Stories Of London

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It has been almost six months since Casanova/Puppy came to live with me.  Or perhaps I should say six moths since he moved into my house.  In my haste to want him to feel comfortable and to look upon the house as his home, friends have accused me of spoiling him and allowing him to train me, rather than me train him!

I suspect that I do spoil him a little ……….. and why not?  The poor creature had to move home where he was happy and content and start again with me.  According to my neighbour – his erstwhile owner – he appears to be much happier with me than he ever was with her.  She believes this is due to the fact that I involve him in my daily life more than she did.  I base my behaviour towards him on what I observed with my father and his dogs.

My father used to talk to them.  Obviously he did not expect an answer, but he would let the dogs know what he was doing, when he was going out and even where he was going and when he would be back.  I applied this behaviour to Casanova/Puppy and he seems to appreciate my efforts to share my life with him if I can believe that his joy is expressed by the wagging of his tail!  When I go out, he has a certain sad look on his face, which is swept away upon my return, when runs out the open front door, circles me multiple times at top speed and beats me with his tail!

The dog enjoys following me from room to room and positions himself in doorways and hallways so as to know exactly where I am at all times.  I find that there is no hiding from him.  Should he not know where I am, he is most disturbed and will search for me until I am found.

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As I said earlier, since building the fence in the front garden, Casanova/Puppy has taken up sentry duty along its length and takes his commission extremely seriously.  Whenever he is out in the front garden, he sees himself as being on-duty and races up-and-down and back-and-forth of the length of the fence whenever anyway walks past just in case they should attempt to breech it!  He follows their progress and watches them until he feels they have moved sufficiently far enough along the road so as to no longer represent a threat to our safety.  However, should anyone dare stop to talk to me, he moves close to the fence and positions himself between me and it.  He remains there where he watches the passerby and remains alert and ready to repel any attempt to breech the fence.

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Casanova/Puppy enjoys chasing off any interlopers into the garden and will even attempt to climb a tree when chasing a squirrel!  However, he seems unable to distinguish friendly play from an attack on his stronghold.  This was illustrated well the other day when a very small and delightful terrier who must have escaped the confines of his home, came running down the street and came close to the fence.  It seemed obvious that the little dog wanted to make friends and play a while before accepting capture by his owner.  Casanova/Puppy greeted the little dog in a most rude and unnecessary aggressive manner and obviously frightened the poor little creature causing him to run back toward his master who had been chasing him along the street.  I am sure that the poor dog will not be attempting a break in the future.  Meanwhile, Casanova/Puppy seemed proud of himself and paid no attention to my scolding!  He can be such a bully at times!!!

The Interloper …… a small and friendly Norfolk Terrier.

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When it comes to how Casanova/Puppy receives visitors, his behaviour remains as it was when he came to live with me.  I noted that he has acute hearing and other sensory powers since he seems to know that people are coming long before I see or hear them.  Visitors are greeted with a bark or two, but once the front door is open, his behaviour changes and he seems happy to let them inside the house.  I am convinced that should robbers come, he would be the first to invite them in once he has barked at them a few times!!!  Whenever friends come to the house, he is soon the centre of their attention and revels in the fuss that is made of him.

Casanova/Puppy running around the garden with a new friend and behaving like a puppy (!).
This is something that he knows I can not do …… whenever I try,
he quickly remembers that I am now too old to run and chase him and quietly walks away!

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However, I am sorry to say that he  continues to dislike the Post Mistress who delivers the mail and barks long and loudly whenever she comes to put the post in my postbox which is outside of the fence.  I have been unable to dissuade him from such behaviour and have long since given up trying to explain it to her.  The Post Mistress does not seem to be a dog-lover and is unwilling to attempt to make friends with him.  So she gets no sympathy from me!   He has also taken an instant and somewhat intense dislike to the young lady who works for Federal Express (FedEx).  This is unfortunate since she is the one that delivers the dry dog food that he enjoys very much.  But does seem to like the man from United Parcel Service (UPS) who has to be a dog lover since he enjoys playing with him for a while during his deliveries to my house.

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Recently my next door neighbour came over to tell me how much she like my fence.  During our conversation, she moved close to the fence whereupon I noted that Casanova/Puppy became tense and motionless, but did appear ready for an attack.  Before I could warn her of his marked protective nature, she touched the fence with her hand whereupon he lept into the air and attempted to jump over the fence.  Fortunately he was not able to scale it, but my neighbour jumped back in shock.  Luckily she understood that he was protecting his territory and was not offended.  I felt both fortunate and lucky that she had accepted his behaviour in this manner and understood his protection of his fence.  The next day, I bought a Beware of Dog sign and attached it to the fence!

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One difference in his routine that has happened recently is that he no longer spends the whole night on my bed.  Where once he would jump on my bed before I could get in and attempt to take up as much territory as possible and remain in place until the early morning, now he tends to leave the bed sometime in the middle of the night and either sleep on the bedroom floor or else on his couch.  I can not say that I miss his presence on my bed for the whole night since I enjoy myself to stretch out across the bed without his impedance!

