Janus turned 1

Hello, it's Janus here. Well Mum is typing - I'm a dog after all and have paws! I turned 1 year old on 31 July and thought I come out here and say 'Hi'. See the picture below? That was me on the day I meet my skin Mum. Old Peter (my breeder as Mum calls him) drove with me to Eumundi. Driving! How terrible!!! It was the first time I was away from my siblings and my fur Mum and i was in this little box in a car which made weird noises and also made me a bit sick. We finally arrived in Eumundi and Peter held me on his arm. I was a bit scared of all the people and noises and there was no other dogs. Weird! Then this woman turned up and Peter handed me over. She smelt nice and was so careful with me. She held me tight so nothing bad could happen to me and I licked her face to say thank you. I think she liked that as she didn't let go off me and her eyes were all teary. Anyway, Peter said I shall go with her now and if I'm a good boy, I will be very happy with my new skin Mum. 

She wanted to let me go to the toilet before we left and Peter put me on the ground. My new Mum was terrified that I would ran away! Well, why would I do that?! The world out there seems to be too scary, I rather stay with them. Mum put me in a small crate and we drove off. I could see her the entire trip and she looked back at me all the time. And she talked to me. She told me about my new life and how happy she was to meet me. It calmed me down and I slept nearly the entire trip. We had a little toilet stop in the park and then went to my new home.

The first few days were pretty turbulent. I had to sleep in a crate all on my own - just with a little teddy. I didn't like it at all! Mum said, this is my little heaven and I should feel secure in there. Well, why wasn't she in there with me?! Anyway, I kept all quiet in there until she let me out again. I had a great big yard to run around but Mum didn't let me walk around by myself. There was lots of people there too. Apparently we were moving in and everything looked different everyday. There was lots of interesting smells outside and I love carrying my tiger around and show him the world.

mum said I was such a good boy! I liked sitting in this spot. I can watch all of our front yard, and the road where people go on their walks, children go to school and cars are travelling past. I still sit here for hours and just watch the world go by. In the afternoon, i watch the cows come up and in the early mornings I see the Kangaroos. It's a very pretty spot - right in front of the front door, so Mum can always see me. She also comes out here every afternoon with her glass of wine and watches the cows. She likes seeing them graze and it relaxes her. On the weekends she sits there in the mornings and watches the sunrise.  Every night before bed she comes out and looks at the stars with me and tells me about her day. I love spending those quiet moments with her.

Mum said I'm pretty smart as I come and sit and retrieve by the age of only 3 months. Then again I'm a Collie... Of course we're smart! have you never watched Lassie?! I started to go to dog obedience in November last year. At the beginning I hated it!!! All the other dogs wanting to play - I just wanted to cuddle with my Mum. She slowly introduced me to other dogs, traffic, water, other people, children, rabbits and then she bought chooks home!!! I thought she did that for my entertainment, so I have something to chase but she said it was to collect their eggs. Yeah right! But one day she left an egg in the gardenbed and I carefully took it and ran away with it. It was great fun but I must have been too rough and suddenly it exploded in my mouth! I had egg yolk running down my throat and it tasted AMAZEBALLS! So, now I don't chase the chooks anymore so they're not scared and lay plenty of eggs. Mum gives me 1-2 a week, sometimes with some fresh meat or some sardines. So yummy!

Well, I've been a good boy in doggy class and graduated with extinction! I now do Rally O and agility. All is a bit scary for me but as long as I have my Mum there, I'm right and I even started to protect her! The other day I wanted to chase some wild pigs away from her and she carried me home. All 23 kg of me!!! See, the thing is when my Mum is scared, I suddenly turn into this Lion and want to protect her. I guess that's why she calls me her 'little lionman'. I love my mum very much and want to make her happy. So when she asks me to do something, she gets sooo excited when I do this for her and I get hugs and kisses and she laughs and is happy. A few weeks ago I ran through a tunnel for the first time and she was sooo happy to see me when I came out the other end, I didn't want to stop running through it. of course it was scary in there - dark and funny noises and it smelt of other dogs. But i knew Mum was waiting for me, so I ran through it as quickly as I could - even faster than the Kelpie in my class! Ha! Whoever said Collies were slow?!

So anyway, it was my birthday and Mum said she's going to make pupcakes for me. She even baked them! I would have eaten them like that but I think Mum worried that I would only eat the peanut butter and the pumpkin and not the carrots, so she baked them and put slices of carrots and blueberries on there which looked like paws. they were supposed to have peanut butter icing but Mum said that wouldn't be good for my weight. Obviously she doesn't know that you can eat whatever you want on your birthday and you don't get fat!

Good effort - they look great!!! I can't believe she made them just for me - how special is that?!

Happy 1st birthday to me!!! The pupcakes were so nice, Mum allowed me to have 3! The other ones I shared with my mates at agility. They loved them too and said their Mum never made pupcakes for them but they would get chicken nuggets instead. Well, we have been to McDonald's after agility and Mum would have a burger and I get chicken nuggets. but she said it's our secret, so i didn't tell my mates.

Delish! I didn't eat that carrot - Mum said her inspiration was a cupcake with an Oreo biscuit on it. I don't know what an Oreo biscuit is but it sounds a lot yummier than a carrot!!! However, I did like the blueberries...

It was my special day and Mum played heaps with me! this ball is one of my favourite toys. mum said it belonged to Hera, my sister. I love listening to the rubber ball hitting the concrete.

Mum likes throwing the ball and she gets all excited when I bring it back to her. Well she is way too slow, so I have to go and pick it up but that's alright, I don't mind at all. I make her happy doing that. Gives me a bit of exercise too - after those 3 pupcakes...

My birthday was full of surprises! I got a new collar and a really pretty new lead, the yummy pupcakes and then a dinosaur bone! Look at how HUGE it is!!! I didn't even know where to start. Luckily Mum put it in the shade for me - I don't think I could have carried that thing across the whole yard!

The day before my birthday, Mum washed me. I didn't like it but she reckons I look stunning. I'm still fluffy (hence my other nickname 'Fluffball') but see that's my puppy coat. I'm 1 year old now and I will be loosing my puppy coat and turn into a beautiful Collie. I reckon I'm the best looking dog in the whole neighbourhood if I may say so myself. the 3 ladies walking past our place every afternoon adore me and the people in the dog club love me too - especially that girl with the 2 Collie ladies. Ha! I bet they've never seen a better looking boy than me!

Anyway, I gotta get back to it, just wanted to let you know how my birthday went. mum said I'm the best pup ever! I never met my brother Quentin and my sister Hera - they died before Mum got me but she said I'm much better behaved than those two. Also she loves them dearly and i know how much she misses them. Til this day, I have not destroyed anything - no toys, no shoes, no clothes (also I do love to take Mum's socks off and run around with them). I listen and the only time Mum tells me I'm naughty is when I'm superexcited to see her and I bite her shoes and give her lots and lots of lovenips. But she says because she doesn't have fur, it hurts her. I don't want to hurt my Mum but i love her so much and then I get soo excited, I cannot stop!

I hate it when Mum goes to work. Nobody to play with me during that time. Mr S is always so busy, he doesn't have time to throw my ball. The best days are the weekends when Mum wakes up and lets me out of my crate. We both jump on the daybed for a cuddle. I normally lay on top of her as she's always cold. We watch the sunrise and then I'm off - waking up the chooks, checking on the neighbours dog and doing a patrol. I have a really good life - I'm loved, well cared for and live at a beautiful place. I'm the happiest pup on the planet and i just turned 1!!!