Higgins Hörna

September 27 2005
Not sure if it was that fun actually

This morning mum was acting strange! We got up the same time we always do when mum is going to work, but she didn't do things the usual way. She got all ready, had her breakfast and starte to pack her bag before taking me for a walk! While she was packing her bag she even went to get my little grey blanket from the livingroom, rolled it up and put it in her bag. When she went to get something else I went over to the bag and took my blanket out and dragged it to its normal place. "But we're bringing that one" mum said when she came back and saw what I'd done, and then she took the blanket and put it back in her bag. Just like before, as soon as she turned her back I went over and took the blanket out and put it back in its place. I had no idea why it should be in mum's bag, it's either in the sofa or on the floor next to the sofa and that's where it should be if you ask me. Anyway, this time mum seemed to understand that the blanket should not be in her bag, because she laughed at me and said "ah well, we'll just bring an old towel instead then". So I watched her put a towel in her bag and I noticed she also put a couple of my toys in there, a squeaky ball and my squeaky bird. Very strange, why should my toys be in her bag??

When mum was satisfied with what she'd put in her bag it was time for us to leave and she even brought her bag with her. She never does that when we go for our morning walk, only when she's taking me to the car to drive me to her parents so this was extremely strange! We started our walk, and when we got to the place where we normally turn back in the morning mum said we were going the long way! I was a bit surprised, but didn't mind going the long way at all thinking that maybe we were going for a picnic or something. When we'd walked almost the full long walk mum said we were turning to the left. I didn't want to go that way because I don't think that's a very interesting way to walk. Mum said we were going to work but I really didn't want to go there so I laid down on the walking path showing her I wanted to go home. Then mum said that I could stay there on my own and she'd come to get me after four hours. She dropped the lead and walked away. I didn't really feel like lying there on my own until mum came back, so reluctantly I started to follow her. After a while mum made me turn in to a yard which I didn't want to go in to, and then up some stairs at a building I recognised since I've been there before. I was there with mum during the summer once, and it was really a very boring place. Now I have to admit that once mum got the door open to that house she was taking me to things got a little interesting, but I didn't show mum I thought so. I watched mum press some buttons on a thing on a wall before unlocking another door. We made our way through a corridor and then out to a huge room full of things before getting to another big room where mum took off my lead, turned on a computer, got my waterbowl out of her bag and also that towel she insisted on bringing. She also took my toys out and told me I was going to keep her company while she was working just as I always did before when she was working in the hotel. She told me it was only going to be her working there today, so that's why I could come with her.

I walked around and investigated the big room where mum apparently works, but I'm not sure it's such a good place as she says. When we worked in the hotel we had a very small office with no windows, but I had my own armchair in that place! Ok, so it wasn't my chair from the beginning, but I made it mine. In this new place where mum sits there are huge windows and it's a very big room but it has no armchair for me! Also I couldn't smell any food, so I don't see how this could be a good place?! The hotel had a restaurant and a kitchen, and every day I smelled all sorts of food, and the nice waitress Berit and the nice Anna from the kitchen used to come and give me ham when mum wasn't looking. Since mum had said it was only going to be me and her there today I'd already figured out I wouldn't get any ham, and to be honest I don't think there is ham in this new place where mum works. I would have smelled it if it was any. So mum was sitting at the computer typing stuff, looking in files and books and it looked pretty much as the kind of job she did at the hotel. Actually it looks very much like what mum does at home when she sits at the computer allthough at home she doesn't look much in files or books. I think it's very strange that as soon as you sit in front of a computer in some place away from home it's called work, but when you sit at home and do the same thing it's not work. It all looks the same to me... Anyway, while mum was typing stuff at the computer I walked around a bit to have a look, and then I laid down next to a box.

Mum thought I was silly lying there on the hard floor since she'd brought that towel for me to lie on, but I really didn't feel like lying on some old towel! So I was lying next to the box with a grumpy look on my face until I got bored with that, and then I started to play a little with my squeaky bird mum had brought. When she looked at me saying "see Higgins, it's not so bad playing here" I stopped playing. I didn't want her to think I was enjoying the fact I could come with her to work. After a while the doorbell rang and I thought it was a good idea to bark in case mum hadn't heard the bell. She told me to be quiet and then went to open the door. It turned out mum had forgotten the cleaning ladies were coming today, and it turned out one of them was afraid of dogs. I guess mum was as surprised over the doorbell as the cleaning ladies were to hear me bark inside! The woman who was afraid of dogs nearly didn't want to come in, but mum said she was holding on to me and that she was going to put my lead on. So when the cleaning ladies came inside I got to sit with my lead on on mum's lap so I wouldn't scare the woman who was afraid of dogs. I did manage to scare her anyway just by staring at her, and then barking when she brought the hover out.

