Oh Dear!

                  PIP’S DIARY AS TOLD TO HIS OWNER ALEXANDRA BASTEDO.

                                          www.abcanimalsanctuary.co.uk 

 

                             I haven’t had quite as much success in wrecking things this month  unfortunately as the amount of time I am left unsupervised has diminished.  I did manage to pull out several books from the library shelves but was interrupted before I could shred them like I normally do.  Also with several saucepans now stacked  high on top of the rubbish bins  which have been put on the tables the noise of them clattering to the floor both frightens me and alerts other people to my activities so I have stopped that too.

 

                                  However I am still targeting the kitchen sideboards and managed to pull down a glass jar of the sweetener Canderel which shattered all over the floor. It was like sticky sand to walk on so my mistress was none too pleased and locked me up while she retrieved all the shattered glass and washed the floor down with a mop and bucket. I had also managed to dislodge a  chocolate cake which was awaiting the arrival of some guests. It was delicious and Nellie, the older dobermann, and I scoffed it between us . However what is most unfair now is that if something goes missing they automattically presume I am the culprit and I get scolded even if Nellie has done it - though usually it has to be said it IS me.

 

                                           Actually the visitors were nightmare friends of my master and mistress who were visiting from America.  They seemed very nice at first and made a fuss of me as I galumphed about playing with Nellie and at one point as I misjudged a gap I nearly sent one of the ladies  flying. It was then that the seemingly nice lady called Anastasia suddenly announced she was going to give me a training session – and what an unpleasant, boring experience that was!

 

                             She went over and over things making me walk at heel on a short lead and making me sit repeatedly.  I know how to sit but normally I think about it first before I decide whether  I will, but  Anastasia  brooked no nonsense -  I had to do what I was told.  And she went on – and on – and on – and on until I was worn down into submission.  Admittedly she did tell me what a good boy I was and made a fuss of me whenever I did things right, but it’s a lot more fun when you can just be on your own orbit and choose whether to obey commands or not.

 

                              So … the bad news is that my mistress is now keeping up the lessons and life, I have to say, has turned serious.However soon they are going on holiday to Corsica and a nice volunteer called Peter Kirkwood is coming to stay so with a bit of luck the training will stop and I will be able to revert to my normal exuberant, undisciplined self once more!

 

 Copyright Alexandra Bastedo

 

Alexandra is the patron of several animal charities and is the founder of the abcanimal sanctuary which relies upon volunteers and donations- no matter how small- in order to continue its rescue work. Please donate or adopt an animal and come and visit us. We have a donation button on www.abcanimalsanctuary.co.uk and our PO Box address is:PO Box 219, West Chiltington, Pulborough, West Sussex RH20 2JU. Cheques should be made payable to the ABC Animal Sanctuary. A few  of her remaining  signed animal books are for sale on our website shop.

Gone Fishing

                        Pip, the dobermann puppy’s story as told to Alexandra Bastedo

                                www.abcanimalsanctuary.co.uk

                         I don’t think I am very popular at the moment. One of the problems is my sense of taste - I have yet to find something that I don’t like to eat particularly if it is wrapped in paper so I can eat that too. Of course there are side effects as I have been known to throw up often unrecognisable objects in the morning. It does mean that my mistress frequently puts me in a muzzle but fortunately I can’t have it on all the time so I still have ample opportunity to steal and usually I am so quick it takes time for things to be mislaid.

                                                   Today forinstance Nellie the adult dobermann and I were taken for a very long walk up in the hills above Pulborough and then upon our return we were both given a huge bone. My mistress thought it would keep me occupied while she called in the sanctuary cats for the night away from the four marauding resident foxes. However I soon got bored with my bone, then Nellie comandeered it and snarled whenever I tried to get it back so I went into the kitchen to see what I could lay my jaws on there. Success! I managed to knock the kitchen compost container off the sideboard on to the floor and quickly swallowed the old teabags, dead lettuce and banana skins which spilled out. Then I went a bit higher and ate a fresh loaf of bread from the bread basket still in its paper cover. After that I managed to open up the lid of the bread bin - which had been blocked by the compost container- and scoffed the biscuits, crackers and ryvitas inside. Then I moved further along and managed to dislodge a glass jar of Udo’s Oil - omega 3 and 6 - which is added to my food. I managed to carry it in my mouth into the garden where the glass broke and I succeeded in  lapping up most of the oil from in between the shattered shards.

