Just after we arrived in Devon – and had afternoon tea – my Dad took me for a quick walk while Mum went online for a while. When we came back she was in tears and very upset. Mum had just logged on to my blog and discovered a message from Oscar the Airedale’s Mum and Dad to tell us that poor dear Oscar had died of pancreatitis. Of all the other dogs with blogs that we know, we both felt that Oscar was an exceptional boy. Oscar and his Mum and Dad, Katy and Martin, always sent me a little message if I was under the weather and it is a tragedy to lose him at such a young age – he was just fourteen months old! Oscar was an accomplished agility dog and also came through advanced dog obedience classes with flying colours. I know he had become quite a well known local character at his home near Swindon, so he will be missed badly by a lot of people whose lives were touched by this adorable dog. This is one of our favourite pictures of him: I really do not know what to say, but it shows us we must just make the most of our time together.

I had a couple of times on my own over the last week. First, Mum went out to get the paella pan from the basement and she did not check whether the door was on the latch. She came back up with the pan and pushed the door — disaster!! It did not open. And I was still inside the house! For once she had her mobile phone with her so she rang Dad and told him what was happening. I was OK because I was warm, and the radio was playing. But it took over two hours till Dad could get home and open the door: in the meantime a very nice neighbour called Jay offered her a warm place to wait. When Dad got back they came towards the house to check on me and all was total silence. Why? Well I am more settled now that I live in one place, and I get lots of affection from my Mum and Dad. They are amazed that I can behave so well.

Here is a story with a happy ending – how a dog’s life can be saved by banana sandwiches! I hate bananas, so i had better not swallow any sharp objects.

A Jack Russell has been fed a diet of banana sandwiches to dislodge a fish hook it swallowed from its stomach. Candy went fishing with her owner Elwyn Thomas but as he cast-off she jumped up taking the bait hook, line and sinker. She was rushed to vet Richard Gibson in Llanelli and an x-ray showed the two inch (5cm) steel hook stuck inside her. Rather than operate he prescribed a diet of banana sandwiches to let nature take its course and two days later the problem was solved. Mr Gibson said fortunately the line snapped close to the hook, so 10-year-old Candy swallowed very little of the chord. “Dogs swallow all sorts of things – two days before we had one that had swallowed a needle and thread,” he said. “In the majority of cases surgical intervention is not needed.” He said it was often better to feed them on a soft high fibre diet.
An x-ray showed the hook inside Candy’s stomach. “Banana sandwiches come very high up on the list,” added Mr Gibson. Mr Thomas’s wife Sylvia told the South Wales Evening Post: “We really panicked and thought that the fish hook would have damaged her insides and that she would need an operation. “After an x-ray the vet advised us to let nature take its course, and sure enough, two days later Candy passed it. “She proudly brought it to the back door to show us.”

Yesterday Mum brought me over to stay at Nan’s house to help with the packing. I have quite a nice time here because Nan always cooks some sausages for me and I get them as treats. She also had a lot of frozen turkey, left over from my last enormous doggie bag. The chef at the carvery was really generous and so i am still enjoying the meat. I heard Mum say she was making some appointments and I knew she wanted her nails done. Today she left me with Nan while she went off to have her acrylic nails redone and painted. I went round to meet her, the lady who owns the shop has aChihuahua herself and she made a big fuss of me. But I think I am being taken to the vet. I wonder what embarrassment is in store for me?

I have a belated birthday present – it is my very own web domain! I know you can’t eat a domain name, so I got some sausages as well. This blog now has its own domain name, www.top-dog-tips.com. No longer am I a mere Blogspot dog blogger, I am now a doggie netrepreneur. Apparently more dogs and their owners will be able to find me if I have my own domain. We are still maintaining our main website, I hope you can take a few minutes to visit as the website is where we write the longer stories on dog diet and ailments.

I am not a fan of coats for dogs, I know some dogs enjoy having different outfits – like my friends Loui and Simba, for example. In the picture you see wearing my luminous dog coat that Dad bought for me to wear when I go walking in the rain. While I have Kennel Cough I am wearing it every time I go out – how embarrassing!!