Rigg the Pig

After a nice walk with Poppy, Molly, their owner Jules and Whitevanwoman this afternoon, I was settling down for the evening, waiting for my dinner, when suddenly there was a knock at the door. Whitevanwoman went to open it and it was Farmer Richard with my mate Penny Penny used to live with Whitevanwoman and Lanky before I was born and Whitevanwoman had trained her to play fetch with the sheep, running round the field and bringing all the sheep to her. When I was a puppy, Penny used to look after me but she was always very bossy and I soon learned not to make her cross, otherwise she would give me a nip.

When Whitevanwoman moved to Balamory, Penny went back to live with Farmer Richard on the farm where she had been born, because Whitevanwoman didn’t have any sheep for Penny to fetch (Whitevanwoman just used to borrow the sheep at Newton Rigg when she was training Penny), and Penny is the kind of dog who needs to run round fields after sheep, otherwise she gets naughty and into all kinds of trouble.

This evening Penny knew where she was straightaway even though she has never lived here and has only visited a couple of times in the past 6 years, and she definitely remembered me and Whitevanwoman. It was lovely to see her again, and to see her looking so well (but a bit smelly from living outside on the farm), although she still hasn’t grown at all and is still very little, especially compared to me. But what she lacks in size, she makes up for in attitude, and she had soon settled herself in my bed and discovered my stash of old bones, and then wouldn’t let me anywhere near. I know from experience that Penny doesn’t like sharing things, so I kept my distance so as to avoid getting a nip from her.

Farmer Richard says that Penny is working very well as a sheepdog. She is beginning to settle down a bit now that she is 8 years old, but she can still be very giddy and a bit naughty sometimes. He says that whilst it can be exasperating when she doesn’t listen to his commands and sets off in the wrong direction, he does like her spirit. He thinks that she could do very well at the National and International Sheepdog trials over the next couple of years. She is already a National Trial Champion which makes her a very special sheepdog.  

Penny has got a boyfriend called Gus, who is just a young 2 year old sheepdog at Farmer Richard’s farm. Penny might be having puppies in a couple of months time and I am really hoping that one of her puppies will come to live with us next spring. Whitevanwoman is thinking about it and said “We”ll see”. I’m not sure what that means – sometimes “we’ll see” means “yes” and sometimes it means “no”. But Whitevanwoman said that she has already decided on a name (Lune – named after the river near where we live) so it is definitely looking hopeful. I do have to admit that it is nice having another dog around the place.

I did try to play with Penny but I think that because she is now a proper Championship sheepdog and not a pet dog anymore, she thinks she is too good to play with mongrels and she just curled her lip at me so I backed off. So having a young pup around the place to play with would be great. I feel that I am mature enough now to cope with the responsibility of being in charge of a pup’s education, teaching it manners and tricks the way that Lanky and Penny taught me

It’s still snowy and very frosty and icy outside and although I do love the snow, I’ve been slipping and skidding all over the place (most undignified), and the salt on the road makes my paws sting, so I thought I would spend the day in front of the stove catching up with the events of the past few days since my last blog post. 

Whitevanwoman and me woke up on Christmas Eve morning to discover it had snowed again, another 3 inches on top of the foot of snow we already had. We were a bit worried that we might not be able to get to the Madhouse because of the snow but Whitevanwoman was determined that we would get there and so we spent the morning packing the white van full of goodies and survival kit to take with us (I supervised and made sure that my red toy bag was put in the white van, together with extra rations of dog food in case we got stuck in a snowdrift). After digging the white van out of the snow again, we set off, Whitevanwoman driving very slowly and carefully along Balamory as it was very icy and slippery. Luckily the hill up to the main road had been cleared of the fresh snow and soon we were well on our way. Here’s a photo of our kennel and the white van on Christmas Eve morning – look at all the snow on the roof…

Christmas Eve morning - more snow overnight

There were no problems on the way and everyone was really pleased to see us when we got to the Madhouse. That evening, I took Whitevanwoman and my mate Ryan for a walk on the Arran Trail and we spent a lovely half an hour playing fetch with snowballs (it had snowed there too). I’m not sure if I’m losing my touch, but there must be a load of snowballs hiding somewhere on the Arran Trail, which I couldn’t find – I don’t know where they went, but I searched and searched and couldn’t find them when they landed.

