Hi, it’s Clancy here. Åsa has been asking me to write a blog, but I was worried. I said to her there are so many things I just don’t understand. And she said that was OK, I didn’t have to explain anything, just write about how I feel, so here goes.
Clancy and Emmylou
When Zac died I was so sad and lonely. I kept waiting and waiting for him to come home. He was my brother and I really, really missed him. I was so sad Åsa let me sleep on her bed and we missed him together. She also took me on lots of walks because that was the only time I didn’t feel so alone. Åsa started looking for another dog just like Zac on the internet, which is where she found Zac and me. Sometimes she found dogs that were the same mix as Zac, but when she looked at them, they weren’t anything like Zac really.
Then one day she saw a picture of Emmylou. My favourite friend at the park then was Laila, a pointer and that is what Emmylou is.
Emmylou said she fell in love with me at first sight, but I wasn’t so sure. She was a crazy girl, and she had a horrible case of kennel cough. She coughed and coughed and was really snotty. It was so disgusting Åsa let me sleep on her bed again.
Emmylou said she had spent her whole first year in a back yard, sometimes tied up, and she showed me the rope mark under her chin. She had never been taught to walk on a lead or to run in the park or to play with other dogs. Åsa and I really had our hands full.
We walked and walked and walked with Emmylou dragging us along because she was far too naughty to be let off the lead on the park: all she wanted to do was run and run and chase birds. Did I mention she is very fast? Emmylou thinks she is the fastest dog in the park, and she might be right.
Emmylou pointing
We got so tired. Then someone told us about the enclosed dog park and we went there. Emmylou would tear around like crazy, rushing up to every new dog and racing around with her new friends while Åsa and I strolled backwards and forwards in the sunshine. I got lots of pats, and people admired how I followed Åsa around.
Emmylou finally learnt to come when she was called, well mostly, and now we get up early in the morning when it is still dark and go for a big walk in the park by the water. We have another walk in the evening. I love walking along sniffing and sniffing and being patted. Emmylou loves it when she meets up with one of her mad friends, like Laila, Sascha, Kernot or Ziggy and they play a fast, rough game of chasings.
Emmylou’s big hobby is birdwatching, or perhaps I should say bird stalking. At first it was pretty tiresome when she wanted to point at every pigeon and indian myna she saw. Now she saves it for the white faced herons, and the ibis. It is the only time she slows down, and she goes so slow, with her tail stuck out straight as a ruler and just moving one foot at a time, that the birds always see her and fly away, which Åsa says it just as well, because she would not want to have to have a bird killer. Nor would I.
Emmylou is also interested in rats and fish. Once she caught a rabbit at the park, but she dropped it and it ran away.
I am happier now. Åsa says at least having Emmylou around stops me thinking about myself, but I still think about Zac every day. He visits me at night when I am asleep. Then he comes and cuddles up with me and Åsa and I feel so happy that we are together again.
I am an old dog now, although I can still trot along, and even play on our walks. But one day, when I get just too tired, I am going to go to sleep and not wake up. And then I will be with Zac always. And at night, when Åsa is asleep, we will cuddle up with her and we will always be together.
the end.