Gilbert the Good

 

Gilbert the Good – special!

It’s a special day today. It’s my birthday and I’m three years old.

 I’ve had a smashing day. I went for a splendid walk in the woods (it’s actually part of Swinley Forest) Well, I do that every day, I know, but Roxy and I went in the comfortable car today because there’s something wrong with the dog box. The air bag warning light has come on, and the speedometer and other lights aren’t working. It’s at the garage now.

Anyway, Roxy and I had lots of swimming in lots of ponds. We met some other dogs and played with them, too. It was a really excellent walk and lots of people wished me a happy birthday, so I feel very cheerful.

I’m tired now, but it’s the sort of tiredness that comes from having lots of fresh air and exercise, when my lungs have worked hard and my muscles have stretched. You may be sure that if I were invited to go for another walk right this minute, I’d be only too delighted.

Supper to look forward to now.

                                            Roll on tomorrow!

TTFN

 

Gilbert

Gilbert the Good – Events

 

Gilbert the Good – Events

Susannah and Arthur have come to stay for a few days, which is nice, but Arthur keeps taking my toys. He can’t go anywhere without carrying something. It’s a cocker thing, apparently.  I don’t mind too much, but I wish he would bring them back when he’s taken them outside. We still like to play together, though not so much as when we were younger.   

                         It’s been quite busy round here lately. Jellioe had to go to the vet again on Wednesday. He was being a bit picky over his food and then, after he had eventually eaten it, he threw it up all over the sitting room – well, the bit of the room he was sitting in, anyway. He’s had an antibiotic injection, that lasts for two weeks, and he’s had to go back on the diet he used to have. He is much livelier now and on Saturday afternoon he captured a small mouse and brought it indoors to show everyone. The humans chased him out! He and Herschel sat and looked at it for a bit, then they got bored and walked away.

 

                                               Such a little mouse! 

When Roxy and I got home from our walk on Thursday, everyone asked me, ‘What’s wrong with your eye?’ Well, I didn’t know, but it felt sore, and it was watering.

  Janice bathed it and that helped a little, but I couldn’t open it properly, so Barry took me to see the vets. I was quite happy about that – I always get treats when I go there. Anyway, they put some dye in my eye to see if it was scratched, but it wasn’t. I’ve got some painkillers to have with my supper for a few days, and the humans have got to watch me to see that my eye doesn’t go bad or something. The humans keep saying, ‘Aww, poor Gilbert,’ so I carry on looking pathetic, in case they decide to cheer me up with a treat or two.

I sit by Janice’s feet quite a lot, and she often says, ‘Lovely boy’ to me, and then Barry answers with, ‘I know I’m a lovely boy.’ Do you think I should tell him that it’s me she means, not him, or would he be upset?

Barry has said that I can’t go out for a couple of days, which is a shame, but I suppose it’s sensible. My eye does feel better, but I’m still a bit winky.

 

TTFN

 

Gilbert

Gilbert the Good – enforced rest

 

Gilbert the Good – enforced rest

Roxy, Gilbert and Jellicoe

Barry and Janice went out this afternoon and left all us animals at home, but before they went, Janice noticed I was limping and holding my paw up. They had an appointment, so couldn’t look at me more closely then, but when they reached home again, they tricked me with words like ‘Treats’ and ‘Chicken’ and ‘Chews’ just to make me get up and trot towards them. I wanted to stay in my bed because my paw hurt, though I wasn’t whimpering or shivering. They thought I was a bit quiet, though, so Barry ‘phoned up and took me to see Selene-the-vet. She’s only five minutes away by car.

Everyone at the vets made a fuss of me, and I was pleased to see them all – they’re so friendly and always give me a couple of yummy biscuits.

Anyway, it turned out that my paw has a cut on the pad. I’ve just come home and I’m a bit fed up because I’ve been told I mustn’t go out for a walk for seven days! SEVEN days!! AND I’ve got to wear a boot on my foot every time I want to go out to do the necessary – that’s going to be a bundle of laughs, I can tell you.

Jellicoe, Gilbert and Herschel

I’ve got some medicine to have once a day with my food to take away the pain and make sure the cut doesn’t get infected. There’s also some stuff to mix with water to bathe my paw. Janice groaned when she heard that, remembering Dominie-who-went-before me and how when her paw was bathed, she shook the mixture off her paw and all over the place, principally over Janice. I’m sure I shall be a good boy, though. My paw has to be bathed twice a day for five minutes. I think Janice is looking forward to that, because she laughed when she read that out to me.

It's going to be hard seeing Roxy go out for a walk, knowing that I can’t go out for SEVEN WHOLE DAYS! Roxy says it will soon pass, but I will miss it, especially the ponds.

Yesterday, Barry threw a big stick into the pond for me to retrieve. (They have to be big sticks, so they don’t get caught in my throat.) The stick must have been quite old and damp because it sank, and I spent ages diving under the water to find it. I could smell it, but I just couldn’t locate it. Eventually, Barry called me out because he was getting worried about me getting too tired.

When we went back this morning for our walk, he wouldn’t let me go in the pond. I think he knew I would be hunting again for yesterday’s stick. He told Janice I’m the most persistent retriever they have ever had, and that’s quite something. I am a very good boy – well-bred, don’t you know!

Time for supper now and my first dose of medicine. Seven whole days! SEVEN whole DAYS . . .

