Anyone who wants to sponsor Holly can do so at www.justgiving.com/hollysjourney Thank you!

Well I did it. I managed to leg press 200kg. The first time, I managed 10 reps and the second I managed 30, spurred on by the fact that Tarzan said he would do double the amount I did. ‘At last!’ I thought ‘A chance to make him suffer the way he makes me suffer’. So 30 I did and 60 he did, with sickeningly relative ease I hasten to add. It must be great to be so fit. I left the gym feeling very proud of my achievement and the fact that I’d reached my goal and indeed done so many reps.

A few days later, my back went out. The pain was excruciating. It was my own stupid fault – I’d pushed myself too far trying to prove a point and I have noone to blame but myself! I was out of action for a good few days in a lot of pain.

I had to skip my training with Tarzan this Tuesday but tried to make up for it by doing a walk with my friend who did the Moonwalk for breast cancer, last year. I’d love to walk a marathon someday, so we agreed we would do some gentle walking together. Therefore, we started with a short 3 mile walk, but bearing in mind, my friend is a tall, slim, leggy, superfit, glamourous blonde who’s glided through a marathon with ease and grace, and I was a short, stumpy, rotund novice walker who may be able to lift heavy weights but can’t walk for toffee with a back injury, we must have looked like Little and Large striding out around Tranent. What seemed like a mini marathon to me, but a hop skip and a jump to my friend, was culminated by the fact that we arrived back at my house with me puffing and panting, looking like a walking beetroot and my friend looking like she’d been out for a gentle stroll after a visit to the beauty parlour. I just wanted to keep up the exercise since I was missing the gym, but I guess I am a long way off a marathon at this stage!

I would love to reach another couple of goals, one of walking a marathon and one of climbing a (small) mountain, but considering my walking effort and the fact that I can’t even climb a speed hump at the moment, I’ve got a way to go with both I think.

Although I had to take a few days off, I managed to do most of my lessons with pupils that would throw me around the least, with the help of anti-inflammatory painkillers. However, I began to think the discomfort and the painkillers were getting to me when at one point, I told one of my male pupils to put his ‘handbag’ on instead of his handbrake and I told another pupil to ‘take the next gear in second bend’. I came to the conclusion, that even the most supremely tuned athlete like my good-self, needs to submit to injury at times!

I think Her Ladyship has been feeling it a bit, the fact that her mummy hasn’t been as mobile as normal and she’s had a bit of suppressed energy. I am trying to keep up her training for her sponsored walk but there is no doubt it has waned a bit while I’ve been laid up.

My sister and I took Holly up Arthur’s Seat last week, pre injury, to try a trial walk for her sponsored walk for Animals Asia and she did not too badly only having to stop occasionally for a pee and a pooh (Holly, not my sister!). Once we’d finished our trial walk, we went back to my sisters for a cuppa. Holly was invited to join us and immediately disgraced herself by jumping up on the counter with her front paws to make sure the tea was being made properly. Bearing in mind, only a few short months ago, Holly couldn’t even put one paw in front of the other, never mind lift them off the floor, watching her jump up on the kitchen counter was somewhat a mixed blessing. On one hand I wanted to give her a big cuddle for her amazing progress, but on the other hand, I appreciate that this is somewhat socially unacceptable behaviour that requires some strict parental control and discipline.

Well, if I thought that behaviour was bad, the parental control and discipline were rendered completely null and void when she decided to check out the garden. My sister had gone out to speak to her neighbours, when Holly decided to have a good wander round her garden…..then through the fence to the neighbours garden.... then let herself into the neighbours house through their back door, then had a good wander round their kitchen. I was mortified!! That’s another thing she can do now that she couldn’t do before – move!

Once I’d tracked Her Ladyship down and ended her ‘Breaking and Entering’ spree, I guided her back into my sister’s garden. She then did something that took me by complete and utter surprise, that I would never have believed had I not seen it with my own eyes – she nimbly leapt off a three foot wall!

