Harry showing character and / or stubbornness

As Harry gets older he prefers doing familiar walks, but I want novelty and try to explore new ways. This can lead to conflicts. In this picture Harry has stopped and will go no further. I say 'Come on Harry!'

It is not that the water is deep. He has come through the deeper parts and is now in shallows but we are going outside where we normally walk. So he stops.

A lady says to me seeing him standing there with reflection, "They have such character."

Not sure whether it is character or stubbornness - maybe they are the same thing.

Harry Going Places

Harry was upset by the barriers put up during the recent floods. Some stopped him going on his normal walks through the Margaret Brown Gardens, and the Ock Valley Walk. As a result he only got a walk round the block some mornings. Things are back to normal and Harry can go places now.

Harry has no fear of water

Our usual footpaths were under water today but that did not stop Harry. He has no fear of water. He just wanted me to throw the stick. He even did a trick the children taught him, raising a paw, to try to get me to throw it quicker, before splashing off after it.

Dogs Harry met on the walk today

Harry met a great variety of dogs on the walk round Radley Lake today. They were mostly terriers and labrador/retrievers but he did meet three huge dogs, two Great Danes and then this dog. The owners said it was an I-i-- -o---ou-- (fill in the missing consonants).

Harry kicking up the leaves

For Harry, there is nothing better at this time of year than to have a good stick in his mouth and to kick up a pile of leaves.

Harry almost in deep water

This picture was taken on Friday when Harry was trying to stop me getting the stick by running into the River Ock.

Since then the River Ock has got much deeper, after heavy rain, and Harry has had to find other places to run away with his stick.

We saw a great Saint Bernard in the River Ock today, at this same point. The water nearly went over his back it was so deep. Harry was very interested and ran down to have a look. I'm afraid to say he got in the way and nearly tripped the owner up - who was trying to pull the Saint Bernard up the slippery bank.

Harry catches a rat - sort of

At Grandma's house Harry loves to tunnel under the rug and come out the other side having retrieved a golf ball hidden underneath.

This is quite normal behaviour for a Border Terrier. If Harry was a working dog the rug would be a tunnel and the golf ball would be a rat.

Harry Presents a Prize and goes for a walk in the dark

 

This picture of Harry was taken by Charlotte, age 4, at Charlotte's house.

Being a local celebrity, Harry sometimes is called upon to perform important public duties, and Harry stopped off, an a walk, to present Charlotte with the prize for the best Heritage Open Day tweet .

The rest of the walk took Harry through Albert Park.

Harry then returned by The Ock Valley walk where it was almost too dark to see. Can you see Harry in the second picture?

Harry and the new kitten

A new kitten has appeared in Harry's household. Harry now has two cats to put up with. The kitten runs about all over the furniture knocking things over and creating havoc.

Harry sometimes goes upstairs on his own because he needs a bit of peace and quiet.

Confession from a very bad dog owner

I was left alone to look after Harry for the week and the only thing my wife asked before going away was that I didn't forget to keep Harry's water bowl filled.

I took Harry out today and when we got to the little beach near Abingdon Weir, Harry went for a paddle and then just drank and drank.

I have to confess that when I got home, I found that Harry's water bowl was bone dry.

Harry not looking himself

Harry has been to Honey Bottom Kennels to have his hair stripped.

We should have told the lady that he wanted to keep his moustache.

We have been keeping a low profile on the blog to give it time to grow back. Harry is a little worried that visitors will see his picture and not believe it is him.

Harry Sleeping Dangerously

Harry sleeps benath a pile of books. One is called "Living Dangerously" and another called "What the Dog Saw".

Harry saw nothing. He was oblivious to the danger, and he slept on undisturbed. They look more dangerous than they actually are.

Harry and the Victoria Sponge

Last night Harry went downstairs and found the food waste bin was not locked, and inside was 3/4 of a Victoria Sponge. That is a lot of cake for a little dog ... so I took him on an extra long walk this morning to try and walk it off.

There was no sign that it had spoiled his appetite. He ate breakfast and tea with no trouble, and was not trying to eat grass - the usual sign of indigestion.

Perhaps it was a very light Victoria Sponge cake.

Harry tries to get his pension early

Harry often does a go slow on walks. 

People make comments like "Poor old boy" .

I tell them "He is only 12 - that is still young for a Border Terrier".

 "Looks like he is pretending so he can get his old age pension early then!!!"

A little further on and I throw a stick. Instantly, Harry forgets the pretence about being a slow old boy, and runs about like a youngish 12 year old.

Harry ball watching

There is football on the TV and I'm trying to watch Poland v Russia.

Harry has just passed the golf ball to me and wants me to kick it out for him to fetch..

Harry is hoping for a tasty bun this Diamond Jubilee weekend

Harry hopes that all dogs, everywhere, are given some tasty treats, and in Abingdon a bun or two, this Diamond Jubilee Weekend.

Harry does Doggy Paddle

Harry was not allowed in the outdoor pool today but he did do some doggy paddle in the River Ock.

Harry and Pushkin waiting to be fed

Both Harry and Pushkin live for their food. Harry makes a trip down to the kitchen when everybody else is in bed to check out whether any scraps of food have been left on the floor. Pushkin will wake us at 5 am demanding food.

