HOUDINI HOUND brings on payback but provides much
therapeutic HEALING – the PIPER chronicles
Wednesday night was a time
of moderate payback for the additional (voluntary) exertion / exercise I’ve been taking since the adorable Piper came
into my life. Generally though, the dog is proving almost miraculously
therapeutic, enabling in me a calm which I’ve not experienced in more years
than I care to remember, as well as taking longer walks than I’d been able to
manage in the preceding 13 years.
The form the payback took
was not at all conducive to sleep,
not even of the far too prevalent non-refreshing
variety. A simple flick of the bedsheet across the top of my toes, or even an
individual digit, caused an unwitting flailing of lower limbs and a hard to
suppress need to scream out a string of expletives. Big toes were overwhelmed
with a throbbing ache, whilst the full complement of subservient digits tingled
with what felt like a potent electrical charge. During Thursday I experienced a not
insignificant degree of confusion and reduced power of concentration.
To be perfectly honest,
I’m quite relieved that the payback has remained relatively mild! Our little Piper
seems quite sensitive towards my de-energized state of being, leaning in to me
rather than demanding a deeper rough & tumble commitment.
I’m constantly amazed and
charmed by Piper’s character and personality, especially the winning way in
which he commands one’s attention and affection. The sudden burst of energy
which emanates from an apparently dormant canine must cause terror in any
feline character that dare trespass on his territory, his home patch. The
vigorous way he wags his tail, when greeting his people, is a sight to behold –
more like a full body shake. I’m pretty certain that a simple greeting, from
Piper, expends far more energy than any (so called) long-life / heavy duty
battery could ever produce!
His late night bounds into
the garden will occasionally produce a basso profundo woof that belies the
originators size! Sometimes it may be a feline intruder, which swiftly flees
from his territory, at other times he’s somewhat bemused by the little sphere
of spikes which appears as he approaches a strolling hedgehog. The boy seems to
have an inbuilt hedgehog sensor and, as a result we’re discovering that our
long term efforts at developing our garden a wildlife friendly environment is
proving successful. On one occasion I observed a couple of juvenile hedgehogs,
snuffling along, at one edge of the longer grass area whilst Piper found
another source of interest at the opposite side of the same area. Quite
remarkably he responded to my wilfully distracting call, made to lead him away
from the juvenile ‘hogs path, as he came and trotted by my side, tail held
aloft, back into the house.
After he’d found it
possible to utilise a garden bench as a springboard, to surmount a quite high
fence into our neighbours garden, an immediate re-siting of the planter laden
bench was essential. The amazing thing is that he gave us a demonstration of
how easily he’d managed this astounding feat shortly after returning home from
the scene of his accomplishment.
The day following the
great escape, Piper demonstrated, to yours truly, that with a clearer run-up to
that section of fence he was already close to making another leap to freedom.
Immediate DIY work was called for, as an old Mothercare fireguard was quickly
dis-assembled and it’s component parts utilized to add additional height to
that particular section of the fence. Our bundle of boundless energy has
certainly brought much added colour and joy into our lives.
Piper tries out his new bed
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