Wolfhounds of Courage! |
Tara loves and respects his owner, Tana, very much. They often go together to a wood
where they sleep rough, Tara taking care of his mistress and seeing off
everything within a 100 metre radius of their camp. |
Tara, the 'Sir Lancelot' of Wolfhounds |
Once, they were staying in a small village at a cottage surrounded by a garden and
a 160 cm (5') high fence. At bedtime Tana (wearing only a long T-shirt for sleeping
and socks) opened the door to let Tara out for a last wee, not realising
that a drunk was passing nearby. But Tara knew, and considered that the man was
too near the cottage for his liking and constituted a danger to his mistress.
He leapt the fence in one bound and appeared to be about to kill him. Tana (still
wearing only T-shirt and socks) ran out through the metre-deep (3') snow to
try to prevent Tara committing murder. She succeeded, but what the drunk, in his groggy condition, must have thought seeing a giant, flying dog followed by a half-naked woman in the snow, can only be guessed at. Nor do we know if he ever drank again . . . |
The Blood Donor A vet from our local clinic had asked if Ibella could donate blood for a dog that needed an operation. I was happy to agree to this, because Ibella herself had needed a blood transfusion when she had torsion, but I was nervous about it, not so much for Ibella, but because I knew that the sight of so much blood would make me feel ill. When we arrived, the vet checked Ibella over to make sure she was healthy, and once she was satisfied she called two colleagues to help. So, there we were: our vet, two assistants, Petr and me. It shouldn't be too difficult! Ibella was very good, and lay on the table waiting to see what was going to happen. When the vet trimmed the fur on her neck and applied iodine, she became nervous, so I talked to her and calmed her down. Unfortunately, her blood didn't flow well and the vet decided it would be better if Ibella was sitting. Now, I know that she doesn't like sitting very much, and when I tell her to sit she usually lies down, but because there were so many people, she had no choice but to sit. So far, so good, but then I took a step back to make room for the vet to work and then, the next thing I knew . . . I had passed out! This usually happens if I am unwell and a doctor takes my blood but never before at the sight of a dog's blood . . . . . . but back to the vet. In falling down, I managed to hit a basin which made a lovely ornament on my face. The vet, being startled, jolted the needle out of the vein so that Ibella developed a haematoma, and that was the end of the blood donor session |
Ibella was none the worse for her experience the next day. |
