Sunday Musings (Kidnapped?)

[Nicky, Riley & Boris]

I can't quite believe what a super puppy Riley is.  He has a certain look that gives the impression that he is wise beyond his very young age.  He comes everywhere, loves children, has not attempted to jump up on anyone, sitting for attention and lies under every table in every frequent coffee shop stop that I make.  He sits in his seatbelt in the car and settles for the journey.  He is practically house trained and sleeps through the night.  I think it is testement to the Breeder who told me what his personailty was and she was 100% right.  The only issues which are totally puppy ones are that he loves stones and paper.  He goes into my shower as soon as the bathroom door is open hoping for me to turn on the water.  I am sure we will hit the terrible two's or puppy equivalent but so far all is calm here.

Yesterday Sophie (my favorite middle daughter!) and I took Riley to a little town by the sea where there was a lovely outdoor market.  We bought some good pate, some crusty bread and headed to the local harbour where we sat and watched the yachts racing and the sea lions barking.  Riley came with us and was perfect.  As we sat on our bench looking out and munching on our picnic this is the story I told Sophie.

 

When Sophie was aged six and Jessica was twelve her Dad and I had to go away on business.  Our wonderful Housekeeper looked after the girls and took them away for a few days while Samantha our great Pet Sitter was employed to take care of Jasper and Rosie our Maltese Terriers and Banjo and Catkin our two Birman Cats.  The girls were arriving home before me and Samantha who had taken the dogs to her home had dropped them back to the house before the girls had arrived home.    I was in London at an important business meeting when I got a frantic call from the housekeeper who said that Sophie was very upset and needed to talk to me immediately.  "Mummy, Mummy Jasper has been kidnapped and he's been swapped for another dog".  Calmly I asked her why she thought that?  "This dog has a strange collar on him and the name on it is Rawson".  Rawson was Samantha's sirname.  I told her calmly that it was definitely Jasper and I could hear her calling "Rawson, Rawson, come" " He's coming to me"  Sophie screamed down the phone.   "It's not Jasper Jasper has been kidnapped!!!"  It took me several minutes to explain that the collar belonged to Samantha and that the dog was most definitely ours.  Meanwhile my German and English colleagues around the table looked with incredulity as I said bye bye to a calmer child and continued with the meeting as if nothing out of the ordinary had happened at all!

We laughed long and hard yesterday as we sat together reminiscing  about Sophie's childhood and I thought to myself how very lucky I am to be able to spend precious time remembering precious stories.  

[Jennifer,Chloe & Myla]

So happy Riley is being such a great puppy for you! Hopefully he'll stay that way! What a precious story and I'm jealous of the day you had-sounds perfect and good job Riley!

[Susan and Sasha]

Hi Nicky...

I just loved the story about Sophie...so precious...

I'm so happy for you the Riley is doing so well!

What a good boy he is...

Where is that wonderful place that you and Sophie went for you picnic lunch?

It sounds perfectly lovely...and I would love to tell Bethany and Ronan about it...and go there myself when we go to visit.

Love the Sunday musings my friend...

[Coco Chanel and Cheryl]

I love the story!! Just wait Coco is a calm dog like Riley but at 6 months she went through her terrible twos! Hers did not last long but it was a short I'm not listening I can't hear you phase. I hardly remember it because she is so good and I don't have problems otherwise!!

[Elizabeth & *Kosci*.]

Oh' Nicky. What a lovely story shared by you and your daughter. I'm glad Riely is going well.like you I'm waiting for the terrible twos... It seams to good to be true.

[Camilla and Darwin]

Good to hear a Riley update and what a cute story! You definitely have a gift for writing Nicky.

[Bonnie and Kona]

Nicky, Riley sounds like my 4 y o Kona... perfect dog. Even as a puppy we were in awe of how calm and mellow he was. He had an "old soul" from the beginning. He did do a few things wrong but it was rare and surprising and easily corrected. Owen is a surprise when he doesn't do something wrong every hour, but we love him to bits, too. It sounds like you and the rest of your family are thrilled with Riley. Loved your story about your daughter. Sweet fun.

[Deanna & Desi & Cori]

Yep!  I agree with F.  Puppies are perfect just long enough for you to fall so in love with them that when they do become little devils, it's impossible to be mad for long!

Love your Sophie/Jasper story!!!

[Nina, Phil, Harlow & Lacey]

What a great story.  I love sharing "when you were little" stories with my daughters.

[F, Calla & Luca]

This perfect behavior is how they rope you in : ) But in the long run they have enough other virtues to make you forget what happens when they get to be about 6 months old.

[Nancy, Ned, Clancy, and Charlie]

I love reading your musings.