GANEIDA'S KNOT.

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Quaker by conviction, mother by default, Celticst through love, Christ follower because I once was lost but now am found...

Monday, May 4, 2009

Monday Memories.

Happiness is a warm puppy. ~Charles M. Schulz
There haven't been many dogs in my life. I much prefer a cat that doesn't need to be walked & coddled, though strangely enough all my cats have had doggish tendencies that way. I can really only count 3 dogs. Rajah was the first.

Rajah was a cocker spaniel. As a breed they are a working dog bred initially for hunting woodcocks & have been around since the 1300's. Working dogs are generally smart but when kept exclusively as pets can be rather doey. Spaniels, who tend to be happy, exuberant dogs & were bred to remain calm under gunfire, tend to be doey~ier than most. Rajah was no exception to this generalisation.

My father bought Rajah as a gift for my mother ~ as was his habit when he wanted something! He also bought a collar & lead, telling my mother that Rajah would shortly be well trained. I don't think one should ever make those sort of promises when it comes to dogs but my father was an optimist & on his first free day proceeded to put his promise into action.

He retrieved the lead from its peg behind the back door, clipped it to Rajah's collar & led the reluctant dog into the backyard for a lesson in obedience. I think he had visions of Rajah shortly walking to heel & sitting on command. What actually happened is my exasperated father found that the dog was smarter than he was. Rajah promptly dropped to his belly howling dismally at the top of his perfectly good lungs & as my father attempted to train him to the lead wound both of them round & round the Hills Hoist, howling without cessation until my mortified father scooped up the quivering puppy & hurtled back inside declaring that he was never walking that dog again. The neighbours would think he'd been beating it.

I imagine things were rather fraught in the household & that Rajah was in dire disgrace. My father made no further effort to train mum's spaniel. He obviously didn't know spaniels. When the clock rolled round to the hour of lead training the next day dad was blatantly ensconced behind the paper & studiously ignoring the cause of his humiliation. Rajah obviously had no sense of self~preservation for he arrived promptly at the appointed time, lead in mouth, tail wagging happily more than prepared for another round with dad around the clothes line. Prosperity has not recorded my father's reaction. Perhaps it was unrepeatable in polite society?

8 comments:

Anonymous said...

Hi Ganeida,
I'm with you - cats rule, and we have three of them!

Britwife said...

That is too funny! I am definitely a dog person. I love that unconditional love - and the loyalty. And look how sweet Rajah is being! :)

seekingmyLord said...

Dogs in the working class are my favorites, but we like the larger ones. I have got to say that sometimes they are too smart and certainly each one has had its own quirks!

Diane Shiffer said...

oh ganeida, is that sweet little girlie-pie a toddler you? absolutely *adorable*

and i am with your father regarding dogs and training. the problem with dogs is that they require copious amounts of time and training or they are unbearable beasties. i don't have the taste for expending endless hours training anything ... except for children;)

Jan Lyn said...

Sweet photo....well, we've got a LOT of animals around our place. To be honest, the one I could do without is the dog. We've got this yapping Yorkie and I suppose I have a love-hate relationship with him, but he's been around for 5 years now so he's a keeper. Besides that, I gave away the dog before him after only 6 months as I told the family it was me or the dog. They did let the dog go....it was "dog destructo"...really bad. I'm with cats.....nice creatures.

Allison said...

That picture is ridiculously adorable!

Working dogs really need something to do. If they're not given a task, they will find one, and not necessarily a good one. But, even if given a job, the smart ones think they can do it better on their own terms...

Ganeida said...

Seeking: I too prefer working dogs, anything from medium to large. The only one I'm not keen on is the Lab. I know what people say about them but I just can't get over my aversion...

Diane: Yep, that's me. I believe I was rather precocious. Please, no comparisions with Ditz!
And the training is why we don't have a dog!

Allison: I agree. You've probably never seen a Kelpie or an Australian cattle dog in action but not only do they think they are smarter than the people they work for, mostly they are! I'm not keen on cattle dogs; they're biters.

HS4C: Too right!

Britwife: we don't ofen disagree but we part company on this one. I don't need slavish loylaty, just the occassional cuddle. ;)

Jan Lyn: well, we did have a lot of cats but I'm not overly good with other sorts of animals. Fish die & I cringe at birds, even big ones like swans & chooks. Sensory issues. They look like they should be heavier than they ever are & my poor little brain can't adjust to the fact that they're not.

Sandra said...

As if you didn't know, I love the pooches. The training goes perfectly well here. I am a well-trained person and I do whatever my dogs want!

Perhaps this is what happened with your dad and Rajah. : )