Birthday dog stops blogging

Recently I celebrated my birthday with a deliciously big juicy bone:

I turned 8 years old. Which is a milestone, really. I am a grown up dog now! This means several things. The most important thing is that I do understand cats better now. I hope this knowledge will help me to finally catch the hellish being that is living on the other side of the street.

The other important consequence of being a wise, 8 year old dog, is that I can look back on a lot of adventures. When I started this blog, I think it was about 7 years ago, I wanted to share all my adventures and ambitions with you. I had loads of adventures and I am certain that I will have a lot more in the future. When it comes to my ambitions, I am proud to say I realized them all. I grew up to be a wise, extremely pretty and supersmart dog. Not bad for a Greek stray, huh?

Now that I reached the desirable age of 8 years, I feel the urge to blog less and less. That is why I decide to stop blogging. I really liked doing it, sharing my adventures with you in all these years. Thank you for sharing and for all your nice comments! I am really proud my blogs gave joy to so many humans and canines around the world.

Do not be sad, because I will not be quiet alltogether. I will continue to share my adventures on Instagram! You can find me there as fox_and_bubbles (just click on one of the pictures below to get there). So you will not have to miss me! The not so good news is that I share this account with M, so be prepared for some pictures of our garden, too. Although I will be on most of them, so that is not a huge problem, I assume.

I wish you all the best and hopefully we will meet on Instagram!

Relaxing

The strange times aren’t over yet. My humans are still at home all the time, not going anywhere except when they go out for a walk or to do some running. In which case they always take me with them.

I like that, of course I do. But I do think they overdo it a bit. I mean: they do not just go out for a walk, they go out for a long walk. Not just sometimes, like in the old days, but all of the time. I like long walks, don’t get me wrong. But I also like to do a leisurely stroll sometimes. We do not do that anymore. And something else: it is not one long walk a day for me, because M and P go out separately. And they always take me with them.

As you can imagine, two long walks a day is a bit tiresome. Even for me, a fit and active dog. So I use my time at home wisely: I sleep. I find a spot with some sunshine and close my eyes. I do keep one ear open, always, to make sure I do not miss anything important. The sound of the fridge opening, for instance.

Sometimes, when I am asleep and M or P is calling me to come for yet another walk, I pretend I do not hear them. But then, after some hesitation, I do get up and go out with them. They need me.

Strange times

There is something very odd going on: M and P are at home a lot. They both work from home, so that is not unusual, but now they are here all the time. We only go out for walks. There is something else that is odd: there are a lot of humans going out for walks, all of the sudden. Usually we have the beach and the dunes near our house for ourselves, but now it can be pretty crowded. Not at all how it usually is:

M and P tell me there is a global virus outbreak and that is why they stay at home. A virus is some kind of very little animal and humans are extremely afraid that they will get bitten by this animal. Curious. This thing is so small, you can’t even see it. Let alone its teeth! How can that be dangerous? Human logic is often incomprehensible for us canines.

Anyway, I do not mind this new situation. On the contrary, I love it that M and P are home almost all of the time! The only downside is that I do not have any privacy anymore. I mean: I sometimes really need to be on my own, dogs need that too, you know. Now, capturing this me-time is not so easy. I can pretend I do not see them, but that does not work very well because they are here, all the time. That is slightly disturbing and I am still looking for a good solution. Can anyone give me some advice on how to do this?

Seven years

This weekend it is exactly seven years ago I went living with M and P. As a dog I usually do not look back, because to see opportunities coming one must look forward. But seven years is quite a time, so I decided it is a Good Thing to look back in this post. So many things happened!

