Christmas Time, Sausages and... More Sausages!

Was Christmas the best day ever or was Christmas the best day ever?

Man, it was awesome. 

Last Wednesday, I woke up to complete silence. On a normal day, I would be fine with this as, before long, I would doze off again. However, this was definitely no normal day: this was CHRISTMAS day. And the humans weren't making any noise.
They were all still fast asleep.
To me, this makes no sense. Santa had been and gone and they were wasting valuable time that could be spent opening the presents that had hopefully been delivered (I say 'hopefully' there as obviously you can't just assume Santa Paws has been; only the well-behaved ones get treated by the man in the red suit!).
Finally though, after a very long time howling, the humans came down the stairs and let me out of my bedroom to a tree surrounded by presents.
Santa had come. Yippeeeee!

The rest of the day seemed a bit of a blur, to be honest. All I remember is ripping my teeth into every bit of wrapping paper I could find and helpfully distributing it all across the floor. I received the BIGGEST rawhide candy cane you can ever imagine from Santa and then contently chewed that for a long time while the humans ate an entire turkey without giving me even a slither of it. Luckily, because of the rawhide, I forgave my humans for that mistake of theirs.
Christmas truly was an incredible day and I hope everyone's was just as good as mine.
Talk soon, Jasper x

Christmas Eve!

Santa is on his way- and I could not be more excited.

December is always an extremely busy month in my house and, this year, the tree was only bought on the 22nd December. Personally, I think this is a weeny bit ridiculous. Had the humans got their act together, I could've been playing with (or 'attacking', as the humans like to call it) the baubles on the tree for weeks! But, no. The tree only got decorated THIS MORNING. I've forgiven them now though as the tree is finally sorted and so I can play 'Tug the Baubles Until They Come Off the Tree and Chew Them' to my heart's content. Sadly, the humans seem to have no element of fun in them so always end my games within a couple of seconds but those seconds make my Christmas all the more fun. 

Earlier, my humans dressed me up in my Christmas jumper and scarf so now I'm feeling more festive than ever before. Before I leave to have another go at getting those baubles, I'd like to wish all my readers a very merry Christmas. Have a wonderful day!

Talk soon, Jasper x
P.S Ssssh, don't tell anybody that I was on the sofa...!

December Already?!

Woah, this year has flown by.
It's already December!
December marks the beginning of winter which-I hope- means that snow is on its way. Snow is my favourite type of weather as it's basically water that the humans can't keep me away from! It also means that I can open my brand-new advent calendar and receive one delicious treat per day. On the first day of advent, the humans had to help me realise how incredible advent calendars are. At first, I thought it was just a box but, as soon as I gave it a good sniffing over, my tail started wagging one million times a minute!
Here's a clip of me opening Day 1 of my doggie advent calendar:

Man, it was fun!
Talk soon, Jasper x

It's Nearly My Birthday!

Yep, that's right, in 6 days time, I am going to be 8 years old which means, in dog years, I am going to be approximately 56.
56 years old...
Woah!
However, I have no intention of slowing down, ooooohh no.
I'm a Springer so naturally, to the joy of my humans, I am going to continue springing here, there and everywhere, all day, all night.
Most humans, when they see me, tell me that I'm pretty lovely (I mean, I know that already) but also that I have lots and lots of energy. Well, if they think that when they see me by myself, wait until they see me with my twin brother, Dillon: two Springers = twice the energy!
And what makes things even better is that recently one of my relatives bought a house which sits by river. Idyllic, yes; peaceful, yes... Well, until my brother and I charge in.

Water, water, wateeeeeer!

 I can smell it a mile away.  As soon as I jump out of the car, I bolt into it, swallowing every litre of water that I can. We have such great times, my brother and I, swimming back and forth in a place where the humans can't reach us... Unless they join us for a dip in the water, that is.
Unfortunately, this doesn't happen very often. Humans really do not have an idea what fun is. Only occasionally do they let us have a pool party; all the other times, we are put on our leads and dragged into the house where all we can do is look at the river. It's a cruel, cruel world.
Hopefully though, on my birthday, I am allowed to have get into the glorious water and, who knows, they might even like to join me. The more, the merrier!
Talk soon, Jasper x

The Moaning Humans.

