Wordless Wednesday

Spring gardening

On Friday afternoon I went with my human to advise her on what she needs to buy for our garden. It is spring here in New Zealand, and I had lots of fun checking out the plants, smelling the roses and getting pats from other people at this dog friendly place. We went home with some seedlings, a lovely new rose bush, lots of vegetable seeds, moth traps for our apple tree and some seed raising mix.

(You can click on these photos to make them bigger)

 

So tell me do you help or hinder your humans gardening efforts? Enzo likes to dig big holes in the lawn when no one is looking, but I prefer to keep my human company while she is trying to make plants grow in the garden. What do you do?

Woofs,

Riley

Wordless Wednesday movie - Two salty dogs last Saturday...

On holiday...

Last weekend I was away at the bach ("bach" is the Kiwi term for a small holiday house) sleeping under the stars (on the deck on soft outdoor furniture - normally I'm an inside dog), enjoying BBQ food, going for long walks with Enzo and my humans, meeting other dogs on the beach, going for swims and even chasing Enzo and seagulls up the estuary (which is on the other side of the peninsula).

  

(Enzo proving that he can run twice as fast as I can,  and four times as fast as the male human!  Of course Enzo forgets his name as soon as he sees a seagull, and I only remember to stop running and turn around when they call out my second name which is "Food")

I ask you, what more could this Golden Retriever want than to spend summer by the sea? I'm counting down the days until we  escape Auckland and go there again.

Enjoy your weekend wherever you are,

Woofs,
Riley

And now for something completely different...

here are some old photos of me, taken in 2010, when I was four which is a few years ago as I turned seven this week!

I had a sore back and one of my back legs wasn't too good, so after x-rays and talking to my vets my human took me to a heated dog swimming pool, where a nice lady dressed me in a fancy red coat, and then got in the water with me. I had so much fun fetching my floating toy that I forgot I was exercising!

My leg is fine now but unfortunately the business closed, so I don't get to go there anymore.

Woofs,
Riley

I am not usually a political animal but ...

http://animalstrike.co.nz/

Wordless Wednesday

Dog saves cat - would you?

Yesterday our mum saw the story of how a cat’s life, here in New Zealand, was saved by blood donated by a dog. She thought the concept of one species helping another like this was pretty amazing, so wanted to share two links to the story (TV3 news and "The New Zealand Herald") and ask what your relationship with cats (or dogs if you are a cat) is like?

I normally just watch my neighbors cats wandering across our property or sauntering up and down beside the fence without much interest. If I had to choose between getting close to a cat or getting some dog food I would choose dog food every time.  

(Here I am trying to ignore a furry beast. Usually 

cats are more interested in me than I am in them)

However Enzo runs as fast as he can to great any cats that come over to visit, then after they get run to the other side of the fence, he runs back and forth beside the fence and woofs as loud as he can at the cat (or cats) on the other side.  This always makes one of the cats return to the fence to try to pat his nose with her paw through the fence palings.

 (Puppy Enzo meeting our grandparent's cat)

(This photo shows the start of Enzo's obsession with cats)

Our mum hears the noise, then rushes outside worried by what Enzo is up to or what he might do. She waves her arms around a lot, and make even louder noises as she calls Enzo away from the fence!  

So what do you do when you see another species close to you, and would you give them your blood? I would help a cat if I could, and my mum says that she would give me her human blood if it helped me, but she is not sure if she wants my blood due the fact that her doctors can get human blood from strangers.

Woofs,
Riley

Green dogs.

Here are some photos from our winter walk this morning around Cornwall Park. This is one of my favorite places to walk in Auckland, and I've posted about this park before (Climbing a volcano,  Winter, My Sunday walk in the Park, Spring is here) if you want to check out the view from the top, and what the park looks like in other seasons.

As long as dogs are on a lead we can go where ever we want to including in paddocks that have sheep, cattle and even roosters! There are so many smells to explore, things for me to sniff out and roll in. However my human always finds it amusing that she has to carry plastic bags to collect any deposits Enzo and I make (and then place these bags inside a green dog) while carefully watching where she walks so she doesn't step in the massive cow deposits and what the sheep have left behind in the same field!

Enjoy your Sunday.

Woofs,
Riley and Enzo

PS On our everyday walks around the neighborhood mum always uses plastic bags to tidy up after us so the streets are left clean. At this park she also always cleans up after us, but she is amazed by how much the cows and sheep leave on the grass that doesn't need to be picked up. Of course, for our noses, what the sheep and cows leave behind is extra  interesting!

The cat got my tongue but now I’m back.

One of the blogs I follow is Sprinkles  and today Sprinkles had a list of questions posted by “Curious as a Cat”. My human and I enjoyed reading what Sprinkles wrote, so I thought I would answer the Curious Cat’s questions too.

1.      Would you rather be rich, or famous? Why?

Famous. I am already rich as I have enough food to make me fat (if I eat too much), a warm bed, lots of toys, my own vehicle (complete with a chauffeur), Enzo to play with and a family that loves me so famous (even if it is only in my small part of the blog world) is still something for me to aspire to.

2.      Of all your relatives, which one have you not seen for the longest time? How long has it been?

My dad - he was born and lived in England and I have never met him. My actual mum and I were whelped and raised in New Zealand. My mum has never met my dad - note even seven years ago. Go figure! It must be true because his name is on my pedigree. One day when I am old enough I will understand.

3.      If you had a “theme song” that played whenever you walk into a room full of people, what would it be?

“Who let the dogs out” of course!

4.      Show and Tell. What comes to mind first when you see this picture? Or tell a story if it reminds you of one.

This looks like an over sized version of my dog kennel. When my humans bought their house twenty years ago it came with an old timber kennel in the back yard. My humans saw the kennel as a sign to get their first Golden Retriever and he used the kennel for twelve years. The kennel is still there looking very weathered and has plants growing beside it. I have lived here for six and a half years but have never spent one night outside in that kennel. I was meant to sleep outside, but I convinced my family to let me sleep inside the their house on a soft dog bed in the family room unless we are away at the beach when I sleep on the porch. Here in Auckland I’m still working on being allowed to sleep in their bedroom every night!

Now where did that cat go? While I'm looking for the cat why don't you wander over to Sprinkles blog and check out her answers as they are so different to mine. 

Woofs,

Riley