So, it has been a week of extremes. I’ve been grinding to a halt in pain and misery and Holly has been abseiling down walls and embarking on some criminal activity. In my defence, she’s got youth on her side. After all, it’s true what they say – ‘You know you’re getting old when your back goes out more than you do!’

Where on earth is the time going? I can’t believe it’s over a month since my last entry and that we are nearly into April. The year is flying by. Holly’s and my training for our sponsored walk for Animals Asia is coming along nicely. Her Ladyship is putting me to shame with her diet success as mine finds its way up a variety of spouts on a regular basis. However, hopefully that is offset by my progress at the gym. Tarzan pushed me so hard on my last visit to the gym that I was alarmingly close to throwing a major tantrum and was most certainly on the precipice of some serious mood swings but I know he has my best interests at heart (I think!). However, as I am now leg pressing 140kg aka 22 stone, I think I’m making progress. I am determined to lift the heaviest weight of 200 kg which is around 31 stone even if it kills me, which it probably will!

As Holly manages longer walks and we go further afield, it’s amazing the number of people I meet and strike up a conversation with. I’ve met more new people in the last few months walking Holly than I have living here for the last 12 years. I’m still hoping George Clooney might be out strolling one day, but I guess the fields of Tranent are a far cry from the streets of Hollywood but a girl can dream.

I’d like to say that most of Holly’s encounters with her new neighbourhood ‘chums’ have been friendly ones, but to be honest, a lot of the time, I’ve felt really sorry for her. More often than not, as Holly enthusiastically approaches anyone that pays her any attention, with a frantically wagging tail and big doggy grin, looking for some extra pats and cuddles, more often than not, she’s greeted with a ‘She’s far too fat’ or ‘that’s a massive dog, she needs to go on a diet’ followed by looks of disgust that are just as often aimed at me as they are her. I’m afraid that the stubborn, bolchy side of me then kicks in as I feel incredibly protective over Holly. I make sure that if anyone has time to insult my dog, they have time to listen to her plight. To be fair, most people feel pretty sorry for Hols once they’ve listened to her story, but it just goes to show how much people judge by appearances and that that even extends to the canine community.

I’ll never forget the time shortly after Holly came to live with me when she was at her biggest, and I was taking my friend to the Supermarket. Holly and I decided to wait for her at the entrance of the store and Holly plonked herself down at my feet shifting her portly frame to find the most comfortable position, folds and layers of body fat settling into position, with a tired and exhausted expression on her face. Alongside her sat the most perfectly groomed and manicured cocker spaniel, striking poses as if auditioning for Crufts while waiting for her owner. As Holly and I, both ladies of the larger variety waited for our friend, customers came and went. Without fail, every single one of them gravitated towards the perfectly presented cocker, who was flaunting her good looks and trim figure, while Holly sat patiently in line for some of the attention that was being dished out. Unfortunately, once people tore themselves away from the splendid spaniel, they turned to Holly with a look of disgust. Poor Holly couldn’t understand why everyone walked past her. Having been on the receiving end of that kind of critical judgement by appearance myself more often than I care to remember, I think that was the first time Holly and I really bonded as my heart broke for her.

How many times have we all been quick to judge by appearance without knowing the whole story? I know I have and Holly coming into my life has made me very aware of that.

I know I’m humanising her and she will be totally oblivious to the critical nature of the human being, but mad as it sounds, I can relate to her on so many levels and I feel incredibly protective of her. In the short time she has been with me, she has taught me so much. She has made me a better person. She has helped me start to transform myself while transforming her. If she can’t have that extra bonio, you can be darn sure, she won’t let me have that packet of crisps. If she’s going to be pushed that extra mile, I’ll be doing it too. I have had some very special people and animals grace my life and Holly is already most definitely, one of them and our journey together has only just begun. She has reinforced my knowledge of the fact that animals are at our mercy and we have a duty to care for them. Holly has never been a typical greedy lab – she has never scrounged for treats or wolfed down her food, in fact quite the opposite – she eats in a very dainty manner, savouring every mouthful and her current condition is solely down to human neglect. She has enhanced my life so much, in such a short period of time the very least I can do for her, is help to make her better and go some way to undo the harm inflicted on her so far by humans. Both Holly and I are now on life changing journeys and we will take each step, together, side by side, a day at a time.

