* Thinking of my friend, Max Dog in South Africa and his family, at this difficult time – wishing them happiness, peace and love in their time together.
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Can you believe it – twice in the last few days, the Postman Human stopped by our house and said he had a package for ME! 
Max & JD the Schnauzer Brothers
How exciting! The first package was from my blog friends, Max & JD, who live in a faraway place called England. Their humans had been travelling to another faraway place called Egypt and they had got a little present for me from there…a personalised bandana!
See? The bandana has my name on it written in ‘hieroglyphics‘ which are special writing pictures used by humans living in Egypt a long time ago…how cool is that?! 
Well, as some of you know, I have a LOT of bandanas - my humans love to put bandanas on me when we go out walking – and this new one is a great addition to my collection! I couldn’t wait to try it on…and then I had an idea! Remember that clicker training game “Fun with a Box”? Well, I could do my own version: ‘Fun with a Bandana’! 
Starting with the traditional look…
Then how about a bit of rustic ‘peasant style’?
Or I could do a cute retro Minnie Mouse look:
Or how about an elegant corsage?
Then there is the hot pink miniskirt… (oh, la! la! )
…or maybe a bit of Ascot flair - work those accessories, dahling!
Not forgetting (Hsin-Yi’s favourite!) – the evil Emperor from ‘Star Wars’ (er, pink version!) 
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"The force is strong in you, young Jedi...but do not underestimate the power of the PINK Side"
Kasha the Dainty Dane
And as if that wasn’t all exciting enough, I then had another package from my blog friend, Kasha the Dainty Dane, who lives in a faraway place called Chicago.
This was a little thank you for me helping her to set up her blog…you’re very welcome, Kasha! 
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Ooh, I love opening presents…
What beautiful wrapping paper!
Yay! A tug toy! I LOVE tug toys!
This is me doing my “Happy Dance”: When I’m happy and excited – like when my humans come home - I always have to grab something in my mouth and do a little “prancing walk” around the room…do you do this too?
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Nothing like a good game of tug! Grrrrrrr!
Of course, I still have to remember my manners even when I’m playing tug – like I must always immediately let go when my humans say “Give” – I learnt this from when I was a baby puppy, otherwise they just won’t play with me anymore and it is no fun. I also learnt that I must never put my teeth (even accidentally!) on their skin – if I did, the tug would “go dead” and my humans won’t play with me anymore…so now I’m really careful when I’m grabbing the tug toy.
Some people think that we doggies must never win a tug game otherwise we might get a bit bossy but it’s no fun if we lose all the time! My humans let me win sometimes – as long as I will always let go when they tell me to. And they always end the game when it’s still really exciting, so I know that they are the boss and they decide when to start and stop.
A lot of humans think that it is bad for us doggies to play tug – some even have silly ideas about it making us dominant - but as long as we are taught these important rules for playing, then it is a great game which most doggies LOVE playing and is a fantastic way for us to bond with our humans.
And guess what? There was also a present for Hsin-Yi in the box: special cards with our names and pictures on them! Isn’t it gorgeous! We love it! Personalised bandana…and now personalised stationary too!
Whew! And then as if all that wasn’t enough excitement, I also found out that I had got 2nd place at Niamh’s ‘Train Your Dog Photo Contest’ and the Reader’s Choice Award in the MangoMinster ‘Hard-Working Group’!
Congratulations to all the other winners and thank you to Niamh and Mango for hosting such fun competitions!
