Some rare moments of relaxation

Glyn making the most of his invite for a hug.

He's misleadingly white here - I think the mud

fell off all over the floor after playing in the

garden. He is a bit of a mud-magnet!

Evidence that Willow and Glyn do occassionally

get along together. Although I think Willow

was trying to squish Glyn, and Glyn was trying

not to look concerned at having Willow's

teeth that close to his head!

I like candy...

Well, Willow has surpassed herself. Yesterday Gareth and I got back from grocery shopping to find that Willow had stolen a bag of dermera sugar from the kitchen side and eaten the lot (minus about two coffee's worth). She's never stolen from the kitchen sides before so this was a little odd. She had also soiled her bed which totally confused me as dogs just don't mess in their own beds.
Anyway, she was feeling a little sorry for herself and kept asking to go out into the garden after drinking lots of water. She wasn't actually sick, but she has been in a bit of a mood today since her sugar crash (she was a nightmare yesterday when she was on a sugar high!)

By contrast, Glyn has been the eptiomy of good behaviour. Although I''m fairly sure this is in part due to his introduction to livercake - he's suddenly very responsive to first commands since discovering this canine cullinary delight! I think he is going to be a great dog to train with.

Photos

As promised, here are some photos of Glyn and an unimpressed Willow - although she is beginning to think he may be ok for the occasional game.

Top left: Willow is not happy

Top right: Glyn looking a bit confused about it all

Left: Glyn knackered after a long walk

Below: A pack bonding session

All change

Quite a lot has happened since my last post.
A couple of our friends came up to stay with us for a week last week, so that was pretty manic! We went go-karting which is excellent! I suck big time at it but it was good fun.
I've also got my dissertation result back and I got a 16. That's about a 2:1 level. I'm a bit disappointed, but still better than it could have been.

Perhaps the biggest change has been the addition of Glyn to our flat. He's a 14 month collie-cross who is living with us as friends of ours have emmigrated and couldn't take him with them. They are hoping to get him out with them if they can, but if not we will be keeping him. Things have been quite tiring as we have been getting up at aroun 6am to run the dogs before I head off to uni and then they have another run in the evening (although Willow sometimes misses that one depending on how bad her arthritis is). Willow has accepted him well, and apart from the first day when she wanted to eat him, and a couple of 'that's my pigs' ear' incidents, they are getting along fine. Willow is even initiating games with him!

I will post some photos of him soon.

disillusionment

Degrees are never quite what you expect them to be. When I took animal behaviour as a course I had hoped it would have more leanings towards ethology than modelling. The primary difference being that the former involves watching and studying real animals, and the latter just constructing mathematical models of potential animal behaviour, which frankly is just too abstract (and dull) for my brain to cope with.
On the plus side, I have found a few universities that offer postgraduate courses in pet behaviour councilling, so this degree wasn't a complete misdirection! Frustrating as I waited four years to do this advanced animal behaviour course and it's rubbish! The postgrad courses do entail trying to get two years experience first, so I'll have to arrange something with that - harder than it seems as working with animals is competitive; even the voluntary 'no pay' type.
The other downside is the the nearest postgrad course to Plymouth is Southampton, so that may entail moving in a couple of years. Although that is a great deal closer than where I currently am!

Update

I've finished all of the requirements for last semesters' work - the oral exam was a nightmare. I was basically sat there blatantly making stuff up in front of the examiners. I now have to face my supervisor in this semesters' courses! Oh well. It's kinda wierd being back in lectures, especially as I can't really be arsed. Still, just another four months to go and I never have to worry about 'evolutionary stable strategies' or p-values again! Don't get me wrong, I have enjoyed the course, just getting a little fed up now. I feel that I'm behind people my age with regard to life - i.e. most have permanent jobs, homes etc. and I feel a bit immature by comparsion!
I have a wedding dress! My mum came up to be there for the appointment along with my best mate. I hadn't intended to order one that day, but I just fell in love with it and knew it was the one! I won't go into details in case Gareth reads this and I don't want to give anything away, but there will defiantly be photos after the wedding (6 months time!).
I haven't seem Mum properly for about a year, so the week she was up just went too quickly, especially as I still had uni to go to in between her visit. It was great seeing her again, and thankfully it didn't snow like it did when she last visited!