Minnie meets Santa!

Mum took me to Santa at an Animates pet store this week!

I must admit I was rather scared of him… in fact I was trembling at first! I’m not used to seeing people in big red suits!

Santa was lovely though, he gave me really really nice cuddles, and I was more than happy to climb on his lap.

Mind you, I was equally happy to get off his lap again and check out the nom aisle with mum!

Minnie meets Santa

A time for giving…

As well as giving cuddles to as many people as I can, I like to spread joy far and wide. (That’s the whole point about my cartoon book, it is a smile-transmission mechanism for people who are too far away to have the pleasure of rubbing my belly!)

This year, mum and I have also made small contributions to New Zealand-based animal charities and welfare groups, such as Paw Justice and the SPCA. But our biggest contribution by far is our volunteer work for Outreach Therapy Pets, whereby we visit people in a care home every two weeks. As well as giving our time, mum pays for the petrol to drive me there and back each time. I love making these visits, it is pawsome to bring smiles to so many people in an hour or so!

I do hope that you too have the pleasure of rubbing a dog’s belly (or some other pet) over the holiday season.

Love ‘n’ licks,

Minnie x

To link to this post, use: https://www.minniethewestie.com/minnie-meets-santa

December 21, 2011

Wag ‘n’ Walk

A couple of weeks ago mum took me to the Wag ‘n’ Walk in Auckland Domain. Apparently this is the biggest dog event in New Zealand, and it raises money for the animal charity Paw Justice.

The Auckland Domain is Auckland’s oldest park, and it is located in the central suburbs. The park is 75 hectares (185 acres) in size… nice and big for us doggies!

We arrived at the Domain a bit early for the walk. It was a hot and sunny day; fortunately there were lots of nice, big, shady trees to sit under. I must admit that this was my favourite part of the day, as I managed to scrounge 3 belly rubs off total strangers! Ooooh, I do like my belly rubs… *dreamy look*

Relaxing under the shady trees before the walk... I wonder if that lady will give me any of her ice cream? I'd best keep looking, she might notice me and feed me some noms!

Minnie The Westie at the Wag n Walk, Auckland

And the walk is underway! There was lots of wagging and lots of walking. The doggies were all colours, shapes and sizes!

Yay, I found another white doggy! This one had a very nice smelling bum *sniff sniff*

There were other nice sniffs on the walk too, not just bum sniffs! This big old tree was very cool. I made sure there were no rabbits hiding in the holes between the roots!

We take a break under the tree - it was a very hot day. The building in the background is the Auckland Museum.

Mum took me home shortly after that photo was taken, as I was very tired and far too hot. The walk was fun, but I was all wagged ‘n’ walked out!

Love ‘n’ licks,

Minnie x

To link to this post, use: https://www.minniethewestie.com/wag-n-walk

December 17, 2011

Cartoon of the month: Dog years vs. human years

The holiday period is almost upon us. Apparently a lot of humans find this quite stressful!

My suggestion for you: if you feel stressed, cuddle your dog! (Fur therapy is great – for humans and for dogs!) And if you don’t have a dog, pat someone else’s friendly pooch. 🙂

Cartoon of the month December 2011

Dog years vs. human years… sometimes the humans just don’t realise how good they have it, eh! 😉

Hint: if you like my dog cartoons you can get the latest Minnie The Westie cartoon directly in your email In Box each month when you sign up for Minnie Mail… it’s free!

Or if you can’t wait till then, buy my cartoon book!

Till next time!

Love ‘n’ nose licks,

PS. Would you like to use Minnie The Westie dog cartoons? Click here to read about cartoon licensing. Hint: using my dog cartoons is free for non-commercial blogs and organisations such as dog clubs and dog rescues!

To link to this post, use: https://www.minniethewestie.com/cartoon-of-the-month-december-2011

December 1, 2011

Westie Walk with the Westie Club NZ

Being a member of the Westie Club NZ is fun! One of the events they organise each year is a Westie Walk in Cornwall Park, Auckland, New Zealand.

