The Dog, The Dog He's At It Again

This is for the Halo Collar and Vocal "Life Unleashed" Challenge.

I haven’t had a dog as a pet for over twenty years, though as a kid I had three Alsatian dogs , well that last was an alsatian / labrador cross called Simba , a rescue dog. The other two were Sheena , and Nina (a pure breed but , shall we say, a little highly strung).

I have never had an issue with dogs and always get along with them very well. I remember going to a farm and opening the door to be greeted with an Irish Wolfhound that was taller than my vehicle.

My dad used to be a builder and I joined him when not at school , and a lot of the farms we were working at had dogs , either sheepdogs , collies or Alsatians . When I saw the dogs I would stoke them , play with them , and generally have fun. I would then leave the dog get on with my work and at some point the owner would come and warn me not to go near their dog because they were vicious guard dogs. I didn’t say anything because, with me ,they were always good friends.

The only animals that have ever bitten me are horses and ponies , and I have never actually ridden one although both my daughters were excellent horse riders as teenagers.

Simba was the one I remember most about as a teenager. We had a 9 acre farm with pig sties that were also infested with rats and other vermin, and Simba would chase but never catch rats. I would often see her wandering on the roofs of the pig sties which often caused consternation with any visitors.

I said my dad was a builder and we often had deliveries of sand and construction materials in large lorries , and when they drove slowly passing the house Simba would attack them sinking her teeth into the massive tyres the going round in full circles until she finally realised she wasn’t having any effect on the lorry.

One night I was home alone , watching a horror film . Out house was from the sixteenth century so had some history behind it , a little of which you can read here , and Simba was a clever dog and could open all the doors in the house , so when I heard padding and doors being opened upstairs , I knew it was Simba.

The film finished , I had a cup of tea or something and about half an hour later there was a barking at the front door. Simba had been out all night.

When I left home I got a rescue puppy Jasper , who I thought was a Jack Russel but was a whippet and something else and was a lovely dog. She was adopted by Simba and you can see what they looked like together in this old photograph. They loved playing together and were absolute friends for life.

Jasper was very protective of my daughters Juliet and Kirsty and they all grew up together , playing and going for walks, but eventually Jasper hit old age and died and we scattered her ashes where she used to love running.

My last dog was Sandy, a golden Labrador whose original owner had problems with Sandy’s hair shedding causing breathing difficulties. Sandy was bigger than Jasper and not as fast a runner and we didn’t see her as a puppy but again a lovely dog.

These days Juliet is a cat fan , but Kirsty has a lovely Jack Russel called Molly who we often take for walks on the Town Moor with my granddaughter Alexis .

So these are the tales (or should that be tails) of the dogs who have passed through my life.