Libby

Subject: Libby

Waking up to the snuffle of a dog in her basket and having the unlimited love and attention from one of mans canine friends over for three days has woken in me the pleasure of having a dog.
She is called Libby, a mix of Staffordshire Bull Terrier and a larger dog of uncertain lineage. She's a powerful dog with a beautiful temperament, that is as long as you aren't a cat.
Unerringly soft and cuddlesome she lays her enormously proportioned head, full of smiley teeth and large tongue, on your lap as a first move to getting on your lap. Unknown to herself she has a penchant for the inappropriate role of 'lap dog'. With adoring eyes as she inches forward, first the head and neck, then the barrel chest and finally the legs heave the rest into place, on your lap as she stares off into the distance as if by looking away you might not notice this huge lump sitting quietly on you.
Libby is a Rescue dog brought home by Angela in a fit of sympathy for a dog who hadn't learnt she was a dog and that dogs don't fly. Libby's antipathy towards cats had led her headlong into chasing a cat, a cat in full flight, off a roof believing in the age old adage "anything you can do I can do better".  The sudden awareness mid-flight that the cat had the confidence on landing of a 702 pilot whilst she hadn't even been up in a simulator. Crunch, the impact broke her back as the cat, no doubt with a cynical smile on its face landed on its feline designed shock absorbers whilst Libby belly flopped onto the tarmac.
With the love and affection of the people at Rescue and the subsequent care and love which Angela and a friend of hers, who co parents the dog, Libby has had a second lease of life. She has such an adorable character and apart from her mimicking a lap dog every so often she is a canine delight. Obedient and gentle she adds that extra  spice to life as she lays nearby, an eye cocked at you as if the role of 'carer' were reversed and she was keeping an eye on you.
Keeping a dog, like having a child has of course its downside. You are no longer free since a 'lead has two ends' and being dragged out in all weathers or worse, being limited to the pubs you can enter is a draw back. Picking up depositories is another but the sublime willingness to please, be your mate and if necessary, your defender has immense psychological advantages in our self centred lives. To hear and be around such undiluted love and affection re-enhances something missing as she pulls you out of your sloth and reminds you that 'you are not the only one'.
There's also the fact that she never demands the remote control or wants to change channels, but that's another story for another time.