SAM'S MUD BATH

Look at me! Do I look muddy to you? No, I know I don't - because I'm not. Not muddy, I mean! But I was - before the bath Mum just insisted on.

Sometimes I don't understand Mum. That is, I don't understand her attitude to mud. I try to tell her that there's nothing better than rolling in the stuff, but she doesn't seem to hear me.

Take today. We're staying with our friends Barbara and David out in the country and I've been on my best behavior. Before she went off to the shops in Ludlow with Barbara this morning, Mum took me for a long walk, keeping me on my lead for some reason. I don't like being kept on my lead.

Then off Mum and Barbara went, leaving me asleep in front of the fire while David sat in his big chair reading his newspaper. Once they'd gone and David had finished reading, he said: "How about a walk, Sam?"

Well, I was instantly on my paws, hoping he wouldn't remember I'd already had my walk. As he opened the door I saw that he didn't have my lead in his hand. Things were getting better and better. Then we set off along the same lane I'd walked along with Mum. But I didn't have the same feeling as before. I felt wonderfully free to explore.

So I explored all the sniffs I couldn't quite reach earlier ... all the trees and fallen leaves ... all the puddles Mum had steered me from.

There was one really stupendous puddle and I threw myself right into the middle of it. Then I rolled over and over, kicking my legs in the air and loving every minute. I think David might have called me once or twice but I couldn't really hear him. I was having such fun in the lovely sticky mud.

He didn't look happy, though, when he took me home. "I think we're both going to be in the dog-house when the women get back," he muttered worriedly. "I never expected you to do that, Sam!"

Do what? Sometimes humans are really odd.

I expect you can guess the rest. When Mum saw me - and when she and Barbara saw the cream carpet that had a new pattern on - they both had lots to say to David about the fact that the Shropshire brand of mud was not just sticky, but also red.

Mum also mentioned - more than once - that I'd been newly bathed and groomed for our little holiday here and now she'd have to start on me all over again. Oh heck!



 

SAM'S STORY IS FREE ON AMAZON TODAY!

If you’re wondering who it is in the picture – it’s me, when I was just a puppy! That’s around the time my story began. Mum’s holding me. You can almost see her hands.

I’m having a good day today. The sun is shining and Mum’s smiling because our book is doing well on Amazon. We call it our book, but it’s mine really. You can tell that by its title: SAM’S STORY. Mum said to tell you that it’s FREE on Amazon today and tomorrow.

Does the fact it’s free mean there will be no money to buy me my weekly marrow bone?

 

GUILTY!

Does Leo look guilty, do you think? Maybe you remember me telling you about Leo, when he was a year old. Well, he's two years old now and just back from a Big Adventure with his Mum, Joanna - who is sort of my sister, as her Mum is also my Mum. Make sense of that, if you can!

Well, there he was on a Spanish beach, after driving all the way through France (Leo didn't drive, although to listen to him you'd almost think he did) and his Mum was having a well-earned rest. But then Leo decided he needed some cool, damp sand to lie on. So he started digging ... and carried on till he'd made himself a nice cozy hole.

In the process, though, he covered his Mum and the towel she was lying on with sand - and guess what? She wasn't happy!

JONATHAN LIVINGSTON SEAGULL

Some days there are just no seagulls to be seen. It’s all a bit of a mystery. Where are the gulls when I can’t see them?

Mum says they play hide ‘n seek with me. Why would they do that, do you think? I’ll have to ask Jonathan, next time I see him. That’s the name Mum gave to one of the seagulls, naming him after Jonathan Livingston Seagull who was in a wonderful book she read once.

I wonder whether he wrote his own book. I don’t suppose he did. Seagulls can fly but I bet they can’t write. So that’s one up to me, as I sort of wrote mine!

There might be no gulls to play with today, but there’s plenty of beach and any minute a new playmate might arrive.

I’m ready for him, whoever he is … ready and waiting.

SAM'S DOG STORY - FREE eBOOK

 SAM'S DOG STORY will be FREE again on Christmas Day!

Mum and I had been wondering how to give our lovely readers a little Christmas gift, when suddenly the idea hit me of giving all of you who missed it previously another opportunity of reading my story - quite FREE!

We think you'll be happy to have my adventures by the sea on your Kindle because I'm a dog who loves life, loves his Mum ... and loves all the people and creatures I meet between our house and the beach.

Here's a picture of our home on the Gower peninsula:

When we moved here I was just a puppy and had no idea how much fun lay ahead of me as I tried to fly like the seagulls and run with the wild ponies who have become my friends.

I've made human friends as well. So has Mum ... but maybe I shouldn't mention her friend Morgan here. (You'll need to read my book to know their story!)

Yes - you've guessed ... my story isn't just about me! I tell you too what Mum has been up to. Ooops!

Anyway, we both wish you  

A VERY HAPPY CHRISTMAS AND A BRIGHT NEW YEAR

Oh - just click SAM'S DOG STORY on Christmas Day for your free copy!

 

You live in the UK? Then click: SAM'S DOG STORY for your free copy.

BOOKS ABOUT DOGS

Do you like reading books about dogs? Mum does. She says she especially likes the dog story book I wrote. Then she says she supposes that’s because she’s biased.

If she thinks that by using long words she’ll fox me, she’s right. Except that I don’t stay foxed for long. It’s never hard for me to work out what Mum means – because I understand her, you see.

In her own way, she’s telling me that she likes my dog story best because I’m special. That’s in the sense of having a special place in Mum’s heart. She’s told me about holding me there ever since I trotted over to her when she came to Axminster to choose a puppy from my litter. It wasn’t a question, she says, of choosing me because I chose her first. Then she adds that the feeling was mutual. I think that means she would have chosen me, if I’d given her half a chance and not been so fast on my paws.

I need to be fast on them when I'm up above Three Cliffs Bay, watching and waiting for a seagull to fly by. As soon as one comes on my horizon, I'm on to him - racing through the sand-dunes and down to the beach. One of these days I won't be racing. I'll be flying!

Anyway, we both think books about dogs are great! See if you agree that mine's best when you've read my story ...

DOG STORY BOOK

It was Mum’s idea for me to write a dog story book. When she first suggested it I thought she was having me on. Who would want a book written by a dog? Besides, I didn’t think I could write.

But Mum said how would I know unless I tried? I saw the sense of that – and she then said she’d help me. 

I was a bit bewildered when she put the laptop in front of me, but together we set to work and gradually Sam’s Story began. I expect you can guess why we called it Sam’s Story. What else could we call it, when my story is mostly about me?

We mention Mum once in a while, because she was helping and I couldn’t have written my dog story book without her. By the way, we’re giving it away FREE on Amazon on Christmas Day!