Number58

It’s Hallowe’en and one of our local shops really entered into the ‘spirit’ of things with the staff all dressed up as witches, warlocks and ghouls.

But Harry got a bit perplexed when he saw this very thin gentlemen. He couldn’t believe his eyes and was all, Look! Look! This is what will happen to me if you don’t give me enough treats!

In keeping with all the Hallowe’en masks and costumes that will be making an appearance tomorrow night, Harry and Blaze have been practising their own version of scary.

Somehow I don’t think we’ll be letting him answer the door.

Although Harry has a new cushion pad for the bottom of his bed he’s showing great reluctance to change. He just loves the one that’s in there now, so as long as he doesn’t start to chew at the small hole in it, we’re just going to leave it in there for a while longer.

In fact, since the weather turned colder he’s also stashed his spare cushion in there – the very small one he used when he first came to Number 58. It makes for a very warm and cosy den, one which he’s very partial to, and one which he doesn’t like to leave first thing in the morning. Harry has never been an early riser, but on these chilly mornings it’s proving very difficult to get him to leave his bed. Instead of greeting us at the kitchen door, he now just lies there thumping his tail with pleasure.

As far as Harry is concerned he’s had a brilliant week this week. He’s done lots of trips out to shops, supermarkets, cafes and the pet shop and travelled by bus, train and car. His fitness levels are returning to normal and he has much more stamina than he did last week, so he’s been able to manage a couple of much longer free runs on the moors and in the woods.

Harry’s also been on a weekend away. This was a great treat for Harry as it meant a couple of trips to the beach. Harry loves the beach – his nose starts to twitch with pleasure as soon as we’re within striking distance of the sea. By the time we’re parking the car he’s almost delirious with excitement, and trying to walk the last few yards down to the beach on the lead is almost more than he can bear.

Harry had a marvellous time playing in the waves, even if the water was freezing cold, but his favourite thing to do on the beach is digging. And when there’s already a huge hole there, that someone else started, well he just has to lend a hand. Or should that be paw?

Blaze came to visit Harry again today, but as the weather is so cold at the moment they only got to play inside. Harry was a little bit wary, because the last time Blaze came to visit she turfed him out of his own bed and Harry wasn’t going to let that happen again.

So this time he decided to offer a diversion in the shape of his current favourite toy – the one with no name. It’s a little bit the worse for wear now, but Harry still loves it, so it was a great honour for Blaze that he offered to share it with her.

Harry thought it would be great fun to play tug of war, but a 9 month old pup against one only 9 weeks old isn’t really what you would call fair. But Blaze didn’t seem to mind.

No trip “up north” would be complete without a trip to the beach – Harry’s idea of heaven, so on Saturday morning we took we took him down to Tynemouth beach.

Harry, inspired by tales of local celebrity Harvey the surfing Labrador, decided that anything Harvey could do, he could do better. After a good look round the beach to make sure Harvey wasn’t around to steal the limelight, Harry bravely strode out into the surf and selected his wave.

But as the wave crested and then broke, Harry lost his nerve decided that maybe surfing wasn’t really for him. He ran back to the shore as fast as could, the wave nipping at his heels all the way.

As he recovered his composure back on the beach, Harry decided to stick with what he does best – digging holes in the sand. Besides, he doesn’t have a surfboard, and everyone knows you can’t really surf without a board.

From now on Harry’s going to let Harvey have all the glory and he’ll stick to watching from a distance – on YouTube.

Although Harry really enjoys his free runs, it’s usually on the moors, along the river, at the nature reserve or in the woods.

This evening, as we were staying up in the North East, we took Harry for a free run along some farm tracks.  Open farmland is not something he normally sees, so he got a bit of a shock when he saw a recently harvested cornfield for the first time. He didn’t really know what to do. He stood and looked at it for a while and then he went to investigate, but it was much too prickly underfoot.

So he did what any self respecting puppy would do, he found the ditch that ran along the edge, dived in and ran the full length of the field, emerging at the other end totally covered in mud.

Harry has a pad that sits in the bottom of his bed. Somehow, when he was wrestling in it with Blaze a couple of days ago, a small hole appeared. Although Harry hasn’t really noticed it yet, the hole seems to be getting bigger, so today we took him to the pet shop to but a new one.

Harry loves it so much that we didn’t even get a chance to put it in his bed. As soon as it was out of the packaging he laid claim to it, and he wasn’t moving off it for anything. Except maybe his dinner.

Harry has had a much more interesting week this week as things have returned to normal after his operation. Once his stitches came out on Saturday morning it was all systems go and he couldn’t wait to out free running again, and although his general fitness level is not quite what it was, it doesn’t seem to slow him down – he just sleeps a lot more when he gets back home.

Harry’s fur has started to grow back in again, but he still has quite a bald patch where they took a biopsy of his skin to investigate the cause of the red patch around his neck. The good news is that the results have come back negative for all of the ominous things it might have been, but the bad news is that the vet can’t say for certain exactly what’s causing it. The best guess is a mild form of dermatitis which he’ll probably grow out of – it’s the equivalent of suffering from a bad case of teenage spots!

On top of all the prodding and poking that Harry’s endured recently, he’s also had to suffer further a further assault on one of his paws. A lump appeared last week, which then became raw and sore, so the vet has been prodding and poking that too. The verdict is that it’s another teenage ailment and it’ll disappear as fast as it appeared.

Harry’s also had a visit from his supervisor this week, who came to check on his progress. After observing Harry in his home environment, they went for a ride on the bus together. Harry, of course, thought it was a great opportunity to show off and behaved perfectly, apart from trying eat a bus ticket which had been discarded on the floor of the bus.

Harry’s best bit of the week was when Blaze came to visit. He really loved having her around, despite the fact that she kicked him out and took possession of his bed. He was distraught when she left and cried by the front door for a full twenty minutes.

Harry would probably deny it, but he’s already putty in her paws. There’s going to be a time, in the not so distant future, when she’s going to run rings around him.

Harry’s delighted to be back in circulation as it means he gets to socialise with other puppies again. This morning he had a real treat when 9 week old Blaze came to stay for a couple of hours. Harry has met Blaze before, but only briefly, so today was a great opportunity for the two of them to get to know each properly, as they’ll probably be seeing quite a lot of each other in the coming months.

Harry was the perfect gentleman and stayed in his basket while Blaze had a good look round, then she decided it was time to check out both Harry and his very comfortable looking bed.

Harry started to look a little worried as Blaze clambered into his bed, she was determined that there was room inside for both of them, but Harry wasn’t so sure.

Blaze immediately set about making herself comfortable but Harry was in the way, so she wriggled and tried to wrestle him out of the way. Harry loves his bed and wasn’t giving it up that easily, and he was all Harumph! I’m not moving. This is MY bed!

But Harry learned a valuable lesson today, and that is, that one way or another, girls ALWAYS get their own way.

Although Harry was not impressed with his trip to the vet to have his stitches removed (it tickled too much), he was more than delighted to be allowed to go free running again. Although it wasn’t a particularly long run, and he wasn’t allowed to play in the mud or the stream (he has an open wound on his paw – but that’s a whole different story), he really enjoyed it.  At one point he stopped to take in the view, as if to say Ah! I remember this.