Higgins Hörna

March 23 2005
Happy Easter!

Now it's Happy Easter! That's a time when you should relax and get Easter eggs with lots of goodies in them! I didn't exactly get an Easter Egg, but mum baked me new biscuits and I got a nice chewing bone. I chewed the bone a lot, and I hope that will keep mum from brushing my teeth. I don't like the tooth brush at all, it's a silly thing that I don't see why I should need to use. Hopefully mum will forget about it soon.
The last couple of days it seems as if all the snow is melting away again, and mum hopes we wont get any more snow until at least November. She says it's time for spring now, and even though I like snow, it's kind of nice with spring. When the snow melts away and it gets warmer there are all these very interesting smells coming from the ground. Sometimes going for walks I sniff so much at one place that mum feels she has to remind me we are supposed to go for a walk. According to her it's not going for a walk standing still in one spot for two hours. Today mum decided to take a very strange way on one of our walks. We have walked parts of it many times before, but for some reason mum thought we should see where we would end up if we continued walking straight forward at a place where we normally turn right. At first I thought it was interesting too, because there were plenty of interesting smells, but after a while I tried to make mum turn around. I had no idea of where we were, and I was sure she didn't know either. Also I didn't find the area we walked in very nice at all, but mum said that the outskirts of industrial areas are never really nice, but the sun was shining and she was sure we'd end up in some nicer place soon.

Above you can see me trying to make mum turn around. I investigated the fence and the gate and decided it was time to turn around and go back, but mum insisted on continuing the walk. Eventually we got to a place where I recognised where we were, so I started to hurry up to make sure mum wouldn't get the idea of turning around again or taking some other weird road. Eventually we made it home, and now I'm pretty exhausted and I hope mum will spend the rest of the day and evening sitting in the sofa watching TV. I need a good rest now!

Happy Easter to all of you!!

March 23 2005
Happy Birthday and Secret Visits

Two days ago, March 21, mum's mother celebrated her birthday. To make it a bit more complicated we all celebrated her the day before her birthday. Well, I didn't realy get to celebrate since I wasn't allowed any of the nice food the humans ate, and I didn't get to try the cake either. But still it was a celebration which made me kind of tired. Apart from mum I had 4,5 human to check up during the whole time in case they would drop food or cake on the floor or do something else that could be fun to see. In case you wonder how there can be a 0,5 human, it's easy! It means little Martin since he's not as big as the other humans! I don't think he minds though not being counted as a big human, because he got to taste all the food and the cake too:

Above you can see him doing thumbs up after tasting the cake. After all the eating and talking and so on, mum started to get ready to go at the same time as little Martin and his parents. I thought we were all going in the car since mum and I got picked up by mum's father going to the party, but it turned out we were going on the bus. It was the second time in my life I got to go in a bus, and it's actually quite fun. You're so high up and you can see a lot of things looking out the window. Well, you could have seen a lot of things going on this bus, but it was dark so I decided to go to sleep on mum's lap instead. Suddenly I noticed mum was lifting me up and getting out the door, and when she let me down I had no idea of where we were. Turned out mum had decided to get off the bus a bit before reaching home so that we could get a walk. It was actually a very good idea because that meant coming home to the apartment we could just relax, and I was so tired coming in I didn't want to do anything but sleep.

Yesterday mum brought me to her parents again, I was supposed to look after them until today you see. I had a very good time there, got to go for walks, got to cuddle, got to play and generally having a good time. We went for a long walk in the forest, and it was so much fun because I got to run around without my lead on! Mum had packed my long flexi lead because her parents usually don't let me off the lead since they're afraid to lose me. But since I was looking after them this time, they actually let me off the lead in the forest! They say it was because we were walking over open fields with no other humans or dogs in sight, but they're just making that up! Anyway, it was so much fun running around, and I sniffed on a lot of very interesting things, and coming back from that walk I was very satisfied and decided to have a rest. I knew it was safe having a rest without mum's parents disappearing because they started making lunch for themselves.

Shortly after they'd eaten their lunch, I heard mum's car and I was waiting for her at the door. I was so excited to see her, but when I got close to her I could smell something: She'd met two other dogs when she was away!! I carefully inspected her jumper, and I could definitely tell she'd met two dogs. I have no idea why she would go and meet other dogs and not bring me, I mean she knows I love to meet other dogs!! I don't think it's very nice of mum to go and meet other dogs in secret!! When we got home I carefully inspected every part of the apartment to see if the dogs she met had been in our home, but the only thing I noticed was that mum must have had the horrible hover out because all my biscuitcrumbs were gone. I also found a pair of her trousers that I could tell had been on her when she met those other dogs, but I guess I have to live with that. At least mum didn't replace me. Not that I see how anyone could replace me, because I'm mum's special boy!!

