Tail's Tales 2009

Other Years' Tales: 2010, 2009, 2008, 2007, 2006, 2005, 2004, 2003

Christmas 2009

There were a few big changes in Harry's life this year. Harry and his family are leaving for a holiday this morning. Harry has to walk on the dark cold winter street to pee and poop before a long flight. No matter how big changes occurs to his life, This ritual never changes...

Howling on Thursday

"Although Harry is small like a cat, he can howl like a big wild wolf," said Harry's family. But Harry's master has never heard Harry howl, because... Harry howls only when his master is away from home and the baby cries like crazy. It usually happens Thursday evening, when Harry's master goes to a gymnastic class.

Alarm Feature

	Sniff, Sniff, Sniff... Hoinga! Hoinga!! Hoingaa!!! (So it sounds to Harry's master) This strange noise that Harry makes is a poop alarm. When Harry's master first heard this noise, she just thought, "Aha, the baby must have just pooped!" But it did not take long for her to realise, it actually means, "The baby is going to poop any minute now!"
	So whenever Harry makes that "Hoinga!" sound, his master immediately brings the baby to the toilet. And the baby poops there right away. The baby is only six months old, but thanks to Harry, the baby poops in the toilet every day.

Ever since the baby turned five months and became able to sit,
Harry's master has been taking the baby to the toilet regularly (almost every hour),
just as she did to Harry before he was house-broken, only "without treats".
For the last three weeks, the baby has been successfully
peeing about eight times a day and pooping once a day in the toilet.
Although occasional accidents are unavoidable...
If you are interested in how Harry's master housetrained Harry, click Here!

Similar But...

Harry's toys are on the right. The baby's toys are on the left. They look similar, but are not the same. Harry can tell the difference very well. And he does not dare touch the baby's toys. Unfortunately, the baby cannot tell the difference at all. Worse, the baby even tries to chew on the Kong and the Nylabone. Harry is now pondering what he can do about it..

Zorro in Rot

	This is the very place, that The Ugly Duckling suddenly appeared last summer. The duckling tried to join the flock of ducks, but in the end, he was left alone at the bank. Yet, he overwintered here and looked good.
	One day, without any notice, the duck disappeared. The lady next door told Harry and his master, that the duck has died. The duck was called "Zorro in Rot" (Zorro in red) by the neighbours. because he looked like he was wearing a red mask. But now, Zorro in Rot is gone. Above is the usual sight of the River Rhein. Without Zorro in Rot, it looks a little sad there...

Mushrooms

	Harry found big mushrooms in the forest, near his agility club. He sniffed the mashrooms very carefully as if he was examining if they were edible.
	But how would Harry know if HE can eat them or not? After all, he can eat only what his master allows him to eat. So he sat besides the mushrooms and asked his master, "Can I eat them?" Unfortunately Harry's master could not tell, if the mushrooms were poisonous either. In the end, they left the mushrooms behind there...

Baby Meets Dog

It has been already four months, since the newcomer joined Harry's family. Harry has been always observing the baby. But until last month, the baby never paid attention to him. Now the baby is always looking for Harry. And as soon as the baby finds Harry, it quickly crawls toward him. Harry is still not sure who the baby is. The baby has no idea what Harry is either. Yet they seem to be very much fond of each other...

Territory

	Harry can be let free in the backyard of the house in Finland. There he happily plays with his ball alone.
	When he gets hot, he goes to the beach, and drinks water all by himeself.
	When he gets even hotter, he jumps in the lake, and swims to cool his body down.
	Although Harry is not tied to anywhere, he would not wander away and get lost. Because he knows where his territory begins and ends. The rule is very simple. Harry's territory is where his human family's smell is! But most of the time, he simply lies down under the tree besides the balcony, where Harry's master often checks his whereabouts.

Return of Flying Dog

	Harry is having a summer holiday in Finland. In Finland, he usually chases after a ball, swims in the lake, searches for berries. And after all that, he simply sleeps in the shade. But this time, he found an old plastic frisbee in the old garage.
	Harry master tosses the frisbee.
	Harry runs and jumps to catch it!
	Ever since he had lost his left eyesight last year, his master has been forgetting to play frisbee with him. But just like before, Harry can still fly to catch the frisbee.

New Bag

	Harry's master cut out a sewing pattern. "This must be something for me!" So thinks Harry.
	Aha! If you remember... This is the remaining fabric from Harry's Carry Bag. Is she making another dog carry bag?
	No, no, no. Not this time. The bag was for both Harry and the newcomer. Now Harry's master needs to carry all sorts of things, when she goes out just for a simple walk along the river: Such as Harry's ball, treats, clicker, water, bowl, and the baby's nappies, wipes, towels and many more! When Harry sees her taking the bag out of her closet, then he knows that it is the time to go out for a walk.

