Dog of the Month - August

Slightly delayed as usual, here's Barney, August's Dog of the Month!

Barney stayed with me a few times over the summer, and really mucked in well with all the dogs. There was some competition over tennis balls and toys so we stopped taking them with us after a few days. In their absence, Barney sat in the dog pond waiting for me to throw something, and when I didn't, he dived to the bottom and rescued a few sunken toys!

The main reason he won the award is his quick learning! One of my own dogs is a bit of a bicycle chaser, so when on a long weekend walk at first sight of a bike we all gather round for a small treat so Scamp doesn't chase. After an hour of this, Barney was running straight to me without me saying anything at all as soon as he spotted a bike. I was very impressed - I've been doing this since June and Scamp still hasn't quite got it...

Here's some of my fav pics of Barney. He's also been walking with me a year, so got his Walkies award at the same time.

Loch Ness Monster found in Brentwood Dog Pond

This is Barney, he stayed with me a few times this year. This last photo is him sitting in the pond waiting for me to throw a toy for him. He looked just like he was sitting in a bath! Here he is a bit clearer, so you can see his handsome face!

A Really Useful Dog

I am a strong believer in dogs being useful to their owners. There are lots of working dogs, police and military dogs, customs dogs, assistance dogs, but what about us pet owners? Why should our dogs be allowed to sit back and relax while we do all the work?

So I was really happy to read about Lucky the Litter Picking dog. When on walks with his owner, he collects litter that his owner points out, and takes it to the nearest bin, alerting his owner to dangerous items such as broken glass.

What a great dog! What a fabulous job! What a wonderful owner! Not only having something to occupy himself which keeps him out of trouble but making a difference in his community.

Fred does drag rubbish out of water, which I then bag up and put in a bin (he's only little he can't reach to put it in) but I've not trained him (or either of the other two dogs) to collect other rubbish and carry it to a bin. Barney the Lab has also helped out with the odd plastic bottle from time to time!







That's what dog ownership should be about. Really useful dogs being useful in the community.

Dogs Doing Good Things for the Community

The fabulous Barney doing his bit for the local community. Being a Labrador he likes to carry things in his mouth, so when he found this plastic bottle in the River Roding it took me a while to get it away from him.

Fred has also done his bit to clear the Roding, here he is with an old compost bag he dragged out.



Even Keep Britain Tidy thinks dogs are fabulous litter collectors! You may spot a dog or two you know...