HOLIDAYING WITH A DOG

Taking my dog on holiday with me?

Come on, I'm an unapologetic dogaholic, so it's just a kind of no-brainer, and believe me or not, holidaying with my four-legged buddy always adds to the fun.

Ages ago, Dearhubby and I decided to go backpacking on a Greek island with a couple of friends, and, of course, Jolux, our one-year-old cocker.

After going through the awkward age and wreaking havoc in our home, our puppy had decided to nip his vocation of " interior designer " in the bud, and had become such a well-behaved dog that he was even allowed to travel in the passenger cabin.

Then, once on the island, everything went on smoothly till we ran out of dry pet food.

Asking the natives where we could get something for him turned into a real headache. Whatever they answered was Greek to us! (sorry, I couldn't resist the pun).

We tried to convince our poor dog of the health benefits of the Mediterranean diet, but in vain. He couldn't stomach it any more, and we had to eat our words.

We were getting fed up, but Jolux was not!

We were in an open air restaurant, wondering how to get some meaty stuff for him, when Dearhubby had a bright idea.

He would order two courses : a Greek salad, and meatballs with spaghetti, and he would give the latter to our " reluctant  vegan ". On the sly, of course!

As soon as the waiter had served us, Dearhubby immediately spooned the spaghetti dish into our dog's bowl under the table. That trick took him just a few seconds. Hardly had he put the plate back on the table when the waiter came back with some water. 

When he saw the empty plate, he nearly dropped the jug! He stared at Dearhubby, and rushed back inside to tell the cook to keep cooking, cause there was a guy outside eating like a horse, and even worse, awfully quickly!

When Jolux licked Dearhubby's hand, I immediately knew he meant " I owe you one! ", and I was right.

A few days later, we were on dog-friendly little beach, and as Jolux's first pawing into the sea had turned into a failure  because of a sneaky urchin, we tied him to the parasol before going for a swim.

As Dearhubby enjoys snorkelling, he started swimming off the coast, and soon we could hardly see him in the far distance.

Don't get me wrong, nothing to worry about, except for our dog whose inner lifeguard suddenly woke up. Dearhubby, the one who had saved him from starvation, was too far. Sure he needed his help!

Then he followed his heart, dragged the parasol to the shore, dived headfirst, and ….nearly drowned because of the weight of the parasol!

As a medal of bravery, he was awarded another spaghetti course!  

DO DOGS ENJOY WATCHING TV?

Do dogs enjoy watching TV?

A lot of dog owners claim their pooch watches television, but does it mean they really enjoy it?

One thing is clear : not as much as humans do.

Come on, it's a no-brainer! I've had quite a few dogs, and none of them has ever spent hours glued to the gogglebox!

Even better, whenever I have suffered from binge-watching (due to my subscription to Netflix), they have always done their best to help me go cold turkey. How?

. By pacing up and down the screen to blur the pictures.

. By squeezing their squeakiest toy to cover the sound.

. By jumping onto my lap to make a nose-to-nose cuddle and hide the 

  screen.

. By barking their favourite tune (" Stop watching that junk, come back 

  to the real world, and let's go for a walk ") till I turn off the box.

So, I guess I can say that none of my dogs has ever shown any interest in telly. Quite the contrary! Once, one of them got so bored with it that he risked life and limb and chewed on the remote!

Should I have taken out a subscription to DogTV (https://www.dogtv.com)?

Hey, come on, I want to keep my dogs healthy and peppy!

Yet, some time ago, Canaille, my English Springer Spaniel, had to strive not to turn into a couch potato…

Let me walk you through.

I don't play tennis, but I enjoy watching it, so last May during Roland Garros, the French Open tennis tournament, I never missed a match and ...neither did Canaille.

The sound of the ball drove him crazy.

I guess he didn't really catch the rules of that new " Fetch the ball " game, but he did his best to be the ball boy.

Every time the ball hit the ground, he ran around, panting and wearing himself out. In vain! The ball was nowhere to be found!!

And yet, all throughout the tournament, he never gave up.

But, after all, as Pierre de Coubertin said " The important thing in life is not to triumph but to participate ".

Since then, he doesn't care about TV anymore, and prefers a good 

" Fetch the ball " game in the open air.

Is he training for Roland Garros 2019? Who knows…

Anyway, don't tell him the Football World Cup is going on, he could get addicted!

ARE YOU READY TO TAKE A DOG?

As a dogaholic, of course I often gush about how awesome it is to share my life with Canaille and Ulysse,my twodogs.

But if you were about to get a dog, I would advise you to read my post before stepping into the funny-furry dogs'world…

Jolux, the first dog I got, melted my heart and pawed away my fear of dogs in a split second! He was the cutest cocker I had ever met.

Although he had an aristocratic name ( du Roquevent),he was none the better-mannered!

Teaching him to do his business outside took me quite a while. You get the picture : bye-bye my polished wooden floor, my clean carpets and the spick and span kitchen tiles. In those days, stain remover manufacturers must have trippled their sales thanks to my " leaky puppy ".

Yet, that was not the worst…

Telling him not to do a puppystyle housework, while I was away, was useless.

He was just willing to help.

So, every day on my way back home I always wondered what he would have been working on.

One day he was a hard-working shoe-maker and turned my brand new shoes into flip-flops. At the time, flip-flops were not trendy, and anyway, walking nearly bare foot  was out of question.

Another day, he was my private secretary, checked the mail, and then shredded it conscientiously. It took me a while and a lot of patience to put his makeshift puzzle together, but when I realized it was the notification to attend my end of the year exam, no need to tell you that I nearly blew a gasket!

His unbounded imagination turned my life into a kind of scary scenic railway : discovering his presence on a cushion explosion scene made me boil over whereas his non-guilty pleading eyes cooled me down.

So, scoldings and cuddles were our lot, but to be honest,his naughtyness was beggining to make me go nuts.

Then, one day, a friend of mine offered to come to my place to see what she could do with my little rascal. 

Her boyfriend was a dog-breeder, so she could show me some tips and tricks to turn Jolux into a puppy as good as gold.

Sure,some waves of her magic wand would blow away the malevolent spirits haunting my poor dog. You see, a kind of remake of " The Exorcist ".

Perhaps, my expectations were a bit too high…

Once on the landing of my flat, I couldn't open the door, and Jolux inside was whinning as if frightened.

Jeez!! Sure there were burglars in and a hostage taking was on its way!

It was high time to call for a locksmith.

Forty-five mintes later our " saver " turned up and managed a successful " open sesame ".

Jolux, my little odd jobber, to get rid of the corridor fitted carpet, had rolled it in front of the entrance door, and had ended up squeezed under it!

My friend just uttered a " Hello buddy, everything's gonna be allright now, Mummy is back! ".

And before I could tell Jolux off, she was holding him tight in her arms and whispering sweet nothings in his ears!!

That's how I understood dogs have an inner Casanova ready to spring out and pick you up as soon as you give them a glance.

So, before homing a dog, make sure you are brave and cool enough to dive into the hurly-burly of a life full of emotion for better or for worse!