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Shanti of course needs no intro to the regular barge-blog-reader (hi there 🔆 ) as she comes and goes as she pleases. Ben-the-Nut however, has not been properly introduced although he is on the list of my animal friends.
Unlike his insane yellow eyes and intense stare may suggest, he's a great guy, and he has focus. When there is food about, his yellow eyes glow in anticipation and his face re-moulds into a triangle. I have to throw treats in his direction else he'll unintentionally bite my hand off and even then he usually times his jump wrong, which is rather comical. Ben, this affectionate, occasionally hyperactive 5 year-old chocolate Labrador became - through a certain display of nuttiness, Ben-the-Nut-and-Yahoo. However, being homonymised with the Lizard King of the Levant was far too much of an insult for a dog to bear and we thus compromised on Ben-the-Nut. What to do, the poor guy comes across as a bit of an underdog, as he himself readily admits!
Ben is one of the dogs that the DJ takes out as part of his dog-walking services, and he is at ours for a few hours some days of the week. He and Shanti have known each other ever since she arrived on the scene in March 2017, and although Ben half-heartedly attempted to bully her when she was little, the tables have completely turned and Shanti is now very much the boss.
She loves to tease Ben, worrying him non-stop as he sits in the garden with a bone or stick, biting his legs and ears, even mounting him in domination - what a Shanti!.
Ben has long given up trying to argue any point with Shanti, and he puts up with the harassment and occasional bitchiness in an admirably chilled manner, ceding sticks or bones to the Princess who always seems to want what he has!
The only time Ben stands his ground is when he has possession of a stuffed toy. He will not let go regardless of Shanti's threats and provocations. It is one of the few times he starts gently growling in her direction.
She tries to put him off, darting around with nips, yips and growls, making stereo doggy music with Ben who responds in kind with his soft and rather melodious notes....
Shanti stopped taking Ben seriously a long time ago. Although generally resigned to his fate, he sometimes tries to negotiate a break for himself with his mouth full, but this just cracks her up even more
She wants the Toy Lion and so they tug and they tug....
Ben somehow always manages to hold on doggedly ("errr, how does that pun work?" asks Lion). Shanti ends up with the thin end ("excyooz me!" exclaims Lion indignantly) and a mouthful of fluff at best.
Bees
Echinacea
Flash the cat
New York City
Bitch on the Beach
Workers in Dubai
Tahiti & French Polynesia
Fly Life – macrophos and verse
Diary Travelogues:-
UK to India overland by car (1973)
Eastern Europe - Poland, Russia, the Baltics (1994)
The Nile and the Pharaohs - Egypt (1996)
Egypt, Jordan, Lebanon (1996)