Bark in the Park

Had a bit of a lie in today, let the family rest for a bit, but not for too long! I need to keep reminding them that I have needs! After they had all done their Sunday chores we went to the annual 'Bark in the Park' event at Waiatarua reserve in Meadowbank.


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When we got there there were hundreds of dogs of all different shapes and sizes. I think that perhaps next year there should be a GAP tent at this event as I was stopped lots of times and asked lots of questions and got lots of hugs. I must get a GAP bib!

The family and I wandered around looking at and meeting loads of new friends. We bumped into other sight hounds who had their muzzles too. We met Afghans and an Afghan/Lab cross, an accident, we were assured. We also met a Lab/Greyhound cross puppy.

My family entered me into a couple of competitions. I entered the biggest dog competition, because I usually am, but I was up against Mastifs and the like and suddenly I looked very small, especially when biggest was measured not in height but in weight!

The final competition I entered was the running! I knew I was a sure fire first prize contender in this event and so did all the other competitors! They all wanted to go in other heats to avoid me! But we met a couple of Whippets and an adorable Italian Greyhound. Best of all, we met up with Maddox an ex racer and GAP adoptee and he was wearing his GAP bib. We were both put in the same heat, which I won! Curiously the prize went to the Boxer and I got a consolation prize, clearly the ref was blind!

Anyway it was a long, exciting day and now that I am home I have crashed in a heap on the floor, I dashed off some dictation in the car on the way home and am getting the staff to edit and upload the images and enter the text.

Hundreds of little humans!

It has been a bit of a strange week for me. The family has settled into a bit of a term time routine where they leave the house in waves, the first starting at 7:50 and depending on the day the last at about 9:00 each morning. I just lie on my bed watching the coming and going, the forgotten lunchbox, keys, whatever. Normally they start drifting back from about 3:30 onwards and I usually play with the Kong they leave for me and then settle into sleep on my bed.

This week as I said, has been a bit strange. First of all one of the family decided to work from home on Monday so I had company, of sorts, so I just slept at their feet until I was bored of that and found my usual spot. Then later in the week I discovered the joys of sleeping in the bathroom and re-organising the austere layout into a more comfortable arrangement! Then on Friday, instead of watching the family leave in their waves, I was bundled into a car and taken to work with one of them. Now this had the potential to be really exciting and it was.

I spent the day at Wakaaranga School in Farm Cove. Some of the students have been doing a topic on pets and so my family thought that it might be a good idea if I went in. Well I have never seen so many little humans in one place at one time! I was in the playground at lunchtime and it was like a scene from the Pied Piper with hundreds of children following me around the playground!

I met a couple of classes and had my photo taken with them. I got really friendly with one girl and planted a big wet kiss on her cheek! By the end of the day however, I was exhausted and was glad to leave. I am not sure whether I enjoyed the day, it was full on! I slept for hours once I got home, they really are exhausting, I think that I was suffering from sensory overload!

Hot hounds at Helensville

As the Sun newspaper might roar in the UK: "Phew wot a scorcher!

My family packed me into the car again on Saturday and this time we went for quite a drive. Apparently we hounds were to strut our stuff at the Helensville A&P show for the cause. So after about an hour in the car, complete with roadworks in Parnell, three slow lost drivers in Henderson and a camper van, we arrived at the show grounds. What a cacophony of sounds, smells and animals, it was great!

We ambled up to the GAP tent and said hello to old friends and made some new ones too. Then it was of round the show grounds to promote the increased adoption of ex-racers for the cause. We got lots of hugs and kisses and lots of people are surprised to find out how little exercise we need and how easy we are to care for.

Wandering around the grounds was hot, thirsty work. We came back to the tent often and as you can see from the images below, we found it too hot to work... Even a cat would have been too much of an effort. On second thoughts, I would have not been able to resist the temptation! :)

The car got so dusty from our visit, that my family decided to take the car through the car wash on the way home. It was a new experience for me, but being such an amiable chap, it was not really an issue.