Cornwall Park is beautifully landscaped and incorporates the famous One Tree Hill. The park covers an area of about 120 hectares (296.5 acres), some of which is run as a farm. Yep, there are sheep and moo moos right in the middle of the Auckland urban sprawl!

The 2011 Westie Walk

This year’s Westie Walk was on Sunday 13 November, which is Spring time in New Zealand. A nice time of year for a walk!

Here are my photos from the day. And yes, you might spot the occasional Scottie too; they are part of the clan after all!

Who says it's just dogs that are food obsessed? The humans huddle around the BBQ... and that's before the walk has even started!

The walk gets underway! There are Westies in front of me...

... and there are even more Westies behind me!

Me, I have to stop and sniff every tree. This is hard work; there are a lot of trees in this park!

The Westie Walk is a great way to meet new friends. Here I am, playing with a new furiend. Sadly I didn't catch her name, we were too busy running running running!

Of course, it's good to see old friends on the walk too. That's me, Minnie on the right. In the middle of the photo is my boyfriend, Morris. And on the left is Magnum, another Westie furiend that I see most weeks.

We stop for some water... it is a hot day! The stairs also make a good photo opawtunity. I am in there somewhere with mum!

Amazing! There are white, fluffy things in the park that aren't Westies!

After the walk, the dogs and humans alike relax in the shade and enjoy some noms. There's a sausage sizzle for the humans (though I did get a small bit of sausage too!). And there were some free dried chicken necks for the doggies. Nom nom!

I was soooo tired after the walk, I fell asleep as soon as I got in the car!

When I got home, I had a snooze as soon as I got through the front door! I didn't even make it onto the couch or bed! Or into the kitchen (where the humans were doing food things)... now THAT'S a tired Westie!!

I’m looking forward to the Westie Club’s next event already!

Love ‘n’ licks,

Minnie x

To link to this post, use: https://www.minniethewestie.com/westie-walk-with-the-westie-club-nz

November 14, 2011

“Fetch”! … What happens next?

Do you like to throw balls and toys for your dog – and expect them to “fetch”?

Yeah, my humans do that sometimes.

And sometimes it’s fun… like, when there are noms involved. So my rule is “no noms, no fetch!” Simple.

Fetch!

Even then, I do the fetching on my own turns. Running with a full belly isn’t very comfortable, so I’ll only fetch until I’m all nommed out.

You have to make these things work for you, y’know!

Nose licks (nom-scented ones),

Love from

PS. Mum used to have a Scottie dog when she was younger. She says that the Scottie could NEVER be bribed into fetching. Whenever mum threw a ball, the Scottie would give her an indignant look, saying “well, if you want the ball, you shouldn’t have thrown it, you silly woman. Get it yourself!”

BOL!!! I think this Scottie was wise too! Us terriers are very wise!

To link to this post, use: https://www.minniethewestie.com/fetch-what-happens-next

November 10, 2011

Cartoon of the month: How to protect your possessions with dog slobber!

Last month I received a number of worried pee-mails and Tweets expressing concern about Poppy the pushy cat. (You can see last month’s cartoon here.)

So this month I’d like to reassure you that I’m OK… I have my own, sneaky ways of dealing with cheeky kitties!

Minnie The Westie: cartoon of the month November 2011

Oh yeah, never underestimate the power of dog slobber, my furiends!

Hint: if you like my dog cartoons you can get the latest Minnie The Westie cartoon directly in your email In Box each month when you sign up for Minnie Mail… it’s free!

Or if you can’t wait till then, buy my cartoon book!

Till next time!

Love ‘n’ nose licks,

To link to this post, use: https://www.minniethewestie.com/cartoon-of-the-month-november-2011

November 1, 2011

Willo and Holly the reading dogs!

Willo and Holly are two of my Westie furiends who regularly hijack their mum’s Twitter account… they are wuffly!

On one of the occassions when the dogs allowed their mum to Tweet, she added some pawsome photos of Willo and Holly reading my book. Too cute!

