dog – Page 6 – Louisa Parry

One month in: things I’ve realised since getting a dog

1. Walks

I knew we’d have to go on walks and we were looking forward to the excuse to exercise and explore. I didn’t realise how much we’d need to walk to tire her out in the first few weeks (we were constantly exhausted!) but now it’s settled down, I didn’t expect quite how much I’d enjoy the strolls. Sure, the on-lead first thing in the morning pee-and-poo walk around the block is a bit of a chore comparatively but park/woodland walks are a lot of fun – watching her cheese it about at full speed while we dawdle along behind. We’re very lucky to have such interesting walks at the foot of our garden and around both Leeds & Bradford in general – very green cities. In a chicken/egg situation, it’s also perfect timing that Lily has entered our lives just when I’m getting more interested in wild food/wild plants in general. We’re also going for more walks with friends – not just other doggied-up friends – loving the excuse to go for a stroll in the sunshine rather than just seeing those friends at the pub or whatever.

2. Dog walking small talking

And it’s not just people we already know: if you want to get to know people in your local community, get a dog – it makes things so much easier. To be fair, this was a already pretty friendly neighbourhood but it seems to ramp up a lot when we’re out with Lily. Lots of doggie-related small talk but it’s a start.

3. Restrictions

I had not anticipated quite how tying a dog would be compared to cats. The cats are tying in some ways – they wouldn’t want to go into a cattery so we’ve not been able to go on long (read: more than a week) holidays due to a combination of missing them and not wanting to abuse the generosity of our friends doing the feeding. But the dog, at the moment – we can’t even leave her for an hour on her own. We’ll build it up but she’s effectively been abandoned twice within a couple of months (firstly by the person who loved her for over 8 years, secondly by that person’s daughter) so she’s understandably somewhat anxious. Since we work from home, we don’t need to leave her alone that much but sometimes it’s desirable – we’ve got a great and very willing babysitter in Katherine but still, it’s quite tying. On the plus side though, most of our holidays in recent years have been to a quiet cottage by the coast somewhere in the UK so she’ll be able to come with us then.

4. Poo

When we were talking to rescue people about getting a dog, we’d often joke that we have no fear when it comes to poo but it turns out, we genuinely have no fear of poo. John’s dad watched me with pick some up with a baggie the other day and said he couldn’t do it, he’d need a little shovel. But a decade of cleaning out litter trays & accidental cat poos on carpet, then four months of Sili with stomach cancer last year – we’re not going to be licking our fingers after doing it but … no fear.

5. How noisy dogs are

I’ve lived with cats my whole life and know that their vocabulary extends far beyond “meow” – and there are hundreds of different meows anyway. I know the sound of a cat washing, a cat giving its claws a good clean, a cat scratching its ear with its back leg and hitting the window at the same time. I didn’t think a dog would be silent aside from the occasional woof or pine/whine but Lily grunts, she snorts, she snores, she sighs, she farts (that’s both an assault on the audio and olfactory senses), she thunders around the house, and she licks her bum & bits so loudly that it’s worrying (George identified the worrying aspect the other day: it sounds too wet, like she’s doing something very moist on the carpet. Never a good sound). None of these sounds are a problem and some of them (the grunting in particular) are hilarious — I just wasn’t expecting them.

6. How much stuff I know about cats that I don’t realise I know

That stuff about cat noises isn’t half of it, not an eighth of it, possibly a 20th of it. I’ve lived with cats my whole life and have been the primary caregiver to the Peach pride for over a decade, so I know all about cat food, cat litter, cat treats, cat toys, cat facial expressions, cat stares, cat actions, cat needs, cat routines… I am at one with the cats. But it’s all so internalised that I didn’t realise how much I knew about them until I started living with a new species which needs different food, treats & toys, has a different routine and facial expressions etc. There has been, and still is, a lot to learn.

7. It’s frustrating my camera is broken

And I have to rely on my crappy camera phone. She’s too cute for just two megapixels! ;)

3BT – surrounded, distracted, rewarded

29/3/2010 / louisa / 0 Comments

1. I wake up just before dawn to the sound of some low half-barks – Lily getting excited in her sleep. She’s still in her bed so I go to her to soothe her. Next time I wake up, perhaps an hour or so later, she’s lying in between us, on her back with her paws in the air, Carla is sat on my chest purring and Boron is fast asleep on my head. The best way to wake up.

2. On the bus, my ears and brain are distracted by a lecture on human pre-history, my hands and eyes by granny squares.

3. After a difficult rehearsal, I need cake. Lots of cake. Then I spot it – a fancy, expensive cake reduced to clear for just 99p.

3BT – in the woods

25/3/2010 / louisa / 0 Comments

(From my lunchtime walk with Lily in the woods at the back of our house. We took a slightly extended version of our usual route, which goes along the main path and back alongside the beck. I walked about a mile; Lily ran considerably further.)

1. In the forest of birch, oak and rocks, the trees are evenly spaced without crowding or saplings in between. The weighty trunks grow tall and true but their still-naked limbs twist and gnarl. Underfoot is still golden from last year’s leaf fall. In just a few weeks, this scene will be transformed.

