Would you pony up for this gear?

This has to be a joke, right??? Katie Price (who's she) launches her new range of equestrian equipment!

I will so be wearing that at the stables next week....

For the Love of Dog...

As I speak, the Mitzer is hawling her 3' wide dog crate along the living room floor as she tries to pull a blanket out from the inside.  I refuse to put it back where it belongs as Mr. M does not believe that she EVER behaves in a less than desirable way...

Her sheer guts and determination to shift things belie her small stature.   

She is fearsome in the face of frogs, monkeys, birds, big dogs, and horses, but terrified of small children, visitors in the house, and running water.

She is quite keen on stealing things and running away, such as shoes, cuddly toys that don't belong to her, bottles of water - full or otherwise - and even as the picture shows, a bag full of toys, which she opened the cupboard to get, and her bed.  Nothing is sacred, trust me.

We are thinking of signing her up as an extra for the next Matrix movie after seeing her jump vertically (think Harrier Jump Jet) from the floor onto the kitchen counter to get at some leftover Indian food.  She leaps from sofa to chair and back, making the odd stop on the side table to grab some tissues.  And trust me, if she leaps on you, you're winded for a good few minutes.

I read an article recently that said dogs should be given jobs (that's reminiscent of one of my favourite shows in the US, Dogs with Jobs).  So, I have given her the job of carrying socks for us when getting dressed in the morning.  Problem is, there's more chewing than carrying going on.  Will have to think of something new...

On the training front, she is well versed now in where and where not to 'go peeps' and Mr. M thinks I'm some kind of dog whisperer for my ability to get her to peep virtually on command.  We are also quite good at sit, stay, and come.  Down and off are an issue, as is 'Mitzie stop eating my glasses...'  We'll have to work on those things!

Thankfully - after just getting her snout stuck in her crate and releasing a blood curdling yelp - she is now resting on the sofa, as is the way before Mr. M comes home from work.  He then sees a peaceful, resting puppy, with not an ounce of mischief in her bones... Ha ha!

Three Wheels on my Wagon...

It had to happen.  A flat tyre.  On the way to a wedding.  Our driver's sister's wedding.  In the middle of Bangalore.  I was driving.  During Monsoon.  In fact, during a stinking Monsoon afternoon which saw the streets become rivers.  Thankfully, my Hero, Mr. M, was in the car with us (me and Mitz).  I have never seen him spring so quickly into action.  He was out the car, into the trunk, spare out, flat tyre off, spare on, quicker than you could say, 'should I get out and help?'  In fact, both Mitzie and I remained dry as a (dog) bone inside the car while Mr. M was soaked to the skin.  What was amusing, was the lack of police or helpful looking individuals when you need them.  Out of the hundreds of people thronging through the Bangalore bus station (where we took refuge) only ONE person offered to help, with more people finding it quite amusing to see the only white guy in the vicinity up to his knees in water changing Madame's tyre.  It did make me realize that while I have been on quite a high a lately driving myself here and there, with or without hubbie, that we are quite prone to getting flats here (due to the lack of road surfaces!) and if I were on my own it would be quite a pain in the ass.  Having learned to change a tyre on an army landrover, I'm sure I could do it, but wouldn't want to!  I was impressed by my knight in shining armour who delivered me to the wedding an hour late, but on time, as things generally run late here, without me having to get even slightly ruffled.  That's a few brownie points well earned.

Release the Hounds...

... and whatever else ammunition you have in the crazy war between dog owner and residents.  We have had another complaint; this time, about noise after 11:30pm in our bedroom... apparently the sound of strange instruments dropping on the floor and rather heavy feet.  Ah, that'll be Mitzie practicing the euphonium and drums.  Crazy!!!

Last week, we saw a very adorable property that is available in our area that is worthy of the name "Bunny Cottage."  Very delightful and just enough garden and space for a family of 2.5 - and it even has a granny flat!  Mitzie loved the garden, which was a better response to another house we saw, where she took a dump on the master bedroom floor... thank god for poop bags!

Calling our Landlord was a bit of worry as breaking your lease anywhere can be a) very easy or b) a harrowing nightmare.  Fortunately, this was very easy, and he was very reasonable, until I mentioned that we had had a few issues in the apartment but they were in no way the reason for our departure.  I mentioned the dog being 'banned' from the periphery, the stolen shoes, the passive aggressive behavior, and the upcoming AGM where the dog would be discussed... Our landlord went NUTS!!!  Full on angry and amazingly on-side with us.  His big thing is that in India, guests are like God and we should not be treated like this... He even said he didn't care about the money... this was unacceptable.  And then he rolled out the name of his friend... the owner of the property company that we live in, yes, the same name we were planning to roll out at the AGM if things got tough!  Seems we move in similar circles!

He immediately called the building manager, who called me and said not to worry... We discussed the missing shoes again; while he reassured me that they had NOT left the building (with Elvis) I told him that if they weren't on my feet, that didn't really help me!!!  

Mysteriously, the AGM was postponed due to 'unavoidable circumstances' and will be held next week instead.  I have NO plans on attending, unless it is to release Mitzie among them to take a dump.  Instead, I am hoping our Landlord arrives and brings with him the 'six big dogs' that he mentioned in our phone conversation and which he threatened to move in with if we left!