by Emma
if we'd rather see the house or the kennels first.
i 'Kennels!' i said, without hesitation. 'Anyway, we might
as well get wet all at once while we're out here.'
She went back inside to fetch some wellington boots and a
raincoat. i could tell from one look at her she wasn't what i
would call a doggie person. She was.too clean-looking for a
start. If you're looking after dogs and cats you don't look
clean at the end of the day, or even half-way through it. But
never mind, i wasn't judging her as a kennel owner. i
wanted to buy the place.
'I'll take you through the first block here, where the
kitchen is,' she told us. 'The first row of kennels is through
here.'
It took me quite a while before my eyes could adjust to the
darkness from the kitchen into the kennel block. This is one
thing that horrifies me about places for boarding animals.
They don't seem to think dogs or cats need to see. So many of
them are dark. i had to feel my way along until my eyes
became adjusted. The compartments for the dogs were
small, not very clean, and in a lot of them i could see cracks
in the brickwork. Outside the runs were no better - far too
small even for a breed like a dachshund or a corgi. Dogs need
exercise, need something to occupy their minds especially
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when their owners have left them, but they wouldn't get it
here. We were greeted by quite a few excited barks, as we
went along looking in each kennel, from dogs who were
obviously very friendly and were hoping we were taking
them out for a walk. Others sat in the corners moping, with
sad eyes and longing expressions, thinking, I'm sure, that
their owners were never going to reclaim them from this dark
prison. My feeling on leaving the kennel blocks was one of
terrible depression. And of hope, too, for at least if we did
buy this place we'd change it and make the boarders who
came to stay with us a lot happier. The cats' accommodation
was no better, not in my view. An old shed converted into
little pens for cats who could only spend their time stalking
around a couple of feet of space.
i tried to make pleasant conversation as i went round, to
stop me thinking of how really horrible it was. 'Do you have
special feeding times?' i asked.
'Oh yes, about four o'clock we start feeding.'
i looked at my watch. It was four o'clock and some of the
cages didn't seem to have feeding bowls in them. Mrs Wood
obviously noticed.
'Oh, these cats have onlyjust come in. We never feed dogs
and cats for a day or so when they first arrive. It wastes too
much food if i do that.'
The thought of leaving either my dogs or cats somewhere
they're not going to get fed for a day or two was a shocking
thought. The house was better. At least it didn't remind me
of prison cells. Not that I was worried about living accommodation
at all for I'm sure that once i had the kennels to
run I'd only sleep in the house anyway, so i knew that i
wanted it. When we got back in the car we sat for a while.
Don didn't start up the engine.
'What do you think, petal?' He knew exactly what i
thought, i didn't have to voice any opinions.
'Well, at least we can change it,' i told him. 'Make the
kennels much bigger by knocking two into one for a start.
'And build bigger runs on the outside.'
'A good lick of paint would make it look a darn sight
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lighter inside,' Don added, rubbing his chin thoughtfully.
'And if we could put some windows inside those kennels, that
would make it better.'
We had it all planned. He started the engine and we
turned back down Barton Hill. Don hummed carefully to
himself. i know that when he hums it means he's thinking
hard.
'What is it?' i asked.
'Money!'
'Yes, there is that. Do you think we'll get enough? A
mortgage, i mean?'
'They're asking a lot of money for it. We might. We'll keep
our fingers crossed anyway. You'll have to do that in the
morning as I've got quite a few patients to see. You ring
round and have a word with the mortgage companies. just
sound them out a bit, you know, before we start applying
anywhere in particular.'
We both knew it was no good going to a building society
because they weren't interested in mortgages for businesses,
so we had to rely on commercial banks. Sadly, our own local
bank wasn't even considering mortgages at that time - or
things might have turned out a lot different. That very
evening Don started to draw maps of the new kennel blocks
he'd build and how he'd change the old ones. He was
completely taken up with this new idea and new vocation in
life and i was mentally working out how many tins of dog
food, cat food and pounds of beef we'd need every week to
feed a hundred dogs and eighty cats.
The next morning, at the start of office hours, i sat beside
the telephone, the Yellow Pages in my hand, ringing round
the commercial bankers. i was lucky for i found one that was
interested almost immediately. During the next few weeks
we were busy organizing valuations on the kennels, and we
had lots of mortgage forms to fill in. Both Don and i were
beginning to feel really confident that this was it. i was so
confident, in fact, that i decided to splash out and buy Don
something really fantastic for his birthday. i didn't like the
thought of buying the same old thing for him - aftershave or
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socks - and he'd always had a yearning for a German
shorthaired pointer. They are not at all like Labradors.
