The Cottage Smallholder

Photo: Nasturtiums

The Contessa our senior Min Pin bitch is nearly ten years old. She is a beautiful dog and would have been a perfect show dog if her temperament was a little more grounded. Early trips to the vet meant that Dr Quito came too. She would only be examined if I was ‘examining’ Dr Q on the other end of the bench.

She has been through the mill in terms of illness too. A delicate dog with a huge personality. Once when we were away she tried to ban my mum from using the sitting room. My mum won, needless to say. And The Contessa lay on her back on the sofa pleading forgiveness and a tummy rub.
“How can she think that she is attractive waving those thin spider legs.” My mum confided later. Mum prefers the steadier Dr Q.

The one thing I have never worried about is her agility. Both Inca and Dr Quito have fallen into the ponds but The Contessa is a ballerina, acrobat of a dog. Neatly leaping over barriers like a tiny gazelle. She is superfit these days.

Min Pins tend to be one person dogs. Inca and Dr Q hang out with me. The Contessa prefers Danny. But since I’ve been ill she has taken to sleeping with me in the vast spare room bed. Sometimes she curls up with Danny for old times sake. So I wasn’t surprised when she wasn’t wrapped around my hottie at bedtime. I climbed into bed and fell deeply asleep.

Danny went to bed a bit later and after a few minutes had the sense that something was wrong with The Contessa. He got up and checked my bed and then dressed to search the garden. He found her in the small pond, with her front paws in the brick rim, unable to jump out.

He rushed back to the cottage and dried her with a fluffy bath towel. She was freezing and in shock. She crept into an igloo and he wrapped the little dog in blankets and put a warm hottie beside her. In the morning she seemed fine. But a couple of days later she has gone off her food – we reckon that she has picked up an infection from the pond. If she is not better today we’ll take her to the vet.

The dogs use a cat flap to get into the garden so there’s no last night run. Now there is and another head count before we turn in. Today I need to work out a way of making sure that the dogs can get out of the ponds – a simple ramp perhaps. It would be a shame to net them as a lot of wildlife come to drink and wash in the ponds.