Emily_Babbelhund
Mama Red HOT Pepper
- Location
- Regensburg, Germany
Carbon says, "Gracias, auntie Mags for the excellent training idea - you are right that I look muy guapo in my vest!"
The Labraventures of Carbón, Spanish (ex-) foster dog extraordinaire
- Thread starter Emily_Babbelhund
- Start date
Emily_Babbelhund
Mama Red HOT Pepper
- Location
- Regensburg, Germany
Hola todooos! I had such a very long and hard day, I can't even tell you. Really, I can't...because I can't keep my eyes open but I will be muy valiente and try.
First that horrible wakey wakey thing squealed in my ear at 6am. Does foster lady have no sense? No one gets up at six! I am a Spanish dog. I get up late, I take a siesta and then I stay up until 1am. This is the way the world works, vale?
But no, we got up early - at least this meant I got my brekkie early too - and then we went to see my friend Helga. She has something called a 'praxis' where she is the big boss so ALL her dogs go to work with her. I love going to Helga's praxis because she has lots of stuffies for me to cuddle and I get to wander around in all the treatment rooms and investigate.
Today I also had to do some assistie-dog work - I don't know what that means but that's what foster lady calls it. I assistied by letting foster lady stroke my ears while she was getting her foot treatment. Helga was making it hurt very bad, so I stayed right by foster lady's side and assistied her like a pro. Foster lady told Helga after the treatment that her foot felt better, but I think she was just happy that Helga stopped making it hurt.
Then I very bravely got into my enemy the big glass elevator. I hate that thing. Why can't it be like the elevator where foster lady and I park our car? That one has NO glass and there's almost always pretzels on the floor. Elevator made of pretzels = good. Elevator made of glass - muy muy MALO!
We walked and walked and walked in the rain until we got to the mean bum lady. She also has a 'praxis' but it's not as nice for dogs. There was a puppy waiting there too and I tried to warn him about the bum lady, but foster lady just told me to 'wait' and gave me a cookie.
We had to wait almost two hours but when we saw the mean bum lady she was nicer than the last time. Foster lady MADE the bum lady give me a treat. Yay! But I have to wear a new boot and got two stings in my shoulder. Boo!
Then we had a little siesta at home - foster lady did this thing called 'packin'' and I guarded the sofa. Here I am getting my snooze on with my new boot:
Foster lady says the shots I got at the bum lady's praxis made me sleepy. She may be not wrong about that. ZZZzzzzzz..
Next up it was the hair salon. Foster lady's hair cutter asked her to bring me in for her next appointment...so she did! The hair cutter has a black lab too and said I was sooooo handsome. Everyone was very impressed with how I sat and relaxed right next to foster lady. Nice people came up to give me pets and COOKIES - mmmmm delicious cookies. There was another dog there too who ran around helping customers but I was very good and didn't try to play with him. He was workin' after all.
Then came the bad part. Nice hair cutter lady asked a man to dry foster lady's hair. Foster lady wanted to get home and keep packing for our big trip, but the man was very determined. I didn't like the sound of the hair dryer but I was very brave and stuck by foster lady's side. It took SO long and foster lady kept making funny faces at me like she wanted to run away. It took 1.5 hours of that wooshy wooshy hair dryer thingy. 1.5 hours! And foster lady only has hair on her head...imagine how long this man would take to dry a dog like me with hair all over his body?
That meant no more time for this packing thing. I got my dinner, foster lady rushed us to Helga's for dinner - you CAN'T be late for dinner in Germany, no no. I had a great time playing with another foster dog named Greta and Helga has the world's best stuffie collection, but now I'm so so tired.
Foster lady says we have to get up early tomorrow and do more of this packin' business. Otherwise, she says, she will have to strap me on top of the Tardis on our way to the UK. I don't really know what that means, but it doesn't sound good for yours truly OR my Bunny. I'm just going to have to pounce on her head very early in the morning so that she gets a LOT done mañana!
First that horrible wakey wakey thing squealed in my ear at 6am. Does foster lady have no sense? No one gets up at six! I am a Spanish dog. I get up late, I take a siesta and then I stay up until 1am. This is the way the world works, vale?
But no, we got up early - at least this meant I got my brekkie early too - and then we went to see my friend Helga. She has something called a 'praxis' where she is the big boss so ALL her dogs go to work with her. I love going to Helga's praxis because she has lots of stuffies for me to cuddle and I get to wander around in all the treatment rooms and investigate.
Today I also had to do some assistie-dog work - I don't know what that means but that's what foster lady calls it. I assistied by letting foster lady stroke my ears while she was getting her foot treatment. Helga was making it hurt very bad, so I stayed right by foster lady's side and assistied her like a pro. Foster lady told Helga after the treatment that her foot felt better, but I think she was just happy that Helga stopped making it hurt.
