A lovely story in this article
Mar 28, 2019 16:09:56 GMT
caz2golden, scallywag, and 2 more like this
Post by tonib on Mar 28, 2019 16:09:56 GMT
From the 20/02/2019 Skelmersdale Champion
One Man and His Dog with Jim Sharpe
I READ a story the other day about a dog in a rescue kennels which suddenly went blind with a detached retina.
Apparently there is no hope of her ever getting her sight back so the kennels were trying to find a suitable new owner who could cope with her blindness. And by now I’ll bet they have found her a splendid new owner to look after her.
But this story reminded me of another dog afflicted with blindness as she got older - and this one had a very happy ending of a different sort.
She was a rough collie, very similar to my own Cinders, owned by the landlord of a pub I frequented when I was living in Colchester and he and his wife became good friends of mine. He had bred from her and the resultant two puppies, which were very large for collies, were inseparable from mum so he kept them both.
Near to this pub was Colchester’s lovely Castle Park, a huge area of grassland and trees where he normally let the dogs run free for a while each evening. And this posed a problem for his much loved bitch. Put simply, she could no longer see the wood for the trees and started running into them. She too had gone blind.
The obvious answer was to keep her on a lead, but her two offspring had another and better plan. Having been told all about what they were doing, I went outside to watch the three of them.
It was a truly amazing and heartwarming sight. The three of hem, the two young dogs and their now blind mother, were running together in the park - one of the youngsters on each side of mum literally guiding her round the trees (and other obstacles such as litter bins and people) at her top speed.
Nobody had taught them to do this, between them they had worked it out for themselves. So if anybody thought dogs cannot possibly love other dogs - and thinking of guide dogs, other people as well - perhaps they should think again. I reckon as long as she had her two sons to look after her, she had no need of a human with specialist training to keep her safe.
I believe that dogs, having been around us and living with us for millennia, are quite capable of a very deep affection for us. The trouble is I think that they also, again just like humans, come with all sorts of temperaments.
The vast majority of people are more than happy to help another in distress, and can be relied upon to behave in a civilised and courteous manner to others. A few - at present unhappily it seems a growing number - are extremely unpleasant, aggressive characters as the recent spate of knifings show only too clearly.
Certainly, in my experience, most dogs not only mix happily with others, despite the difference in breed and size, but are usually quite happy to mingle with different people as well. It has been said that dogs instinctively know if a person doesn’t like them, and I think this is true, though whether it is as simple as that I do not know.
I remember, some years ago now, with my previous Tina, in the foyer of Maghull Town Hall chatting to one of the security officers. Folk were coming and going, some spoke to Tina, others simply walked past - and Tina was quite happy with either.
Then a chap came down the stairs and as soon as she spotted him, Tina started to growl, something she never, ever, usually did. I don’t know why she took this instant, very forceful, dislike to this bloke - but I would have been extremely careful if I’d had any dealings with him.
They knows, yer know!
Now whether this man simply disliked dogs, or whether there was something in his make-up which Tina spotted as being out of kilter, I don’t know, but there was definitely something which her dog’s senses told her he was not to be trusted.
But I’ll tell you this. Assuming there is a heaven then I hope there is a place there for dogs. Because the example of my landlord friend’s collies was an example for us all.
One Man and His Dog with Jim Sharpe
My friend’s ‘caring’ collies were an example to us all
I READ a story the other day about a dog in a rescue kennels which suddenly went blind with a detached retina.
Apparently there is no hope of her ever getting her sight back so the kennels were trying to find a suitable new owner who could cope with her blindness. And by now I’ll bet they have found her a splendid new owner to look after her.
But this story reminded me of another dog afflicted with blindness as she got older - and this one had a very happy ending of a different sort.
She was a rough collie, very similar to my own Cinders, owned by the landlord of a pub I frequented when I was living in Colchester and he and his wife became good friends of mine. He had bred from her and the resultant two puppies, which were very large for collies, were inseparable from mum so he kept them both.
Near to this pub was Colchester’s lovely Castle Park, a huge area of grassland and trees where he normally let the dogs run free for a while each evening. And this posed a problem for his much loved bitch. Put simply, she could no longer see the wood for the trees and started running into them. She too had gone blind.
The obvious answer was to keep her on a lead, but her two offspring had another and better plan. Having been told all about what they were doing, I went outside to watch the three of them.
It was a truly amazing and heartwarming sight. The three of hem, the two young dogs and their now blind mother, were running together in the park - one of the youngsters on each side of mum literally guiding her round the trees (and other obstacles such as litter bins and people) at her top speed.
Nobody had taught them to do this, between them they had worked it out for themselves. So if anybody thought dogs cannot possibly love other dogs - and thinking of guide dogs, other people as well - perhaps they should think again. I reckon as long as she had her two sons to look after her, she had no need of a human with specialist training to keep her safe.
Civilised
I believe that dogs, having been around us and living with us for millennia, are quite capable of a very deep affection for us. The trouble is I think that they also, again just like humans, come with all sorts of temperaments.
The vast majority of people are more than happy to help another in distress, and can be relied upon to behave in a civilised and courteous manner to others. A few - at present unhappily it seems a growing number - are extremely unpleasant, aggressive characters as the recent spate of knifings show only too clearly.
Certainly, in my experience, most dogs not only mix happily with others, despite the difference in breed and size, but are usually quite happy to mingle with different people as well. It has been said that dogs instinctively know if a person doesn’t like them, and I think this is true, though whether it is as simple as that I do not know.
I remember, some years ago now, with my previous Tina, in the foyer of Maghull Town Hall chatting to one of the security officers. Folk were coming and going, some spoke to Tina, others simply walked past - and Tina was quite happy with either.
Then a chap came down the stairs and as soon as she spotted him, Tina started to growl, something she never, ever, usually did. I don’t know why she took this instant, very forceful, dislike to this bloke - but I would have been extremely careful if I’d had any dealings with him.
They knows, yer know!
Now whether this man simply disliked dogs, or whether there was something in his make-up which Tina spotted as being out of kilter, I don’t know, but there was definitely something which her dog’s senses told her he was not to be trusted.
But I’ll tell you this. Assuming there is a heaven then I hope there is a place there for dogs. Because the example of my landlord friend’s collies was an example for us all.