I’m a bit fed up today because Whitevanwoman has gone off to spend the day with the Search dogs without me 
I’ve been left home alone in our kennel. She said that, after my adventure the last time we spent the day with the Search dogs, I can’t be trusted and so I have to stay at home. You can see a route plan of my adventure here – riggsadventure260409
This is only the second time I’ve been left alone since Lanky went; although Lanky always stayed home once he started to go a bit doolally in the head and stiff in his legs, I have always gone everywhere in the white van with whitevanwoman. Until 2 days ago, I hadn’t been left home alone since I was a very young pup because Whitevanwoman knows I get bored easily and in order to relieve the boredom, I like to explore and check out whether there is anything edible which might have been left lying around on the kitchen work surfaces or table or in the bin…
When I was a pup I once ate 8 eggs in one go during the night, shells and all, and I discovered how to open the fridge door and I chewed a dog’s head sized hole in the plastic dustbin which was where the hen food was kept – well, if it was good enough for hens, it was good enough for me. Ever since then, Whitevanwoman has not left me home alone and that’s the main reason why I sleep upstairs at night instead of in the kitchen (although I do have a very important job to do – keeping Whitevanwoman’s feet warm during the night).
So it was a complete shock the other day to be left home alone all day – apparently the white van had to go to be fixed. Whitevanwoman just disappeared off in the white van without me and I waited and waited for her to come back but she didn’t. Eventually I got bored of listening out for the sound of the white van coming back and decided to keep myself busy by doing a methodical search of the whole kennel for anything edible. I couldn’t remember how I managed to get in the fridge when I was younger and I gave up with that idea when the fridge door remained firmly shut, and although I tried hard, I couldn’t fit through the cat flap in the kitchen door to the utility room where the cat food is kept. Whitevanwoman obviously knows me fairly well as the compost bucket was out of my reach but she forgot to move the fruit bowl… sadly there was only some bananas in it but I did manage to get them out of the bowl and onto the floor without knocking the bowl onto the floor. The bananas didn’t smell particularly appetising so I went looking for something else but apart from a roll of tin foil, which I had a little play with, and a yoghurt carton lid in the bin which I licked clean, the only other thing I found was a box of sterilising tablets but something inside me told me not to bother with those (note to self – must remember to put things back where they were after I’ve checked them out).
My explorations left me a little tired so I took myself off upstairs and settled down for a snooze on Whitevanwoman’s bed. I’m not usually allowed upstairs except at bedtime but I figured that seeing as how Miss Tibby Tabby is allowed to sleep on Whitevanwoman’s bed whenever she wants that I could do too (Mind you, Miss Tibby is allowed to sleep anywhere she likes – in the log basket, in the washing basket, on every single chair, in Whitevanwoman’s kit box and even in my bed). Me and Miss Tibby had a pleasant afternoon nap together till I was woken up by the sound of the white van coming back. I raced downstairs and jumped up on the desk to peer out of the window (like Miss Tibby does) and was ever so pleased to see Whitevanwoman outside, even though she did look like she was grumbling because I was up on the desk.
She tutted and grumbled when she got inside because I had been on the desk but I took no notice because I was so pleased to see her. Then suddenly she saw the bananas and tin foil and yoghurt lid on the floor and stopped dead. I knew I was in trouble before she even said anything so I skulked off out of the back door and took myself out into the yard. I couldn’t go into my kennel because it’s gone now (read my blog post The end of the kennel) but I thought I would stay out of the way for a while until I was forgiven. I didn’t have to wait too long and although she had a grumble, it wasn’t a big grumble, so I was quite relieved. She tutted a bit more later when she realised I’d been sleeping on her bed – I tried to look innocent but she said that the evidence was there – a dog shaped dent in the duvet – so I knew there was no point in trying to blag it.
Today she was even more careful when she went out and there was nothing at all left in the kitchen although I did get up and check out the work surfaces and table. I must have left some pawprints because Whitevanwoman knew when she came home. The only thing she could really grumble about was that in my excitement at hearing the white van coming back in the afternoon, I jumped up on the desk to look out of the window and sent everything on the desk flying in all directions. I didn’t even notice but Whitevanwoman did and had a little grumble but I could tell that it wasn’t a proper grumble so I think she was quite pleased that I had been a good dog. I hope this isn’t going to become a regular thing – being left home alone – I felt so left out knowing that she had gone off to spend the day with our Search dog friends and I really miss them and miss going to look for people on the fells – after eating, it is my favourite activity.
Tags: dog blog, rigg the pig, rigg the pigg, riggs blog, riggthepig, riggthepigg
It’s a shame she only realizes that when there’s another dog around to compare me with. But I know deep down inside that I am the most important thing in Whitevanwoman’s life, especially now that it’s just me and her (and Miss Tibby). It’s been 6 months now since old Lanky went, and we are settling down into a new routine, just the 2 of us, and I think our bond is stronger than ever. I am a little reassured that even with another dog around, Whitevanwoman still puts me first and that I am most definitely Top Dog of all other dogs in our kennel.
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