ROBIN’s dog-blog - the diary of a lhasa apso (that's a small bouncy dog) living in Norfolk with his human parents, cat brother Toby and his

Diary of Robin, the lhasa apso, living with the Newsteads in Norfolk. Opportunity awaits those who sit under tables. That’s my motto, and today my patience was rewarded. Mum was enjoying cheese and crackers for lunch and I was in my usual spot ready to intercept any dropped crumbs. But then Mum dropped something… not a crumb, and not even a small corner of cracker, but an entire cracker complete with cheese. I’ve never tried cheese before because officially dogs don’t ea

Diary of Robin, the lhasa apso living with the Newsteads in North Walsham, Norfolk. Me and Dad have had a man-type of afternoon, watching football on TV. It’s the first time I’ve watched a football match and it was quite interesting, but I was surprised that none of the men chasing after the ball had brought their dogs. Why would anyone bother to chase a ball without a dog? Very peculiar. Back to the footy – there were two teams, one dressed in blue and white and the other

Diary of Robin, the lhasa apso, written entirely by Robin himself with a teeny bit of help from his human dad. Today is 6th February 2018 and it’s exactly a year since I came to live with the Newsteads. I’ve changed quite a bit as you can see from the re-creation of my first portrait photo. Dad even insisted that Mum wore exactly the same boots and jeans for the occasion! And now for part 14 of Robin’s dog blog, which starts off in early December last year with an evening

Diary of a Lhasa Apso – Part 12 Have you ever wondered how far the contents of a used tea bag can be spread. Across our entire dining room, that’s how far. I fished one out of the bin this morning and had a great time shaking it around before being caught in the act. Mum thinks she’s cleared up all the tea leaves but she’s not even close yet. She’ll be finding bits of tea for ages. Autumn has arrived and with it lots of brown leaves. It struck me that some of these leave

Hello to all my readers and welcome to Part 12 of Robin's Dog Blog. Before continuing with all the usual stuff about me getting into various types of trouble, here's a picture of me looking cute. No reason. Just a cute Robin photo to kick off with. There’s been a happy event in our family – the arrival of Tom and Beth’s little baby, Alfie, born at 6.30am this morning. I must confess that I don’t understand any of what I've just said but I’m sure all will become clear. All

Diary of a lhasa apso from Norfolk. Following the traumatic and distressing discovery that my nuts had gone missing following my last trip to the vets (see Robin’s dog blog part 10) I regret that they have not been found despite a long and arduous search. I have to say that despite the initial shock I’m not missing them too much. Love making with my special toy, Mrs Bunny, has taken on a more sedate pace, with her receiving a much less frenzied pummelling, and the whole exp

Diary of Robin, a lhasa apso from Norfolk! I’ve been back to the dog groomers, but this time I was a brave boy and the ladies were able to give me my first full hair cut. The scruff-look has now gone, replaced with a streamlined new me. I’m even more super speedy than before which means poor old Dad has absolutely no chance of catching me. Mum was a bit concerned that I’d no longer be able to get myself completely covered in leaves and bits of garden mess, but she needn’t

Diary of a Lhasa Apso – Part 9 - May 2017 Dad decided to get me and Toby together for some cat/dog sibling treats today. Both of us sat nicely on the kitchen floor next to each of other while Dad held up two pieces of chicken, one for me and the other for Toby. It was an uncharacteristically calm affair with no violence of any kind. Dad placed both pieces of chicken on the floor and I scoffed mine down instantly. Toby picked his piece up and put it down again, so I got my

Diary of a Lhasa Apso puppy – Part 8 One of the problems with growing up is that things appear to get smaller as I get bigger. I used to be able to run underneath the sofa without incident when I first arrived, but now I have to perform a limbo manoeuvre to avoid serious head injury. Unfortunately I forget to do this sometimes. I’m also finding that my tail is getting further away from my head, which makes chasing it increasingly problematic. For the last few weeks I’ve be

Diary of a lhasa apso puppy Sunday April 9th 2017 I’ve been to the woods for the first time and it was A-MA-ZING! There were sticks everywhere – big ones, small ones, fat ones and thin ones. Sticks in every direction and as far as the eye could see. There were even sticks growing on trees. In fact there were more sticks that you could throw a stick at. Choosing one to take home was almost too much for me, and Dad said the experience of watching me pick a stick was very s

Diary of a Lhasa Apso puppy – Part 6 Friday 17th March The world has suddenly got a great deal bigger. After having my final vaccinations I’m now able to leave the confines of 19 Norwich Road and go exploring with Mum and Dad. Apparently this is called ‘walkies’ and apart from being restricted by a lead and harness, I like walkies very much. There’s so much to sniff and I even found a small stick on my first outing. However, on my second walkies I encountered a train at t

Diary of a lhasa also puppy Saturday 4th March Apparently some sort of cat-related breakthrough has occurred. My cat brother Toby sat on the dining room sofa, and that’s it. Seriously, so what? I do that all the time. Turns out that until about a month ago the dining room sofa was one of Toby’s favourite places. Mum even made Dad buy that particular sofa because it matches the cat (honestly, that’s true!) But about a month ago Toby stopped sleeping on the sofa, preferri

Diary of a nine-week old puppy's first week with the Newsteads! Day 1 - Monday 6th Feb Arrived at my new home. Mum and Dad seem nice and the place looks great with plenty of toys and a comfortable looking basket. No one told me they had another dog. He’s a strange one I can tell you – quite skinny with whiskers and pointy ears, and an impressive ability to jump onto kitchen units. I’m not one to judge, but this guy seems a bit up himself. Walked past me like he owns the p

Diary of a Lhasa Apso puppy Saturday 25th Feb Beth and my brother, Tom, came to stay again last night. I love them sooooo much I get really excited when I see them. So much so I can barely control myself, and in the case of my bladder, I was unable to exert any control whatsoever, leaving a small circle of puppy pee on Tom’s teeshirt. He didn’t seem to mind and Mum was quickly on hand with a wet wipe. Later today I met some new people. Simon, who often works with Dad, cam

Diary of a Lhasa Apso puppy Sunday 12th Feb 2017 My human brother, Tom stayed over again last night with Beth. Beth has been training me to eat treats, and I’m doing really well. She keeps saying the word ‘sit.’ I haven’t worked out the relevance of this yet, but I’m getting to eat loads of treats, so happy days! The relationship between me and my cat brother, Toby, is starting to thaw a little. I’ve not been beaten up for several days and we’ve even sat on the same sofa

Diary of our Lhasa Apso puppy, Robin Saturday 18th Feb Mum took me to see Nanny and Granddad today, which was a surprise because after disgracing myself on their carpet last time I didn’t expect to be invited back so soon. They live in a semi-detached bungalow on the edge of Norwich with a nice garden and a conservatory with floor to ceiling glazed windows. Their neighbours have two dogs; one much like me and another called Doug the Pug. I was playing in the garden when I