I just wanted to share this statistical information with anybody interested and can only lift my eyebrows in disbelief looking at the number of hits during thee closing first year of my active writing. And I am aware that a dog’s writing is quite unusual for you humans to read, so I appreciate it all the more. Chris told me that we have had hits from a couple more exotic places like Norway, Denmark, Lebanon, Greece, Hongkong, Malta, Italy and Georgia. Thanks to you all for providing motivation and joy to me and causing Chris to sigh at least twice a week (when I am blocking her PC), yours, Hapoo.

Country of origin, as of June 27, 2002
Position. Number of hits; % of total
1. Iran; 285; 29.1 %
2. United States; 202; 20.6 %
3. Germany; 191; 19.5 %
4. Canada; 60; 6.1 %
5. United Kingdom; 52; 5.3 %
6. Australia; 46; 4.7 %
7. Netherlands, The; 36; 3.7 %
8. Poland; 11; 1.1 %
9. France; 9; 0.9 %
10. Mexico; 9; 0.9 %
Unknown; 17; 1.7 %
The rest; 62; 6.3 %


Total
980

Hello friends:
I need to tell you about these past three days. On Monday Chris stayed in bed for quite a while talking. Later I found out that Shadow had woken her up again, this time unintentionally. Chris did not seem to mind, she just stayed in bed and talked, until Mom came to see if she was willing to get up and have breakfast at all. Actually, this happened yesterday, Tuesday. Although everybody else was gone, they had breakfast upstairs.
After lunch we all went to the city by car, where we attended the lecture at university, followed by something Chris calls a guided tour. One person is walking ahead, turning around from time to time shouting something at the others listening. They don’t run, but listen patiently.
Then we hurried to the central train station, where we did not get far. Just as we reached the staircase, somebody came up and greeted us. It was a friend of Chris’ from the time I was probably either not yet born or not trained as guide dog. We went by friend’s car back into the city, where the two ladies had ice-cream and coffee and spent their time talking. We walked through several stores and they had another drink, and then the friend was so kind to drop us off at home.

This morning after breakfast we went shopping. Chris did not leave me outside, but took me with her everywhere. At one point I had to wait at the table while they got food for themselves, but I did not mind, since Chris never went far. It took a while until I found out what exactly Chris had bought.
I find her sitting on the couch operating her computer. She has moved the keys from in front of the PC and now takes it either to the couch or the armchair, depending on how close a tennis match is to the end. Strange correlation I would say, but I have mentioned on many occasions that humans generally are strange. Now if only one of you readers could tell me what is strange about Chris and what is strange about mankind…
And then mom and Chris have something similar like telephones, only they can move these devices freely, and they have speakers on them. Whenever Chris wants to tell mom something, she presses a button and then talks. One day she will have all her apartment with technology that beeps, talks, vibrates, anything you can think of. Well there you are, I will have to quit now, Chris wants to watch her favourite Nicolas Lapentti (God forbid if I spell that wrongly) playing tennis, yours, Hapoo.

Here is part two of the wedding – if you haven’t already read part one, scroll down to the post below.
Okay, off we go:
We arrived at the place where we were celebrating. Sister Suse had put a paper heart in front of the door. Sister Dorothee and her husband each had to start cutting it out at one side until they could remove it and enter the house through the opening. Their only tools were nail clips. Everyone else followed. Then Chris put me down on one side of the house and left me there forever. She herself stood around talking to her cousin’s husband and then to nephew Hans. Then they sat down at the table and continued talking. At one point I was fed up lying around, so I got up and looked for my master. Her cousin Christine was sitting beside her, but I finally found Chris. She permitted me to lie down under the table, which was still far better than having to stay at the other end of the room, so far from her.

Later we went out and watched the kids on the playground. Then Chris handed me over to Christine’s husband, while she was playing on a piano that did not sound like a piano. It had two sets of keys that looked like a step, and she was talking to her sisters who re-arranged a part of the room.

Then they started talking and singing, and at one point even Chris got up and said something and walked around singing. I don’t know why she did not pick me up then, but she did not seem to mind me staying where I was kept.

Mom and Chris and I went outside and put bags and stuff into our room, and I got the chance to run around a little. Then everybody ate again, after sister Suse had a performance, too. I was too far to see or smell, but people seemed to have liked it. I forgot that Sister Anna treated me with a piece of cake, which was just great. Apart from that I never received any of the food the others had. Hans took Chris for food and talked to her, and later the other nephew went outside with us, when the loud music started. It was really noisy, but I coped with it. Chris petted me a lot, and when she decided to go to the smoking area, I got loads of pets from everybody. However, it was nice when Chris finally took me to the room and went to sleep. I barked when mom arrived, but then went straight back to sleep.