The picture was taken at 5pm - round about mealtime. Harry and Pushkin are attentively watching to see whether they are about to be fed.

Harry and The Abingdon Labyrinth

Harry and me went to St Michael's Church on world labyrinth day - a day when lots of people round the world were walking different labyrinths. I kept to the labyrinth path and Harry was all over the place. But we got to the centre together and paused to be thankful for what had been a long walk in a very short space.

We have made a copy of the Abingdon Labyrinth, as shown in an ancient book from Abingdon Abbey. You can expand by clicking the image and trace with your mouse or finger. It will be difficult if you use a smart phone to read this blog. But Good luck.

The Other Harry Dog - Harry Buxton

 Back in 2000 we got a puppy and called him Harry, and at the same time, unknown to us, our relatives in Hull, also got a dog and called him Harry. Sad to say that the other Harry passed away earlier this year, and Thomas, my nephew, made a collage as a Birthday present for his sister - which made her cry.

Thomas has also got a tattoo of the Other Harry's poor print as a lasting reminder.

Harry could one day be a ring bearer

We met a dog trainer at the Abingdon Wedding fair. She said that people often want dogs to take part in weddings.  The most popular request is for the dog to walk down the aisle off the lead by themselves. They can also be dressed up like flower dog girls or as a ring bearer. Anything is possible with time, and a little training.

Harry and the ageist remark

It sometimes takes a bit of time to rouse Harry these mornings. The old "Walkie Harry!" does not always see him spring into action straight away. He would sometimes like to lay there a bit longer.

This morning we were walking in the Albert Park and this lady approached with her young Labrador pulling on the lead, obviously wanting to play with Harry.

Then she said of Harry "That dog doesn't want to play. He is quite elderly."

Harry would have loved to have played. Such an ageist remark!

Harry gets a new owner

Lisa suggested we swap dogs.  Lisa sometimes finds Noah, her dog, a bit of a handful , and thinks that Harry's calm temperament would make life much easier. So we have swapped for a trial period.

Just to say to anybody who is worried about the change - Lisa is one of the nicest people you could possibly meet and will take very great care of Harry. I will be able to visit him anytime to do the blog.

Happy start of the new month to everybody.

Harry The Blog Dog and Pushkin the Facebook Cat

First time I have seen Harry quite so close to Pushkin. Harry yawns on waking with his head resting on Pushkin.

Pushkin has a facebook page where he says things like "Debating on differnt (sic) ways to get away with hitting the little brother Harry..." but actually he is not that bad. I think he just says things like that for show.

Harry dodging the daffodils

This the moment before I managed to get Harry's stick.

This is the moment when I throw it again. Harry was very good. He dodged round the daffodils as he went after the stick.

Harry at the Pub

We took Harry to the pub and rather than just curling up and relaxing under the table he was full of nervous energy. He was trembling. There were two other dogs in the pub, a white curly dog, and a black Labrador. Harry wanted to go and play but we were not too sure.

Harry's golf ball has gone under the sofa again.

If Harry knocks his ball under the sofa then normally it can be got out with a stick - kept for that purpose. But on other occasions when the golf ball is unreachable,the sofa has to be lifted so Harry can get the ball.

Snow cat sniffed at by every passing dog

This snow cat has become a scent post for every passing dog. I'm sorry to say that even Harry joined in.

Harry and the Big Footsteps

First snowfall of the winter. Not the light fluffy stuff that drives Harry wild, but plenty of trails to sniff, and lots of big footsteps that need investigating. He is probably trying to work out which are mine.

Harry and the big dogs

I just missed a nice photo opportunity. There were two large dark dogs, and Harry was looking between them at me. But the camera takes a second or two to turn on and point. I caught Harry a moment later when the big dogs had moved away. Harry is far more interested in big dogs than dogs his own size. He even drops his stick to follow them.

Harry Lost and Found (again)

Harry and me had a nice walk in the frost. Me taking photographs. Harry sniffing.

A man and a dog came by. There is a picture of the dog sniffing Harry as Harry sniffs one of the many scent posts put in by the local council.

In the next minute or so I took a few more pictures.

This is a detail from the final picture before I realised Harry was no longer with me. In fact if I'd looked at the final picture I would have seen that Harry had followed the man and dog and gone under the bridge (red circled).

I started looking around, calling 'Harry!'

By the time I did get to the bridge he was no longer in sight. I asked a couple of dog walkers. But they hadn't seen Harry as pictured in an earlier image on the camera. So I started looking round more this side ...

After 10 minutes searching I ran home to get the bike to explore the other side of the bridge.

Before leaving home I checked the answer phone and was relieved to hear that Harry had been found and somebody had read his tag and taken him to the vets. A few minutes later I met a very trembly Harry at the vets. He hates the vets. (He had tagged onto a big group of dogs and people and followed them down the river to Abingdon Lock, and then the people realised Harry wasn't with any of them.)

Harry and the fallen branches

High winds have blown down a bumper lot of branches. There is more than enough to keep Harry going this year. Happy New Year.