If there’s one thing that frays my nerves a little, it’s people who are obsessed with their babies and children and talk about nothing else. Imagine my horror when it dawned on me that I had become one of them, only, in my case with my dog! I’ve only had her for 6 months but already can’t imagine life without her. I suppose the one plus is that I’ll never need to worry about her throwing a tantrum in the middle of the supermarket or bawling her head off on the bus.

It’s a good 26 years since I got my first dog and I’ve always wanted another one, so I really don’t know why it took me so long to get one. Maybe I’m just a commitment phobe! Animals can be a lot less complicated than humans at times, so perhaps I’ve been barking up the wrong tree for the last quarter century if you pardon the pun.

Having been heavily involved in animal welfare for years and witnessing some of the most appalling suffering humans can inflict on animals, it’s really good to be able to give something back to the animal world and at least make one needy dogs life a bit happier.

When Holly first came to me, she was in a bad way. She weighed 62kg, the equivalent of nearly 10 stone, was shaped like a barrel, and could barely lift her head up. She would lumber and waddle her way round the block, trailing behind at every step, back legs bowed under the weight of her body and lying down at regular intervals. Her brow would droop over her eyes and she looked so forlorn, like everything in life was just far too much effort.

Watching her over the last few months, her transformation has been nothing short of miraculous. After initial blood tests showed she had an underactive thyroid, she was put on the relevant medication as well as a prescription diet (much to her disgust). Her exercise regime began with very short but regular walks that gradually increased with time. I’ll never forget, last summer, shortly after getting her, I tried a little longer walk with her at the beach down at Longniddry in East Lothian. Once we got back to the car, Holly was so exhausted she just lay down at the car door and had no energy to get back into the car. After 20 minutes rest and a phone call to mum to see if she had any bright ideas, we decided to try and coax her in from the opposite side of the car through the passenger door. Thank goodness, it worked, or that would have been me stuck at Longniddry Bents for the night!

Now, nearly two stone lighter, it is so rewarding watching the change in this lovely dog. She’s become cheeky and mischievous with a lovely personality and really seems to be enjoying life now. She now keeps me on my toes as she can move a lot quicker than before and has become quite sly. Only the other night, I’d made a curry and had just sat down with a bowl and a couple of chapattis, resting the plate on the arm of the couch. Out of nowhere, this big black nose and cheeky face appeared from underneath the plate and pinched one of the chapattis! Even on her first trip to the beauty parlour for a shampoo to help her skin, she whipped one of the toys off the bottom display shelf on her way out the door, leaving me to return, red faced apologising for Holly’s shoplifting. As it would have taken her all her effort just to walk out the door a few months ago, never mind exerting a little effort, even if it was to steel a toy, it was really quite amusing.

Along with this new found energy come some of the less appealing doggy traits. As well as the revolting fox pooh rolling incident, comes the equalling socially unacceptable trait of having her wicked way with her bean bag bed. This embarrassing doggy trait (which she kindly displays in particular when we have guests) was something I thought only male dogs did but apparently it’s quite common in unneutered female dogs. My friend bought Holly the loveliest giant ‘Scooby Doo’ bed, which unfortunately, Holly has never used – preferring the comforts of the couch. However, the bed often becomes the object of Her Ladyships hormonal desires as poor Scooby get dragged from the living room to the kitchen and back again on a regular basis as Holly gives Scooby the once over! At least it helps her burn a few more calories I suppose.

