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

Sunday July 8th 2018

Kings Heath Park is proliferating with new arrivals, both puppies and older dogs. Among them, it’s gratifying to see quite a number of  rescues.

One is lovely little Asgar, three and a half months old and very lively.

Her mother, pregnant when she came over from Ireland, delivered her five pups in Birmingham Dogs’ Home.

Isis, helpfully, is playing happily beneath her fir tree on the bank above the old bowling green so I can concentrate on admiring Asgar.

Her owner tells me that the mother and all of the pups have been re-homed.

Most mornings at least one curious dog approaches Isis as she plays her strange games. Although wary, she’s not terrified. Yes, she moves away, but only a few feet. She doesn’t run, and she returns to her tree and her play as soon as the intruder moves on.

Fortunately, all of the dogs she encounters this week have responsible owners and are well trained so she doesn’t get jumped on by obstreperous pups.

Today I’m particularly impressed with her.

As she twirls around her avenue of pines in Highbury Park, she is approached and sniffed by two large dogs: first a Weimaramer, then a German shepherd.

Not very long go she would have cowered, terrified and desperate to escape, but today she just skips further down the avenue and resumes her idiosyncratic dance.

After the pines, we move on to the woodland walk. Even though it’s almost a year since she was here, she sniffs her way up to her much loved grassy mound and prances on it gleefully.

Soon, Maggie the border collie joins us, and J. follows with little Harry and Spanish rescues Ruby and Sophie.

J. was one of our first park friends to meet Isis nearly four years ago. I told her that Hairy One had come from Portugal through Dogwatch UK and J said that her next dog would be a Dogwatch dog.

She also told me that one day Isis would be able to walk off the lead. I couldn’t believe that, but, of course, she was right.

It is magical to see Ruby, who, not long ago was abjectly afraid of everything, playing robustly with little Sophie.

Ruby is deeply attached to J, but still very nervous of strangers, and, sadly, I was unable to get a close-up image of her; however, I caught the much more confident little Sophie playing with a stone.

Two sadly neglected and abused little Spanish dogs now have the best home they could wish for.

Sophie rushes up to Isis and warns her off. Isis backs off, but to my delight, she doesn’t scuttle away. Her tail stays aloft and she resumes her slow waltz.

There’s my girl!

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