By: Blonde Two
You know the saying, “It takes a village to raise a child.” Well when I crossed the big bridge into Cornwall a couple of weeks ago and visited my Dad, I realised that it can also take a village to look after a dog.
When my kids were young, we had babysitting circles – groups of people who sat on each other’s babies. They were a great idea until you all wanted to go to the same party at which point, nobody could go and there ended up being no party.
Anyway, in Dad’s village (such a peaceful place) it seems that just about the whole village has taken on the task of walking one, very lucky, dog. I never thought I would see Dad dog walking but when it is his turn, he dons his wellies and waterproofs and sets off up at an impressive pace up the lanes. They are lovely lanes, the kind that have grass growing down the middle and only the odd car. Lots of people take their turn at Maisie walking (she does have her own rather nice home) I suspect that she must be the happiest dog in the whole of Cornwall.
Great stuff -tried very hard to find someone who would take on walking a little dog for her disabled owner when I moved house, but no-one would take it on. She was a nice little dog and her owner’s only companion.
Dogs can be the most excellent companions. Recent research is interesting – they respond in the same way as us to many things.
I lived in a village in the Cotswolds once where a resident was diagnosed with a terminal brain tumor. He lived on his own and was struggling to look after himself so was threatened with having to go back into hospital. The village drew up a rota with a different person cooking and delivering a meal for him each day. My mum died just as this was happening and they kept it from me until after the funeral before adding me to the rota. That’s real village life!
That is a lovely story – would that there was so much community spirit everywhere.