The BEST day EVER!!

JD - Hello everypup! We've had just the BEST day!

Max - We're absolutely exhausted now, but we just HAD to show you some snaps of us at Ronnii's barkday pawty!

JD - We could feel Angel Richie and Molly watching over us, there was so much love in the house!

Max - We were really lucky that the roads were so clear as it only took us about 2 hours to get there which was fortunate as today has been SOOOOO hot in the UK!

JD - We've never been on such a long car journey before and it was very exciting - there was so much to see that we refused to sleep!

Max - And then we were there - at Mama Tea's house!

JD - After FH and Mama Tea had hugged and hugged for what seemed like furever (he he he!) we finally got to meet the most gorgeous Miss Ronnii.....

Beautiful Miss Ronnii, proudly hugging her popster! She wanted us to know that he's HER popster and she would have no popster-hogging in her house - tee-hee! We think the popster is amazing - he's the ONLY person we've ever met who knew the origin of JD's name - how COOL is that?!

Max - She was most gracious about having a couple of nosey boys in her house!

JD - She followed us around to make sure we knew where everything was - she showed us her garden but it was a bit too hot out there so we all came back inside.

Max - FH was delighted because when she crouched down to get something out of her bag little Miss Ronnii snuggled up against her legs!

Miss Ronnii is the master of the snuggle! FH thinks she is adorable - well, she IS!

JD - We were so hot and I was starting to pant a bit so Mama Tea whipped out some super-delicious frozen yoghurt and peanut butter noms for us - OMD it was so GOOD!

JD nommed his frozen treat on the couch - he absolutely LOVED it!

Max slurped his frozen treat on the floor - he dragged it out of the bowl and licked it all across the floor but Mama Tea and the popster were very kind and didn't mind!!

Miss Ronnii tried to bury her treat on the couch - FH thinks she's really smart as FH likes to hide her favourite treats too, he he he!

Max finished his treat first and kindly offered to help JD eat his - it's what brothers are for!

Max - The treats were absolute HEAVEN! We've never had anything like that before so we've told FH in no uncertain terms that this is the type of treat we'll be expecting from now on!

JD - Then it was time for a little posing for photos! We LOVE this photo as we're all in it with the two mamas! Just LOOK how much I'm smiling as I've got the PRIME spot on the sofa and I'm enjoying ear scritches from BOTH the mamas! Am I a smart pup or what?!

Say 'cheese'! JD looks VERY pleased with himself!

Max - As I was in the mood for posing I did a little photo shoot of my own and 'worked it' for the camera....

Am I a handsome pup or what?! He he he!

JD - I was very tired - I'd woken up at 5.00 am because I was SO excited about the visit today and I hadn't slept since I'd got up so I remained curled up looking cute on the sofa....

Cute puppy alert!

JD - ....and my cute 'act' sure worked on the popster, who couldn't resist coming over and giving me a bit of a fussing....

JD had the popster wrapped round his little paw, he he he!

JD - ....and even Miss Ronnii wanted in! She hopped up on the couch and gave me a little snuggle!

Max - I was snoopervising the whole time and I'd just like to reassure Mr Pip that this next photo was just a photo opportunity for the blog!

A bit of a snuggle between Ronnii and JD - just for the cameras though, Mr Pip has nothing to worry about!!

Max - It was too much for me - I wanted in on the photo TOO!!

Max hams it up for the camera! They both loved all their fussing from the popster!

JD - And then - it was time for CAKE!

Max - And OH!! WHAT a cake!!

Miss Ronnii's most pawsome barkday cake!

JD - We had never seen anything like it before - and when we were offered a slice it didn't take us long to tuck right in....

"Nom, nom, nom......!"

Max - All too soon we had to leave. The whole visit was wonderful and we had SO much fun!

JD - We simply collapsed into the car and snored the whole way home! What a fabulous day!

Max - We can't thank Moma Tea and the popster and sweet Ronnii enough! They made us all feel so welcome....

