Wednesday, April 29, 2009

Introducing Leo

Regular readers might remember the demise of poor old Flicka, my parents’ dog back in November 08.

Several dogless weeks passed and then my sister spotted a notice about a litter of local puppies that would soon be ready for homes. She and our Dad set out to have a look. And that’s how they found him. Both parents are working dogs: Dad is a gun dog and Mum, a sheep dog. Leo is a love but I think he might be crossed with a kangaroo as well.

He has had a colourful few months at my Mum and Dad’s. At Easter he broke through the Fort Knox type gate across the bottom of the stairs and stole a chocolate egg. For anyone who doesn’t know, chocolate contains theobromine which is dangerous for dogs. Poor Leo was horribly unwell for three days. I’ll spare you the details, just in case any of you are eating, but the kitchen tiles had to be removed and destroyed … as you can see from the pic the floor has returned to some tiles I remember from my childhood.

There are four cats here. Two, HP and Ketchup, are my parents’ and the other two, Peanut and Custard, are my sister’s. Custard is sweet but aptly named: cowardy, cowardy Custard. He lives upstairs and accesses the garden through a series of catflaps that never require him to come face to face with a canine. HP and Ketch are elderly and pretty stoical about the bouncing dog; they’re buggered if they’re going to run from him.

A couple of days ago Peanut came over the stair gate and Leo appeared from nowhere, 0-80mph from prostrate. Peanut, claws attempting purchase on the lino, reacted with a run toward the kitchen, where Dad was making supper. On hearing the commotion of scrabbling paws, Dad turned in time to see Peanut take flight from nearly two metres away. He glided through the air, landing out of the dog’s reach, on the kitchen table, with one paw in the shepherd’s pie.

Last night Leo started obedience training.

14 comments:

Carol said...

LOL....ah the joys of animals!!!

He's gorgeous so I can see why they fell in love with him :-)

C x

Lane Mathias said...

He's a babe! And what a character (although the Easter egg incident must have been a bit scary).
Hope the obedience classes go well!

Unknown said...

Didn't know they did obdience classes for cats....
lx

Queenie said...

Hahahahaha!!! I'm not really a dog person, but Leo is cute - and Peanut is adorable. I hope he didn't burn his paw...

Leigh Forbes said...

Oh, JJ! I didn't know that Flicka had died. I'm so sorry. (I know I was a bit out of it in November.) Bastard car indeed...

Anyway, really looking forward to meeting the black kangaroo! I bet he has a big sloppy, floppy, tongue as well!

Chris Stovell said...

Naughty Leo! Your parents know he's arrived - nice face. (Leo, that is, although your parents probably have nice faces too.)

Pat Posner said...

Aww! Leo is gorgeous.
I hope he enjoys - and benefits from - his obedience classes.
I suspect he'll be the star of the show!

Karen said...

What a fine looking chap! Molly could do with obedience lessons but I think we've left it too late :o)

HelenMWalters said...

Leo looks gorgeous. Hope he enjoys the obedience training x

uphilldowndale said...

Four years on we are still trying to get over the culture shock of going from the death of 'old dog' to puppy. Some how I think we thought it would be a re run of the first dog. It hasn't been, for a host of reasons

Flowerpot said...

.. with one paw in the shepherd's pie! What a dear thing - obedience classes sound a good idea - or a challenge!

Beleaguered Squirrel said...

Aw, Leo sounds lovely. I have a big soft spot for the name Leo - keep using it for characters.

Our dog has the delightful habit of licking the children full in the face repeatedly - which they, equally delightfully, love. Eww.

Leigh Forbes said...

Dinner conversation this evening between the children:
D: Who is the naughtiest dog in the whole world?
R: Leo!
D: What's that big room at JJ's house that we eat in?
Me: Er, the dining room, sweetheart.
R: Leo did lots of barks in the dining room.
D: Leo is the naughtiest dog in the whole world.
R: But he doesn't mean to be naughty. He's a nice naughty dog.

Angie said...

Aw, he's a handsome boy. Hope the classes go well and Peanut and Leo become friends. :)