Doggy art

Uly has been with us a couple of days and already his creative side is coming out. This morning he grabbed hold of a piece of aluminum foil I was going to use to wrap my daughter's sandwiches. By the time I got it back off him, he'd fashioned it into a mask of a dog. The eye holes were caused by his canines. Can you see the upright ears and protruding nose? 

Uly comes to stay

Here is Uly, aged almost exactly 6 months.


I had a phone call out of the blue from a lady in the village (Uly's owner from 8 weeks old) who was stuck for doggy-care. I decided to try and help out, so Uly has come to stay with us for a week or so while the lady visits her family in France. 


I should say that Uly was actually been named Ulysse (French for Ulysees). I think he has been taught mostly in French (the verb 'Coucher' maybe for lie down, 'Assieds-toi' perhaps for sit?).


He doesn't seem to understand the command 'Heel', I don't know what the French is for this, but I suspect he doesn't know that either.


He pulls a lot and is very, very lively!

Growing up

This great picture shows Uly beginning to grow up. Note the apple by his front paw – he's quite keen on eating them – they also look like tennis balls so don't stand much of a chance. His red collar must have been a puppy collar, by the time I got him he'd grown out of it. I think this picture shows him about 3 months old. 

Hello world

This is probably the earliest picture I have of Uly with his eyes open, see he is developing a taste for wine boxes, in a good way. Photo by Axel, I think.

Love at first throw

Here is Uly getting in some early-age tennis ball familiarisation. Turns out he is the only one in my family who really likes tennis, he'd make an amazing ball-boy at Wimbledon (if you could only get the balls back from him). His obsession with tennis balls will be all-too familiar to any dog-owner, more of that later.

Uly's champion father

This is Lou, Uly's dad (sire). He became a field trial champion before the age of three, clearly he is a dog that wants to work. I think you can see from his face, he is a lovely, good-natured dog. Just like Uly, he has a very long pink tongue (most Labradors I've met do).

Breakfast for three

Here is a picture of Uly and his brother and sister with mum, Molly. The photo was taken by Molly's human dad, Axel. I did see the puppies at this age, but had no idea that I was going to end up owning one of them (that story is for another day).


This was Molly's second litter, the first litter was, I think, about 10 puppies! 


I strongly believe the fact that Uly is one of just three puppies may mean he turns out to be a really exceptional dog – time will tell.

New dog, new blog

Here is Uly, just a few days old. He is an English-bred Labrador and was born in May 2010, one of a litter of just two dogs and one bitch. He is the first dog I have had since childhood. I didn't really choose him, as such, he kind of 'came' to me (as dogs often do).

Uly has a long pedigree, his father was a field trial champion before the age of three. His grandfather, on his mother's side, was a police 'sniffer' dog. This working background, I believe we will see, will come very much into play as Uly grows older and I start to learn to train him.