Barbara's Finger

Why is Barbara's hand all swollen and her ring finger bandaged? A bad thing happened and it was not my fault!



As the 2nd place finisher in the Bad Sports Class of the 2011 Mangominster, I know all about doing bad things. But even I have never done anything as bad as this. Barbara's ring finger is broken and it is all Miss Perfect (not) Niamh's fault.



I will tell you how it happened. We were visiting our pals Trotter and Scout and had some good play time. Barbara put me in the dog crate on wheels and went back for Niamh. She leashed Niamh and had the leash in her right hand. She put her hand on the gate and opened it. Niamh is supposed to wait but she didn't. She dashed out through the gate like a bad girl. Unfortunately Barbara's hand was still on the gate and her fingers got twisted in the chain link. She let out a huge scream (although, amazingly, no HBO words were said). Her hand and fingers got all swollen even though she put lots of ice on it. I tried to help by licking her fingers but she said it hurt too much. When she went to the doctor he took x-rays and said that her ring finger is broken above the first joint and she will have to wear this splint and see an orthopedist.



I am really sorry about Barbara's finger. I know it hurts her and it is awkward to have to wear that splint. I didn't mean to do it and now Barbara is having me do remedial work to sit and wait nicely when we go through doors and gates.

National Puppy Day

Today is National Puppy Day! We were all puppies once. In honor of the day I am posting a few pics of when Ambrose and I were puppies.

Here I am at about 10 months of age. I was quite gangly then.



Ambrose at 12 weeks. He looks fussed about something. Who knows what it could be? I certainly don't.



And here is one of me playing so nicely with Ambrose when he was a puppy and I was about 3 1/2 years old. Look how I let him sit all over me. Wasn't I a good big sister?



We are both big dogs now although Barbara always says that Ambrose has a puppy brain in an adult body!

Happy St. Patrick's Day!

Happy St. Patrick's Day to you all.

As Gordon Setters we are of Scottish descent but we love all things Irish too. My name, Niamh, means "sheen or luster" in Gaelic. We are celebrating the day by wearing our reversible shamrock bandanas that our grandma gave us.



Hope you have a great day but watch out for that green beer!

Day School at Paw in Hand

We have been gone from the blogosphere for a long time and people have asked us if we have quit our blog. Definitely not! Barbara does have a very good excuse this time for being a poor secretary for me though. Since January she has been running a new venture at our training studio called Day School. It is different than doggie day care. Her slogan is
Play + Training = Day School.

Dogs come for the day and go into crates. Then they take turns being trained and having supervised play sessions with another nice dog. Riley, Beatrice, Liam, Amos and Betsy are waiting their turn to work with Barbara.



At lunch time every one gets treat dispensing toys or stuffed bones in their crate. Yum!



Ambrose and I go to Day School too and hang out in an exercise pen while Barbara trains the dogs. The only thing that worries me is that she gives away a boatload of my treats to the other dogs!

But we do get to play with all the dogs which is great. Ambrose and Beatrice like to play very bashy games with one another. Beatrice gets along with all the other dogs and flirts shamelessly with all the boy dogs. Ambrose is smitten.



I think that Barbara started this Day School thing just so that I could have more boyfriends ( you can never have too many beaux).

This little guy is Amos. Look at the nice play bow he gave me to entice me. I played hard to get but eventually deigned to play with him.



My boyfriend Riley comes to Day School every Thursday so we get a chance to play. We are resting after playing and see how we shook water all over the floor.



My newest boyfriend is Ryder. He is a young boxer and came for the first time on Tuesday. I played very nicely with him and I am sure that he will want to come back.



So we are enjoying Day School but it is hard to keep up with all our activities. I will nudge Barbara to post more. I hope you are all doing well. I had my annual physical on Monday and my vet was very pleased. He said I was in perfect shape (a very svelte 62 pounds) and my blood work was excellent. Barbara is very happy because I am going to be 7 at the end of May. Can you believe that?