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Sooty, Candy and Cleo!
By Joy Healey
OK, it's pets week - so I hope I'm allowed a self-indulgent and anecdotal reminiscence about three much loved pets, now sadly passed away and sorely missed. And with a thin attempt at relevance to my website, I'll just suggest that you pop over to Google and type in "pets and blood pressure" to have a read about the benefits of pet ownership. (Although I have to confess some of the following anecdotes RAISED blood pressure in our household.) Sooty was king of the household - a black miniature poodle of the impish sort, not the snooty sort. He perfected the knack of pick-pocketing bags of sweets from my Dad's pockets, and could often be found behind a chair with toffee all round his teeth and a pile of sweet-papers. I well remember the day I came downstairs one morning as a little girl and found, to my horror, that he'd had a bit of a wild night and shredded the velvet curtains. It was early, and I hoped that if I worked hard enough with a needle and cotton my Mum wouldn't notice. Err - she did! Then there was the day he raided the weekly shop and found a packet of prunes which he wolfed down eagerly. I wonder if he ever connected the predictable result with his misdemeanor? But, oh how he loved me and I loved him. Each time I went away to boarding school he pined for days, and on one occasion he found one of my leather shoes and ate all but the heel - which we always said was his way of "getting close to me" (or getting revenge - who knows?) My Mum and Dad brought him to visit me at school every few weeks but when they left on an evening, Sooty would stand up on the back seat looking backwards towards the school for ages. He was patience itself when my sister and I trained him to do all sorts of daft un-dog-like tricks that probably embarrassed him to death, but gave huge entertainment value to the whole family. Other wonderful memories were of "Soot-walking" with my Dad each evening. It was real quality time together under the stars, by the seaside. Often my Dad was totally exhausted after a 15-hour day in his shop, but he never missed "Soot-walking" and most times I went with him. Then there were two as along came Candy! Another black poodle, but she was a stray who'd been badly mistreated. We didn't really want a second dog, but she was so frightened and frail you just couldn't turn her away. In fact she was my Nan's dog, but they spent a lot of time at our house so Candy came too. Sooty was not impressed at first. But once he'd established his dominant role they became firm friends. Candy responded well to the TLC of our dog-besotted household. She soon lost her hounded look and became as playful and loving as Sooty. Sadly she never lost the limp and slightly crooked walk caused by her previous mistreatment. Finally, just when Sooty had got Candy put firmly in her place, along came Cleo. Cleo was my dog - by now I'd got married and had a dog of my own. But you can't leave a dog in all day by herself while you're at work, so Cleo had to be taken to my Mum's each day, to join Sooty and Candy. Cleo was a cross between a Labrador and an Alsatian, with more of the Lab in her, so she too was a sweetheart. But of course she was a much larger dog than Sooty or Candy. We called Cleo "big-dog", to distinguish her from "little-dog" (Candy). Sooty was always Sooty. Despite his advancing age and smaller stature, Sooty established himself once more as "king" and kept the other two in their junior positions, so they all got along just fine. All three have sadly now passed on, and I don't have a dog as I've no-one to leave him/her with while I work. But I'll never forget the happy memories of our "dog-devoted" household with three crazy and loving pets. |
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This intel was contributed by Joy Healey
Joy Healey
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May, 2012
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