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:

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:

A holiday!

What a surprise, we went on a holiday after all! M and P are very busy with our new home, so I thought we would not go on a holiday this summer. But we did! We went to the mountains! My favorite destination.

We made nice long walks along little paths. The smells and views were great. We walked up the mountains and sometimes we took an awkward machine going up – a bit like a bus or train, but these ones fly:

We encountered some pretty dangerous wildlife, too. I made sure M could pass them safely:

It was a really nice holiday! It felt like I was on the top of the world.

 

Snow

P has gone on a holiday, without M and me! I was sad about that at first, but M told me he went with a group of friends to a place I would not like. Then he send us a picture of this place:

It looks terrible! I can see what M means: I would not like it there. It looks icy cold. And, what is worrying me most: there is snow almost everywhere, not one green spark of grass to be seen! That would bother me if I would be there, because where would I be supposed to pee? No grass! Horrible.

Don’t get me wrong, I do like snow. Like in little-fields-of-white-fluffy-stuff, which are great for playing. Especially when the temperature is pleasantly warm. My first encounter with this kind of snow was in our first long summer holiday together:

That was nice. But where P is now it looks a lot colder and more serious, concerning snow conditions. I don’t mind he went without us. I do hope he will be back home soon, though.

Happy new year

As a dog I am rather surprised about all this happy new year stuff. Humans make a lot of fuss about it, as if today will be very different from tomorrow because it will be a ‘new year’. Typical. The sun goes down and comes up again, which in itself is pretty magical every time she does that. Drawing a line between two days with an ‘old’ and a ‘new’ year is kind of…. technical.

Anyway: humans share a lot of ‘looking back on 2016’ news and that I do like. It got me thinking. It was a good year, you know. So I thought I’ll share my biggest adventures of 2016 with you.

This is The List of 2016:

February: camping for the first time with our new campervan. I guard it even more ferociously than I did before, with our old campervan. We went camping a lot this year, which was awesome.

March: helping the police to catch some burglars – that is a police officer you see in the picture, the burglars escaped. But we did find their tools!

May: exploring the woods around our home and discovering a new path that is known only to us.

July: hiking in the hot hills of Italy.

August: chilling in the high mountains of France.

September: cruising along the beach boulevard with my boy-friend.

November: exploring the vast woods around our favorite campsite.

I also want to mention the numerous times I was on the beach. We go there almost every day, so I can not call all these beach strolls a big adventure. But I do love them. There might not be a big adventure waiting there (although sometimes there is, like the times I assisted the police), but one never knows what little surprises we will encounter. They count too, you know.

Happy new year!

Back home

I am home again. No more mountains for walking, but the vast beach for running!

I met some new friends and we ran together. I like that!

The holiday was grand, traveling through Europe and hiking in the mountains and vineyards of Italy, Germany and France. I had a great time and so did M and P. But it is good to be back home again. I do like going on holiday and having Adventures abroad. But if I am very honest about holidays: the part I like best is coming back home. And finding that the beach is still here, and all my soft beds and my favorite viewpoint from our house.

Wine and walks

We moved to another region in Italy, a pretty spot with hills and old towns perched on hilltops. They make a good wine here and that is why M and P wanted to come to this place. My humans like to mix good food and drink with nice walks. We are doing some fine hiking in this landscape.

I like the walks. I do not care much about wine, but I do like bread. They happen to make fine bread here, too! It tastes like crunchy little white rolls. Lucky me!

I am glad that M and P share these Italian bread sticks with me. Nice.

Mountains!

We are in the mountains! That is great, I love mountains. The smells here are overwhelming, the air is fresh and pure and the grass tastes delicious. I like to eat grass, all dogs do. The grass back in Holland is okay, but here in the mountains it is something else.

We walk a lot here, up and down the mountains, through woods and meadows and over rocky little paths. There is even funny white stuff in some places, stuff that tickles between my toes. M tells me it is snow. Snow in summer! This is a truly magical place.

Summer holiday

I am very excited, because M and P are packing. Books, food and hiking gear: everything is stowed in our new campervan. We will probably leave very soon! Of course I will keep you posted about our Adventures. It will be great, I am sure of that. This will be my fourth big long summer holiday – what, do you think I can not count because I am a canine? Don’t be silly, every dog can count. Why else do you think we are annoyed when you only give us one (1) cookie?

Anyway, these big long summer holidays are always great. Last year we enjoyed the hot weather in Croatia, which was very relaxing:

We had some great Adventures too, like canoeing on an awesome lake:

The year before that we had a great time in the mountains:

And the year before that I was still a puppy, having my very first Adventures with M and P. We went biking!

I am big enough now to run next to the bike, so I will do that. I don’t fit into this basket anymore, anyway. It was already a bit cramped when I was little, as you can see.

Who knows where I will go next? I’ll let you know!

Forest bliss

What can I say. Woods, little paths, a myriad of smells, little woodland things that tickle between my toes. Bliss!

I slept a little extra for a few days, recovering from my holiday with Nicoline. Holidays with her and her pack are nice, but strenuous like a bootcamp. A bootcamp for a week! So I was tired. But not anymore. I am ready for some running in the woods and on the beach!