Cats vs Cucumbers, or ...Four mad dogs and a grandson.

This is about a day spent babysitting one grandson (as above) and four lively dogs (see below).

Archie ‘the devil I know’

Sam 'I'll be your shadow'

Elmo ‘The Lookout’

Lola ‘Butter wouldn’t melt…’

When my daughter Kate asked me if I could babysit for her again one day this half term while she went to work I was happy to say yes. For one thing, I knew I would get a good spicy dinner out of it. As she lives a good 50 minutes drive away, more if you add in rush hour traffic, I would go there on Sunday afternoon in order to be on the spot on Monday morning. To make it an even better deal, she offered to pick me up on Sunday and take me home after work on Monday. Suits me!

I thought what a good idea it would be to take Archie with me. What fun it would be for him. He gets so bored being an Only Dog. This would provide him with some Pack experience, because Kate has not one dog but two, and sometimes (as this time) three when she looks after her fiancé’s lively dog as well.

So, Kate rocked up on Sunday afternoon with a car boot full of dogs. We quickly added Archie to the mix and loading me and my bags on board we set off.

In the morning the dogs woke up early ready for breakfast and a lively day chasing each other around the house. Every so often Sam or Lola, sometimes both, would insist on lying all over me for a rest. Archie was relegated to a blanket on the floor. Elmo kept watch at the window while the others got their breath back. Then off they all went again.

My grandson James fortunately wasn’t quite as lively as the dogs, at least not during the morning. He was happy to play some sort of golf game on his iPad and talk to me about it. I like to listen, so we were both happy. Mid-morning, we got ourselves a snack and drink and the dogs amused themselves continuing to establish the pecking order and belting round the house like mad. Elmo, the small one with a Napoleon complex, had obviously decided that he is Top Dog and also that it is up to him to keep a look out. Stationing himself from time to time at a bedroom window, he barked at the slightest provocation and all the others joined in dutifully. We were downstairs so didn’t care. Archie had to learn to take orders from the Top Dog.

It was a pleasant morning finding out stuff I didn’t know. Amazing how much you can learn from your grandchildren! This is where Cats vs Cucumbers comes into it. James, taking a short break from talking about golf, brought me up to speed on the subject. Apparently, would you believe, lots of people have tried to see how their cats react to an unexpected cucumber. A cucumber is placed near a cat when it’s not looking, then when it notices it the reaction is filmed and shared on YouTube. And believe me, sometimes the reaction is well worth a look! Some cats don’t react much or ignore it. Other cats are completely spooked and leap yowling into the air. Somebody has collected these videos and put them together, keeping score. Cucumbers were definitely winning as far as I could see. I am deeply indebted to James for showing me this and I intend to buy a cucumber as soon as possible and try it out on our cat. My hunch is that he will ignore it.

Anyway, back to babysitting.

At lunchtime Kate came back for a short break and we took the dogs for a rather hectic walk in the woods nearby.

During the afternoon James got livelier and the dogs quietened down a bit. After a nail biting time watching James play indoor golf with a thin branch and a real golf ball, I thought I’d take a quick photo of all the dogs napping companionably together upstairs. It wasn’t until after I’d snapped Lola sleeping and I was editing the picture that I realised she was sleeping on my new coat. Having hefted her off it I discovered she’d actually been eating it and had chewed holes in the area of the pocket I usually put dog treats in. Typical beagle. Very food motivated. I should have known better than to leave the coat where she could get it. That dog could even tell from a distance when I was going into the kitchen. Very impressive!

Now I'm just waiting for an opportunity to use the excuse ' Sorry I can't..... the dog ate my coat'

Kate got home from work just in time to stop James dying of boredom. I’m not a very exciting sort of Nana really, but at least I didn’t stop the indoor golf and no windows/vases/bones were broken. Well, I had a good time anyway and Archie had enough fun and excitement to last a month at least.

Now I’m off to buy a cucumber…