A few answers

First up - a response to some of the questions from my commenters.

Inquisitive WFTs the handsome Floridians J&JH want to know how I am doing, as did the gorgeous husky Op Pack, and M&B sent their good wishes for my health too.

So, the tablets have finished which is a shame in a way as I was getting extra tasties before my breakfast to - supposedly - disguise the tabs. But Misery had the bright idea of adding slices to my food anyway even when the tabs were finished. Kind Misery.

But for some reason I seemed to develop a nasty sore at the top of one of my back legs and tried to yank out my fur around it. Master and Misery put some anti-septic spray on it and yes - promptly drove me back to nice Pedro.

He cut off my fur, sprayed the icky bit, and then rubbed some cream on. He gave Misery the spray, and sent her off to the pharmacist with a prescription for a small tube of ointment. It is drying up now I think, but I have included some pix of it looking nasty. And of me looking nice of course.





Pedro said I was looking better and had put on some weight, so he seemed pleased with my progress. I will have a blood test in a few months time and see if those nasty e-things are gone.

Quick reply to JB - seems HULA operatives can be any breed. Or, gasp!!! even - CATZ!! So go for it. But you have to provide evidence that you fulfil the criteria. I bet you don't. I ask you, CATZ get everywhere!

Now Randi asked if I got her holiday card. Well, I hadn't when she asked but it arrived only the next day. What a coincidence. And in the same week, I had received a card from JB and her feline family, and the last one to arrive the other day was a wonderful one of Santa Umbrella in Florida from Jake and Just Harry. That was two cards in one as it had a pic of them inside it too.

Now, I have a theory. I think that cards posted to me from America go to Gibraltar in America. Gibraltar is in Michigan on the Detroit river, I didn't know any of that. But I think my cards go there first and then when there is no Pippadog in Gibraltar MI, they get sent on to me in Gibraltar, Gibraltar. If any of my pals want to send me cards again, perhaps they should add two Gibraltars to my address.

Misery did not print any cards this year so I did not send any. But I would like to thank the friends I have mentioned above for thinking of me and remembering me, (Misery and Master too) and those friends who sent cards that arrived earlier.

Hola Pippa - Hula Pippa

Off we went in my Landy to my Spanish finca. As we approached the frontera (frontier), Misery turned round to ask me: 'Do you think your nice Guardia Civil friends will want to say hello?'

'Of course,' I answered. 'They always do.' This has nothing to do with the fact that there are no windows for them to see what we have in the back of the Landy, it is because they want to say hello to me, Pippa.

But as we were going through the frontier, no-one seemed interested in us. They were looking at a Spanish car, and two vans. Then! Just as we were about to go through without greetings, a Guardia Civil officer said 'Hola!'

Master promptly stopped. He jumped out of our Landy (his seatbelt was undone waiting for the call to say hello to me) and walked around to the rear. I was very excited and jumped towards the rear door.

'Abre abajo' said the officer. Master opened my door.

"Hola!"


'Eeeeek!!!!' said the officer, or something similar in Spanish.

She jumped back ten yards. Why didn't she want to say Hola! to me and stroke me?

Then she told master to close the door and to go. She didn't seem to want to look for tobacco or alcohol or whatever they seem to want to find that we never have anyway.

Poor sad Pippa. Most of them say Hola! and give me a pat. It's not as though I am a frightening sort of a dog. Even if one did once call me a leon, or a tigre or something like that.

"Hello friends, where are you?"


Now I have some other wonderful news. My secret operations as an undercover HULA operative can finally be disclosed as I am retired.

I am so proud to have my certificate. Of course Misery didn't complete my application correctly so I thought I should add a few comments. Well, maybe not today. Another day ...

Disguises and invasion

Master thinks I am stupid. Every morning he feeds me my tablets disguised in something tasty in a bid to get me to eat them. He thinks I haven't noticed.

Waiting - and watching


One morning I chucked one out on the floor and thought I had got away with not eating it, but he spotted it and gave me it again. He even kept my mouth closed and stroked my throat to make sure I swallowed it. What I have to put up with!

Here is a list of tasties that I have been fed before my main breakfast as supposed tablet hiders:

orange
seitan
tempeh
pasta
runner beans (master thought these were very clever as he could pop the tablet inside the split bean)
cooked (dried) beans
carrot

I nearly got pineapple but Greedy Mistress was too busy getting it down her neck for it to become a tablet disguiser. Just as well she gave me a few pieces anyway.

But my very favourite is beef slices. Actually they are not beef at all, they are some veggie slices that Master and Misery eat, called beef style slices.

