Introducing Marco

Paula has a new friend. He is a whippet crossed with something… maybe a terrier. He came from the Dog Pound at Meath. Marco weighs just 19lbs, is around 2 inches smaller than Paula and I reckon he is about 6/8 months old. I saw him on the Dog Pound website and decided to go and have a look at him. Paula and I went up on Thursday 29th October and he came back with us that same day. I couldn’t have left him there…(enough said!)

When he came home he had to be de-flead, wormed, bathed and have his nails cut. The following Monday he went to have his ‘bits’ removed and whilst he was spark out, Emma the vet, removed a baby tooth that hadn’t come out and was making his canine tooth grow outward.

So, for the first week he thought that I was the devil incarnate!

Now, a week later, he is practising walking on a lead, jumps into the car with Paula and comes to be stroked. I can only begin to imagine the life he had been used to previously because he was very wary of me to begin with. But he is settling down well to our routine.  Now we need to master the house training, he is fine if I leave the back door open but has not yet grasped the idea of waiting.   (Note to self: Next time you get a new dog, make sure it’s summer!)

Paula was a bit mystified to find this little creature was staying, but she now cuddles up to him at night and plays chasing round the garden – providing it is not raining (she doesn’t do rain!) More stories on Marco’s progress soon…      

Marco - 10 days after arriving

Snoop Dog

Snoop on the Beach in Plymouth

This is a picture of Snoop, my son’s new Labrador Puppy. He was just 11 weeks old in this picture. Liam called him ‘Snoop’ so that he wouldn’t sound like a ‘wus’ when he called the dog back to him. It doesn’t sound too bad shouting ‘C’mon Snoop Doggy Dog’- at least not if you’re a rap fan.                                        

Paula really enjoyed playing with this young chap when we were in England, but she did keep tipping him over. She’ll get a shock next time we see him because he’ll be a big boy then and he’ll probably get his own back…

More Tales of Paula

Paula excelled herself today – and we haven’t even set off on our holidays!

Her opening trick of the day was to pinch my keys. I always leave them on top of the fridge but yesterday I had left them on the table which is Paula height – not whippet or dog height but Paula height! After much searching I eventually found them in the grass where she had been having a little taste.

I’m very much a ‘last minute’ person and had gone into Roscommon to pay a few bills and buy one or two bits. So, as I always do, I left Paula curled up on the passenger seat. I swear I was only away from the car for 45 seconds before I realised that I had left my phone in the car (again). I dashed back to find that Paula was happily adapting the phone to her own specifications – yes, another one! Fortunately though, I had just got to her in time to rescue it before it became un-useable. But the screen is not too bright and the buttons are pitted with her teeth marks.

That’s not all – I needed to go into another shop so I checked to make sure there was nothing that she could destroy and off I went. I was away for about 10 minutes and when I returned, Paula had removed the button from the end of my windscreen wiper switch. As it was only a little chewed I took it off her and pushed it back into place. That’s when the fun started!

I settled myself into the car, put my seatbelt on; then I switched the engine on. I got the shock of my life as all the wipers (back and front) started going on ‘very fast’ mode, the window washer pumped water continuously onto the windscreen and I was – apparently –  going to turn left, according to the flashing indicator. Now, I know it doesn’t sound too bad, but as I wasn’t expecting it, it really took me by surprise and my brain refused to tell me what to do! The other shoppers in the car park must have thought I was a mad woman – giving my windscreen the best wash it had ever had. After a few seconds of slight panic, not knowing which buttons to press, my brain unscrambled and I turned off the ignition – aren’t I smart!

I sat there for a while trying to remove the button that my little darling had chewed but, of course, it’s never that simple. I had done a good job putting it back! So, after lots of beeping of the horn (by accident and much to the surprise of passers by) I managed to remove the button, straightened it and replaced it – problem solved. But not until I had wondered how long the water would last in the windscreen washer if I had to drive home washing the windscreen all the way.

The result of today’s little episode is that I went to my son’s house and picked up a dog guard that I left in his kennels. Sadly, Paula has shot herself in the foot – she will be in the back of the car when I am on the ferry – who knows what my car would look like if I leave her on the passenger seat as I originally intended!

Bathing Paula…

When I first got Paula, she would follow me everywhere – to the kitchen, to the bedroom even to the bathroom.

Paula and her baby...

One day, after she had been with me for about a week, I went to have a shower but didn’t close the bathroom door properly (I live alone – so it didn’t matter). So there I was, washing my hair when a furry critter landed in the bath. I’m not sure who was most surprised – Paula or me! She wasn’t too keen on this wet stuff and the very slippery surface under her feet and I wasn’t too keen at having a pup in the shower! So after much panic on her part and exasperation on mine, we got out of the shower. When I got out, I dripped bubbles from my hair whilst I dried Paula. To add insult to injury, after I had rinsed the shampoo from my hair and finished showering, I went into the sitting room and found that my sweet little girl had nicked the toilet roll and spread it all around the furniture – apparently my interior design needed some help. Do you know how much stuff there is on one toilet roll? A lot, especially when it’s all ripped up!

Note: To the person who said they liked the stories but doubted that they were true –  every single tale about Paula is ABSOLUTELY TRUE and there are more…

Paula Decided That I Need a New Phone!

This is a picture of the remains of my phone.

The Remains!

There was, originally a flap covering the numbers before Paula decided to ‘modify’ it. I still haven’t found the rest of it yet though! 

I only left her in the car for about 5 minutes but silly me left the phone on the sun visor. I really should have known better.                                                                                   

Over the next few weeks I will be telling more tales about Paula’s exploits over the past 7 months or so. She looks so angelic, but looks can be deceiving – trust me, I know!