Zowie

Meet Zowie, (pronounced the same as Zoe) she's my Patterdale Terrier, and she's a star! She came into our lives as a 6 week old pup and she is now 12 years old. I didn't realise all those years ago quite how much fun and, at times, frustration she would bring to our house. I brought her home in my laundry basket, gently tipped it onto its side in the kitchen and tentatively she walked out with her tail wagging. The first evening she had to be coaxed from the kitchen to the living room but the shyness didn't last, by the third night she was overtaking me on the outside on the same journey.

Below right: Zowie appears on our weathervane!

The Patterdale Terrier is native to the Lake District of Cumbria and is a type of Fell Terrier, I believe, a cross between a Border Terrier and black and tan Fell Terrier (also called a working Lakeland) and was originally bred as a hunting dog. Patterdale's can be smooth or rough coated, they can be black, brown or red and should about 12 inches high. Some of the characteristics of Patterdales are that they are wilful, intelligent, independent and loyal. Zowie is certainly wilful and independent. Sometimes she shows amazing intelligence but at other times the complete opposite. Loyal? I'm not sure, she is protective of me but I'm not sure that's the same as loyal. I have read that Patterdales are easy to train and also that they are difficult to train because of their independent nature and short attention span. I think Zowie fits into the second category although I am partly to blame because I know she needs discipline and I'm far too soft with her, some might even say she's spoilt rotten. We did go to weekly puppy training classes but that was the longest eight hours of my life and we failed miserably.

Zowie loves people, both adults and children but she isn't keen on other dogs, I think it's partly because she thinks she should protect me from them and partly because she gets very jealous. She will chase anything that crosses the air space over our property from butterflies and bees to birds and helicopters. Zowie is also very vocal; she likes to sit on the back of the sofa in front of the window and watch the world go by and then, by means of a good bark, lets me know that she has seen something (I'm sure sometimes she lets me know a gnat has passed the window!).

Left: Zowie is a keen gardener!

Unlike most dogs Zowie would never go for a walk by choice. The mere mention of the word 'walk' has her hiding under the table or behind the sofa shivering. I have to get her lead clipped on before mentioning the dreaded word or before putting my shoes on. I used to take her when she was younger because I thought she should walk, dogs do, its normal, but I don't think she ever thanked me for it. I wonder if the restriction of a lead was the problem because she likes to do her own thing. Although walks are Zowie's idea of torture she loves being outdoors and luckily we have a large garden and small field for her to wander in at will.

You won't very often see Zowie without a ball in her mouth and tennis balls are definitely her favourite, none of the cheap ones though she can split them in a matter of minutes. Her favourite trick is to push the ball along the floor with a shoe which she holds in her mouth, if she thinks the ball is too far away to push back she will put it in the heel part of the shoe and carry it back. It's then tipped out by your feet ready the next throw, this game can go on for hours. If it's not a shoe in her mouth it's another tennis ball and then the ball on the floor is pushed along with her nose. I have no idea where she picked this trick up from but it's very entertaining and I've never seen another dog do it.

As I mentioned at the beginning Zowie is now 12 and slowing down a little. She still acts like a two year old at times but for shorter periods. More grey hairs appear regularly and she is a little shaky now but I hope she still has a few years to go yet as I can't imagine life without her. However Zowie will always be with us because as a treasured member of our family we even have her featured on our weathervane. How sad is that!

Contributed by Lorna Evans