That night Whitevanwoman tucked me up in the white van (it’s very warm in the Madhouse, much warmer than in my kennel, and I find it too warm, being a hot blooded creature, so it’s better for me if I sleep in the white van, also even though it was Christmas, I still had a job to do – to look after the white van and protect it from intruders) and because it was very very cold, she put my fleecy coat on me – its blue with lots of little sheep on it – Whitevanwoman says I’m a wolf in sheeps clothing I went straight to sleep as I was quite tired and also because I knew that the sooner I went to sleep, the sooner Santa would come. I kept one ear open, listening out for sleigh bells, during the night, but I think Santa must be magic, because I didn’t hear anything.

Next morning it was Christmas  Day  and it really was a mad house in the Madhouse. I was thrilled to bits to see what Santa had brought me, a new toy – you can see it in the picture below – I carried it round all day and spent a lovely 10 minutes playing fetch with Mel and Larraine and Declan from next door, as my new toy bounces around all over the place.

Me with my new toy from Santa

That evening I couldn’t believe it – my Christmas wish had come true and I had a massive dinner bowl, much bigger than my usual dinner bowl and it was full of leftovers from Christmas Dinner. Thank you Santa, you made a hungry dog very happy. Needless to say, I tucked in and demolished the lot, licking the bowl clean afterwards. What a lovely Christmas Day

Next day me and Whitevanwoman went for a lovely long walk along Haslingden Old Road and then along to Guide and back past the reservoirs. Whitevanwoman said that it was where she used to walk with Lanky when he was a youngster, about twelve years ago, long before I was even a gleam in my sheepdog dad’s eye. It was a lovely winter’s day and Whitevanwoman pointed out Darwen Tower which is where she went to watch the eclipse in August 1999 with Lanky. Whitevanwoman took some photos just as the sun was setting…

I was very hungry that evening, and was really really hoping that I was going to get the massive dinner bowl full up with leftovers again… and guess what?! I did!  I think there was even more leftovers for dinner on Boxing Day than there had been on Christmas Day.

Here’s a pic of my Boxing Day dinner bowl and one of me tucking into it.

My Boxing Day dinner

Tucking into my Boxing Day dinner in the massive dinner bowl

I must admit that even I struggled to finish my dinner that night, and had to have a little break half-way through for a drink and a burp. But I managed to fit it all in, and especially enjoyed the pork crackling which I saved till last (I made sure I ate the leftover bits of meat first – I always eat the best bit first in case someone takes it off me half-way through). Then after dinner, I had a good sleep in the living room – tired out from our walk and strangely lethargic after my dinner. After a late night wee, I happily put myself to bed in the white van, and had a good night’s sleep, dreaming of snowballs and leftovers.

We had to leave the Madhouse the next day and go home to see Miss Tibby who had been left home alone all over Christmas. Whitevanwoman had left her a big dinner bowl of cat biscuits so she wouldn’t go hungry, but I think she was very glad to see us when we got back and the first thing she did after I’d curled up in my bed in the kitchen was to sit on my head and lick my eyes and nose.

Unfortunately, once we got back home, I was back onto normal rations in my normal dinner bowl – I knew it was too good to last, but I am very grateful to Santa for my special extra large Christmas Day and Boxing Day dinners. Thinking about it, I suspect that my normal dinner bowl isn’t actually quite as full as usual, and I can’t help wondering if Whitevanwoman is being a bit mean with my rations

And so that was the very waggy tale (tail) of my Christmas 2009. I hope you all had a very waggy Christmas, and that you all had a big dinner bowl on Christmas Day and Boxing Day too. I’ve been too busy in the snow to finish editing Volume 2 of Memoirs of a Mongrel – I had hoped to get it done for Christmas, but I’m a bit behind schedule but hope to get it finished in the next few weeks and will let you all know when it is available to download.