They're sleek and close coated with long cars, a long nose
and no tail, and have the elegance and speed of a gazelle.
Don had seen some once at a dog show we'd been to and
gazed at them longingly. Then, as if by magic, in the week of
his birthday there were some advertised for sale in our local
paper. They are a very rare breed so i felt extremely lucky.
Teak, as Don called her, was received with great excitement,
especially as I'm sure Don thought he was going to get yet
another bottle of aftershave or pair of socks.
Teak was to teach me even more about dog behaviour,
and about difterent techniques of training. At eleven weeks
old, she looked like a little fawn - all legs and head - as she
gambolled round our back garden. The other three dogs
were astounded. They knew she wasn't a Labrador and tried
to work out what she really was but she was too fast for them
and they couldn't catch up with her. Emma couldn't have
cared less whether it was a mouse or a baby elephant. Emma
was always the same about other dogs: she could take them
or leave them. She would always play with them if she found
them in the park and they were friendly, but she was never
all that keen on making real friends. It was as if she reserved
herself for me. She took a s
niff at Teak - in one of Teak's
fleeting moments as she streaked by - decided she wasn't at
all interested and ambled offinto the lounge. i always made
sure that Emma never felt pushed out and her days were
spent wherever she pleased, in the lounge, or hall, or kitchen,
but all our other dogs were restricted and they weren't
allowed to run through the house in the day. They were
either out walking, in the garden or in the dog room. The
only time the other dogs were allowed in was in the evening,
when Emma had chosen her place to sleep or had gone off to
bed upstairs. i also fed Emma separately. Not that the others
would have had a chance to steal any of her food (they
wouldn't have dared and anyway the meat disappeared from
her bowl almost before it touched the ground), but Emma
always had to come first. i knew she didn't want to go for
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long walks, butjust a trot down to the local shop with a collar
and lead on made all the diflerence to her day. She loved
going to the local shop. There were so many smells and there
was always the hope that someone behind the counter would
take pity on her and pass her a biscuit or two. i never mind
tying any of my other dogs up outside a shop that has a notice
NO DOGS' but i never did that with Emma. If no dogs were
allowed in the shop then neither of us would pass the
threshold. But I'm pleased to say our local shop has never
needed to put up a notice of this kind and I'm sure the
owners have never had any problems with dogs being a
nuisance.
Teak immediately tried to assert her authority, for even at
that tender age she decided that she was going to be the boss.
Once in her bed, no canine was allowed to go near her and
she would emit a deep-throated growl of warning that would
befit a fully grown great Dane. So far, Bracken had always
been boss - after Emma, that is - although Buttons had
never admitted it. Mocha wasjust a born follower, when she
remembered who she was following, and both Don and i
realized immediately that we'd have to get the upper hand
with Teak from the start. Dogs, as far as i can see, fall into
two dillerent categories - the leaders and the followers. It
goes back to long before they were domesticated and they
lived in packs. They always had a pack leader and any dog
that wanted leadership had to fight for it. If he won he took
over, if he didn't he went back to being a follower. These
instincts, i find, are still very prevalent in our domesticated
dog. If you have a follower, he's going to be very easy to
train, very placid and eager to please. If you have a leader,
you've got a totally difterent dog. i like to think of it this way:
the leader dogs are the type that would be good at police
work, the follower dogs are the type that would be good as
guide-dogs. Buttons and Teak are definitely leaders. We
didn't have Buttons until she was a year old, so she was able
to form her character before coming to live with us and, of
course, a dog with Buttons' temperament felt she had to
assert her authority when moving into a new home. She
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didn't try to assert authority over Emma, but over us. At
this point, i must say that a lot of pet owners don't realize
what is the basis of their dog's temperament, and they fail
to see how they could cure an aggressive dog.