Then I very bravely got into my enemy the big glass elevator. I hate that thing. Why can't it be like the elevator where foster lady and I park our car? That one has NO glass and there's almost always pretzels on the floor. Elevator made of pretzels = good. Elevator made of glass - muy muy MALO!
We walked and walked and walked in the rain until we got to the mean bum lady. She also has a 'praxis' but it's not as nice for dogs. There was a puppy waiting there too and I tried to warn him about the bum lady, but foster lady just told me to 'wait' and gave me a cookie.
We had to wait almost two hours but when we saw the mean bum lady she was nicer than the last time. Foster lady MADE the bum lady give me a treat. Yay! But I have to wear a new boot and got two stings in my shoulder. Boo!
Then we had a little siesta at home - foster lady did this thing called 'packin'' and I guarded the sofa. Here I am getting my snooze on with my new boot:
Foster lady says the shots I got at the bum lady's praxis made me sleepy. She may be not wrong about that. ZZZzzzzzz..
Next up it was the hair salon. Foster lady's hair cutter asked her to bring me in for her next appointment...so she did! The hair cutter has a black lab too and said I was sooooo handsome. Everyone was very impressed with how I sat and relaxed right next to foster lady. Nice people came up to give me pets and COOKIES - mmmmm delicious cookies. There was another dog there too who ran around helping customers but I was very good and didn't try to play with him. He was workin' after all.
Then came the bad part. Nice hair cutter lady asked a man to dry foster lady's hair. Foster lady wanted to get home and keep packing for our big trip, but the man was very determined. I didn't like the sound of the hair dryer but I was very brave and stuck by foster lady's side. It took SO long and foster lady kept making funny faces at me like she wanted to run away. It took 1.5 hours of that wooshy wooshy hair dryer thingy. 1.5 hours! And foster lady only has hair on her head...imagine how long this man would take to dry a dog like me with hair all over his body?
That meant no more time for this packing thing. I got my dinner, foster lady rushed us to Helga's for dinner - you CAN'T be late for dinner in Germany, no no. I had a great time playing with another foster dog named Greta and Helga has the world's best stuffie collection, but now I'm so so tired.
Foster lady says we have to get up early tomorrow and do more of this packin' business. Otherwise, she says, she will have to strap me on top of the Tardis on our way to the UK. I don't really know what that means, but it doesn't sound good for yours truly OR my Bunny. I'm just going to have to pounce on her head very early in the morning so that she gets a LOT done mañana!
Emily_Babbelhund
Mama Red HOT Pepper
- Location
- Regensburg, Germany
Ooo, ooo... one more thing! Una cosa mas! Since I was so brave and SUCH a good boy about getting my new boot, I got to go the dog bakery and pick out a new toy. I'd been admiring a squeaky bee all summer and foster lady said today was the day to bring Bee home. But then the nice lady in the store showed me a big crinkly squeaky MONKEY and it was love at first sight.
Foster lady nearly cried because I think she was really attached to that bee - she said something about me being 'fickle' - but true love cannot be denied and now monkey is my best buddy. Vale, best buddy after Bunny and Hippo. But definitely before Duck and Squeaky Snake.
Foster lady nearly cried because I think she was really attached to that bee - she said something about me being 'fickle' - but true love cannot be denied and now monkey is my best buddy. Vale, best buddy after Bunny and Hippo. But definitely before Duck and Squeaky Snake.
Lisa
Moderator
- Location
- Alberta, Canada
Oh Carbon, you are one of a kind! What a brave doggy you were today, with pokes and hair dryers and a new boot!
- Location
- Wellington, NZ
Oh Carbon, you had such a busy day! Hairdressers! Bum ladies! Helgas! Monkeys!
So Emily, are you leaving Germany permanently and relocating to Italy? Or this just a temporary change?
So Emily, are you leaving Germany permanently and relocating to Italy? Or this just a temporary change?
Emily_Babbelhund
Mama Red HOT Pepper
- Location
- Regensburg, Germany
Just temporary. I always have sort of floating time between early September and late November where I don't have a fixed lodging reservation. I'm getting a later start this year but coming back to Regensburg a bit later too. It's usually Italy in the autumn but last year it was the Labratour in the UK. As I'm currently unemployed and Carbon is such a keen traveler, this year I have the very loose plan to head to the UK via Italy, France and hopefully Ireland, too.
