Each time an urban fox comes into my garden or passes by the front road my dog Rex goes mental. I know why, he’s protecting his pad, that’s what border collies do, they are always working, and he protects. I love him for that. His random (not in his head random) barking puts people off – touch wood it’s highly unlikely me, upstairs or the neighbours either side will ever get burgled.
But when it comes to foxes…
I know Rex can’t understand what I’m saying, I hope he understands the tone, I think he does when I say but he forgets… but that fox:
- Has no mummy or daddy (fox or human)
- Doesn’t have a warm bed
- Doesn’t have toys to play with
- Doesn’t have regular meals
- Won’t get help if they are poorly or injured unless a kind human can even get them to a vet
- Doesn’t have chill out time
- Doesn’t know how one day will turn out from the next
Rex knows when breakfast, lunch and dinner time is. If I have gone slightly past any of these times, he comes to tell me. Last year, Rex was a complete brat and wouldn’t sleep in a tent with me and so we had to sleep in the car and then he refused to come anywhere near me the next day until me and my camping friends set up a trick to make him realise oh where the hell is she?
Rex is the love of my life – he was a rescue dog so I want to give him the best life he will have, and he gets that best life!
But you know, I had to work my ass off to get to where I got to. I had a lot of family support, but I did me on my own and that’s why I feel affinity with the urban fox. That fox works every day to get through each day. And that’s why each day, I’ll throw some good food over the fence for him or her so they can eat. I suspect they come into the garden because of that and then we have the cycle of fox, Rex barking, me telling Rex about the fox.
Sure this is a life lesson somewhere.
Uncorking The Finer Things 