The next morning – I still had not gotten any food – I was let off the leash and then we went and sat at the breakfast table for ages. There came this little girl and sat down on the floor beside me. She kept petting me until Chris told her that I needed a little rest. Then she came back and continued petting, which was just wonderful. There seemed to have been a bit of trouble with one of the sisters, but why would I care? Chris was there, I received lots of pets, and everything was just perfect. Everybody left, until only Suse, mom, Chris and I were remaining. The two others sat on a bench outside and smoked, Chris stood and listened to their conversation, and Gorki and I were allowed to run free and explore. It was nice and quiet, until we got into the car and left for home.

There Dorothee, Wolfgang, Lena and Henning and Hans were on the balcony, but then we – I mean they – all unpacked cars, and then Chris took me downstairs. There she checked her computer and telephone. We went on the balcony, they watched a video that reminded me of the ceremony in church, except that it was in the living room this time, and then we really went downstairs after the evening walk.

All for now and from the wedding, the only thing that’s left to say is that I got a lot of food that night and loads of praise, and that everybody left on Monday, except mom, of course. Have a wonderful time now, yours, Hapoo.

Hello friends:
Did you know that yesterday we had quite an exciting trip? Already in the morning everything changed. Chris had her breakfast downstairs. The past days she had always spent her time upstairs with the growing family. She first took care of Gorki and me, and then had breakfast on her own, with coffee and bread, like she loves it. O and I need to mention that a phone call woke her up. From her good mood as she came out of her bedroom I gather that Shadow must have surprised her. They had a long talk, and Chris spent a few hours singing and whistling away. After breakfast she checked emails and did minor things in preparation of something I was yet to find out. Then she went upstairs, where they started talking in strange voices, singing and playing the piano. Chris came back, and then the stress began.

She ran around looking for her phone charger, taking a quick shower and then starting to get dressed. Soon Dorothee joined her in her bedroom, and both came out in dresses I had never seen or smelled them wear. Dorothee was quite nervous, and Chris had to go upstairs for her, ask people to help or check how far they were. Finally we all went outside, me in harness and Chris in dress and strange shoes with high heals, that made her taller. We walked a bit and then waited. Hans came and asked if we wanted to go together. Of course Chris agreed. He is her oldest nephew and took care of us all day long since then. They had quite some fun as we were walking towards the church, where many people were already waiting, women left, men right of the door, Dorothee and Wolfgang marching in after the priest. Priests are strange, wearing strange clothes and all that. Hans’ sister took us with her, and we went and sat down beside Chris’ aunt and uncle.

And then came a long pause, nothing to do for me, just lie in front of this bench, my space was narrow, Chris hardly moved, and when she got up she firmly told me to stay. Why, I just wanted to guide her to leave! I soon found out that she did not intend to leave, she just stood there, hands somehow put together doing nothing. Another human way of standing I don’t understand. Priest was talking, everybody was listening, except small kids, and that was it. In between they were singing, Chris did not, and Uncle neither. But Chris says the songs were lovely. Once somebody played what Chris calls a saxophone, which she liked even more. And she was fascinated by the organ playing. They use musical instruments to create some kind of noise they call music!
After a long time of singing and talking and somebody running around with cameras we left, kids threw flowers around in the aisle, and sister Dorothee and Wolfgang left, and everybody after them.

Outside a horse carriage was waiting, they said it looked really beautiful, white horses, wooden carriage, driver waiting, and they, meaning Dorothee, Wolfgang and Chris’ nephew Henning, not arriving. Before that we all had to stand and have a mass photo taken of all of us, and now those missing three were also held back for photos. When they finally arrived, we left for home and picked up their car, Hans, another sister’s husband, mom, Chris and I. We soon caught up with the carriage and followed, just like all other cars did. I will tell you in my later update what happened then, it’s going to be interesting, yours, Hapoo.

Hello everybody:
Did you know that I have had dog company for the past two days?
I might have told you that sister Suse has a small dog she calls Gorki. A while ago he had broken one of his legs; as Suse is hosting another sister of Chris', she asked my master to take Gorki. It would be cruel if the little girl ran after him and he could not run away as fast as he would need to, don't you agree?
Chris has made him a nice bed by one of her cabinets, and he even has his own little food and water bowl there. She has to pick him up to go outside for his business, because climbing up and going down stairs on only three legs is a bit of a problemHe is a nice and quiet guy, I don't mind him.
Chris has also started working with me again, she tells me to stay on one of her t-shirts while she is leaving, and as I gather it, I am supposed to stay there, or else I will not be rewarded with snaks. She is cruel, but I am afraid her methods are effective. So until I get more food I say goodbye and wish you a nice day, yours, Hapoo.

