My farrier tells me that he’s the only person who can enter a certain client’s property without being set upon by the resident Rottweiler. When he turns up to shoe the horses, this ferocious dog flashes a broad smile and prances alongside his ute all the way to the stables. The Rotty knows that the farrier’s visits bring a banquet of hoof trimmings. Horse hoof. A doggy delicacy.
Last week I took our Labrador Lila to meet the farrier. I thought it might broaden her horizons. She could see what some humans do for a living. Learn about equine podiatry. Take in some country air. Whatever. I hadn’t considered that, once given a taste of Lily’s toe, nothing else would matter. Her scope would narrow to hoof, hoof, hoof and more hoof. [read more below]
In those rare moments when she wasn’t scavenging for trimmings (creeping on her belly to sneak yet another piece), Lila did have a little poke around. Usually at the wrong time in the wrong place. Too close to a red-hot shoe. Too tempted by a tin box full of nails. And too eager to snatch Lily’s long-suffering muzzle. Leaving me in the unfortunate role of killjoy.
[If you have received this post by email, please click "dog downunder" or "nothing beats horse hoof" in order to view accompanying video in a web page.]
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