Pippin the pup knows how to get attention from strangers when he wants it. There is a special look of intense puppiness, big eyes, fast-wagging tail and licking tongue that some people find totally irresistible. And what’s more, he knows it: he seems to have a sixth sense for spotting a person who will fall for him.
Time for a rest
Yesterday as I was closing the gate to our drive, two young men strolled past carrying tennis rackets and balls. Pippin slipped through the nearly-closed gate and scampered after one of them. As I called out “Pippin” increasingly urgently the young man in question noticed the pup, fondled him and walked back to me so Pippin would follow. Today as I posted a letter in our village, Pippin stood in the doorway of the hairdresser’s shop wagging his tail furiously. It wasn’t long before the shop’s staff were all over him.
He kept me company today as I began tidying our overgrown front garden. He hid indoors when the mower started but ventured out again as I raked the grass, the garden quiet now but for the the distant thump-thump of a neighbour’s sound system. Rotted leaves had created a mulch along the edges of our drive where the couch-grass encroached and fed off itself. The metal spade rang out against the tarmac as I scraped at the layer of mulch, making Pippin bark and snap.
He likes to watch us in the house with his brow furrowed quizzically, ears cocked at a playful angle. His thin tail, curled slightly upwards in collie fashion, waves cheerfully above him whenever his head is down. His appetite for shoes is undiminished and all footwear is now placed beyond his reach. I would laugh at the sight of him making off with my old Birkingstocks if I weren’t so concerned about saving them. As for socks, he won’t let go of them until sprayed with water, so we keep the spray bottle handy.
In so many ways he is changing our lives – and we haven’t started “walkies” yet.
