News Hound Ady & Flo www.sunlive.co.nz

Flo and I are country girls at heart, but we spend a lot of our time together at the office while the bosses are pretending to work. But every day we get out to romp in the green, green grass.

The days have their highs and lows. One particular day this week, was a very special ‘high' for Flo.

The best part of the day is going out for runs. Every day, uncle takes us out for an hour or so, to charge around in the wilds. Then in the afternoons we have another outing, sometimes to Sulphur Point for a run and swim in the harbour or maybe for a short burst around the redoubt and the rose gardens.

There's often a few derelict citizens hanging around up there, usually partaking of a variety of substances and refreshments.

This week Flo and I were fetching sticks and things when a particular picnic ‘on the grass' (speaking figuratively here) caught her attention. Being a typical Labrador, she helped herself to a tasty little cookie that had been left in a handy position.

'Hey man, your mutt has munched my hash cake,” said a voice from the haze.

The cookie had some special herbal medicinal properties and there was one very unhappy stoner missing a special part of his afternoon picnic on the grass.

We made a discreet exit from the park, leaving the customer in a dazed state of agitation.

Back in our yard, I was quite concerned about the episode but Flo was looking more relaxed by the minute. There were some moments of paranoia. 'Ady, did you hear that? Sounded like a cat. Maybe a whole gang of cats. A whole gang of angry cats who want their dope back.”

That passed. Within half an hour she was getting quite vocal, singing a drawling kind of happy howl. Dog talk doesn't make much sense at the best of times, but this carry on was something special. Her back legs seemed to have a separate agenda to her front half.

There was a fair bit of aimless loping going on, and I ignored her attempts to have a game with the rope, which she called ‘chasing the hemp'.

The boss was quite concerned and googled a few subjects to check the danger to dogs of substance abuse. Which, if you believe the stories on the net, are quite major. It seems the effect of weed on dogs is much more severe than it is on humans.

By this stage Flo was having bladder control issues, at which time the boss was considering calling the Mobile Vet.

The Labrador appetite however was not diminished and she demanded an early dinner.

After a good feed, Flo seemed to settle and eventually fell into a very sound sleep in the bean bag, listening to some vintage Bob Marley.

She woke occasionally during the evening, notably during 'Border Control” and the programme when Ted, the drug sniffer, was doing his thing on TV1.

She was pretty unsettled all night and made quite a few trips to the lawn. She seems to have recovered fully by the morning, but we're keeping a close eye on her, especially in the park.

We figured the amounts ingested were small, unlike the stories on the interweb about dogs eating entire stashes. That could be quite tragic.

That's it for this week. Until next, doobie careful. – Ady.