Through the garden gate

It was a lovely Spring day and I was watching the world go by from behind the wrought iron gate at the side of our house. I was two years old and we lived in a small village in England then. I was never allowed in the front garden on my own, but I had quite a good view of the street from behind the locked gate. I could see my doggy pals go by with their bipeds, when they went out for their walks.

Not our garden gate, but I like this one! (from Wiki commons)

I saw a little girl I’d never seen before walking along with an adult biped. She saw me and pointed and said something to the adult biped she was with. The adult opened our front gate and, instead of going to the front door, she and the little girl came across the grass towards the gate where I was. I made an excited noise! They started stroking me through the gate. The little girl soon had her arms through as far as she could reach to give me a hug.

It was only a moment later that I heard our back door open and my biped came round the corner of the house. I turned my head to look and she appeared a bit startled. She hurried up to us and, for a moment, I was concerned that I’d done something wrong, but she put a hand on my shoulder and said, “Good girl, Clowie!”

Then she greeted the bipeds on the other side of the gate.

The adult biped said, “I’m sorry, we shouldn’t have come into your garden like this, but Sophie loves animals and wanted to meet your dog. We’re on our way to visit someone a few doors along.”

My biped started to unlock the gate and replied, “Well, come into the back garden for a few minutes and it will be easier for her to make a fuss of Clowie.”

We all went across to the garden seat. The adults sat on the seat and I sat near it and Sophie came and stood right up against my chest with her head just under mine and her arms round me. I heard her mother asking what breed I am and my biped telling her how my ancestors protected flocks of sheep from wolves and bears.

They chatted about how much Sophie likes animals and then I heard my biped ask, “Do you know very much about dogs?”

Sophie’s mother replied, “No, not very much at all, we don’t often have the opportunity to meet one.”

My biped then explained to her that not all dogs are relaxed with children, for various reasons. She told her that she should teach Sophie to always ask the person with a dog whether it’s okay to approach the dog.

Sophie’s mother thanked my biped and said that she would be more careful. She asked if they could call by to see me, when they were next visiting in the village. I thought Sophie was really sweet, so I was pleased to hear my biped say that they could.

I saw Sophie again a couple of months later. She came to the front door with her mother and asked really nicely, “Please can I make a fuss of Clowie?”

That made my tail wag! We all went into the garden for a little while and Sophie hugged me and kissed me. Then my biped showed her how to give me a treat, holding her little hand out flat. I really enjoyed seeing her again!

See you next Wednesday!

Twice as nice

One day in the week it was pouring hard with rain, the sun found a gap in the clouds and this is what we saw.

Double rainbow

I started thinking about how unusual it is to see two rainbows at once and this reminded me that people are often surprised when they notice that I have double dewclaws. So I am going to answer the Frequently Barked Question: Why do Pyrenean Mountain Dogs (or Great Pyrenees) have double dewclaws on their hind legs?

Smoking!

When we first moved to Spain, we lived in an old, stone house. One evening in the autumn my bipeds decided to light a fire, as the weather had turned cold. This didn’t turn out to be a very good idea – the smoke billowed into the room! The bipeds opened the windows and fiddled around with the fire for a while, but it didn’t take them long to decide that the chimney needed cleaning and they put the fire out.

On Sunday morning Juan, the man who owned the house, came by to collect something he needed. He said he was surprised that we didn’t have a fire now that the weather had turned cold. My bipeds told him that it smoked too much and that the chimney needed cleaning.

He replied, “I can’t do anything now, I’ll come back after lunch and clean it with you.”

Spotlight on Hetty – Seizure Alert and Guide Dog

I’m really excited that Hetty has agreed to be my guest today. She is an award-winning dog doing very special work. I’m sure you’ll enjoy hearing about her and the work she does. Put your paws together and give her a warm Clowie’s Corner welcome!

Hetty – Dual Assistance Dog

Clowie: Thank you for being my guest today, Hetty. Would you like to tell us about yourself?

Hetty: I am a black Golden Retriever cross Labrador Retriever aged 3.5 years. I was bred by Guide Dogs and puppy walked in Scotland before moving to Sheffield for my advanced training.

C: I’ve seen puppies in training and I was very impressed. The puppy walkers do a great job of socialising and preparing the puppies. Why were you chosen?

Throwing in the towel

Pippin, our cat, needed to take some tablets recently. He had to take one in the morning and one in the evening for a week. The biped would put him on the table and open his mouth and pop the tablet in and hold him until he swallowed it. Pippin was very good about this for three days.

Pippin on the terrace at home

But on the fourth day he decided he was feeling better and didn’t need to take any more medication. When the biped put him on the table and opened his mouth, he put a front paw up with all the claws out so that the biped couldn’t get the tablet to his mouth. She pushed his paw down and tried again. One of his back paws came round with all the claws out! It’s amazing how flexible a cat’s legs are!