Gizmo learnt to swim!

This here is Gizmo. He's five years old, going on six, and he's a Maltese/Shihtzu cross. Before I moved out of home, I'd have called him “my dog”; now I don't live there I usually call him my parents' dog, even though obviously I still love him just as much, and I guess he's more of a family dog.

Every week, my parents and sister come to visit me (as well as my partner and cat) in the flat where I live now. We take Gizmo on a walk down to the beach (since I'm lucky enough to live only ten minutes away!) – there is a dog beach section and a clifftop path with lots of shrubs that rats love to live in, so Gizmo has a blast.

( Since summer arrived, Gizmo has definitely been more daring about going into the water than he was before. )