When the cleaning ladies left mum was going to have a coffee break, so I got to see what that was like too. Not very fun at all since as usual she didn't give me even the smallest bit of her sandwich. After the coffee break she worked a bit more and then it was time to leave which I found was the best part about going to work with mum! The four hours I spent with mum in work actually went by rather quickly. We took the same way home as we did going to work, only the opposite direction. I know we live not too far from this place, mum just took me a long way because then we had two long walks done. So, now I've been to work with mum again, the way I always used to come with her to work before, but I'm not so sure it was very fun.

September 25 2005
Eww, what a day!

Today wasn't all fun if your name was Higgins! Parts of it has been good, but absolutely not the full day. Good things was going for walks, say hello to a few other dogs, bark at a rottweiler that didn't even bark back but just looked at me in amazement, eat some biscuits and cuddle with mum. Bad things about being called Higgins today has been getting brushed, having to put up with mum hovering the apartment and then I ended up in the tub getting a bath! I told mum I definitely not needed my left front paw since that was cleaned yesterday after getting it full of sticky stuff, but do you think mum listened? No, she got me all wet and put schampoo all over me. Twice!! After getting out of the tub it was fun for a little while again, running around, drying myself on mum's bed, lie in the corner of the sofa cuddling in a huge towel while mum watched tv. After the tv-part it got boring again since it was time for another round up on the table where mum brushed me, used the hairdryer on me as well as the trimming machine! Ewwww and yukk!! But I have to say that when I finally was let down from the grooming table I felt pretty good. But please don't tell mum, because then she might get some stupid idea about bathing me every day!

September 24 2005
Unusual Saturday

Today was an unusual Saturday. Mum and I got up and went for a walk, and then I noticed when we got back that she probably was going to do something unusual since she started to get ready and took on some nicer clothes than just the normal potting around clothes. It turned out that the most exciting thing was that the doorbell rang, and it was mum's father who arrived! I was going to come along with him in his car!!Apparently mum was working today, so I was supposed to spend the day with her parents again. When mum's father and I got into the car I thought we were going to where mum's parents live, but we went to another place. Mum's father said we were getting potatoes and I thought that sounded very exciting! It turned out it wasn't very tirering at all, and hardly even exciting, it was just as when I go with mum to the shop. You see, I got to stay in the car while mum's father went someplace and was gone for a little while. When he got back to the car he carried a big sack, apparently with potatoes inside. I wasn't very excited about that because I don't like potatoes. I think it would have been much more exciting if the sack had been full of biscuits!!

There were a lot of things going on at mum's parents today, so I had a busy time keeping an eye on everything that was happening. In the kitchen there were some cooking and baking going on. I'm not so interested in baking because I think the mixer is too noisy, but I am very interested in cooking. Mum's mother was making meatballs, but I wasn't allowed to help or taste! Mum's mother is just as mean as mum is when she makes meatballs! In the afternoon mum's father and I went for a walk, and that's when a strange thing happened. We took a road we hardly ever take because mum's father wanted to have a look at a place where they are building something. I found a lot of interesting smells during the walk, and that's fun, but then the strange thing happened! Suddenly I couldn't walk, so I sat down lifting my left front paw up, and mum's father got worried I'd hurt my foot. Luckily enough I wasn't hurt, but have you ever tried to walk with your paw full of some weird sticky stuff?? I have no idea of what I'd walked in, but it was very sticky and little pebbles were in my paw too. It was actually worse than having snowballs between your toes!! So, mum's father had to help me clean away the worst of the sticky stuff, so after he did that I could walk properly again. When we got back to the house mum's father called for mum's mother and asked her to bring a bucket of water and then he cleaned my paw and got rid of all the sticky stuff and the pebbles. Now I've decided that even though there are very interesting smells along that road we took I have no interest in going there ever again. I can definitely live without getting sticky stuff in my paws!!

When mum arrived to pick me up I had a lot of things to tell her about, and I thought we were leaving straight away when she got there, but we didn't. Guess why? Mum got to eat the meatballs I'd watched her mother make! I don't think that's fair, she wasn't even there when they were made and she wouldn't even have known about them unless she'd been invited to stay for dinner! I'd been there all day, had the smell of meatballs in my nose and all I got was same old doggy food and a few biscuits...