                                   Needless to say my mistress was pretty angry when she came in. She locked me in my cage while she picked up all the broken glass and cruelly deprived me of my usual dinner saying “You have had quite enough!”

                                     Nellie, my dobermann pal, has been quite wonderful in teaching me everything naughty she knows. However at the age of 8 months I have taken things to a higher level and am now teaching HER all  of my particular peccadillos which is great as she now gets told off too!

                                      Of course apart from eating my other main joy is chasing things and I am getting that down to a fine art  as often Nellie now joins in too in formation. There is always a lot of activity from the birds on the pond but so far we haven’t managed to catch any ducks or moorhens. However I have discovered a new talent and that is fishing. I managed to grab hold of a sluggish prize koi carp that was basking in the shallows, ate most of it and deposited the head and spine in the hall as a present for my owners. But such generosity was only met with a scream when they came in and I was frogmarched back to my cage once again. However the sensation of that slimy wriggling fish in my mouth was exhilarating and it tasted scrumptious. There are plenty more where that one came from and if I manage to eat the whole fish then nobody will notice it is missing so now -  when there’s no-one about -  I go fishing!

                                                By Alexandra Bastedo.

copyright Alexandra Bastedo

                         Alexandra is the author of “Beware Dobermanns, Donkeys and Ducks” and the veterinary recommended “Healthy Dog” and “Healthy Cat ” books. She is also the founder of the ABC Animal Sanctuary which is home to 150 abandoned animals and birds. Please help to support our work with a donation- no matter how small-or an animal adoption on our website www.abcanimalsanctuary.co.uk  Our address is: PO Box 219, West Chiltington, Pulborough, West Sussex RH20 2XB.

Barking Mad

The story of Pip, the dobermann puppy as told to Alexandra Bastedo.

     www.abcanimalsanctuary.co.uk

                        Today I was given a new green collar because the old one was rather tight. I am now the same size as Nellie, my 6 year old dobermann friend, but I am still growing. This means I can run faster and can almost catch the ducks, moorhens and cats that cross my path and can knock things and people over much more effectively should they get in my way. In other words I am almost full-sized but still have the exuberance and short-term memory of a puppy- which is a lethal combination.

                         Strangely the rubbish bins in the kitchen are now standing on top of the side-board. I had managed to work out how to open all the various lids and my owners were getting fed up with retrieving all the plastic and metal containers and paper that I was shredding all over the kitchen and garden. Also when they go out now they usually entice me back into my cage with a treat and lock me in or put on my plastic muzzle. I suppose the latter is preferable as I can still run about and send things flying but it does prevent me eating miscellaneous items and tearing things up.

                                          I suppose there have been three major events which prompted my owners to take such drastic action. The first was that I pulled my mistress’ best black coat down by yanking the hook it was hung on out of the wall and had a lovely time ripping it to pieces. The second was eating most of my master’s favourite straw hat that he had kindly left on the sideboard- though I did leave the black ribbon and lastly I took my master’s bag of pills and vitamins from the centre of the table and chewed them and spat them out all over the lawn. They didn’t taste very nice and my master and mistress spent hours painstakingly retrieving each one from the grass. I also got cystitis from all the muck I was eating so had to be on antibiotics and Cantharis 30 (the homeopathic remedy) for a week.There is talk of sending me to obedience classes but like my predecessors I am bound to be top of the class in no time and will then totally ignore everything I have been taught when I get home.

                                           My mistress was also very cruel. She took me to the vet at 6 months to have me “snipped” in the hope that it would calm me down. The effect is supposed to take 6 weeks but so far it hasn’t made a blind bit of difference. Also a peculiar quirk of my puppy personality is that I really enjoy getting told off. In fact the more I get shouted at the more I wag my tail- nothing phases me at all. Whereas Ponto, my predecessor was terrified of hot air balloons and would run away and hide I simply bark  at the flame- spitting monsters until they fly off and growl threateningly at the thunderstorms until I frighten them away.

                               The only real irritation in my life is the family of foxes including 3 cubs that will insist on playing with and pinching the toys and bones that I leave outside. If I see or sense them from the window it makes me barking mad—-.

