In December of 2012, I told a friend I actually enjoyed a bottle of Barefoot Sparkling Wine, but the guy turned out to be an informant for the League of Very Relevant Wine Bloggers, who subsequently banned me from writing about wine for 40 months.
As Ben Elton observed in Gridlock, native English speaking travellers, like me, seem to think our language becomes understandable to non-English speaking people if we speak slow-ly and LOUD-LY.
Jet joined our family in March 2014. It had been two-and-half years since we'd lost our dear old Lab, Harry, and Jet was two-and-half years old at the time. It seemed a good omen. However, we were Jet's fourth family! Why had he had so many homes? What had happened to him? Was he unruly and aggressive?
Walking to the local coffee shop one morning, my dog, Harry, alongside me on-leash, I overheard a passer-by compliment, "Look at that well-trained dog." "Nah," retorted another. "You should see the two big dogs outside the coffee shop. They walk off-leash."
When my wife and I told family and friends we were expecting our first child, their first response was, "Harry's nose will be put out of joint!" I was determined our three-year-old Labrador's nose would not be put out by, nor would he be shooed outside, away from the new baby in the pack.
My local dog club runs a season-ending Fun Day with events designed to be fun and to test the bond between members and their dogs. Our most popular events include fancy dress, an agility-type slalom, a saveloy race (relay, not eating!), the waggliest tail and an event we call the "Ned Kelly".
Last year I talked to the children at my son's childcare centre about dogs and the important question, Can I Pat That Dog? I divided the talk into three parts: 1) How to approach a dog; 2) How to look after a dog; 3) Dog training and tricks.
In addition to basic obedience commands, I like to demonstrate the power of play in my dog training classes. But I don't let the dogs run around and chase each other in mad circles. Instead, I demonstrate with my dog, Harry, how to motivate and reward your dog by playing one-on-one with it.
My lab, Harry, is almost eleven-and-a-half years old. He's never been a very energetic dog. And as I've commented to my local dog training club classes, his heeling in obedience rings was like dragging around a reluctant sack of potatoes! But recently, it's become evident that age is wearying him even more.
