Ten ways in which I am Nice Nobby

I received a rare compliment from Gail earlier this week.

We were out on the hillside in Torridon undertaking one of Gail's twice yearly botanical surveys*, and I waited patiently while she took time to identify various plants, such as these little white beak sedges, which are apparently indicator species for the 'wet heath' habitat.

On the way back down to the car, Gail commented on how I really am an excellent scientific assistant, so well behaved on field excursions, living up to my 'Nice Nobby' designation. Apparently Bouncing Bertie was much less patient with botanical goings on, and would soon get bored and wander off to cause trouble.

I pointed out that these days I am 'Nice Nobby' in many different ways, and challenged Gail to list ten. This is what she came up with:

• Excellent fieldwork aide, as described above
• Quiet and relaxed car passenger (and always has been)
• Sleeps well at night, even when staying in unfamiliar places
• Respectful of other dogs in the park who don't want to play with me (unlike when I was younger) 
• Friendly and welcoming to human visitors
• Cooperative in the 'pose nicely for the camera' business
• Tolerates bath time without too much fuss
• Enjoys early morning cuddles
• Generally good at not pulling on the lead on urban walks
• Behaviour at agility training sessions improving - no longer in danger of being excluded from class for being too disruptive...

*Gail says: the plant survey work is my small contribution to the National Plant Monitoring Scheme, a long term project aiming to study plant species across different habitats in the UK.