Dog to loo

                                          Oil paimting of Andy in his prime

When we first got married we lived in a small caravan, to live together was more important than the conditions we lived in. It was a very simple caravan with fairly basic toilet amenities the toilet was an Elsan (an oil drum with a plastic seat on the upper end filled with an antiseptic solution) which was hidden behind a screen in the kitchen. It was quite possible to see round the screen if you so wished, which we didn’t. But Andy our Labrador/gundog did. He would poke his head round the screen and study our posture on this contraption. After the initial embarrassment we got used to his habit, after all he was only a dog.

The Caravan Site when it was built must have looked quite good. It had flower containers lining a hard surfaced road with the vans standing back off it. The flowers in the pots were long gone leaving these up ended drain pipes full of soil and precious little else still lining the road. Andy would cock his leg up on anything, outside I hasten to add, but when it came to the more serious business he would balance in the squat position on one of these flower pots and evacuate himself.

It could be coincidence of course or was he really trying to emulate us? It certainly couldn’t have been comfortable for him balancing on an upturned drain pipe. No one taught him to do it but somehow if there was anything that resembled our Elsan at a convenient height for him he would use it. I’ve often wondered why he did it, was he really trying to be human? If it was it was the only human trait he showed, the rest of his life was all dog and yet in a space of 7’6” by 22’ he must have witnessed virtually all our life. He never tried to sit at the table for example and yet it would have been easy for him to physically do it, if we’d allowed it, not that we would or did he ever try. It is still years later a puzzle and I often wonder if there are any other cases of dogs taking on human ways.

Respect your dog

In writing my latest book I researched, joined groups of dog owners and generally got myself back into the flow of things; on the net of course. It maybe me but there did seem to be a large proportion of dog owners who were treating them as things rather than intelligent animals, and in some cases a total lack of understanding. I suppose that in this material world we must come to expect it but I do feel that we lose a lot of joy that way. I know that Meg who I could spend all my time with differed from Hogan who suffered because I was working all the hours God sent. I tried to find time for him but I never bonded with him as I had with Meg and as a result I believe we both lost a great deal.

I envy the people who use dogs as in ‘dogs for the blind’ or work with dogs as in Customs and Excise or the police because they have the opportunity to really get to know their dogs, and in some cases rely on them. To me this must be the ultimate relationship. One thing is evident in these and in many domestic cases dogs too, like to work and usually show much pleasure in doing so. I know that I had to try to find jobs for my lot to do and once they had a job to do they guarded it most jealously. One of the jobs was to take the peg bags out to the line when I put the washing out to dry and if anyone tried to usurp them they would become such a nuisance insisting on fulfilling their duty.

In the same vain there are those who through ignorance feel they know how animals feel and treat them in totally inappropriate way. I had a friend who had no children but had a couple of Pekinese and treated them as her children, it was pathetic. I believe they were completely confused they were dogs but were not allowed to be; with a misses who made a fool of herself. There are those who consider showing dogs as cruel, William was the only dog we showed but to his dying day (literally) when we got his show bag out he would run around excitedly wagging his tail not the reaction of a dog who felt tortured by the event.

Dogs deserve to be treated as dogs, respected and understood. If you plan to have one or indeed own one, learn as much as you can about them not just their welfare but their mental needs and above all enjoy life with them not by them.

Newfoundland Dreams

Well having written the book about my friends the Newfoundlands I thought I better see what’s happening with the Newfie scene today, You see in the days when I had them there wasn’t much in the way of social media, I’m not even sure if Facebook had been invented at the time. We weren’t completely devoid of computerisation I ran an early Apple with 4 megabits of memory which was the central feature of my company Virtual PA. Mike had a bigger Apple for three dimensional design but I think he only had a memory of about 3 gigabits not much for a drawing program. Anyway I digress but it shows what a steam age we ran in at the time.

There seem to be three main Newfoundland sites (is that what you call them?) on Facebook and all flooded with wonderful pictures of our friends. I just love looking at them but oh the temptation. I know I keep on about the responsibility you have to your pet and the fact that I’m not in a position to have one, it’s just crucifying to see the pictures. But now I’ve started I have to keep looking and they’re all on the email page too, it’s like a drug. It was bad enough when I was writing the book trawling back through my memories of the happy times we had together. Sadly I have very few pictures of them to help me remember, of course it was in the days of film cameras, what a long way we have come! Nice as it would be, I don’t really need picture to relive some of those happy days but when I do see the pictures on Facebook and read the comments, it’s enough to start wanting to look for an old Newfie rescue. One who’s lost his owners and needs the care and friendship that I know we could give him, we’ve all the time in the world now were retired but I also know that old age has it’s penalties and for a Newf it can be an exceedingly expensive time. This is where the responsibility kicks in if you can’t afford the vets bills and sometimes on a continuous basis, then you’re not doing right by your dog.

