New (old) mat

It appears that Archie has well understood that he does NOT use the kitchen area as a toilet. This is all good.

Unfortunately, we discovered this morning that he does not realise this ban includes anywhere in the house!! He was having a bit of an explore - having just had a piddle outside, so deemed safe - and for the first time he was unaccompanied for a short while. Bad move. JR had the dubious pleasure of finding a poo IN THE BEDROOM. But not, thank goodness, on the flokati rug - that would have been unimaginably awful.

Soooo. Back to only guided tours of the house for another month or so…

We put the rug down in the kitchen again. He likes it, because now he can sit and not continually slide backwards. And he can lie down and sleep in more places, though he does pop back into his crate eventually. We won’t leave him alone with the rug - too many tempting tassels - it’s just down when we’re there during the day so that he gets used to it.

The planned beach visit was abandoned this morning due to inclement weather. Which was fortunate, as two parcels arrived for Archie. One was the dog seat belt (came from China!) and the other was a marvellous contraption to administer herbal ear cleanser in the right place (his ears smell lovely now). It has a super soft long bendy nozzle, so can’t hurt the dog in sudden jerks of the head when he realises what's going on... And it has an easy squeezy lever which shoots out the right amount. It can be used upright, so the dog’s ear doesn’t have to be horizontal, with the dog on his side. Brilliant. I had to get this from USA - they don’t sell them here.

I was well pleased with both items. Archie was less so.

The dreich day proved ideal for an afternoon at the cinema to see the Grand Hotel Budapest. We missed this first time around. We went to the Senior Screen, and got a free cuppa and biscuits. The joy of being old codgers knows no bounds… The film was all right, entertaining in parts, but far too long.

The weather improved while we were in the cinema, so JR and Archie have gone for an evening stroll. I’m going for an evening slouch on the couch.