Poppy's Pages

It’s come to my attention that my humans have not been keeping up to date with my blog, shame on them!  So I have decided to take matters into my own paws.  Not much has been happening since my male human last made an entry here, except I’ve grown, can jump higher which is helpful when I want one of those green spongy things humans dip in foamy water and run round lots of objects I could clean more easily for them, I’ve no idea what they’re called, but the humans don’t like me having them. I am better able to take my male human for a walk around the park, he’s conveniently attached to some rope so I don’t lose him, but he can’t run as fast as I can.  I think I can forgive him though as he only has 2 legs!  I also now have a female human who’s not so keen on me jumping up, but I have persuaded her to give me treats if I pretend to be good by sitting and lying down, so not all is bad.  To bring you up to speed my life is great, I sleep, eat, go for a walk, play.

Last Sunday the humans took me in the grey thing with the big round chew toys at each corner that they use to transport themselves (told you they weren’t good at running), to another male human who lives in a place that has lots of food, things to chew and play with, he wasn’t so nice to me though.  I got jabbed with a sharp thing, then it all went blank, when I woke up I was home wrapped up in strange cloth, a bit like I’ve seen the humans wear, I was feeling very unsteady on my paws I can tell you!  Oooh Gecko…….!!!!

Where was I, oh yes, I had this strange feeling something was missing, but I can’t figure out what, all I know is for the past few days, they’ve been sticking things to my belly, strange place to put something for me to chew and spraying me with this disgusting smelling stuff that comes in a white cylinder, shaped a bit like a straight bone, but not so great to chew.  I’ve tried telling them not to do it, but they won’t listen to me, wonder if they speak a different language…  It has been kind of great really, as I’ve been getting chicken livers mixed with milk and this white power twice a day, it’s yummy, long may it contiue, much better than my normal food.  Today I was feeling much better and went digging for toads just outside the big box I live in with the humans, I’ve no idea why my female human reacted like she did, it was fun and I was so proud of the hole, it took alot of effort, so what if I had a bit of dirt on my nose!  She pointed that box shaped thing at me that makes a funny noise and I’ve uploaded the results for you, you humans seem to like looking at what comes out of that thing.

Much love Poppy x

Dirty nose? Moi?

What do you mean, what have I been doing?!

Female human, come look at my hole, I'm sooo proud of myself!

My hole, got all the way down the water pipe, I'm so proud!

Sleeping under the desk

Another 2 weeks has passed since my last post, and both Poppy and I have continued to melt in the heat. Last Sunday was the hottest day in Bangalore for a couple of years at 37.6C. Needless to say we didn’t do much! The weather has continued to be hot, however we are now getting some rain on some evenings cooling things down a little. Tuesday, however, saw wild storms strong enough to blow down trees in the area and take roof tiles off local houses. Needless to say Poppy was not impressed at being locked out the back of the house during the storm while I was at work. Unfortunately there was little I could do, and she survived without incident, although did tell me off when I got home! She was still happy to go for a walk in the dark (no power) and rain, which made everything OK again! I have since put a piece of marble up against the outside sink unit to make a sheltered place from the wind and rain. We will have to construct her a kennel before the monsoon starts.

Packed and ready to go to Dreamland

Poppy likes to have a bed downstairs to go in to when she’s in the house with me, so I have improvised with a butchered old case and a cheap quilt. It seems to be a hit, especially when we have the AC on in the study – an ideal opportunity for a nap! Not that she ever needs an excuse for a nap!

Over the past 2 weeks, Poppy doesn’t seem to have grown very much, only about half an inch. I haven’t weighed her (it’s not easy!) so not sure if she has put on weight. She continues to be her usual self, naughty when she thinks she can get away with it. She’s not usually impressed with my choice of TV, and either walks off in disgust or falls asleep on the sofa – she did both during the Chinese Grand Prix today! She seems to be getting better around other people and always likes to say hello to the neighbours if they are out when we go for a walk. The neighbour kindly took the photo of us by the car yesterday morning.

Walking Poppy

One of Poppy's Victims

She also likes to play with the local fauna. Apart from chasing any insect she can find, she likes to play with geckos; the best bit being if you pull their tails off the tail wiggles really fast for ages! A few local geckos have died in this game, others are going around without any tails. She also likes to play with toads that live behind the plant pots, and bury themselves in to the sand. She has several times sniffed and licked them (I don’t think they taste nice, but she has to check). Yesterday she was digging in the sand and propelled a toad out between her back legs – she didn’t even notice, and the toad escaped shaken, but unharmed! Yesterday we had a cobra come in to the “garden”, fortunately Poppy was OK with being locked in the house while someone came to catch it and relocate it to Bannerghatta forest.

Watching the Australian Grand Prix

It’s been 2 weeks since my last update, mainly due to internet problems last weekend and it being too hot to be bothered to do anything. It’s been so hot that Poppy has spent most of the Easter weekend sleeping! I can’t blame her as it’s been around 35C almost every day for the past 3 weeks or so.

Sleeping half in bed

Poppy is getting on fine. She has gained another inch, and now stands about 17 inches to her shoulder, she has also put on some weight and has made it just to double figures at 10kg – that’s over 1.5 stone and she doesn’t look fat! We are going for regular walks now, and she is fairly well behaved on the lead. We go out at about 8:15 every morning for 15 mins or so; it’s starting to get hot then, so we don’t stay out too long. Shekar then takes her for a walk around 6 when it’s starting to cool down just before dusk. I then take her out when I get home from work – I need to do this otherwise she is so hyperactive I can’t get anything done for her getting in the way and being generally naughty!

Watching the world go by from the balcony

She is starting to get  better around people, and other dogs. She spent a good 10 minutes playing with next door’s 5 year old girl while I had her on the lead. She was well behaved and very submissive. We have also come across several other dogs as we have been on walks, including strays and even a couple of her siblings. She is generally OK with them so long as they don’t get too close. She rarely makes a noise and often other dogs take a wide berth to avoid her!

Cuddle time with teddy

I have been trying to teach her to lie down on command. She now lies down whenever she knows I have a treat for her, whether I say anything or not! So that’s not really working, but she is slowly getting there. I seem to be having a little more success with stopping her pushing past the box. Having her bed downstairs during the day has helped a lot, she is more inclined to go to that than go to the sofa, unless I’m in the lounge. She still tries to push past the box, but if I call her name, 9 times out of 10 she will stop and come to me.

The video clips seem quite popular, so here’s another one of her just after she got her teddy for the first time: