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East Cork


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me. Once I realised my sister was not with him, I’d direct him into the car, and drop him back to her place. ‘Thanks’, she’d say. He had strayed again. ‘Are you sure he is neutered?’ I’d ask for the hundredth time. ‘Yes’, she would re- assure me. Personally, I wasn’t convinced. But an- yhow, that was that.


by DR ROSARII GRIFFIN


‘A DOG NAMED PERCY –


PERSPECTIVES ON HOUDINI’


INTRODUCTION I once had this lovely


dog called Tuppy. Tuppy was the last of a litter and was female. She was the cutest dog you had ever seen. A cross between a Westie and a Springer, she used to charm the heart of most people, even those who did not like dogs. She was excellent with chil- dren, not minding if they took her for their fluffy teddy-bear. She was up for it all, all fun and games. Tuppy herself had pups, many of which were dis- tributed to family, friends, relatives and neighbours. All were happy with Tup- py’s offspring. And then, there was Percy.


PERCY Percy was the ‘Tuppy


puppy’ who went to my sister’s place. As the dog’s temperament was so plac- id, he was the ideal com- panion for her daughter who was severely handi- capped. And he loved her daughter very much. But Percy had a terrible habit of straying. He particu- larly liked to head down to the local beach, where he would meet up with his other doggie friends, and take a trot on the strand. Often, when I went down to the strand, I’d see this small sized,


black and


white, long haired, hap- py looking dog. It looked awful familiar. I’d say to my kids, doesn’t that dog look like Percy? And sure enough, I’d call the dog and he would come run- ning, tail wagging over to


HOSPITAL To make a long story


short, at a later date I in- herited Percy back again. Tuppy had already died, and I had already ac- quired a replacement res- cue dog Molly, who was an excellent house dog, and guard dog too. But my sister’s child was taken into long term care and so the care of her dog fell to me. It was the least I could do to help. But she warned me, he does still stray. So, on the back of that, I got my gate wired up, so that Percy could not get out. But somehow, he man- aged to break through the wire, and take off. Up the N25. Luckily, a neighbour would spot him and come into me, to say he was spotted up the motorway. Frantically, I would get into the car, drive along, and sure enough, there he was on his travels, head- ing into Midleton. I’d pull up beside him, order him into the car, and bring him back to base. He had managed to bore a hole in the wire on the gate, so I had to block that up again until my neighbour kindly came to wire it up again. Wired up gate The gate was wired up


more firmly. I inspected it myself. There was no way he could get out from there. I was off on holi- days, and my friend was taking over my house with her kids for the week. On the last day of the holi- days, I got a call. Appar- ently, the dog had escaped, some Dublin couple found him on the motorway, and dropped him off at a house on the Cork Road. They in turn brought her to the vet. The vet checked the chip, but there was no


number with it. So, they rang another vet, they had my sister’s number, and she in turn gave them my number. Meanwhile, my friend was panicking as to how the dog managed to escape. I got the call from the people on the Cork Road, and said I’d pick him up next morning, which I did. Meantime, I blocked up the gate with wooden blocks and con- crete, and brought him home. I thought I would kill the


dog myself at


this stage. My neighbour once again kindly prom- ised to rewire the gate to greater effect. I was exas- perated with this dog, but what could I do? He was a Tuppy puppy, and even though the Dublin couple who first found the dog wanted to keep him, but I could not give him away. Besides, he would proba- bly escape in Dublin too, and then what? For now, I was stuck with him.


LODGER Confident the gate was


blocked off sufficiently well, I left for a friend’s house, only to return to find there was no Percy back in my place yet again. All the blocks had been carefully removed, and the concrete block shoved out of the way. The dog was on the loose again! What a nightmare. My first thought was not to panic. My second was to text the people in the Cork Road to find out if he had made his way back there. Lo and behold, he did. He arrived back at their place, but because they were out, their neighbour had just texted them to say ‘their lodger was back? ‘Who would that be’ they en- quired just shortly before my text came through. I duly got the message to pick up the dog from their neighbour’s place. At this stage, Percy had befriend- ed all of the dogs in their neighbourhood. A very friendly dog indeed, but a pain in the ‘you know what’ to mind!


EXASPERATED


At this stage, I am go- ing out of my mind. My neighbour yet again prom- ised to come over and wire up the gate for good and for glory. Meanwhile, he had made a chain with a block of wood on the end of it, which would impede Percy’s progress if he tried to escape out of the gate, or the garden. Other op- tions we considered were a canine straight-jacket and mobile prison cell a la Hannibal Lector. Ulti- mately, we opted for the chain and block. Certain- ly, this seemed like a great idea. So, I let the dog sleep in the garage with Molly that night (which I left slightly ajar for them to go into the garden in case they need to do their business during the night). Well, when I woke up the following day, I found Molly was dry as a board, and clearly had slept very well. However, Percy was soaked. It had rained dur- ing the night, so I could only assume he foolishly stayed out in the rain. But more surprising and per- plexing was that the block was no longer tied around his neck. Nor could I find it anywhere. Did the dog try to escape and if so, did it got caught in the gate? Did he yank it off ? Did he chew it off? But his collar was still intact! Why was he wet? Where had he been? How could the chain and block be gone? All I was met with that morning was the dog at the back door wagging its tail, waiting to be fed, and me left with a feast of questions. The mystery still remains.


