Seventeen pounds of joy

Another day, another walk, another dog. What? Another dog?!?! Yes. (And, no, not my dog.)

A while ago my friend Jean had to bid farewell to her beloved little Ewok dog Emmie. Jean’s always been a cat person and over the years she’s had to say goodbye to many feline friends. Emmie was her first dog – so petite she was actually smaller than one of her cats. Jean was completely unprepared for how much harder it was for her to lose her little dog, compared to all the cats in her past. Emmie left a HUGE hole in her heart.

Time passed, the grief was still there, but she began to wonder if perhaps there wasn’t room in her heart for another dog.

A couple of weeks ago, quite by chance, she came across a post about a terrier on another island who needed to be rehomed after his person went into care.

She’d already fallen for his photo, then she found out more about him, including his name – Dexter. Great name.

Suffice to say Dexter now lives here. He bonded with Jean almost immediately as she did with him. (Her cats, all of whom loved Emmie, are less thrilled.) It was obvious when I met him three days after his arrival that Jean was already “mum”. (And here was me thinking dogs were supposed to be so much more devoted to their humans than cats. Maybe that was just Greyfriars Bobby.)

Here’s his party piece.

He does this ALL the time. Unbelievably fucking cute. Jean calls it his meerkat pose, which I guess works, although my first thought was: chipmunk!

One of the things Jean used to love doing with Emmie was taking her for bike rides. Turns out Dexter, who might be smallish, but is still bigger than Emmie, also fits nicely in the basket on the back of Jean’s bike.

And, like Emmie, he loves bike rides.

Yesterday Jean had to go to town for the day, so she asked me if I would be willing to take Dexter out for a walk in the afternoon. I didn’t hesitate to say yes.

Oh, my lord, what a good boy Dexter is.

No need to keep him on his leash. He stayed on the trail. (Something Lexi, first dog I regularly went walking with, never did.) Yes, he’d trot on ahead a bit, but after a short while looked back to make sure I was still there. Yes, he’d fall behind sometimes to sniff out a particularly interesting pee-mail, but always came running when called.  He’s great with other dogs. (Something which cannot be said of Georgie, who views every other dog as a potential threat to her ball.)

Wish I’d been able to get a photo of Dexter’s ears when he’s trotting along. They go straight back on his head. Tried and failed a few times.

The trail I took him on goes past a large pond, which is home to a family of Canada geese. When we got there some honking could be heard as Mama goose, out of the water, was leading her goslings back to the pond.

Dexter wasn’t sure what to make of this. Just as well there’s a fence so he couldn’t get closer to find out.

A bit further along the trail, a nice bit of whimsy.

A new fairy house! Dexter had a good sniff, but happily did not piss on it. Good boy.

This dog is a total kewtie petewtie.

If Georgie is the best dog ever (and, yes, Georgie, don’t worry, you are still number one in my heart), Dexter is definitely a close second.

Jean, who cannot believe her luck, likes to think that somehow Emmie guided her to Dexter. Maybe. Whether it was Emmie or fate or just blind luck, one thing is clear: this dog is 17 pounds of pure joy.