsuch Park for our walk. Toby and Beenz were running around with the ball:

Having fun, running around:

Toby and Beenz lost interest in the ball:

While Wiggle and Sofy were still playing ballgames:

Four Happy Lab's:

Sofy's efforts to get fit!

Wiggle goes off by himself:

Quick stop before we headed back to the car:

Toby and Wiggle, letting me know they think its dinner time:

As this will be our last post of 2011, we with everyone a very happy, healthy and safe New Year!

Wiggle - Day 1,289

We're in London! We were up and away quite early this morning, arriving before lunchtime at Toby & Beenz's house where we are house-sitting for the week while their humans are on holiday.

After everyone had had their dinner, Wiggle and Sofy had their evening walk. Sofy was bemused at the amount of noise and traffic but once they were home again, everyone started to settle down for the evening.

Toby, Wiggle and Sofy were upstairs:

Before they got on the sofa:

Relaxed Toby:

Beenz was downstairs in the snug:

And now as I type, all 4 are upstairs, on the sofa's, snoring out of synch!

Following on from yesterdays blog, special thanks to Ray for the 'green bean diet' suggestion - Sofy loves them! She's now having them added in to her kibble...

Wiggle - Day 1,288

Oh dear.... Poor Sofy has had a bad day. It wasn't bad enough that she went to the vet for her annual check-up and booster, so the prickly little jab, but the vet said she's fat..

In Sofy's defence, she's not been laying in the most flattering position. And she had just had her dinner before she went to the vet. And, um, to be fair, she doesn't run too much ...


Poor Sofy, I do love her though!
Sofy will be upset when she see's her kibble in her bowl and finds there's less than there used to be.....

Wiggle - Day 1,287

Today I was back at work, so it was a normal sort of a mid-week day for Wiggle and Sofy. They didn't seem to mind getting back into their usual routine and were probably glad to be able to sleep as much as they wanted and not pretend to take an interest in whatever I was doing!

This evening, after their dinner and walk, they are both settled in for the evening, for more snoozing....

Wiggle - Day 1,286

We're back after taking a couple of days off from blogging. Wiggle and Sofy have had a very nice couple of days, starting with opening their Christmas gifts.

They were VERY lucky and had lots of gifts!

They had to wait until Christmas evening to open them though, but I don't think they minded. I'd been to my parents for lunch and brought back plenty of roast turkey dinner leftovers for them. After they'd filled themselves with dinner, it was on to the presents, with Wiggle straight in, opening one of the gifts his girlfriend Lucy had sent:

Sofy was very excited to open a present and find chewy sticks inside - so excited, that she took the pack to bed!

"We're very lucky Labs! Thank you for our gifts"

Although they would have been happy to eat and play with all their gifts, they only had one chewy bone each:

Happily chomping:

After all the extra snacks and goodies, Sofy fell asleep, paw over her head, as if to say "no more, I'm stuffed!"

Thank you for all their gifts!

Wiggle - Day 1,283

Wiggle and Sofy probably thought it was a work day today as we were up at our usual time and then I left them at 8.15am. I'd actually gone to finish off my Christmas shopping so they were surprised when I came home a couple of hours later!

While I sat on the floor, wrapping gifts, Wiggle watched, with some interest:

"Those must all be for me!"

"Well, maybe a few are for me?"

Sofy, was not taking any interest at all!

Sofy did have an exciting news-worthy moment earlier when she finally ended wee strike and pee'd by the patio!

23rd December

In 2005, 23rd December was also a Friday. I'll always remember, as it was the day I said goodbye for my first rescue Labrador, the very special Guinness.

Guinness, or Gdog was the sweetest, kindest Labrador and was such a good dog that he showed me that rescue dogs have so much to offer. Today, as always on the 23rd December, I think of Gdog and tonight wanted to look back on previous Christmas times...

Gdog, sitting on the chair by the Christmas tree:

The year after we'd said goodbye to Guinness, my Christmas angels were Poppy and Bumpy:

The next year, sadly Poppy had passed away, but Dolly was with us and with Bumpy, came to my parents for Christmas day:

Fate decided that neither Dolly not Bumpy were to celebrate another Christmas, but it wasn't a sad time, as Wiggle had arrived!

Gorgeous old Sir H and Wiggle, humouring me with their reindeer antlers:

2009 and Sir H was warm in his fleece, rolling in the December sunshine:

Then Wiggle was opening his Christmas presents:

And on to last Christmas, Wiggle and Sofy, visiting friends in London for the holidays:

Snowy walk in Richmond Park:

This year, with Wiggle and Sofy, we'll be making more memories, but for today, 23rd December, this blog entry is in memory of Guinness. The Brightest Star in the Sky:

Wiggle - Day 1,281

Time to open the Advent calendar:

With a little help, it didn't take long to get out a little cookie!

Wiggle - Day 1,280

Oh dear..... It's that time of year when Wiggle and Sofy have to suffer the humiliation and embarassment of Christmas reindeer antlers.....

Personally, I think they look very cute. And also very funny!

Sofy disagree's with me:
While Wiggle decided to just be handsome and put up with the antlers...

Wiggle - Day 1,279

Up until today, some of the Christmas cards we had received had been on the fireplace, looking all festive. Tonight though, Wiggle decided to do some modifications....

And after a lot of boinging, took a card to his bed!

Once the card had been extracted from Wiggle's mouth, he went to see where the others had gone - and was disappointed to find they'd all been removed:

Who'd have thought this sleepy, angelic looking Wiggle could have had a naughty 5 minutes?

Wiggle - Day 1,278

By now, all of Wiggle's sponsors and supporters (that we know of!) should have received their Christmas card, but for everyone who reads this blog and who's address we don't have, here's our Christmas card to you!

Without the support of donations to Labrador Rescue South East & Central, Wiggle wouldn't be living the life he does, looking so well and happy, with a beautiful coat of shiny fur. The regular donations are really appreciated, especially as Wiggle still has to have the Atopica to stop his allergies starting back up and making him itch and scratch.

I can honestly say that I don't know what I'd do without Wiggle - he is the best boy in the whole world and I love him so much and I will be forever grateful to LRSE&C and the donations which enable the charity to keep Wiggle healthy. I never fail to be touched by the kindness he received; the donations, the messages of support, the emails he gets and just knowing that so many other people share my love for him.

We've been lucky enough to meet some of Wiggle's supporters but I know there are many, many more people out there who we've never met and probably, never will.

We thank you very much indeed and with only 6 sleeps to go, we wish you a Very Merry Christmas!