His nemesis, TJ, a black barrel of a lab with a leg at each corner, can't half move when he spots Leelu in the field . He has been known to joyously jump on him (whilst our hero naps in the sunshine under the picnic bench outside!). Leelu doesn't make much noise at all , everything is communicated with the eyes but husband actually heard him bark when TJ appeared unexpectedly at our gate. We've not heard him before or since though.
We do now have a lovely couple who do, amongst other things, dog walking for those days when both of us are at work. They have been taking him out with Lucy, the quietest, sweetest older lady Labrador. He does what we call his 'snarly face' (on account of not making much verbal noise) which she ignores and carries on pottering about.
Then we come to a black lab (although a very tiny 3 yo) called Daisy. Daisy belongs to the friend of husband. 4 of us had a great stomp up on Kinder from Edale, even going via Kinder Downfall to see if it was "in" (a joke you either get or you don't) just before new year. As we were walking with another dog (even though she was ignoring him) , I still gave him the safety tennis ball, it's a bit like a security blanket for him. After 3 hours of throwing the ball and throwing the ball, I took it off him, he had got used to her being around, despite her also expressing love for the tennis ball which caused a bit of a collision that shocked them both. At first he wandered about a bit, then he started following her , then he started following her in a right old nose to tail fashion. And that is when our boy dog first discovered girl dogs!
The scar he arrived with from barbed wire, or another dog, whichever your point of view and it doesn't matter, healed well, he got used to us, our vet says that he is in great condition, he copes with other dogs but he doesn't have to like them, he plays in the field every day, gets great walks in the mountains (sadly not every day), has slept in a tent, sleeps in the camper van with us when we go away, had a great new ruffwear harnesses which makes lifting him over stiles so much easier, and gets lots of fuss, his own bed by the stove, which sometimes gets lit just for him, yogurt pots to lick out and cheese as a treat , although more recently bacon rind from my Mum!
Thank you for coming into our lives, we couldn't imagine life without you. Except for lie ins of course!
