Monday, February 06, 2006

a dog's life

There are new licensing laws here in the UK, which mean that many places are open until later. It’s not without opposition, we have something of a binge drinking culture here, so it’s not sufficient to assume that if places are open for longer that we will be in less of a rush to drink ourselves into a destructive frenzy....but that’s not really why I’m writing. It just suits me.

I want to come home from work, relax for a little while - let the day wash away, take the dogs for a walk, have a shower and maybe a glass or two of wine and then go out later, maybe 10’ish for some fun with friends. I don’t want to rush.

Which is precisely what I did on Friday. I’m sure that any of the people out there that I irresponsibly corresponded with in the early hours of Saturday morning will give testament to the fact that I’d “had a good time”. (Sorry, I promise I’ll try to find something else for my tipsy digits to do from now on).

If only you knew. If only you knew what a rotten sod I’d been you would have erased me.

I came in, filled a glass and switched on the fire in the living room, and lay and stretched. Charlie came to say hello, and sat on my bum in front of the fire. We watched the goggle box like that for a little while, I have no idea what, just blurry moving figures, police sirens and people shouting “wada wada, woomba” at each other. Until eventually I’d cooked nicely on one side (stick a fork in me, I’m done), and went for a refill.

It occurred to me that the chaps might need a wee, so I called and Charlie appeared and I opened the back door….and there sitting on the top step of the stairs into the yard was the most soulful looking Spaniel I’ve ever seen in my life.

Five hours.

Five miserable, freezing cold, lonely hours.

The last thing I had done before I went out was let them out for a wee, like any responsible ‘parent’. Unlike any responsible parent I hadn’t made sure that they were both back in doors before I went out.

He stared at me with hazel brown eyes the size of dinner plates, shivered and stood up. He slunk past me and I could feel the cold radiate off him, like the antithesis of a radiator, into the living room to sit on the hearth with his bum nearly in the fire. Charlie looked down into the yard and then up at me as if to say “I’m not falling for that” and I shut the door.

Spaniels don’t sulk, they can’t, it’s simply not in their nature -but there was a definite air of “have I not been good?” about him, and it took a lot of biscuits and hugs before we saw even a tiny little wag.

(A girl did a similar thing to me once and I sulked for a week).

16 comments:

Wendy said...

OH!!! Oh Colin!! Well, I think I shant 'yell' at you, or tell you what a pisser you were, as I can see that you're more than remorseful and certainly didn't intend it. I'm sure Toffee has forgiven you - if you got a wag from him. Perhaps next time I correspond with you though, and you've been filling a cup or 2, maybe I'll simply inquire about the boys and just ask how they are? Then you can make sure they're where they should be? (I'm teasing you you know.) One time, years ago - I had one very curious kitty. I was a new mom - barely sleeping ever - and I had gotten up in the middle of the night to feed the baby and get something from the fridge. I did my thing and got the baby back to her crib and I crawled sleepily back to bed. Some time, many many many hours later in the morning, I was fixing breakfast and opened the fridge ... only to find one VERY COLD kitty sitting on the middle rack, staring at me ... as if to say "How could you?" I never saw him jump in, he never made a peep. Or perhaps he had and I was just too asleep to hear him? I dunno. He was no worse for the wear, but he was not happy either. I spent my day consoling and hugging and warming my little guy.

Shephard said...

Wow. I can't top either of those. And both so understandable.
Cats, unlike dogs, are quick. They get places they shouldn't be, and they do so quietly.
Mine get shut behind doors all the time, despite my ever vigilant watch. So, whenever we leave the house or go to bed, we "do a count." Animals are very forgiving.
~S :)

Minnesota Nice said...

Laddie would have barked his brains out, I'm surprised Toffee suffered so silently. Not one bark? They don't hold a grudge though, thank goodness.

Deadly Female said...

Oh fish! That poor wee doggy! But I can see you're feeling bad about the whole thing. I love spaniels - are we talking cocker, springer or king charles here?

Katya Coldheart said...

awwww the poor thing, i know they have a furry coat but in this weather he'd freeze his bits off...did you not realize you were a dog down...lol

:0)

Miladysa said...

!!!

5 hours?!

It was very cold...

An accident though...

You got off lightly, a Jack Russell or a bitch would have their revenge...

:)

Fish said...

Toffee is a Springer Spaniel. I've never heard him bark, I don't know whether that's unusual? He's a particularly placid dog, even tempered and apparently voiceless too - he seems to be able to express his whole range of emotion (from happy to pleasantly pooped) with his eyes.

Wendy, thank you! I feel so much better now, a kitten, in the fridge no less? Wouldn't it have been great if you'd had visitors at the time, opening the fridge door and saying "would you like a soda, or maybe a nice chilled cat?"

Stacy The Peanut Queen said...

Ooo....I would've felt bad too...and those eyes can say a million things, can't they???

At least he's okay...although you may have a problem getting him to go outside to potty next time it's that cold out, huh? ;)

Daisy said...

AAAAWWWWWWWWW Poor Toffee!! Did you give him an extra biscuit? He probably won't want to go out again.

Monogram Queen said...

You've scarred him for life, Colin. Yep. Nah one of the good things about furbabies is their huge capacity to love and forgive. It may take a bit of a push to get him to go out and wee when it's cold and/or rainy again though! You're a good doggy parent. You were properly horrified/sorry for your actions.

Melissa said...

My first dog was a Springer and he was a holy terror, albeit a silent one. I loved him like mad.

Colin, no more dogcicles.

And I'm insulted I got no drunken email Saturday morning.

Minnesota Nice said...

How do Melissa and I get on the drunken email list? When you're drunk it's like 6 pm here so that'd be really entertaining.

Blondie... said...

Ok, I'm glad Toffee is ok and not icky feeling from being so cold. I'm pretty sure you've done pennance for it more than you should have.

I about fell out of my chair laughing about the kitten...I'm horrid, I know... And Colin, your response...hahaha

Pet ownership and parenting is the same on quite a few levels. We make mistakes.

((hugs))

Melissa said...

Oh, Sandra, the fun we could have...

Anonymous said...

Oh poor Toffee (it is Toffee right?) I did it to Blaise once too, but not for 5 hours! I wondered why he wasn't running away from the vacuum that particular saturday!

Kelli said...

My puppy gives me that same look at least once a day..seems to get very angry when I spend too much time at the computer!

Your blog is very funny..Im enjoying lurking around..