Roobarb’s Story (I can’t write poetry – sorry!)
My name is Roobarb and I’m a cockapoo. I spent the first three years of my life in Tooting in London. I lived with my human ‘Mum’ in a Victorian ground floor flat. At weekends, ‘Mum’ would take me to Wimbledon Common where I could race all over the place. It was there that I met my best friend, Bertie – he’s a Tibetan Terrier.
One day last June, after I’d spent the night at Duncan’s Doggy Day Care, I came home to find the flat empty. Where had everything gone? ‘Mum’ picked up a couple of bags and we got back into the car. Where were we going? After a long drive we arrived at ‘Mum’s’ parents’ house. I like it there because it’s near the sea and I LOVE racing across the sand.
Unusually, we stayed there for three weeks, not the usual three days. Then, one day, ‘Mum’ took me to a flat just like our Tooting one – only it wasn’t because it had stairs and it was a whole house! ‘Mum’ was still working in London but only had to go up twice a month – great! When she was away, I stayed with her mum. It’s lovely there but I do wish my ‘Mum’ was there too.
‘Mum’ works from home most of the time so, some days when she’s very busy I go to ‘Oggy Doggy Day Care’ at Carnon Downs. On non- work days we go to the beach at Perranporth, Gwithian or Rosevine and I LOVE it.
One day everything changed – I couldn’t go to ‘Oggy Doggy Day Care – well that was fine, I like staying at home with ‘Mum’ when she’s working. ‘I won’t be going to London,’ she told me. Even better, because I don’t like her going away without me.
BUT, things had really changed. We didn’t go to Sunday lunch with her parents; they didn’t come and visit us; we didn’t go to the beach when ‘Mum’ wasn’t working; we didn’t visit friends and they didn’t visit us. Everything was different. It was all very strange.
We did go for walks but it was on the old railway line down to Newham. Apparently ‘Mum’s mum used to walk there with her father when she was a child but they had to listen out for the trains bringing coal to the gasworks.
Then, one day – oh no! The old crate I slept in when I was a puppy appeared in the ‘glass room.’ What was it doing there? I hated it when I was little and I certainly wasn’t going in it, now! (I did sneak in it one day when ‘Mum’ wasn’t looking – at least, I don’t think she was.)
One Sunday morning we got in the car and drove to the other side of Truro. ‘Mum’ got out and opened the back of the car and took out a basket, then she locked the car leaving me in it! I was not happy and I let her and all the neighbours know it. She wasn’t gone long. She unlocked the car and put the basket on the backseat. I was on the front passenger seat.
As we drove home, I suddenly heard funny sounds coming from the basket. I was sure it had been an empty basket when we set out, so what was in it now?
When we arrived home, ‘Mum’ carefully lifted out the basket and we went indoors and into the glass room.
She opened the basket and lifted out this ‘ball of fluff.’ Whatever was it? She cuddled it and stroked it (what cheek – how dare it take my ‘Mum’s attention away from me!) and then gently put it in the crate and shut the door.
‘Meet your new ‘sister, Jolene,’ said ‘Mum.’ A sister – I didn’t want a sister … I wanted my ‘Mum’ all to myself. I certainly didn’t want to share her. Maybe she won’t stay long; maybe she’ll go back to where she came from, especially if I show I don’t want her around.
That evening, every time we tried to leave the room to go to bed, she cried – what a racket! I think the whole road could hear her. Finally, ‘Mum’ took the crate up into her bedroom and at last, she shut up.
Would you believe it, the ‘furball’ is into everything! I’m having a quiet snooze in my basket and she jumps on top of me. I have never been one for toys, but really, she’s got these interesting things to chew, throw around and curl up with so it’s only fair that I try them out, isn’t is it?
Because she’s ‘little’ and hasn’t had her inoculations yet, she can’t come walking with us – great, that means I can have ‘Mum’ all to myself – No! The pest is carried in a puppy carrier which gives ‘Mum’ backache because she wriggles trying to get down.
She’s now had one inoculation so she can come walking with us provided she stays away from other dogs. The trouble is, ‘She’s still only little,’ ‘Mum’ says. Doesn’t look it to me – she’s growing apace and has enormous feet AND she’s
heavy when she jumps onto me!
‘Mum’ says that she can only walk for 10 or 15 minutes and then – you’ve guessed it, she gets picked up and put into the carrier again! ‘Mum’ says that she gets tired – I think she’s just spoilt.
You know, she’s growing very quickly – I wonder when she’ll stop. She’s not that far off being as big as me and she’s still a baby!
She has her second ‘jab’ on Friday – then she can be left of the lead.
At the weekend we went to the beach for the first time for weeks. It was the first time Jolene had seen the sea and the sand and of course there’s lots of space to run around.
I heard my ‘Mum’ tell her mum that this Covid ‘Lockdown’(whatever that is) had been ideal for Jolene to settle into the family as with ‘Mum’ not travelling to London she just had to get used to one place. I also heard that she’s a ‘goldendoodle’ whatever that is. Does that mean she’s not a cockapoo? How big do goldendoodles grow?
Jolene (JoJo for short) has been with us for – it seems like for ever but is only - four and a half weeks now and I don’t think she’s going soon.
I do wonder – if this Covid 19 hadn’t happened and we hadn’t been on ‘lockdown,’ would Jolene have come at all?
Just so long as she realises who is BOSS here and it is NOT her!
(If you want more news and photographs of Roobarb and the ‘menace,’ look at Instagram@the_roobarb_diaries)