Every blog has its day! (From The Oxford Times)

Abingdon terrier a star in cyberspace

6:40am Thursday 22nd January 2009 in News By Andrew Ffrench

MEET Harry the Border Terrier — Oxfordshire’s most famous blogging dog.

Harry is becoming a hit online after his owner launched the county’s first canine blog.

The eight-year-old terrier belongs to Abingdon town councillor Alastair Fear, who has his own blog called This Abingdon.

Every day, Mr Fear, 51, takes photos to document the changing face of Abingdon, and when he is on his travels he also takes pictures of Harry, who was named by his children after Harry Potter.

Mr Fear said: “My blog has been going for about three years now and I find that walking around the town keeps me in touch with the kind of things I need to know as a councillor.

“For example, the Co-op is opening a new store in West St Helen Street so I will try to go along and photo that.

“Harry always comes with me on my walks and I started a separate blog for him because sometimes he is the most interesting thing to photograph.

“Martin Clunes visited Mostly Books in Stert Street in November to talk about his book A Dog’s Life, so I took Harry along to meet him.

“Martin was delighted to meet Harry.”

Now visitors to the blog log on to find out about Harry’s latest adventures, thoughts on new walks and who he has met.

Father-of-two Mr Fear, who works for a computer firm near Birmingham, added: “Like me, Harry is interested in politics and he is very keen to find out what kind of dog Barack Obama is going to get for the White House.

“This Abingdon is a serious blog, while Harry’s blog is just a bit of fun. We got Harry from a breeder near Stansted Airport eight years ago and he was the runt of the litter.

“He has still got the old instincts of a ratter and he often tries to burrow under the carpet.

“I’m sure there have been other dog blogs before, but I think Harry’s is the first in Oxfordshire.

“A lot of the pictures show him with a stick in his mouth because he loves picking them up and not handing them over.

“I did hear about one woman who attached a camera to the collar of her cat to get a cat’s eye view for her blog, but I don’t think I’ll take it that far.”

Mr Fear has been a Liberal Democrat town councillor for the Caldecott ward for the past six years.

To see Harry’s blog, log on at abingdonblog.co.uk affrench@oxfordmail.co.uk