The Picnicking Princess

October 28, 2012 by Zena 27 Comments

This weekend the family came down to meet the new ‘puppy’. I know he is a puppy in age, but he is huge and I cannot think of him as a puppy.

Puppies are the cute things I meet in the park. He is a behemoth!

The family agreed with me. T (Number 1 son) and A (his wife) and Magic my favourite seven year old. They all thought he was cute but huge and I think Magic would have liked us to have brought home the tiny, cuddly Maltese/Pomeranian they met at obedience school! I was hoping to give her a hint to swap them but she’s gone home and won’t be going to the next lesson.

I gather from Magic that it was a bit boring so I’m not sorry now that I didn’t go. At the time though I was mad to have been left behind. I whined and cried and barked and generally kicked up a fuss. This is what I do. I am a Princess.

Magic had hoped to see lots of cute little puppies running around but instead there were six cute puppies (not all of them so little…ahem) lying obediently, some of the time, on mats. The Producer was impressed. The Director was impressed. Magic was unimpressed.

I had to have a chuckle. Back here at home Raffles is doing most things like a gifted child. He can sit, he can stay, he can come when called, he is toilet trained…blah…blah….blah. He doesn’t walk on the lead yet and as he hasn’t had all his vaccinations this means that my leash free park time is still MY time. That will finish soon.

Anyway. As I was saying. The prodigal puppy is doing everything, including many things that Zac and I always refused to do like come when called. Why bother Zac used to say, when what we’re doing is so much more interesting. They’ll still be there when we’ve finished sniffing. He was so right. I have tried to teach this to the ‘puppy’ but Raffles seems to have a switch that makes him do what he’s told.

So when they asked at the puppy school which puppies could obey the sit command, The Director put his hand up. Come and show us said the teacher. Up he goes with Raffles and gives the command and Raffles just looks at him. He tells me he had stage fright – all those eyes on him! Silly puppy, that’s your moment I told him, you should grab it. Anyway, despite being asked to a couple of times he wouldn’t sit. He was shy. So sucks to him being the perfect puppy!

Enough of Raffles. Back to Meeeeeeee! Today I went foraging. Really. Foraging. I do sometimes. Only in the garden you understand. I like to forage unmolested, well almost unmolested. With Raffles as a new addition I am lucky to get two minutes to myself. Puppies are EXHAUSTING.

Well for once my foraging was a success. Usually I come up with a couple of blades of grass and maybe an old soggy chew. Today I found something which The Producer called ‘icky’.

Me with the ‘icky’ thing that I found – you can just see it on the grass between my feet

The Producer was alerted to my picnic by the high-pitched barks of Raffles who wanted me to share the icky-thing-I-had-found. I wouldn’t. Sometimes we older dogs give in to puppies and sometimes we don’t, this time I wouldn’t. I felt I had to draw a line.

Raffles begging for the ‘icky’ thing

Me, ignoring Raffles and enjoying the ‘icky’ picnic

Raffles trying to get The Producer to take it from me

I ignored them both and as The Producer wasn’t going to touch the ‘icky’ thing I was safe. I finished it up and then had my dinner. I have no idea what it was. Something died in the garden a few days ago and it could have been from that or it could have been a bit of possum tail left over from some other massacre. Whatever it was it felt good to have foraged and found it for myself.

I came in from the garden and read my pal Easy‘s blog and got a little bit worried. After his night of being sick all over his bed and sick on the carpet on the stairs and sick…well, you get the picture, it made me a little worried. Perhaps I shouldn’t have been foraging for myself and eating leftover murder victims from the garden? Maybe I’ll be sick in my bed, my lovely nice black furry bed. I would not like that. I’ll let you know next post. Meanwhile, I hope Easy is better.

As an aside, talking of beds, Raffles has the most unpleasant habit of using his bed as an indoor toilet if he cannot get onto the grass. This is sort of tidy, but is a bit rough on the bed and the washing machine! The Producer is talking about buying a smaller, cheap bed until we are through the ‘accident’ phase of his life. As long as he can’t get near my bed I don’t care.

I leave you with a picture of a disappointed Raffles as he saw me finish the last ‘icky’ morsel and lick my lips 🙂

It’s his ‘I can’t believe you didn’t share’ face

Ha! love Zena, The Provoking Princess