                                My owners have gone to a retreat in the New Forest for a few days as they were in danger of having a nervous breakdown. I was going to think up all kinds of devilment in their absence but the presence of Jessie and Sharron, both stern authoritarians whom they left us with has put an end to that. However in the garden at least I am having fun digging up the plants in the flower pots and dead -heading all the buds on my  master’s prize roses.

                                         by Alexandra Bastedo

copyright Alexandra Bastedo.

If you would like to find out more about Alexandra’s animals please go to www.abcanimalsanctuary.co.uk

There are over 150 rescued animals. Any adoptions or donations are very much appreciated. We are all volunteers and all the funds go exclusively to the animals. We also encourage supporters to come and see their “adopted” animal and all the work we do. We can be contacted through the web site either by e mail or through our PO Box.

PIP FINDS HIS VOICE

                     Pip the dobermann puppy’s story as told to Alexandra Bastedo.

                               www.abcanimalsanctuary.co.uk

 

                                      The first time it happened - this loud deep bark - I looked behind me expecting it to be Nellie my big dobermann friend but she wasn’t there. I was rather confused but when I barked at a monster (which was an empty compost bag blowing in the wind)  later that day I realised it was me. My voice had broken at the age of five and a half months. Of course since then I like the sound of my own sonorous voice so much that I bark at everything. My owners get bored with me and tell me to “Be quiet”  or “Shut up” but I have a short memory so it isn’t long before I find something else to bark at again. The best fun is barking at the neighbours’ dogs across the lane because they answer back and we go on and on until our owners drag us back into the house out of earshot.

                                          Getting bigger I have found has advantages and disadvantages. On the down side I find I can’t fit into cat beds any longer and can only sit with my bottom in and my paws out so it is not very comfortable. Also I can no longer barge through some of the holes in the wire fencing which seem to be a lot smaller now which means I can’t get to the cat houses and cat food the other side. However I did get under the gate to the Shetland ponies when nobody was looking and was kicked by Raffles but fortunately it was only a warning and I certainly won’t go there again! 

                                             My larger size now means that everything in the food line is more accessible and I even managed to get from the chair on to the table and on to the sideboard where the fresh eggs are kept- and scoffed the lot. I can also open all the garbage containers and pull out all the empty packets of cat food which I shred around the kitchen and my latest achievement is not only pushing down door handles and opening the doors outwards but actually managing to open the doors inwards as well - so now nothing is safe. Books. loo rolls, makeup, toothpaste all are now easily accessed and destroyed and I find I need a regular turn-over to keep me amused.

                                       I find my toys rather boring now as I have disemboweled most of them which means only the squeak and the fabric remain. My monkey with the long arms is still okay that I flail from side to side beating myself over the head as I do so and one of the quacking bird toys which sounds just like the real ducks on the pond. I have tried several times to bring home a live one to play with despite getting shouted at but so far have not had any success—-.

                                        My owner was rather alarmed when she found a dead furry animal at the bottom of the pond. When she fished it out with a large fishing net covered in green algae the people watching were most distressed. However I was very pleased as they had finally found my missing white teddy bear which I had inadvertently let go while chasing a moorhen the week before. It has been in the washing machine and has returned to its former snowy white colour but it does have a rather soggy squeak now which is a bit pathetic. But what a lot of fun it was to see the consternation of the people watching. It was a great joke so I must throw some more toys in the pond again soon–

Copyright Alexandra Bastedo. 

Alexandra is the founder of the ABC Animal Sanctuary for rescued and abandoned animals on www.abcanimalsanctuary.co.uk  which depends on your kind donations - however small- to keep and maintain the animals. A photo of Pip appears on the web site.

Signed copies of her animal books are also available .

Battle of the Wellingtons.

           Pip’s Diary as recounted to Alexandra Bastedo

                  www.abcanimalsanctuary.co.uk

 

                     Gosh the world is an intimidating place. Now I know dobermanns have the reputation of being large and fierce but at the moment - at five months - I can feel very small and very frightened.