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I was reading something of interest the other day that is applicable to Casanova/Puppy.  When he first came to live in my house, he insisted that whenever he went into the garden to relieve himself that I went with him.  This was most annoying since I have better things to do than follow him while he searched for the perfect site to do his business!  However according to this article, he did this since he considered me now as part of the pack.  Apparently dogs are vulnerable to harm while relieving themselves and he was looking to me to watch out for dangers during this time.  This would also account for why he wanted, and still wants, to follow me into the toilet.  Evidently he wants to ensure that I am not suddenly attacked!  It would seem that he sees me as a fellow dog!  Woof Woof!

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I took Casanova/Puppy to the Vet recently for a check-up.  He was found to be in fine fettle.  I was told that I should add a little more dry-food to his diet and allow him an occasional extra treat without fear of his gaining weight.  He was well behaved during his visit except for being difficult when it came to being weighed.  He did not want to remain on the scale and had to be encouraged.  Upon exciting, we noted that a woman with two unruly dogs were blocking the way.  These dogs barked and barked and pulled at their leads.  The apparent owner – obviously a very stupid person since she did not think to take the dogs off to the side – stood there trying to keep the dogs from attacking us.  She was eventually helped by an employee who took hold of the leads and led the dogs off to the side where they were able to bark to their hearts content allowing us free to move into the parking area.

Sadly, we were still not free from bad owners.  Here we met a young pit-bull terrier who was not well-trained and barked loudly at Casanova/Puppy who remained calm and, I think – or perhaps only hoped – sneered at this dog.  The owner evidently had no idea of how to train or control this dog and, to my mind, should not own such a potentially dangerous dog without giving him adequate training.  I am grateful to my neighbour’s son for training Casanova/Puppy to be such a good dog and a delight to be with ,,,,,,, but then, he is now an English Gentleman, is he not!!!

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I had asked the Vet how long dogs like Casanova/Puppy can live.  He said that with proper care and love, he should live until about his fourteenth year.  I hope that this is true since I would hate for him to survive me and have to spend the last years of his life with someone else since he has had a number of owners already.  Knowing and feeling this, it is vital that we both lead a happy and healthy remainder of the life we have left together.

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A rather sad event happened a little while ago that clearly clarifies our relationship.  A few days ago, I had to go out for the day.  Whenever I am going to be out for an extended period of time, l take him over to my neighbour since I did not want him locked up in my house and on his own for a lengthy period of time.  With her, he is able to go outside and run around and explore her garden once again.

It is never a happy time whenever I leave him at my neighbour’s since he runs to her fence and watches me walk away and I can sense him watching as I walk away and out of sight.  I resist looking back at him too many times since I find the separation to be disturbing too.

Leaving Casanova/Puppy at my Neighbour’s House
1: Saying Good-bye; 2. Walking Away; & 3. Watching until I am out of sight

Apparently, my neighbour tells me that once I am out of sight, he spends much of his time waiting for my return either at the fence or else in the house watching from the window.

4. & 5. Waiting patiently at the fence and gate

Anyway, while he was waiting for my return, he noted my friend’s truck arrive back at my house.  He naturally expected me to come immediately to collect him, however, I took the things that I had purchased into my house and then took the time to put them away.

Meanwhile, Casanova/Puppy stood waiting for me.  While I was working in my house, my friend left and he evidently noticed his truck being driven away.  According to my neighbour, his tail dropped between his legs and he walked slowly back to her porch where she was sitting.  Again, according to her, he looked very sad and dejected and walked up to her and uttered a very quiet wuff-sound and then sat at her feet.  He sat there motionless for a while and only jumped up and ran to the fence when he heard the footsteps of someone walking along the street.  He stood at the gate, wagging his tail, believing that I would soon appear.  However, when he realised that the footsteps did not belong to me, he turned, his tail fell, and with sad eyes, he walked back to my neighbour and allowed his head to fall onto the walkway where he remained motionless.

A little later, he heard a second set of footsteps coming towards him, which caused him to run once more to the fence where he waited to see who it that was coming.  Happily, the footsteps belonged to me and he was seemingly happy to see me since his tail began to wag violently.  He came close to the fence so that I could reach over and pat and stroke him.

6, & 7. Waiting for the Reunion; & 8. The Reunion

I think that this little story should finally convince me of his feelings towards me.

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The Sphinxes (or Sphinges)
Top Left: The Great Sphinx of Giza;  Bottom Left: One of the Sphinx at the foot of Cleopatra’s Needle on the Embankment; and Right: Casanova/Puppy

I have to confess that I am still surprised that I actually share my home with a dog.  I never thought that this would happen.  Casanova/Puppy has brought me great joy in the short time that he has been with me.  I enjoy taking him out for short walks and sitting quietly with him each afternoon.  I like giving him his food and enjoy watching him gobble it up at great speed.  I continue to be surprised at what a delight it is to take care of him and I hope that he continues to enjoy my company too.  To be honest, I find it hard to remember what life was like without him.

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