Master cuts one slice into three and wraps a tablet inside each one. I tell you I would eat twenty tablets every morning to get more of this yummy stuff. It does not touch the sides I gobble it down so fast.

Yummy slices


Lip-licking yummy in fact


More, more, I want more


Thank you to all my FB pals who wished me a happy barkday. Trouble is Misery has forgotten when it was, just that it was Jan 2004 when I found them, so she picked an arbitrary date. I have made her look it up on my blog from years back. It is the 14 January. I wonder if I will get to celebrate two got-them-days this year?

Now, I have a very bad piece of news to impart. My sofa has been - INVADED!! Master and Misery claim they have been poorly. Have they got tick disease and are they taking millions of tablets? No, therefore they are not remotely poorly IMDO.

But nevertheless, first Misery invaded it for a little nap claiming she was tired and poorly - and then look at this. Master was on there all afternoon. I kept walking up to him glaring - waiting for him to jump off - but he just kept snoring away.

Zzzzzzzzz


A dog's sofa is his very own personal space, only to be occasionally and very generously shared if someone is sitting next to him with food. Otherwise - paws off.

Now normally, like most pups, I keep my tail tidily curled round myself when I am asleep. But after the recent surprise invasion - I have decided to stretch right out, and that includes my tail taking up the final third of the sofa. Perhaps they will get the message.

Mine, I tell you, all mine

Poorly Pippa

Happy New Year everypup. I hope you all had lovely holidays or howlidays if that is how you bark. Not that I ever bark, apart from when it is breakfast time, but it is always more of a Ha-Roooooo than anything else. Today it was a Haroo followed by a RUFF!

Now I like to do a review of the past year. Misery does one on her blog so I should get to do one as well I think. But as I've not posted much this year there is nothing to review. Sad Pippadog.

Instead I shall tell you about my poorlinesses. I didn't tell you when I was very poorly, but I am feeling better enough now to say a little bit. But not much, Misery can write vast boring reams about it on her blog for anyone interested in techy detail. Or in this case, ticky detail. Haha!! I hope Ammy likes my joke.

Last month I was feeling a bit listless, but one day, I really couldn't be bothered to go anywhere. I didn't even want to go down the stairs to go out in the mornings. Not even to chase cats.

Poorly me on my sofa


Master and Misery were so concerned that she even got out of bed early, and they bundled me into my Land Rover before 8am and we shot off to see my nice vet, Pedro. I had only seen him the previous week for my jabs and I seemed ok then.

Pedro gently felt me, and said I had some pain. Clever Pedro. While I was lying on the floor with my head flopped in Master's hands, Pedro and his assistant took some blood from my front paw (just like Skye had at her vet's), and then they cut some of my toenails.

We had to go back in a couple of days time for the results of the blood test but in the meantime, Pedro gave Misery some painkillers for me. Previcox. I can recommend those to everypup. They are chewy and taste of caramel and smoke.

My cocktail cabinet


When we went back to see Pedro I was already feeling a bit better, but he gave me some more painkillers, and some new tablets. I wasn't very keen on those, they don't taste nice. They were called doxycyclin. He hadn't got all the test results through but he told Misery I needed one of each every day. A couple of days later he emailed us and said that the test for erlichia canis was positive. I had very high readings of this and Misery had to double the dose of the little yellow doxycyclin tablets for me.

I have erlichiosis. It is a nasty tick disease. I will say no more except that I am still eating those nasty tablets for the next few weeks to try and get rid of the horrid organism and its effects. I will let you know when Misery writes about it, and you can read all the ticky detail then.

Not having my photo taken. Don't like nasty tablets


Here is something more interesting. We all went geocatzing to Comares before I was poorly. Master and I decided to admire the view while Mistress was sent off to hunt for the geocache. Master thought there might be catz near the castle so that's why we didn't go. I must say that puzzled me, I thought the whole point of these expeditions was to find catz. Geocatz or otherwise.

Here I am standing and thoughtfully sending out radar to detect nearby catz


Yes! I found one. I would have had him too but Master didn't want to go diving under the car with me. So we set off back for my Landy to avoid anymore catz. But on the way down, I found another one and nearly had him too. Mistress didn't find her cache. I found two catz but didn't get them. I think my expedition was the most successful though.

[They went back on New Year's Day without me and found the real cache. Master did anyway, Misery was her usual useless self. She reported back that there were no catz around - huh, a likely tale]

Back in Gib again and feeling better after my tabs.

One of my nice Christmas cards with doggies on


Looking for my friends - the monkeys

My corner

Let's be clear. This is my corner. Not my only corner because all corners are mine. But when I bark my corner, I mean mine, not someone else's.

