A DOG'S LIFE

It struck me yesterday that an update on Jack might be in order, and yes, before you say it, I am soppy about babies and young animals, especially dogs. I think it's because they have none of our adult traits, they tend to give love unconditionally.

Black Jack is the successor to big white Jack who many of you will remember. He was disadvantaged from birth and ran feral for eighteen months before he landed up with me and we had four good years before his early traumas caught up with him and the vet and I agreed that he was becoming dangerous. Anyone who has taken a healthy young dog to be put down will know what a trauma it is and in previous cases I have needed a bit of time to grieve and come round to the idea of another companion. In the case of Big Jack my friend Dave O'Connor didn't give me that luxury. By chance his wife Carol knew of a young dog that needed a new home and Dave dragged me to Nelson where I became the new companion animal to a twelve week old Patterdale that soon claimed my affection. He's 3 years old this month and I think we can safely say he has settled in nicely.

What triggered this update was some unusual behaviour over the last few days. He suddenly became very interested in the sideboard in the front room. That's right, the side board. This is an immovable piece of furniture because it has Johnny Pickles' 1927 ornamental turning lathe sat on top of it. It stands on a base which is solid all the way round except at the back which is about six inches away from the wall.

We need to step back here and get a bit of background. I lay no claim to being expert on keeping dogs but over the years I have picked up one or two helpful insights. Most dogs I have seen which exhibit unhappiness by being noisy, nasty or lethargic are suffering from boredom. Different breeds need different levels of stimulation, terriers need a lot! You have to play with them and find out what triggers them off into activity on their own. In Black Jack's case it is his ball. He has two solid rubber ones, the large one is for chasing in the park and a smaller one is for worrying indoors. At one point he had a hollow tough rubber one which fascinated him, I think mainly because of the noises it made as he chewed it and tried to destroy it.

Every evening as I settled down in the front room for my daily ration of TV he would bring his ball in and my role was to keep knocking it with my foot so he can chase it and bring it back. He has trained me to be quite good at this, I can keep him occupied and watch TV at the same time. One night, about a year ago there was a bit of a disaster. In his eagerness to catch the ball he knocked it in the air, it fell behind the sideboard and rolled under the base where it was inaccessible. No problem, I got the reserve ball and this kept him quite happy. Until this week...

It did cross my mind that his fascination with the sideboard might be because he had got wind of his old ball but this seemed so far-fetched after a year that I dismissed it. Until last night. I was sat there watching TV and realised that I could hear Jack but hadn't the faintest idea where he was. All was revealed when he appeared from behind the sideboard with the old yellow ball in his mouth! As I write this he is at my feet happily gnawing away on the hollow ball and no doubt cleaning his teeth at the same time.

So, we have a happy and busy dog, just as it should be but what fascinates me is what triggered this interest in the fate of his ball after twelve months without it. What was going on his brain? Did something move the ball and disturb it? Perhaps a mouse? My opinion is that for some reason, perhaps to do with the fairly high humidity we have had for a week or two, the scent got to him and triggered a memory. Once he was on the scent he couldn't let it be until he had got to it. Since he retrieved it he has had no interest in the sideboard.

So don't try to tell me that dogs have a limited retention of memory or attention span. They will always surprise you if you observe them well enough. Jack lives up to his promise, he is intelligent and active and by the way, is convinced that he is the master! Just as it should be and if the longevity of other terriers I have lived with is any guide I could possibly have 15 more years of this to put up with! So, if you should happen to see a 90 year old bloke walking round the town with a small black dog in 15 years time, recognise that you're looking at an old married couple taking the air! Here's hoping...

SCG/29/07/10

Stanley Challenger Graham




Barlick View
stanley at barnoldswick.freeserve.co.uk

Comrade, I'm convinced that Misty has a long memory retention. We'd had her as couple of years and one Xmas took the car to Foulridge wharf, parked up and started walking on the towpath towards Salterforth. Once we got to where she could see the low lying fields on the right she kept stopping and letting out a whine. This carried on until the fields were hidden from view and then she walked on happily. At the boathouse we turned rounds and started walking back and sure enough once she saw the fields near Foulridge she started again. I said to Cath that there looked to be a lot of rabbits down there and I wondered if her previous owner had run her in those fields.  Every time we took her on that walk she exhibited the same sort of behaviour.

About 3 months ago we had a visit from Alex, Misty's previous owner. It took her a minute or two to work out who he was and she then made a great fuss of him. We told him about the Foulridge behaviour and he couldn't believe it. Not only did he used to take her in those fields it was whilst turning at pace for a rabbit that she went over and badly damaged her shoulder. 

On Tuesday Cath and Charlotte had her on that walk and her behaviour remains the same. Nolic 

 

 


" I'm a self made man who worships his creator"