Sombra´s new trick

They say you can´t teach on old dog new tricks. Well, she´s not that old and I didn´t teach it to her! Sombra has surprised me over the last few weeks by asking for a water refill.

Asking me? Yes. She´s somehow learnt to pick up her empty

water bowl and bring it to me! Pretty neat trick I think! And oh so cute.

Not only does she bring it to me, but when my Mother was staying with me, she did the same for her.

Now, if I could just get her to feed herself and clean up her own poop, I´d be a very happy dog owner!

Masters of Destruction

what´s left of my peppers ->

For the third time this week, I have come home to a pile of laundry and chewed up pegs on the floor. Now I know that dogs like to chew but this is getting annoying, especially because they have started to actually destroy my clothes.

The first time it happened, it was their bed linen drying which they had pulled down so I didn´t take much notice. The second time, it was my old black work t-shirt so again, they were told off but I wasn´t too angry. This morning it was 4 tops, 2 pairs of jeans, a towel and several pegs. I don´t even know who is responsible for this to reprimand them.

I had to stop planting vegetables and plants as they dig them up and shred the plant into non existence. They had stopped when I planted a chilli pepper plant and that actually managed to grow some peppers. I was so happy with the progress of it and then I came home from work one day and the entire plant had been torn to pieces, the peppers were scattered around the yard untouched. Little minxes. It looks as though they are taking my washing line as a challenge.

I have tried elevating the plants on high stands. I´ve tried putting my washing line higher up, It seems that my two little mongrels just love a challenge. I wish they´d play with their own toys though...

<- the laundry

the pegs->

Love at First Sight

Sipping black coffee flicking through the classified ads in the local paper, my eyes flicked to the big bold print "Doa-se."

A litter of mongel puppies were available for adoption so I called the number. It was a sign. The owner gave me the address and it just so happened to be next door to the house I was planning to buy. I drove over and as I walked up to the front gate, six monochrome balls of fluff came bouncing out to meet me. Only 6 weeks old and full of playful energy. A

lmost immediately, the larger of the black and white pups bounded over to me and started playfully nipping

my fingers. That was Dotty.

A few moments later, the biggest and blackest of the litter came and sat down between my ankles and every step I took, she followed me like a shadow. That was Sombra, (portuguese for Shadow.)

I´m not sure who chose who but looking back it was a brave move. I´d had in mind to bring one of the pups home but when my boyfriend saw Sombra, he fell in love and said "bring both of them home." Obviously I didn´t take much convincing.

At the beginning things seemed fine and they adapted quickly to their new home. After all their injections and a two week wait, they were finally ready for their first walk. Sombra quickly learnt how to walk on a lead but Dotty refused to budge. She would walk a few steps then stop and sit down. As I live in the countryside and there were no other dogs around, I let them off for a run. They bounced through bushes, dug up holes and chased b

utterflies. They loved it.

A few days after that walk I noticed that Dotty was getting a little thin and wasn´t eating properly. I had a barbecue and she sat quietly shivering while Sombra was jumping around hoping for scraps of meat. I was worried. The next day, Dotty´s stomach was enormo

us. It looked as though she´d swallowed a whole melon so I immediately took her to the vet.

The vet took blood samples and drained the fluid from her stomach and told me that she wasn´t sure she´d survive. I was given antibiotics for Dotty to take and told to make her eat and keep her warm.

The blood tests came back showing Dotty was anemic. More tablets and liquids for her and blended liver followed. I was certain she would die, but she pulled through! A week later I took her back to the vet who couldn´t believe it was the same dog.

Since then, Dotty has become a little trouble maker! She sneaks into the house when nobody is looking, she pulls laundry off the line, runs off whenever the gate is open and worst of all, has a taste for killing small birds and lizards.

All that aside, I´m the proud owner of two cute little mongrels with two huge personalities and I wouldn´t change that for the world!