March 18 2005
Inheritance

Today is a fun day, because the Cocker magazine arrived in the post! Both mum and I enjoy reading it, and this edition was the best ever - apart from the pages about grooming that I will try to rip out before mum gets a chance to study them any closer. The best thing about this magazine was the interview with my breeder Maria at Kennel Lagromi! There were pictures of plenty of my relatives, like my dad "Abbe" who has quite a few letters in front of his fancy name, my sister Harrieth (Lagromi I'm Your Melody"), and also one of my grandmother Towa who also has quite a few letters in front of her fancy name. Anyway, in the article it said that Towa -my grandmother - hates water!! Just like I do!!! I thought that was so interesting to see, and I think it shows that it's not only looks and temperament that's passed on in our genes, but other things as well. Like hating water...

To stick with my water theme, I can tell you how my scientific investigation "how-not-to-get-wet-during-walks-by-walking-very slowly" is progressing. Yesterday I got it confirmed that this theory doesn't work when the ground is all wet and slushy from melting snow. I was soaking wet after each walk we took, and that was not fun at all! At one part of one of our walks mum even took pity on me and carried me over a huge puddle - actually more like a small lake - since I wouldn't walk through it and there was no way around it. It was full of water, ice and slush and there was no way I was walking through. So, mum took me up and carried me over the place, her boots had water up to her ankles but I was pretty safe in her arms. While she was carrying me I was busy kissing one of her ears and watching a cat.

Today's walks have been much better since it was a bit colder today even though the sun was shining. Since it was coldet that meant the wet had turned into ice, and you don't get wet walking on ice! One thing I found a bit disappointing though was when I threw myself in what I thought was nice and soft snow. I wanted to roll around in it and just mess around a while, but the snow was all hard, which didn't make it very fun to roll around in.

March 15 2005
Boring mum

Today mum has been more boring than usual. OK, so we have done some fun stuff too, like going for nice long walks and so on, but apart from that she's been so boring! She decided to dust and clean the room where our computer is, and how fun is that? Not fun at all if you ask me. To make things worse, we went for a ride in the car. Now you might wonder why that was boring, since I love going in the car, and I'll tell you why it was boring. During the weekend mum's dvd-player broke down, so today she decided to go to the shop and ask them to fix it for her. So we got in the car, mum drove to the big store, went inside and were gone for only a little while, then she came back to the car and drove back home again! Since I'd hoped we were going to go for a long ride I refused to get out of the car, I wanted us to drive some more! Usually I'm is as much hurry getting out of the car as I am getting in, but now I wasn't in the mood of getting out. We'd hardly been riding in the car at all if you asked me! Mum tried to bribe me with some treats to get me out, but I was sitting in the back seat giving her offended looks trying to make her understand I wanted to go on a longer ride. Then mum said I could sit in the car in the garage all on my own if that was what I wanted, and she started to close the door. That made me realise she actually were going to leave me behind, and I didn't really fancy just sitting in the car in the garage so I got out of it. Back in the apartment again, mum continued with her boring cleaning.

Another thing about mum is that she sometimes is very clumsy. Like when she misses her own mouth with the spoon while eating yogurt. This happened last week one day when mum was reading the newspaper and eating her breakfast. We'd been on a nice long walk, but the weather that day wasn't very nice, it was wet and slushy, so I got back inside all wet and miserable. While mum sat reading the newspaper at the table, I was feeling miserable and lonely on the floor, and eventually mum took pity on me, and let me lie on her lap. I know she is never giving me anything from the table, so I curled up on her lap making myself comfortable thinking of how good her trousers were to dry on. Suddenly I heard mum say "oopps" and then she started wiping something from my back. Turned out she had missed her mouth with a spoon full of yogurt and it ended up on my back! Now I really like yogurt, but I want it in my mouth, not on my back! Actually yougurt isn't the first thing mum as made a mess on me with. On two occations have I had mum's up-side-down sandwiches on me, once it was honey on it and the other time something else. Both times mum said it was my fault since I'd sneaked up behind her, and when she turned around to get to the table she stumbled and dropped her sandwich on me. I didn't mind the honey sandwich, because honey tastes very nice, but that other sandwich she could have dropped somewhere else. It wasn't tasty at all! Also, both those times I ended up getting a bath!! This time getting the yogurt on me I was lucky though and didn't have to suffer a bath. Mum managed to wipe it all away, and I cleaned it some too, and besides, the next walk I got soaking wet so whatever was left disappeared.

Hopefully mum will be less clumsy and more fun tomorrow!

March 7 2005
Another of mum's stupid ideas

The other day mum and I went to the doggy store to get me some new food. That was all right, but do you know what else mum got?? She got me toothpaste! And after that she went to another store and got me a toothbrush!! I have no idea what gave mum this stupid idea, that I would need toothpaste and a toothbrush. Maybe she thinks it's a great way for her and me to do something together?? If so, that's very silly of her, because I can think of loads of other things we can do together and enjoy. Things like cuddling up together in the sofa watching tv, going for nice long walks, eating biscuits and play. But as most of you dogs know already, humans get very strange ideas sometimes, and this I must say was mum's strangest idea in a long time. Today I got the feeling mum was preparing to brush my teeth for the first time, so I decided to become invisible. I was hiding under mum's bed and refused to come when she called me. I didn't even come out when she tried to bribe me with treats. Then I thought I heard mum getting ready to go out because I heard her at the front door, so I came running to make sure she wasn't going anywhere without me. BIG mistake. She wasn't getting ready to go anywhere, she tricked me! Next thing I knew I was in the bathroom with the stupid toothbrush in my mouth! I can honestly say I didn't like it one bit!

