Happy Birthday Dave T. Dog!

Dave's 29th birthday happened today. He received a lovely cake of dog food in a bowl. Some would argue that's what he gets every day and others would argue that Dave treats every meal like a bowl of cake. So everyone's a winner. Except grumpy cat, he's just grumpy.

A Forest Creature This Way Went

Today was a special day in the life of one little Dave T. Dog.

Finally after many years of seeing fleeting shapes, flashes of tail and hoof, in the forest, the canines who nestle so snug in Dave's mouth realised a dream. Those poor denied taste buds on Dave's tongue have never tingled so strongly nor his saliva glands watered so longingly as they did today.

For today, this glorious day, was the day that Dave T. Dog managed to get a deer leg into his mouth! And it's been forever on his mind since that unbelievable moment.

Ode to a Hairy Leg

Forest odour fresh and strong,

oily bristles short and long,

carrying venison through cold grass,

little tail bobs above white ass.

Cloven hove on slender bone,

tendons stretch and muscles tone,

cracking joints bend with speed,

propel red meat into my greed.

Hairy leg, O hairy leg!

Is crime of passion really murder?

On bended knee I humbly beg;

Why won't you kill my hunger?

The hunt is on.

The scent has been found.

The knowledgeable audience watches with interest.

I smell a deer. A tasty deer.

LEG! DEER LEG! RUN DAVE RUN!

Why did he take my leg?!

This wonderful moment for Dave (and everyone) came about through some fellow dog owners who were kind enough to let Dave join in on a training day.

Summer Memories

It's been a while since Dave's paws rattled the keyboard and sent a blog entry down the wires...so sit back with a nice Brandy Pays d'Auge as we relive the summer together...

On the Arctic Circle boundary in Sweden

Lofoten, Norway was the first destination. Apart from getting his poor stomach badly bitten by Highland midges Dave had a lovely time jumping around the beautiful coastal rocks (the bites didn't seem to bother him but his belly was bright red!). One stormy night as we cowered in fear waiting for the tent to take off and carry us over a fjord, Dave slept soundly in a ball shape in between our sleeping bags.

Lofoten, Norway.

A boat gets chewed.

The morning after the storm, Dave checks the damage.

Dave started a new hobby this summer; geocaching. Since he's always out and about anyway he thought he might as well do something else at the same time, to make life a bit more interesting.

Team Dave T. Dog's first geocache.

Another find!

Summer holidays are becoming distance memories. But new ones are just around the corner...

Dave on a hay bale for no other reason except that he looks awesome.

Dave Tails - Autumn

Speedy Lobster!

On a recent trip to Candy Mountain that took 14 hours on the rainbow highway, not including ice cream stops and picture opportunities, of which there were many, Dave hunted for the scent of a rare beast. A monster so vicious and terrible and with claws so sharp and pointy that only the stupid or those with a death-wish would even contemplate setting their eyes upon it.

Dave first heard about Speedy Lobster whilst reading Human Owner Monthly, that comes once a fortnight. There was a long and dread-filled article highlighting the pointyness and general nastiness of the lobster's teeth and claws. The beautiful prose of the piece caught Dave's poetic side and he swore to hunt down the cruel crustation the next chance he got. Due to working overtime at his training course he had some extra hours and decided to put them to good use, by taking a holiday to track the vile sea nightmare.

A first-class documentary team was hired to follow Dave into the creature's nest and Mr Attenborough was brought out of retirement to provide voice-over duties. (He later backed out citing a full schedule but the quaver in his whispered voice over the telephone betrayed his true reason; fear.)

So anyway, there we were at the top of Candy Mountain enjoying the vista of joy and chocolate flavoured cheese when down swooped Speedy Lobster himself, in the shell. Dave, without a moments thought for his own safety, leaped forwards and sunk his canines into Speedy's bum. An epic death struggle ensued that lasted many weeks and months and brought much destruction to Candy Mountain, hardly a jelly bean was left unscathed.

29 years later an archeology team found an abandoned camcorder that contained footage the like of which they had never seen, nor imaged they would ever see; actual footage of Speedy Lobster! It had not been a hoax, their grandfathers had been correct, all those bedtime stories were true. Using a hefty arts grant from the Swedish government the footage was restored and placed on youtube for the world to see. For the world to see the truth. However, the truth was not wholly true? Another camera was discovered which seemed to show the victorious Speedy Lobster sat upon Dave T. Dog, whether this was at the end of the battle or during a rest period, only history and the sweet sugary winds of Candy Mountain will ever know.

End of battle or a pause?

Easter greetings.

A few days ago we had some nice Springish days. Yesterday, however, winter came back a vengeance. ~3" of snow in one day and all the fluffy down jackets in storage!

Dave is an Easter chicken and says peep.

Minus 14? Perfect temperature to go kicksparking!

Finally after much dillydallying, snow has finally come to Linköping. And no one could be happier than our very own Mr Dave T. Dog Snr. At last he has an opportunity to wear his extensive hand-made, limited edition, winter collection, much to the envy of the local pooches. And it's not only Dave showing off his elegant fashion taste, he gets a chance to flex his mucles for the ladies, just don't tell Dave that the jacket covers most of them! But we're sure his athleticism still draws breaths of wonder as he swoops past those admiring dames.

Minus 14 on the thermomoter means we need to do some warm-up exercises. Or, in Dave's case, he gets to be a bed muffin for ten minutes. A quick muscle rub down later and we are ready for the local race track, or, in Dave's case, the local duck pond.

Warm-up session.

View on youtube for maximum quality.

Dave's steering is still a bit rusty, he's mostly interested as to what's in the forest instead of running. But with some more kickspark sessions we're sure he'll be a regular Husky in no time and be in great demand for expeditions to unexplored frozen wastes! At this stage, however, we seem to be doing most of the running...