There is a very annoying trend amongst newspapers. They are increasingly stapling their supplements together. Do they have no care for the dog breeders who use their papers to line the puppy pens? It takes many hours and broken nails to remove all the staples to make them usable. We wouldn’t want a puppy finding a staple in his bed. At the moment those papers are being stacked in a pile for when my Mistress has nothing better to do than remove staples. It is still a fact that broadsheets are far better than tabloids as they stay in place more easily and the puppies don’t make such a mess of their pens. However, there is a real science to it as the size of the pen is not exactly equal to a certain number of broadsheets so a mixture of sizes is used in a jigsaw fashion. At one point last year, when doing the big pen, my Mistress had even got to the point where she knew which supplement from which paper fitted best in which corner. You really need to take a break and get a life when you realise you’ve plummeted to those sorts of depths. We like standard weight newsprint best as it is more absorbent. As soon as you get up to the premium grades the pee doesn’t soak in so well and don’t even get me started on the problems with magazines! Not only does the print come off on your paws but they are completely useless to soak up the best the puppies can do.
We have a visitor today. She is a friend who will be having a puppy in a year or so. I think she really wants to see the puppies but I’m rather hoping she might give me some fuss too as I need it at the moment. I realise at seven years of age I am not quite so cute as the puppies, but I’ve had a hard time and I need a little tender loving care. Actually that’s not true – I need A LOT of TLC not just a little. My Mistress on the other paw simply says she needs some more sleep!
Alfie Dog with a little help from Rosemary J Kind alfie@alfiedog.me.uk
Alfie’s Diary – the Book is available at Amazon UK –https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B00583ZGSA
You can find short stories to read at www.alfiedog.com