I should know better

Recovering as the show year winds down - only a few to go and mercifully those are indoors. Our championship shows are mostly outdoors, which is fine if the weather suits, but really I feel the autumn cut off point for showing outside should be brought forward.

The last outdoor show of the year is always a bit dodgy as to weather, and this year we had a sunny cold windy day, just fine for a brisk walk with the dogs....miserable if you were stationary at the ringside. People huddled together for warmth and the more enterprising ones bought dog blankets from the stalls to shiver under. I coughed all the way through it, and have coughed ever since.

Wind usually makes the dogs a bit more lively - not what Merlin needs, as his little spring is already wound up tight and only the sudden appearance at the ringside of a willing and ready Pap lady could make him more distracted. As it was he had to cope with Tibetans in the next ring which definitely needed An Eye kept on them. As I wrestled with his nanosecond attention span, another problem arose. I use vocal cues in the ring. Alas, the little dog next to us was also called "Merlin". Two very puzzled little dogs looked back and forth in confusion. "How does that strange woman know my name?"

It was the second unsettling moment for Merlin in as many weeks.

We had gone to Belfast as foot passengers, and as we were carrying the dogs to the boat, a kind person offered to take them over in their car. So there was Merlin, being handed over at midnight to a stranger in a car park, and being put in a strange car. He was far from happy. It was clear to him that I was fulfilling the threat I make to all of them when they annoy me. At last he was really being sold in a car boot sale.

When I got him back at the other side, it was clear that his relief was tempered with confusion. He was glad to see me - but did this mean that he had not only been sold, but had been returned as unsatisfactory goods? It`s tough, being Merlin.

Truly on the other hand, is well and truly expecting - maybe 3, according to the scan - and is eating relentlessly with Scandinavian efficiency.

The puppies are full of it, and driving their mother to try to exhaust them in order to get a rest. Allegra is really good at that. Velvet is very confiding, and cute Blanche is still hoping for a good home.