Settling In

Hello chaps, hope you're all well. What about those pups hey? I can't even begin to tell you how good ma smelt when she got home. I couldn't keep my nose away. I'm looking forward to meeting them all, as well as lovely ladies Maggie and Annie, Arthur who is Oscar's older brother and as mad as a bag of frogs by all accounts, and Stella who is Oscar's ma. I reckon I'll know who I want as my new little bro or sis in a jiffy.

I am settling in very well here. I got a lovely new bed last week. I am just too big to fit comfortably on Oscar's old bed, plus ma felt it was quite thin and not ideal for my stiff legs. What she failed to realise however, is that it's far comfier to sleep like this, so the majority of my big muscly body is still on the floor anyway, har har! Do you see how my ears stick up when I sleep? Ma says I look silly, I say I'm just keeping alert for anything interesting.

I have also been doing lots and lots of cuddling with pa. I really do love him so much. He gives the best scratches and ear rubs. Pa says that even though Oscar loved him lots, he was always more of a mummy's boy, so pa is happy that I enjoy his company so. Us boys have got to stick together I say. I honestly am not quite as huge as the photos of me beside pa would have you believe. I know they say the camera never lies, but I do believe it adds 10 pounds and makes me seem like a humongous 'Dale. Yes, I am a tad bigger than average, but I am honestly not a giant! I have longer legs than the standard and I weigh a respectable 28.5 kilos (63 pounds) - all muscle of course!

I have also been making the most of the last few mild, autumn day before the wet, cold weather sets in. I like lying at the end of the garden so I can keep an eye on everything - the house, the tabby next door, cars coming and going. An Airedale's work is never done.

Today however I was a little preoccupied as I had a nice chew on the go. As I don't play with toys, chews are a good source of fun for me.

I let ma take a few photos *sigh*. All I really wanted to do was get my gnashers around the chew, but I understand I have to keep the lady of the house happy. You will see that I will always have green or yellow glowing eyes on photos. I'm not a Halloween ghoul, it's because my eyes are a bit cloudy due to age. I can still see very well though, and hopefully I still look handsome in photos!

Chomp, chomp, chomp. Ma doesn't really like rawhide chews that much, but I seem to work my way through anything else in seconds, and I am not interested in faffing about getting biscuits out of Kongs, just licking a little peanut butter or honey out of them. Do any of you have any good ideas for safer, healthier chews that can keep my huge Airedale teeth busy for more than a minute?

Working up a good mushy mess now. I did end up with lots of rawhide stuck to my beard. Ma says that's another reason why rawhides are bad news. I suppose if I am ever going to grow enough beard to enter Stanley's beard contest, I don't want to have ma chop big chunks of it out when she can't brush the rawhide tangles out!

Ah well, time for a nap. Pa tells me that my new grandma and grandad who live in Spain are coming to stay tonight along with pa's brother, partner and Leo, a little baby human who is only 12 weeks old. Sounds like lots of potential ear scratches are coming my way, jolly good news!

Toodle pip,

Harry x