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Love at First Sight
When I first met old Tudor I had never seen a Border Collie before in my life. I went to
say hello, totally unaware of his reputation. He had:
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I looked over the wall that controlled him and saw a totally wild dog running up and down
with a metal saucepan in his mouth - the handle of which stuck right down his throat. He
was obviously totally ignored by the old lady who looked after him. I stepped closer to
the wall and shouted: "Tudor".
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He dropped the saucepan, put his paws on the wall, gave me that look, which I later learned
meant: "Come on pardner, let's do something wicked!", licked my hand and we remained
close friends for the duration of his life. Why he didn't bite me I will never know.
I decided to take him for a walk there and then. He faithfully followed me into the Country Park, where he soon revealed the comical side of his nature. Old Tudor always walked
ahead, checking every path and every tree; but as yet he didn't know me very well, so he
felt obliged to look back over his shoulder every so often to make sure that this foreign
idiot walking him hadn't got lost or come to some kind of harm.
I can still see him heading towards that old oak tree, looking back and aiming straight for the trunk. I could see what was about to happen, but didn't believe that a dog would be so silly. Tudor looked back to give me another encouraging look, his head swung forward and: "Smack". The noble tree shook slightly. Tudor picked himself up, gave me an insulted and accusing look and trotted on, trying to pretend that nothing special had happened. |
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We continued the walk and we came to the "Dog Leap". There is an old weir across the
river here, but today the water was low and we could walk across the old stone works.
In the middle of the structure the remaining water gushed into a small round pool and from
hence into the river.
I walked across, closely followed by the dog. I didn't know that the animal had never been in the woods before, and he had certainly never seen more than a dish full of water. Tudor quickly decided that the liquid would easily hold him and so he proceeded to walk happily across the pool. |
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He instantly sank like a black and white stone! The water gushing from above
made it impossible for him to get out again and the small whirlpool was so small, he
couldn't swim. Luckily his head bobbed to the surface from time to time, and I eventually
managed to reach in and fished the struggling creature out by the scruff of the neck.
A totally wet, and slightly wiser dog would never go near water again for the rest of his long life. |
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Border Collie Tales index
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Title page
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Acting the prat
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