JD - ...and FH says thank you VERY much for the yummy human noms. She sure polished off that chili sweetcorn and chocolate eclair very quick, he he he!

Max - We can't wait to visit again, it was great!

JD - Before we leave just a reminder to leave a comment on our 'commentathon' post below if you haven't already - thank you!

A story of friendship and love and the power of the paw

There was a full moon on the night of Monday the 18th April but at first we didn't notice it because we were both feeling very sad. Our good friend Richie had gone to be with his sister Angel Molly at the Rainbow Bridge and we were both missing him like MAD.

Cute Richie and his teddy - we miss you little guy!

FH had been trying to cheer us up and had just given us a special treat of a really nommy biccie but our hearts just weren't in it.

"We're sorry FH but we're just not hungry." we told her.

"What are you on about?" she said. "You've just eaten your biscuit!"

"No we have NOT!" we exclaimed indignantly.

"But it's not there any more." she pointed out. And you know what - she was right. We were perplexed. Perhaps FH had dropped it? We knew that WE hadn't nommed it - so we set about looking for it.

Suddenly, we heard a happy crunching sound complete with muffled giggling coming from the garden so we rushed outside to investigate and there, in the silvery light of the moon, we saw Richie and Molly munching our biccie with obvious relish!

We love the moonlight as we know it is magical!

"JD! Max!" woofed Richie wagging his tail excitedly. "Boy, are we glad to see you guys!"

"Tasty nommy!" interjected Molly, who looked absolutely beautiful in the pale moonlight, "I've always been partial to a really crunchy nom!"

"But, but, but.....!" we spluttered.

"Hey, I know, I know, it's a bit of a surprise!" said Richie, skipping around joyfully (his legs really were strong and springy!) "But we just HAD to visit you guys to tell you that I'm okay. You see, I did try so hard to hold out for the barkday pawty on the weekend but you know, when the call comes from the Bridge it's just too sweet for any pup to ignore."

"He's right." said Angel Molly. "I've been waiting for some time now for Richie to join me here and today was his time. Oh JD and Max! It's so wonderful here! There's no pain or sickness and LOTS of our pals are here. We run and we play and we never get tired and we all watch over those we love - we're never far from your sides."

Our tails were now wagging furiously.

"But we miss you so much here!" we exclaimed. "Did you really have to leave us?"

Richie and Molly looked at each other when we said this. "Oh boys!" Molly said softly, "You're both so young and we know you find it difficult to understand, but it's the circle of life."

"That's right!" said Richie. "We were lucky enough to share our lives with the most amazing momster and popster when we were down here and they looked after us and showed us what it is to live and to love. But sometimes a pup just has to leave - it's just the way it is."

When the Rainbow Bridge calls its beautiful siren song is impossible to ignore

Our tails had stopped wagging so Angel Molly said, "Please don't be sad boys! Just look at us! Look how healthy and happy we are! We'll always be watching over you. And - um - if you don't mind leaving out one of those delectable biccies from time to time too we'd really appreciate it!"

By now the patch of moonlight on the grass was starting to wane. "That's our ride!" said Richie, "We have to be leaving you now boys, but before we go we have a special message for you."

"That's right!" said beautiful Molly. "We wanted to tell you how amazing Crossed Paws have been. You have done so much for our wonderful momster - she had been so stressed about the vet bills and how she was going to afford them - I could feel her worrying all the way at the Bridge and it was awful just knowing she was so upset!"

"But then Crossed Paws stepped in to paid the vet bills." continued Richie, "which meant that my last few weeks were pain-free because I was able to be treated. And it meant that our Momster didn't have to stress any more about us because our wonderful vet could be paid. After all, what would any of us be without our vets?!"

They were now skipping up the stream of moonlight as they made their way back to the Rainbow Bridge.

"Please continue the good work at Crossed Paws!" they both shouted to us! "It made all the difference to us and we know you can make a huge difference to lots of other pups and kits!"

