emma and company - Sheila Hocken Read online

  overgrown field on the left, full of fascinating scents. There

  were times when i would take Bracken too, because he

  would cry and whine if he saw i was taking Emma on her

  own. He felt it A,as his duty to accompany her wherever she

  wandered. He would tear round her in circles once in the

  field, looking for pieces of stick or lumps of grass that he

  qi

  C(Uld take her as an offering. He would push them gently to

  the front of her nose as if to say, Come on, play tug-of-war

  with me. She'd give him a little snort and turn the other way

  aiid pretend there was something far more fascinating under

  tli~it clump of grass. A little daunted, Bracken would place

  the article on the ground and stand and watch me for a

  moment before picking it up and trying again.

  He would never give up trying to entice Emma to play and

  sometimes i was quite worried when i saw him tearing up to

  her with a big log in his mouth, afraid that he wouldn't be

  able to stop in time, but he always did. It was as if he kept

  himself in check especially for Emma. As soon as Emma had

  her fill of the miscellaneous scents she would stand still and

  wait for me to come and put her lead on again. Reaching

  home, she would settle in her favourite spot near the

  television.

  In the evenings, when Don and i have finished our work

  and sit in the lounge, it is total bliss to have the dogs all

  around us. Emma, who would have had the lounge to herself

  most of the day, would still be curled up fast asleep in her

  favourite spot. The other five dogs would first of all, on

  coming into the lounge in the evenings, pay their homage to

  Emma, each of them giving her a little nuzzle round the ears

  and a lick on the face before turning their attention to us.

  Bracken always comes and sits by my chair and pushes and

  pushes until i notice him. If I refuse he puts his nose up and

  gives me a prod under the arm so that my hand falls over his

  head and he gives me a little nibble on the arm if i stop

  talking to him or stroking him. Teak comes at me like a

  cannonball, leaps on my knee, pushes her cold nose all round

  my cars and leaps ofragain. Shadow sits quietly by me, just

  giving me her paw occasionally to remind me she's still

  there. Buttons will always be lashing her tail on the carpet,

  --rying for attention and then rolling on her back with her feet

  in the air. Mocha, if she isn't daydreaming, will come up,

  push with her nose and run otl again. It's so pleasant to be

  there surrounded by all my dogs and i love all the little

  capers they get up to daily, and the phrase 'the dog ate it' has

  92

  become a family motto. One day George our gardener

  popped his head round the kitchen door while i was peeling

  the potatoes for lunch.

  'Excuse me, missis. 'Ave you seen me'at?'

  'No, i don't think so, George. Where did you leave it?'

  'Eee, i am sure i left it on that there gate post.' He pointed

  his thumb back towards the gate. i was so used to George

  losing things and forgetting where he put them that it didn't

  really worry me.

  'Are you sure you haven't left it in the front, George?'

  'I'm sure i left it on that gate,' he muttered to himself.

  'Well, I'll go and 'ave another look.' He closed the door

  behind him.

  Don came in a few moments later. 'Have you seen

  George's hat?'

  'No, he's asked me once.'

  'Probably didn't bring it with him,' Don said. 'You know

  what he's like. Have the dogs been out?'

  'Yes, I'vejust let them in again. They're asleep now.'

  'They wouldn't have had it, would they?'

  'Probably.' i went over to look in the dog room. 'No, it's

  not in here. No sign of it.'.

  'I'll go and tell him he's forgotten to bring it with him.'

  Poor George was sent off on the bus home convinced that he

  had brought his hat in the morning, while we tried to

  convince him that he hadn't. It wasn't until that evening i

  discovered what had really happened.

  The dogs were playing in the garden and I heard some

  unusual growling noises so i went out to have a look what

  was happening. There was a large hole under the rose

  bush. Perhaps Bracken had been digging again. Then i saw

  that all five dogs were round in a circle, writhing and

  growling and pulling for all they were worth. i didn't

  recognize it at first, as there wasn't a lot left of it -just the hat

  band. The hat had disappeared altogether. i knew it was

  George's. Poor Don was in absolute hysterics as he watched

  out of his surgery window. 'What are we going to tell

  George?' he managed to gasp between laughter.

  93

  'I don't think we'd better tell him at all, do you?'As the dogs

  had obviously made such short work of it there wasn't much

  left to offer George.

  'How did they get it?' i)on said.

