NOT A HAPPY BARNEY..

Poor Barney`s not very well. For the last few weeks he has been fine in himself - full of the usual mischief, full of running, being very playful as usual - but in the plumbing department there have been a few problems. I will spare you the details, dear reader, but let`s just say that he has been anything but `regular` - decidedly erratic, in fact.

Now we weren`t at all sure what the reason might be. It could be that he is simply missing Judy the Soft Wheaten Terrier, with whom he has clearly fallen in love. It could be down to his eclectic diet which all retrievers are prone to adopt as they are what is known in the trade as `opportunity eaters,` which simply means that when they are let off the lead in nearby woods, they can`t resist eating just about anything and everything irrespective of what it might be. Barney`s opportunistic diet has included items such as two socks, bits of rabbit, grass, quite a bit of wood and one unguarded moment saw him demolish the entire contents of a large bowl full of peanuts, cashews and cheese and onion crisps. No wonder he has been `erratic.`

But we have had some sleepless nights. It seems he doesn`t `go` in the daytime, but he gets us up three or four or even more times at night, so he can be let out to do what he needs to do. This clearly could not go on, so a couple of visits to the vets has seen him given a dose of antibiotics and instructions for me to provide `samples` for forensic examination - a task I have yet to complete. We hope he gets back to `normal` soon (whatever that may be) but as it`s his first birthday tomorrow, he can say goodbye to any thoughts of a party with cakes and goodies. Pity really. I was quite looking forward to that.