September 21 2005
An unusual day

Today has been a totally ordinary day, but not exactly. The totally ordinary and usual was that mum and I went for an early walk and then she drove me to her parents. At their place I could get some more sleep before it was time for them to have breakfast and get ready. Then mum's father disappeared! I don't know where he went, all I know is that I wasn't allowed to go with him. Sometimes he goes places where I can come, like to the dump, and I really enjoy car rides as you know. Since he wasn't home, mum's mother was the one who took me for a long walk. That was a bit different since she and I don't go for many walks on our own, she usually comes along when mum's father is taking me for a walk, but she doesn't come along all the time. Since it turned out mum's mother and I were going on our own, I felt a bit more responsibility on my shoulders since I wasn't sure she knew which way to go in the forest. I usually get to wear my flexi lead when mum's parents take me out, and I had that on today as well when we left the house. I knew exactly which way we were going so I started to walk along the road towards the forest. I was pretty sure mum's mother knew the beginning of the walk since it starts on the same street they live on. When we got to the forest part I started to pay a bit more attention and were showing which way we were supposed to go and what is supposed to happen during the walk. I know exactly where I'm usually let off the lead so when we got there I stopped and looked up at mum's mother to let her know she was supposed to let me run off the lead. Apparently she knew that, because she took the lead off me so I could run around and sniff which I did, but I kept myself at a closer distance than I normally do so mum's mother wouldn't get lost. When mum's father is around I'm either 15 meters ahead of them, or 15 meters behind, but today I kept a distance of about 5 meters in case I would need to show the way. It would be a bit hard to explain for mum's father if he came home and found me alone on the door step that I'd lost mum's mother in the forest...Anyway, there's a certain place along the forest walk where I get my lead back on again, and that's when the walk will go across a farm yard. In order to remind mum's mother of that, I stopped on that exact spot and looked at her, telling her it was time to put my lead back on. I have to say that the walk went very well, and mum's mother didn't seem to get lost even once, but you never know what would have happened if I hadn't been with her.

The other unusual thing today was that I was supposed to stay on during the afternoon as well since mum was working in another place then. Due to that fact I got to come along and visit little Martin! Mum's parents are not just her parents, they are also parents to mum's sister and grandparents to little Martin. As usual I found it very exciting to visit little Martin's house since I've made it my duty to clean up all crumbs and stuff I can find under the tables. Little kids drop food all the time, and it's not always their parents remember to clean it up! I did find a few crumbs and some dried pasta that Martin had dropped on the floor and after that I had to tell mum's father that I was thirsty, because mum's sister had forgotten to give me a bowl of water. The rest of the visit I was lying next to either mum's mother or her father until it was time to go back to their place. When we got there I got my dinner and a walk before mum came and picked me up. We went for another walk a while after coming home, and the rest of the evening I spent being very tired after an exciting day.

September 19 2005
Important job

Spending time at mum's parent's house today I had a very important job! Good thing I got some rest when I got there since I had to help mum's father in the garden. They have a small pond with fish in the garden, and all the fish in there are orange. It seems fish only have colour and no coat, so because of that they only live outside during the warmer seasons. I think the water would get too cold for them during the winter. Anyway, today was time to move them inside to their fishtank which is downstairs in the house so I was helping out fishing them out of the pond. Silly mum asked if we had used a fishing rod to get them out, but if we'd used that it would have taken all day! I can tell you it took plenty of time even though mum's father used a landing-net. It was all very interesting and exciting, but the fish didn't seem very interested in moving in to their tank. They kept hiding under different plants in the water so mum's father had kind of a hard job. I was there checking everything went smoothly and made sure no fish jumped out on the lawn because there is no water on the lawn. I know that fish can't live without water, and the only times I've seen fish on land is beside the river and they aren't moving very much then. Fish also have a weird smell, I know that since I've smelled the fish I've seen on land. Finally all the fish were out of the pond and moved to the fish tank, and to make sure all of them were there I counted them and from what I could make out, none of them were missing.

Since it today is Monday, I got a ride to town with mum's mother. She drives me home every Monday because she does something in town then, and it's kind of silly for mum going out to collect me if her mum is going to town anyway. Apparently mum had been doing something straight after work, because this Monday wasn't like our usual Mondays. Normally we go straight for a walk when I get home, something we did today as well, but then we went shopping. I haven't been shopping with mum for a long time now since she normally does that before I get home on Mondays. It was nice going to the shop, and from what I could see the parking looked the same and I don't think much as been going on there.

