Stories Of London

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As we arrive at my neighbour’s fence, Casanova/Puppy becomes hypervigilant and is keen to spot the presence of these enemies!  Should he see any interloper, his agitation immediately peeks and he becomes impatient with me to free him as quickly as possible from his leash.  His irritation grows with me, as I am not opening the gate and releasing him, as fast as he would want, and eventually his patience runs out and he is overcome with a strong urge to storm the gates and make haste to clear the garden of his adversaries.

The Fall of Constantinople (1453)

On a couple of occasions, I have found myself being dragged towards the gates thereby becoming an unwilling member of the horde in an attempt to breach them!

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On one such occasion while walking past the house next to my neighbour’s, the owner’s dog came running out of the house and up to the fence, whereupon he began to bark at Casanova/Puppy.  Most of the time, he ignores this little dog, a Schnauzer, but that day this was evidently taken as a insult and he decided that the animal needed to be taught a lesson!

A Schnauzer

Now, these dogs have known each other for several years, but seem never to have become friends. On this occasion, this dog’s bark evidently proved especially vexing to Casanova/Puppy resulting in his stormed the gates and pulling me along with him for use as a Battering Ram!

The Gates

As the gates were not well-secured, he was able to breech them and pulled me with him.  I was literally catapulted through the gates and dragged along by momentum, and since I am no longer stable on my feet, I quickly fell to the ground and was carried along the driveway.  Unfortunately, I still had his leash bound around my hand and wrist, and was unable to let go of it.

Now finally free after I was able to let go of the leash, Casanova/Puppy tore across the garden and chased the owner’s dog out into the street.  This poor creature took off at top speed out of the garden and along the street! However, once free, the poor creature evidently had no idea what to do with his newly found freedom and promptly sat down in the road and waited for his master to retrieve him!

Meanwhile, I am lying on the driveway with a grazed left hand, painful left ribs and a blackened left eye and had to be helped back to my feet!

A Fallen Warrior with battle scars
& looking somewhat the worst for wear!

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Conquerors that have been known to breech gates!
Left: Sultan Mehmed II (1432-1488); Middle: Casanova/Puppy (2010); & Right: Saladin (1137-1193, from  Andre Thevet’s (1516-1590) Les vrais pourtraits et vies des hommes illustres (Paris: 1584)

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As a result of this indignity, I have now taken to holding Casanova/Puppy by his collar with one hand while removing his leash with the other (this is no mean feat for someone as wobbly as me!). Following this, I next open my neighbour’s gate while trying to hold him in place.  I am hoping to train him to wait until I have opened the gate fully, but, so far, I have been unsuccessful and he continues to crash through the slightly opening and rush off down the driveway!

Casanova/Puppy will run at full-pelt down the driveway, past the house and into the back garden where he next runs the length of the back fence and then returns to the front garden on the other side of the house.  Following this, he checks out his holes, which were dug earlier under several bushes when he lived here and which he still considers them for his exclusive use only!

A Hole Under a Bush

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Occasionally he will disturb a cat taking a morning siesta in one of the holes and my neighbour and I are then privee to a tremendous shaking of the bush, which only ceases when a poor cat comes running, at top speed, from the inner sanctum of the bush, followed by an intensely irritated Casanova/Puppy! I remember one poor cat, a beautiful ginger-coloured cat, fearing for its life, took off at top speed and only managed to escape a dreadful fate when it squeezed through the pickets of the fence.

What amazes me is that the cats manage to slip through the space between two pickets without missing a step while running at top-speed. This demonstrates their incredible dexterity!  Following this encounter, Casanova/Puppy comes onto the porch and proceeds to sup a while at his water bowl, which the cats have used in his absence, and then either flops onto the grass or sits quietly on the porch while gazing our way awaiting the praise that he believes is his rightful due.

On another occasion, my neighbour had parked her car on the driveway and not in the car port. At this time, he spied a cat resting under the automobile and proceeded to evict the menace.  The poor cat was obviously startled and was slow to respond.  When the cat finally crawled out onto the driveway, he found himself faced with a furious Casanova/Puppy.  Fortunately for the cat, he was able to quickly run around the car, while being chased, and escape through the fence.  The cat was most fortunate to escape with his tail, as Casanova/Puppy was one paw away from biting the poor cat’s tail!

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While I am visiting my neighbour, Casanova/Puppy will amuse himself either by wandering around the garden and watching closely for passers-by or else sitting on her front porch or else on the grass where he rests quietly cleaning away any dirt gathered on his paws from the skirmishes.

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Casanova/Puppy is an amazingly patient dog and does not bother us with barks when he wants to return home. He waits quietly, but when he feels that we have over-stayed our time, he comes up to me and places his head on my left thigh.  While here, he enjoys having his neck scratched deeply.  For some reason he really appreciates this.  However, what he appreciates more is now having his leash replaced and our walk home for it is now time for munchies ……. a little light breakfast!

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