Roy went up to the plot for two weeks to house-sit and to do some building. He took along a kennel from Freecycle for John's dog because she sleeps outside in all weather.
Pote was nowhere in sight in the first week that Roy was there. John told him that during the previous weekend, she had attached herself to some Rastafarian visiting the area and followed him along the 8km back to his home in Suurbraak. She was obviously not happy with the loose "easy come, easy go" arrangement between herself and John, which saw her spending her weekends all on her own while John blows his wages in Swellendam. She was tired of roaming the veld in search of food and company and was seeking something better.
I felt a huge lump in my throat when I heard this and thought of what could befall her if she was going to roam from one place to another like this. I did wonder if she wasn't in fact dead and this was a "kinder" way of explaining her disappearance. I told Roy that if she returned and John was prepared to sell her to us, we would have to take her. John agreed so readily, I wondered why I had not had the temerity to suggest this before.
A few days later, she returned to the area, having walked back from Suurbraak on her own. Now....I don't really want another dog. We have one. I am actually a cat person. I have been fighting desperately the urge to get another cat after the loss of our three cats in the last year.
The arrangement was that when Roy left yesterday morning at 8am to return to Cape Town, John's wife was to wait along the road where Roy would pay for Pote and bring her home. (he could not take Pote back to the house-sit because of the huge Baskerville hounds living there)
Pote was nowhere in sight in the first week that Roy was there. John told him that during the previous weekend, she had attached herself to some Rastafarian visiting the area and followed him along the 8km back to his home in Suurbraak. She was obviously not happy with the loose "easy come, easy go" arrangement between herself and John, which saw her spending her weekends all on her own while John blows his wages in Swellendam. She was tired of roaming the veld in search of food and company and was seeking something better.
I felt a huge lump in my throat when I heard this and thought of what could befall her if she was going to roam from one place to another like this. I did wonder if she wasn't in fact dead and this was a "kinder" way of explaining her disappearance. I told Roy that if she returned and John was prepared to sell her to us, we would have to take her. John agreed so readily, I wondered why I had not had the temerity to suggest this before.
A few days later, she returned to the area, having walked back from Suurbraak on her own. Now....I don't really want another dog. We have one. I am actually a cat person. I have been fighting desperately the urge to get another cat after the loss of our three cats in the last year.
The arrangement was that when Roy left yesterday morning at 8am to return to Cape Town, John's wife was to wait along the road where Roy would pay for Pote and bring her home. (he could not take Pote back to the house-sit because of the huge Baskerville hounds living there)
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| Midge aka Pote |
We now own a very happy, untrained prairie dog and a very miffed and
sulky Mad Dog. You should have seen Pote running and skipping along the beach this morning, sniffing at every shell and piece of dried seaweed. And oh, the joy of having bowls of food accessible whenever the hunger pangs strike!
No doubt John will be foolish enough to take on another dog but I am determined not to bond with it!! I will wait a while to see whether this does in fact transpire and if not, the kennel will be donated to one of the many other dogs living there who have the misfortune to live outside, 24/7.
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