WIRED UP AGAIN My unbelievably pa-


tient neighbour came and wired up the gate once again. A thorough job. He advised to leave the dog out to check his im- pounding method. I was fine with that, and went to the local shop to get some groceries. I was not gone 10 minutes. Coming back on the N25, there ap- peared to be some hold up on the road. I slowed my


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car down to see what was happening. On my left had side, between the hard shoulder and the grass, I could see this black and white ball of fur running the length of the motor- way, and a cyclist in full re- galia running on foot after him in hot pursuit. Some cars were pulling in to try and impede the dog’s progress. I immediately recognised the dog, pulled in, car door flung opened, and screamed ‘PERCY!!!’. I thought I would murder the dog that was bounding towards me like something out of ‘Little House on the Prairie’. If I had a shot gun, that would have been the end of He ran up to my car, tail wagging like a windshield wiper gone crazy. A cyclist huffing and puffing behind him. Once I had the dog safely in the car, I turned to the cyclist to thank him.


HOME AND DRY The cyclist had seen the


dog escape further back, and dropped his bike to run after the dog. Howev- er, that only increased his speed and determination to get away. So, it was a race between this very fit cyclist, and the demented dog. Percy must have felt he was about to win a gold medal until he saw me ahead of him, impeding his progress. The cyclist was glad of a lift back to his bike which was almost a kilometre away! I turned to him, ‘wow, you must be fit, I can’t believe you ran all this way at such speed’. ‘Yes’, he said. I explained as briefly as I could the story behind the dog Percy who by now was sitting very meekly behind. I gave the cyclist something for his trouble as he jumped out at the spot where he abandoned his racing bike. Thanks again, I waved, and he took off. By the time I got to the corner where I turn off for my house, I saw my other daughter by the road waving frantically at me, before she realised I had the dog in the car she gasped, ‘I just looked


up from my breakfast and saw Percy taking off out the front gate, he’s gone, and some cyclist saw me running after him and ran after him for me, as I couldn’t see the dog as I didn’t have my glasses!’. ‘I know’, I said much to her surprise and pointed to the back of the car, ‘Percy is behind, and I’m now go- ing to kill him myself !’ My daughter stared at the dog in disbelief. This dog was some challenge!


GATE ESCAPE On my return home,


I saw how the dog had unpicked the wire


with


his teeth, and managed to bore a hole in the wir- ing, and make his way through. The previous time, I’m convinced he used the blocks and wiring as a ladder and made his way over the gate. But to be honest, I’m not entire- ly sure of his mechanisms of escape as I do not have CCTV footage, which I’m sure would make great viewing and would prob- ably go viral upon release on YouTube. But for now, while this dog looks quite innocent, he obviously is quite clever in his own way. If only the dog could talk, it might reveal


all


its secrets and become a great engineer, or world class criminal! ‘Houdini’ is what my sister used to call him. (Houdini was the greatest escape artist of all time). I know why now Percy got this nickname, and with good reason too.


GROOMER I rang a friend who is a


dog groomer to come and groom my two dogs. She was the one who found Molly for me in the first instance, and she also re- membered my beloved dog Tuppy. She also knew Percy was Tuppy’s puppy, and that I felt some onus to mind him, despite the challenges involved. (Plus, it is my sister’s dog, and I was trying to do her a favour while she is in hos- pital with her daughter). This dog groomer friend is as good as any vet, and she


eastcorkjournal


did promise to come and check to see if the dog is neutered, or at least, neu- tered properly. That way, I could at least rule that out. In the meantime, others have suggested a live elec- tric wire on the fence. But I have my gas man coming to fill up my tank. The last thing I need on is for any workman to get an electric shock, or indeed, to have a gas explosion in my yard!


SUGGESTIONS I don’t have any other ideas as to how to keep this dog in. The last thing I need or want is an acci- dent caused by this Houd- ini dog. Despite looking young, the dog is about 10 years old, so is almost too late to train, despite being intelligent enough. At this stage, I am nearly counting down the days, but know- ing my luck, Houdini will outlive all his siblings. As long as he does not cause harm to anybody in the meantime: that is my main concern. Meanwhile, if you have any suggestions (apart from the electric fence which may well be my next and only remain- ing option), feel free to get in touch. I am always happy to


hear peoples’


experiences and sugges- tions as to how I can quell the


dog’s inclination to


wander, or if indeed, it is possible at all… only time will tell I suppose. In the meantime, Houdini con- tinues to outwit me. My au-pair believes the dog should in fact, have been born a cat, with its climb- ing ability and nine lives. Yes, I can see his names in lights: ‘Percy the Dog, that should have been a Cat’. It may well be the makings of a great kids’ story yet, who knows!


Profile: Rosarii is a lecturer


and researcher at UCC. She is also a Governor of UCC and Fellow of the London Royal Society of Arts. All opinions expressed here are entirely her own. She can be reached on info@eastcorkjournal.ie or @rosarii_griffin. Copyright Rosarii Griffin.


info@eastcorkjournal.ie


Thursday, 16th


August 2018


@eastcorkjournal / #eastcorkjournal


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