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

Sunday April 24th 2016

I’m Tara. I’m twelve years old, very sprightly, and I always do it my way. I’m not daft:  even if there are five or more humans in a group, I know damn well which ones haven’t given me a treat and I stare them out until they start fishing in their pockets.

Of course I love Go., my person, very much, but I do wish he wouldn’t distract me by calling me when I’m exploring. It’s very irritating when I’m trying to concentrate. And it’s quite unnecessary. O.K., he doesn’t know where I am – but so what? It doesn’t matter. I always know where he is. I don’t know why he persists. He knows I’ll ignore him anyway ‘cos I’m a celeb.

Tarah! Titter.

Come on, cough up.

Here’s Marley. I’d not met him before. His person, B., introduces him and explains that he is a very spoilt dog. He belonged to B.’s daughter and her partner but a change in work patterns meant that the couple would be out of the house for long hours and poor Marley would be left behind.

Both parents and in-laws acted swiftly. They couldn’t have poor Marley home alone. They decided to organise a time share. Now he has two homes, rules both households, and is doted on by all of his carers. It’s no wonder he looks so pleased with himself. He knows he’s special.

Next we meet the beautiful Nellie. She’s a bouncy, very enthusiastic labradoodle. She is, her human tells me, particularly enthusiastic about eating, and is a very accomplished food snatcher.

She’s only seven months old and growing fast. She’s going to be huge, her human tells me,

pointing out Nellie’s long, chubby legs which end in four enormous curly feet.

Whoops!

And then there’s Dougie and his new friend Fergie. I’ve met the delightful Dougie before. His person, L., adopted him when work pressures meant that her daughter’s friend was no longer able to spend enough time with him. He is seventeen months old now and has lived with L. for twelve months. He is the young black dog. The grey one is Fergie.

Sadly, Fergie’s loving owner had to give up her home and was no longer able to keep him. She brought him to Birmingham to meet Dougie in the park, then he played for a while in Dougie’s garden.

Joh., GSD Ben’s owner, advised that if Dougie felt O.K. with the visitor, he’d lead his new friend into the house.

The humans waited with bated breath. After a good play and plenty of sniffing, Dougie took the lead, and both dogs trotted indoors.

Phew!

The two had play fights, snoozes and more sniffs, and all went well until evening sofa time. Understandably, Dougie was not about to share L. with the usurper and was not slow to express his misgivings. Fergie, too, spoke his mind.

But L. put her foot down and told them, in no uncertain terms, that that was no way for a host or a guest to behave. Now, as long as at least a bit of him is on L.’s lap, Dougie is happy to share his sofa with Fergie.

The new little dog suffered from separation anxiety for the first two weeks, crying outside the bathroom door when L. had disappeared inside and, if she left the house, leaping hysterically all over her when she returned. She responded by ignoring his behaviour, then letting both dogs into the garden to play with her. Now he is settling in well and L. is able to send happy photos and progress reports to his previous owner.

Summary, by Isis:

I know Tara. She’s all right. We ignore one another.

I’m sure Marley has ungentlemanly intentions, so I keep well away from him.

Like all babies, Nellie is a pest. She smells gigantic and leaps all over the place. I’m so  relieved her owner doesn’t let her jump all over me.

I’ve met Dougie before. He’s very immature. He springs up and down and tries to lick my face. In the end I have to nyaff at him. Thankfully, he clears off

Fergie. Hmmm. He smells nice. He’s very calm and gentle. I even stand still and let him sniff my nose. In time, I think I might even sniff his nose.

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