Wherever we go – on foot or bike at least – we’re followed by the sound of barking dogs. Every house and farm has at least one, although a small pack of them is more usual, generally yelling blue murder at us from behind the safety of the gate. I’m not sure if they bark at us because pedestrians are unusual, or because they bark at everything: passing cars, pheasants, clouds, the rain, air. But bark they do, bravely seeing off the desperate brigands threatening their hearth and home.
Then yesterday, one of the mini wolfpack that lives on the corner of the turn to the ford* managed to get out by leaping the wall as we went past. Within the gate, its less agile companions were still baying for our blood. Six inches away, on the other side of the gate, this ferocious vanguard of the pack was … rolling over to have its tummy scratched. Ah. It did have the grace to look embarrassed about it, but a tummy scratch is a tummy scratch after all, and I give particularly good ones.
Perhaps, if the writing lark doesn’t work out, I will have to take up burlglary. A few handfuls of dog biscuits and a willingness to be licked may well be all the equipment I need. And for a guard dog of my own? I think I’ll be getting some geese…
*Dry at the moment, but thanks for asking
September 25, 2008 at 8:35 pm |
Just remember the bark is often worse than the bite… right up until the point when they bite
September 26, 2008 at 8:13 am |
Or in this case, try & lick you to death
September 27, 2008 at 1:42 am |
We have a Blue Heeler on the farm that I wouldn’t take bets on…so far he has ripped a mud flap off the FedEx truck, bitten the garbage man (fortunately he was wearing high boots) and scared off several trespassing ATV riders…but he does love belly rubs so I guess there is some hope for the idiot. As far as watch dogs, I much prefer my Guinea Hens
Aaron
September 27, 2008 at 8:26 am |
I should add, in the interests of accuracy, that this dog answers to the name of ‘Tiny’ so wasn’t all that intimidating even when barking… still it’s often the ankle biters that do the worst damage. Nobody tells them they’re not wolves…
October 1, 2008 at 12:19 pm |
Aaron – one of my ex’s dogs used to be a blue heeler; she was a wonderful dog – but very … um…. opinionated. If you annoyed her you would find something missing next time you walked in the room – note – missing, not “destroyed”; hence the case of the “missing backpack” that turned up in pieces a few days later when “nature took its course” !!
These past few days I’ve had a little yappy dog bounce up and bark at the window of one of the terraced houses on my street – I’m worried about their vase that shares the window ledge with the wee hairy beastie !!! I wonder if it only does it to me (maybe it has cat-owner-sensing scent receptors… or something like that
)
October 1, 2008 at 1:01 pm |
Good to see she’s getting plenty of fibre in her diet at least…
September 26, 2009 at 10:44 am |
[...] we laughed. Until we got to the turn off for the ford and one of the herd – not my friend from last time – came bounding over the wall towards us. Now normally when dogs get out of their territory [...]