Three in a bed

I have talked before about the most beautiful black Labrador I know, I have to be careful how I qualify that, else I would put at least one other dog’s nose out of joint. She is so special. She is like the dog on Sifnos who is a cuddle monster and when I looked after her before, we would sleep together in a small single bed. It needed a clean every day from her fur. Her lady owner came to see me when I got back from Greece with my leg in irons. The black  Labrador came too and she was beside herself when she saw me. She always gives me a super welcome. But bad news, they  were off to live near Oxford. But when  I got better, I went to see them a couple of times and I got my special welcome again. 

Before they moved they got a second dog, an Alsatian puppy. How would that be handled by the very sensitive loving Labrador? Well pretty good as it turns out. The Labrador is very adept at letting the puppy know when he over steps the mark. So that’s good. So I am sitting them both, how could I refuse? They live minutes from open country side and that’s good for all the family. When I started the sit, I let the Alsatian come to me, he had been a bit aloof, and it turned out on  the second day after he was a little bit boisterous with the Labrador and got a more determined payment in kind, he yelped and then ran to me like a scared child. Since then he is as soft as the Labrador. Of course this had a knock on problem. The Labrador was used to all the cuddles and now she has to share. They both want to sit next to me on the sofa, so there are a few problems like that to sort out. I also get mugged by two dogs for my breakfast fruit, and I get followed around  the house by eight feet instead of four. The Alsatian has a few tricks, like picking up the dog food bowls  when it’s time for food which can be entertaining, he does it so violently they usually end upside down so he can’t pick them up, so  he then bashes them like a cymbal. The noise is deafening! He hates the hoover and I think he thinks he is protecting me from it. 

The walks are ok, he pulls a bit, and he doesn’t like other dogs approaching him, so I have to warn other owners. He doesn’t do much sniffing unlike the Labrador, but if she does he goes back to take a look. Because he is so tall he doesn’t get caked in water or mud, the Labrador is quite short and she gets very wet and muddy. It’s very wet around here. But the rocks and stones that are visible reminds you we are not far from the Cotswolds. He is so quiet on his feet as well. If he doesn’t follow you immediately he will soon be there, by your side, but you don’t hear him approaching you. If he was in a jungle hunting you, you would not last long.  He usually brings back a stick from the walks, there are a couple of stiles and kissing gates, on the walk we are doing daily. I am keeping to this route because I know I can get through the route, unfortunately there are always a mixture of stiles and gates and there is nothing worse than finding you can’t get any further forward because of an unintended obstruction. One big stick he picked up he negotiated it through a kissing gate really well, but a stile was just not going to happen. So we had a tug of war between us until I wrestled it off him. 

It’s his first time away from his family, but in this own house. Once he got to know me the inevitable happened. I ended up with both of them in the little bed. The Labrador at the bottom, the Alsatian right up close to me on the pillow. It was in reverse last night. He had been whimpering, missing  his family. If that’s what gets him over the stress of being left, then we do that. I have been impressed by one non dog thing. I was going to run out of a medication when I was here, so I ordered it from Greece, hoping to pick it up before I started the sit. Annoyingly it wasn’t approved so I contacted my surgery when I was here, what to do? So I let them know a local pharmacist near here and I picked the pills up the other day. I have some work to do on the TRHA website on the next version, so after lunch I spend some time on that. I bought a jigsaw and the guitar but they have not seen any activity yet. I tend to have breakfast and a slow start to the day then I do the walk. Then it’s time for lunch and the TRHA work. I usually then have a nap, then cook my dinner. I am making dinner from scratch and freezing portions that I will eat next week. There is a fish and chips shop I might try as well. They have an amazing cleaver, I think it is  called, it is sharp but the weight of the metal behind the blade means it slices through things so well!

Back to the dogs and the Alsatian is barely a year old and it’s interesting to see what he is  interested in and what they make of it. He follows me into the bathroom and the glass cubicle shower baffles him as he probably can’t work out why he isn’t getting wet. I haven’t find anything he won’t eat, the Labrador is quite picky as it turns out. They have been given little treats from my meals, like a single piece of spaghetti from a carbonara, a bit of cooked beef mince from a chilli before the spices went in of course. They had a beef meatball each, the dog dish was licked within an inch of its life after that. Given how far we are walking a day, it’s no big deal. (9km) The Alsatian is very thin, but eats tons of food. One explantation is that he always seems on the go, it’s only nighttime when he is asleep is when he finally stops moving. I am sure in the next week there will be more stories from this sit, so I might if there are, post them when I finish it.