May 8th – “I’m here Dad”

Today’s post features our nutty flatcoat retriever, Velvet. This picture sums her up perfectly, and she is still going strong at nearly 11 years old.

She is a real character and we could literally write a book about her antics, especially when she was younger.

One of her most famous party tricks is opening doors. We tried a privacy lock on a few but she soon sorted them out, which meant putting bolts on the doors five foot up. That did stop her. well most of the time. She somehow knows when we forget, but she doesn’t open the door straight away, she waits until we are out of the room so she doesn’t get busted.

On one occasion we didn’t remember, and she broke into the kitchen, opened a cupboard and ate a 1kg bag of flour. Other items taken includes a family pack of Yorkie bars, countless eggs, sugar, bread, fruit, in fact anything she can get those paws on.

If anything is left on the worktop, that is fair game. Standing on her rear legs, she uses her front legs in a sweeping motion to get everything on the floor, much to the appreciation of the other dogs.

Another trick of hers was jumping the rear fence, running through the field at the back, up the lane and into the pub’s kitchen (usually on a Sunday when roast dinners were being served). The front door bell would ring and she would be kindly delivered back to us by a member of the pubs staff.

We love her dearly, and although she is slowing slightly, and missing some teeth, she is still as mad as a box of frogs.