Angus and Bruce

After the disappointment of the cancelled weekend with a trainee Guide Dog, I was offered two more weekends, first with Angus, then with Bruce.

Angus

Angus is a yellow Labrador, and he's usually looked after by the daughter of a badminton friend who had just the previous week been showing me pictures of him. He's quite young and hasn't done much of his training yet, and I was warned that he sometimes brings shoes or clothes as presents. I had told the trainer that I had my music group on the Saturday and asked whether it was going to be OK to take him along, and the trainer thought that would be all right, but suggested a distraction in case he got bored.

Well, it was like having an energetic toddler the size of a 10-year-old child romping about the house. I had to move EVERYTHING out of reach, not just shoes and clothes, but towels, plants, books and anything else that was movable. Then I had to shut all the doors (he likes toilet paper) and block the stairs, and still any time we weren't in the same room I was on edge wondering what mischief was going down. The only time he stopped moving was when I was watching TV, and even then he tried to sit on top of me rather than next to me. The worst moment was when he almost managed to jump over the garden wall - he would only have ended up trapped in next-door's garden, but still, it would have been inconvenient.

I imagined it would help if we did some long walks to tire him out, but he's not much more than a puppy and I'm nearly 60, so what actually happened was that I tired myself out, especially after playing saxophone and clarinet for three hours. Angus was completely at ease with honking sax and squawking clarinets, and didn't really need the distraction of a frozen soaked kibble filled bone, although he was very happy to be given it.

But he didn't like getting in the car. Picking him up from the Guide Dogs centre he was fine, but it was a bit of a performance to get him in the back so I could drive to the music group, and I was pretty sure that we were going to have trouble getting him home. Sure enough, at the end of the session he absolutely wasn't interested in getting in the car. Luckily the director of the group was last to pack up and came over to offer assistance, which I gladly accepted. So he picked Angus up and shoved him bodily in the back. I realised that I'd have to plan for getting him back to the centre, although if all else failed we could walk, so I withheld breakfast until we were ready to go, and put the bowl in the car, which worked beautifully.

The strangest thing was that while Angus was with me on Sunday I was contemplating whether I could actually manage looking after a dog full time and very grateful that I was taking him back the next day. But on Monday afternoon I was already missing him.

Bruce

Bruce is also a yellow Labrador, and he came to stay for just one night. One of the interesting things about this whole scheme is that I'm seeing the differences and similarities not just in the dogs, but also in the trainers. Bruce's trainer seemed to be less organised than the others - she wasn't there at the time she'd told me to meet her, she hadn't arranged the sheet of information that accompanies a dog to let you know the relevant information, and he didn't come with any toys or special treats. They hadn't even arranged to provide the right amount of food - supper was handed over, but not breakfast until I asked. 

He reminded me of Angus but was much less naughty: he didn't go upstairs, and didn't mess with my belongings except for a gift of one solitary glove when I really had been ignoring him (I was cooking). We didn't have much time for walking, but even though he was the least reticent about getting in the back of the car I decided to walk him back to the centre, and made the rookie error of forgetting to bring poo bags. Despite having done his business already that morning he managed another on the way there, which I had to leave where it was and pick it up on the way back.

When I arrived at the kennels there was nobody about at all. I rang the bell a few times, then put Bruce in one of the runs and texted the trainer to check whether it was OK to leave him like that. Then some staff turned up and took charge even though they weren't expecting him, and the trainer still hasn't replied to my text message (although it's possible the kennel staff reassured her that all was well).

They have already offered me another dog, but for dates when I'm away so I've had to turn it down. But one of my Buddhist friends was telling me how he'd had to cancel his attendance at a retreat because his brother and parents couldn't look after his dog, so I offered my services as dogsitter and we'll be meeting up soon.

Bruce again