Number58

At the start of this week Harry was still on holiday and although he was visiting different shops, cafes and garden centres in a different town, he still remembered all his training and behaved really well.

Harry was also having lots of fun on the beach, especially when some friends came to visit us and he found a new playmate – someone that was prepared to paddle in the sea with him and wave large bits of seaweed around for him to chase after.

Harry chasing seaweed

Once we got back home, the first thing Harry did was charge straight through to the kitchen, where he threw himself down on his bed with a sigh. We could almost hear him thinking “Ah, there’s nothing quite like my own bed!”

Harry settled back into his normal routine with no problem at all,  we thought he might miss going for a free run on the beach every day, but it didn’t happen. He was more than happy to go on his training walks and really enjoyed being out and about in town again, especially when it meant travelling by train.

This week we also took Harry on a visit to see our previous pup Alfie who qualified with his owner back in July. Although they had never met before they got on really well, and hopefully Harry picked up a few hints and tips from him.

Of course, being back home meant that he got to see his pal, Guide Dog pup Blaze. She is starting to look so grown up now and has a habit of tilting her head in a very flirty kind of way. Sometimes it almost looks as though she’s fluttering her eyelashes – a fact that is not entirely lost on Harry.

Blaze looking cute

Normally this post would be full of the things Harry’s has done throughout the last week, but today is New Year’s Eve and we have been reminiscing about some of the things that Harry has achieved throughout 2008.

When he first arrived with us back in March, Harry had a problem sleeping through the night – we did too, courtesy of all the wailing he did, but after a while he settled into routine and we all managed to get a decent night’s sleep.

Harry after a rough night

Our next challenge was to get Harry comfortable travelling in the car, something that proved very difficult until his good pal, and older Guide Dog pup Goldie, helped us out. She showed Harry how to travel without squawking and deafening everyone in the car. Goldie was also on hand when Harry started travelling by train during May. In fact, Harry learned an awful lot from Goldie before she went off to do her advanced training.

Harry and Goldie on the train

As a result Harry now travels exceedingly well on all sorts of public transport and really enjoys going into town on the bus or train to go shopping.

Harry also now has good social skills, he knows how to sit quietly, tucked under the table in a cafe or restaurant and can even be relied on to lie still for a whole hour when he attends Pilates classes. He even enjoys his occasional visits to the Girl Guide meetings.

2008 hasn’t all been work for Harry though, he’s enjoyed some great holidays – in June he had his first trip to the beach  Harry loves the sea, his nose positively twitches in pleasure as we approach the coast, and playing on the beach is his number one pleasure in life. Harry still remembers to behave like a good Guide Dog pup, even when he’s on holiday and always comes back when called.

Harry at the beach

July saw Harry go to the Guide Dog Gala Day where he won a rosette and a few weeks later he won another when he managed to gain his Kennel Club Good Citizen Bronze Award. Harry’s obedience has always been excellent but we were very proud of him when he achieved this award at such a young age.

Harry had another holiday, this time in the Lake District. He learnt such a lot from all the working Guide Dogs he met at the hotel – he even became much more patient when shopping,  something he has learned to enjoy, although if he had his choice he’d probably never set foot in another shoe shop in his life – like most men he just finds it so boring.

Harry in a department store

Later in the year Harry was invited to attend the launch of the Atherton Appeal, where he got to meet the Press and had his photograph taken. He enjoyed it so much and behaved so well, that he was invited back to the foundation stone laying ceremony.

The end of the year saw Harry meet Santa and his reindeer for the first time at a Christmas Market. After that initial meeting they became great friends, which was probably just as well, because everywhere we went after that, it seemed as though Santa was there too.

All told, Harry has had a very good year and would like to raise a glass of champagne to 2009 and the new challenges it will bring him.

Champagne Harry

Harry’s week started off in the best possible way, at least as far as he was concerned, with a visit from his favourite pal Blaze. He got to spend the whole day with her and that meant only one thing – lots of play, especially tug!

Harry and Blaze playing tug

As Harry has got older his nose has slowly changed in colour from black to brown, but suddenly this week we’ve noticed it’s started to go very pale in the middle, almost pink. He also seems to have been stretching a lot which was always a sign of him growing – we’re going to have to take him to the vets soon for another weigh-in to see just how much he’s grown.

The rest of the Harry’s week has been full of Christmas cheer and  he’s coped really well with all the comings and goings, he even managed to sleep through what turned out to be a noisy night in the pub.

He was a little perlexed when we put up the Christmas decorations, but after a cursory sniff at the tree he has ignored it, probably because there were no Bonios hanging from the branches. Harry has been getting lots of fuss this week while we’ve been out shopping as everyone has been in a cheery festive mood, he has even received his own personalised Christmas card.