When she does eventually settle down on the couch in the evening, she will lie flat on her back, legs in the air, head hanging over the edge of the couch, jowls flapping. As she gets her tummy rubbed she gets more and more relaxed and slowly but surely slides off the couch to land on the floor! Up she gets, to start the whole process again.

She really hates the diet dog food and will only eat it if I mix some vegetables through it. The vet says this is fine and as she is now down to 50kg, it doesn’t seem to be doing her any harm.

It really is a pleasure and incredible to watch this dog transform. She has brought much joy to my life in a very short period of time.

One of the sweetest things I watched her do was during the recent bout of heavy snow we had. I had no idea if she had ever even seen snow, but I let her out in the garden to watch her reaction. She looked up at the falling snow flakes landing one by one on the tip of her nose and suddenly, with no warning, started leaping and bounding ecstatically about in the snow like a cross between a rabbit and a kangaroo, it was wonderful to see. Mind you, the last batch of vegetables I mixed through her food were Brussel sprouts, so it may well have simply been the sprouts propelling her round the garden, but I’d like to think, she suddenly knew what it was like to enjoy life at long last.

I have to report that Her Ladyship has right, royally disgraced herself. We had a serious falling out last week. She and I are very much hoping to take part in a sponsored walk in May for a fantastic animal charity called Animals Asia and have been looking for nice places to do longer walks, in preparation. Therefore, I was delighted to find a lovely big field within walking distance from our house where I could let Holly off the lead for a wee run-around.

Well, she most certainly gave me the run-around in style last week!

We started out up to the field on a beautiful bright, blue skied, sunny morning with a distinct hint of spring in the air. Once we reached the field, I let Holly off the lead. Away she trotted with a little hop, skip and a jump of enthusiasm as her lighter frame now allows, contentedly sniffing all the new smells around her. Actually, Holly doesn’t really ‘sniff’ as such but more accurately acts like she’s snorting for truffles, decibels increasing as she blows, sorry, goes!

We followed all the well trodden paths and it really was a beautiful day. The walk was so enjoyable, I decided to go a little further afield and off the beaten track. BIG mistake!

Holly lagged behind a little at one point, spending a long time sniffing something of great interest to her. And then I saw it, the focus of her undivided attention. A great big pile of steaming hot fox pooh.

Like car crash television, before my very eyes and with my feet unable to run fast enough to stop her, she launched herself at the offensive pile head first, like a polar bear bursting through the ice for tasty morsels below. She started sliding around, rubbing her head, neck and ears, coating her fur in the stench like she was wallowing in sweet smelling candyfloss! The horror of the reality dawned on me as I finally reached the pongy pooch to find even her chain link collar covered in the green and brown stinking mess. I had no alternative but to try and pull her away, but her size still makes parental control rather difficult at times and even more frustrating in such a ‘rolling in fox pooh’ emergency. It was a highly traumatic incident – for me anyway!

On arriving home she was promptly marched out into the back garden to be hosed down. I can barely write about it as I’m feeling nauseous just recalling the whole event!

She was bathed and bathed, dried with the hairdryer, then smothered in scented talc and brushed and brushed and yet still, she stank.

I phoned the dog groomer Holly has been to in the past, and she suggested wiping vinegar and warm water on her and online, they suggested tomato ketchup to mask the smell. So I had the choice of her smelling like a hotdog or a chippy, but anything was better than the rank smell of fox pooh, so I chose the chippy.

What a relief when the vinegar began to mask the smell, but sadly it was short lived. All too soon the rancid odour began to permeate through the vinegar. The paint on the walls started blistering, the paper started peeling, the windows started cracking and my eyes were watering and bloodshot. Okay, I’m exaggerating a little but I have to adequately portray the extent of my suffering after Her Ladyships revolting indulgence!

The smell lingered for a good few days, despite more vinegar, talc and baby wipes. The only thing that got rid of it completely was another visit to Holly’s beauty parlour for a shampoo and blow dry before she returned to her full glory.

