When he was good, he was very, very good. But when he was bad...

Where to leave the big boy when I go on vacation can pose something of a problem. He doesn't do very well in boarding and the plan I'd made for his accommodation when I initially booked my Christmas trip, back in July, wasn't available any more.

These days, we're veryy lucky to have one of Billy's biggest fans, and an incredibly generous friend, living downstairs. Which meant that he got to stay at home for the majority of my trip, and as a bonus, I got lots of photo and video updates on my phone!

First he ran around with Izzy and Fifty till he zonked out

Then he played his favorite game with Dutch (he was very disappointed when he didn't get his own Boston baby brother for Christmas).

He spent a few days over Christmas at Kritter Kare in Elmhurst, which is a fantastic cage free boarding facility. Bruce and Alfred were both there too and Rosie is great at dealing with pooches who don't always enjoy other boarding facilities. Billy got on well with everyone there but especially with a four month old shitzu who loved playing with his tail.

He returned to Aunty K's and was soon joined by a new playmate. Being the amazingly compassionate person that she is, K bought Winnie from a guy who was kicking her, to keep her safe! She's a giant lovebug with everyone and she's looking for a home so send me a message if you're interested.

I was so impressed with Billy for all of his good behavior. So of course the naughty little beastie decided to mix things up. First he took exception to being left upstairs one day, and did THIS to my front door:

Then he took exception to the Christmas table runner on the coffee table and peed on it - and incidentally, all over the framed photos that were lying on the bottom shelf awaiting hanging. Then again, that's a timely reminder for the New Year that I need to stop procrastinating on finishing up DIY projects.

As I got on the plane home he was snuggling and smooching with Fifty and Winnie. By the time I'd arrived in Chicago, he'd gotten into a scuffle with Fifty and was at the vet getting stitches and a load of drains in his leg. Look at the feeble creature that greeted me on his return from the vet.

The poor little man just backed his bottom into my lap and sat there quivering and whimpering. He couldn't even take advantage of how bad I felt for my boy and eat lots of yummy treats because he had no appetite. It was hours before I could even get his raw chicken dinner down him. We snuggled up in bed and, as I'd caught the plague from my cousin's little girl, we didn't do much else for the next few days. We're both up and about now and you can see that Bilbo's leg is mending nicely.

Never a quiet life with Bilbo around.