And as the year draws to a close, I would like to wish you all a very Waggy New Year

It’s been snowing almost every day for the past week and there is loads of snow now and I am loving it. The white van is half buried in the stuff and today I helped Whitevanwoman dig it out and pack some survival kit in the back ready for our trip down to the Madhouse for Christmas. Because it has been so snowy, Whitevanwoman said that we had to put a shovel, some rope, a sleeping bag and some spare food in the back of the van in case we get stuck in a snowdrift on the journey to the Madhouse. I’m very excited at the moment – what with the snow, and Christmas, and a trip to the Madhouse, but I am a little worried that Santa might not know that we are going to be away at the Madhouse for Christmas. But Whitevanwoman has reassured me that Santa knows everything so there shouldn’t be any problems.

Here’s a selection of snowy photos from over the past few days…

Me with my new mate, I wonder if he can throw snowballs?

Is there anybody in there? Just checking, old habits die hard...

And here are some more photos from today…

The back yard when we woke up this morning

And see if you can spot what is written in the snow in the pictures below – me and Whitevanwoman did it whilst we were out on our walk today. I had to walk next to Whitevanwoman close to heel  and follow her footsteps exactly (she says her writing is neater than mine)…

I’m just  back from a walk in the snow with Whitevanwoman and we are both steaming gently in front of the fire. It’s snowing hard outside and there’s several inches already and it’s excellent. Me and whitevanwoman were only out for about half an hour but we both came back white from top to tail.

Snow dog

 I love the snow, it makes me all giddy and excited, skidding around everywhere and galloping around in the stuff. Whitevanwoman throws snowballs for me which is just as much fun as throwing tennisballs, except that snowballs don’t bounce but they seem to just disappear where they land. So to get them before they land, I make sure I catch them first but then they disappear when I try to fetch them back to Whitevanwoman even if I have caught it. Very strange. But there is always a good supply of snowballs – they don’t run out after one or two have been lost the way tennisballs do.

It’s been cold and snowy for a few days now – I don’t mind the cold at all, as you know, I’m a hot-blooded creature so I’ve been much in demand on hot water bottle duty for Whitevanwoman during the night. Last night it was 5 degrees in Whitevanwoman’s bedroom which she seemed to think was freezing whereas I felt that seeing as how it was at least minus 5 degrees outside, she didn’t have much to complain about. But I was happy enough to snuggle up next to her when she got into bed

Today Whitevanwoman was all excited after the postman had been as she got a big envelope containing some copies of a magazine called “Wellbeing”. I couldn’t see what all the fuss was about at first, until she showed me the front cover, and it said “Rigg the dog – a woman’s best friend”. And then it dawned on me, it was about me! (I’m glad to see that Kath the reporter called me Rigg the dog, and not Rigg the pig, as otherwise people might have got confused!).

Here’s a picture of the front cover – ignore Sally Gunnell (I bet I can run faster than her anyway) and read what is written on the left hand side (you can download this as a PDF by clicking here)

wellbeing front cover

Whitevanwoman read the article out to me, and I was really pleased as it explained really well about why I wasn’t able to become a Mountain Rescue Search Dog, and how I am applying to become a Pets As Therapy dog, and there were some really nice photos of Whitevanwoman and me. I think Whitevanwoman was really pleased because until now, she had only got one photo of me and her together, which is the one with me in my trainee Search Dog jacket with “L” plates on, which was taken when I had just turned 2 years old, and was starting Search Dog training. That was over 4 years ago now.

Here are some of the photos taken by Rachel the photographer for the article

 The article says that I am “not your average dog” which I was especially pleased about – it is nice to have one’s achievements recognised, and no-one likes to be an underdog. Here is a picture of the article, and if you want to read it, you can download it as a PDF by clicking here.

wellbeing article

Whitevanwoman says that I must write a nice thank you letter to my new mates Kath who wrote the article and Rachel for taking such lovely photos but that I should wait until after I have done my PAT dog assessment so that I can ask them to let people know in a future magazine whether I am successful in becoming a PAT dog. The magazine goes out to about 7000 people so I am sure that lots of people will want to know how I get on.

