News Hounds Ady & Flo www.sunlive.co.nz

Summer lovin, had me a blast
Summer lovin, happened so fast
Met a boy, sweet as can be…

The last of the summer sun was streaming over the western horizon as we headed out to Matakana Island for a relaxing weekend catch up with friends.

Shags perched lazily in the trees and the storks sauntered casually across the tidal flats. (Now I know we don't have storks here, but I once read it in another newspaper and just had to take the mickey.)

So off we headed for a day trip to a secluded island getaway which normally would be fairly uneventful for a dog. But it turned out to be a whirl wind romance; cut short by a cruel twist of fate – and sharp twist of rusted steel.

The boss was a on a mission to check out the results of the clean-up operation after the latest Rena spillages and see how the friendly locals were coping with the garbage on their pristine coastline.

The bosswoman was hell bent on making yet more fig chutney. Don't ask me how those two objectives fit together on an island paradise…. But setting sail, we were well prepared with cameras and preserving jars. Not your usual mix of boating equipment, but I've figured out, we live in a strange household.

Flo-tation.

I managed to finally fill the doggy buoyancy vest left by my illustrious predecessor. The boss has been trying to fit it on me for months, and every time I've looked like a pea in a barrel. It seemed I would never grow into the ‘large” fitting.

But at last, all those nutritional helpings of Ziwipeak have finally paid off and my training with Wendy the Dog Trainer, coaching me to take a little at a time, meant I slipped comfortably into the life jacket and happily wore it during the short voyage to Matakana.

We arrived to find some old friends on shore, with their new dog, Monty.

From the moment I jumped off the boat and gazed into his blue eye (and his blue/brown eye) I was awestruck.

A husky/border collie cross, he was clever, playful, caring and the epitomy of the new age, sensitive dog guy.

With Monty.

We ran and played and fetched and swam and looked swooningly into each others yellow/blue/brown-blue eyes; and rolled in the sand and ran through the pines and had a drink from the same bowl and ran some more and swam and fetched and …. Fell down on the grass exhausted. Then we ran and swam and fetched and swam some more. It was a magical end to a late summer day.

Boy, was I going to have a story to tell Ady next week!
Then, tragedy struck. My perfect summer holiday romance was cut terribly short.

TO BE CONTINUED!

Training by Wendy Graydon, The Dog Trainer. 0210 700 111
Sustenance: www.ziwipeak.com
We do all our own stunts.
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