Jasper and the Rabbit.

Jasper, Fred, Poppy, & Baloo live on the next hill. They are large and boisterous and wonderfully friendly, which is just as well, as this week we were looking after them while their owners were in the UK for a couple of days. Jasper and Fred are large Spaniels with a huge appetite for hunting out any mice and rabbits that may have crossed their territory. Jasper is slightly smaller than a lion, although he’s the same sandy colour with a husky type tail curled over onto his back and Poppy, well, Poppy is from the bins at Km 17, where she was rescued from a life wandering the Campo. Poppy looks like a greyhound with hair, she has incredibly long legs and is so skinny you would be forgiven for thinking she still wanders the Campo looking for her next meal.

Normally, they spend their days hurtling around after each other or battling for space on the settee next to which ever person will sit still long enough to give them hugs and strokes. Our house is so calm with our 2 pups compared to the house on the hill. Chaos is the norm where J, F, B & P are concerned.

They also have another dog staying at the moment, Reina. She is a cross Labrador/Alsatian who needs a home desperately. Reina craves attention and when she gets you close she wraps her paws around your legs to stop you leaving. She will only eat her food if she can feel you against her, the minute you try to leave, she leaps up to the door and bars your way out. Getting away from Reina is a skill all on its own.

The 5 dogs were staying in the kennels at the back of the house while their owners were away and I had my list of instructions. The kennels are proper boarding kennels, plenty of room and an exercise yard. Fred and Jasper share, Poppy and Baloo share and Reina is on her own with a kennel area between as she is not terrifically friendly with other dogs. My instructions were clear, do not walk Reina past any of the kennels with other dogs in and do not walk other dogs past the kennel that Reina was in. It felt like the Mensa test of getting the fox and the chickens across the river in a boat.

Over the 3 days chaos was kept to a minimum, as was the damage. One pot containing a large Yucca plant was overturned by Jasper and Fred in the efforts to track down the latest rodent smells. Fortunately, the pot didn’t break and I could scoop everything back into the pot and put it back in place, hoping the Yucca will survive. Both Jasper and Fred seemed to prefer drinking from the pool by standing on the 3^rd step, and then going digging in the undergrowth, so I was pleased they were not staying in the house as I really didn’t want to be bathing them every time I went near.

Poppy was desperate to join the others on their hunts but I daren’t let her off the lead as, unlike Fred & Jasper, I was not at all confident she would come back to me when it was time to go back in the kennel. She had to make do with the exercise area, once Reina was safely back in her kennel.

Dinner time on day one was the highlight. Having got all the bowls ready I took Reina her food and brought the others up to the house. Fred and Jasper had a quick detour into the undergrowth but were soon on the doorstep, knowing that dinner would soon be served. I let them into the house and brought Baloo and Poppy in and put the bowls down. Poppy eats at such speed that she is normally finished before any of the others have finished their first mouthful. On this occasion I noticed that not only had Jasper not had is first mouthful, he wasn’t at his dish. I lifted his dish back onto the counter and went in search. I finally found him sat on the settee looking incredibly proud, with a young rabbit hanging dead in his mouth. This was his trophy from the undergrowth. This was not a gift for me, he had no intention of parting with it – even for a dish of dog biscuits. It was going to take some careful planning to separate the dog from the rabbit.

First, I needed to get Jasper outside and away from the other dogs. I reasoned that this way, if I could get him to drop the rabbit I would be spared the worry of one of the others making an attempt on it. I closed my eyes to the large, open staring eyes of the bunny as its head lolled lifelessly, and managed to clip a lead onto Jasper’s collar. As I called him to go outside he came without hesitation.

I figured it would be better to be in an enclosed space, somewhere Jasper would feel comfortable. I was sure that his intention was retrieval and that he didn’t have any ideas to make this small furry creature ‘dish of the day’. We walked in silence down to the kennel area where I accompanied him into his sleeping area. Jasper sat in his bed, looking at me as if to say ‘what now?’ bunny still dangling. It became a staring match and I was determined I would not be the first to break down. Finally, Jasper bent his head and released the bunny onto his bed, so gentle it was almost as if he showed the bunny some reverence. I waited a few seconds and then leant across to stroke Jasper, hoping I would be able to catch hold of his collar quick enough to stop him stooping to pick up bunny again, but I was too slow and by the time I had hold of his collar, Jasper once again had hold of bunny and all three of us were back to playing our staring game again.

Several more minutes passed before he once again, lay the bunny gently down. This time I was ready. As he brought his head back up I grabbed his collar and pulled him out of the kennel leaving bunny resting peacefully in Jasper’s bed.

Finally separated from Bunny, Jasper decided to eat his dinner and while he ate I returned to the kennel to remove bunny. I would like to say I gave him a decent burial but I’m afraid I can’t. Bunny was unceremoniously flung over the 6 foot wire fence onto the wilds of the Campo, there to be a ready meal for whatever animal happened by. Bunny lay in the scrub, lifeless eyes staring back at me from a distance of no more than 4 feet – I never was any good at throwing. As a school girl I was only ever given a javelin and a discus once, then it was decided I was better at the running events than the throwing ones. Nothing had changed, I still couldn’t throw.