How strange this thread is! My friend with the uber intelligent Border Collie rung here this morning, as we're going to a Cricket Match
(our ball game) this weekend. I re-counted my scare over Crystal etc. He's trained many Alsatians and Border Collies over his lifetime and was an RAF dog handler for many years. I knew he'd had a
'Yorkie' for over a decade, before I knew him, but as their parting was sad
(a run off from a new home), we'd never really opened the subject up. He is now a 73 year old widower and said 'Fred'
(the Yorkie,
was a puppy that he'd inherited from a fellow airman facing transfer) was just as bright as many bigger dogs he'd had. Adding that of all of them, he'd like to have his time with his little terrier over again, because he was so amzingly in touch with his moods. However he did warn me, that of all the breeds he's experienced, our little people have by FAR the best hearing. His tone became sad and he related how as they'd moved into a new home in the heart of London's West End 40 years ago; a truck discharged it's air brakes right next to Fred and he bolted, never to be seen again! He's convinced it's a warning to me and went on to remark that ALL dogs, no matter how bright can get spooked and bolt. "Better to keep Crystal tethered Doc, next time you bathe her, study how fine those little bones really are." "Theyr'e tough spunky little dogs, but their framework is so easily damaged, even though they'll gamble their very lives with it!"
"Always remember
Yorkies are to cherish, not to brandish", he said in closing. Wise and sad words that have been on my mind all day.
