#NationalDogDay

I'm always mentioning my dog Jazzy but I don't often post pics of her. As it is #NationalDogDay and #NationalFitnessDay I thought I'd post a pic of her keeping fit. We've never had a German Shepherd Dog so into balls and retrieving. I bought a net of tennis balls in the sale and put them on the high window sill in the laundry room. She sits and stares at them and cries.

We got our first GSD in 1976 at the suggestion of the police after having been burgled . As I've said before we don't live in a very salubrious area. Maggie was a brilliant guard dog and wonderful with our children. My daughter would sit and read her stories and once the clever dog brushed a bee from her. Maggie surprised us one day when she went to a shed and returned to the house with a tin of Pedigree Chum in her mouth.

Maggie had nine pups and we kept one, Elke, we grew carnations, nelke, at the time. Elke was a beautiful-looking but quite a nervous dog and we lost her, we think, to rat poison.

Heidi was very round for a GSD and loved a cup of tea. She suffered with itchy skin and would stand in the fish pond to cool down. We had a cockerel who was in love with her.

Elsa's fur was a bit too curly for a GSD and her tail was much too fluffy. She lived to thirteen and three quarters, a good age for the breed. When she was very old she wouldn't come for a walk around the nursery with us but would haul herself round when our grandchildren came.

Petal and I bonded as I was suffering with a bad back and spending a lot of time on the floor when she was a puppy. She used to sit under the bench when I was sowing seeds and loved 'helping' me with my watering by chewing chunks off the end of the hosepipe. The poor dog had lots of horrible accidents and suffered with a nasty genetic condition. I was devastated when I made the decision to end her suffering.

By the time we got Jazzy we had retired and I suppose it is because we had time to play that she is so into toys and balls. All our previous dogs came to work with us, GSDs love to work. :) Jazzy's a wonderfully healthy hound who never gets into scrapes and is the perfect togging companion.