And with that they were gone!

Well! We looked at each other in disbelief. "That DID just happen, didn't it?" we asked. But the evidence was there in front of us - the biccie crumbs!

As we made our way into the house we started discussing what we could do next for the Crossed Paws organisation.

"Hi boys!" said FH suddenly appearing in front of us. "Hey, do you want to put this photo on your blog?" We looked at what she was waving in front of our faces - a photo of two extremely British cushions and a very British doggie toy!

A couple of cushions - for you or your humans - plus a doggie toy (stuffie union jack heart with rope) could by YOURS!

"Eh?" we asked.

"Well, it's the Royal Wedding next week!" she exclaimed. "I thought you could run a competition on your blog with these as the prize!"

"Ooooh!" we said excitedly! "What's the competition?"

"Well," said FH, "it's simple really. All anyone has to do is leave a comment on this post and if they do they'll be entered into a prize draw for these items. And for every comment left I'll donate £1 to the Crossed Paws fund - up to a total of £200! What do you say?"

We looked at each other and our tails started wagging furiously. We knew that Richie and Molly would approve! "We like, we like!" we said!

So everyone - that is what we are doing! Please help us to raise £200.00 for the Crossed Paws organisation. All you have to do is leave a comment on this post and you COULD even end up with a prize by doing so! We'd love it if you could also spread the word - we're not sure if we can get 200 comments on one of our posts but we're gonna give it a go - we have until 29th April to achieve this as we'll draw the winner on the actual day of the Royal Wedding. So please help us help carry on some good works at Crossed Paws by dropping us a comment - easy-peasy!

Back home!

JD - Hi everyone! We're all back from our holidays now!

Max - We had a GREAT time at the kennels! Unfortunately, the humans didn't have such a great time in Egypt.....

JD - It started off well apparently, but then they both got violently ill and spent the last 4 days in the bathroom - bleugh!

Max - FH said to us that next time THEY'RE gonna go to the kennels and we can go off travelling instead, he he he!

We're fine - shame we can't say the same for the humans!

JD - They're only just back on their feet, it really did knock them sideways and apparently the journey home was - erm - challenging to say the least!

Max - FH says she has LOTS of people and pups to contact as we had lots of amazing goodies arrive whilst we were all away. She apologies for being so behind and she'll be in touch with all you wonderful folks very, very soon - it's just that she's found it difficult to even get out of bed so just hasn't been able to manage it before now!

JD - But we'd just like to say that WE'RE fine and we had a BLAST at the kennels! And we're terribly excited as we're now counting down to next Saturday when we get to meet Richie and Ronnii IN THE FUR!!!

Out of office

JD - We're off to the kennels in about an hour - woo hoo!

Max - The humans are off to Egypt again and we've told them that Egypt is a bit too hot for us so we asked if we could holiday at our favourite kennels instead!

JD - FH finds it very hard when we go into the kennels as she misses us so much. She stands there trying to act all brave, but we're SO excited about being there....

Max - ....as we get three walks a day, hand delivered treats every night at lights out and morning and afternoon play dates with the pretty kennel girls.....

JD - .....that we simply dash in without a backward glance the second we get there. Um, sorry FH, it's just such a fun place to be!

Max - Yeah - and wouldn't it be worse if we didn't want to go in?!

"See you soon!"

JD - We'll see you all when we're back from our holidays!

Max - Take care everyone - we'll woof soon....!!

Beach Bouncers!

JD - It got a bit wet here over the weekend so FH insisted on us wearing our raincoats - sigh...!

Max - But she does say we look like security pups when we wear them which I like, he he he!

JD - Halt! Who goes there? You want entry to this beach?
Max - So what's the password? We don't let anyone though without a password!!

JD - Hey, in case you didn't realise we were lucky enough to have the winning bid at Richie and Ronnii's auction for Khyra's pawsome Khanine Rescue Transport!