Seven years ago I was a brave but small dog. Everything was new to me: the first four months of my live I lived in a shelter in Greece, then I went to live with a foster family in Holland. And then M and P came to take me to their home. It was quite overwhelming:

Since then I have grown into a big happy dog. I made lots of friends:

Canine and human friends:

And some nice enemies to test my powers with, too:

M, P and I made loads and loads of long walks, in Holland and abroad:

We had lots of adventures, like the time we travelled by canoe:

Crazy things happened, M even put me on her bike:

And in a cargo bike, with my friend:

Really awkward things happened too, like the time M thought it a good idea for me to do hunting training and we had to get things out of very dirty water. The other dogs just jumped in! How awful! No way I did that (after this episode I did not go to hunting training anymore – good):

We went camping dozens of times:

We had so many adventures! And good times at home, too. I love guardening:

I look back on an awesome seven years. I have grown into a big and strong dog and am proud to say I am a ferocious guarding dog, always on the lookout:

Thrilling

M published a book! She calls it a sexy thriller, whatever that means. This is what it looks like:

I like the story, it is an exciting one. But there is something I find rather shocking: there is no dog in it! Not one single dog. They talk about dogs, in just one part of the story, but that is it. How is this possible? I really, really have to have a serious conversation with M.

I am a nice, good dog, so of course I will recommend reading this book. Of course. And also because otherwise she won’t feed me my dinner tonight. This is where to get it (the book, not the dinner):

https://www.bol.com/nl/p/spierballen-en-satijn/9200000129077745/?bltgh=lhCgTBjYUPODWfvfhGVBEQ.1_4.5.ProductTitle

Winter walk

I do like a long winter walk. Maybe you would not expect me to like cold weather  because I most like it hot and sunny. But walking in the winter gives a different joy, especially when everything is crisp and clear. Icy cold frozen grass that tickles my feet, strong air to fill my lungs.

And as long as I am running, I am not cold.

I wish you all a nice winter, with lots of walks!

Nice long holiday

Hello there! Sorry you have not heard from me for a while. I was away on a very nice, long holiday. It was awesome! We went hiking in the mountains!

There was rock and grass, water and snow. I love playing in the snow:

We travelled in some pretty odd vehicles. Like this one, flying high above the mountains:

I guarded our campervan, of course:

We had some cozy nights in the van:

And some nights in a nice, warm big house:

We encountered some very funny facilities for dogs, too:

Needless to say I did not use this. A shower for dogs, hilarious!!!

It was a nice holiday with lots of adventures. I do like these long travels with M and P. But I also like to be home again:

Guard

I have a huge estate to guard. This is our fence:

And this is me, patrolling the fence:

I just want to state that guarding this domain is a big responsibility and I do not take that lightly. I mean: I put a lot of effort in guarding it properly.

So I am not at all amused by humans who walk by and say “doggie” to me, or even worse: sweet or cute little doggie. I want to make it clear, for once and for all, that I am NOT sweet and certainly not cute! Especially when I am guarding our domain. I am a ferocious guarding dog!!!
Humans can be outright stupid sometimes.

My own club

My fame is spreading! I am really proud to see they even named a beach club after me. My own club!

Awesome, don’t you think?

I was very pleased to see that they are serving the right stuff, too (the bowl of fresh bubbles with ice & a slice of lemon are out of view, on the floor).

Life is great!

Swieb

I forgot to tell you: last weekend we went camping and we made some nice walks. Including one walk with my friend Swieb! Actually his real name is Swiebertje, but as a true friend I am allowed to call him Swieb.

Like me, Swieb is an expat. I am from Greece, he came from Spain. As a consequence, he does not like the cold Dutch weather. So his human bought him a sweater!

Yes, you may laugh. I laugh at him a lot when he wears this. He can handle it, he is cool.

Swieb is also very lazy:

And I mean really, really lazy:

But not last weekend, when we went for a walk. We chased through the forest and the sandy dunes, following our noses and enjoying the lovely smells of rabbits, foxes and deer. We had a good time. Alas there are no pictures of us chasing foxes, we were too fast for the camera! But it is true, we did run. You will be amazed how fast Swieb can go on his stubby legs.
Don’t tell him I called his legs stubby. He will not talk to me for at least a year, when he hears that. Must be his male Spanish ego.