                      Firstly my sister Boogie and her nine month old friend Jazz turned up again. Although I had seen them only two weeks earlier when they arrived my sister had grown so much I didn’t recognise her and I peed on the spot as they charged towards me. I then hid away in my cage until my owner persuaded me to come out and play. However Boogie is an experienced wrestler so once again I ended up on my back underneath her most of the time and by the end of the day I looked like a pin cushion from all the times she had stuck her needle-sharp teeth into me. Thank goodnes I don’t live with her any more, I fear if I did I would be scarred and battered and have a permanent lump on my head like the egg-sized lump I had on my head when I first arrived at my new home. 

                                     The sanctuary has other terrifying things too like the screams of the foxes after dark which send me rushing back into the house the moment I hear them while Nellie, my big dobermann friend just stands and barks at them. Then there is Leah the dog next door who protects the farmer’s orphan lambs. There is a path alongside the dividing fence between the properties and as she charges at the fence I have to race past at full pelt to get by her while brave Nellie merely strolls by growling as she goes.

                                    However, in the house I feel very safe and have a lot of fun playing. One of my favourite games involves removing all the green, black, pink and blue wellingtons from the boot rack. I grapple with each one bashing it from side to side and jumping on it until the whole hall becomes a battlefield strewn with the corpses of dead wellingtons - a truly impressive sight.

                                     While on the topic of feet I think my owner is becoming somewhat eccentric. She always seems to wear odd slippers or odd shoes and sometimes one shoe and one slipper or even one slipper and one barefoot. She looks very funny as she lurches about on uneven heels. Of course, occasionally she will find the missing shoe or slipper in my cage, or in my bed or even in the nest outside under the rosemary bush where I leave all my missing toys out in the rain.

                                     Strangely the stairs going upstairs which have an anti-dog gate at the bottom (to give the upstairs cats some peace) are now serving as storage for all manner of boots. shoes, slippers, letters, bills, cases and handbags which are now all tantalisingly out of reach. As I get bigger everything is getting put away higher up as my owners attempt to keep one step ahead of me.

                                     As for food I have yet to find something that I dislike. I adore my own food of course and raid the larder to get at it if ever the door is left open. But I also love raspberries, blueberries, raw chicory,brussel sprouts,cabbage,broccoli, cake ,butter, porridge, packets of cereal, horse manure, cow pats, sheep dung, and rabbit pellets or indeed anything I can get my paws on.

                                      Unfortunately it is all getting less accessible as doors are not merely shut now but also locked, but I am sure to find new ways to get at things and the cat food which they have put on the sideboard will soon be within my reach once again——.

                                       By Alexandra Bastedo.

Copyright Alexandra Bastedo

Alexandra is the founder of the ABC Animal Sanctuary on www.abcanimalsanctuary.co.uk

The sanctuary is struggling to look after all the abandoned animals it has rescued and is very grateful for any donations however small. All the money goes to the animals and all the staff are volunteers. There is a PO Box Number and a Paypal button on the website.

She is also the author of “Beware Dobermanns, Donkeys and Ducks”, and the veterinary recommended “The Healthy Cat” and “The Healthy Dog ” books. There are a limited number of the author’s copies available on the web site which can be signed upon request.

She is also Patron of Compassion in World Farming. the Animal Welfare Trust, WildlifeAid, and Naturewatch and Vice President of the Brent Lodge Bird Hospital and President of Paws Rescue, Findon, and Cat and Rabbit Rescue at Chichester, She resigned as President of her local R.S.P.C.A branch in order to expand the ABC Animal Sanctuary.

 

Getting the hang of it.

             Pip, the dobermann puppy’s story as told to Alexandra Bastedo.

                   www.abcanimalsanctuary.co.uk

 

             You know when you go to a new home the whole layout - the geography - is totally different so it has meant a whole new learning curve for me. However, finally at the age of four months I think I am really getting the hang of it.

              Yesterday I managed to get hold of the spare loo roll from the cloakroom downstairs and it made a wonderful plaything. I took it into the garden and managed to unroll it over a wide area, but the most fun I had was tearing the paper into tiny bits and sprinkling it all round the garden like confetti. My owner was really rather a bad sport though. When she came back from cleaning out the Shetland ponies’ stable in the top field she shouted at me and then proceeded to pick it all up muttering to herself as she did so which meant there was nothing left for me to tear up and I had to go back to my boring toys which are now fairly shredded themselves.

