Ruby’s story…………..

Well it’s the second day of the long Easter weekend and the sun is shining…….. I heard mummy and daddy talking this morning and I heard some exciting news…… we’re going to my friend Amber’s house later for a barbecue, I can’t wait, but I think it must be a surprise for me because mum and dad where whispering about it in the kitchen and I think they thought that I hadn’t heard them…….. they know how much I like going to Amber’s house so they must be keeping it as a surprise because I’ve been such a good girl recently.

The reason that I like going to Amber’s so much is because she’s got a big garden to run around in, and Amber gets much better treats than I do, Amber gets dried bones and pigs ears to eat, but she never finishes them and leaves them all round the garden.

Also, for a big girl, she’s a Dogue de Bordeaux, she is very picky with her food, when she gets her breakfast on a morning, it can take her all day to eat it, me on the other hand clears mine in 10 seconds flat……. so when I go to her house I always rush into the kitchen first to clear her breakfast up….. well you know what they say “waste not want not”.

The first time we went to a barbecue at her house, I’d only just got through the gate and I spotted a half eaten pigs ear in the grass, so I ran over and grabbed it. There were lots of people there all sat on the patio and they were all watching me, I couldn’t get the pigs ear down quick enough, you know I’ve told you before how mum and dad have a knack of taking everything off me that I pick up, so I had to get this down quick. It was quite tough to chew, so there was nothing for it, I had to get it down in one, so I gulped, but it didn’t go down and I had to cough it back up, oh well, I’ll have another go, same again couldn’t get it down so I coughed it up again and then third time lucky, I got it down…… I could tell all the people on the patio were impressed, they were shaking there heads and looking shocked and surprised…. thank you very much ladies and gentlemen I do have other party tricks that I can show you later………….

The barbecue then got really good all the people got their food and started to eat, I was in heaven, I mingled with everyone, I was a social butterfly, flitting between one person and next and nearly everyone gave me some food. Food was everywhere I was drooling like a tap, at one point people had to be careful where they put their feet, there were little puddles everywhere…….. it was great fun….

Anyway friends I have to get ready for today’s barbecue….. I’ll let you have all the details tomorrow……..

Mummy’s story……………

It’s the second day of the long Easter weekend and the sun is shining and we have been invited to a barbecue at our friends house. Our friends have a dog too, Amber a Dogue de Bordeaux, the total opposite to Ruby, doesn’t gobble her food, doesn’t beg for treats constantly and doesn’t eat everything down in one go. We had to discuss the barbecue out of Ruby’s earshot because she’s not coming, it’s not because she wasn’t invited, she was, but I just remember the last time we took her to a barbecue she was a nightmare.

Ruby likes visiting our friends house, as soon as we turn the corner to go up their drive, she gets beside herself with excitement and pulls so much she nearly hyperventilates. You see the reason that she loves it so much, is because, not only does she like being surrounded by people, she’s a Labrador, that’s a given, the reason she loves it so much is because Amber is a lot more picky with her food than Ruby and there’s always Amber’s uneaten breakfast waiting for her. As soon as she’s through the door she’s straight into the kitchen and has cleared the breakfast bowl before we’ve even taken our coats off. She then spends the next half hour looking for teats that Amber has half eaten and dropped, she really is an embarrassment.

The first time we took her to a barbecue round there, we had only just got through the gate when she spotted a pigs ear on the grass. She doesn’t get pig ear’s or bones at home because she hasn’t learnt the concept of chewing them, its all out getting them down as quickly as possible with Ruby, so she usually starts choking and retching and we end up having to put our fingers down her throat to pull them out. Well, back to the barbecue, all the other guests were sitting on the patio, when she picked up the pigs ears right in front of them and then proceeded to try and swallow it whole and then gag it back up again because it was too big, this went on two or three times before she finally swallowed it. That’s all you want to see when your chewing on your chicken drumstick a Labrador regurgitating a pigs ear. Nice !!

After she finally got the pigs ear down, she then proceeded to go round everyone begging for food, well I say begging for food, she literally went to sit in front of someone a drooled all over the feet until they either finally gave her something or they moved. She really was the nightmare barbecue guest.

So you can see the reason that this time she’s staying at home, we’ll sneak out at about 4.00pm and pretend we’re going to the shops…. what she doesn’t know won’t hurt her……………