2006

Bob's year in (roughly) chronological order.
Wood Farm Dog Club. Bob is now a veteran of the dog club as this was his fourth year, here are a few pictures of him and his friends in action.
Carrying on as usual, during the winter months Bob sees the wash station far more often than he would like. Unfortunately, if the ground is as much as damp he has the skill to splash mud everywhere, and you have to ask yourself - would you let him in the living room (or on your knee) in this state?
We did try a couple of things to help, such as putting him in a T-shirt, and wrapping him in cling film but neither looked likely to work outdoors so we just carried on with the washes.
The Snip. Bob's big event of the year was when he had the op. that all dogs dread. If all had been well we would have left Bob alone but he had a little problem that would have exposed him to a high risk of cancer. Here he is during his time with the 'lampshade' - he wasn't too happy about that. As soon as he had his stitches out (despite us being told to keep him quiet) he went woofing and bouncing across the field behind the vets.
Fortunately the op didn't change his character at all, the only obvious change is that he now eats properly where he was very faddy before and often left his food. You can't see his ribs so easily now and his weight has risen from just under 10kg to about 10.7kg.
Another change for Bob this year is that his aunty Cathy taught him to go into water. Previously he would even walk around puddles but now he is willing to wade tummy deep into lakes just to get a drink. He also has no qualms about walking through wet muddy areas that he would have carefully avoided before. Thank you very much (not) Cathy.

Bob's newfound confidence caught him out while we were in Telford. At one point there was a puddle all the way across our path, including where a path joined from the right. Bob trotted ahead through the left side of the puddle while we decided to turn around as it was too deep for our shoes. When we called Bob back he returned down the other side. Although it was flat on top (you can see this coming can't you?), one 'step' after the path to the right Bob found the bit where the puddle was also covering a ditch. He disappeared in cartoon fashion with just the tip of his nose staying above water. He looked quite shocked as he scrabbled out and ran around shaking vigorously to dry off.

Dr. Bob: When I was immobilised for a while early in the year Bob soon came to terms with the idea that I wasn't taking him out for walks. Instead he would settle himself on my lap for long periods and it was not uncommon for Bob to spend more than five hours a day on my lap 'helping' me to recover.
When we are out with Bob we look out for and pick up any change that has been dropped. This is counted as Bob's pocket money. Last year he 'earned' enough to buy himself his own tunnel for practicing his agility.
As you know Bob takes his relaxation very seriously. Here he demonstrates how he can make himself comfortable indoors or out. (Note that there is a toy close by in each case should the opportunity arise.)
Bob steps up his efforts at being comfortable when he is on holiday. The second of these pictures shows where he snuck into our room one night and settled in a pile of duvets that had been placed in the corner of the room. Needless to say they were put away in a cupboard before he had a chance to repeat that trick.
But Bob's absolute favorite place to relax is on someone's lap (almost anyone's lap as it turns out). And, as a masterclass in relaxation his ultimate spot must be when he and Anne take their afternoon nap. (Especially important after the rigours of agility training on a Tuesday.)
And for the rest of the time he can be found taking his role as entertainments officer seriously.
French homework. Bob has mastered French for canines and is quite capable of telling the lady dogs that he is in love with them and the male dogs that he is not. He really likes to help us with our homework.
Bob was keen to join in all of the games this summer. Unfortunately he killed the beach ball used for pool volleyball when it was knocked over the edge. He wasn't as keen on sharing one of his own balls so the game could carry on.
He also joined in the badminton knockabout - which lasted until all of the shuttlecocks had been killed.
He is not keen at all when we play boules as he is not allowed to chase the balls - but at least there all he does is lay down and sulk.
One thing missing indoors at the house in France was an easy view of the garden for Bob. We got him a little foam chair and he spends ages either sitting on it watching the garden or just snoozing. One mention of the 'c' word and he shoots up there to check his empire.
Travelling in comfort on those long journeys to France. Of course Bob prefers to travel on the passenger's lap. While I was on crutches we took out the front passenger seat and packed the area so that we could top it with cushions and I could sit in the back with my leg raised and forwards. Bob thought this was ideal as he could get onto my lap and then gradually migrate to the cushions (even if he needed to push me aside to get into the comfiest spot).
In the summer we went in Paul's car which has a space between the front seats. The idea was that if I sat in the back I could put my leg forward between the seats where we had a cushion - but of course Bob had other ideas for the cushion. To him it appeared we had made him his own special seat (from where he could sneak onto the front passenger's lap if the opportunity arose).
When the front seat was finally replaced in our car then Bob tried several times to make his way through to the front. One compromise was to rest his head on a cushion stuffed in the gap to impede his efforts.
I'd like to say that Bob was prone to helping in the garden as this picture with him and the garden rake suggests. But in fact he was just making sure that no-one did any work unless they had kicked the football first.
Always one to appreciate the flowers when Sylvester flowered again for us this year Bobby was was there to check it out.
SuperBob! This is Bob's costume for the Dog Club Christmas party. It was good enough to take the first prize in the fancy dress competition. All the more pleasing given the high standard of the competition. (Some more pictures on the Dog Club page.)

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