Terrible Two

Now that summer was coming to a close, I had started to notice a chill in the evening air. Even Trixie the cat was nowhere to be seen these days. After all the excitement of the mouse at the garden party, it was really nice to have a relaxing week in the garden, completely on my own.

Ted and Mr Bruce

It was on one of those late summer days that one of my human brothers paid us an unexpected visit but he was not alone. Even as dad opened the front door I had a bad feeling about it and I was right.  In the hallway stood Ted and Mr Bruce, two very mischievous looking Patterdale terriers. When I first met them both, I knew they’d be trouble and I wasn’t wrong! They have the ability to create chaos wherever they go. Once inside the house, they were into everything. Within minutes they’d eaten all my food, helped themselves to my water and scattered every one of my toys all over the floor. Seeing as mum was out, it was left up to my dad to supervise the situation. Let’s just say none of this nonsense would be happening if my mum was in! It was an absolute disaster.

Finding a hiding place

Disgusted at what I was witnessing, I headed as far away from the two boys as possible. I realised it was best just letting them get on with it. The garden looked peaceful and so I left Ted and Mr Bruce in the kitchen, slipping quietly outside. After a brief patrol of the grounds, I hid in the vegetable patch where I could sprawl out and keep my eye on the boys by peering through the foliage. This was a great guard position.

Without any warning, both dogs burst out of the house behind me and raced down the garden path. I watched as they ran in and out of mum’s flowerbeds crushing little flowers and causing damage all over the place. As a Lhasa Apso I know how to keep a low profile, so I kept well hidden. No way am I getting the blame for this! Dad and my brother could clearly see that the garden was being wrecked but from what I could see they were more interested in eating cake and drinking tea. Typical.

The great big splash

From my vantage point, I could keep an eye on things without becoming involved in any bad behaviour and so I settled down to watch. Suddenly, the peace was disturbed by two loud splashes as both puppies hurtled into the fishpond. Uh-oh! I jumped out of my hiding place and ran over to inspect the pond. Both dogs were afloat but struggling in the deep water. I looked towards the house but no one came out. Jumping in to save them would have left me trapped as well. I had to do something or they’d sink. I raced to the patio to raise the alarm but a gust of wind had closed the door and even when I barked no one could hear me.

Lhasa Apso to the rescue

Then I had an idea. I jumped up on our metal dustbin and tried to push the lid off. That would get their attention. It wasn’t one of my best ideas because the bin was empty and toppled over as soon as I landed on it. Luckily for me, I didn’t hurt myself but it made a really loud noise as it rolled away. Dad rushed out of the house to see what was going on and saw the danger. It wasn’t long before Ted and Mr Bruce were sitting on the patio with towels wrapped around them, feeling very sorry for themselves.

Unfortunately, whilst the two puppies were getting dry, my mum arrived home. She quickly spotted the absolute state the garden was in, and… well, you can imagine the rest!