Marie's Web Log

Our neighbours have a dog. A springer spaniel, to be precise. They got him as a puppy last autumn. Now he's fully grown. Our neighbour is a single mother who works all day. Her son as at school. She has a lodger who doesn't seem to be there much either. So the poor dog is shut in the kitchen all day.

I don't know much about dogs, but I know they need attention and exercise. I'm told a springer spaniel in particular needs to run around a lot. This one - he's called Oscar - can't. So he barks. Especially when we are in the garden. One day he started at noon and continued until about 5. We're in the middle of three connected houses, so you can hear him through the walls.

It's not his fault. I just wish people would really think about what they're doing before they get a pet. Think about the responsibility, and what effect it will have on other people, and on the pet itself, if they don't look after it.

---

Our cats caught a bird the other day. I don't know which one was responsible, but it never happened before Leo arrived, so I blame him. It was a baby blackbird, and we were alerted to what was happening by its mother making a loud, distressed hooting-type of chirp. We tried to rescue it, but it was too late, really.

I know this is what cats do, though they never did when we lived in Mississauga. Possibly because there weren't many birds around, and because Max was too old and unfit, and Jamu used to be on a lead most of the time. (We were afraid she'd run off and get into trouble, which she eventually did, but that's another story.)

----

Amelia and I went to a lunch today hosted by a family who are members of our local international adoption group. There were about 12 adults there, and 15 children. The hosts, Caroline and Simon, live in a lovely, custom-designed house in a village on the edge of Dartmoor. High ceilings, big glass walls, beautiful furnishings, decking all around the outside. Nice.

I had talked to Amelia a lot in advance about where we were going and who we would see. I don't know if it helped, but she seemed to have a great time. She wasn't clingy, she got right in there with the other children. It was lovely to see her running around and laughing. She had fallen asleep in the car on the way up and slept for an hour and a half, so maybe she was just well-rested for a change.