Mirinda left the house early while I was left to potter round until midday. After putting on some washing I took the girls up to the park. There we met Max (I only learned later that the girls had already met Max while out walking with Mirinda the other day) a Cavachon. And I heard Max’s story from the rather short woman walking him on his lead.
Her mother wanted a dog and it had to be black and white. She also insisted that it should be a Cavachon. This combination isn’t the most obvious one but the daughter searched the Internet until she found a black and white one in Wales. And the mother chose well. What a gorgeous dog he is.
Max’s first owners were a couple who lived in a small town in Wales and, when the woman was offered a full-time job, found they couldn’t take care of him properly. He was only a puppy and they figured they couldn’t leave him alone. (It doesn’t say much for us and the poodles!) The man was a long distance lorry driver who was rarely home.
When the mother and daughter headed down to Wales to check Max out, his owners were there to check them out before giving Max up. In fact the husband made a special trip home just to make sure they weren’t trying to use him to test perfume or something equally nefarious.
According to the daughter the pair acted like they were selling their only child with weeping and wailing and general hair tearing out. I have to say I can understand it completely. Our dogs ARE our children and it would be next to impossible to give them up. The daughter, however, seemed to be somewhat disapproving.
She then told me why she was walking Max on a lead. (He was straining against it the whole time we were talking in order to have a proper play with Freya who eventually worked out the extent of his lead and would run just far enough for him not to reach her – cheeky monkey.)
He is only ten months old and not trained at all so she can’t trust him not to run away. And she can’t have him running away because she’s her mother’s full time carer and she can’t leave her alone for longer than 20 minutes. The only reason she can do that is because the nurse comes once a day to do various things and the daughter can escape (her word not mine). Our two were running around off-lead as soon as their shots allowed them too…and we’ve only lost one of them once!
The daughter was also a bit exasperated that Max needed so many walks a day. I suggested it was because he was only out for 20 minutes and not running around enough to wear him out but saw the difficulty she had. I then said she should keep going then to give him at least a bit of a walk. She headed off, nervously glancing at her watch.
I have to wonder why she agreed that her mother could have a dog given their situation, particularly a 10 month old boisterous puppy. I hope they at least have a garden.
I then went off to the Talking Newspaper for an Alton edition…which was fun though sadly lacking in Christmas goat stories.
View up West Street after FATN
Wow poor dog not much of a life after his first people who had him he must think he is in some camp after the other home he had. Why do people do that if they cant take the dog for a walk and a play every day then the shouldn’t have one.
The road looks pretty I remember it .
Love mum xxx