Been a while so a quick update...
The house dogs are all fine; Izzy and Leo in their own private little world upstairs keeping out of the way of the two tearaway pups whilst Sox acts like their long suffering mum...Impossible to take them all out for a walk together, because Leo really doesnt get on well with any dog thats any less laid back than he is. He is definitely the anything for a quiet life dog and I suspect looks on the pups as snack size meals in waiting... and Izzy just treats them as being beneath contempt.
We have given up all attempts to 'rescue' the last trog (Siouxsie); she has made it quire obvious that she wants to be friends but on her terms; she follows me if she sees me out alone and will quite happily follow me to the house, but she wont come in... we have tried all kinds of bribes, tasty snacks, but she will not make the move to come inside. I think she realises that in doing so she would be giving up her freedom to be a dog... she seems to be happy enough in her little cave, her own little queendom. She quite happily sees off any marauding visitors.
Two more abandonados have taken to following us on our daily walks; two beautiful black spaniels that were dumped in the village about a month ago. They very quickly learned where Siouxsie lives and have set up home fairly close to her. Most of the time she tolerates the newcomers but every now and again she will have a SWMBO moment. I know why the spaniels set up so close; They quickly observed that Siouxsierarely finishes her meals at one go and has a tendency to go off for a mid meal pee then they are 'in like Flynn' to trough off whatever she has left whilst she takes care of nature! So nowadays I take enough food down to keep all three going...
The latest dumpee is another Podenco; this one is a male, Podenco crossed with Lord knows what; I detect signs of Galgo and maybe something akin to a bulldog. He is pod size at the front end but has the long back legs and the long tail of a galgo. His otherwise gentle face is spoiled by having an undershot jaw ie., the lower front incisors and canines are on display all the time, overlapping the upper jaw. Despite this somewhat aggresive appearance he is as gentle as the day is long.
He is also very undernourished and possibly a little dehydrated. I found him around two am on Thursday morning, whilst taking Leo and Izzy out for a late night walk... I say I found him; it would be more correct to say that they found him. Neither Izzy nor Leo showed any signs of aggresion and the pod just sort of looked up at them from his nest of undergrowth.
The look was one of 'Look, just leave me alone OK, I wont bother you...I'm too bloody knackered to give you two any grief'
I took our two back home, went into the kitchen and put some kibble into soak. I know from past experience that little and often is the rule under these circumstances. Too much, too quickly can kill the animal. So I've been feeding him every six hours or so, with a mix of puppy kibble and a light diet kibble that we normally use for Sox.
Initially every move on his part was a struggle but fingers crossed he is slowly getting better.
So we come to the Pied Piper bit... I always feed Siouxsie in the same spot and round about the same time of day; I'd just fed the skinny pod tonight and went back to the house to prep Siouxsie's dinner. When it was ready, i left the house, went to the end of the street and started out towards Siouxsie's cave. As I crossed the road to the walkway i was nudged none to gently in the back of my knee...Siouxsie had seen me coming and navigated a route to bring her in behind me...She was immediately joined by the two Spaniels and moments later by the skinny pod...
The vecino's in the village congregate on the concrete walkway each evening for about an hour before sunset, women at one end the men at the other putting the world to rights... my walk to the cave takes me past both groups, so I did a quick impersonation of Jethro Tull or the Pied Piper which raised a few giggles.They think I'm mad ...me? I'm sure I am!
When we arrived at Siouxsies cave all were circling me waiting for me to put the food down and getting a bit enthusiastic. Skinny pod decided he wasnt up to defending himself and backed away. I divided the food into two trays just let the get on with it.... it was gone in less time than it took to prepare it.. I put down fresh water for them and then stood back. Siouxsie wasnt having a SWMBO day so joined in a bit od race and chase after the meal, at which point I returned home.
So currently the count is 9... Izzy, Leo, Sox, Scruffy, Spike, Souxsie, Blackie 1, Blackie 2 and Skinnypod...
There are stil more in the village, abandonados, latch-key dogs, rabblerousers...
Can't save em all though, no tengo espacio, no tengo dinero... pero tengo mucha paciencia...
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