Willo checks out the 'Minnie The Westie' book

Up on the couch… typical Westies, getting nice and comfy! (Quite right, too!)

Holly gets stuck in for a good read!

Notice how the colours of Holly’s collar almost match the colours of the book cover?! A happy coincidence, methinks!

A big thank you to Willo and Holly’s mum for letting me use your photos. 🙂 Extra big nose licks for you! *mwah*

Love ‘n’ licks,

PS. If you’d like to give your Westies (or humans, or yourself) a copy of my cartoon book, you can find out on my Store page where it’s available.

And feel free to email, Tweet or Facebook me with photos of your dogs enjoying Minnie books and merchandise! It’s always lovely to hear from you! 🙂

To link to this post, use: https://www.minniethewestie.com/willo-and-holly

October 29, 2011

Minnie The Westie book available in UK and NZ online bookstores!

Minnie The Westie book is now available in UK and NZ online bookstores!

Minnie The Westie - book cover I was just doing a bit of web surfing and spotted that my book “Minnie The Westie: The Adventures Of A West Highland Terrier Cartoon Dog” is now available to order in online bookstores in the UK and in New Zealand (as well as the US)!

Here are the links:

Link for the Paperback Minnie The Westie book at Amazon.co.uk.
Link for the Paperback Minnie The Westie book at Fishpond.co.nz.

I’m about to put all of these links on my Store page (where you’ll also find the US links and Kindle edition links)… gosh this is exciting!

The MinnieMania is spreading!

Woofs ‘n’ wags,

To link to this post, use: https://www.minniethewestie.com/westie-book-uk-nz-bookstores

October 15, 2011

Belly rubs can be tiring!

Some of the cartoons in my book are based on real events; others are made up.

The ones about my visits to people in a care home are absolutely true: mum and I volunteer for Outreach Therapy Pets. Each fortnight we visit people in a care home, and most of them are elderly.

Me – I love it! I love how they smile the moment I walk into the room, and I love all the belly rubs and cuddles they give me! Talk about a win-win situation!

I’m always very tired afterwards though. This is shown in my cartoons:

And I’m tired in real life too!

Note how the fur on my tummy is tousled from all the belly rubs I received at the care home!

I’m worn out after writing this blog post… I must do more napping!

Love ‘n’ licks,

To link to this post, use: https://www.minniethewestie.com/belly-rubs-can-be-tiring

October 14, 2011

MinnieMania: what a whirlwind of a week!

Wow, it has been an absolute whirlwind of a week since my book launched last week… talk about MinnieMania!

First of all, a shipment of books arrived – mum says these are review copies for doggy magazines. After the paw-ress release she distributed last week, she got requests for review copies the world over!

Here I am checking the shipment of books. 🙂

Mmmm, these books sure look nommy!

I also got lots of fan mail this week, as well as lovely messages on Facebook and Twitter. And one special friend even brought me presents! (Of the nommy variety… thank you!) 🙂

After all that excitement, mum and dad took me away for a much-needed weekend break.

I am happy to report that while I was relaxing, mum was busy sketching some new cartoons. She says that there might be another Minnie The Westie book next year!

I am checking that mum's new cartoons are adequately cute and funny!

So yes, this truly is the beginning of MinnieMania!

And if you’re wondering why I do it, it’s simple: it’s to make people smile. Some people (sadly) live to far away to be able to rub my belly, so this is a way for me to bring you smiles wherever you live.

Love ‘n’ nose licks,

To link to this post, use: https://www.minniethewestie.com/minniemania

October 11, 2011

Minnie meets Santa!

A time for giving…

Wag ‘n’ Walk

Cartoon of the month: Dog years vs. human years

Westie Walk with the Westie Club NZ

The 2011 Westie Walk

“Fetch”! … What happens next?

Cartoon of the month: How to protect your possessions with dog slobber!

Willo and Holly the reading dogs!

Minnie The Westie book is now available in UK and NZ online bookstores!

Belly rubs can be tiring!

MinnieMania: what a whirlwind of a week!

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