We Have Moved To WORLDPRESS

Inspired by Bailey's buddy Bosco, we have moved to Worldpress - see us at our new site: http://vvigar.wordpress.com/

See you there!

Tass From The Emerald Isle

Meet Tass - a fantastic black lab puppy belonging to best mate Foxy and her brood. She had done a great job training her and she is adorable!

Under Construction

Yes, I know - 7 months is a long time to go without posting any news - apologies. The excuse - the impending arrival of baby Verplancke in just 5 weeks.

From this photo you can see how we are rapidly spending our days in an wonderful early summer here in NL. Bailey is of course making the most of me being unable to move around much and having hours of head and bottom scratching - Bailey not me!

Many seem worried about making sure B does not jet left out when 'peanut' arrives. I am not concerned.

In a recent video proves how good she is with babies. Well done to Sonja, Huig and Liv for training her so well.!

I have also read a bit about how to get the dog ready for the baby - playing CDs of screaming babies was one suggestion - RIGHT - as if we wont have enough of that to get used to - Really! The other is to give the dog my t-shirt or whatever I end up wearing during the birth. I think that is not so bad a suggestion but the all time best is to give the dog the baby's first nappy - a LABRADOR??? The thought is quite revolting - not for her perhaps but it just seems like a bad combination.

I have tried to get Bailey to feel the baby moving in my tummy - she just things its bad digestion and her head is actually pretty heavy! I don't think she has a clue, except she does seem to be more attention seeking than usual!

Maternity leave starts next week and I can then review the blog and decide next steps for this one and perhaps something separate for two-legged family members. I think Bailey remains more interesting - at least for the present and as she approaches her 2nd birthday, I will make more of an effort to keep you all up to date!

Autumn Dog's Life

We are still celebrating that the beaches are free of tourists and full of dogs :-) We have had some exceptional visits recently and some serious bodysurfing - of the four footed kind I mean :-)

I think Bailey over did it on Sunday, she woke the man human up at 3.30 yesterday night to get let out - it is still strange that this, woman human, did not wake up - but Bsiley's pitch is obviously tuned into the male ear :-) (Thanks girlie!!!0 I found out later that she had had several mouthfuls of horse crap - "now the money comes out of the sleeve" as they say in Holland!

I am away from home on business and miss my family so it a bit of a ramble this evening. However, one thing that Bailey fans may appreciate, she has found this incredible knack to charm little people - those under 5 I mean! She simply sits next to them and does a 'seal face' and they lose their fear and stroke her. I am thinking about taking her to some kid’s hospitals to do that once in a while - does anyone know of other dogs doing that?

Signing out and thanks to the two recent posts. I just wish we could get out to the US/Canada to do a visit - but Bailey in a cage in the hold for 10 hours?? Hummm… I still would love her to meet all her buddies though!

Naughty Dog!

Bailey having destroyed a toy - again - caught on camera/phone!!!!

Almost Perfect !!

Just in case you were worried that Bailey is naughty all the time - here is a video of her being really sweet - hey what's a little sock theaft between friends????

Marley & Me - Another Labrador Book Makes It Big

I have just started reading a book called Marley & Me by John Grogan. I have yet to get into it (only on page 8) but by all accounts, it makes Bailey look almost 'boringly angelic' which is hard to believe after this afternoon's capers in the park......

She fell in the river 4 times, exhausted two other dogs in a 3-way tug of war and did at least 30 rounds of her favourite 'hamster wheel' tree! Its still amazes me that she runs so fast she still runs in the branches full force :-) This is all after an hour run this morning!!!

One thing on the book's web site are the stories from other lab owners - this one about the most expensive chicken in new york made me smile: http://www.marleyandme.com/ubb/Forum3/HTML/000406.html It reminds me of my brother's lab, (Pan)Dora, who had the most amazing trick of running into my parent's house and in one fluid jump ate the cat food (put on a shelf) and then land on the floor in perfect formation to reutn to give my mum and dad the biggest hello ever! She also did the same trick across the kitchen table at my brother's place and ate the Sunday roast!

Funny picture time. Now, is this just a VERY small chair or an ENORMOUS dog???? CLUE: The chair belongs to a friend's 3-year old !!!

Talking Cats - As if you'd ever get a dog doing that!

http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-7199158973758073420&hl=en

Since Google launched its video service, I have seen nothing that you cannot fring on MySpace or Flicr, however, this one made me laugh - enjoy !

Me - Tagged - oh yikes!

Want to play? Sadie Mae dog has started a game of TAG - check it out at: /sadiemaedog.blogspot.com/

She TAGed me - sooooooo....where to start: Five funny things about me.....

1. I look like a dancing bear when I sit on my backside having my tummy tickled and I put my paws on the arm doing the tickling
2. I nibble my food – yes, I am a Labrador!
3. I charge at my boss and any bag on the ground when ever I can - we play chicken all the time :-)
4. I love to put my front paws onto counter tops when my boss is shopping – or buying cinema tickets – those people think I want a ticket too!
5. I love riding trains and climbing stairs – give me a double dekker train as we have in Holland and I wm in my element
6. I can type !!!! – just had to add that one