Someone who is trying to grow spinach. And do I care about that? No.

So it is not important if I lie on, or at the very least, put my delicate little patitas all over the spinach bed.

My new raincoat and other stuffs

I have a raincoat.

Those pups on Facebook will know this, but others of you who are not addicted to that silly website will not.

Misery ordered it from the Internet from doggiecoats.co.uk. It is olive green (Master insisted on that to match the Land Rover) and has a nice warm lining too.

But when it arrived it didn't rain so we couldn't try it out. I couldn't see much point in wearing it in the flat even though Misery seemed to think it was a good idea.

One evening we all went out for my walk and it started spotting. I didn't have my coat on. What is the point of having a coat if persons don't put it on for one and then it starts to rain? Huh?

Since then we have had torrential rain. Misery put her paw, I mean foot, down very firmly and has insisted I am coated whether it is raining or not. I am still not sure whether I like wearing a coat though. But at least I don't get half as wet as I did. And some people we have met have told me I look very smart.

Getting ready


Out. In the rain.


Master and I with our bare wet legs


Water everywhere. Wet pavements. Wet people. Wet Pippa.


A couple of other snippets.

I received an award the other day/week/month from the lovely Islay. Remember Charlie from Australia who left us on Anzac Day for the Bridge? Charlie's person has jumped halfway across the world and been taken on by Collie pup Islay. Islay is a Scottish Island in the Hebrides which Misery assures me is very beautiful and has lots of nice single malt whisky. Whatever that may be.

Islay has given me the Versatile Blogger Award. Perhaps that is because sometimes I blog and sometimes I don't. So therefore I must be versatile. Anyway, seven things about me....

1 I have a new dog coat
2 I don't like going out in the rain
3 I like chasing cats
4 I like to eat my breakfast on the sofa
5 I am a cross husky/GSD (I think)
5 I found Master and Misery on the streets of Spain
7 i love toast (you all know that but I thought it was so important I would mention it again)





And the last thing I want to write happens to be from something we saw on Facebook last night. Normally I would not be writing about Facebook, because I am sure I would be busier on my blog without silly Facebook, but we read a link that Khyra had posted, and thought it was worth repeating.

Facebook dog linky thing

Every year, millions of people consider adopting shelter dogs or cats, but many don’t follow through because they assume there’s something wrong with shelter pets.
Those of us who share our lives with adopted and rescued pets …. know that shelters and rescue groups are full of great pets – dogs with one ear up and one ear down, senior dogs content to cuddle on the sofa and watch TV with you, and frisky young kittens with a passionate interest in your computer keyboard.

Er, ~I think we will ignore that reference to pesky kittens, but otherwise anything that alerts people to the fact that rescue dogs are as adorable as me is worth doing. So we posted a linky on FB, and here is another one. Only a day late too, quite good for me. Happy December pups and lets hope some more shelter pups are rescued this month.

Girlfriends - yet another take

I was thinking about all my lovely girlfriends the other day. As my older pals (in terms of been reading my blog for some time, not in years) know, I was quite the dog about the Internet a few years ago, happily seeking girlfriends all over the place.

Being a happy-go-lucky sort of dog, if they were pretty and nice, I would invariably ask them to be my girlfriend. I lost count when I acquired more than 20. Didn't matter if they were big or small, pure bred or crossed, rescue dogs or from distinguished kennels, if they were happy to be my girlfriend, I was happy too.

Naturally being a husky/GSD cross I asked lots of huskies and a few GSDs. Some of those young huskies were little minxes though and went gallivanting off with younger pups leaving me in the lurch. Well I would have been had I not had a zillion other girlfriends to soothe my aching heart.

But some of my older girlfriends were much more faithful and remained by my side. The lovely Ammy at Ao4 of course, who faithfully comments on my infrequent posts or one of the pack does, Randi the cross Lab/Newf, even Sophie La Flirtador who sent me a note on FB the other week telling me she still loves me. Ah!! Sigh!!

Then there were the ones who looked a little bit like me - Misty who fostered at the Stoutino Inn, and Mati, who looked after handsome Rockstar. Some of my earliest and smallest girlfriends were Bella from Aus, and dachsies Roxie and Lorenza.

And I have to mention my first GSD girlfriend - Guinness also from the Stoutino Inn, but Guinness has gone to the bridge. I was very sad about that. Two other lovely girlfriends are no longer here but they are still in my heart, Kelsey Ann (Kapp Pack), and Tasha - who was Eva's older sister. Eva was also my girlfriend at one point, but that was before the young and handsome Brice bounced onto the scene. Pretty much like Ethel of the long legs and pointy teeth who suddenly fell in love with her new bro look-a-like, Oscar.