Summer has, well and truly, finished. The rain has been pouring down for hours and hours. I should be listening to the pitter patter of the rain on the window but no; all I can hear is the sound of the humans moaning on and on and on about the weather. Groan. What is it about the rain that they hate so much? I mean, come on humans, the walks we go on now are the best- we're practically walking through water! We come home absolutely SOAKED which means it's time for only one thing: to jump on the sofa and let the cushions dry us up- what's not to love?
For some, strange reason the humans don't really like the idea of drenching the sofa. They usually bark away at me if I snuggle up on their favourite pillow, all lovely and wet. It's alright though; I just ignore them. They can whinge for as long as they want but there is nooooo way I am going to move from my warm (but slightly damp) spot when all they can offer me in return for crawling off the couch is the cold, hard floor. Sometimes, when the humans are being extra mean, they DRAG me off the sofa when I'm snoozing. Talk about a lack of manners! Would they like it if I woke them up in the middle of the night, howling away? I wouldn't even DREAM of doing that, of course not...!
Talk soon, Jasper x

Day 6: Working at Battersea Park Zoo!

On the sixth day of my human's time working with Wandsworth Dog Control, she was taken to Battersea Park Children's Zoo, located in- yep, you guessed it- Battersea Park! The park's main aims are to conserve endangered species of animals and to educate children about them. On arrival to the place, my human was greeted by some of the friendly members of staff who work there. The zoo is home to a wide variety of animals, including meerkats and monkeys!
 Each day, the staff arrive very early in the morning, to feed the large number of animals who live there and to keep the zoo looking clean. Therefore, my human's first job of the day was cleaning all the windows in the zoo which she found very fun! Although it's not the first activity you would expect to do, my human loved seeing- once the windows had been washed enough to be able to see through them- all the animals waking up.
Next up on my human's schedule was to clean out the guinea pigs' enclosure. This was great fun as the guineas had to stay in there with her whilst she cleaned them out so they were squeaking like mad!
For the rest of the day, my human continued to help with the maintenance of the park, such as weeding and sweeping, and also fed some of the animals, including two huge pigs who lifted up their paws for an apple!

 Overall, the highlight of my human's day was showering two emus named Ant and Dec! At first, she found them quite intimidating (those eyes...!) but, as soon as she pointed the hose at their backs, they became pretty cute! Having said that, I wouldn't want to stand too near... They didn't seem to be the cuddliest of creatures that's for sure. Although at first they didn't seem keen on the idea of having a shower to cool them down even though it was extremely hot, they eventually became more relaxed and both lay down in the puddle that had formed. Ant and Dec both tried to roll around in it- it was adorable!

Thank you so much Battersea Park Children's Zoo for having my human for the day- she loved it! To all of you who haven't visited the zoo, I highly recommend taking your kids along for the day as it is such a great place to go to. For more information, visit http://www.batterseaparkzoo.co.uk.

Talk soon, Jasper x

Day 5: Working at the Kennels

On my human's fifth day of working with Wandsworth Dog Control, she spent the day at Green Lane Farm Kennels and Cattery. The centre has been open for over 50 years and provides accommodation for up to 97 dogs and cats at a time! For the day, my human worked in the kennels where many of the dogs have been placed whilst their owners are on holiday. However, some of the dogs are strays and are being kept at Green Lane Farm until a space becomes available at a local rescue centre for them to move to.
As my human approached the kennels, she could hear the noise being made by all the dogs- man, it was loud! The staff who worked there were very friendly and very busy: there was a LOT of work for them to be doing with all those doggies. My human was instructed to start cleaning out some of the kennels by using a mop and scoop and then to fill up each dog's water bowl. My human found this pretty tiring admittedly (she's pathetic!) but said that 'it was lovely being greeted by all the wagging tails'.
Afterwards, it was time to start distributing the bowls of dog food. My human was surprised at how gourmet the meals looked so I'm hoping they have inspired my human to be more experimental with my dog food from now on...! Imagine preparing 70-80 bowls of dog food. And now imagine handing 70-80 bowls of dog food out with each bowl made specifically for each dog... Yep, it was chaotic but fun! The staff were all preeeetty experienced at this considering that they have to do this everyday, sometimes with even more dogs.
For the rest of the day, my human vigorously scrubbed out kennels and yards and set up rooms for the new arrivals to move into; she found it rewarding seeing the newbies snuggled up in the beds that she had prepared for them earlier in the day. Throughout her visit, she had little 'chats' with all the inhabitants of the place... Yes, she spoke to all the dogs!
Overall, my human thoroughly enjoyed her day at the kennel and now appreciates how much work the kennel staff do everyday- they do a good job! Thank you to the staff for having her for the day; you may be seeing her soon when she gets on my nerves...! Talk soon, Jasper x