Reading local papers the number of lost pets from camping cars is a real problem. Once a frightened dog or cat escapes it is very difficult to find them, and if you are limited to the time you can stay searching, your poor pet is going to end up being lost. Much better with a cat to leave it at home with a cat flap and friend feeding or in a cattery and with dogs a house sitter or kennels. If you take a dog with you keep it on the lead, much the safest thing.
This leads on to our story of Daisy, our loveable but naughty Westie, now dead. A story where when our littlest granddaughter is on holiday always says at bedtime, ''tell me the Daisy story Grandma''
We went to Arcachon with the two dogs Bonny and Daisy with our underused caravan, we marked on our map special out of the way beaches you could take dogs to. One of the beaches was great, huge expanses of sand bordered by vast expanses of pine forests. We ran about on the beach, in the water and were thoroughly exhausted by 8 pm , so began the trek back to the car with the dogs racing ahead. Bonny stopped when we shouted her and came back to have the lead put on. Daisy was off like an exocet missile into the pine woods and RABBIT WARRENS. Now Daisy's real pleasure being a terrier was rabbit chasing, we could hear her for a couple of hours barking madly all around the woods. Then it grew dark and the barking stopped. I was distraught and at midnight we decided we would have to drive the half an hour back to the caravan site [ we were of course locked out] We found a beach bar and the couple were still up with friends drinking so we told them about Daisy and said we would come back the next day. What a terrible night we had and we really thought we would never see that darling again. Five am we were up and off back to the pine woods where we spent two hours shouting her name - nothing. Then around 7 am the people from the bar got up and said as soon as we left Daisy appeared so they had taken her in.
The story did not end there as Daisy had scrabbled so much at the rabbits' burrows which were surrounded by pine needles that her paws were tender, painful with pine needles embedded. I spent the rest of the holiday carrying her around everywhere and on our return she had to be operated on to have the pine needles removed.
Great holiday that, but now we have house sitters to look after the dogs when we go away.
Comments to taglines82@gmail.com
