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Hello, Sparky4mm here, I am a Jack Russell terrier and I live in Burra with my peerie sister MaggieSparkPlug. I heard about this blogging thing on the wireless, well Radio Shetland to be precise, anyhow I thought we should give it a go and tell all about Islands life for dugs!

So a bit of history, I am 3 and a half years old and came up to Shetland from Glasgow as a puppy. I flew up all by myself, well they put me in the hold, but I was fine, I landed at Sumburgh airport to see my new Mam and Dad who took me home in their car. I have been pretty happy here, get to go out twice a day for walks and have lots of cousins and friends. I have recently been having bother with my feet and have been to the vet to see a very nice specialist up from Glasgow (I asked if he knew my old Mam and Dad but he said Glasgow was a very big place and he didn't know everybody!), he said I had a dust mite allergy and might have to have injections, I don't think so!

That's a little about me, I will fill you in on Maggie, she's still a bit peerie and can't type yet as she is only 4 and half months old, she's a Border Terrier and came up from Aberdeen earlier this year, she flew up on the plane but as she was sooooooooo cute they let her sit in the cabin with some nice folk who looked after her all the way. She's lovely, I was so excited when they told me she was coming, I wasn't very sure what she was to begin with, thought she might be one of those cat thingies, but when I realised she was one of us I was delighted, only one problem, she has teeth like needles and she likes to bite, my neck was a bit raw for a while but now she has taken to biting my legs, oh, she's only peerie, she'll grow out of it, I'm sure I was just as bad when I was her age!
So I have to go, my Mam needs to use the computer, she says I've been on long enough, yeah whatever!
I will be back soon to tell you all about my cousins, Millie and Mak.
Speak soon, I am away to have a sniff around for my Christmas presents, I know they are in the house but am not sure where they have hidden them.

So you will never guess what happened today, wir Dad came home with a metal gate thing which is apparently used for babies, and I am thinking to myself well there are no babies in this house, and then I remember, Maggie. And so he puts it all together and bolts it onto the wall so that we can't get through to the bedrooms, and I am thinking, what's going on here, then I remember when I saw that vet man that came up from Glasgow and he asked where I slept and my Mam told him that I mostly slept on the end of Rob's bed and he said that probably wasn't the best place with my dust mite allergy and all. But I know that's not the reason, you see peerie Maggie, who normally sleeps in her dog cage thing in the kitchen has started to wake at all hours throught the night, and then wir Dad has to get up and put her out just in case she needs to pee, then he puts her back and she greets and greets, so the idea is that I have to sleep with her in the passge in a dog bed (oh the shame of it!) to keep her quite. Now I am not conviced, and don't think that me being there will keep her quite, she doesn't do anything I tell her, so I don't think she will start now. And all this after three and half years of sleeping on a nice cosy HUMAN bed, it's just not right! But time will tell.

Oh and Hi to the Quarff dogs and thanks for your comments, don't worry about the weather, it's pretty normal for this time of year, god I still haven't got used to the wind, rain, cold, snow but Shetland's really a pretty good place to be, imagine having to live in a big city, nah, I don't think so.

Speak soon.
Sparky

Well, Christmas is actually over now, but thought I'd better fill you in on the festivities. But first of all an update on the dog bed/babygate situation, It's actually working quite well. Amazingly enough, Maggie is actually sleeping really well, and even later when we don't get up with the alarm clock. I guess that's because us dogs don't like to be alone, we're pack animals and like to have company, and I must admit it's not so bad having to share a bed with her (I even got to have my furry blanket off the end of Rob's bed in my dog bed).
So Christmas came and went, and we were pretty much stuck in the house. I got to go out last year as it was just me, but as Maggie is still a bit hyper, we had to stay in while Mam, Dad and Rob went out for supper, dinner, visiting (you know the way).
We did get lots of present's though, I got a hat and scarf set from Millie and Mak (cousin's in Whiteness), and as you can see me and Maggie look rather fetching. We got lot's of presents from Rob, I got toys and Maggie got chewy things, cos normally I don't like them, Mam and Dad get mad cos I tend to bury them in the garden then pretend I haven't (the white fur mixed with mud kind of gives it away!). This year I thought I would try a chewy thing, but I just can't get away from the burying thing, and I hid them all over the house, then of course, I had to stand guard over them (couldn't let Maggie get them back), so I spent the most of an afternoon behind the Christmas tree. I also got a proper leather football (they don't buy me the plastic one's as they rarely last more than 5 minutes) which I am still trying to get into.
We did get to go to the beach as we have been having lovely weather, every day is like springtime. This was Maggie's first time at the beach and she loved it, but was a bit unsure of the waves, I thought I'd be tough and show her what to do, so I went out to fetch a bit of wood, but it was pretty cold. We had to have shower's when we got home to warm us up.
So Merry Christmas to everyone and here's looking forward to Hogmanay, must remember to explain that one to Maggie!

So I was trying to explain to Maggie what happens at Hogmanay, but first I thought I'd better try to get her to say it right. I started by saying it really slow, 'Hog man ay', and all she kept repeating back to me was 'Ma hog an y', so I eventually gave up, in fact I think I like the word Mahogany better, so we'll just stick with that for now. So I said basically folk sit around in other folk's houses and watch telly, have drams and food (that traditional Reestit Mutton soup) and wait for the clock to strike midnight, then they all get up, kiss one another say Happy New Year or Happy Mahogany and then they all go on the phone to speak to other people and say the same. It's all a bit strange looking at it from our point of view, but then humans are a bit strange, I mean imagine only having 2 legs, god you would completely fall over!
Anyway, it looks like we'll be in the house again because Mam, Dad and Rob are all going out again. So me and Mags will just have to make our own entertainment, guess that means we'll run up and down the passage for a while then fall asleep till they all come back.
Maggie's a bit crazy at the moment, think it might be all the excitement of Christmas, or it could just be because she is growing up, the other day when we were out for a walk I caught her eating chewing gum (well it's better than dog poop, that's just gross), well I put a stop to that right away, it was a bit too Chav/Vicky Pollard for my liking.
So here's a Happy Mahogany to all dogs in Shetland and beyond, oh and to my relations in Glasgow, I saw the photos of the latest additions they are soooo cool!