A great swap

We've had a lot of rain today, and it is forecast to carry on raining untill after the weekend. I went on a dog walking mission, my friend Helen went to meet her mother, and she doesn't like Henry to be on his own for too long, so I went to her house for a couple of hours to entertain him. At ten months old he looks like a fully grown labrador, he came bounding out to greet me when I opened the door, his tail wagging excitedly.

It was a little bit drizzley so we went a walk before the rain got too heavy. He has been going to dog training classes for a while, so I was hoping for an easy walk. No, he seems to have forgotten most of what he has learnt, the first thing he did when we got out the gate was to drag me across the road.

I talk to Helen constantly and she updates me on his progress. I have been to dog classes with her so that I can learn how he should be trained, to make sure we are both following the same commands and he doesn't get confused. Boy is it hard work, but it has to be done if you want your dog to be well behaved.

We had a long walk across the fields, labradors love water so he was in and out of the dyke several times, it was great to see him enjoying himself. On the way back I constantly had to stop and start, to keep his pulling in check, treats come in handy as a reward for good behaviour.

Helen had very kindly left me some home made soup for my lunch, it was delicious. She had been having a clear out of her wardrobe and left me a pile of clothes to look through before she takes them to the charity shop. I picked out a lovely red and black patterned dress, a black skirt, and five lovely tops. A great swap I thought for a couple of hours dog sitting.