Max - We were SO excited! Click here to check out the amazing post her mom did about it and to see the wonderful pups that were rescued and are now on their way to a brighter and happier future!

JD - Thanks Khyra and your mom - the World is a better place because you are both in it!

Security breach!

Can you see why we're super excited? Biggify the picture to find out...

Happy Birthday FH!

JD - Today is FH's birthday - she is 294 years old - good grief!

Max - We suppose she looks okay on it but we're just glad that WE'RE only in our early twenties, he he he!

JD - Anyway, because it's FH's birthday we especially wanted to thank her for all the great snuggles she gives us....


Max - ....and thank her for all fabulous walks she takes us on every single day.....


JD - ....and thank her for all the love that she shares with us! She says that her life is wonderful with us around but we just wanted to tell her that we love her too!

Max - Yeah - she's our favourite FH in our household!

JD - MAX!!!

Max - Oh alright then - she's our favourite FH in the whole world, he he he!!

UPDATED!! - Let's ROCK with PAWSBANG at the Kissing Booth Closure Pawty!!

JD - Hi everyone! The kissing booths are now officially closed with 371 smackers being purchased - wowwww!!

Max - Everyone was smooched several times but we'd like to announce that KING of the Kissing Booth was Levi Mac notching up 42 smackers - way to go dude!!

JD - As we paw this Pawsbang are playing a live gig for us to celebrate the kissing booth sucess - please join in the fun with everyone below. Um - Morgan? Would you care to dance.....?!

Max - For more pawty fun pop over to Pepsi's blog and carry on the celebrations there!!

UPDATE!! - Hi everyone! A quick update!! As PAWSBANG are obviously SO popular they now have their very OWN SITE so dedicated fans can follow them!! Click here for more exclusive pictures of the pawsome Kissing Booth Gig - and to meet the band!!!

Let the PAWTY begin!!

JD - Hi everyone! We're kicking off a weekend of celebrations for Blogville's Crossed Paws Organisation to officially mark the end of a very successful fundraising event for Richie and Ronnii!

We're proud, proud, PROUD members of Frankie's cabinet! Our aim is to help out - one paw at a time!

Max - It's been a JOY to be a part of the fundraising, which has consisted of a prize door banquet raffle which raised $400.00....

JD - .....an amazing auction which raised $1,715.75 - please check to see if you're lucky enough to be a winning bidder as PayPal buttons have now been set up against each of the 76 items donated....

Max - ....and the kissing booths which will close tomorrow at midday GMT and which have so far raised a whopping $361.00!!

JD - Please note that the bake sale is an on-going fundraising project for pups and kitties in need so we are not including the totals in this event.

Max - Thank you to everyone who has donated recipes - we haven't had a chance to concentrate on this much because of the auction and the kissing booths but we plan on working in pawtnership with Oskar from PBU to run this site as well as a pet recipe cook book to raise money for pets in need so watch this space!! So if your recipe hasn't appeared on the site yet please bear with us - they will soon!

PBU - a pawsome site for pet bloggers!

JD - So, the grand total raised so far, including donations from some wonderful people out there (who wished to remain anonymous but you know who you are!) is....

Max - ....and this is truly stupendous!!!!....

JD - ......$2,501.75 - wow, wow, WOW!!

Max - So here's the 'finance bit'!! To ensure everyone is aware of what happens to all funds raised by Crossed Paws here is what will be happening with the money that you have so kindly pledged....

JD - Firstly, as we are using PayPal to collect all the funds we do need to remind everyone that 10% of everything donated is kept by PayPal - sigh! But as Frankie wisely said 'to make money sometimes you have to spend money' and PayPal is the most reliable way for us at Crossed Paws to collect funds.

Max - That does mean that our useable total raised is $2,251.58 - but we still say WOW!!!

JD - Now, the outstanding vet bills for Richie is $1,320.00 which means we can pay this off - YAY!!

Richie is ready to pawty, pawty, PAWTY!!

