Escapology

Paula and I are off to UK again.

I went to Longford to do a bit of last minute shopping and bought a ham shank. I thought that I could have the ham on sandwiches and the bone would be good to keep Paula entertained on the ferry.

On the way home I was picking at the meat and eating it – before you say it, I know I should have waited until I got home!

I offered Paula a bit of the ‘crackling’ but, of course, she turned her nose up at it. So, thinking that a fox or some other form of wildlife would love it, I stopped the car at the side of the road where there is a very wide grass verge and fields beyond and opened the passenger side window of the car.

I got the big piece of fat and crackling that is on a ham shank and tossed it through the window. Without missing a beat Paula followed it. She was so fast that she could have caught the stuff as it was airborne!

Now anyone who knows Paula will know that her recall is non existent so I leapt out of the car (using the door – unlike Paula…) and ran round to try and persuade her to come to me.

Fortunately she was busy searching for the stuff that I had thrown through the window so I was able to grab hold of her jacket and haul her back into the car.

I was so relieved because the road is a busy one and, if I hadn’t managed to sneak up and catch her, anything could have happened.

Lesson learned – never, ever open window fully. Paula can jump like a gazelle from a standing start…

Marco Update

Well, Marco is settling in nicely now but he is still very reluctant to come to me unless I am crouched down.

That’s all very well, but at my age, it’s the getting up that is the problem!

He is still very nervous about eating if I’m around but he’s getting much better. He loves going out in the car now and it’s a race to see who can get in first - him or Paula. The good thing is that he stays in the back like a good boy- I keep telling Paula that she should be in the back but she knows that her place is the co-pilots seat.

Paula and Marco are getting on really well and are behaving like a couple of puppies – fighting and rolling around all over the garden.

Lesley bought a new jumper for Paula, she hates not having a jacket on and spends all her time shivering. I end up putting the heating on for the dogs… 

Marco tried Paula’s new jumper on and loved it.

See Photo.

Marco Posing

Paula

Back From Holiday – Thankfully!

Well, we’ve been on holiday.  If you have been keeping up with the tales of Paula, you will remember that I got a dog guard for whilst Paula was in the car on the ferry alone. Did it stop her? Of course not! The ferry that I was on had a viewing gallery so the passengers can look at the sea, my car was at the front of the car deck and visible from the viewing gallery. I had to go away and stop watching Paula pulling the dog guard down! It took her about 15 minutes before she was loose in the car – I couldn’t rest wondering what she had done. I was not surprised to find that she had eaten part of the wiper switch again, or that she had rooted about in the box that I was taking to my son and scattered it around!  But, on the whole, no major damage done – this time.

After we had been away for just a day, Paula presented me with a new problem – she came in season! Hotels have such lovely crisp white sheets, don’t they? Well, after the first night, I had to make my apologies on Paula’s behalf for our bed looking as if there had been a mass murder during the night!  They were very understanding and for the rest of the holiday I had to sleep on a dog blanket with my lovely little dog!  Oh, I know I could have bought some pants for her, but picking up the bits after she had shredded them would have just meant more mess. So, as she was happy to sleep on her blanket as long as I did as well, we managed fairly well. I didn’t sleep too well wondering if she had stained the duvet cover – but it wasn’t too bad.

There are lots more interesting (!) tales of our holiday but those can wait until another time.

Expensive Dog

My little angel cannot be trusted alone in the car for more than 30 seconds.

Paula of Arabia...

I learned that the hard way.
In the beginning I would leave her sitting on the seat just watching the world go by – she always has her favourite bone in the car if she is bored of the passers by. Then one day, after calling at my sons house, I went back to the car to find Paula sitting amongst about €400 of €20 notes with my credit card and the rest of the contents of my purse scattered around the car. I had just been to the bank for cash and left my purse in the door of the car as I had done several times before.
Happily for Paula, she had not eaten any of the money. For me it is a lesson learned – if I don’t want Paula to play with it – lock it away or don’t leave it in the car.

I am going to England at the end of the month to visit family and Paula will be spending 3 hours in the car whilst I am on the ferry. I think I should invest in a crate that will fit in the car to ensure that it is still drivable when we get to the other end. My handbrake is already a tad chewed and she has started on the wiper switch!

Paula Decided That I Need a New Phone!

This is a picture of the remains of my phone.

The Remains!

There was, originally a flap covering the numbers before Paula decided to ‘modify’ it. I still haven’t found the rest of it yet though! 

I only left her in the car for about 5 minutes but silly me left the phone on the sun visor. I really should have known better.                                                                                   

Over the next few weeks I will be telling more tales about Paula’s exploits over the past 7 months or so. She looks so angelic, but looks can be deceiving – trust me, I know!

Paula’s Arrival

Lesley with Sassy and Paula

Paula arrived into my life by accident really. I had not planned to get a whippet nor any other type of dog. I was having a bit of dog free time.

My sister Lesley, has a whippet called Sassy who needed a friend – apparently. So Lesley set out to find her one and Paula was the result! Paula, a daughter of Barnesmore Candy Man and Tygerzi Lucky Penny.was born on Halloween (with hindsight, that explains a lot…) in 2008. 

 She arrived at Lesley’s sometime in January. Lesley’s older dog, a very gentle Rhodesian Rodgeback called Jarvis found it very difficult to cope with the continued attention showered on him by this tiny little creature. He told her off, she ignored him so he told her off again and she ignored him again. The poor old chap could get no peace as Paula, unwittingly, caused mayhem in Lesley’s home. In March Lesley went on holiday and Paula came to stay with me – she never went home after that – much to the relief of Jarvis!!

So this is the beginning of the story of Paula. For such a young little girl, she has done such a lot – mostly amusing, sometimes exasperating but always funny. She is my treasure!