Any dog owner will tell you about the difficulty they face appearing not to be over-rehearsed when fielding questions from curious passersby or even other pet owners.
I’ll try my best just for you: “He is called Toffee. He is a Cavalier King Charles Spaniel. He is four-months old. He is good with kids. And, yes, he will get bigger.” I’m still not sure why people ask that last question. It’s not like he’s going to shrink and become pocket-sized.
Being a performative grump (AKA not a morning person), the idea of chatting with strangers at all times in the day used to fill me with dread – I once jumped into a bush to avoid a chatterbox in my road.
This was wrong and now I can see how Toffee has enriched my life and everyone it seems who has the pleasure to meet him. Not just people with verbal diarrhoea who are often perplexed to hear bushes rustling.
Just yesterday we met a woman whose dad had died but Toffee made her weep tears of joy as he reminded her of a once-loved Cavalier King Charles Spaniel called Rosie. It felt like my life’s most generous gesture to allow her to hold him and, of course, Toffee was overjoyed.
As you can imagine, this adoration is particularly marked in a pub where Toffee can cause screaming, running on the spot and deafening “ahs!”. And that’s just tattooed bikers. Toffee is like John, Paul, George and Ringo at the height of their powers rolled into one tiny dog. Toffeemania is alive and kicking it seems. The walrus is Toffee.
But there’s a serious side to this and I discovered this one day when I went to a pub at opening time. Toffee was afforded his usual hero’s welcome; honestly, if this dog could drink, he’d never have to buy a pint in his life, and one bartender was particularly taken by him.
After the rest of the staff had told me, “this is the best start to a shift ever!” she candidly revealed that it was so comforting holding Toffee because her dog had been killed by another canine with a reckless owner who had him off the lead. “I’m not ready for another dog but I might be soon now,” she said.
Toffee has also caused a local in another pub to speak audibly for the first time. This shy drinker who was new to the pub sat in the corner and after he had a conversation with me, the publican came over to me a few days later to tell me that his customer had previously stopped talking after his wife had died. He now shares more with the other locals.
I do realise that dogs aren’t for everyone, and I can see why some pubs don’t allow them especially if they are busy, food-led venues. Some dogs – especially Toffee – have bad days or moods where barking is common.
But even the most dogsceptic person can see how they are an important part of (most) pubs’ fabric.
They are the ultimate conversation starter and sometimes can heal a lot of hurts. I wasn’t expecting him to be such a hit to be brutally honest and he’s only going to get more popular. Especially when he’s properly pub-trained and doesn’t have the occasional accident or theft of a punter’s crisps!
It seems life is better with a little Toffee.
