Declan's Dogs Blog: My mate Kai.....

Friday, January 27, 2012

My mate Kai.....

Last week, Mum's best friend, my Aunty Lou and her dog Kai came to visit us. Mum and Aunty Lou have been friends for years. In fact, every time they meet up one of them is bound to say, "Oh God, do you realise we've known each other for 26 years now?" And then they look really surprised. Why is that? It's not like they are not both distinctly middle aged.... hehe!!

Anyway, I digress. Kai was the best mate of my Uncle Flynn. When I say best mate, they had a unusual relationship in that Flynn would sit on Kai and steal his bed and Kai resigned himself to that fact many many years ago. Kai is not a very big chap, being a Border Terrier, but Flynn, being the saint that he apparently was (yeah ok, I get the message Mum....) never chased him or tried to hurt him. Flynn would go and stay with Aunty Lou when Mums went on holiday & Kai would stop with them too. The boys would happily share the back of an estate car, though Kai would moan that he couldn't breathe when Flynn sat on his head......

However, I am, as you may know, a slightly different kettle of fish..... Fairly small furry things are to be chased. Period. I'm fine with other Greyhounds, obviously. I've had polite sniffs with a Border Collie & a Retriever. I got a bit spooked when 3 dogs closely examined my bum all at the same time, but I bounced in a somewhat "go away cos I am a nutter" manner at a Pekingese that tried to make my acquaintance in the beer garden one day. Add all this to the fact that Kai is getting on a bit and isn't so steady on his paws anymore and Mum thought there might be trouble ahead.

This is Kai

This is me killing Mr Teddy. Anyone else spot the resemblance.....hmmmmm?

So it was decided that it might be best if Aunty Lou & Kai stopped in a nice dog friendly hotel not far from where we live. The hotel is opposite a lovely park called Lister Park, which won Britain's Best Park Award in 2006. It has been a public park since 1870, when the land was sold at a very cheap rate to Bradford Corporation by Samuel Lister, a member of a family of prominent industrialists who opened the first of their textile mills in the area in 1838, on the condition that it was used as a public park.

Anyway, I'm rambling again. Mum and Aunty Lou decided it would be best if Kai and I met on neutral ground, so we met in Lister Park. The funny thing was that I totally ignored Kai; wouldn't even look at him! He's a bit too old to bother with a whippersnapper like me and his sight isn't so good, so there was no problem at all. Admittedly, I did look a bit surprised when he came back home with me & came in the house and I didn't think it was entirely right that Mum put my muzzle on and kept me on my lead! But I just lay on my sofa and pretty much ignored him apart from one little growl when he came too close.