Enter Hugo Continued: He’s Here to Stay

I woke early, and took Hugo on a 4km walk. If I could tire him out, hopefully he would be demure and not further intimidate Dutchie while I was at work.

Throughout the day, I received mixed messages from Dutchie. On the one hand, I had reports Hugo was being very sweet. On the other, it appeared he was still not understanding the sofa is off-limits concept.

I arrived home after work, to find Hugo was still there. But six kitchen chairs were piled on the sofa, making it look like a hobo’s fortress. “At least he’s staying off the sofa!” Dutchie said.

He had survived the day … this was a good sign.

The Trust Grows

Over the next few days and weeks, the trust between Dutchie and Hugo grew. They stopped glaring at each other across a sea of kitchen chairs, and started “training”. (I put the word in quotes because I would get confused when I arrived home after work and hear Dutchie say he and Hugo had been training. Swimming? I’d think. Riding? Running? Oh no, wait – there is actually training outside of triathlon!

First there was Blijf/Stay. Then Lig/Drop. Rol/Roll over. Poot/Shake.

Unbelievable. Dutchie had taught this one dog more in three weeks than I had taught my three beagles the ten+ years I had then. The Dog Whisperer II.

The Surveillance Begins…

Despite all the training, Dutchie was still concerned about leaving Hugo home alone, so he installed a surveillance camera at the house, and an application on our phones so we could see what he was up to.

My friends remain incredulous each time they hear me mention off-hand, “… and you can see from the surveillance footage …”

“Wait a minute. Go back. You have a surveillance camera for your dog?!?!”

Well, Dutchie suggested the idea so naturally, that I never questioned it. I mean, when you think about it, people have surveillance cameras to make sure their babies are safe. We just have a surveillance camera to make sure our house is safe. 😉 And it hasn’t always been … Take, for example, the time he went through my bag, found a little pack of tissues, and took each one out, strewing them across the house.

The aftermath of destruction

Or the time he thought he’d been left home alone – when, in fact, Dutchie had gone out and I was sleeping in – and he went through Dutchie’s backpack, and found a bag of pistachio nuts. He’d had a red hot go, but obviously the shells weren’t to his taste – so pistachios were littered across the lounge room.

Or my favourite: when he jumped up and pulled some stuff off the bureau – some papers, passports, a set of speakers, oh – nad my wallet. He even managed to open the wallet up, and pull some stuff out – including a five pound note. This was discarded next to the wallet. I imagine him finding the money and thinking, What? British pounds? These are useless! I can’t buy kibble with this!

 

Despite all of this naughtiness, we adore our little beagle – he has brought so much joy to our lives.

And his latest trick? High five!