Posting days: Sunday and Wednesday and, sometimes, maybe, extra ‘news flashes’!

Wednesday December 9th 2015

Ted is a lovely dog whom I’ve known since he was a puppy. He is in Highbury Park when Isis and I are there on Sunday. He  comes up for a pat and a treat.

Over the last few years Ted has had a serious back problem and a tumour. Both have required surgery, but he is still his happy, bouncy self.

Everybody loves Ted.

Isis, of course, is not interested in the lovely dogs we meet: having trodden on poor Draculina on Saturday, she celebrates Sunday by running into Ted.

Her head is full of all the exciting things there are to do in a park:

extricating branches from beneath fallen trees …..

scrambling through thickets …..

and leaping into the little stream for a drink

to name but a few.

But amidst all the fun, something amazing happens. The sun comes out on both Saturday and Sunday and Isis doesn’t cower, cringe or pull to go home. She notices the change of light, flinches and stares skywards. Her tail drops from green to amber alert but she resumes her play. Wow! The sun is very weak and wintry; the shadows it throws are not black. But still, wow.

Yet more amazing is today.

This morning (Wednesday) the sun is already shining brightly when we leave home for Kings Heath Park. And it doesn’t waver. But the prospect of her favourite running space appears to overcome the horror of emerging from the car into sunlight. Tug! She’s on her way out of the car park and running onto the grass.

Unfortunately, stupid Human hasn’t quite caught up and allows her to catch her flank on a tree trunk. Immediately she creeps under a tree. anxious and cowering.

I curse myself.

After a bit of coaxing, she trots with me, at first slowly but then gaining pace, into the middle of the field. The sun remains bright throughout our park time but Isis shows little sign of fear until we stop for a few minutes to talk to another dog owner.

This lady remarks on the change in Hairy One’s eyes as she stares fearfully upwards. I think I have mentioned before that Isis appears to be able to see brightness and dark shadows from the bottom of one or both of her lenses when she throws her head far back and rolls up her eyes.

Now she wants to go home.

She has done very well though.

And I believe this may be owing, at least partially, to an interesting new game she has devised ………………………………………………!

Isis came from the Aeza cat and dog rescue and adoption centre in Aljezur, Portugal. For information about adopting an animal from the centre, contact kerry@aeza.org or  www.dogwatchuk.co.uk