Hi from an exhausted Hapoo:
Want to know what happened to me today? Well nothing until late afternoon, when Chris took me for a short walk and then sister Dorothee and us went to the city in her car. Her car is great and spacious, sleeping is wonderful in it.
After we had dropped off Lena at her home, we went to the usual shopping centre. They attached me to a different bench this time, Chris gave me a few more treats and then left.
When I could not see her anymore, I thought about my situation and remembered the most effective tools I had, the teeth. I started my work, and it did not take long until I had cut my leash. Once that was done, I set off to find Chris. I ran across the car park and in and out the usual shopping centre they usually go to. Finally a lady took me by what was left of my leash, and we waited somewhere. Soon Chris and Dorothee arrived, and I was really thrilled to see them. Chris stayed outside with me, she had coke and I got water. God; that was really exhausting, the run through the heat and not really knowing what to do and where to find Chris. This lovely lady sure deserved a complete lick of her hands. I wonder what Chris will do the next time we go shopping. I remember she had a talk with a lady at the desk where I was handed over to her, and if I am not mistaken, she got the solid permission to take me inside the next time. The lady at the desk even called her supervisor to get the permission confirmed, really nice! I wish they were as kind at the nearby discount store
But now I will go back on my desk and pretend I am the nicest, most innocent little fluffy black girl ever, until Chris takes me for the evening walk – sounds like a good plan, doesn’t it? Have a wonderful evening wherever you are and not that my master seems healed from the tennis disease, yours, Hapoo.

Hello to all:
Can you believe what Chris did yesterday? Or I am not sure if it was her or some magical thing she was able to do – an extraordinary dog….. Well here goes:
I was lying on my mat, grandpa Ajax was lying in the corridor, which is much cooler than his usual kingdom outside, and the door was open. And Chris was playing at her computer.
So far the setting is not at all unusual.
Suddenly I heard a dog bark. That was short, I did not care. Several other barks followed. I got alert and lifted my head.
Then I heard a dog making the noise I make when I am excited or want to run to Chris. That repeated several times, so I ran out of the living room, barked and tried to look for this other dog. Chris called me back and made me sit beside her computer chair. Ajax must have gotten as confused, for he went and looked in the living room. She told him to go out, which he did.
Chris did not allow me to go back to my mat, but had me stay right there. She petted me with one hand and played on her computer with the other hand. The dog noises kept repeating – damn and I don’t know where they came from!
Only after I stopped growling and barking at this invisible dog she let me go back to my mat – this is really something strange, wouldn’t you think? And up until this moment I have no idea where this other dog came from.
Falling from heaven is excluded, because the other stories of the house are above us. Coming through a door or window is out too, for both Ajax and I are watching them. The noise came from the direction of the other side of Chris’ desk, but I swear there was no dog either!
Ajax did not seem to care anymore, he just lay calmly outside. I hope this damn invisible dog never does that to me again!!!
Have a less adventurous day than I do, yours, Hapoo.

Hi folks:
I almost never complain, believe me! But do you know how much time one can spend by the TV set, note taker on knees, writing scores and listening to a ball bounce, people argue and one blurring out the same numbers all the time?
Chris can forever, and she’s driving me mad with this! When she does this, which she still calls watching tennis, she does not care what time it is and even tells mom to have supper on her own – terrible!

Yesterday, to be fair, she did something wonderful. She prepared a chewing bone for me and hid other great smelling snacks inside it. While she was watching tennis I managed to chew the entire bone, it was such delight!
So you see, she is not as bad as it seems! Praise human creativity, yours, Hapoo.

Hello folks:
Did I tell you that a couple of days ago Chris and I went on a short trip to Rostock, to see another friend of hers, Sabine? Although Sabine is afraid of dogs, she is a brave lady. Chris always kept me on the leash, so I would not lick Sabine. There was nothing special to that visit. The ladies mainly sat somewhere, or Chris sat while Sabine was preparing lunch, and talked about people I have never heard of. From what I heard I gather that they were talking about people from Chris’ dormitory time. She and Sabine went to the same school together, but attended different grades. They could not stop doing that. Later in the afternoon Sabine’s grandma, mother and father joined, and they had coffee or tea and some cake, of which Chris said it was delicious. Chris had originally planned to go by train, but Sabine’s mom said she had to go shopping anyway, so she dropped us off at home by car. Nice lady would say!
We went for our evening walk alone; mom was not there, so we did not take Ajax. It was nice to be with Chris all day, she did not lock me away anywhere, but kept me near her most of the time, though lying under the bench or table was not too pleasant. I guess you’d find things to complain about all the time, so I will stop being very content with the day as it went. Let me remark quickly that Chris had picked up watching tennis quite a bit. She can spend hours in front of her TV, isn’t that awfully boring? Have a wonderful time wherever you are, byebye, yours, Hapoo.