Yesterday was a very good day though, because we had visitors! I looove getting visitors, and it was mum's parents who came here. I was running around like crazy when they came in, and they both said I was a very handsome boy after my grooming. According to mum's mother it feels like I'm made of velvet, but I think she should know better! I can't be made of velvet, I'm made of coat!!

On the pictures above I think you all can see I'm made of coat and not velvet! Mum took these just after brushing me and really looking after me. She cut my claws and also put some sort of lotion on my paws. She does that sometimes, and the first time she did it she thought I'd lick it off, but to her surprise I didn't. I actually quite enjoy getting that lotion on my paws, and I've seen mum puts lotion on her own feet as well so it must be a good thing. After the brushing session and picturetaking we went out for a nice long walk in the sunshine. For some reason it seemed it was only mum and I out walking which was very fortunate for me. Since mum didn't see any other people or dogs around, she let me off the lead so I could run around and play in the snow!!

Above you can see me pretending I'm a cannon ball!

March 3 2005
Cruelty to animals

Today was a bad day for me because I had to suffer through cruelty to animals. According to mum it wasn't cruelty at all, but grooming... I hate being gromed so I don't agree with mum, to me grooming is like torture! I guess I must consider myself lucky though, since I'm not a show dog I don't have to suffer through grooming all that often, but still, it's awful! I try everything to be let down from the table, but nothing works. Not kissing the woman who grooms me on her ears, not wagging my tail, not looking at her with begging eyes, not looking at mum with begging eyes and not even whining when the lady who grooms me just look at my coat. (I mean it can hurt when the coat is pulled so I prefer to whine in advance.) But none of my tricks seem to work, so I have to suffer through hours of grooming and the only thing I enjoy about it is when I'm let down from the table. And to make it even worse, mum pays for having me tortured!! Also after grooming I'm totally exhausted! I mean you really have to pay after spending such a long time fighting against being groomed and being all tensed up. But mum is happy having me tortured, and she says that now I'm a very cuuuuuuuuuuute cocker boy compared to yesterday when I was only a very cuuuute cocker boy.

One thing that made the grooming extra strange to me was that mum insisted on having it done when it's very cold outside! I mean shouldn't I be allowed to keep as much of my coat as possible when it's winter and cold?? Not that I was freezing or so on our walk, I was much too busy to even notice the cold. It was a nice winter day today and the sun was shining. Mum got the idea to take some nice pictures of me in the snow and sun, saying I was so cute and handsome now it had to be documented. So she put me on this huge tree stump in a park and asked me to sit and pose for her, but I had more urgent things to do, like looking at all the interesting things around us.

Right after mum took this picture I decided I wasn't going to pose anymore so I jumped down and wanted to go over to have a look at the ducks I'd spotted further away.

Here I am looking over a fence where the ducks were. They were walking around on the ice in the river, and I had so much fun watching them. Did you ever notice how funny ducks look when they walk!?

March 2 2005
Birdnews

Something strange has happened in my friend Rusty's house. A couple of weeks ago when I came there for a visit, I noticed something I'd never seen before. As always when I go visiting places I've been to many times before, I went on my little inspection tour of the house, and then I came across something very strange. I was standing there for a while, staring in to this thing that looked like some sort of box and saw something moving. It was a bird!! I've never seen such a strange thing, having a bird inside in a box! Mum says it's called a cage, and that many people have birds inside. I think it's very strange since I think birds should be outside. It's more fun scaring them outside and see them fly away... According to mum, having a bird in a cage is the same thing as having a fish tank with fish inside as her parents do. Although those fish lives outside in the pond when it's warmer. Apparently this bird at Rusty's house will not be living outside in a pond no matter how warm it gets. Anyway, just to be sure Rusty's owners knew they had a bird inside, I started barking at the bird to get their attention. At that point mum said I shouldn't bark at the bird because I could scare it.

Mum decided to take pictures of the bird, and found out it wasn't that easy. First of all that cage thing was in the way, and also the bird wouldn't sit still for long. The bird's name is "Bad Boy" due to the fact that he was living alone in a cage at the petstore since he would start fights with the other birds if he was allowed in with them. So Rusty told me that was one of the reasons his mum wanted this bird, and also Bad Boy's name goes very well with Rusty's fancy name which is "Mister Brat". One thing I did find out about birds is that they get worse food than us dogs. All I could see was seeds, and who wants to eat that?? The poor bird didn't even have any biscuits. I'm not sure what birds do all day, except for singing. Bad boy sings all the time, and that's because he's a Canarie bird or whatever it's called. Another thing he gets now and again is showers! His mum sprays him with water, and he seems to enjoy it. Silly bird!! Enjoying water??

Another thing this bird likes is to look at himself in the mirror! He even sings to himself, probably thinking he's singing to another bird...

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