I am on holiday in Scotland, staying at a lovely B & B in the town of St Andrews and have the dog in tow. Our welcoming host is John; he welcomes dogs to stay at his quirky gaff called The Spindle and on our first night offered to look after Betty while we all went for a meal out. John is currently without a dog of his own but he remains in touch with the doggy world by walking his mum’s dog, a Springer spaniel most days. He has made quite a friend of Betty already as he leaves the door to his ‘private’ quarters ajar for her to mooch into and say hi. John and I have already been able to bond pretty well as we share dog related tales. I am taking his advice today to explore with Betty along the coast. Today promises to be one of the brightest of the year so far-I can’t wait.
A particularly interesting story he has told me taps into some of the strange ways that our pets have found a niche in our modern world. It relates to a local cat in the town who for many years used to roam the streets of St Andrews and was confident enough to make himself at home in many of the shops and cafes in the ancient town. His name was Hamish MacHamish and after he died the residents in the town found the energy and will to have a statue erected in his memory-this is gospel, as you can see its sitting on a four foot granite plinth and is a life size sculpture cast in Bronze.
There is more; a book deal followed with cat stories from other cats in the town. Not to be out done there was then a book about the dogs of St Andrews, its called "Dog Shaming- Canine Confessions". The reason I know this is because Johns last dog called Tasha, a golden retriever, is in it. She is lying down with a piece of card next to her saying, “I’m afraid of ducks, their quacks terrify me!”
The thing is, this is not true, the first thing John knew about it was when it was published and a friend showed him the picture. He can only assume that Tasha had escaped from the garden(as she was want to do from time to time) and was sitting by the burn nearby the house and some opportunist hack set this shoot up to fill out the pages.
How many of the other canine confessions have been fabricated god only knows-has the Levinson Inquiry looked into this I want to know!
A particularly interesting story he has told me taps into some of the strange ways that our pets have found a niche in our modern world. It relates to a local cat in the town who for many years used to roam the streets of St Andrews and was confident enough to make himself at home in many of the shops and cafes in the ancient town. His name was Hamish MacHamish and after he died the residents in the town found the energy and will to have a statue erected in his memory-this is gospel, as you can see its sitting on a four foot granite plinth and is a life size sculpture cast in Bronze.
There is more; a book deal followed with cat stories from other cats in the town. Not to be out done there was then a book about the dogs of St Andrews, its called "Dog Shaming- Canine Confessions". The reason I know this is because Johns last dog called Tasha, a golden retriever, is in it. She is lying down with a piece of card next to her saying, “I’m afraid of ducks, their quacks terrify me!”
The thing is, this is not true, the first thing John knew about it was when it was published and a friend showed him the picture. He can only assume that Tasha had escaped from the garden(as she was want to do from time to time) and was sitting by the burn nearby the house and some opportunist hack set this shoot up to fill out the pages.
How many of the other canine confessions have been fabricated god only knows-has the Levinson Inquiry looked into this I want to know!