Re: Lhasa Apso links NJC

[sl . m]

Colin, my Mary was like that with other dogs, although not children. But dogs, she couldn't stand; in fact, anything not human she couldn't stand. She once chased a swan in Kensington Palace gardens, a huge thing that could have broken Mary in two in a second, and she also chased the military horses that run in Hyde Park - enormous horses. They'd give her a sideways glance full of contempt and the soldiers would be nearly falling off laughing, because Mary was so tiny, but full of life, and she ran after them as fast as she could doing that annoying high-pitched shih tzu howl.

When we were on the promenade or beach I always had her off-leash, and she'd check out other dogs (massive alsatians etc) to see whether they were on the lead, and if they were, she started circling them, barking, howling, teeth showing. Sometimes I'd say to the owners (if the dog looked placid) - do me a favour, will you, let your dog briefly off the lead, and when they did, Mary would do a quick about-turn and come howling back to me, stand up on her hind legs, and paw me to pick her up. It used to make all the tourists crack up.

But she always loved children. She saw herself as one of them, not one of those four-legged beasts.

Sarah