The experience and smell was so awful, I could not understand why dogs got so much pleasure from doing this. My old dog Tulsa used to love to roll in cow pats, so I knew it wasn’t just Holly, so I turned to the internet for an explanation of this very socially unacceptable doggie habit.

Apparently, it is a trait handed down from their ancestors. The dogs roll in the offensive substance to disguise their own scent. This enables them to ‘blend’ into their environment while they are stalking their prey.

I have now had a long chat with Holly, I talked, and she had no choice but to listen! I have politely informed her that I’m sure this behaviour will be very useful when she’s next stalking a herd of wilder beast in the Serengeti, but until then, she has a nice tasty bowl of dog food at home waiting for her and she’s not going to need to stalk anything anytime soon!

Oh the aches and pains just never go away. It’s true what they say, old age never comes alone and it’s certainly not eased when a 6 foot, muscle mountain of a personal trainer will not let up on his mission to inflict pain and suffering on the rotund.

Sadly, as the credit crunch forced me to tighten my belt, I have had to drop one session a month with Tarzan. I did this on the strict promise to myself that I would go for a couple of extra swims the week I didn’t have him. I really must learn that these types of promises to myself are never a very good idea. After a week with no additional exercise apart from slightly longer walks with Holly, I am really suffering after yesterdays session back in the gym. Much as I love him, if Tarzan tells me to ‘embrace the pain’ one more time, I may go and embrace the nearest and heaviest dumbbell and drop it on his toe! I think given the circumstances, I did quite well yesterday as I managed to leg press the equivalent of 17 ½ stone. However, although in general I’m pretty good at weights, I am utterly hopeless at lifting weights above my head. I can pull them and push them, but please don’t ask me to lift anything heavier than a cotton bud above my head!

I’ve had fun with my mum the last few days. In my infinite wisdom, I bought her a mobile phone for her 80th birthday. Mum is an incredibly fit, healthy and fiercely independent octogenarian and I thought a mobile would be a sensible and practical way to help her retain that independence. As someone who has never been defeated by anything new, learning computer skills, German and even Braille in her later years, she’s now tackling the art of text messaging with unflinching determination. I would have been very happy with her just remembering to switch her mobile phone on when she went out the door, but she has once again, amazed me with her stoic effort to learn new things.

When I first bought her phone, I put a few of the numbers I thought she would use the most in her address book and I also got friends and family who had mobiles, to send her ‘Happy Birthday’ texts so they would be there in her ‘in box’ to surprise her when she switched on her phone. So imagine everyone else’s surprise when a variety of text messages were flying to various different phones, and none of them to the correct people in the weeks after her birthday! Text messages were sent to landlines and mysterious silent phonecalls were made to confused recipients. While this was going on, my best advice to mum, was just don’t start breathing heavily when you’re playing with your phone in case you accidentally give someone a saucy phonecall. I think there’s a real risk she may launch a nuclear missile somewhere in the world and become a threat to national security but you’ve got to give her ten out of ten for trying!

Holly’s still doing well and she’s lost nearly 2 stone now. We’ve been managing longer walks as she loses weight. She even managed a little provocative swagger for the neighbourhoods male dogs as she regained a little control over her rather portly rear end as it’s slowly reducing in size. We’ve had a terrible cold snap of late with lots of snow and ice which has caused me to land flat on my back on two occasions while out for our evening constitutionals as the temperatures drop. If the cold spell continues one of us is going to throw a hip, and I can be pretty certain it won’t be Holly! An observation I have made since becoming the proud owner of a four legged friend, is that it makes me laugh at how dog owners have these little petite poop scoop bags to clean up after their pooches. I need bags the size of bin liners to deal with her ladyships offerings, but I suppose all that weight has to go somewhere!

A little note! You may have noticed that the last few entries were written over a longer period than just the 17th to the 23rd February. I've been keeping a diary of Holly's and my 'journeys' for a while now and have just posted them to my blog recently. But we are now slap bang up to date and what happens from now on, happens in 'real time'. I hope you continue to enjoy our blog!