  'It certainly wasn't in the Jog room when i looked this

  morning.' i pointed to the hole under the rose bush. 'I would

  think that Teak found it ot, top of the gate - she's the only one

  who could jump that high - picked t up and buried it under

  the bush until she knew Caeofge was safely out of the way,

  and then unearthed it t(~ pl,,y with this afternoon.' Teak

  loved to jump. She was klm(~t cat-like in her approach to

  getting what she wanted. She could leap a clean six feet into

  the air and snatch something that was falling far before any

  of the other dogs could get it, i would always put food out of

  the reach of all the dogs biat i soon began to realize that, with

  Teak around, it was no 9God. ~he couldjump on to the work

  surfaces in the kitchen without any problem whatsoever and

  she used her long slender i)aw~ like hands to prise open tins,

  push lids off pans and sG on * But all Teak's and the other

  dogs' antics made life wh~lt i,,,vas for me, absolutely perfect,

  until the commercial bank railg me one morning to say that

  they were very sorry but pead office had turned our

  application down.

  'But why?' i asked hitn. i;ou told me that everything

  would be all right as the i%cal pranch had passed it.'

  'Yes, I'm sorry. i didn't re~lllzc that head office had this

  policy.'

  'What policy?'

  'They won't back anything 4vith animals.'

  'But why not?'

  'I'm sorry, i don't know. They Just said that they would

  definitely not lend money on poarding kennels. I'm awfully

  sorry, Mrs Hocken, but i'rn c in you'll get your mortgage

  ,jrtal

  somewhere else.'

  i wasn't so sure. Befor~, i h;~id time to collect myself over

  the next few days from th(~ shDCk of hearing we weren't going

  to get our mortgage, i haq anolther blow. Mr Reynolds from

  the District Council callej on me. We had met before over

  9,4

  the cattery i wanted to start. My application had been

  turned down by the council and Mr Reynolds had called

  then to tell me of this decision. So i wa
sn't very pleased when

  i saw him standing there waving a letter in his hand.

  'I've received this letter,' he said rather sternly, 'and I'd

  like to speak to you about it.'

  As much as I would have liked to have turned him away, i

  knew that he was only doing his job and, whatever it was, it

  wasn't his fault. i invited him in and tried to make him feel at

  home.

  'How can i help you?' i asked.

  'Well,' he said, opening his letter, 'we've had a complaint.'

  'What about?'

  'That you're still boarding cats and that you have some

  more dogs.'

  'Yes, i do have some more dogs,' i assured him, 'but I'm

  certainly not boarding any cats. i can't, can i? You've

  refused me permission.'

  'I'm only telling you what's in this letter.' He tapped the

  paper with his hand.

  'Would you like to come out and look into the cat houses in

  the garden? They're all empty, except for my cats, who are

  out there, of course.'

  'I don't mind. If you say you haven't got any boarders .

  'No, i haven't, but i insist that you come and have a look.'

  i had a terrible feeling in the bottom of my stomach at the

  thought that somebody had complained. Of course, as I've

  said, we lived in suburbia where not many people seem to

  like animals, or businesses for that matter. Sometimes i have

  this awful thought that suburbia - in fact the world - will end

  up one day without animals in it, without domestic pets,

  because some bureaucratic body has thought they were a

  nuisance. i can imagine looking up and seeing no birds in the

  trees, none flying across the sky, empty parks with no

  children playing in them because they make a mess, no dogs,

  no cats. Once we've ravaged the jungles for elephant tusks

  and leopard skins, we will start on the domestic pets in towns

  and suburbs.

  95

  After showing Mr Reynolds the cattery and convincing

  him that I'd no cats hidden in boxes anywhere, i introduced

  him to the dogs. They gave one bark and i told them to be

  quiet. i have always felt strongly regarding dogs barking. It

  annoys me, so I'm quite sure it must annoy neighbours and,

  having six dogs, i felt it was important to keep a very strict

  control on them all.

  'It says in this letter they bark a lot,' he said.

  'I don't think so, do you.' They're obedient. i don't let

  them bark.'

  'No, I can see that,' he said. He looked a bit further down

  his paper. 'Well, i don't know whether to mention this or not

  then.'

  'What's that? Not another complaint.'

  'Mm, I'm afraid so.'

  'What about?'

  'About the surgery. They're saying here there's a lot of

  noise from people walking up and down to the surgery.'

  'Goodness me! I never hear them and i live here. My

  husband is running a chiropody practice,' I said, getting

  rather annoyed, 'not a daily disco session, you know.'

  'Yes, i am sorry, Mrs Hocken. I'm only doing myjob. I'm

  quite happy that everything's in order and i can assure you

  that if we do get any more complaints, we shall ignore them.'

  At that, Mr Reynolds left.

  We seemed, at that time, to be dogged with bad luck (if

  you'll forgive the expression). For only two months later our

  own bank changed its policy and were quite willing to give us

  a mortgage on any property but, alas, the Barton Hill

  kennels had been sold. Undaunted, we both continued the

  search for our Utopia. And, would you believe, the next

  kennels that we found for sale were withdrawn from the

  market just as we were about to sign contracts! It sounds

  very much like a hard luck story, but i don't believe in bad

  luck, i believe in determination. And anyway, what would

  we do with our weekends if we weren't searching for houses?

