Happy New Year!

Whew - it's almost the end of January so we feel as though 2013 is well under way. Since my last post Bouche the exiled Shih Tzu has returned to the fold and he and Balou have developed an entente cordiale. After their problems of last year and following their separation for almost three months they were reintroduced at my parents house, where Bouche had been staying, over the Christmas period. There were a few growly moments and one kerfuffle near food but fingers crossed we have now spent a month back in our London home with everyone getting along. As a precautionary measure they are not left alone together (Bouche goes in a crate) and we have very strict separation at feeding times but otherwise they seem to be getting along fine which is wonderful!

Christmas was spent in the countryside where the dogs enjoyed my parents huge house, gardens and paddocks as well as lots of tasty Christmas treats. Balou got a variety of different presents but his favourite is his bed. Now that he is mostly grown it was time for him to get his own bed. He has some doggy duvets but is much happier with an actual bed with sides - tricky to find in XXXXXL! Finally after much searching I did manage to find him one which measures a whopping 44 inches and which he happily fits in. Needless to say this has proved to be popular with the smaller dogs as well so there is a lot of competition for who gets to sleep there.

Balou seems much more mellow and I think the effects of his neutering are really visible. Our vet said that the testosterone levels reduce fairly quickly but it takes about three months for the levels to completely drop. Balou is back to being the mellow, friendly baby that he was before he became a bit uppity - which is great. He is still bouncy and babyish but as I've experienced with my other adolescent boys neutering has just taken away that confrontational edge.

We have been lucky to have had a few snowy days here in London which Balou has absolutely loved. He adores snow and will happily play in it for hours which is a joy to watch. The only problem is once it melts we have even more muddy puddles - perfect for mudbathing, not so much fun for cleaning!

This bed feels about the right size.