Puppy Love and Chasing Pigeons on the Common

My next door neighbour is not very well most of the time. She has breathing difficulties that increase or decrease depending on the weather. As a result she can’t always walk her dog Lacey – who I introduced to you some time ago (and got a right bollocking about as I never used a leash). Lacey thinks she’s mine and, for some unfathomable reason in her doggy mind, just happens to live in a different house to me. I say “Lacey stay with me” and she’s glued to my leg – so glued I nearly fall over sometimes.

The other day my neighbour waved me to stop as our cars were passing each other and I did.

“I’ve got another dog” she said.

“You’ve what???” – this a is a lady who’s health is sometimes a bit ‘iffy’ and she’s taken on another dog???

Apparently a friend of her daughter’s lost her home for some reason and couldn’t take her dog with her to where ever she had to go so my neighbour decided to take the dog home.

“She’s a cross between a Chihuahua and a Staffordshire Terrier” announced my neighbour “and she’s called D’Arcy”.

Now, having met D’Arcy I’m quite relieved actually as she clearly isn’t a cross between a Chihuahua and a Staffordshire Terrier which is probably just as well for the Chihuahua. Can you imagine it?

If the Chihuahua was the female then having a Staffy on top would have squashed the poor little thing and if the Chihuahua was the male it would have needed bloody step ladders to shag a female Staffy!!

Somewhere in D’arcy’s make up is some kind of wire haired terrier along with Staffy.

She’s brown and beautiful and, as soon as I resume my dog walking duties I will have two to walk now. I had to stop dog walking due to having so much on my plate with family things for a while.

Already D’Arcy has taken to following Lacey everywhere – which is just as well as I can only go one way at a time – and the first time she followed Lacey into my house she sat watching Lacey get her doggy treats. She waited patiently until I called her over for some.

I then went into my garden with them and said “Lacey stay with me” and Lacey glued herself to my leg. Then I tried “D’Arcy stay with me” and D’Arcy promptly glued herself to my other leg.

Neither dog has ever received any formal training of any kind from anybody. The very first time I took Lacey out she obeyed my every request immediately -I say request as I ‘ask’ her rather than command her.

Now D’Arcy seems to be doing the same thing.

I’m starting to feel like the bloody ‘dog whisperer’ of TV fame or, perhaps, some kind of Doctor Doolittle?

Please believe me when I say I’m not trying to boast in any way shape or form but, for some strange reason, Lacey and now D’Arcy seem to know exactly what I am saying and do exactly what I ask them to do.

I will take the precaution when I resume dog walking duties next week of putting D’Arcy on a leash as she’s the ‘newbie’ and I need to know for certain that she’s doing what I ask rather than just copying Lacey – I know I’ll get a bollocking for not leashing Lacey but we’re pals and, frankly, I’d feel like I was leashing my mate and, let’s face it, it would look a little odd if I walked down the road with a human pal on a bloody leash eh?

I know all this stuff about “What if she chases a cat across the road” or “What if she runs under a bus” and so on and so forth but, frankly, there’s more chance of me getting run over a bus chasing a bird or something than Lacey ever doing it. When she’s with me she’s with me and won’t leave my leg let alone my side unless I say “Off you go Lacey” – then she runs about Botwell Common and chases pigeons.

D’Arcy? I’ll leash her and see how it goes – I’ll unleash her on Botwell Common and she can chase pigeons too. I wonder whether she’ll run around the odd Somalian like Lacey does – not aggressively in any way, in fact she isn’t really running around any Somalians she’s just running and they happen to be in the way.

Their reaction is brilliantly funny! They are absolutely terrified and I do find that hysterical. One of my Somalian driving students explained that they don’t have domestic dogs in Somalia so when they see one off a leash they think they are going to be attacked.

I know some would say “Well leash her then when there are Somalians on the common” but my view is “Sorry, this is England and, assuming your dog isn’t aggressive, they get to run around on the common.”

Besides, Somalians look nothing like doggy treats do they? 😉

Anyway, I finally talked one Somalian chap into stroking her. He was shaking at first but, credit where it’s due, he did it. The look on his face at what he’d just done was a picture and you know what? When he sees us he comes to us to say ‘Hi’ and strokes Lacey without a moments hesitation and he’s even progressed to feeding her doggy treats from his hand.

I’d better prepare him for using both hands now!

I haven’t  pic of D’Arcy yet but I’ll get one soon and let you have a look at her so here’s one of my Lacey – who isn’t really mine at all. She just thinks she is.

Note: Many thanks to Rachael for waking me up!

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