  In the meantime, i had my dogs. i put my heart and soul

  into training them, trying to find out what they really

  96

  i

  enjoyed doing most of all. Shadow was perfect at the obedience

  work. What i didn't realize when i decided I wanted to

  take up obedience showing was that i had to train myself how

  to walk: i had to be upright, straight, keep the correct pace,

  turn on the spot. Abouts, left and right turns had to be done

  with precision, because if they weren't i would lose marks in

  the ring. i had to remember which foot to usewhen turning left

  or right. This is an indication to your dog ofwhat you are going

  to do. i t is no good ambling around and falling over her or i t'll

  put her offdoing her close heel work. i had to spend hours not

  only training Shadow, but training myself. Probably people

  thought I was absolutely crackers in the park or on the front

  lawn when they saw me walking round, turning left and riglit,

  about turn on my own and counting how many steps I was

  taking. But, with patience, we both progressed-and how true

  the saying is that a dog is only as good or as bad as its owner. i

  know with a better handler Shadow would have got there

  much faster but i was determined to be a better handler and at

  least I've proved that i can win prizes with her, despite the fact

  that most of the time in the ring i can't see where I'm going.

  But determination is what counts. Teak, well she lovesj'umping

  and i set upiumps here and there for her so she can have

  the joy of jumping and i can have the pleasure of watching

  her. Mocha much prefers to sit and daydream. Bracken i

  continued training but i was searching for what he liked most

  of all. i should have known long before i did, for he shares

  many characteristics with Emma, who loves an audience.

  i realized that when i was talking to an audience,

  Bracken also wanted to be in on the act, and he made it

  very plain one day when i was addressing a large group of

  ladies. i had a microphone pinned to the lapel of my suit.

  Bracken was sitting quietly at my side when suddenly he

  leapt up in the air, grabbed the microphone off my suit

  and ran around the hall with it. It had the desired effect,

  for he received all the attention he wanted. But it wasn't

  until i met Dorothy Steves that i began to realize what

  Bracken really wanted to do. He wanted to act.

  97

  CHAPTER THIRTEEN

  i RECEIVED ANOTHER invitation from Shelley Rhodes to

  appear on the 'Live at Two' programme for Granada, and

  what a very different kettle of fish this programme was going

  to turn out to be - a particularly doggy one. All kinds of

  people had been invited to appear with their dogs. i decided,

  of course, to take Bracken. It was a programme made to

  show the public what dogs could do. People who worked at

  Granada came along with their difrerent types of pet dogs,

  and a nearby Dog Training Club brought their team who

  put on displays to raise money for charity. Britain's top

  working sheepdog was there, plus many more. It was only

  the day before that i received a call from Granada to
ask me

  what Bracken could do.

  'What do you mean, what can he do?' I asked.

  'Most of the dogs that are appearing on the programme,'

  Lynn, the programme researcher, informed me, 'are going to

  do something.'

  'Why didn't you tell me that before? Am i expected to do

  something with Bracken?'

  'It wasiust a thought,'she told me. 'Can he do anything?'

  The one thing Bracken really enjoyed doing was retrieving,

  so i thought maybe he could do some scent work by

  finding my article from among other people's. i promised

  Lynn that i would produce something out of the hat for the

  next day, hoping that Bracken would be in the mood to do it.

  Betty was the one elected to take me up to Manchester, as Don

  was rather busy, and we got lost as usual. We passed Oldham

  Post Office three times, but we arrived eventually. When we

  were shown into the Hospitality Room, Bracken was

  absolutely astounded. He'd been in lots of television stations

  and knew he was going to enjoy himself but he'd never been

  98

  in one where there were thirty dogs in one room. He stood

  rooted to the spot by the door, looking around at dogs under

  tables, dogs on knees, dogs barking, and then stared back at

  me in total astonishment. His expression gave away his

  thoughts: Now this is what I call a television studio, he was

  saying. Being an old hand at this kind of thing he felt that it

  was up to him to show the other dogs how a television

  personality should behave, so he was on his very best

  behaviour. He walked calmly down the roorn, ignoring all

  the dogs that were leaping out to snifr him, and sat by my

  chair looking positively angelic.

  This was a live show and both the director and Shelley

  Rhodes, i felt sure, thought it might be rather hectic, so we

  were all asked to be there early and lunch was provided for

  us. We were all given the chance to go through our particular

  part. There was only one thing that was worrying me and

  that was my tooth. Mocha had done it again: the night

  before, I'd been too enthusiastic when i told her what a good

  girl she was and she leapt straight up in the air on one of her

  Olympic high jumps and hit me in the face. i managed to