The Tales of Lilly, The Mud Life Dog
A Truly Mucky Pup
by Karen Lee Turner
We headed out this month to PATS, a trade show for the pet industry. I think it's the best trade show we go to, though Damian would disagree as the Food show at the NEC is his particular favourite (it's absolutely nothing to do with all the meat and other tasty sundries that that he gets to guzzle down). It's also one of the few trade show that have furry friends to stroke at quite a lot of stands, so I am in my element. We go to find new and interesting products specifically for dogs, because we know that a lot of you are dog owners just like us, and it's always fun to find things to make your and their lives better. You can't take your own dogs, but Lilly rather enjoys her stayovers with her Nana, and enjoys the goody bag of treats we bring back even more. We found quite a lot of stuff that will be frequenting the pages of this mag over the coming months, and usually come back with a few samples of this'n'that - usually shampoos, dog treats and small toys. At this time of year the shampoos become my favourites, because as the title above says, Lilly is one hell of a mucky pup. Now I see lots of dogs around the park, some which have a lot longer fur than Lilly and you would think that this would mean they would get filthier than she does, but it's her weird quirk to come back in the darker months looking like she has been halfdipped in mud. You see the longer coat bigger dogs seem to me more sedate or calm or tranquil, whatever the word for it is, so don't seem to kick up the mud that my little racer does. Being part Whippet she does like to do energetic spurts, usually after small critters,
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and off through muddy trails, and, like the back of cyclist that has no mud guards, the splatter is spectacular. The only dogs that do rival her for pure filth of underbelly is my friend Jen's three and a half Shih Tzus (I say half because she has just foster-failed another dog which is half Shih Tzu and half Chihuahua, so it's teeny-weeny, and half the size of her others). They are very tidgy of leg so their little belly fur gathers up anything, and everything they walk over.
