TBK tells- Chester, age 8 months

Chester, covered in mud after escaping again!

When I first got Chester in July, he was 3 months old and very small. I had to carry him upstairs at night. Since then, he has grown very fast and become very makulit (naughty). My former colleague, Richard Atkinson, suggested that a puppy Labrador was like a 3-year-old child in a fur coat. At first, I thought he was right, but I now realise, as Chester turned 8 months old, that he is more like a 23-year-old with a master's degree.

First some background. I live in the blue house on the left in the picture above and I have new Philippine neighbours in the brown house on the right. Between us is a big metal pair of gates, to keep Chester in, stray dogs out, and keep us secure. When Chester was little, he could crawl underneath. Opposite is a very muddy lane where lots of dogs live and he would run over there, play with them and return covered in mud. Maggie, our landlady, had green netting put at the bottom of the gate which was as effective as a Chocolate fire guard. Chester just pushed it out of his way and continued on his journey. More recently a stray has eaten it all and pulled it off piece by piece. Not to be defeated Maggie had more plastic netting put on which has now been eaten away and Chester continues to escape and the strays keep coming in under the gate.

After watching my dog sitters, Noel and Frythy, who Chester loves to bits, I realised the only way to get him to come back was to offer him a dog treat. I would place it on his towel bed by the open front door and hide.

Then he would come in, grab the treat from the towel and run off to play in the mud again!

So, the other day I attached rope to the door so I could pull it shut behind him as he grabbed the treat. I had been watering the plants in the courtyard so had left the back door open. Chester enters, grabs the treat, sees the front door close, runs to the back door, into the garden and around the side of the house and back out under the gate and down the muddy lane. On the way he stopped and raises two paws at me (ok I made that bit up!)

The back door now has two bolts and a new tougher lock to stop Chester escaping that way!

I will have to find another way to stop him getting under the gate- any suggestions, let me know!

The only way to keep him clean is to take him to the seaside as he loves swimming

We were going to swim at the Microtel the other day when I was told there would be a power cut as Chester overheats without AC! However, the power cut did not materialise so we stayed at home.

I will come back with further updates on Chester's progress next year, if I do not kill him for messing up my clean house! I seem to spend all my time washing towels that he gets dirty (about 10 a week) and Frythy and Noel now spend four hours a week sweeping and mopping floors after Chester gets them all dirty! Chester is usually fast asleep by the time they come at 5 pm (having woken me up at 2.30 am to be let out to pee and pooh and then be fed and then escaping under the gate to play with his friends. Maybe an electric current would do the trick?!

A rare photo of a clean Chester on a clean towel

Also, just a quick reminder that we are currently touring Palawan completing photoshoots of Chester with his friends in Palawan's most scenic locations which we will upload to the TBK Facebook page one month at a time, starting on 1.1.23

Do not miss it!

PS Chester got a respiratory infection before our Christmas party which meant he would not eat or go out and slept most of the day. The vet also banned him from sleeping in my bedroom in case I caught the bacteria. So currently he is on medication ( tablets, cream and a powder dissolved in water) which he hates. Hopefully he will recover on our pre christmas vacation by the sea at Surya beach! Special thanks to our vet , Miguel Angel Ungson, at Palawan Animal health Centre for seeing Chester so quickly and diagnosing and explaining what was the matter and how to fix it.