While on the surface Buttons seemed quite friendly to all
of us, underneath she was waiting for the opportunity to
assert her leadership. It came one night. She was asleep in
her basket and it was time for everybody to go out for their
last walk. i told Buttons, but she ignored me. 'Come on,
Buttons,' i said again. She still ignored me, opening one eye
and closing it again. i went up and gave her a pat. 'Come
on, Buttons, quickly.' She growled at me. At that point i
realized what she was doing. i got hold of her by the scruff
of the neck, dragged her out the basket, shook her, shouted
at her and told her that she was a very, very bad dog, put her
outside and closed the door. If you watch mothers with
their puppies, you'll see that they often chastise them by
getting hold of them round the neck and shaking them.
This doesn't hurt a dog but it seems to humiliate them and
certainly puts them in their place. When I opened the door
again, Buttons was a changed dog. She'd been reasonably
friendly before, but now she was excessively loving. She
came round me, wagging her tail, lying on the floor, putting
her feet in the air. That is the sign from a dog of total
submission. i had won. i often wonder what would have
happened if Buttons had gone to someone else who had
backed offwhen she'd growled at them and left her alone.
She would have probably taken over and might even have
attacked someone.
Teak, being only a very young puppy when she came to
us, was very easy to handle and although she growled at the
other dogs, she never tried it on with us because she
realized from the start that Don and i were the leaders. i
always feel sorry for those pet owners who come and tell me
what troubles they have with their dogs as, naturally,
people do want to discuss their pets with me.
'He won't let me take a bone off him. In fact, he won't let
me anywhere near. He growls and I'm sure he'd bite me.'
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i
i tell them that the best thing they can possibly do is to go
up and take the bone off the dog. Make a fuss of him. Tell
him what a clever dog he is for giving up his bone and give it
him back. If he does bite, then bite him back. i don't mean
that literally, of course, but to get hold of him and really
reprimand him before returning his bone. You may have to
do this quite a number of times before the dog realizes that
you are the boss. You would be amazed how many dogs are
the leaders of their pack and how many dog owners are
literally afraid of their dog. i cannot stress enough how
important it is that you should train your dog to make sure
that he will obey you. i find it much easier to understand
now, when i hear that dogs attack people, what's gone
wrong. The dog just hasn't been trained to be obedient.
Boredom, too, can make a dog aggressive or destructive.
Dogs are like children: they need lessons, they need things of
interest to do in the daytime. If a child wasn't sent to school
at the age of five then he, too, would become bored and
probably that old saying, 'The Devil makes work for idle
hands' also goes for paws.
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4
CHAPTER TEN
TEAK TURNED OUT to be a totally different kettle of fish
from any of the Labradors. When i first took her for a walk in
the fields, i let her ofr the lead and was rather shocked when
she had gone in a flash. This had never happened to me
before. Labradors just aren't like that. They're not fast
enough to di
sappear in half a second, and they prefer to stay
round their owner and keep them in sight. Especially
Mocha. i would always be looking for Mocha and she'd be
behind me. She never went anywhere. But Teak had gone.
What could i do? i couldn't see her anywhere. That didn't
mean a lot as i couldn't see far into the distance anyhow.
Terror-stricken, i tried calling her back. She was Don's dog:
what was I going to do when i went home without her and
told him I'd lost her the very first time i had taken her out?
Well, how was i to know that she was going to shoot oftlike a
bullet out of a gun? But just as quickly she was back at my
feet, leaping up and down with joy. Before i could pat her
and tell her what a good girl she was, off she went again. I
found this very unnerving at first - one minute Teak would
be there beside me, the next she'd be miles away. You need
to look into the breed and see what they were originally bred
for to find out what sort of temperament your dog is going to
have. It is no good expecting a German shorthaired pointer
to act like a Labrador, so i had to condition myself to a
difterent breed. Labradors were meant for retrieving pure
and simple, they weren't meant to go out and search for birds
or point. They were trained to stay behind their master until
he gave them the command to retrieve a bird, to go out to it
and to come straight back.
The pointer, on the other hand, was bred to range, to
range out, flush the birds out and to point. They always like
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to work a long way away from their owners so i had to accept
that Teak's instinct sent her a long way ofr, but always
brought her back. i had hours and hours of pleasure
watching Teak. Her movement, her gait, was so different
from Labradors. Compared to her gazelle-like gallops they
looked like elephants trundling around. She reminds me of a
butterfly flitting from place to place with ease and elegance.
At her easy canter the Labradors are at a flat-out gallop to
try and catch her. They never succeed, not unless she wants
them to. Teak's instinct is so strong that all she wants to do