Back to GSDs, I added the lovely Lola Smiles to my list. Not sure if I ever asked her, but she is so gorgeous I just swoon at her beautiful face. And the equally lovely Narra from Tracing Lucky Skies is another GSD heartstopper.

OK, who does that leave? Penny of course, the beautiful boxer from Jackman Ave who had probably as many beaux as Sophie La Flirtador, but still accepted me as one of them. And my exotic girlfriends in Asia - Jazz and Dixie in Japan, and the lovely Cleopatra in Malaysia.

I really thought I was getting a bit long in the tooth for a new girlfriend but how could a dog resist the lovely Skye from Moondance Huskies? Well I couldn't.

Now the reason for reminding you all of my long list of long-suffering girlfriends is because I have become rather close to one in my village who lives near my finca in Spain.

She is - or was - a street dog like me and was rescued by our wonderful Swedish neighbour who lives just down the street. Ms Swedish has taken in lots and lots of homeless dogs and cats and is a fine person with a very big heart.

I don't know what my girlfriend is called. Sometimes she is behind the gate so Misery goes to say hello to her (Misery thinks my girlfriend likes her but we all know she is only interested in ME). But if I am very lucky, she is sometimes out to play and she comes to give me kisses. Isn't she gorgeous? :)

Oh and that other pesky little pup is her street bro. He was also adopted by Ms Swedish as they were wandering around together. He thinks he is her protector but she just nips him and tells him to go away when I am around. Exactly the sort of assertive girlfriend one wants I think.

I still love the rest of you too though. Of course. xx


Here she is, telling that little pest what to do


And again


I'm in on the action here, see that assertive paw on that silly little dog's back from her?


Oh what a flirt!!


Isn't she lovely?


And a side view


Here is that pest again. What is he poised to do now?

Facebook friends

Master and Misery went to see my Facebook friend Fiona.

She is my Facebook friend too so I don't see why I couldn't have gone as well.

I would have been very good and nice to the dog who lived in her hotel, and just really lay around and gone to sleep. Pretty much like I usually do.

But I had to stay at home. So here I am thinking of my friend Fiona and wishing I had got to see her. I would have given her a big Pippahug, or at least a Pippapaw to shake.



And here is where she was staying up in the mountains in Andalucia in Spain. It was a cloudy day. I hope she had a nice holiday and maybe if she comes back I might get to see her too.

My poor darling Misery (she is my darling of course because she has just fed me so therefore I love her very much. Well, I did just before I was fed) has been so stressed that she didn't realise for days that our camera was not stolen. It was in a different bag to the stuff that was stolen.

It is past its best (as are lots of us) but anyway, I have retrieved some piccies for you all. Well, not many really, but something of our last trip.

And you can see why, when we are all in the back, drinking water and eating our sandwiches, that the world and their dog could sneak into the front.

So Top Pippa Tip - never ever leave your front doors open and go round the back even when you have a super dog like me with you. After all, water and sandwiches are more interesting than thieves.

Never leave anything at all - make sure to lock it up, or take it with you. Master and Misery should know better as they have been doing this sort of stuff for years, but everyone gets it wrong sometimes. They did. Don't let it be you next time.

Heh! I sound like a public service advert.



Ah, this one is when they snuck down the beach without ME! And look there is a special doggy seat to give us all a shower. I am not sure that is a good idea.

Not the best picnic ever

Misery has told me that sometimes, our pawsome thoughts just don't work out. I am sorry to say that Blaze went to the Rainbow Bridge in spite of all our thoughts and love for him. Thanks to Mango who left a message to let me know while I was off line. We send all our love to Joan and Skye and all the other Moondance Huskies.

I was going to post a nice photo of me in the back of my Landy when we stopped for a picnic break on our way to Spain. But as some of you know via Misery's FB page, on our picnic break coming back down to Gib, someone stole our bags with the camera and the iPhone and all our money and passports - even mine!! - and ID, and bank cards and all the rest of it.

It wasn't my fault. I am not a guard dog, and I was happily drinking water and chatting to Misery in the back while it happened. You see, there is a screen between the back and the front, and there are no windows in the side, so Misery didn't see the bad people who snuck into the front of the vehicle. She thought she heard something but when she hopped out and looked around there was no-one.

So here I am, just before we left for Spain, on the toast hunt.







I think Misery needs to get us a new camera, so I can post some new pictures of me though.