A clean pair of ears

Leisurely mornings are just the best. Archie fends for himself until we get up, and then he’s delighted to see us and gets all his toys out to play with. He’s still been having trouble with his ears, probably because we didn’t get the stuff actually in the right place - most of it ended up flying out of the ears again when he shook his head. Which meant that his head was always greasy.

We tried many ways to get it in his ears - sneaking up on him when he was asleep (no use - immediately alert), pinning him down and using force (even worse - he panicked), but JR has developed a way of sitting on the floor, talking to him quietly, while pinning him between her knees and distracting him with kibble. She is able to clean his ears and rub them, and has been getting the stuff in, so I think they’re all right again. This morning she gave his head a wash, and I was amazed at how he just sat there, not minding being soaped up and face and ears washed - and then when the hairdryer was put on he ran to it and lay there, eating his treat bone while being gently blasted with warm air! What a puppy! So this is him, newly washed head. I think his face has changed, but I can’t place what’s different. Even cuter, I think.

Today we continued with the ‘sitting in public places doing nothing’ training. We went across to Montpelier’s and had an excellent shared platter and a couple of schooners of blonde beer. Archie lay down and watched everyone coming and going and was no bother at all for the whole hour. The man next to us with his lady friend Pamela (I know that because he had ‘PAMELA’ tattooed on his arm... but then, she might not have been Pamela - I was listening to try to catch her name) eventually said to us, ‘What a well behaved puppy you’ve got’.

We went outside to visit a wee French Bulldog we’d been watching through the window. It was tiny, and it sat on a cushion on a chair the whole time. I noted the young lady had a carry bag for it. It was 5 months old and was a bit scared of Archie, who wanted to play. We met another schnauzer in the park - schnauzer owners are always happy to chat about schnauzers, but this dog bitch was nippy and didn’t like her owners patting Archie.

PS I’m feeling a lot better after my malaise of late - a lot of it was worry about the upcoming tests and possible results. Although there’s a wee way to go yet, I feel much more positive, and almost normal again. Well, normal for me. I feel I can join in the fun again! Thanks again for all the support and good wishes.

PPS I've just seen the Scotland Commonwealth Games team uniform!!! Jings! Crivens! Help Ma Boab!