I'm not a dog person. I'm not much of a person person to tell the truth, but today the limits of my empathy for both man and beast were tested when a stray dog arrived at our house.
It all started when I looked out of the door at the wrong moment and saw a black dog standing on our driveway. When it became clear it wasn't on a leash and didn't have an owner anywhere near I mentioned it to (animal lover) Hannah, who rushed out to see what was going on.
The poor animal was very skittish and somewhat crazed by the heat, although it was wearing a collar so we figured it would come to us with some gentle coaxing. No such luck! After chasing it around for half-an-hour I would have left it at that, having watched the documentary Homeward Bound: The Incredible Journey and therefore confident it would get home, but Hannah wouldn't listen. Some time later, with the help of a sausage, we shut the gate to our yard having tricked it inside.
"Congratulations on your new puppy!" said next door neighbour Mo, who had been watching this all with much amusement. But I was having none of that so called dog-owning Kindra, throwing myself at her mercy with "Help! I'm a foreigner who has no idea what to do when you have a stray dog trapped in your yard!"
Kindra and Levi came to the rescue with a jar of peanut butter and a stick. The dog was not happy with anyone coming near, with much nipping and baring of teeth, but we discovered a name and number on its collar, although getting close enough to read would have risked losing a finger. Then Kindra worked her stick/peanut butter magic, and with the use of a digital camera we managed to get a picture that we could enlarge enough to read! It turned out that "Duke" had an owner, one that didn't answer when we called.
We all adjourned to bed, leaving a savage animal with a nice bowl of water to drink and our porch to shelter under rent-free. How I got a wink of sleep I'll never know, but the owner called back at 4.15am (?!?) and we eventually organised a hand-off later that morning.
When I cautiously opened the door to refill Duke's water it was like being greeted by a different dog! There was much tail-wagging, sniffing and pawing, and attempts to get into the house, as though apologising for the poor behaviour of yesterday. My heart thawed ever so slightly. Maybe it would be nice to have a fluffy companion (other than Hannah). But then the owner arrived - extremely thankful for what we'd done - and Duke was very happy to see him, so we waved them all goodbye as the sun was rising.
It was as I walked back to the front door that I noticed the poo everywhere. EVERYWHERE! From just one night!! There followed twenty minutes of scooping, hosing, and no small amount of swearing. Why does anyone own a dog?! A 7-yr-old boy is enough wild animal for this house.
I thought a guard dog was meant to keep people out, not in.
More my kind of animal (the cat, not the child).
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PS Duke's owner came back later with a big box of cookies to say thank you! With that kind of payment, his dog can poo in my yard anytime.
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PS Duke's owner came back later with a big box of cookies to say thank you! With that kind of payment, his dog can poo in my yard anytime.