TTFN

Gilbert

Jellicoe, Gilbert and Herschel 

 

Gilbert the Good - the banana

 

Gilbert the Good – the banana

The other day I noticed a lovely bunch of bananas on the kitchen work top. They looked delicious and my mouth was watering at the prospect of eating one. I sniffed and gazed and sniffed again. 

I’ve often heard Janice telling Frankie to ‘help himself’ so I thought I could do the same. After all, I’m a big boy now and I like bananas very much, so I did what anydog would do and helped myself.

The bunch landed on the floor and I carefully separated one and took it to my bed. I was just about to eat it when my humans noticed and removed it. I was disappointed but also very proud of myself; there were no toothmarks on the banana and it wasn’t at all bruised.

We Labradors have very soft mouths.

TTFN  

 

Gilbert

Gilbert the Good – musical appreciation

   

Gilbert the Good – musical appreciation

My humans often play music and, being a musical sort of dog, I enjoy listening. Sometimes I join in but I don’t sing like Buddy Liver Spots used to. He loved listening to Maria Callas. He really appreciated her most distinctive voice and accompanied her with his fine baritone.

Instead of singing, I join in with my favourite instrument, the saxo-duck. The Youtube videoclip here gives you some idea of my expertise or it would, if the link worked!! Ditto the uploaded/downloaded/offloaded/unloaded clip from the computer.

I know it was really good because my humans couldn’t stop smiling and they sent a copy of the video to all the family.

😕   

TTFN

Gilbert

Gilbert the good – update

 

Gilbert the Good – update

Well, good morning my faithful readers. I said I’d let you know what happened at the vets. I went back to see them on Monday and I know they really, really like me ‘cos they wanted to see me again yesterday. They said that although I was heeling healing really well they wanted me to carry on wearing the puppygro for another week. Then they would see me again and after that I could go out on a lead. I ask you, where’s the fun in that?  So I’m a bit fed up. The good news is that I won’t have my stitches taken out. They will dissolve because they’re magic!

Janice has hauled the puppygro off me again, twice. She washed it yesterday but then it got wet this morning when I went out. There are lots of puddles in the garden and I think it came untucked and dragged in one of them . . . or else I peed on it . . . so she heaved it off me. She said it might smell, otherwise.  I thought that wouldn’t matter too much – it would only smell of me and that’s alright in my book, Honestly, the woman’s got a positive fetish about washing things as you can read here.

The humans have got to ‘keep an eye’ on Roxy’s lumps. I wonder how they’re going to do that? Whose eye will they use? We all need all our eyes and anyway how would they make it stay in place? It sounds daft to me but I’m only a dog, so what do I know?

Did I tell you that Roxy’s got kennel cough? I don’t know where she found it as she only sees me and Arthur and Lottie. It’s not very bad and the vets have dealt with it. Roxy told me she had something sprayed up her nose – no wonder she’s coughing.

Jellicoe’s coughing too, but Janice thinks it might be ‘reverse sneezing’. That cat can’t do anything the simple way.

TTFN

Gilbert 

Gilbert the Good – my week last week

 

Gilbert the Good – my week last week

 Lottie, Arthur and Gilbert confer

            Arthur and Lottie came to stay with us while Susannah and James and Frankie were away on holiday. Susannah calls them ‘The Spanfest’. My humans call them ‘The Dancing Dogs’ or DD or D squared and sometimes other things.

    Lottie was getting beaten up used to our cats. She and Arthur have four cats in their house that all get on with them but don’t demand top billing. Our cats taught her to show them the grovelling respect they demand deserve. Arthur learnt that a long time ago. 

The other day, Herschel batted her and then Jellicoe followed up with another blow. It made a change from them cuffing each other. There were no claws involved and she wasn’t hurt, just very surprised. She can jump back out of reach really quickly now.

                                                 Arthur

 The Spanfest were quite happy in our house, but every time the doorbell rang they rushed to the door, ears alert and tails wagging, expecting their people to appear. I went along as well, because I’m nosy because I wanted to see their people, too.

One of my favourite places to sleep downstairs is around Janice’s feet. She puts up with it likes it because I keep her feet warm. Arthur decided he wanted to sleep near her, and then Lottie wanted to be included. It meant that Janice was forced into many contortions and she doesn’t bend at all easily. She developed a funny walk and complained commented that we were making her knees and hips ache.

Every day when my humans went round to Arthur and Lottie’s house to feed the cats, we went with them and played in the garden. D squared thought it was strange to go home and not stay there but leave again to come back to our house.

Roxy likes to keep her distance. She decides when she wants to play and won't be persuaded by young whippersnappers!

Janice and Barry said it was lovely to have four dogs again, but two Labradors and two Spaniels are not the same as four Labradors. The Dancing Dogs are very busy, rushing here and there and back again, noses to the ground and very easy to trip over if humans aren’t careful. Luckily, my humans are used to the slow, get-under-your-feet sauntering of the cats which can turn into a sudden mad dash without notice so the Spanfest wasn’t a problem.

It was nice to have them here but I’m sure they’re happy to be in their own home again.

The exciting news is that it’s my birthday tomorrow. I shall be one year old and I'm quite a big chap now. I’m going to spend the day with the vets. Jellicoe stayed with the vets one day last week so I suppose it’s my turn now. I’ll miss my humans but I really like the vets so I’ll be alright, and it’s only for one day.

TTFN

Gilbert