                                  However apart from knowing where all the cat bowls are in the top cattery, I also know where the pony and donkey carrots are kept as sometimes when they are filling up the feed bowls for the other animals they give me one. So today while all the helpers were having a coffee break I shot off down to the barn and came back with a lovely juicy carrot which I proceeded to chomp on. Nellie, the adult dobermann looked rather amazed I think she must have wondered where I had found it and was rather cross that I refused to give her any.

                         My main motive in life it has to be said remains food. I can swing on door handles and open the doors if there is food the other side, I can pull tablecloths off tables in order to send the porridge bowl crashing to the floor so I can scoff it before anyone sees me  and on my back legs anything left on the sideboard is now a fair target - I found I particularly like bananas in their skins but they are now living in the fridge and I haven’t  worked out how to open it yet. 

                                 The only other thing I was told off for was a game I had devised called “swinging on the curtains” - unfortunately the curtain rail came crashing down on me and I was caught red- handed - or rather red-pawed-  in the midst of it. The humans didn’t seem very pleased at all. Every time they struggled to put it back the nails came out of the wall and they had to do it all over again. I mustn’t do that again!

                                  However they were pleased with me on our first walk in the country as I trotted along very nicely in my new Roger Mugford training harness. It doesn’t hurt at all and instills a feeling of security when other big dogs bark at you and cows loom out of the mist. In fact the weather has been absolutely dreadful with 80 mile an hour winds so our activity has been rather curtailed . Hopefully as it gets better there will be many new experiences and lots more adventures.

                                     by Alexandra Bastedo

Alexandra is the author of “Beware Dobermanns, Donkeys and Ducks”, “The Healthy Dog” and “The Healthy Cat” books. Alexandra is the founder of the ABC Animal Sanctuary which is staffed by 4 or 5 volunteers a day and depends upon donations - however small- to finance all the animals. Meet the animals on www.abcanimalsanctuary.co.uk

copyright Alexandra Bastedo

SISTERLY LOVE.

                  www.abcanimalsanctuary.co.uk

          Pip, the dobermann puppy’s story as told to Alexandra Bastedo.

                                            I have had the most exciting week as my sister Boogie came to visit me with her adopted family, Mr. and Mrs. Turner from Southsea and their other dog- a nine month old dobermann bitch called Jazz.

                                           Unfortunately Nellie was kept in another room during the visit as she is not partial to other large black dobermann bitches, which was a shame from my point of view as I felt outnumbered and by now I am used to having Nellie as my protector. In fact to tell you the truth when the two dogs arrived I was absolutely terrified and peed on the spot. So much time had elapsed that at first I didn’t recognise my sister Boogie, but there was something familiar about her and after a few sniffs we relaxed and started playing like we used to do.

                                          I still have the egg-shaped bump on the top of my head from the injury I sustained when the two of us played too roughly back in Wales but I had forgotten how tough she was. I think maybe she had been having a lot of wrestling practice with her larger dobermann friend, Jazz, because I found her, if possible, even worse than before. As we raced around she kept on sending me flying and sometimes she would jump on me and knock me over and I would end up on my back underneath. It was so humiliating, but I may be a little out of practice - Nellie at the age of six is much more sedate and won’t let me maul or tackle her. However I do have quite a large assortment of stuffed toys that I throw from side to side and pretend to kill and several chews I can sink my teeth into so I wasn’t entirely off form.

                                               Still after 2 hours of my sister’s company it all got too much. We just couldn’t stop beating each other up so I had to be rescued and put in my cage for a bit until we both quietened down. Much as I enjoyed the visit it was something of a relief when they left and life returned to normal. It also made me appreciate Nellie all the more. She  may tell me off occasionally when I annoy her but she never beats me up! 

                            Life at the sanctuary continues to be endlessly fascinating with all kinds of animals and birds that I am not  supposed to chase- though I still manage to when nobody is looking. I have also discovered that horse manure tastes really good - Nellie likes it too - but we tend to get told off if we so much as touch it. Apart from that and stealing food off any surface I can reach I think I have been reasonably good this week - I have learnt how to use the dog flap and how to walk on a harness and lead . Now my vaccinations are over I will soon be going on walks in the great outside world- I can’t wait I wonder what new exciting smells there will be and what new animals and people I will meet.

