Playdate

Today was Mothering Sunday in the UK and Dave and Gail (next door) were going to lunch with their daughter somewhere down south. Yesterday, Dave asked us if we’d mind looking in on Rodney. Naturally Mirinda said we’d have him over for a play date with Emma. Gail brought him over while I was shopping.

I came home to canine mayhem. The drizzly rain ensured a good supply of muddy paw prints throughout the extension and all over me after Rodney had finished saying hello. And so the insanity started.

The Farnham Three

Rodney’s a lovely dog. He has a wonderful temperament and he really likes Emma, even though she’s six times smaller than him. He loves to bite her head, his massive jaws, lovingly clamped around her entire face. Like a lion tamer without a chair, she doesn’t seem to mind. Of course, when it all gets too much, she just has to run under a chair to escape him.

Mirinda was in her element. She’s always wanted a massive pack of dogs and if you consider that Rodney is equal to six little dogs, it was like having eight in the house at once.

Covered in dogs

We were going to take them all for a walk but the weather was not kind so they had to make do with running up and down the hall, chasing the tennis ball and generally having doggie fun.

During periods of inactivity (there were a couple) Rodney rather liked lying, happily on the terrace. I reckon this is because whenever he goes outside in his own garden, he gets barked at by Emma. Doing it at our place means he gets to enjoy it in the quiet for a change.

He has a beautiful face (quite noble) to match his temperament. And when he lies on the floor and looks up at you, you really want to know what he’s been up to. Our first thought was that perhaps he’d evacuated a sock but there was no evidence of any clothing falling from his rear this time. I reckon Bob will be quite relieved to hear that.

Guilty

One thing I rather enjoyed about having a big dog in the house is that you can dance with him. He’s very good at standing on his hind legs and putting his paws on my shoulders for a bit of a boogie. He’s also good for a bit of rough and tumble. Where I’d pick up our two and cuddle them vigorously, I’d get on the floor and have a jolly good wrestle with Rodders.

Day-z put up with him while Emma loved having a playmate her own age for a change. We really had a splendid afternoon though I’d not recommend having him sitting on your lap for too long. According to Dave, he does this a lot.

Not really a lap dog