Wild Berries

	Harry and his master are still patrolling along the river. They are mostly watching over the ducklings. But not all the time. They are also looking for wild berries!
	They have been doing The River Rangers for three years. But this is the first time that they found so many wild berries on the river bank. Has anyone sown berry-seeds there?

Great Mystery

	The River Rangers are back again to go finding some traces of Spring.
	And there they are! The little ducklings are learning to swim from their mother. Harry has never seen their eggs or their nests. It is a great mystery to Harry where the ducklings come from... One day, out of blue, they just appear every Spring.

A Handful

The baby is quite a handful! Now Harry's master is very busy taking care of the baby. Harry also wants attention from his master, but he quietly waits for his turn to come. When Harry is too quiet and too good, Harry's master feels very sorry for him. So sometimes she gives Harry massage with her foot, while she moves the baby's pushchair with the other foot. Harry does not mind it at all, because he knows that his master's hands and feet are all full!

Observing

Harry is still observing the newcomer very carefully. Now Harry pretends as if it does not exist at all. But when his master changes its nappies, Harry rushes to it and tries to have a closer look. Harry may not touch it, or he will be told "Leave it!". But of course, he is allowed to smell it. It will probably take some more time for Harry, to realize what he can do and cannot do with the baby.

Restarting

On a sunny Saturday afternoon, Harry and his family went to the agility club for BBQ. Because Harry was very excited to be back at the Hundesport, Harry and his master decided to join the agility trial. It was still too early for his master to run very fast. So Harry had to negotiate many obstacles on voice commands. They made a few mistakes, but it was not so bad after all, considering that they have not been doing this for five months! With agility, Harry's life seems to be getting back to normal.

Newcomer

	What is that? It smells a little like my master. But it is much smaller and screams like the cat next door. Is it a human? Is it a dog? Is it a cat? Or is it a new kind of animal?
	All I want to know is its ranking in my family. For now it seems that I am bigger and stronger. But who knows this thing might grow like a monster? I have to observe it patiently, and I also have to look after it carefully, because it belongs to my master. So I must protect it as it were my master.

Learning to Cook

When Harry's master starts cooking for Harry, Harry quickly comes to the kitchen and keeps observing until the food is ready. If he had hands like humans, he would be able to cook for himself by now. Because he knows exactly what is in his food, and how long it has to be cooked. This time, Harry's master cooked a huge amount, that would probably last for the next three weeks!

Pee-Free Bärlauch

	Harry went Bärlauch picking in a forest. Bärlauch is wild garlic which grows in the spring. While his family was picking Bärlauch, Harry was given a ball to play with. Why? Because without the ball, he has nothing else to do, but sniffing and possibly marking his smell on the ground.
	Harry was a very good boy. He was quietly playing with his ball all the time, and never peed on the Bärlauch. When they went back home, Harry's master carefully washed the Bärlauch leaves and made tasty Bärlauchpesto.

Unfortunately dogs cannot eat it, but if you are interested,
please also have a look at How to Make Bärlauchpesto.

Fasnacht on Birthday

Watch out, Harry! Waggis is trying to hit you with a daikon radish!!! No, no, no. No need to worry. Waggis is not so mean to a birthday dog, who just turned 6 years old. Instead he gave Harry a beautiful flower for a birthday present. Harry's birthday this year happened to be during the Basler Fasnacht, which is the biggest carnival in Switzerland.

Not familiar with the Fasnacht (Carnival)?
Then have a look at Basler Fasnacht 2007 in Harry's World Jouneys.

Beaver Dog

It was a very cold winter night. Harry wanted to lie down on somewhere more comfortable than his old thin matress. So he decided to drag all his towels on a carpet and pile them up like a beaver nest. Harry was sleeping happily and quietly on the towels, until his master woke up and found him next morning.

Sozialhund

Harry is now a licensed Therapy Dog (Sozialhund) in Switzerland. To obtain the title, Harry attended a training course for 8 months with his master. They had to attend classes and pass written and practical exams. But it all will be well worth the effort, if Harry can help someone become happier, even for a little while.

Chicken Watcher

Harry usually eats his own dinner, which is specially prepared for him by his master. But on Christmas Day and New Year's Day, Harry knows that he can share the roast chicken for dinner with his family. As soon as his master put it in the oven, Harry starts watching over the chicken very seriously, He cannot tell when the chicken is ready. He just sits there quietly and patiently....

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