Saturday was a busy day so I am relating my adventures in instalments. After we left the Ace Cafe we went to the Welsh Harp reservoir, quite a nice open space considering it is close to major roads..

There were some bird watchers looking for a Redstart (whatever that looks like), and They decided to go into the hide and admire the ducks. I think Duck is OK if it is well cooked, but maybe that is not the right thing to say at these events. I got bored and decided to have a look at the ducks and see if I could catch one. Disaster – I was bogged down in the thickest slimiest mud ever, and came out looking as if I was wearing thick black stockings. Dad was not happy and made us walk around till the mud dried off a bit. Then – back home for a bath. Lots of squealing from Mum at the amount of mud. Well if they wanted a poodle they should have got one!

When you take dog training seriously, your dog needs to socialize well. On Saturday They had to visit some friends who have a cat, so I stayed in the car for a while. Then Mum took me round the block and we met an aggressive little Chow, who wanted a boxing match. Ever aloof, I stayed cool and got loads of praise. Then my treat was a visit to the Ace Cafe London..

The Ace Cafe is a historic Bikers’ Hangout, and there was an exhibition of classic Corvettes. The other customers and the staff are very dog friendly, I did my cute look and got chips from the guy next to us, then Mum and Dad got their food. Ha ha! Egg sandwich from Mum and chips from Dad. They wanted to look in the shop, and Mum left me in the care of a Biker clad head to foot in leather – Yes, I behaved myself – no barking. Smart move, cos Mum got me a set of new Dog tags. Dad wanted to buy me a new bandana, but I got a new blue one on Friday at Finchley Market.

So I am doing quite well with my dog training. I have been using the right door when I get out of the car (kerb side) and when they told me to stop barking, I did! Trouble is, I get really excited when we are going for a walk. They like reward based training, Dad hates to see people being harsh with their dogs. I am not sure if they are going to start clicker training with me – we will see.

I have noticed Mum is trying to be an example of good dog training. For example the football players were training at the fields yesterday and she took me for a slalom course around the cones they were using. Well it was quite a fun training session..

but she objects to me sniffing them on the way round. I am only doing what comes naturally to a dog!

Oh, the humiliation – I write about dog training and how to deal with minor dog ailments but my allergy is taking a long time to heal..

Because I wear so much bling round my neck – Dog ID tag, National Pet Register tag, Microchipped tag and Torch – there is a lot of noise when I scratch or itch. So for the last three days I have been wearing one of Mum’s T shirts for sleeping and lounging. It has helped me feel a lot better, but I asked her to promise not to put me in baby blue again. From now on I only wear masculine colours, dad will make sure of that.

Well, Mum thinks I need agility training. I do not really play, you see. Just a bit of wrestling and playbiting when I am at home, otherwise I walk around looking like Snoop Dog. Yesterday we met a King Charles Spaniel in the street, and I could see he was not going to be a friend. He started barking from

20 feet away, making a hell of a noise. I kept my cool, of course, and let him make a show of himself. Passers by think this is great – someone even patted me!

I am not getting any younger: I think I am about ten years old in human years. Collies can live as long as 17 years but we also need to stay agile and I do suffer a little from dog arthritis, so Mum has written these tips for dog agility training and says we must put them into action. I wonder if I need a safety hat?