When I was walking recently a very friendly brown cattle dog came up to me. She then proceeded to escort me on a fair stretch of my walk up to a lookout before heading off on her own track.
This morning I was heading home when the same brown dog spied me, from the same side street, and enthusiastically bounded over to greet me. She then escorted me the entire way to my own front door. A significant distance and I was worried she wouldn't find her way home. Now, it had threatened rain when I was heading out so I'd grabbed my raincoat from the back of the car before starting the walk. As I was pondering what to do about the dog I opened the car door to throw my jacket in. At exactly the same moment the brown cattle dog leaped into the back seat of the car!
In a state reasonably close to disbelief I slowly climbed into the car and started up the motor. The dog seemed quite excited about this. Slowly, I pulled out and still in something of a dreamlike state, I drove the dog back to the sidestreet she'd emerged from. Then, much as a chauffeur would, it was just a matter of opening the door and the brown dog leaped out. She then turned towards me, and I swear she gave me a "Thanks for the lift mate" look and then headed off down the street. I gotta say I had to admire her style.
But things didn’t stop there. There’s a follow-up story. Last week I was walking a similar path when a black staffordshire terrier spotted me and came bounding over, wagging his tail so much that he was nearly throwing himself off his feet. Perhaps unwisely I gave him a pat - and that was it. We appeared to be bonded for life. Next thing I knew here was another, different dog escorting me home. Now I wasn't too keen to be seen chauffeur-driving a different dog home - the neighbours might talk, after all, so I stopped in my tracks and turned around, heading back the way the dog had come from. He followed me as if his life depended on it.
I waved my arms at him to get him to go away .... oh, good, now he thought I'm throwing imaginary sticks. At this point another walker approaches me. We smile to each other and I say to her "This dog keeps following me everywhere.'
'Oh,' she answers, 'you were getting on so well I just thought you were the owner.'
Seriously....I'm just wondering what to do with the dog when a mercenary idea hits me. I smile at the lady, say cheerio and turn on my heels heading back up the street. My new-found canine friend hasn't noticed yet but when he does turn around I'm heading for the hills, so he does exactly what I'd hoped - he latches onto that poor unsuspecting walker. For all I know he's still with her.
There's actually a further twist to this tale, which takes it to a new level of weird. This morning I'm out walking, really early, and out of the bushes on one side of the road trots a fox. It crosses my path, quite close, and disappears into the bushes on my right-hand side.
Or, at least I thought it did. A short while later I turn around and find that the fox is trotting along behind me - very close. I swear that if I'd reached out a hand he'd have come up for a pat.
I did shoo him away but it made me wonder what on earth was going on here. In the end I could only come up with two possibilities either a) I had some kind of strange canine/vulpine blood in my ancestors veins that attracted these animals - possibly granddad was a loup garou - he always was rather hairy b) I smell weird. Sadly, I fear it's the latter. Though possibly now its c) I'm a character in a Terry Pratchett novel.
This morning I was heading home when the same brown dog spied me, from the same side street, and enthusiastically bounded over to greet me. She then escorted me the entire way to my own front door. A significant distance and I was worried she wouldn't find her way home. Now, it had threatened rain when I was heading out so I'd grabbed my raincoat from the back of the car before starting the walk. As I was pondering what to do about the dog I opened the car door to throw my jacket in. At exactly the same moment the brown cattle dog leaped into the back seat of the car!
In a state reasonably close to disbelief I slowly climbed into the car and started up the motor. The dog seemed quite excited about this. Slowly, I pulled out and still in something of a dreamlike state, I drove the dog back to the sidestreet she'd emerged from. Then, much as a chauffeur would, it was just a matter of opening the door and the brown dog leaped out. She then turned towards me, and I swear she gave me a "Thanks for the lift mate" look and then headed off down the street. I gotta say I had to admire her style.
But things didn’t stop there. There’s a follow-up story. Last week I was walking a similar path when a black staffordshire terrier spotted me and came bounding over, wagging his tail so much that he was nearly throwing himself off his feet. Perhaps unwisely I gave him a pat - and that was it. We appeared to be bonded for life. Next thing I knew here was another, different dog escorting me home. Now I wasn't too keen to be seen chauffeur-driving a different dog home - the neighbours might talk, after all, so I stopped in my tracks and turned around, heading back the way the dog had come from. He followed me as if his life depended on it.
I waved my arms at him to get him to go away .... oh, good, now he thought I'm throwing imaginary sticks. At this point another walker approaches me. We smile to each other and I say to her "This dog keeps following me everywhere.'
'Oh,' she answers, 'you were getting on so well I just thought you were the owner.'
Seriously....I'm just wondering what to do with the dog when a mercenary idea hits me. I smile at the lady, say cheerio and turn on my heels heading back up the street. My new-found canine friend hasn't noticed yet but when he does turn around I'm heading for the hills, so he does exactly what I'd hoped - he latches onto that poor unsuspecting walker. For all I know he's still with her.
There's actually a further twist to this tale, which takes it to a new level of weird. This morning I'm out walking, really early, and out of the bushes on one side of the road trots a fox. It crosses my path, quite close, and disappears into the bushes on my right-hand side.
Or, at least I thought it did. A short while later I turn around and find that the fox is trotting along behind me - very close. I swear that if I'd reached out a hand he'd have come up for a pat.
I did shoo him away but it made me wonder what on earth was going on here. In the end I could only come up with two possibilities either a) I had some kind of strange canine/vulpine blood in my ancestors veins that attracted these animals - possibly granddad was a loup garou - he always was rather hairy b) I smell weird. Sadly, I fear it's the latter. Though possibly now its c) I'm a character in a Terry Pratchett novel.
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