I also have a job interview (Friday evening
- thanks Americans for not understanding time zones) so that may turn it all topsy turvy if I get the job. It's one of the reasons I'm so late getting out of Germany and didn't do my usual advance plans as the company has been stringing me along for several weeks now: there's a big difference in planning travels when you're working 8 hours a day during the week vs. being footloose and fancy free. However, finally getting the interview of course doesn't mean I've got the job. If I do get it - and that's a big IF - then I'll just have to readjust my travel plans on the fly. The good thing is that with a car and this time of year, it's not all that hard to find dog-friendly vacation rentals for a few days to a week at a time. I normally like to have a good stay of a month each place, but as long as I'm not working, it's an interesting challenge logistically to make shorter stops along the way. Most stops will have visiting friends as the main goal...that's the best bit!
- Location
- Wellington, NZ
First of all, GOOD LUCK FOR FRIDAY! I'll have to remember to send positive vibes to you when I go to bed tomorrow night.
And, as always, I can't wait to read about and see photos of your travels - especially Italy this time! I hope everything falls into place for you
And, as always, I can't wait to read about and see photos of your travels - especially Italy this time! I hope everything falls into place for you
Emily_Babbelhund
Mama Red HOT Pepper
- Location
- Regensburg, Germany
Thank you! Positive vibes very appreciated!
Emily_Babbelhund
Mama Red HOT Pepper
- Location
- Regensburg, Germany
Never, never again. I made my next appointment for December but made sure my usual hairdresser will do the drying bit so it takes a normal 15 minutes. The guy yesterday was a trainee. He was determined to make my hair straight. My hair does NOT do straight since chemo. I kept telling him just to go with the curl and be done with it. I would have been fine with walking out with semi-wet hair, no biggie. He was so sincere, but it was painful and he was sweating from the effort. No one should SWEAT over hair.
The irony is that I'm so not the elegant type that the effort was wasted on me. Plus with my chemo curls, it was all predictably frizzy again within a couple hours. I hope that poor guy doesn't see me on the street today with my frizzy hair...he's likely to break down and cry!
- Location
- Herefordshire, UK
Best of luck for Friday Emily x
- Location
- Isle of Man
You were a fab subject for a trainee hairdresser - if he can stand there for 1.5 hours persevering with your stubbonly curly hair, he can do anything. Well done that man.
Emily_Babbelhund
Mama Red HOT Pepper
- Location
- Regensburg, Germany
Too true!
Brave Emily putting up with hairdresser torture... and good boy Carbon!!!
Emily_Babbelhund
Mama Red HOT Pepper
- Location
- Regensburg, Germany
It's actually still pretty straight today, all things considered.
Superfluous hair shot with Carbon photobombing
Superfluous hair shot with Carbon photobombing
Boogie
Moderator
- Location
- Manchester UK
Straight hair - a one off!
- Location
- Malvern Worcestershire
I so envy your beautiful hair, in the nicest possible was of course! I have short, fine, thin hair which I cannot do a thing with!
Lisa
Moderator
- Location
- Alberta, Canada
So what’s with Carbon’s foot? Did you explain somewhere else? I’ve missed that if so.
Emily_Babbelhund
Mama Red HOT Pepper
- Location
- Regensburg, Germany
Thank you for the nice compliment, but really, no envy merited. That's what the guy with the hair dryer said BEFORE he started working on me. Afterwards he said, "You're right, somebody's hair CAN be too thick."
I think Carbon may have told his sad tale himself on the 'dogs only' thread. I can't keep track anymore (and I think I may be developing multiple personalities by channeling Carbon so much).
He cut his pad in the Danube while playing in the shallows. It's not terrible but it put a stop to his swims for a while, which is a bummer for him. He's being very good with the bandage, though...not even slightly interested in nibbling on it.
Emily_Babbelhund
Mama Red HOT Pepper
- Location
- Regensburg, Germany
Hola todos! I am not my usual bouncy self this evening so it will be a short one. My foot wasn't too bad a couple days ago when I saw the mean bum lady but now I have lost some of my zing. It was Irish pub night and all I did was sleep on the floor. Foster lady says I must be sick if I didn't even try to steal Fine's bed or greet all the people coming into my corner of the bar.
We're going to the nice new bum lady who loves us leeshymanoosis dogs really really early tomorrow. Foster lady says she will make sure my foot is all bueno and help bring my bounce back.
So now I'm going to sleep with my best friend Bunny and staying a little closer to foster lady. I may not want to cuddle, but I like to keep a good eye on her when I'm not feeling my best. You never know when I may need her to provide some emergency rations to pick me up!
We're going to the nice new bum lady who loves us leeshymanoosis dogs really really early tomorrow. Foster lady says she will make sure my foot is all bueno and help bring my bounce back.
So now I'm going to sleep with my best friend Bunny and staying a little closer to foster lady. I may not want to cuddle, but I like to keep a good eye on her when I'm not feeling my best. You never know when I may need her to provide some emergency rations to pick me up!