Max - This still leaves a whopping $931.58 raised for Richie and Ronnii! As you all know these two cute furballs have known health issues so we wanted to raise extra monies to hand (or should that be 'paw'?!) over to their vet to ensure mama Tea doesn't have to worry about the future.

Ronnii is catching up on some zzzzZZZs ready for the pawtying ahead!

JD - However, mama Tea is so kind and generous and knows that there are other pets in need out there. So she would like to pledge $425.00 of the monies raised to Miss Judy which she so desperately needs at the moment to help with her kitties - and hey, we're not speciest, he he he!

Max - Which would STILL leave mama Tea's vet with AT LEAST $506.58 in reserve. (We say 'at least' because of potential donations that could still come in!) This means we've helped mama Tea, her furbabies AND many kitties - wonderful! We sure do hope you're happy with how these funds are being used.

JD - So - onto the celebrations! Yeah!!

Max - We now officially declare the auction closed! So we ask those of you who have winning bids to use the PayPal buttons that have been set up against your item to pay - this makes it easier for us to keep track of your details to enable your item to reach you quicker!

JD - As a HUGE thank-you to everyone who has taken part in this event - which will be those who bought tickets for the raffle, those who donated items to the auction, those who had winning bids at the auction, those who were in the kissing booths and those who purchased smoochies from the kissing booths - we will be running a prize draw.

Max - The name of one lucky pup or kit will be drawn - by our very own Richie and Ronnii! - and will win a tag of their choice from Sugar's Paw House, which has been donated by the beautiful and huge-hearted Sugar!

One lucky pup or kit could soon be the lucky owner of one of these pawsome tags! (Click on the piccie above to find out more about the very talented Sugar's Paw House)

JD - We will be sending a list of names through to Richie and Ronnii and they will make the draw next weekend!

Max - Tomorrow we will be closing the kissing booths and to mark this occasion the hugely talented PAWSBANG will be playing live so please DO drop by for this pawsome gig!

PAWSBANG will be playing out the official closing of the kissing booths JUST for you - make sure you don't miss them!

JD - We LOVED the kissing booths - what an amazing idea that was of Frankie's! And to think that smoochies are STILL coming in - what a hot blooded lot you all are out there, tee hee!

Max - Oh gosh yes, that was a GOOD afternoon! We visited ALL the ladies for a super-smooch - well, it WAS all for a good cause, tee hee!

JD - I visited Morgan for smoochies twice - *blush!*

We crash out after a WONDERFUL afternoon at the kissing booths!

Max - And I visited Christmas and the Girls AND Minnie twice - *wistful sigh.....!*

JD - In total Blogville has notched up three hundred and sixty one smoochies - hubba hubba!! Well, it IS almost spring we suppose, he he he!

Max - Please DO swing by tomorrow for the kissing booth party - we can't wait to boogie along to PAWSBANG, he he he!

Excuse me.....

...... but I think you'll find that this is my tummy.......

Max patiently tries to train the humans in the skillful art of tummy tickling!

.....and it's available for tickling IF it's not too much trouble!!

An exciting new project - please help!

JD - Hi everyone - we're currently working on a new project and we'd like your help!

Max - A while back we mentioned to Frankie and The Slimmer Pugs that we were thinking of setting up a site dedicated to hosting auctions for pups or kitties in need and we're now ready to start doing it!

JD - We're gonna set it up in WordPress as FH found a neat little app that should allow us to host the auctions more professionally and more easily than we have been doing in Blogger (well, it will do once FH figures out how to use WordPress and the app - he he he!)

We need to give FH a chance to get used to WordPress - humans aren't the brightest species after all, he he he!

Max - But before we set everything up we'd like everyone to help us choose a name for the site - we can't set it up without a good and appropriate name!

JD - We also want to use this site for raffles, for uplifting stories (such as Shelby!) and possibly even to request help for transport runs and to help find lost dogs/kitties and foster homes - we need to see how it all comes together.

