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!