A Living Dog is Better than a Dead Lion
Overlooking Lindi and Lindi Bay (photo: Evelyn Breitenbach
We have a dog - even if only temporarily. A living dog. A while ago I had preferred a dead lion. Pets seemed to me unpredictable and a Stofftier Lion is steady and predictable.
Bula is a bull terrier and not very handsome. Life has left some scars and scratches on him. Even our friends say that he is not pretty. But now he is with us. And after while we not only got used to him, we do like him very much, and he has come to love us. He gets very excited whenever we return home. He wiggels his tail, barks and runs to the gate, and squeezes himself through the gap as soon as we open the gate.
I decided to buy a collar and a leash for Bula to walk him. I counted myself lucky that I found a b very nice set in Lindi without searching too long. So equipped Bula and hit the road. This way we explored the neighbourhood. How true, a dog really helps to get to know the neighbours. People are curious and ask his name, his race. Then we get to talk about our whereabouts, family and so on.
It is kind of funny, Bula often pulls me along the street. To keep up his speed and let the leash go loose, I have to run fast - but I have never been a fast runner. So he keeps pulling, so be it. It does him good to exercise his strength, and it does me good to walk.
We like his character. He is faithful, loves to walk, run, play. In the beginning I have thrown sticks. He runs after them, but does not return them, instead he bites them to pieces. I thought, a tennisball would be better, but no, even this ball could not stand his strong jaw. I was finally able, to retrieve a wet remaining half off his mouth. Puh!!!
In the evening he does not go to his doghouse, instead he awaits the guard in the courtyard and barks when he comes. Once I have come out, patted the dog, greeted the guard, he takes his place in front of the porch. Once the lights go off in the house, he lies down on the ground by the wall of the house.
The other day in the living room Evelyn said to me, "Alex, it smells dog here."
"Oh," I replied, "but the dog is outside."
"Well, it smells dog in here!" she said.
I thought, if she meant to keep one meter fifty safety distance to Bula? Well, meanwhile she has come to like him, too. Problem solved.