"Tangerine!" By Amanda Prowse

No 10 - "DOG DAYS!"

No 10 - “DOG DAYS!”

I grew up wary of dogs. Not afraid of them, but certainly a little reluctant to approach and reticent to engage with them. My only real experience was of the barking Alsatian who was chained (heartbreakingly so now I look back) and was guarding a factory up the road, and a fictitious Poodle that my great aunt told me lived in her ‘best room’ and if we opened the door, it might 'get’ us! I’ve since learned that in the early 1970’s she thought this the best way to stop my brothers and I (who were not so much little kids but more a marauding horde) of entering the room where her best bits of china were placed on doilies and there wasn’t so much as an antimacassar out of place!

If I visited a house where dogs lived, I was fascinated and concerned in equal measure, how did you get to cuddle and hold a dog without it biting you? How did it live in your house?

In my early teens and visiting Spain for the first time – such a thrill, to be in this country where the sun shone, the scent of foods I couldn’t readily identity, wafted from kitchen doors and to swim in the sea was like a balm to my soul! We weren’t anywhere touristy but had travelled there as a family so my dad could visit a Spanish factory, part of the company he worked for. It was heaven – we hit the beach on our second day, full of Paella and slathered in Ambre Solair. I stood on the shoreline inhaling the heady smell of Pine and Eucalyptus that flourished in the forest that edged the sloping cliffs.

With my toes in the sea, I stood transfixed by the waves and tried to pluck up the courage to walk into the water – I turned at the sound of my mum calling my name from the base camp we’d established further up the beach and from where she could survey the empty cove, keeping an eye on me and my many brothers who dug sand, chased each other with seaweed and brandished big sticks, the usual stuff that delights and occupies a marauding horde.

‘Huh?’ I replied, hand on forehead to shield my eyes from the unfamiliar Mediterranean sun.

My mum was gesturing wildly, and pointing to the sea, in her arms lay my sleeping baby brother.

‘Huh?’ I asked again, trying to decipher her wild one arm gesture, her shaking head and her words that floated away before they reached me.

I then became aware of another sound – that was part gallop, part thud. I felt it too, coming closer along the sand. Looking up, I saw a dog, a very, very big dog, part wolf and part bear for sure, haring towards me. He was motoring!

My heart raced with fear, as his big paws sent water and sand flying, his ears flapped, and I could see his enormous teeth. I stood very still and realised my mum was shouting at me that he was inbound. No shit! What I didn’t get was that she was telling me to go into the water, figuring he might not follow me and knowing that in any race to reach her or safety, that big dog was going to win. I wasn’t exactly what you might call athletic!

Paralysed with fear, I was literally rooted to the spot. And still that big woofer hound kept coming. He was, I noticed being followed by a man with a lead in his hand, shouting in Spanish at the beast who ignored him. Contact, when it came, wasn’t pleasant. The big dog jumped up and with his paws out dragged down my sides to my thighs, scratching my skin with his claws and leaving bloody battle lines down my torso and legs. His owner was devastated, and with my mum now having reached me and the man’s gesturing, we established that the dog was a big goofball. He only wanted to play with me, wanted to engage. And now lying on the sand, his wide eyes met mine and I could see he was sad if he’d scared or hurt me in any way.

‘It’s okay fella.’ I dropped down by his side and he lay his large head on my thigh.

And I fell in love.

I understood in that moment that dogs were animals, but they were also part human with feelings and characters and oh how I wanted one! (Or two)

Our family dog didn’t arrive until I was in my late teens, Max was a dopey, dribbly, brindle Boxer who we all adored. He didn’t realise he was a large dog and liked to sit on our laps like he had when he was tiny. Many is the conversation had or TV programme watched while tilting our heads around his large and muscular body. He looked after us all. Pawing at our arms if we cried and leaping with joy when we were happy. He lived our teenage years with us, all the highs and lows. I still can’t look at a Boxer without feeling a lump of emotion in my throat. We lost him over thirty years ago and it still makes me weep.

Next came Bertie the crazy Parsons Terrier who ran around like a spinning top and who had a penchant for shoes, toys, table legs, walls, anything he could gnaw! But he was pretty and had the cutest beard you can imagine. A leggy little beauty is what he was.

As a married couple, Simeon and I waited until we had space and time to provide the right environment before we invited dogs into our home. Dotty and Beau arrived three years ago, our Frenchies who are mistresses of the house. It’s no exaggeration to say that I have sometimes sat on the floor while they snooze on the sofa. They jump up onto my bed and on the odd occasion I’ve woken to find two heads on the pillow next to me – their fat Frenchie bodies beneath the duvet and them so happy to have had this marvellous sleepover!

They are like more kids to me, just smaller, a little furrier and far less disciplined when it comes to the expelling of gas! They show us love and greet us like we’ve been away for a month when we’ve only nipped to the shop. They are on guard when they need to be and in answer to how on earth do you live with dogs in your house? The answer really is very simple, for us, dogs make a house a home.

They fill my heart with joy and I truly can’t imagine a life without them.

Has this resonated? Are you a dog or cat lover? Tell me about your furry family member! X

For more about Amanda Prowse or to buy her books - head to www.amandaprowse.com - many thanks Xx

Her latest novel is “To Love And Be Loved” - out now!

Her memoir “Women Like Us” is available for pre-order!