                                                   by Alexandra Bastedo

Author of the vet recommended “The Healthy Cat” and “The Healthy Dog” books and “Beware Dobermanns, Donkeys and Ducks”. Alexandra is also the founder of the ABC Animal Sanctuary www.abcanimalsanctuary.co.uk which has over 150 animals and is staffed entirely by volunteers. Any donations, adoptions or sponsorships are very much appreciated to enable us to continue with our work of rescuing animals.

Copyright A.L.Bastedo

Getting Older

                                  www.abcanimalsanctuary.co.uk

                 THE STORY OF PIP, THE DOBERMANN PUPPY, AS TOLD TO

                                               ALEXANDRA BASTEDO

                  I am now 13 weeks old and I am noticing some distinct changes in myself. The main one is that I have grown a little and can no longer get through the holes in the  fencing to get at the cat food in the catteries on the other side. However on the plus side I am taller and this means I can get at things on top of tables, sideboards and desks that I couldn’t before. So far I have succeeded in pulling down reading glasses, knives and forks, butter, a jug of cream, newspapers, paper napkins, important letters, bills and books - I had great fun shredding all the paper and loved ripping off the book cover. I did get told off but at the moment life is just so much fun and I have a very short memory so I tend to forget and do it all over again the moment no-one is looking.

                         I have been observing Nellie, the grown-up dobermann, and try to copy her a lot of the time. I have observed her peeing and doing her number twos outside and have been highly praised when I have done the same so a lot of the time we do it in unison. I find it much better than being scolded for doing it all inside the house so I haven’t made a mistake in that department for some time. Actually that is not quite true I was so frightened when I went to the vet I did a number two, stepped in it, got through the dog guard and spread it round the car. I don’t think my owner was very pleased as it took her half an hour to clean it!

                                     I spend quite a lot of time playing with the cats. Alfie the 17 year old is quite the naughtiest. He spends quite a lot of his time trying to ambush me but I have decided to stop pouncing on him as although he doesn’t have any teeth any more his claws can be quite painful. I used to like playing with Caspar the eighteen year old ginger boy but he is rather a spoil sport and spends most of his time on top of the furniture these days and only comes down when he knows I am asleep- even his food is on top of a high table so I can’t get at it.  Ollie , the white Persian who used to live with 30 cats and dogs in a tiny house, is the most friendly and seems to quite enjoy my company. He certainly doesn’t disappear like Fluff and Gustav - two more oldies whose owner died - who  tend to leave the room whenever they spot me. I really get told off if I try to chase them which is a real shame as it is so much fun running after moving things.

                                   However I have to admit to being terrified of some of the other animals at the sanctuary. Paris, the deaf cat, and Tigga, the tabby stalk me sometimes and hiss so I give them a wide berth and the sheep are quite frightening. In fact Nellie told me to be very careful - when Katie and her two lambs, Kylie and Kim, were running loose they actually used to chase Nellie and the other dobermann, Ponto, to the point where they were afraid to go out of the garden. As a result the sheep were banned to the field and now co-habit with Marty and Shabba, the large horses, and the two Wiltshire Longhorn castrated rams. We are kept away from the donkeys and ponies too - and Nellie says it is just as well as they can kick. However the real shame is that all the chickens and ducks are kept behind a very high fence with an elecrified wire round the bottom. When I tried to get at them I got zapped so I won’t be doing that again! 

                                 

                                       

     Alexandra Bastedo is the author of “Beware Dobermanns, Donkeys and Ducks” and “The Healthy Cat” and “The Healthy Dog ” books. She is the founder of the ABC Animal Sanctuary www.abcanimalsanctuary.co.uk which has over 150 animals and birds and is staffed entirely by volunteers. Any money donated on our website is used entirely for the welfare of the animals.

Copyright A.L. Bastedo

                         

                                 

Learning from Nellie 25th February

                       by PIP as told to ALEXANDRA BASTEDO.

              At last Nellie, the big black dobermann bitch, has stopped snarling at me. Actually that isn’t entirely true as sometimes she lies down in MY bed in MY cage and won’t let me in growling at me all the time until my owner comes to get her out. However most of the time now she is really nice and friendly letting me lie down beside her on her bed and taking me around with her everywhere she goes.

