A post should appear each Sunday!
Sunday November 21st 2021
Poor Isis. Each day she spends between ninety minutes and two hours out for her walk, then that’s it for the day. Most of the rest of the time, except for thirty minutes in the evening, playing by herself with her toys, she spends snoozing. Hunting the treats at bedtime only takes about five minutes. There’s the grooming, of course, but that’s hardly a fun experience for her.
This isn’t good enough, I decide. I must engineer more fun time for her. I’ll play with her for two twenty minute sessions a day, devise a more interesting treat hunt, and replace her now mostly silent squeaky toys. Even tiger, who came with a magnificent twelve squeaks, has only two left. He and the remaining snakes are the ones she still seems to prefer, and they are but shadows of their former selves.
O.K. We’ll begin by finding and ordering the new toys.
It’s not as easy as you’d think. Isis likes soft toys with long tails and multi squeakers. There are plenty of soft toys, but very few have tails; and multi-squeakers seem to be out of fashion.
By now, though I’m going cross-eyed with searching, I can’t find even one soft toy with a tail and lots of squeaks.
In the end, I have to compromise. I order a large, soft and squishy but tough duck with orange feet and bill. It doesn’t squeak, but, the seller claims, when squeezed, it gives out a very loud honk. I’m sure this will entertain her for hours.
I also choose a fluffy looking sloth which sports a long, hairy tail, but only has one squeaker, and a bird with a textured, knitted look. It only has a short tail, but there are four squeakers.
Goodness me, it didn’t take this long to research vacuum cleaners.
The honking duck, from Pets At Home should arrive first, and the other two in about a week.
We wait with baited breath.
My neighbourly shop keeper will always let my parcels be delivered to him, if I am out, so on Tuesday I check in with him, then leave delivery instructions on my window.
When Isis and I return from her walk, I wonder if the duck has arrived. Isis soon gives me the definitive answer. When she’s a few feet from the front door, she gives two of her announcement barks. Yes, someone has approached the house.
After ushering her into the house, I collect the parcel. My neighbour puts it on the counter for me. There it lies, on its back, in its transparent bag, feet in the air, looking for all the world like an item for sale.
Yes, he confirms with a grin, the duck does have a loud honk.
You know how it is with we soppy humans. I can’t wait to see Hairy One’s delight when she is given her present.
I leave it in its bag on the floor, thinking she might enjoy unpacking it. My dog Ellie used to love unwrapping her gifts.
Isis walks past it. Stupid human. It doesn’t have an interesting scent and she can’t see it, so why would she be interested?
I remove it from its wrapping and place it in her bed.
Although she sits in her bed, next to the duck, while waiting for me to give her a post walk treat, she ignores the intruder completely.
Later she returns to bed to play with the remains of her snakes. When she’s finished and is about to walk off, I pat her, and invite her to sniff the duck. She’s still not interested, so I squeeze it. Wonderful. She’s going to love this.
HONK! HONK! HONK!
But she’s petrified. Her tail drops like an old fashioned train signal. She flattens herself on the floor in a frantic act of submission, then jumps back and makes for the safety of the day bed.
I’m mortified. I’ve terrified my poor little dog.
I leave the duck in her bed.
Two days later, I notice that she’s cleared her bed. Three snakes and her tiger have been unceremoniously evicted, and lie nearby. A few feet further off, on its own, is the duck.
So much for that idea, then.
Isis came from Aeza cat and dog rescue in Aljezur, Portugal. For information about adopting an animal from the centre, contact kerry@azea.org or go to http://www.dogwatch.co.uk.
Isis, my blind/deaf dog 