2. There is a glade in the woods just off the path above the other path, which looks like it’s from Fable. Two rings of stone, probably a century old, adorned by just one young tree each in the centre – like unactivated cullis gates to other worlds. Nearby, a stream has cut its way under a stone ledge and a set of steps leads excitingly off into the distance.

3. The sides of the beck, from here to the canal and river at Apperley Bridge, are covered with glorious green wild garlic (Ramsoms). The smell is divine. I collect a handful of leaves for my lunch.

3BT – fighting it, warmth, perfect combination

14/3/2010 / louisa / 0 Comments

1. Since she came to live with us a week ago, Lily has fought a constant battle against sleep during the day – she’s exhausted but there is a slim possibility that something exciting might happen (and everything we do is exciting at this stage) so she wants to keep watching us just in case. Slowly though, her eyes give in and the muscles around her eyes twitch as they relax. It reminds me of the time I watched my lovely boy Carbon fall fast asleep.

2. I think about lighting the stove to recreate the loveliness that was last Sunday afternoon but instead, we head out inside. After a morning of sunshine, the metal of the balcony is warm underfoot. I eat my lunch while the cats and dog sunbathe around me.

3. The cheese – a mature but creamy cheddar – is perfect on the jacket potato. The Tommy flakes* in the tuna are a hit too.

* A selection of spices supplied in a ready-to-use grinder by our friend Tom. The plan is that from his base selection, we’ll involve our own mix then pass some back to him, and so on – the spice mix evolving as our tastes change over time. Our current Tommy flakes mix is garlicky and salty, but with a spicy kick too.

3BT – Lily’s second day

7/3/2010 / louisa / 0 Comments

1. She wakes up at dawn but is coaxed back to the sofa for another couple of hours sleep. When my alarm goes off at 8:30 (her old feeding time in the shelter), she’s still sleepy and we cuddle instead. I explain to her that this is how the Peach household works: we always start the day with hugs.

2. By early afternoon, the cats still aren’t sure of her but seem to have decided she’s not a threat. They keep watching but not obsessively so and blinking all the while.

3. I spend the afternoon stretched out on the floor in front of the stove, listening to Joanna Newsome. The dog and cats take it in turns to lie across the newspaper and when they do, I stare out of the window at the bare branches silhouetted against the brilliant blue sky.

4. She takes the blue rubber bone from me and carries it to her bed. She puts it down matter-of-factly at one end and looks at me with disdain: “the blue bone is clearly for later, mum, clearly”.

5. Tom arrives at bedtime and as I lead him through the porch, I explain that Lily can be nervous around new people so let her come to him rather than crowding her. Or rather I start to explain because before I can finish, she’s launched herself at him, tail wagging, the happiest, most welcoming dog in the world.

Internet, I’d like you to meet Lithium ‘Lily’ Peach

6/3/2010 / louisa / 0 Comments

In light of my very sad last post, this seems a little “neeeeeeeext!” but we’d actually started the adoption process before Carbon died (we had just got back from getting a vet reference when we found him) and we thought it would be unfair to Lily to leave her at the shelter for longer than necessary.

We’ve casually wanted a dog for ages but last November, we decided we should actually get one rather than just pining after one indefinitely. Since then, we’ve been on the look out for the perfect pup for us – ie, one that’s great with cats. No particular breed preferences, not bothered about it being a boy or a girl, and no preferences over a puppy or older dog (although ideally we’d like one under 5) – just good with cats. Given most rescue dogs don’t have a known history, known cat-friendly dogs are pretty thin on the ground. I’d bookmarked pretty much ever shelter in the M62 corridor and probably melted their servers with my frequent visits.

Lily is from the Dogs Trust in Liverpool. We went over there last weekend to meet another dog mentioned on the site – a lab cross – on the way to see my mum & dad. The lovely people at the shelter didn’t think the other dog would be suitable with cats after all – but have you seen this old girl? We talked to Lil in her kennel for a few minutes – when her whiny cone-headed cellmate Ben let us get a word in – then took her for a walk. By the time we got back to the reception, we were smitten – and if we weren’t, she then did a meerkat thing which sealed the deal. She’d previously lived with two cats so they were pretty confident she’d be ok with them but did a cat test (imagine a cat being poked into a room on a big stick – it’s nothing like that but it’s a funny image) anyway – she passed with flying colours, barely even acknowledging its existence.

We picked her up this morning. Her file said she was terrified riding in cars but as soon as she jumped in the boot of ours, she sat down quietly and curled up for the journey home (these photos were taken mid-M62). As soon as we stopped the car, she stood up, tailing waggy, ready to start her new adventure! We took her inside, introduced her to the scared but curious cats (they’ll come around, she was brilliant) then had some lunch – while we were eating our sandwiches, she sat quietly on the floor then as soon as we were finished, jumped on the sofa between us and curled up in a ball. Home.

At nine, she’s a little older than we’d anticipated but my, she’s a sprightly nine year old. We couldn’t have handled her when she was younger – she pulled me all over the place on our first walk this afternoon – including into the beck! Springer spaniels live on average for 12-15 years so we might not have her *that* long but she has many advantages being older – she knows how to be a dog which is very useful for us first time dog owners. I’m sure we’ll have lots of fun together.

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