In memory of Rocky, the best dog in the world.
 This month I
received the saddest news from my parents – their
beautiful, amazing Spanish water dog Rocky had drowned
in a neighbours deposito. Even now it is so hard to come
to terms with, he really was the most unique dog. The
gap he has left is impossible to fill, but he will never
be forgotten. My parents acquired him by accident really,
six years ago. As a pup he belonged to the local goat
herd who passed their house in Sedella daily. Rocky
always ran up to the house to say hello and Mum and Dad
soon came to love him. One day the goat herd asked them
if they would like him, as he was such a stupid lovable
clown, he really wasn’t much good at herding goats. Of
course they jumped at the chance and Rocky soon became a
much loved part of our family. He was so funny when the
goat herd came past after that, he would hide as if to
say I’m not going back there. He loved to come over and
visit us to play with all our animals, barking at the
horses, chasing the chickens, he was in his element. He
would never hurt a thing though, he was so gentle. When
my parents rescued a kitten Rocky would carry it around
in his mouth like it was his baby. Scruffy, our male dog
hated him of course, and watched him like a hawk,
waiting for him to do something wrong so that he could
join in with the ‘Oh Rocky!’ by barking at him, telling
him off along with us. Mum and Dad always said that
after a visit to us Rocky would sulk for a day,
obviously missing the mayhem, but he loved Mum and Dad
to bits, and was very happy being an ‘only dog’. He was
very spoiled but never badly behaved – everyone loved
him, he really was the kindest, silliest most loving dog
that anyone had ever met. When you went to visit, Rocky
was there at the car door ready to welcome you with his
madly wagging tail, the cause of many a broken ornament!
Mum and Dad can only comfort themselves with the fact
that Rocky had six really happy years, with a warm
loving home that he wouldn’t have had if he had remained
a goat dog. His funny, friendly face always comes to
mind when you think of him, he will never be forgotten.
Still on the dog front, our little dog Suzy is causing
us some concern. She was abandoned outside the house
four years ago, a skinny frightened, shivering little
thing. The slightest bang still frightens her and she
runs and hides in the toilet if we have a thunderstorm
or even just swat a fly on the wall. When she first
arrived I immediately took pity on her but Clive thought
she was ugly and was adamant that we did not need
another dog. The kids and I fed her in secret and made
her comfortable in the outside kennel, pretending to
ourselves that Clive hadn’t noticed. The longer she
stayed, the more we hoped that Clive would agree to keep
her, she was such a sweet, sad little thing. She really
wasn’t any trouble, and she was so desperate to be loved
that we didn’t have the heart to send her away. At the
time we had a young female dog, Jess,the sister of Chici,
the dog we have now adopted from our Spanish neighbours.
She was due to be spayed but as the time for her
operation drew closer, we had noticed that neighborhood
dogs had been taking a keen interest in Suzy, and were
worried that she could be pregnant. I persuaded Clive
that it would be sensible to take Suzy to be fixed at
the same time, and off we went. The day of the operation
was very cold, and when I arrived to collect the two
dogs, the vet made a big fuss of finding some old
jumpers to keep the dogs warm in the car. He stressed
that it was important for them to be kept indoors in the
warm. You can just imagine Suzy’s smug little smile of
satisfaction, the minute she finally made it over the
threshold and into the house – I don’t think the smile
has left her face since.
 Now she reigns like the queen of
Sheba, sitting on her favourite armchair in front of the
fire. I’m sure she smirks at Clive whenever she looks at
him, poor Clive, he never stood a chance.
Over the last year Suzy has started having epileptic
fits. She is having on average one a week, which the vet
says is not worth treating but it has recently started
to cause problems with the other dogs.
Normally, Scruffy, Suzy, Chici and Buster the puppy all
get on very well, but to my dismay something happened
the other day that made my blood run cold. I was in the
kitchen when I heard the dogs barking. It just sounded
like they were playing so I ignored it, but then I heard
a pitiful crying sound, and on running out, discovered
that Chici and Scruffy were attacking Suzy, who was
having a fit. Luckily she was fine, but I dread to think
what would have happened if I had not been there. It is
very worrying and upsetting to realise that even the
friendliest dogs can revert to their natural instincts
when another animal is perceived as a victim.
We had experience of the damage dogs can do to another
animal a few months ago, when our goats were attacked.
It was in the summer and luckily the bedroom window was
open. I was suddenly woken up by the sound of frenzied
dog barking. Our dogs in the house had heard it too, and
were barking to go out and investigate.
I ran outside and could hear that the barking was coming
from the direction of the goats. Then I heard the worst
crying sound I have ever heard, it still haunts me now.
I just ran blindly in the dark with bare feet, ignoring
the cactus thorns and stones, my heart pounding. As I
approached the goat pen it was obvious by the noise that
the goats were being attacked by stray dogs. I just
screamed and shouted as loud as I could as I entered the
pen, and thank goodness the dogs ran off, squeezing
under the wire fence. In the dark I couldn’t see if the
goats were hurt, but I ran my hands over them and they
seemed o.k.,
Fudge felt wet around her neck but I put that down to
saliva. I pushed them into their shed and shut them in,
just in case the dogs came back, and went back to bed.
To my horror, when I turned on the light to wash my
hands I discovered that they were covered in blood.
Armed with Clive and a torch this time, I ran back down
to the goats to see what was wrong. Poor Fudge, her
injuries were terrible, it looked like the dogs had been
trying to tear her throat out. Holly had been luckier,
with only a small cut on her back. I cleaned them up as
best I could and rang the vet. Thankfully, after a week
of having to give them daily injections they were both
fine, but what a frightening experience.
For the next few weeks we had to shut the goats in every
night, which they weren’t too happy about. We did locate
the owner of the dog, who promised to keep them under
control in future, but it has left me very worried,
every time I hear a dog bark at night.
Animals! Who’d have them? Life would certainly be easier
without them!
As if we haven’t got enough problems, Clive has got it
into his head to rear a couple of pigs for meat.
Considering that apart from a couple of the cats, I’m
sure Clive could quite cheerfully say goodbye to all our
animals, we really should humour him in this latest
challenge. There is a small problem though (and no, its
not the smell, as apparently if you keep them clean they
are not too bad, and for the sake of our guests we would
not have them if they smelt). No, it’s the fact that Elizabeth is a
vegetarian and I also know for a fact that I will not
cope easily with killing Pinky and Perky! With the best
intensions in the world, the pigs will become pets, and
though I am trying to convince myself that the pigs
would have a good life with us, and would be destined
for meat any way, I know it will be difficult. Watch
this space!
To be continued………………………………………
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