Wow! 7000 people. That really is an awful lot of people. I wonder whether I will get stopped in the street and asked for my autograph. I will have to ask Whitevanwoman to carry a pot of black paint in her handbag so that I can put my pawprint in people’s autograph books. I wonder if I should get myself an agent who could negotiate a deal for autographs in return for tennisballs. This celebrity business could prove to be a useful venture…

Dear Santa

I have been a very good dog this year – I have been good company for Whitevanwoman, cheering her up when she is feeling sad and gloomy, coming back to her when I’m called, and helping her to fetch fire wood on the sledge. I am always enthusiastic about everything I do, but I have learned how to settle down quietly when Whitevanwoman is busy, and how to curb my enthusiasm as and when necessary. I have only stolen 2 loaves of bread this year and have resisted temptation to raid the fridge.

I hope that because I have been such a good dog this year, that you will bring me some lovely presents for Christmas. I would especially like a new dinner bowl which is bigger than the one I’ve got at the moment, but if that is not possible, I would be happy with a good sized bone, some tennisballs, and perhaps a new flashing collar so that Whitevanwoman can see me at night time.

I have been looking through some catalogues and have found an edible dog Christmas card  which I thought was a particularly nice idea, and Whitevanwoman thinks that I would like this, and she wonders whether I would be able to fit both this and my tongue toy in my mouth at the same time.

Whitevanwoman says that you know where we live but to make sure, we live at Balamory, next door to Emma and Alan, and you can tell which one is our house as there is a white van with black pawprints parked outside.

I will ask Whitevanwoman to make sure that she leaves you some refreshments out on Christmas Eve – I was going to offer you a couple of dog biscuits and a drink of water out of my bowl, but Whitevanwoman thinks you would prefer a mince pie and a glass of Baileys. I promise to go to sleep early on Christmas Eve and not to wake Whitevanwoman up early on Christmas morning.

Woofs and licks from

Rigg the pig (a very good dog)

It was a year ago today since Lanky went  (see blog post RIP Lanky) – I think Whitevanwoman has been thinking about him alot over the past few days, as it was a very difficult time for her, as he was very special and she had had him for nearly 15 years and he was her first dog. I know she still misses him alot as she talks about him quite alot to me, but I try very hard to cheer her up when she feels sad by clowning around to make her smile and giving her cuddles when she needs them, and to make her realise that, although Lanky is gone, I’m still here. I can’t believe I’ve been top dog for a year now, it seems to have flown past, and I must admit, that whilst I do miss having the company of another dog around the place, it is good to have Whitevanwoman all to myself (although I do have to share her with Miss Tibby who is very demanding about having cuddles and getting on Whitevanwoman’s lap).

I’m quite proud of Whitevanwoman actually as she has turned down several offers of puppies this summer. I know she gave some serious thought to getting a new puppy and it would be nice to have some canine company, but until Lanky went, I had never had her all to myself and this year has been great as I have been her constant companion, going everywhere with her, except for the odd occasion when I’ve been left home alone (see my blog post Home alone).

She did say that we would have great adventures together this year now that it is just the two of us, but sadly we haven’t, although it has been a busy year and there is lots going on at the moment, like my application to become a PAT dog. I have to be assessed to make sure that I am the right temperament for being a PAT dog – a few years ago I think I was maybe a bit too “enthusiastic”, but these days I have learned how to tone it down a bit, and me and Whitevanwoman have been doing lots of practice at walking nicely on the lead without pulling and being calm and quiet when going into a room full of people. Whitevanwoman has to arrange for my assessment but keeps forgeting, so I’ve been giving her lots of nudges to arrange it. I’m hoping that I might be assessed before Christmas and so I can start visiting people in hospital to cheer them up in the New Year.

I’m going to be quite busy for the next couple of weeks as it’s time to put together Volume 2 of Memoirs of a Mongrel and print out copies for all my friends, for Christmas. If anyone would like a copy of Volume 1, you can download it here. If anyone would like a copy of Volume 2, send me an email or post a comment, and I’ll put you on my Christmas list.

And before I forget, I need to write my letter to Santa so I’d better get that done, I’ll go and have a sit on the coal bunker and compose it whilst watching the world go past and warning potential intruders that I am here and guarding our kennel.

And finally, to Old Lanky in Dog Heaven – me and Whitevanwoman are thinking about you and hoping that you are having a great time chasing angel sheep and playing fetch the frisbee with the angels’ halos.

Happy times on the fells with my mate Lanky - April 2005