WYSIWYG

What You See Is What You Get. This is a journal blog, an explore-blog, a bit of this and that blog. Sharing where the mood takes me. Perhaps it will take you too.

Menosukhi Moments; pet memories

Last week, one of my favourite dog-blogs set up a linky 'survey' of Blogville. Then they posted some piccies which triggered a memory thread...

Y'see, me an' poodles don't get along all that well.  Murph and Stan are goldendoodles, so I am holding nothing against them and they remain high my wish list of "If I could meet..." At the same time I was again sorting through scanned prints of yesteryear and, blow me down with a wet feather, there were a couple of shots of the dread dog.  Plus a few not so dread.  

For those who haven't been paying attention, I am a country gal; not exactly brought up on the farm, but always loving my stays there with maternal grandparents.






















From early I met and mingled with animals of all sorts. Relationships were, in the majority of cases, friendly and cooperative.

The one in front of me here is Mac2.  The pooch watching for falls was the first in a dynasty of Rough Collies owned by Aunty J.  From that one came Flame. That's her you see below watching all lady-like as her big boofy beau, Ben, demonstrates how to wrangle household weapons...

They were adorable and we always looked forward to sharing time with them.  Flame had a penchant for licking bare feet. Ben liked to get as close as he could, short of merging with you. They made lovely puppies together for a little while, then became excellent family pets.

The elder aunt, though, preferred another type of dog altogether.

Toy poodles.

Can you feel me shrivelling even as I type? 

One attempts at all times to remember that we are all one under the eyes of the maker. What the dickens caused the making of 'toy poodles' though??!!!  Being brutally honest, little dogs have to work a great deal harder to endear themselves to me than larger members of the species. I am a frail human being, despite all attempts to be otherwise.  

That said, many smaller doggies are held warmly in my heart.

Just not poodles.  


The key culprit for this distaste was Snowy. Can you see the little white terror in these rather dim piccies?

In the first, taken with the River Orwell in the background, has Aunty A holding Mac2, then Mac1 is holding the beast and I am yelling "get on with it, too close for comfort!"

Well.  Maybe that's an exaggeration.  But there was definitely no love lost between that dog and me.  In the next pic you see me getting ready to leave as soon as the photo is done.

There was another one (which I think must have passed by the time of these shots), whose colour you may guess from the name "Blackie".

Snowy and Blackie ruled the roost whenever we visited that aunt and uncle.  Snowy in particular did not like me climbing 'her' stairs. Nip, nip, nip.  Plasters got put on and words along the lines of "don't tease the dog" were uttered.  Say what?!  

No. Try as I might, she didn't like me. I know she was loved and was sorely missed after her passing.  Just not by me.


Many years later, in Sydney, Jade and I had a run-in with an enormous, black, standard poodle. Seems that not just the toy variety is picky and choosy about who they like.  It went for Jade.  My girl, happy to meet and greet anyone, was also not a wilting wisteria and gave a jolly good fight back.  It was not one of the pretty memories. From that day on, whenever any black dog passed the gate, Jade got edgy and noisy and I don't blame her one little bit.

Aside from my own pets, I have been lucky to become close to those of friends and family over the years, so Snowy didn't spoil my love of dogs.  

I leave this post with vision of Mac1's darling girl, Rags, who entertained us all for many years and made a hole in hearts when she left.













Every Monday, over on MY TAKE TOO I take a dive into the Goulash.  Why not try some?

5 comments:

  1. I had to google Rough Collie, and that was my Duke. He was a registered Standard Collie who stood 36" at the shoulder, definitely inbred. He was blind by five from cataracts, also from inbreeding, according to my vet.
    He was a tangled, dirty rescue when I got him in 1969. I combed him daily for at least a month to get out the tangles. A shopping bag of hair every night.

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  2. Murphy and Stanley are GRRRRREAT guyz and you just GOTTA LOVE them.
    Hey our mom had a Pet LAMB when she was in third grade. She called her LAMBKIN. Just sayin.

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  3. Hari Om, Yam! The collie with the broom is adorable! And so helpful! I adore dogs, and do colunteer work at the local shelter. It's always a happy day when one is adopted into a loving home, but kinda sad too; every one leaves an indelible pawprint on your heart. Indigo x

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  4. I'm very fond of collies, they are lovely dogs we had one that visited my place when I was a child, gates were never shut then and no one locked there dogs in, they wondered the neighbour hood at will I guess too much traffic these days and councils inpound strays now.
    Merle...................

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  5. We are sure if you met us in the furs you would forgive us for our genetic contributions!

    Your Pals,

    Murphy & Stanley

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