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

Wednesday August 17th 2016

A day or two after her ecstatic prance around the lawn sprinkler, Isis has a very different experience of her garden.

It is overcast for most of the day but every now and then the sky lightens, casting a brief spray of sunlight across the lawn, or darkens, dumping sudden shadows into the borders. Keeping an eye on Isis, I note that she looks nervous. She doesn’t like shifts in the light.

When I next glance out of the window about ten minutes later there is no dog to be seen. The garden is eerily still.

I hurry outside and glace down the entry. No sign of her. Although I know that she can’t get out, I feel uneasy. The far corner, under the hazel trees, is obscured by the buddleia which, amazingly, has recovered from its demolition by Hairy One last summer. Moving to the left to see round it, I think that I can spot a faint whiteness right against the new  fence, under the tree.

Yes, it’s little Isis and she looks very sorry for herself.

I place my hand under her nose so that she can be sure it’s me, but she merely turns her head away and continues to look worried.

Clearly, having found a safe spot, she is very reluctant to move.

After several little tap-taps under the chin – these touches mean ‘ come with me’ and she usually responds to them instantly – she creeps a few inches, backs up against the fence and stands stock still staring upwards.

It takes many pats, strokes and under chin taps to persuade her to come towards me and when she eventually moves, she creeps, sniffing the earth every inch of the way.

More taps and, very cautiously, she begins to move forward, nose to the ground, until her tail lifts a little and she slowly turns towards me.

Then we are out of the border and onto the lawn, her flank against my leg. Side by side,  with frequent pauses for reassuring pats, we set off to the house. At the doorstep, her tail pops back up and she leaps confidently over the threshold and into the kitchen.

Well, that trauma is over – whatever it was!

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