                                   “You have always had such beautifully behaved puppies” said one visitor” so it’s time you had one like this!” I don’t know quite what they meant by that but I do know they think I am very clever. I am after all only 12 weeks old and I already know how to swing on door handles until they open and if the bolt isn’t on the gate upstairs I can get my head under the gate and force it open. Then once I am upstairs I can raid all the food left in the cats’ bowls up there. 

                           However, Nellie is my real teacher. She took me round the garden into the back door of the conservatory through the sitting room where our master’s elderly cat called Bagpuss was sitting and showed me where his cat bowl full of food was kept.  However we were caught and Nellie was told off and we were told to get out but five minutes later I managed to sneak back in on my own and scoffed the lot.  

                 When we were allowed out of the garden past the poultry enclosure Nellie showed me how to push another gate that had been left ajar and get into the catteries where we can also pinch more cat food. And because I am much smaller than her I have now found my way through a hole in the wire fence so I can get through when Nellie cannot which leaves her very cross the other side. The cats all look rather amazed when I come in but so far none of them has challenged me so I have been able to sample quite a variety of delicious cat food. That is not to say that I don’t get fed well - I do - four times a day - and they have got rid of my worms as well - but somehow there is something very enticing about cat food. In fact the only cat food I haven’t been able to reach is Caspar’s, the old ginger cat who lives in the kitchen. His plate is put high up out of the way on a table in the utility room  - but I know as I get bigger I will be able to get  it in the end!

                       Alexandra Bastedo is the author of “Beware Dobermanns, Donkeys and Ducks” and “The Healthy Cat” and “the Healthy Dog ” books (both recommended by vets). She is the founder of the ABC Animal Sanctuary for unwanted animals www.abcanimalsanctuary.co.uk which is staffed entirely by volunteers and where 100 per cent of any donations goes entirely in looking after the animals.

Copyright A.L.Bastedo

February 22nd

              PIP’S DIARY AS TOLD TO  ALEXANDRA BASTEDO.

              I was born 12 weeks ago in Carmarthen in Wales along with 9 brothers and sisters. However 10 puppies was a lot for our mother Cassie, a beautiful brown doberman to handle so it was hardly surprising that Suzie Williams her owner decided when I was 11 weeks old to drive me all the way to West Chiltington in Sussex to a couple and their black doberman bitch who had just lost Ponto their brown dobermann prematurely to cancer. I have to say that although I loved them dearly it was a great relief to leave my nine biting, screaming, fighting brothers and sisters and to finally have a place of my own. Nellie, the black dobermann, was a bit hostile to me at first - snarling a lot - but she didn’t actually touch me so it was really all bluff and making sure I knew she was boss. But quite honestly after the mayhem of my previous existence with all my siblings just as demanding as me there was nothing she did that could remotely phase me.

         It was the same with my new owners repeatedly saying “NO” or “AH AH” or “DOWN”. Most of the time I just managed to ignore them and a few minutes later would go right back to doing what I was doing before. However, there was one thing they would do occasionally when they were fed up with me and that is put me in a dog cage. But I found I rather liked it as there was always a hot water bottle in there. a non-spill water bowl and some toys. They also fed me in there so the big dog couldn’t pinch my food so it has become my haven, my very own space where I can collapse when I am tired and not be bothered by anything happening outside at all.

                      However, I do think I have landed on my feet - or paws - as where I am is actually an animal sanctuary. This means there are lots of things to chase like cats and ducks and moorhens. People keep on shouting at me and telling me to stop but quite honestly it is far too much fun and it takes them a while to get hold of me, pick me up and carry me indoors. Inside too there seem to be cats in every room but most of the time when they see me they jump up on tables or sideboards or vanish out the cat flap. In fact today I got stuck trying to get through it chasing a white feline called Dancer but after I squealed and screamed the house down after a telling off  my owners came and released me which was something of a relief as I was well and truly stuck.

Copyright Alexandra Bastedo.

Alexandra Bastedo is the author of “Beware Dobermanns, Donkeys and Ducks” and “The Healthy Cat” and “The Healthy Dog ” books .She is the founder of the ABC Animal Sanctuary www.abcanimalsaanctuary.co.uk  an organisation staffed entirely by volunteers where all the proceeds go to looking after the animals.