Dogs

We never had a pet dog in our family; part of the reason was we lived in a small flat, and although we had a big garde we couldn’t have a pet. I’m not sure whether I feel sorry about that or not, never having had a dog, and never really having wanted a dog. My father had dogs all through his childhood and youth, and was always very fond of them, so I’m not sure why he didn’t want to have one in the flat… maybe the expense, maybe our lives were too busy, maybe my mum didn’t want a dog… I really have no idea.

We are surrounded by dogs here where we live; three barkers and yappers on one side, a rescue dog on the other side, little dogs in a house over the back of us, and another three or four further along that road. There are two dogs diagonally opposite us, and occasionally a visiting third, and the various other dogs as you go down our road.

I visited a friend last night and she has a new puppy, a parsons terrier – I had never heard of one before; it looks like a Jack Russell but with longer legs, and to me it seemed to have a slightly rounder face. It was a cute little thing, but would I really want one? Would I really have the time to put into training the creature? The regular walks would no doubt do me good, but who would look after him or her when we went away? I didn’t mind petting my friend’s dog, but I came to the conclusion I wouldn’t really want one.