I got the idea from the Sun newspaper: the headlines should always be striking but not necessarily the truth. I was standing in the water yesterday, throwing Boris’ ball for him to retrieve when I felt this nibbling on my leg. Looking down I could make out, through the ripples on the water, a fish tugging at the hairs on my leg. Ok, so a shark is not a fish but it got your attention. Near the shore and in the rocks lurk the small fry hiding from their predators. On a still morning, when the sea is calm, you can make out little ripples on the water where the fry touch the surface. At other times, they swim in a shoal whilst the larger ones tend to wander about in groups of two or three. It’s the larger ones that pull the hairs in my legs and nibble at me.
There was an Italian couple on the beach yesterday, who have been there before so know the dogs. Fido went straight up to them whilst Luis, as usual, hung back wanting to bark. They like the dogs so I just leave them to it whilst I amuse Boris in the sea. Following his customary immersion in the sea, Dave decided he wanted a piece of the action so plonked himself down on their beach towel to be petted. First it was the man who petted him, then the couple changed places so the woman could have her turn with Dave. Finally, when it was time to go, the woman came to speak to me as I stood in the sea. She wanted to know all about the dogs, ages, names provenance etc. She then told me that they are on holiday for one month in Greece and that they come to Crete regularly. Finally they left and we followed them shortly after. We then bumped into an older Greek couple from Iraklio who had come down to swim from the beach. They have a couple of dogs too so wanted to know which was which, ages, names etc.
I got ahead of the game today and managed to get a shower, do the washing up and get to the supermarket all before 09:00. The advantage is that it is less warm at that time making the ride more pleasant. Unfortunately the fresh bread hadn’t arrived by then so I stood at the checkout chatting to the nice lady from Georgia who’s name appears to be Naa-Naa, or pronounced that way anyway. She told me that she’s seen me on the beach the other day whilst I as returning with the dogs after the evening walk. I suggested that she shout out as there are often quite a number of people on the beach and I might not notice her. On Monday we talked about her destructive dog problem and I outlined a few things she could try to alleviate the situation. One was to give the dog around three walks each day to wear her out and to play with her to keep her busy. She told me that she had drawn up a schedule for her sons to take the dog of a walk and to play with her. It would seem that it’s beginning to work and things are improving. Cesar Millan watch out – I am the Dog Whisperer of Grammeno!
The Small Dogs decided to come into the van earlier when they heard the rustle of the bread bag and thought their might be a slice on offer. Sometimes I don’t eat every slice of bread I cut at night so usually leave it on my plate to soak up any olive oil left there. By morning the bread is saturated so an ideal treat for the dogs. They came in, ate the bread and settled down quietly, so I took the opportunity to get as much done as possible. They had both been quite active earlier with Luis running madly after his ball and Fido chasing after him. Other than that, they chase each other around or go to bark at the grandfather and grandson fishing from the rocks.
I took the opportunity to inspect the area occupied until recently by the German trio. I was pleasantly surprised to find that there was no discernible rubbish except for a few paper tissues floating about. I noticed some toilet tissue nearby and wish people would bury their poo and dispose of the paper in the rubbish bins.
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