2012


At both homes...
Santa suit: Although he doesn't often wear a suit Bob dressed up for Christmas. He even walked up to the baker's in France wearing his suit. Michelle in the baker's was suitably impressed and Bob got a big Christmas kiss.
At home (No 1)...
Snow: Bob absolutely adores the snow. It is amazing that he can sniff out a stick even if it is under several inches of snow.
Birthday: Bob had another birthday cake made specially for him by the local pet shop again this year. He is now officially our eleven year old puppy.
Olympic display: The same pet shop that made his cake had an olympic window display with rings and flames made out of dog treats. I asked if Bob could sit on the top step and it was no problem. How many shops do you know that would re-arrange their window display while you took a photo?
Top of stairs: Bob still spends a lot of time at the top of the stairs. He likes to monitor people who pass in front of our gate, snooze, or to roll a toy down and wait for someone to throw it back up to him.
Squeaky toys: The early part of the year was divided between Bob's rubber chickens (2 each in England and in France) and his high pitched squeaky bottle. Ann and David added the 'bladder' which looks like a mini space hopper and sounds like deranged bagpipes. It has the distinction of being as noisy on the release as it is on the squeeze. While the other toys still feature prominently the 'bladder' has taken over as toy of choice for getting attention.
Poses: A couple of poses for the camera.
At home (No 2)...
Sticks: Bob and his sticks is a recurring theme - no change this year.
Boot field: A truly impressive display of nose power. We were in a (very large) field that we had not been in before. While we were walking along Bob ran way into the middle of the field and then straight back again. We could see that he had something in his mouth and at first assumed it was another stick. But it was in fact a dog toy that he had collected from the middle of what is normally a cow's field. His nose was obviously far keener than our eyesight.
Poorly leg: Poor 'old' Bob slipped one day and hurt his leg (we think it was as he hopped from the last step of the stairs onto the tiled floor). It was sufficiently bad for a trip to the vet's. The temporary addition of a bandage just supported it enough so he could hobble around. To our relief (and his) the vet in Etang-sur-Arroux was able to fix him up with an injection and a course of tablets.
Mont de Rome Château: One of Bob's favourite walks is at the top of a hill with some sheer cliffs. There are fabulous views from up there - and Bob can teeter on the edge and worry us all.
Comfort: Just a few pictures of the master at work.
Chestnuts: We discovered that Bob adores chestnuts. After offering him one to try it turns out that they are as appealing as any dog treat, even as much as cheese! Who would have thought that a roast chestnut would be such a doggy delicacy?
En route: Bob is an excellent traveller. He just settles down during long journeys and always looks supremely comfy - however, thanks to the confined space it is rare to get any pictures (which also explains the odd angle they were taken from).
Here are a few pictures of some of Bob's friends that he meets while out in France.
Sermages: Sally and Tilly are the incumbents while Blue is the new puppy. Or at least he was in these pictures. He was just a few weeks old when we met him the first time. Next time he was virtually full sized. He has a 'friendly' rivalry with Bob where each of them want whatever toy the other one has. If either of them take their eye off the current toy for a moment then it is slyly taken by the other.
Hameau du Beuvray: Every morning Bob goes out of his way to annoy the dogs on either side of the entrance to Hameau du Beuvray. He will always leave them a wee-mail - often just out of reach.

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