Dogs on bikes

June 20, 2014 Marieke Vos Leave a comment

M loves biking. It was new to me, in Greece we don’t bike so much, but in Holland everyone does. Old people, kids… everybody cycles. They even take babies with them on their bike! And, so it turned out, dogs.

When I was a puppy, I fitted in a crate. Like this:

By the way, this is M. It was winter, as you can see, and very cold. I got used to traveling like this easily, because I am a courageous dog. Ha, you don’t scare me by putting me in a crate!

Then, as I grew taller and taller, M thought of another solution. So this is how she took me, when we were on holiday:

As you can see, I was totally relaxed. This was about a year ago and I have grown since, but I still fit in this basket. If I fold my long legs, that is.

The best I saved for last. Because this is what I travel in in Holland. A real cargobike! I have lots of space in there, which sometimes I share with my friends. In this picture I am with Hester, who as a moviestar is posing for the photographer. Me myself, I am guarding the surroundings, in case another dog wants to get close to my cargobike. That, of course, I cannot allow.

Promoted Post

Pigeon

June 19, 2014 Marieke Vos Leave a comment

I notice there are a lot of blogs about food. Blogging about delicious things, what a great idea! So I will blog about all the tasty things I like, too. To start with: pigeon.

I would so love to eat a pigeon. They look big and juicy, they should taste wonderful. The sad thing is, I never actually tasted one. We have tons of pigeons in our garden, but I am not allowed to hunt them. It has something to do with me ruining the garden – which I don’t get. In my opinion, the garden gets better when there are little and not-so-little extra paths between the plants.

Anyhow, I am still dreaming of hunting pigeon. In real life, this is how far I get:

One day, I Will Succeed. And I’ll let you know all about it!

Friends

Brief note to Hester

June 18, 2014 Marieke Vos 2 Comments

As a blogger, one should be honest, I just heard. I want to be an honest dog, so here I go. I have to make up with my friend Hester and I will write to her, which is easier for me than telling her I am sorry.

Dear Hester,

I am very sorry I attacked you in your house, yesterday. You weren’t there when I arrived and I was having a very pleasant time, playing with your toys and eating your food. But then, you came home. You walked right into the living room where I was, not suspecting you. You startled me and in a reflex I jumped on you and tried to bite you. Of course, you fought back. We could have had a nice big fight, but M and your boss would not allow it and M put me in the corridor. And that was it.

I’d like to apologize to you for wanting to chase you out of your own house. I’ve done a lot of thinking about it today and my conclusions are that it was not right. So: sorry. Shake paws?

Greetings,

Bubbles

Holiday

The Dutch dog whisperer

June 18, 2014 Marieke Vos 2 Comments

I had a holiday with Nicoline. I’d like to tell you about her. She is a human and a tough cookie, and I don’t mean a doggy snack. She is no lady to tamper with. At first, I thought I could fool her. Like I did with my boss when I was little. Hey, I was a cute puppy, so I took advantage of it! But Nicoline, she saw right through me. She wanted me to behave, from the start.

I stayed with her for three weeks in this holiday, when M was away from home. I didn’t mind, because Nicoline’s place is great fun. There are other dogs, she gave me lots of food because I was so skinny and we went out playing and running and sniffing for hours and hours. We went to the forest and the beach, every day!

This is what it looked like:

The picture was made by Nicoline, www.uitlaterette.nl

Nicoline really is a dog person. She is kind of a Dutch dog whisperer – do you know Cesar Millan? Well, like that, but female and taller. She called me ‘a little princess’ and that was not meant as a compliment. Of course, I tried to ignore her as much as possible. For instance: when we were on the beach and the other dogs had to sit around her, I had something more important to do (eating little crabs).

At the end of the holiday I started listening to her, because she means well and is a nice person. I didn’t obey her too much, though. Priorities, right: crabs are more important than sitting and waiting for some stupid ball to be thrown.

I still see her, when M is too long away from home. I don’t mind listening to Nicoline (now and then), but to my horror she advised M to do a workshop with me. They did – and me too, I couldn’t escape it since it was about me. So now M has become strict with me as well. Which I think is not fair. Because I don’t only behave like a little princess, I am a little princess! Of some ancient Greek line, no doubt about it. That I grew up in a Greek shelter was a huge mistake.

Friends

My moviestar friend

June 17, 2014 Marieke Vos Leave a comment

There are a lot of dogs in my life. Not in my house, I won’t allow them in, but that is another story. M has friends with dogs and some of them became my friends, too. I will tell you all about them in this blog, because we have a lot of Adventures. In this post I’d like you to meet Hester.

This is Hester:

Hester is a special dog, because she is a moviestar! Truly: she played a part in three Dutch movies. As a… well, yes, a dog. These moviepeople don’t have any imagination…

Being a moviestar, she can be very cocky. Sometimes, if she is too perky, I have to correct her. I usually succeed, because I am much younger and stronger. I won’t tell how old she is, she will be raving mad if I do, but believe me, she is ancient.

When we don’t fight we play. My favorite play is when M throws a ball with a cord. I let Hester get it, because then I can pull it away from her. Like this:

Of course, I always win.

Home

June 17, 2014 Marieke Vos 2 Comments

I live in a house in The Hague and this is my favorite spot:

It is a big house, quite a responsibility to guard. But from this position I have a good view of the street and the grass in front of our house, all of which is mine. M says it isn’t, but it is. She doesn’t know it yet.

If I had stayed in Greece and the shelterpeople would not have found me, I would be a stray dog and probably guarding a garbage bin right now. There is nothing wrong with a garbage bin, of course, but this is much better, don’t you think?

All kinds of cookies

Hello

June 16, 2014 Marieke Vos Leave a comment

My name is Bubbles and I am a dog. I arrived in Holland about a year ago, from Athens, Greece. I lived with a foster family in Holland for a while before my current human took me to my new home. I looked very cute at the time, a bit too cute to my opinion. People wanted to pat me all the time, saying “oh you are soooo cute”. Horrible. I am happy to say I grew up to be a big strong dog, the fastest on the beach.

Here is a picture of my cute younger self:

Oh, my human called me Bubbles because “everything in life is better with Bubbles”. I guess she is part joking and part serious – I wouldn’t know about that. But I am glad she is happy having me around, because my life here is better than back in Greece. I grew up in a shelter with caring people and a lot of rough friends, but it is not a place to stay for the rest of your life. Besides, I have Ambitions. That is what this blog is about.

The Bubbles Diaries