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…

Just a Lovely Photo of Paula

I will be adding some new tales soon but in the meantime here is a lovely photo of the beautiful Paula.

Paula Being Gorgeous

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

Introducing Marco

Paula has a new friend. He is a whippet crossed with something… maybe a terrier. He came from the Dog Pound at Meath. Marco weighs just 19lbs, is around 2 inches smaller than Paula and I reckon he is about 6/8 months old. I saw him on the Dog Pound website and decided to go and have a look at him. Paula and I went up on Thursday 29th October and he came back with us that same day. I couldn’t have left him there…(enough said!)

When he came home he had to be de-flead, wormed, bathed and have his nails cut. The following Monday he went to have his ‘bits’ removed and whilst he was spark out, Emma the vet, removed a baby tooth that hadn’t come out and was making his canine tooth grow outward.

So, for the first week he thought that I was the devil incarnate!

Now, a week later, he is practising walking on a lead, jumps into the car with Paula and comes to be stroked. I can only begin to imagine the life he had been used to previously because he was very wary of me to begin with. But he is settling down well to our routine.  Now we need to master the house training, he is fine if I leave the back door open but has not yet grasped the idea of waiting.   (Note to self: Next time you get a new dog, make sure it’s summer!)

Paula was a bit mystified to find this little creature was staying, but she now cuddles up to him at night and plays chasing round the garden – providing it is not raining (she doesn’t do rain!) More stories on Marco’s progress soon…      

Marco - 10 days after arriving

My Dog’s New Teeth…

To set the scene…

I have a few teeth that I can remove (not a pleasant thought, but true all the same) and occasionally I take them out if they are rubbing, which they do on occasions. I take them out sometimes at night and just put them on the dressing table.

Now when we were on holiday, I had taken the plate out and put it on the table. I found it on the floor the morning after but really didn’t give it much thought other than how I must have knocked it off with the duvet when I got up.

Paula sleeps in bed with me and, when I get up she usually stays in bed until around 7.30am. One morning, after we had got home from our holiday, I was hard at work at the computer when I heard Paula in the bedroom. I thought she was getting up for her breakfast but, after a few minutes she failed to appear in the kitchen so I thought it would be a good idea to see what she was doing.

It was a good job that I did – because she was adapting my teeth to fit her mouth – and her mouth is smaller than mine! So, there she was sitting on the bed with half of my false teeth in her mouth and the other half next to her. (I really must go to the dentist and get a permanent bridge…) Fortunately I caught her just before she managed to break them up into individual teeth.

This was the day that I was very grateful to the inventor of superglue. Paula, my darling whippet, is really very resourceful when it comes to keeping herself entertained.

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.

More Tales of Paula

Paula excelled herself today – and we haven’t even set off on our holidays!

Her opening trick of the day was to pinch my keys. I always leave them on top of the fridge but yesterday I had left them on the table which is Paula height – not whippet or dog height but Paula height! After much searching I eventually found them in the grass where she had been having a little taste.

I’m very much a ‘last minute’ person and had gone into Roscommon to pay a few bills and buy one or two bits. So, as I always do, I left Paula curled up on the passenger seat. I swear I was only away from the car for 45 seconds before I realised that I had left my phone in the car (again). I dashed back to find that Paula was happily adapting the phone to her own specifications – yes, another one! Fortunately though, I had just got to her in time to rescue it before it became un-useable. But the screen is not too bright and the buttons are pitted with her teeth marks.

That’s not all – I needed to go into another shop so I checked to make sure there was nothing that she could destroy and off I went. I was away for about 10 minutes and when I returned, Paula had removed the button from the end of my windscreen wiper switch. As it was only a little chewed I took it off her and pushed it back into place. That’s when the fun started!

I settled myself into the car, put my seatbelt on; then I switched the engine on. I got the shock of my life as all the wipers (back and front) started going on ‘very fast’ mode, the window washer pumped water continuously onto the windscreen and I was – apparently –  going to turn left, according to the flashing indicator. Now, I know it doesn’t sound too bad, but as I wasn’t expecting it, it really took me by surprise and my brain refused to tell me what to do! The other shoppers in the car park must have thought I was a mad woman – giving my windscreen the best wash it had ever had. After a few seconds of slight panic, not knowing which buttons to press, my brain unscrambled and I turned off the ignition – aren’t I smart!

