Chapter 8

The things you pick up at a 

Garage Sale

We had owned the house just over a year at this point and ever since we moved in we have had a “boarder”.  Border Collie that is!  The first neighborhood greeting we received was a visit from two local pooches, the Collie and his little mate a very fat, old Jack Russell Terrier.  Our son Lawson was beside himself with joy at being able to come home every afternoon and play with two dogs.  They were our “Claytons” pets (the pets you have when you’re not having a pet), long before the chooks arrived.  We hadn’t met the neighbours yet and for weeks we were tempted to write a letter and put it in their mail box introducing ourselves and asking the names of their dogs (so that we could properly address them of course).  

As I work from home during the week the Collie had taken up residence at the front door whenever I had it open to let in the breeze.  Not inside the house but on the door mat, like he was keeping me safe, or keeping me company.  Lawson would come home every afternoon and throw the ball for him to chase, which gave an indoor child a well needed excuse to get outside and run around.  On the weekends Benny, not know for his love of dogs, would be caught sitting on the step patting and chatting with the Collie or rubbing the tummy of the little fat Terrier.  We were all very content with this arrangement and made a conscious decision that apart from playing with the dogs we wouldn’t feed them (but we did put out water) or do anything else to overtly encourage them to stay at our place and avoid their own owners.

The little dog was old and arthritic so only managed to go home down their massive driveway in the evening for meals and wander back up once in the morning.  So he stayed on the road or in the yard all of the day.  The Collie was more fit and adventurous and would chase the ride-on mower, birds, motorbikes etc and we often felt that he slept in our yard and didn’t go home at all.  We did start to get worried that he wasnt having any meals but he always looked healthy and cared for so we let it go.  

So our Claytons pets just hung around every day, Collie on the door mat and Terrier just always there keeping him company, sleeping on a mat, the outdoor couch cushions, the new pet bed we bought him (couldn’t help ourselves)...until we realised he was incontinent!   Argh!  Of course by this time he had grown accustomed to getting up on the outdoor furniture, even on the bare bases when we removed the cushions (after a number had to be discarded).  We were at our wits end having to pack everything up every time we left to go out anywhere and weren’t there to patrol the yard furniture.

As hard as it was, we had to discourage the little dog from coming over.  Lots of “shooing” and “go on off with ya” later and he got the message and stayed away.  The collie however recognised that he was still welcome so long as he didn’t get up on the furniture and so he continued to keep us company.

We eventually met our neighbours and told them what was going on and what we had done to dissuade the little dog (now known as Ben) from coming back over.  We also told them that Scruffy (the Collie) was welcome to come and hang out and play catch and sleep over etc if it was okay with them.  They “said” it was okay but secretly I think they were a little jealous of us getting all the attention when they did all the feeding and paid all the bills!

Well, as I mentioned we had owned the house for just over a year and we saw a sign up across at the neighbour’s place advertising a Garage Sale.  We were curious as we had heard whispers from other neighbours that maybe they would be selling up and touring Australia in their luxurious new caravan.  We were desperate to know what they were going to do about the dogs (one in particular) so we thought we would go down the driveway and check out the sale and have a chat.

We were greeted warmly and encouraged to have a look through the mounds of books, furniture and tools that they were hoping to off load.  A couple of hundred dollars later Brent was the proud owner of an air compressor and series of air tools and I bought nothing because frankly that was enough!  

We sat at the table and asked them about their plans and they told us that although they were hoping to sell up, as the market was slow they thought they would rent their place so that they could get on with their plans to travel straight away.  We took a deep breath and asked “What are you going to do with Scruffy?” 

“Well he’s your dog isn’t he?” replied our neighbour with a wry smile.  “We thought you might like to take him.”

Well, we couldn’t contain our relief and joy!  They mentioned how at first they were jealous and tried to keep the dogs at home so that they wouldn’t go over to our house.  They even locked them in the pool enclosure!  But they soon realised they were punishing the dogs for their own reasons and as they were away most of the time working they recognised that Scruffy was particularly in need of companions that would chase, run and play with him.  They said they would be taking Ben in the caravan as he was small and getting on in years and we were also very happy with that news!

They handed us the registration papers which had recently arrived for renewal (timely) and answered all our questions about feeding, worming, brushing, etc etc as this was our first dog and we knew basically nothing!  We were so excited to tell Lawson.  He was beside himself and ran to call his school friends about what had happened.  

Soon after we went for our first of many trips to the Pet Store as new dog owners and stocked up on all sorts of gizmos, gadgets and thingamybobs to claim Scruffy as our own.

Unashamedly an ad for Decor Pet Beds
www.houseandhound.com.au

Again an ad for Decor Pet Beds
www.houseandhound.com.au

I know I know but they are lovely aren't they!
www.houseandhound.com.au