September 11 2005
Weekend

Today was a weekend so mum wasn't going to work which meant we got to wake up without that stupid clock, and both mum and I enjoyed that. To start with I can tell you about yesterday when I was with mum's parents as usual. After getting my walk there, mum's father was going for a ride in the car, and I got to go with him!! That was so much fun! He drove to a place that somehow seemed familiar, but when he left the car I had to sit and wait. After a little while he came back and he had mum with him!! I was really happy to see her and greeted her with kisses as she let me out of the car. Just as I greeted her I realised what building we were at, and I nearly climbed back into her father's car again. I don't like that building you see, and I was actually inside it once during the summer togheter with mum since mum forced me to go in there with her. That time mum was there to talk to a man, and I'm sure he's a nice man but I didn't really care to find out. I was concentrating on getting mum out of that building since I thought it was a boring place. Apparently that building is where mum spends her hours working when I'm at her parent's house, but I really couldn't care less. I was a bit afraid mum would drag me inside against my will, but it turned out we were going home in her car so that made me happy again.

As usual we went on a long walk in the afternoon, and I got myself an eardecoration!

I think it's very nice and fashionable with leaves hanging from my ears, it kind of liven things up a bit! I didn't really fancy sitting there posing for mum and her camera, so becuase of that there are no more pictures of my decoration. I can also recommend dried leaves in the rest of your coat as well. It's very nice and trendy, as long as they don't get stuck between your front legs because then you can't walk properly and mum has to get them off as quickly as possible!

Last night I thought mum was a bit mean to me, because she laughed at me just because I happened to be a bit confused after just waking up. Mum was watching stuff at tv, and I was in a deep sleep on the floor next to where she was sitting. Suddenly I woke up by someone talking, and it sounded like someone saying "Are you alive??". I lifted my head and in confusion had a look towards the hall wondering who was talking. The voice said something more, and suddenly I realised it was mum talking, but I couldn't see anyone in the hall. At that point mum started to laugh and it took her a while before she managed to say "But Higgins, I'm talking to you!" I turned my head, still a bit confused, and mum started to laugh even more! Eventually I got on my feet and started to stretch a bit, and mum laughed more again saying it looked like I'd never stood up before in my entire life. She said I looked like a new born little horse who is trying to stand up for the first time. I don't know about that, since I've only seen that on tv, and I have no idea how I looked. The only thing I know is that I was very very tired and I don't think mum should be talking a lot then making me believe someone has come in without me hearing a thing.

September 7 2005
New routines

Now when mum is working again we have some new routines which means we have to get up early and mum tries to get to bed earlier than before. It goes pretty well actually, at least this far, but there are unexpected things happening sometimes. Like yesterday morning, mum had put me in the car and we started to drive towards her parent's house. Suddenly mum started saying loads of those funny words I'm not allowed to write here and she turned around and went back towards where we live. She parked outside, left me in the car and went upstairs and a few moments later she came rushing down again. What had happened was that she realised she'd brought the wrong keys. Well, she did have the keys to her car and our apartment, but she had brought the wrong set of keys for her job. I guess it was lucky she realised this before she got to work, otherwise she wouldn't have been able to get in there. I didn't mind though, because her mistake meant I got a longer drive in the car! I suppose this means she will get a new routine for her keys as well...

When I get to mum's parents I'm a very lucky dog since I get to sleep some more, and then we go for a long walk in the forest and a while after the walk mum comes to get me. Some days are a bit different though, and that's if mum's parents have something to do in town because then they drive me home. I think it's great that I get to go for rides in their car as well!!

Yesterday when I was taking a walk with mum's parents in the forest I got annoyed, and when mum heard about what had happened she said I'd had all right in the world to get annoyed. What happened was that a dog off lead was running towards us, and it didn't stop until it was just a little bit away from us. Mum's parents stopped and thought the owner of the other dog were coming to put a lead on her dog, but she didn't. Instead the other dog came towards me and I started to growl loudly. The other dogowner told mum's parents that her dog was only 1,5 years old and that it would be good if I told it off. Not that I didn't want to, but mum's parents thought it was wrong, and besides they didn't know how angry I'd get and if I did bite the other dog it would be mum's fault since she's the one responsible for me no matter who walks me. When mum was told this she got really angry and said that the other dog owner had acted very irresponsible. When dogs are out for walks it's their owners who are responsible for what their dogs do, and they have to keep control over their dogs. Just because a that other dog is friends with other dogs doesn't mean I want to have it as a friend, and since I was on the lead I wouldn't have been able to get away in case that dog had attacked me. OK, so the other dog was younger than me, but it was bigger. Fortunately I didn't have to tell it off, but I was growling at him to tell him I wasn't interested in becoming friendly.
Sometimes when I'm out walking with mum's parents we come across this other dog that I dislike. It seems that dog is also spending its days with his owner's parents and they don't seem very used to dogs. From what we've heard, that dog has jumped at other dogs, so when we meet them mum's parents make sure to keep me on a short lead and make sure that other dog don't come too close to me. I saw that dog today when mum was picking me up. She was sitting on the patio talking with her parents and I was on her lap, and suddenly I saw that annoying dog walking down the street, and suddenly it jumped up on mum's parent's lawn! The dog didn't see me, and mum was holding a firm grip on the skin of my neck and told me it was enough if I growled, I didn't have to run off and chase that other dog away. Mum didn't get a good look at the other dog since there were some bushes in the way, but she could see that the dog was on a flexi lead, and that the person holding it didn't seem to know what she was she was doing or have that much control over the dog. Things like that makes mum really annoyed, specially when she knows the dog in question isn't to be trusted around other dogs.