And to make sure that he gets left some lovely presents, Harry has generously left the reindeer a few of his favourite biscuits right next to his card  – just to make sure that Santa knows who they’re  from.

Harry's Christmas card and biscuits for the reindeer

Harry’s week started off really well – he survived another Christmas lunch. This time there were 24 of us in a private room and at times the noise levels were pretty high, but Harry behaved impeccably. All the months of training have really paid off as, when we were leaving, quite a few people said to us that they hadn’t even realised Harry was there. We were so proud of him, and thought he deserved treat, so we took him to his favourite place, the pet shop.

Harry checking out the different dog foods

Harry loves browsing in the pet shop, he especially enjoys checking out all the different kinds of dog food available. He always pays particular attention to the bottom of the bags, ever hopeful that there may be  a small hole from which he might get the chance to sample what’s on offer.

Not long after this trip, Harry’s week went downhill as the human members of his pack fell victim to one of the winter cold viruses and Harry couldn’t figure out why suddenly no-one could be bothered to play with him. To add insult to injury, there was a strange smell in the house, and he didn’t care for it very much at all. Whenever he tried to coax one of us to play with him he was immediately put off off by the overwhelming smell of eucalyptus and menthol.

Harry still had his training walks in town and free runs, but somehow they just weren’t as exciting as usual. He didn’t get to visit any new shops and he only got to travel in the car, and no-one was asking him to pose for photographs!

Still, Harry didn’t really mind, suddenly he was getting extra large chewy sticks.

Harry with an ectra large chewy stick

Last week it appeared that everywhere Harry went he was surrounded by Christmas events. This week he hasn’t even seen a bit of tinsel, but he has seen snow.

Harry’s training walks went out the window the day the snow arrived, he was much too giddy and excited and it was so slippery underfoot, that even he was having trouble staying upright.

The week hasn’t all been about play though, Harry’s also managed to squeeze in his regular trips to town, attended both a Pilates class and a Girl Guide meeting and travelled on the train a few times to visit his favourite coffee shop.

Harry would probably say that the snow was the highlight of his week, but he also had a great day at out the laying of the foundation stone at the site of the new Guide Dog Training School in Atherton.

Harry behaved perfectly as he met all the dignitaries, although he was a bit disappointed that they didn’t seem to have a hard-hat in his size.

Harry loved all the fuss and really enjoyed meeting some working Guide Dogs, especially Kemp who was there with his owner Geoff Cope. As usual, as soon as a press photographer appeared Harry adopted the perfect pose and looked straight at the camera.

Next thing you know, he’ll be wanting us to hire him an agent.

Harry’s had a busy week this week, and it seems to have been Christmas themed all the way. Apart from his regular training walks he’s been out for his first Christmas lunch, complete with exuberant diners, party hats and Christmas crackers. He also attended Guide Dog puppy class which was the annual Christmas party for the pups.

On Saturday we took Harry to the village Christmas market where Guide Dogs had a stand. Harry is always happy to attend these fundraising events as his favourite black Labrador, Alma, is usually in attendance. He always puts on his best behaviour whenever she’s around and we swear, if he could, he would flutter his eyelashes at her.

After having a short rest at home, we went back to the Christmas market in time for the village Christmas lights to be switched on. By then it was really busy, with hundreds of people milling about and lots of interesting bits of food lying on the ground to tempt a hungry puppy, but Harry did well and showed great control in not scavenging.

Harry managed the huge crowd really well, but he did get a little surprised when he came face to face with a noisy diesel generator as we tried to take a short cut round the back of one of the stalls. When we eventually got him home we laughed when we realised he’d been walking around with a dollop of pink candy floss on his nose that someone must have dropped on him by accident.

Harry also came across Christmas wreaths for the first time, which he insisted on examining very closely. Something he probably won’t do again, as he got up a bit too close and personal with the holly.

Harry’s favourite bit of the week had to be the small snow flurry we had on Monday, he had so much fun chasing the individual snowflakes in the garden. No doubt he’s hoping the forecast is correct and that he’ll wake up to lots of it tomorrow morning.

Although Harry thoroughly enjoyed his week in the Lake District, he dropped back into his normal routine at home very well. We thought he might find it boring and fully expected him to be upset at not sleeping in the same room as us, but as soon as we walked into the house he headed straight for his bed and jumped in with a big sigh. You could almost hear him thinking Aah! There’s nothing quite like my own bed.

Harry has been back to regular training walks in town and with visits to the supermarket, clothes shops and coffee shops. He’s also attended a Pilates class and been on a visit to the local Girl Guide meeting that he loved, which is not surprising considering the amount of fuss and attention he got there.

