Giles Brown
I HAVE always been a cat person. With a lifestyle that is best described as erratic, cats, with their independent outlook on life have always been my pet of choice.
If I have to spend a night away, 50 shades will normally hunt and dispatch some unfortunate campo creature if she gets peckish. Usually leaving some indescribable remnant on the terrace as a warning not to forget to feed her again.
Before being adopted by 50 Shades, my feline companion who strolled in nonchalantly one day and decided that she liked the place (as several human house guests have done over the past decade. But with worse manners), I had no idea of the rich variety of wildlife that surrounds the Casita. Field mice, birds, rats, rabbits, grouse, stoats – have all been proudly deposited on the kitchen floor at various times, to be greeted by myself with muffled oaths as I reach for the disposal materials.
When the current, long term (over four years) house guest therefore mentioned that she would be looking after an elderly Spanish couple’s dog, I was a little alarmed. What sort of dog? Knowing that the owner was a keen hunter, who kept him in the backyard of their house, I was concerned that the hound’s instincts might kick in and, with four cats currently lounging at the Casita, there would be a frenzy of fur.
“I’m not a dog person” I muttered darkly to myself as I parked in the drive that night.
And there he was.
Buli, the sweetest natured Spanish Water Dog, who looked absolutely terrified at the sight of me climbing out of the Landcruiser. But after a little coaxing, he crawled over to me and licked my hand.
So I’m now both a dog and a cat person and, although negotiations are still ongoing, Buli might just have found a new home. It’s a dog’s life…
READ MORE:
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