WOW – what a paw-some first leap into cyber-space!

When Max and his mom encouraged me to start a blog I never knew this would happen. What they did was a huge surprise and so thoughtful, especially as we are all aware how tired Max is at the moment.

When my mum looked at her computer yesterday she got a shock when she read Max had mentioned us in his 300th post. Then when she looked at my brand new blog (which wasn’t even a day old) she was speechless (which doesn’t happen very often!) as she couldn’t believe that so many of Max’s friends had taken the time to visit and to say hello.

I feel very honoured to have so many of Max’s wonderful cyber-friends visit, and words and barks cannot adequately express our gratitude to Max and his mom for their help as we start to add my paw prints to this wonderful doggie bloggie cyber-world.

To all those that visited my first post thank you for leaving comments. I am still trying to comprehend that so many of you have read it. I now intend to visit your blogs to say hello and learn something about each and every one of you!

Thank you again Max – you really are a special dog and are in all our thoughts at this stage in your life. 

For anyone reading this who hasn't found Max's blog yet please complete the circle and visit his blog at MAX

**************************

Now for a little bit more about me…

BEACH HOLIDAYS I love them. I love the sun, running on the beach, playing in the water, the interesting smells, meeting other dogs and the feel of sand beneath my paws. Luckily my family also like going to the beach, and ever since I was little they have taken me to a beach about 75 minutes drive away.

My first week there was when I was only four months old.  This is me and my mum together on the outside couch.

Then dad introduced me to the water!

I wasn't sure if I liked those wave things...

and getting wet was not a good look!

Sniffing things on the beach and trying to look cute is more my style.

As for the standard of accomodation (after what I did to my first bedroom which you might have seen in my first post) well they took my bed (a cardboard box and soft rug) so I could sleep on the deck, but as usual I flet the need to redecorate and throw my toys about!

Of course my plan worked and they let me inside to have a special rest under their watchful gaze. These beach holidays can be so tiring!

As I got older they kept taking me to this beach, and letting me explore and meet other dogs there as long as I came back whenever they called me.

The beach is approx. 3 km long and looks like this.

(the north end)

(the south end)

Dogs are allowed off-leash before 9am and after 7pm in summer. Soon it will be going into winter in New Zealand, so I can go on this beach anytime of day that I want to.

The more I went to there the more I liked it because I got to run and jump and do new things. I even learnt how to shake all that wet stuff off me,

and to retrieve my floating toy. I know that I am a Golden Retriever but liking the water and retrieving are a skills that didn't come naturally to me, but now no matter how many times or how far they throw this toy into the water for me I race into the waves to retrieve it!

 
I even look happy now when I get out of the water.
 

We went there for a week last December, a weekend in January and a weekend in February and this is where I will be next weekend.

Thank you for reading my blog - I hope you have enjoyed learning about my beach holidays.
 
Bye for now,
Riley