I sat there for a while trying to remove the button that my little darling had chewed but, of course, it’s never that simple. I had done a good job putting it back! So, after lots of beeping of the horn (by accident and much to the surprise of passers by) I managed to remove the button, straightened it and replaced it – problem solved. But not until I had wondered how long the water would last in the windscreen washer if I had to drive home washing the windscreen all the way.

The result of today’s little episode is that I went to my son’s house and picked up a dog guard that I left in his kennels. Sadly, Paula has shot herself in the foot – she will be in the back of the car when I am on the ferry – who knows what my car would look like if I leave her on the passenger seat as I originally intended!

Paula is off on Holiday

Sassy has pinched Paula's favourite toy - apparently!

Paula and I are off to England on Thursday. This will be a challenge as anyone who knows Paula will appreciate. I am hoping that, when we are on the ferry, she doesn’t eat my car. However, the most challenging thing about the journey will be finding food that Paula will eat. You see, she is a bit of a fussy eater, at the moment she eats five sausages for breakfast – but only if they’re cooked a certain way! If I don’t cook them to her liking, she eats a couple of small pieces and leaves the rest. So, as am I a slave to her every whim, I put them back in the microwave for an extra minute then cool them down for her. When I put them back in her dish, she eats them with enthusiasm. I swear she looks at me as if to say, “Thanks heavens you have learned how to cook!”

Her tea is raw meat – only raw meat! I tried giving her a tin of dog food a couple of times but she sniffs delicately at it then turns up her nose with distaste and walks away. Fancy expecting her to eat dog food! What an insult. So raw meat it is then.

This is the very first time in my whole life that I have accommodated any dog in this way, but if I didn’t she would prefer to starve!  Anyway, wish me luck taking my little girl on holiday – I’m gonna need it!

Dognappers?

For the very first time since I have had Paula, I was grateful on Thursday that she is very wary of any strangers that come to the house. To set the scene, my house is on about half an acre. The house stands in the middle of the land and the whole of the perimeter is fenced with chain link. There is a double gate that is closed with a chain and clip which is on the inside of the gate. I have very few close neighbours and no-one ever walks past the house – only cars driving past. The fencing that is on the roadside is not see through, so a car whizzing past would not notice my little dog out in the garden.
Anyway, on Thursday I was inside the house working on the PC as I usually do, with the back door open so Paula could play out, when I heard her bark a little. Now that is unusual in itself but, as I was expecting my son to call, I didn’t get up to see if anyone was around. After a minute or two and my son hadn’t appeared, Paula had gone quiet so I got up and went out of the back door and around the side of the house to see what Paula was up to.
She was standing (in flight mode) watching a rather large middle aged lady fiddling with the gate chain whilst trying to encourage Paula to come to her. Fortunately, Paula will not greet anyone with enthusiasm (unless they bring a playmate for her). So, I said to the woman ‘Can I help you?’ She looked at me, then turned away without saying a word, got into the passenger side of a car that was parked near my gate and drove off!
The only reason that I can think of was that she was trying to pinch my Paula! Why else would she not say a word to me when only seconds before she was trying to get Paula to come to her? I can not come up with another explanation.
So, this is the one and only time that I have been grateful for Paula’s reluctance to be friendly when anyone comes to the house!
Be on your guard – I most certainly am now!

Bathing Paula…

When I first got Paula, she would follow me everywhere – to the kitchen, to the bedroom even to the bathroom.

Paula and her baby...

One day, after she had been with me for about a week, I went to have a shower but didn’t close the bathroom door properly (I live alone – so it didn’t matter). So there I was, washing my hair when a furry critter landed in the bath. I’m not sure who was most surprised – Paula or me! She wasn’t too keen on this wet stuff and the very slippery surface under her feet and I wasn’t too keen at having a pup in the shower! So after much panic on her part and exasperation on mine, we got out of the shower. When I got out, I dripped bubbles from my hair whilst I dried Paula. To add insult to injury, after I had rinsed the shampoo from my hair and finished showering, I went into the sitting room and found that my sweet little girl had nicked the toilet roll and spread it all around the furniture – apparently my interior design needed some help. Do you know how much stuff there is on one toilet roll? A lot, especially when it’s all ripped up!

Note: To the person who said they liked the stories but doubted that they were true –  every single tale about Paula is ABSOLUTELY TRUE and there are more…