Max - So please consider these things when thinking about a name for this site. Our FH is not very imaginative and could only think of 'Power of Paw Auctions' or POPA for short, so this is where you come in!

We'd love this project to become a 'coast to coast' thing with pups and kits from all around the world coming together to help those who need it! So here's us on one coast waiting for other coasts to gear up for it!

JD - What we need all you good pups and kits of Blogville to do is to suggest a name for the site in the comments section of this post by 21st January and we will then put your suggestions up for everyone to vote on over the weekend of 22/23rd January - the popular vote gets it!

Max - We plan to have the site up and running by end February (this will give FH a few weeks to work on it) and our current plan is to host a fun 'launch' for it over the last weekend in February with a competition, a raffle and a few guest bloggers providing us with some inspirational stories.

JD - We aim for our first auction to be an Easter one - who the auctions will be for will be deccided upon by all you pups and kits of Blogville - this really will be a community effort!

We're very excited about this - we hope you are too!

Max - So get your thinking caps on everyone and start leaving those name suggestions now!

Our tribute to cinnamon swirls!

JD - This is a VERY important post in which we're going to talk about something that is very close to our hearts....

Max - ....and that thing is cinnamon swirls! We think that cinnamon swirls are the BEST thing in the ENTIRE world! They're delicious, they're delightful, they're sweet and gorgeous....

JD - ....and we ALWAYS want to have cinnamon swirls in our life! Let us show you a cinnamon swirl right now....

A delicious, nibble-able cinnamon swirl!

Max - What's that? Oh - you thought we meant one of THESE cinnamon swirls?

Another type of delicious, nibble-able cinnamon swirl!

JD - Well, we suppose it's an easy mistake to make. But to us cinnamon swirls can only mean ONE thing and that's our great pals George, Gracie, Lily, Toby and Mimi from The Slimmer Pugs!

Max - These five puggies are just the sweetest and so we can't help referring to them as our little cinnamon butts as their cute little tails look JUST like yummy cinnamon swirls! We love them to pieces and are over the moon every day that they're our furiends!

Five sweet treats all in one place!

JD - So let us tell you why we think they're soooo great!

Max - Firstly, they are just the kindest set of pups and peeps EVER! Shelby's auction and Blueberry's auction would not have been possible without them and they also helped us promote the raffle we ran for Shelby. So they've helped raise over $3,000 for pups in need AND we know they've also been involved in OTHER auctions too. They are so kind both with their time AND with green papers.

JD - Secondly, they've all spoiled our FH absolutely ROTTEN and anyone and anypup who makes our FH smile makes US happy! After Shelby's auction closed they sent FH a treat package which had some of these goodies in it....

A beautiful angel candle holder - FH adores it! It came with lots of sweet smelling candles - yummy!

A pawsome draft proof candle holder - also with a variety of candles!

JD - ....and when FH placed a bid in another auction not only did they send her the item that she had bid on that they had donated (which was a STUNNING piece of jewellery which FH wears every single day now!) they also sent her even MORE goodies such as....

A seasonal snowman candle snuffer - we bet Frankie would LOVE this!!

A beautiful hand-made mat - this is Max modelling it!!

A pawsome candle trio-set that even matches our kitchen colour scheme (note the mat in the background with FH's model of a dalek on it!!)

Max - Thirdly, they have worked in cahoots with us during the auctions to help us surprise some of our pals! They are great at keeping a secret and were just amazing at taking the time to pass on our messages when they packaged and posted the wonderful items they had donated to the auctions - we just can't thank them enough for this!

JD - And finally, they are simply ADORABLE!! So sweet, so cute - oooh, we just to crawl into the screen and snuggle and snuggle them all!!

Max - If you don't know The Slimmer Pugs then please do swing by to say hi as they are one of the shining lights of blog World and we feel happy every single day that they are our furiends!

JD - We sure do - Slimmer Pugs - we LOVE you!!

Slimmer Pugs - 'mwah, mwah' to you ALL!

