Hooked!

Mr Overton was a tall, slim man, bespectacled and quietly spoken; in fact, he gave the appearance of being quite shy. Not the sort that one would expect to find was a recently retired pub landlord.

“40 years in the business, Mr ‘odson”

Mr Leonard Overton was obviously Cornish. His dropping of the H was a give-away, as his Cornish accent came to the fore. I was a little concerned that we may have a communication problem, but fortunately, Mr Overton spoke slowly, and his diction was excellent, so understanding his conversation was not difficult. In fact, apart from the H issue, he rarely showed his accent.

His dog was an Irish Wolfhound that went by the name of Brian.

“What can I do for you?” I asked.

“Well, it were like this: I gave up pub recently, and I was looking forward to my retirement and, in particular, spending a bit more time with Brian. I ‘ave always enjoyed walking, the fresh air a perfect contrast to the atmosphere in a pub. Silence as opposed to noise, solitude as opposed to crowds of people, but Brian’s behaviour has changed, and I am concerned that he is missing our old life. I don’t want him to be unhappy.”

“So what is happening to cause you concern?”

“Well he appears to be a bit miserable, he just isn’t ‘imself, its like ‘e is sulking.”

“Can he really be missing the old life?” He asked

“I don’t understand, ‘e always really enjoyed ‘is walks, but now ‘e appears to be lethargic, miserable in fact.”

It did seem a bit odd.

“Well, dogs do like a regular routine, but you are right to be concerned. Most dogs would welcome the extra walks and time spent with their family.” I said

I asked all the obvious questions.

Had there been any recent health issues, a change of diet, new bedding, different cleaning products, visitors, had there been any bereavements, major disagreements that had raised  Mr Overton’s stress levels. All the replies were negative.

I took a closer look at Brian’s appearance to see If there was anything obviously wrong. When I ran my hands over his body and legs he showed no signs of discomfort, he had nothing stuck in his paws, his eyes were bright, showing no signs of cataracts or vision problems.

The only concern was the colour of his membranes, which should have been a healthy pink but appeared to be rather pale. Apart from this, to my untrained eye, he indicated no physical abnormalities.

Not a clue

To be honest, I was stumped. I didn’t have a clue.

Brian should be enjoying the change in his circumstances, more walks, more treats and more fuss, but I had to admit defeat.

“I am so sorry but I can’t see anything to explain his behaviour therefore I can only assume that this is a medical matter and you need to visit the veterinary surgeon.”

Mr Overton offered me a cup of tea, and we chatted for a while as he regaled me with tales from his life as a publican. Some were hilarious, and others were definitely not printable!! It wasn’t a busy day, so I informed my host I was heading home as he was the last client of the day.

“Stay for a beer,” he replied

As soon as the beers were poured Brian rapidly came to the table nose raised and attempted to drink from Mr Overton’s glass.

“Definitely not, old chap, those days are over. My host laughed heartily. You’re not drinking from my glass.”

It was like a bright light lit up the room. It was the words, “those days are over” that provided the illumination.

“Say that again,” I asked.

“What.”

You just said that.“ Those days are over.”

“Oh I see, Well some evenings I tipped the contents of the drip tray into a bowel, Brian lapped it up.”

“Drip tray?”

“It’s a tray that goes under the pump that delivers the beer. It is a tiny reservoir that catches the overflow. The contents are unusable so we normally tip them down the sink.”

“And Brian?”

“Well, I know it’s not good for him, but he adores a drop of beer, so I let him have some a couple of times a week.”

“Only once or twice a week.” He added defensively

“Mr Overton, for a start, beer is toxic to dogs, and it appears that Brian is suffering from withdrawal symptoms. He definitely needs to visit the vet, and you need to explain exactly what you have been doing.”

“Have I caused ‘im ‘arm?”

“To be honest, this is outside my level of expertise, but it certainly hasn’t done him any good. The only thing in Brian’s favour is his sheer size.”

I departed, and Mr Overton promised to keep me informed of the situation.

Eventually I received a message on my telephone answer machine from Leonard Overton that Brian had seen the vet and he was awaiting the results of tests and some medication had been prescribed. Sadly I never heard anymore and my messages left on Mr Overtons machine failed to elicit a reply.

I suspect that the news was not good. Maybe it was embarrassment, maybe grief if the test results were bad, but I never heard from Leonard Overton again.

An important lesson

The lesson, however, for everyone is NEVER give an animal alcohol even if it’s a hot day and you are tempted even though some dogs will look imploringly at your drink. For them, it is water.

I should point out that the medical advice regarding drinks on a hot day is that we humans should join our furry friends and also drink WATER!!

NB. In the movie Turner and Hooch the lovable canine is seen being encouraged to drink beer. Despite being one of my favourite movies, the portrayal of Hooch consuming alcohol is misguided.