Wednesday 4 April 2012: "Sit!", I said

Oh dear, today was not Jack's finest hour.
We went out again this morning, & once again came home to the same sorry mess on the breakfast room floor - the only difference being that this time he'd managed to get it on his bedding, his toys, even his water bowl. So once again he & I were consigned to the garden until he'd calmed down/hubby had cleaned up the mess - the only difference being that today it took even longer, & it was f-f-f-freeezing out there; and, my energy having just been spent on retail therapy, all I wanted to do was get into bed with a hot water bottle. Eventually I was able to do just that, & having ensured that he was thoroughly clean, Jack - still trembling from the trauma of having been left - snuggled up on my lap. Meanwhile, hubby unloaded the car; most of it went straight round to the garden, but the one thing I'd asked him to bring indoors (a bag of houseplant compost) had a leak ?. Oh dear hubby, it wasn't your best day either, was it? Having just finished washing the breakfast room floor, he now had to vacuum the hall carpet, & rather than have Jack spread it around any further, he & I were shut in the bedroom together. Jack was so tired he barely stirred when the door was closed, but a few minutes later he suddenly leapt off the bed & started whining; since he usually whines when shut in I didn't take much notice to start with, but then he disappeared under my bed, something he's never done before; so I called him out, he went back to the door & whined again. Ah-hah! I recognised that tone: it wasn't his 'missing hubby' whine, it was his 'I need a wee' whine - hardly surprising, considering all that anxious panting had made him so thirsty that he'd slurped down an entire ice cream tub-full of water whilst in the garden. Well I can't take him outside without help, so I opened the bedroom door & called for hubby; but he couldn't hear me above the noise of the vacuum cleaner, & by the time I caught up with Jack he had dashed to the nearest exit (the front door) & was just cocking his leg; I shouted to him to stop, at which he slunk into the lounge, scuttled past hubby (who had got carried away with the hoovering), & into the conservatory, where he proceeded to empty a very full bladder!

Hubby wasn't best pleased at having yet a third floor (plus a slightly damp front door mat) to clean up, but these are early days, & it couldn't be helped. Jack knew he'd done wrong though, & he tried to make it up to us by being on his best behaviour for the rest of the day. Here he is demonstrating how good he is at the 'sit & stay' game.

I tell hubby that the only reason I take him shopping with me is for the use of his over-60's discount card (conveniently ignoring the fact that I couldn't even get to the shops without him); Wednesday is 'pensioner discount day' at B&Q, & so we went to buy some stepping stones for the wildflower area we're planning to plant beside the new arbour. It was a real bonus to discover when we got there that all paving items were on a 'buy 3 get one free' offer, which meant that we only had to pay for 6 of the 8 stones we needed; we also needed some paint - 3 different kinds to be precise, & lo & behold, all paint was on 'buy 2 get the 3rd free'. So with the 10% discount as well, we saved quite a bit of money. Which I promptly spent in the gardening department.
I call that a highly successful shopping expedition.

Things we've learned about Jack
For such a noisy dog, he's far too quiet about letting us know he needs the loo
He loves licking bare feet. I love having my feet tickled; therefore, he can stay.

• Canon EOS 1100D:
• f/3.5:
• 1/30":
• 20.0mm:
• ISO 400

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