Life Among the Dog People of Paddington Rec, Volume VII The Great British Bark Off Anthony Linick Copyright © 2015 Anthony Linick Introduction The same day that we returned after two months in California – having decided that we would not be moving back to the States at the beginning of our retirement – my wife Dorothy and I took our property off the market … and ordered a puppy. Fritz the Schnauzer arrived a few weeks later and by the end of June, 2003, we had entered that unique society of dog owners who people London’s Paddington Recreation Ground. The society in which we were now to take our place remains a unique one, an ever- changing kaleidoscope of dogs and their owners. The dogs represent most of the popular breeds and many of the mutt-like mixtures and so do their accompanying humans – who come from diverse nationalities and from many walks of life: professionals and job seekers, young and old, family members and loners. They are united in their love of dogs, and on the central green of the park, on its walkways and at the café where they gather after exercising their animals, they often let this affection for dogs carry them into friendships that transcend park life and involve many of them in additional social activities. Fritz had been a member of the pack for about a year when I decided to keep a daily record of his antics and the folkways of the rest of the crew, human and canine. I have done so ever since. I reasoned that not only would this furnish us with an insight into the relationship of man and beast but that it would also provide a glimpse into London life. Such a life, we know, is full of struggles and tensions and these were certainly reflected in the chronicles that followed. I have tried to make this record a candid and accurate one. I must thank all of those who provided photographs for this project, the staff and management of the Rec itself, and my sister-in-law, Naomi, who assisted in editing. Special thanks to “London Janet,” Daisy-Mae’s mom, for designing the cover of Volume VII, one that features our very best British barker, Sparkie himself. Has any dog ever received as much dedicated attention as my Fritz? Has any canine society ever received such scrutiny? We turn to the diaries of Samuel Pepys for insights into London life as it was experienced in the latter half of the 17th Century. No wonder some wag has called me The Pepys of Pups – for my project, with its analysis of London life as it was lived in the first two decades of the 21st Century, is now almost twelve years old. I published the first four volumes of “Life Among The Dog People of Paddington Rec” in a traditional print format and these are all still available either directly from the publisher at Authorhouse.com or Authorhouse.co.uk or from Amazon.co.uk, from Amazon.com or from any of the other online booksellers. These include: Volume I: Strictly Come Barking, published in 2008 and covering the years 2004-2005. Volume II: Have I Got Dogs For You!, published in 2010 and covering the years 2005-2006. Volume III: DSI: Dog Scene Investigation, published in 2011 and covering the years 2006-2007. Volume IV: A Doggy Day in London Town, published in 2012 and covering the years 2007-2008. In 2013, with Volume V, however, I was able to switch to a new publication format, making Invasion of The Biscuit Snatchers (covering the years 2008-2009, available in e-book format, free for all who want to follow this story by going to my website: anthonylinick.com. Volume VI, My Dog’s Breakfast, covering the years 2009-2010, was published in 2014 and is available at anthonylinick.com. Volume VII, the present volume, is entitled The Great British Bark Off and you will have discovered it online as well. Have fun. The Great British Bark Off: Life Among The Dog People of Paddington Rec, Volume VII By Anthony Linick Chapter 1—June, 2010 Renata welcomes Maxi to the breakfast scene. The Great British Bark Off Tuesday, June 1: It doesn’t seem possible, but today must be the seventh time I have set off on my year-long task of recording the life and times of the dog people of Paddington Rec! I enter the green precincts of our local London park at the usual time, 9:10 or so, and receive a greeting from the young girl who accompanies the two Pomeranians, Buddy and Sparkie. A sharp-nosed black and white dog named Ollie shows an unhealthy interest in the activities of my own dog, the Schnauzer Fritz, who is now squatting in an attempt to squeeze out his first poo of the morning. It is gray and unfriendly in the park, cool for the first day of June indeed.There is no organized school activity this morning since it is a half-term holiday for many institutions. The quiet that should reign at such moments, however, is unobtainable. First we have one tractor spreading rubber pellets on the middle footie pitch, then a second one mowing the grass of the flanks of our one hill, the artificial pile I like to call Mt. Bannister. Closer to the café we also have a leaf blowing maintenance man; he manages to engulf a young girl on a bike with his dust, and she has to pause to remove grit from an eye. On the central green of the park I find only emptiness. I try to interest Fritz in chasing his tennis ball around but he is soon heading off for the Grantully gate, where a second Schnauzer, this one with a tail, is also making the rounds. This is George, a small, friendly chap – though the breed snob in me still pictures all Schnauzers with bobbed tails, a practice now enjoined by the nanny state in which we live. After a while I put my dog on lead and we head for the café, where a small group is already preparing for morning coffee under our big green umbrella (it does start to rain a few minutes later). Today we will have Davide, Liz, Ofra, Peter, Ellen, and Ronnie initially, then Cheryl, Wendy and Hanna arrive a bit later. Today is Winnie the Pug’s seventh birthday and I have brought with me a birthday card, featuring Count Pugula – one of a dozen dog-centric birthday cards that I bring back with me each year after a visit to the card shop in Palm Springs. When I return from the counter with my cappuccino there is a thank you muffin waiting for me (well, I shouldn’t really….). I tell Peter, who administers the dog people’s weekly turf wager, that we have a new contest to bet on – which will be fixed first: the leaking oil pipe in the Gulf of Mexico or the café’s extractor fan – both have been problematic for weeks. Peter tells us that we should see an improvement in the weather this week – a rare excursion into the bright side for our good- hearted curmudgeon – but he does get to complain when Roxy the Beagle strikes like a viper at the table’s edge and makes off with his muffin. Davide, a BA steward, says he has lots to do at home ¬– just as well since he is on strike; Ronnie offers him fifty pence for the strike fund. There is considerable disagreement over the international condemnation facing Israel ¬– after an inspection of a Gaza-bound food ship went wrong, and nine people were killed. Hanna feels the Israelis have overreacted, Davide says that Israel shouldn’t have boarded the ship in international waters, Cheryl says that an entirely more even-handed account of the incident is to be found on the American news channels than on the British ones, Liz says that the Israelis were quite right in their response to a provocative situation, and Ofra, the only Israeli present, defends her countrymen – though she admits that she and her husband have been quarrelling over the incident at home. I have to say that the debate is carried out in a good-natured fashion, a tacit agreement to disagree and still be friends – one of the hallmarks of the life among the dog people of Paddington Rec. 1 The Great British Bark Off Wednesday, June 2: The weather, which came in wet waves yesterday, has progressed to a lovely, fresh spring morning, with bright skies and mild temperatures. As we enter two little Dachshunds are heading our way and one of them, Aspen, seems intent on trouble. Then we pass Pippa the Papillion, a hearing-eared dog accompanying her deaf mistress. Out on the green Davide and Janet are in conclave and we are soon approached by Claire, back from her holiday in Dorset. She says that her Panda, a cross between a Westie and a Yorkie, has come back from the country excursion with several burrowing ticks and that she will soon be heading for the vet’s in Queen’s Park. By this time Fritz has begun an independent march along the Randolph roadway and I follow him as far as the gate on this side of the park. Here he greets the black Spaniel Tackis and the Lhasa Apso Jonesie (real name Bridget Jones). At coffee this morning the participants include Davide, Janet (who had a hospital appointment yesterday), Hanna, Peter, Ellen, and Ronnie, initially, but then we are joined by Claire and the young Dex.