Apprentice police dog

What else would one do, in England on a sunny bank
holiday weekend, apart from go to a dog show? Actually, I rarely do such things, at least not since I gave up trying to sell cards at similar events, but friend V wanted to do something not too far away, so we drove down to Fromebridge Mill for a summer fair in aid of Teckels, the local rescue centre. We saw some amazing dogs and some equally amazing owners, and the police dog demo was good, even though I had to miss the judging of the ‘best rescue dog’ category in order to watch it!

I’d only ever thought of police dogs in terms of those lurking in the disembarkations tunnels at airports, sniffing for drugs, but it turns out they can also sniff out banknotes (sterling and euros, because the printers use the same ink), anything recently handled and discarded by a human, as well as many types of drugs. They can also chase a villain, bite and detain them until the copper catches up, and then some! They live with their handlers and, once retired, continue to live with them as pets rather than working dogs. When their owners go on holiday, some of the dogs stay at Teckels.

When we’d perused all the stalls and sideshows, we walked over to the pub garden and millpond at Fromebridge mill. The secret of their popularity as a Sunday lunch venue seems to be the enormous portions at the carvery! Perhaps I’ll go there one day, perhaps not.

Oh yes, we also talked to some firefighters about self-neglect. I have some clients in this category, and the firefighters, who seem to perform a social services role , will visit them at home with a view to establishing their safety, adequate warmth in winter, and checking smoke alarms. They said they’d come and check ours, which were last replaced years ago, I think I have a blip of ‘the lads’ from that time.