Since the clocks went back a few weeks ago, Harry has been a little bit wary of fast moving traffic coming towards him, especially when the vehicles have their headlights on. He’s getting more and more confident and is now a lot happier in the dark, although when it’s dusk or raining he can still get a bit concerned.

Harry’s also started to become much more independent in the last few days. He now no longer waits for us to put him to bed at night, instead when he’s had enough, he’ll take himself off to the kitchen to curl up in his bed. That’s a big bonus for us as we no longer have to strain to hear the TV over the top of his snoring!

Harry’s had a fabulous week – he just loves going on holiday, especially to the Lake District. Everywhere we went there were new things for him to do, to sniff and investigate, even the shops were a completely new experience for him as they are so different to the ones he visits at home.

Public transport was also different, Harry loved going on the car ferry but the trips we took on the lake steamer were the best. All week he had been watching the boats, fascinated by them as they came in and out down by the piers, desperate to get on one. When we did eventually take a trip, he thoroughly enjoyed travelling on the top deck where he was able to watch everything as we sailed by, even if he did get a little windswept and his ears flapped in the wind.

Harry had lots of new and exiting free runs, which invariably involved water at some point, although the lake was so cold that he preferred just to paddle. We had a couple of really windy days which caused some waves on the lake, which really puzzled him. After chasing a few, and then being chased back, he decided he much preferred to dig for stones at the water’s edge instead.

The hotel was a great learning experience for Harry as he met lots of other working Guide Dogs. It was a bit of a shock to him that they didn’t want to play every time he met them, but he soon got used to it and even started to copy their behaviour, lying quietly under the table without even being asked. Harry also got to attend his first disco, he was a bit puzzled at first by all the feet moving around, but he was untroubled by the loud music and soon got bored with watching. He snoozed for most of the evening, occasionally giving out a very loud snore.

Harry made lots of new friends on his holiday, both human and canine, but his favourite was Kirk a black Retriever/Labrador cross. In the evening they would lie quietly together in the bar, but they had the best of times foraging in the leaves together in the free run area of the hotel grounds.

This week has been a bit of a trial for Harry. He’s always been very sensitive to loud noises and so in an effort to protect him from all the fireworks, his lifestyle has been quite restricted. There have been no evening walks and essential night time toilet trips to the garden have been swift. On the upside, Harry’s had lots of playtime indoors and a new bone to chomp on.

One of Harry’s highlights this week was his sleepover on Saturday night which he thoroughly enjoyed. He had such a great time staying with another puppy walker, and was so happy lying in his basket in front of their Aga, that he really didn’t want to come home.

Another of Harry’s highlights this week was his sudden ability to swim. He enjoyed it so much that he had another try the next time we took him on a free run. Unfortunately for him the water was only a few inches deep and very, very cold. He got such a shock he couldn’t get out of the stream fast enough.

Harry’s had another busy week which was full of new experiences, and some regular favourites, such as Puppy Class and a visit from Guide Dog puppy Blaze, who has now reached the grand old age of 10 weeks.

On Friday he met lots of witches and goblins, some at the local shops and the rest that knocked on the door collecting trick or treats.

As it turned out Hallowe’en was actually a bit of a problem solver for us. For the last few weeks Harry has been barking every time someone came to the door, but the doorbell rang so many times on Friday evening, that he finally got fed up and just ignored it.

Harry had another first this week, this time not such a pleasant one – he stood on a piece of glass and cut his front paw. Although he wasn’t in any pain and the wound was clean, it didn’t really heal until the next day. We got so tired of following him round the house with a cloth mopping up the small blood spots, that we confined him to the kitchen for a couple of hours. Harry wasn’t particularly happy about that.

On the subject of paws, the good news is that the lump which appeared on one of Harry’s paws a couple of weeks ago has disappeared as fast as it came. It seems the vet’s initial diagnosis that Harry was suffering from some sort of teenage spotty ailment was correct.

Harry’s favourite bit of the week has to be his long walk around the reservoir. Although he wasn’t very interested in the beautiful scenery, or the glorious weather, he thought the crisp crunchy leaves were just so exciting. He just couldn’t stop playing with them, snuffling around inside the piles, before tossing them into the air and trying to catch them. Although we did insist that he stop for a few seconds to pose by the water for a photo.

Harry is facing another new challenge this evening – it’s November 5th and we’re expecting plenty of fireworks. We’ve done everything we can to stop him from getting spooked – he’s had lots of exercise today so there’s no need for him to go out this evening, except for what will be a very brief toilet break just before bed time.  We’ve shut all the curtains and blinds to muffle the noise and keep out the flashes of light, and the TV is turned to one of the channels showing wildlife programmes, which he loves. In addition, Harry has a special treat in store – a brand new roasted bone to chew on. Roll on the end of firework season!