My dog woes...

My little black maltese cross french poodle is driving me nuts....

Sure, he's as cute as a burmese python but he's really a little on the hyper-active side of things.

For instance, he is black with curly hair...and right now as I type he is sleeping curled up in a pile of budgie seeds. This means there will be an unavoidable 'hansel&gretel style' trail of seeds that will undoubtedly weave their way through my home. Possibly into my bed. Where I will find them stuck to my thighs like a constellation, at two in the morning when i am on the loo... Again, because I am pregnant.

He has also developed this nasty habit of whining from 6-30am until we get up at 7. I never realised how loud a 2kg dog could be. when i bought him he could barely walk. We've been duped. sigh. but we love him.

Our other dog Skip is a real star, she was a rescue dog - we rescued her at 6 moths old, from quite horrible living conditions. When we got her she had no idea what her name was, nor had a clue what we wanted when we called her to us. If anyone spoke to her or looked at her she would run into her little tent bed and stay there. Now at 2.5kg's heavier she is the most amazing pup.

She knows so many commands - even ones we have not taught her like:

"Who's at the door? Who's there?"She runs to our front door.

''Where's Daddy?'' She runs to wherever he is and then runs back to me - even if he is in another room.

''There's a cat outside!'' She runs outside and looks out to the left of our garden where ''Jaunty'' comes from.

She also remembers signals like sit and down and performs them even from across a room.

Her lifes ambition is to catch a black cat that we have named ''Jaunty'' who torments her by walking along our fence each day. My only gripe is that Skip wants to dig her way to China. She has dug such deep holes that I could out my entire leg inside! Would'nt want to fall into that.

Well. For now I will continue my training with the Whining Seed-Meister and Diggy-Diggerson. count to 10...

sands xx