An Island Off an Island

It would seem that my much-waited for new, better- behaved self was not as long- lasting as was hoped for. We’re back to square one in the trust stakes.

In my defence, the following events were not always my fault! Some have a very valid explanations for my actions. First and foremost, M&D place great faith in Adaptil – a product to calm the canine spirit via a diffuser. Is it my fault that the diffuser ran out a couple of weeks ago? Is it my fault that they couldn’t be bothered to get a refill? Without its soporific influence, what are the chances of me reverting to type?

So, my ensuing behaviour over the last week is wholly expected. Three times this week on our evening walk I have taken it upon myself to disappear up into the houses fringing the beach. Twice there were mitigating circumstances – once when a visiting Staffie urged me to follow him/her up to its house and the other time when my mate Norman took off and I followed him. The third time was entirely down to me. I get this wild impulse to ‘go crazy’ and no amount of reason or orders will deter me from giving in to this inclination. I’m pretty sure that I could be forgiven if I would succumb to reasonable requests to come back, but they go unheeded. I just love leading M&D on a merry dance through the gardens and surrounding bush. When I finally decide to return, I am unceremoniously placed on a very short lead and dragged back to the car where I get ‘the lecture’ on how disobedient and naughty I am. Ho hum!

My crowning glory was an incident, again on the beach. M&D had stopped to chat (interminably) with some friends and their visitors. It was quite a windy day and at one stage the straw hat of one of the visitors blew off and I valiantly raced to save it from going into the water. There, the story should have ended but that ‘wild impulse’ I mentioned earlier kicked in and I had a whale of a time totally destroying said hat. Can you imagine the mortification and embarrassment of M&D! Strange thing was, I think they saw the humour in the situation and I luckily escaped any real censure.

At home I have managed to get hold of a few stray socks, hankies and dish cloths which have caused late night tummy upsets and much cleaning up under the bed. Just to finish, I’m quite proud of my toilet roll work. Remember that advertisement where the cute Labrador puppy runs through the house trailing Kleenex toilet tissue behind him/her? Well, I just think that stealing the roll from the holder and taking under the bed to totally shred it, has much greater impact.

I can’t help thinking that this occurrence in the kitchen yesterday may have been a ‘get square’ attempt by Dad.

The other motivation for my attitude is the constant vibe in our household at the moment about distant shores, and the hushed tones in which ‘kennel’ is uttered. My demeanour of late will serve as a reminder of the consequences of their travel plans.

I’ll keep you posted – Ruby.