Hello folks:
Did I tell you that a couple of days ago Chris and I went on a short trip to Rostock, to see another friend of hers, Sabine? Although Sabine is afraid of dogs, she is a brave lady. Chris always kept me on the leash, so I would not lick Sabine. There was nothing special to that visit. The ladies mainly sat somewhere, or Chris sat while Sabine was preparing lunch, and talked about people I have never heard of. From what I heard I gather that they were talking about people from Chris’ dormitory time. She and Sabine went to the same school together, but attended different grades. They could not stop doing that. Later in the afternoon Sabine’s grandma, mother and father joined, and they had coffee or tea and some cake, of which Chris said it was delicious. Chris had originally planned to go by train, but Sabine’s mom said she had to go shopping anyway, so she dropped us off at home by car. Nice lady would say!
We went for our evening walk alone; mom was not there, so we did not take Ajax. It was nice to be with Chris all day, she did not lock me away anywhere, but kept me near her most of the time, though lying under the bench or table was not too pleasant. I guess you’d find things to complain about all the time, so I will stop being very content with the day as it went. Let me remark quickly that Chris had picked up watching tennis quite a bit. She can spend hours in front of her TV, isn’t that awfully boring? Have a wonderful time wherever you are, byebye, yours, Hapoo.

Hello everybody:
Have I told you that grandpa Ajax broke little Gorki’s leg? Lena took Gorki for a walk and carried his leash on her shoulders. Everything went well until the moment the two little ones returned – Gorki is about 20 centimetres tall I would estimate. All of a sudden both dogs started growling and showing aggressions towards each other. Mom and sister Dorothee were standing just beside them while this was happening, so mom separated them. But they were not quite finished yet and tried to fight again. The result was that little Gorki had a broken leg and grandpa Ajax a scratched eye. Chris had heard Gorki cry, so she just left me in the living room and went outside. They had put Gorki back upstairs into the entrance room, where he usually waits. After they had gone for a little walk, Chris stayed a while with Gorki, petted and talked to him until he stopped trembling. And then she made him move from the door to a quiet corner by his water bowl, so the door would not hit him.

When Suse returned from wherever she was, she took the car and drove to the emergency vet. He had to deal with a horse that had been bitten by two massive dogs, and with another dog, so Suse and Gorki only returned at 4:30 the next morning. I need to mention that Suse had gotten a cut in her foot as she walked over a piece of glass in the kitchen. She had to go to the doctor for immunisation, but the foot did not stop hurting, so they cooled it with the last remaining ice cubes from our (Chris’ and mine) fridge and finally disinfected it. T must have gotten better then.

See, that’s what happens when you don’t expect and need it to happen, all at once! However, I do hope that all of you, if you are still reading this, are having a good time to enjoy with summer on the verge of celebrating complete victory, yours, gratefully, Hapoo.

Hi friends:
Last weekend two friends were visiting, Susi and her husband. They arrived late one night and just sat with Chris and talked. Later Chris just left and went upstairs and never returned. I stayed outside in the corridor most of the night. Susi could not persuade me to go back into the living room, where her husband was sleeping. In the morning I heard Chris coming downstairs, so I greeted her with a lot of enthusiasm, joy and excitement. Something could have happened to her, and I was not there!

After the morning walk and a nice breakfast we went to the city by car, which we left somewhere near the city centre. We took a couple of street cars until we finally arrived at the central train station. From there we took the city train and arrived at this flower exhibition again. And there the horror began: We walked and walked and walked, and they kept looking at flowers, trees, meadows, statues, fountains and sculptures forever! I cannot tell you much about this, only that after a while I got incredibly tired and did not feel like walking anymore! I dragged myself on, because I did not see any sign of weakness from my master. I had a great sleeping time when we finally went into a restaurant at 8:00 pm. You might feel more pity for me if I tell you that the weather was warm again, and that Chris surprised me with quite a few showers of water. She insists they cool me down, but I still don’t like them too much.

When we were finally back at home we did not walk for long. I just “went to the bathroom�, s Chris calls it at least for herself, and then I made it understood that I wanted to go back home. I was too tired to even go outside that night and look for Chris. In the morning she came downstairs again and took me for a lovely walk, just the two of us.

After Susi and her husband had had breakfast, we walked to the church, which both guests enjoyed and took pictures of. Then we walked a bit of Chris’ and Shadow’s favourite route, and then the two left. In the meantime sister Dorothee had left as well, so only Suse and Lena were with us. Chris again spent all her day watching tennis – how boring!
Don’t think that this was all, there’s more to come soon! Have a wonderful time everybody, byebye, Hapoo.