You are not leaving me behind, says Mol, I am posting myself on the luggage, on my own car bed.
In fact most of our luggage pertains to her. As well as her car bed there is her proper bed, with pillow. The violet coloured fleecy blanket on top of our (single, small) suitcase is the one which we have to have to spread on our bed so she can come up and join us when we have tea in the morning (don't tell the B&B and gîte owners where we stay, at least we try to save their beds from dog hair). As well as this there is her food, bottles of water to go in the car, her bowls to eat and drink out of, her brush, her towels in case she gets wet, her ear and eye drops, pain killers in case she twists or sprains anything or gets ear-ache, her healthy treats and the carrots she has bits of when we have our early evening drink. Have I left anything out? Oh yes, car lead and two extending leads.
Anyway, she certainly enjoys it when we get there. You can tell because she does this a lot: what we call Doing a Mad Dog, which involves rolling around on her back waving her legs about and making very fearsome and gruesome noises. We respond by saying 'Have we got a Mad Dog? Mad Dog, Mad Dog!'
Other times she doesn't and the performance moves on to a new phase. But I think I've said enough.
She makes us make ourselves ridiculous, we know.
More on the trip anon.
15 comments:
Wonderful pictures and prose. One or more of our cats will wind up lying in any open suitcase when a trip is planned. But, sorry for them, they get left behind.
wondrous Molly energy
You know, I don't know where "it's a dog's life!" ever got its bad reputation. ;-)
I loved reading this, but wonder why you didn't bring any squeaky toys or old filthy gnawed-on bone joints.
T.
Making a dog happy isn't bad, as a purpose in life.
And Moll rolling on the grass in bliss is a sight to behold.
'...makes us make ourselves ridiculous, we know.'
We know that feeling too!
I love that Molly has her own drinks nibbles.
Let me add a further detail about Mol's accommodation. The car rear seat squab is divided into two and when I was introduced to her only one half was folded down. As a result she appeared to have both a dining room and a lounge. No doubt she wanders from one to the other when unsupervised. Another heartening matter: she seems habituated to these arrangements and when the rear door was opened she was of course glad to see us ("Oh cor, do they expect me to play the Grande Dame to this blocker-out-of-the-light they've brought back.") but was not in any sense panicking to get out. A very modern dog.
Oh! That you're-not-leaving-me look on Molly's face in combination with the standing-to-attention brolly is a real heartstring puller! When it scrolled open on my screen, I couldn't help myself from expressing my delight in an uncharacteristically high voice. Yes, sweet dogs make one do all sorts of silly things. Thank goodness for that!
Thanks all, Molly has enjoyed the fuss.
Teresa - manky old toys, old socka, bits of rag and rope and bones would once have been part of her equipment, and she possessed a blue plastic mushroom box of them, but at some point a few years ago she decided to put away childish things and no longer showed any interest in them, at which point we threw them out, partly because they were a health hazard and an eyesore but also because we knew if we didn't do so now they would one day break our hearts, an eventuality we can't avoid but which there's no point in making worse if we can help it.
She still has a bouncy ball which on very rainy days I chuck around the kitchen skirting boards for her, but she never was a great dog for that kind of play, not having fully grasped the concept of the retrieve. She seems to think that the object is for her to gain possession and keep it, running under the table or into some other inaccessible corner and staying there. She will relinquish it on request but always looks rather crestfallen at having to, and I feel mean.
BB - how observant of you! That arrangement of the car interior is so normal to us I'd largely forgotten about it. Though of course when we vacate the car she takes possession of the front seats anyway. She has always loved the car since puppyhood, and while she does not readily countenance being left alone in the house, solitude in the car doesn't worry her. She will accompany us to restaurants, especially outside terraces on warmer days where she can watch the world go by, but often there seems little point in her enduring an uncomfortable couple of hours on a cold floor among the chair legs when she can be warmly sleeping in the car. Winter evenings out involve extra blankets and hot water bottles.
Only after a certain period of driving or number of stops will she insist on her right to get out for a walk or comfort break.
R - you squeezed in there, while I was elaborating. QED.
Love this. Love the Mad Dog especially - exactly what my dog does. And the fleece blanket to spread on top of hotel beds, yes. Exactly what we do. What sort of dog is Molly? She looks just like a larger version of my dog. . .
- alison
i do love Mol!
"She makes us make ourselves ridiculous, we know."...oh how i know!!
Wonderful. I remember my dog doing her own versions of "you must take me with you" and "thank god you/we are home!" Such a sweety Mol is. I do miss having a dog sometimes.
Thanks again.
alison, So glad someone else does the blanket thing. Mol is a cocker spaniel, but a slightly atypical one in her appearance!
Oh how they rule our lives, these four-legged companions who come to stay when pups and then take over. We too have the travelling gear that must be ticked off and packed for forays away from Ty Isaf. Jack likes to sit on the lap of whoever is in the passenger seat and to enjoy the views. He's particularly happy when travelling at night because he loves the lights coming toward us. I have no idea what's going on in his little head at such times, but he evidences as much pleasure at this display of headlamps as we might do at a firework display!
Yes, lovely prose here Lucy. You conjure Mol wonderfully in words and images.
Very much the same when Porridge goes on holiday...worse than when the kids were little. We need a trailer for her luggage
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