There are no pets at my new housesit, so I've been feeling a bit dog-deprived. But this is the next best thing - you might remember I told you a few weeks ago about how my doctor had a baby guide dog to look after? Well, here she is - dear little Alba. Whoever dreamed up the name had a sense of humour because this little doggie is neither white nor English. She's grown quite a bit since I last saw her, but she's as cute as ever.

Alba's foster mum says she's proving very easy to train. Apparently she's learnt to wee and poo on command, and having potty trained several children as well as countless animals, I must say I find that amazing!

It is a wonderful thing that folk are willing to open their homes and hearts to a puppy that won't be theirs forever, and the success of guide dogs must be due in a large part to these kind people. If you live in Western Australia, you can learn how to become a foster parent to a guide dog yourself here. (Other states and countries have their own guide dog associations, all of whom do very worthwhile work.) As I understand it, you must be able to take the puppy to work with you as that's part of their training.

Seeing Alba reminded me that when I was at university there was a blind guy in one of my classes. He used to sit in the ref surrounded by gushing girls, and finally he must've got sick of playing second string to a dog, because once, when one of them said 'Oh, isn't he gorgeous!' the owner replied in a bored voice 'Yeah, and the dog's not bad, either!'

I had a lovely day on Sunday at a BBQ hosted by my writerly friend Carol Ryles. Carol held one of these last year and this one was even better, so I'm looking forward to next year's already!

In other news, both my Face-to-Face writers group and my on-line one are not happy with the way I've structured my WIP. The consensus seems to be that Ellyria, my MC, is pretty boring. Not good. However, writing buddy Tom Edwards has suggested that I turn the only really exciting thing she does into a prologue and then try to work the first 25% of the book in as back story, placing more emphasis on the romance element. It's a big ask, but I'll give it a try. One day before I die I'll have a publishable novel!

WOW! I can haz Sara? She has come to stay with me and the chooks until Ellen gets home on Wednesday. She loves the garden and spends most of her time out there exploring. When she's awake, that is. Being advanced in years and almost blind with it, she tends to sleep a lot - until a man comes to visit. Then she loses half her years and rolls onto her back giggling like a schoolgirl, the little hussy.

The video shows Sara on one of her voyages of discovery. You can just see the chooks in the background at one point; they appeared to be having a conversation about whether or not Sara was a dog. One or two of them, I believe, thought that perhaps she was a new species of rabbit. However, discretion being the better part of almost everything when you're a chook, they backed off hastily when Sara, blissfully oblivious to her feathered audience, inadvertently approached the fence.

I met another lovely dog this week. On a visit to the doctor, I was astonished to see a black labrador pup tied up beside her desk. It turned out that my doctor has become a foster parent for baby guide dogs, and this was her first little charge. At three months, the little one was obviously bored to tears. She was amusing herself by tugging on the curtain that surrounds the examination table, apparently enjoying the cheerful sound of curtain rings on metal as she pulled it back and forth. Sadly, she will not get away with that kind of thing for long. Baby guide dogs have to get used to sitting quietly for long periods, and in fact my doctor asked me not to look at this one or speak to her, as one of the things she has to learn is to get used to being bored and ignored when in the workplace. It's a big ask for a little doggie. I'm sure owners of guide dogs must give them lots of attention when they're not on duty to make up for it. This pup, BTW, isn't the one from the doctor's surgery, but looks mighty like it. I filched the pic from www.dailypuppy.com.

Of course, the canine species has its rogues, just as ours does. A neighbour rang earlier this week to warn me that I should keep the hens locked up at night because hers had all been killed the night before. It might have been a fox, rather than a dog. Strange as it may seem, foxes have moved into urban Perth and are responsible for some unpleasant things. Not that we can seriously blame the foxes: the fault lies with C19 immigrants who brought rabbits and foxes with them for the sport of hunting. We've been paying for their short-sightedness ever since, for both species are now pests all over the country. And this is a big country, big enough to house more rabbits and foxes than Mother Nature ever wanted, needed or even dreamt of when she invented them.

On another topic, guys, can I ask you, if you follow my blog regularly, to sign on as a Follower? (See left, under my pic.) And if you set yourselves up with the Followers icon, I 'll sign on to become a Follower of yours. That way we drive traffic to each others blogs and we can click on the icons to move on to the next when when we're doing the rounds:-)