My Boy Butch by Jenni Murray

Author:Jenni Murray
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: HarperCollins Publishers

Chapter Six

Virgin Traveller

The biggest of big days arrived. Our journeys together were to begin, and Butch followed me around the house as I made my preparations without his usual hangdog ‘oh no, she’s leaving me again’ look. His sensitive antennae had picked up a different atmosphere and he seemed excited with anticipation.

The hips were working as well as could be expected without any support from crutches or stick and I was able to climb on and off the train to London and back with the minimum of assistance. The staff at Macclesfield Station still stood by the door to make sure I got away safely. They could not have been kinder or more helpful. At Euston, which still felt as daunting as Mount Everest, I continued to use the disabled buggies to get me from the platform to the taxi. I regretted every youthful, energetic, snidey moment I looked with disdain at people who couldn’t ‘even manage to get themselves to the train’. It’s taken such a short time for me to become one of them.

Butch and I had had a lot of help with our preparations. Kate Leigh is our most supportive friend and my ally and backstop in all matters canine. She’s a retired midwife who lives alone with a small gang of her own dogs. They’re an unusual breed called Bolognese – white, fluffy and small – all of whom, despite their size, make Butch look like a mouse.

Kate’s house is a rescue centre for any Bolly in need of a home or just a period of TLC. She’ll also take a friend’s dogs in for holidays or even an overnight stay, and Butch goes to stay with her if we have to go away for a weekend or short holiday where we have to be dog free. She adores him almost as much as I do and he gets on famously with her brood.

This is a rare occurrence, as I was frequently to experience as we became more mobile. He generally dislikes any other dog he encounters, and Kate tells scary tales of her walks in the woods with the pack when Butch becomes the protector of the whole group. A police officer exercising his Alsatian had been his most recent adversary. The Alsatian, apparently and happily, backed away nervously. We do worry, though, about how little understanding he has of his own diminutive stature. He may not always be so lucky.

There had been little progress in my attempts to adapt Butch to walking on a lead, partly because we’d barely ventured beyond the garden and fields at home and, whilst in the past I’d been a firm trainer of the dogs I’ve owned, Butch seemed to be able to wind me around his little paw at every turn. When he’d spun around in protest at being constrained I’d taken pity and let him run free. And I hadn’t made any attempt, as he grew out of his puppy settling-in stage, to insist he move into his own bed.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.