On falling in love again and then getting sidetracked

I had the post already written in my head; a post about a small dog who has made me rethink all sorts of things . . . and then in that funny old way that so often happens in life, something cropped up.

The something that cropped up also involved dogs and a pair of clueless neighbours, who are out of the house for between 10 and 12 hours each day and who shouldn't have one dog, let alone two, one of which is an eight-week-old puppy. This morning, the neighbours' house was flooded, with the dogs inside. Another neighbour and I mounted a rescue mission and, as I write this (and nine hours after the rescue), the puppy and her older companion are still curled up by the Aga, waiting for their owners to roll up - because said owners didn't regard what happened as an emergency. 

The puppy has to be isolated from my dogs (as in my own and guest dogs) as it has not completed its cycle of vaccinations. Meanwhile, the older dog, who is normally quiet and gentle, has become very protective towards the puppy and is ready to have a stand-up fight with any other dogs who come near her or the pup.

Ay de mi, as Nancy Mitford might have remarked in similar circumstances, although it's hard to imagine Nancy finding herself in a situation quite like this.

In the meantime, my dogs needed their afternoon walk so I left the rescued duo in the kitchen and with the run of the garden, and met a client - and now friend - with her dog. We stomped along the riverbank, had a bit of a rant and then managed to laugh, just a bit, which acted as a kind of balm, as only laughter can.

And it is her dog, a little shih tzu (let us, for the purposes of this blog, call her Little Miss P) whom I originally intended should be subject of this post because she has stolen my heart rather. She recently spent a fortnight with me while her owners were on holiday - a last-minute booking when her regular carer was taken ill. The one thing I didn't expect to do was to fall in love with a tiny dog, let alone a brachycephalic dog. To be honest, and I know they have their fans, dogs with this type of face, Pekingese, for example, never really did it for me (ditto brachycephalic cats). When it comes to canine appearances, I've always gone for large breeds, with fine heads; as a child, my first dog was a German shepherd and in adult life it has been (rescue) Labradors all the way, with only one slight deviation in the form of the late Rough Diamond, whose adventures were chronicled here over the years. And even he was a Labrador-collie cross.

But Little Miss P was an absolute honey; she was bold and brave and tried her very best to out-run the collie and lurcher guests who came and went during her stay. She even stood her ground with  a rather fierce-looking German shepherd who was in full owner-defence mode when we met them while walking one day. She just sat down right in front of him, raised her eyes and let out as loud a bark as she could.  He looked a bit nonplussed.

Come the evening, walked and fed and in full snooze mode, she like nothing better than to curl up on a lap . . .

And little by little, I fell in love with her and thought that perhaps - at some vague point in the future - when I am a very old woman and not quite up to Labrador handling, a shih tzu (but with a puppy cut, please - just like Little Miss P, no long trailing locks) might be the ideal canine companion.

Here are some of the Little Miss P's holiday snaps:

See what I mean? My daughter - a Labrador woman to the very core - couldn't quite believe her ears when I told her that I was just a tad smitten with a shih tzu.  I had the distinct sense that she thought her mother was rapidly losing the plot or, more specifically, the canine plot.

I have not, of course, mentioned this to the Edinburgh Boy; I would not wish to hurt his feelings. He's a sensitive soul and, for the foreseeable future, my heart firmly belongs to him and to his own elderly lady companion, Christmas Holly, who is still with us and still doing remarkably well (which I attribute to the mighty healing power of pilchards).

But still . . . 

Comments

[Friend In New Zealand]

I can relate - I am smitten, even at this distance, just looking at her holiday snaps! Do you think you could arrange a meeting when I visit?? We had Pekingese when I was a child ...

[Monica Eisenberg]

My husband and I don't have dogs at the moment because we both (still) work but how I wish I had someone like you in my neighborhood (not a typo, just American English, haha!)to take care of a doggy during the day. I'd go and adopt one right now!

[Teri and the cats of Furrydance]

Sweetest ending to your story, and fun to be swept away by love unexpectedly.

[Lisa Stowe]

My dogs have always been gentle giants (Irish Wolfhounds) but my father had a toy Fox Terrier who stole my heart when I wasn't looking. These little guys seem to be sneaky that way.
How sad about your neighbors. The idea of any dog, let alone a puppy alone that long is just wrong. I'm able to have dogs because my husband and I work opposite schedules. If my house had flooded and a neighbor had done something similar for me, I would have been home the moment I got the call, and eternally grateful for someone who watched out for my animals. Glad you were there for the dogs, even if the owners don't recognize what you did.