A Beagle and a Pair of Blue Doc Martins

My writing friend Matt is currently doing the same writing challenge I did; a 36 hour turn around write of a suggested topic. This was my suggestion to him – as we are both proud owners of A Beagle and a Pair of (Identical) Blue Doc Martins… I thought I would keep him company in this write….

What do Beagles and Blue Doc Martins possibly have in common? Well, they are both a sign of how I think I know better than everybody else…

And…. That I have a Love/Hate relationship with both of them…

Let me explain Readers… I have always wanted to own both.. I waited patiently until they both came my way… and I ignored all the warnings people gave me for both of them..

These beautiful Blue Docs were not my first choice. I stumbled across a picture of the most gorgeous pair – Black, quilted with a quilted Rose embossing them. I Immediately went online – but there was not a pair to be had in NZ! Was due to travel to Sydney, so was sure I would “pick up a pair” while I was there… It turns out I was a day or 2 too late; literally every shoe shop I visited they had sold out in the last couple of days.. I was heartbroken and so sought solace in a pair of the cutest Indigo Blue…

And so it began…

Now Doc Martins look substantial and comfortable. Like all shoes I knew I would have to wear them in. People warned me that they are tough little buggers; but “Hey,” I thought, “How bad could that really be?”. I’ve broken those hideous old leather school shoes from the 70s; unforgiving patent leather shoes in the 80s; skyscraper heels with teeny tiny straps in the 90s.. I’m a shoe veteran….

Well… here I am, 4 years in, and every winter I think “This winter, THIS winter, I will conquer those shoes!” and I try to break them in, quite a few times, quite a few days in a row; and then I give in and pop them back in the wardrobe and revert to my old faithful boots, that now fit me like a glove; and are soft and comfortable… but not very styley.. And there in lies the rub – I adore how my Docs look; I just want them to feel like and old pair of jeans when I wear them…

THIS Winter; I will succeed… Because sometime soon, I need to be able to wear them, in England, on a Cornish beach, when I meet up with my friend Matt…

=/=/=/=/=/=/=/=/=

Miss Milly came into our lives as an adorable, soft eared; incredibly cute 8 week old pup; she immediately stole our hearts… before stamping her ownership on everything..

• 

• 

• 

And so it began…

If you own a Beagle you belong to a very exclusive club of people who own the most adorable; smart; sassy and cute dogs… You also own a smart, sniffer, wanderer, food orientated, slightly self-opinionated and did I mention Smart dog? The intelligence that these wee cuties have is both a pro and a con. Yes, they are trainable and clever; but boy, do they like to think for themselves Lol.

When I was looking for a beagle, those in the know warned me about their appetite, their wandering while “following their nose” and their desire to please themselves; but “Hey,” I thought,  “How bad could that really be?”. I’m a smart woman, I’ve trained dogs before, even a smart dog in my time…..

Well here I am 12 ½ years in and the proud owner of a gorgeous, now old, Beagle bitch called Milly… and I hold her in awe.. She is everything a proud middle aged woman aspires to – self-reliant; sassy; does as she ever give a care about what the rest of us think? Hell No! Lol… She can do as she’s asked – for a treat; but the rest of the time she pleases herself.

Her nose and appetite are legendary; she has been known to drag an entire bag of cat food out, passed the child sitting doing their homework, to demolish it outdoors; she will, if not watched, steal leftovers off your plate, while you are sitting next to her; and she sleeps where she likes! We were going to “crate sleep” her; but 3 nights of her howling (as only a hound can) lead my then, 12 year old son, to plead with me to let her sleep on the floor of his room…. I think that lasted less than a night, and he’s been sharing his bed with her ever since!

As a young dog she was fond of The Wander..  She would escape the property every chance she could and was brought home once by dog control and once by the police – they had opened the car door to check her tags, and she obligingly, immediately jumped in the car. When we owned a Bull Mastiff too, she would take him out as well… A close encounter with a car finally cured her of the wandering, but not until I had grown grey hairs from trying to track her down.

And as a pup, she showed her class, by only chewing the best of my shoes… it was only her utter cuteness that saved her the day she gnawed on the spindly heel of my gorgeous Jimmy Choos… they still bare the teeth marks, am probably lucky I didn’t own the Doc Martins then.. (tho maybe a good chewing will soften them up for me 😉)

She is now a matronly old girl; slightly blind; completely deaf (tho, that too may be selective). She has had surgeries, and is not as agile as she was; but she will still walk over you for chicken; is very perky at every meal time and still enjoys a daily walk, following her nose; and will still outsmart the younger pup into submission.. And occasionally, even as we speak, she will fling her head back and howl like the hound dawg she is…

So, the lesson I have learned from both of these, is occasionally I DO not know better than others… And sometimes the best things in life come at a price and you need perseverance to attain perfection….

Buy the Shoes

Own the Dog

Enjoy the beauty and the challenge

Postscript. Sadly, Miss Milly left us on 30.11.21. She was quietly disengaging from life. But spent her last day being fed chicken, her all time favourite, and had a last walk on her beloved beach. On, what would’ve been her birthday, Christmas day, the gang of 3 and I quietly spread her ashes at the beach. She will now be following her nose, and running pain free 💜