Tags

, , , ,

He made the Nice list. I am not sure how, but he did it. I was thinking that maybe he may have slipped onto the naughty list after his Munch like behaviour, but I was wrong. Santa, friends and family all made sure that Munch had a lovely Christmas surrounded by edible and non-edible gifts and lots of love and attention. It appears that Santa was in a forgiving mood this year. Even when Munch sniffed out all his presents from under the tree one night (thoughtfully leaving everyone else’s) and unwrapped them on the living room floor, Santa chose to let it slip.

Santa has been in a very forgiving mood this year towards Munch. It may be because he knows that when Munch becomes guide dog Minister as soon as the harness is slipped on, he becomes a total angel guiding me around. Well, he is usually an angel on harness minus a few slip ups. I mean, the time in a supermarket when he peeked his head through a man’s legs to sniff his sausage that he held in his hand (just to clarify, a dog food sausage) and nearly got me chucked out and him put on a dodgy doggy register was an innocent mistake. As was the time that he chose to jump nearly 6 foot up a tree (whilst on harness) to play chase with a friendly squirrel was a momentary lapse in concentration. The time that he shot in between my lovely 4’11” mothers 25” legs to give her a loving cuddle in my Uncles funeral which left her riding him like a backward facing jockey was a miscalculation in spatial awareness. None of which were his fault.

He is always the first one to offer help in anyway he can. Let’s talk about the time that he helped clean up the immediate environment in my granddaughter’s party. Let’s be honest, why put carpet down in an indoor play area when food can get squished into the carpet? His hoovering up of the debris from the food droppers was his way of alleviating extra work from the poor stressed out staff. It was after this experience that he took it upon himself to clear up non-edible but totally play worthy objects. On one occasion whilst out shopping, we are still unsure if he picked up a stray tennis ball in a shop or on the ground outside, but he was first one the scene to remove this dangerous trip hazard. Only as he jumped in the car did my friend notice his heroic gesture, secured in his mouth. A few months on and his face has yet to appear on Crimewatch for theft, so we are putting it down to his innate environmentalist streak and not kleptomania. This dog is all heart.

His off-duty life throughout the year has been just as eventful and equally concerning but at least it has not been boring. From his weakness for humping golden coloured male Labradors to leading other dogs into mischief, he loves to express his leadership. Getting stuck in the most random of places and falling of beds has become a weekly habit that he seems to be reluctant to let go of. I have learnt to appreciate his Lordships sense of entitlement and stubbornness that makes him who he is. Angus the cat on the other hand, is struggling to bond with Munch despite trying his best by rubbing into Munch and kissing him daily. The incident with a dead rodent that Angus gifted us one night plus a few chewed-up spiders that Munch mourned over has made Munch stay distant from this feline destroyer.

2018 has been an eventful year with this furry soul mate of mine. With our book being released in seven months, I wonder if anyone will believe that he is a fully trained guide dog and not an imposter in a Hi-Vis harness. I hope you have enjoyed reading about his antics over the last year and we will always be here if you fancy reading some more of our daily lives in the next year to come. All of you who read and comment on our posts are always in our thoughts as we love to read about your lives too. Know that your writing makes such an impact on people that we may only ever meet online but their energy is omnipresent.
P.s. if you too struggle to do things that will keep you on the nice list, rest assured that if this little Minster Munch can remain on the nice list, you can too. As you step into 2019 and ever wonder what to do in a situation, just stop and think what Munch would do and do the same. Or maybe not….