Another new routine I have now is that I get to eat my breakfast very early. That also means I get my dinner earlier, and at first mum wasn't thinking about that. She thought I was starting telling her much too early that I was hungry and wanted my dinner, but then she realised that since I get my breakfast earlier than before I also need my dinner earlier. I also get a lot of activity walking. Mum and I take a walk early in the morning before going to her parents, and then I go for a long walk with them before mum picks me up. Then in the afternoon mum takes me for another long walk since that's what we normally do. I also get a walk some time after my dinner, and after that I've almost had it with walks. Monday night when mum had finished watching tv and were about to take me for a last short walk before going to bed I really wasn't up for it, so I made myself very comfortable at her bed showing her I didn't need to go out again. Mum didn't pay any attention to that, so when she was getting her shoes on I went to the bathroom and lied down in there and watched what she was doing, but when she took the lead down I thought I might as well come with her. But I only went across the street, lifted my leg up and then I wanted to go back inside again. I had no intention going for even a 10 minutes walk as we normally do. I was tired and wanted to go to bed.

September 3 2005
Getting up early

Thursday and Friday were a bit strange if you ask me, because mum forced me to get up really early! It all started Thursday, and we went for a walk as usual, but it wasn't as long as our normal first walk. We hardly saw anyone, that's how early it was! Coming back home, mum changed clothes, had some coffee and then she said we were going in the car!! When she mentioned the car I really woke up, because going in the car is always fun! I was thinking, because she said she was going to work, that maybe I was going to work too, but she drove me to her parents where I would spend my day until mum came to get me. When we got there, it was only mum's father who was up, and he took the newspaper and went to the bedroom which I thought was a very good idea! It meant that I could sleep some more!! I was lying under mum's parent's bed for a while, but I also spent some time cuddling with them up in the bed.
During the day I got to go for walks, play some, inspect the garden and other stuff I did during the summer when mum was working. Then we were going for a ride in the car!The strange thing was that we went to where mum and I live and her parents rang the doorbell. I thought that was very strange since mum had said she was first working in one place, and then she was going to the place where she worked during the summer, so I didn't understand why we went home? It became even weirder, becuase mum opened the door!! Turned out she was home after all...So, I don't really think she was working at all, I think she just forced me to get up early, drove me to her parents and then she probably went back home again. I wonder what she was doing all day without me?!

Friday was the second day I was forced to get up very early, I was taken to mum's parents and once again I could go straight to their bedroom when I got there. The only difference from Thursday was that I didn't spend as much time there as I'd done the day before, and mum came to get me. So I really don't know what she is doing, but maybe I should believe her when she says she's working. She's telling me we're going to have to get up this early every week day for about three months. I'm not really sure how long that is, but I think it means quite a lot of biscuits, more than you can eat in one day.

Thursday evening something happened that mum hopes teached me a lesson. The lesson she hope I learned is that if you're a black dog you shouldn't go in to a dark room and lie diwn just inside the door, because if you do you can be walked on. That's exactly what happened to me. Mum had been watching tv, and when she turned it off, I did almost the same thing I always does which is get up and go ahead before mum. Usually I go in to the bedroom to see if mum is going to change clothes to take me for a walk, or I run in to the computer to see if maybe we'll sit here for a while. Thursday evening I thought it was a great idea to go in to the bathroom to lie down just inside the doorstep. Turned out it wasn't such a good idea since that's where mum was going too, så she almost stepped on me! Fortunately she didn't really step on me, she only touched me with her foot which made me jump up and run out in the hall. I really scared mum, but she said she hoped I'd learned a lesson. She pointed out the stupid thing with lying in places where it's totally dark, because if you're black it's almost impossible to see you. She said it would have been different had I been neon yellow or something. Maybe I should wear my reflective vest at nights even when I'm inside, at least now when the evenings are getting darker..

Home