FH - Yes, we DO!!

Bend it like - er - Max!

JD - Er, Max?

Max - Whassup bro'?

JD - Um, well - are you comfortable? You don't have a crick in your neck or something do you?

Max - I'm VERY comfy thanks JD! Why do you ask?


JD - Oh - er - no reason Max, no reason......!

Happy New Year!!

JD - We've been meaning to do this post for a few days now...

Max - ....but FH went and got something called 'flew' and O-M-D the FUSS she's been making!

JD - We'd have thought she would like having this 'flew' thing and would enjoy being able to float around and fly here and there, but ALL she's been doing is moaning and whinging and lying in bed - she's SO lazy!

Max - So we've been having fun with MH - all boys together! He's been taking us on our daily walkies and has been giving us our food and has been really generous with our treats....

JD - ....and now we're starting to wonder what it is that we actually need FH for - he he he!

JD gives one of his new Christmas stuffies a piggy back ride!

Max - But now we know! FH is getting better and is now out of bed and now WE'RE poorly with very bad tummies! Me especially - I've been barfing for a whole day now....bleurgh!

JD - Well, I'VE been a bit icky too - bleurgh!

Max - So now we're glad we've got FH back in action as, you know, she's REALLY good at clearing up after us, much better than MH apparently - well, according to us and MH anyway!

JD - So you see FH, we really HAVE missed you and we think we did well to hold off being poorly ourselves until you were well enough to take care of us - we're good like that!

Max - Anyway, we're finally going to show you a video of us opening the Christmas pressie that we got from FH and MH - we apologise in advance for FH's constant squeaking during it!

JD - And yes, you DID notice correctly that our pressie was wrapped in newspaper! We so enjoy tearing the wrappings off a gift that FH and MH now just wrap the majority of our pressies in newspaper - they claim they're saving the planet....

Max - ....but we know they're just tight, he he he!

JD - But regardless of our stingy humans we LOVE our new giant octopus - he's fab and REAL fun and VERY noisy. FH didn't realise quite HOW noisy he was when she got him for us - ha!

We show off Olly - he is totally COOL!

Max - However, even our fabulous new giant stuffie wasn't our main Christmas pressie!

JD - We're still so excited that we can hardly begin to tell you what it was that we got for Christmas!

Max - You see, our gift was the culmination of 2 years hard graft!

JD - Yes indeedy! After 2 years of living with our humans, of training them on a daily basis, of constant tutoring and patient guidance we have finally - FINALLY - got our humans well behaved enough to allow them to sleep in the same room as us!

Max - This is something we've been wanting to do since we first arrived here on the 19th December 2008, but we knew that the humans were FAR from ready!

JD - It has been a labour of love but they finally got there - we never lost hope!

FH - I'd just like to say that I've wanted the boys to sleep in the same room as us for a while but it's taken us a long time to get the house suitable as well as getting the boys comfortable enough with it. JD likes to sleep in his bed by the side of our bed - I now often wake up to JD staring at me - he's a good boy and waits for permission to hop up on the bed for a cuddle. Max likes to sleep at the foot of the bed draped across any convenient foot, which is especially nice at this cold time of year! Before they were allowed in the bedroom I'd been getting up at 5.30 am every single day as they used to make such a racket at that time . I now realise I have a couple of dogs who are very happy to sleep in and on Christmas Day I was treated to a lie-in until 8.00 am which was absolutely wonderful! So I'm pretty over the moon about this situation too!

Max - Okay FH, enough of the 'blah blah' - this is OUR blog we think you'll find!

No real reason for this photo except that FH really likes it - and we think our tails look pretty nifty too!

JD - We hope that everyone had a happy new year! Unfortunately FH was too poorly to enjoy it and says that we're going to celebrate next weekend instead!

Max - We think that means she's going to open some bubbly and wear something other than sweats with dog-slobber on....

JD - ....which means she'll expect us to be on our best behaviour - sigh!!