So where are we, no I can’t afford to guarantee the old Newf of my dreams an unlimited budget, therefore I simply can’t have one. But I can still enjoy other peoples Newfies on the net, I’m so pleased I found the sites/pages (you know what I mean) on Facebook, somehow I feel still part of the scene. I never was a breeder, I wasn’t too keen on showing though I was on a breeder’s contract for part of the time so I was slightly involved in both but the main thing for me was include them as part of the family, not as children but as contributing partners.

 

William, Meg and Molly

Molly at speed

Meg and William by the old badger set

We were having a photo shoot with Meg and William in the paddock, and were concentrating on Meg when suddenly William went missing. We found him at top of the field where he had discovered a badger set and was digging like mad to see what was down there. Fortunately for him it was empty, I hate to think what a group of badgers would have done to him, defending their home against a Newfie invader; one thing is sure he would never have looked like this again. We stopped him and cleaned him up and continued with the photo shoot.

A little later on he took Meg along to see his dig. I don’t know why they are both looking so guilty maybe William was still regretting the thing he was reprimanded for and Meg sympathised. This is when we took this photo, and it is now hanging in the Newfoundland gallery. Sadly we have misplaced all the other pictures we have of the Newfs, actually I think they are literally buried in the roof somewhere. Since my daughter got divorced and left her family home we have been storing her things and since they came last, our stuff is under/behind hers along with the pictures. So just sometimes we use other people’s pictures to remind us of those days. “Isn’t this like one of our dogs?” is a question often heard.

Still life goes on and now we borrow next doors dog and pony to feed our need for animal friends. The dog is a whippet called Molly who just walked into their yard one day, under fed, full of fleas and cowering at anything that moved quickly. A thorough search was done to try to find her owner without success, not surprising really we all felt she had just been kicked out. Now two years later she is a loved and loving confident dog, healthy and almost fully recovered. She still remembers something as she will cower if she thinks she has done something wrong and rushes through half opened doorways. She is next doors dog but they are away a lot of the time so we have her and love it, none of us could see her put into kennels no matter how good they were; our belief with her past whatever it was, even a few days in kennels would destroy her.

It’s odd but until Molly came along I had never even thought about whippets. But now I’ve got to know her she has made me realise just what a lovely temperament they have. Mind you Molly is the only one I really know and her background is still a mystery to us so what effect that has had on her could be a bit of a factor. Exercising her is fairly easy we take her up to the field and for about 10 minutes she run round at full bore, the breed can clock up 30mph and I should thing she pretty close to that then she sleeps for most of the day. Until it’s all repeated later.. It’s difficult to accept that it’s quite natural for her to be so thin after having Newfs but she eats what she wants over the day and adjusts her intake to needs. I really look forward to the neighbours going away!

Book launch over

                                                    The Newfoundland picture gallery

Well ‘Life with my Newfoundlands’ has been out for a week and I must say I’m very pleased with the way it’s gone. I’ve certainly met (digitally) a lot of nice people, mostly Newfie owners and, of course, enthusiastic for the breed. The temptation to start all over again with the dogs has been enormous but I have to resist for their sake.

From the news one gets the idea that everywhere is in decline, especially in the field of entertainment and I include books and games in this. Violence and sex seem to be the main drivers these days even at a very young age. I am sure violence begets violence. So when you come across a group of people that are more interested in their dogs and their welfare it’s such a relief. Perhaps it’s because I’ve decided not to have a pet (well a Newfoundland) that I notice it so much, I do miss my Newfs and if my circumstances change for sure I’d probably be back on the ownership trail again. For now the book will have to do, it would be nice to think that there are other people in my situation that it might amuse or hopefully people not in my situation. There are lots of things (and I include myself in this), that we find are common to all Newfs they are such a benevolent breed and their behaviour so affectionate that you just can’t help loving them.

The two other dogs I had, Andy who could wag his tail so hard it would bruise you and Tedder who let the burglar in and tried to keep the police out, were in their own ways lovely and much loved dogs who taught us much. But the Newfoundlands were our friends.

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