Soggy Doggy Bloggy

As it is the heart's desire of my neighbour/friend/life-support system (let's call her K), that i do a dog-blog here goes. 

At the most inopportune moments, like when I've just got in from a tiring or traumatic couple of hours surrounded by people whose grasp on life is even more tenuous than mine, just as I sit down with my feet up there is a ring at the doorbell and there is K, large as life, ten times noisier than the rest of the world and ten times more welcome.  "Do you feel like walking Ziggy with me, I won't be out long  and he needs some exercise Bless him"?

The last thing I need is exercise, what I want most in all the world is my feet up and a coffee, or better still a large glass of red wine, but what i say is "yes I'd love to, hang on while I get my coat", and as i say it, suddenly it's true.

As I said to her the other evening there is something tremendously therapeutic about going for a walk in the rain, with a completely bonkers young collie (to say nothing of his owner), whose idea of fun is to get you to lob his ball as far as you can so that he can either completely ignore it and hare off in the opposite direction then sit laughing with his tongue dangling while you retrieve the ball and try again, or dive into the filthy brook and run lovingly back as fast as he can so you can have the full benefit of a 'doggy shower'.

So far he has contrived to drop at least half a dozen balls right down in the reeds at the bottom of the water so there is no hope of ever getting back while he makes sad little whining "why don't you jump in and get it for me, you would if you loved me" noises.

When he finally accepts that he has donated yet another ball to the river gods he decides what he really wants is a paddle, so five minutes later back he comes at full gallop to give us yet another mud bath.

If all this sounds less than heaven then I have completely failed to do justice to two wonderful friends, one with two legs and one with four.  May they never lose their enthusiasm for long soggy strolls nor their willingness to share it with me.