Don’t Assume!

Miss Castelaine was a spinster who lived in a fairly isolated property near the town of Soufriere. She was not a native of St Lucia but had come from the neighbouring island of Martinique. Unlike St Lucia, which is an independent state, the island of Martinique is an overseas department and region of France, and therefore, its citizens are naturally heavily influenced by French culture.

The lady took great pride in her appearance. She wore clothes designed by the very best French fashion houses. Her fairly short hair, in the classic bob style, was always immaculately coiffured, and she would never be seen without her expertly applied makeup.

She lived alone but engaged a gardener to care for the extensive garden and a young lady to do the housework.

Security

Being conscious of her vulnerabilities, being a single lady living in a somewhat isolated residence, the lady had taken what she thought were precautions regarding her safety. A high fence and gates surrounded the property. As was common at the time, all the windows and doors were covered with wrought iron bars, which gave a degree of security. Miss Castelaine, however, went one stage further, she was protected by two professionally trained Rhodesian Ridgeback dogs called Maxime and Louis.

She took every opportunity to impress on her staff the danger of going anywhere near the dogs. I am sure that this was a deliberate ploy to ensure that in the local vicinity the local populace was aware that two savage guard dogs guarded her property.

The Ridgebacks were housed in a room which had a door that, when opened, gave them access to the garden but also with an internal door so the guard dogs were easily let into the main body of the house. It appears that when the gardener was working, the dogs remained in their room and also stayed there while the maid was doing housework, so in effect, the dogs never met anyone other than Miss Castelaine. I had met the lady socially on a couple of occasions, and exchanging pleasantries was the extent of our contact. She spoke excellent English, but to be honest, I found her to be entitled and patronising; however, basic good manners demanded that the common courtesies were observed, but I was happy not to have to spend much time with the lady.

A not so relaxing Sunday

The staff had a day off on Sunday, so she was alone in the garden with her dogs. On this particular day, she was enjoying a cold glass of French white wine when a large man appeared at the edge of her immaculate lawn, waving a cutlass and shouting obscenities. As her unwelcome visitor advanced, Miss Castelaine looked to her trained Ridgebacks to attack the man. The guard dogs both took one look at what appeared to be a drug-crazed intruder and decided that discretion was the better part of valour and as fast as their legs would carry them, they ran away!! This left their mistress to face the consequences.

She ran into the house, locked the door and phoned the police, who fortunately arrived rapidly, disarmed the interloper and took him away.

‘Highly trained’

Shortly afterwards, Miss Castelaine contacted me to ask if I could explain why her trained guard dogs had turned tails and run away.

Having established that the trespasser had gained access via an unlocked gate, I inquired about who had trained them, where they were trained, and what part the lady had played in their training. The reply left me not knowing whether to laugh or cry.

“Before I left Martinique 3 years ago, I purchased the two of them as highly trained personnel protection dogs. When I bought them, I was given a demonstration. A man was dressed in a huge thick padded suit, presumably to protect him from injury, he shouted at the dogs and they rushed toward him and dragged him to the ground. The trainer informed me that this would happen if I were threatened and that I was to ensure that they were to be kept away from associating with people so that they would know when I was in danger.”

I then asked the obvious question.

“Can I ask what you paid?”

The fee was outrageous.

I was introduced to Maxime and Louis, who were delightful but appeared slightly nervous and not very well-socialised. This was hardly a surprise, considering their lifestyle.

I was able to explain that the demonstration of the dogs’ attacking prowess was no more than a game that took no more than a few hours to teach. It looked very impressive, but in no way could it be described as any sort of reliable personal protection. Miss Castelaine had taken no part in their training nor received any advice on keeping the dogs’ training up to date. Bearing in mind that the majority of people will never actually require the need of personal protection dogs, and they are only there for show, it’s hardly surprising that an unscrupulous trainer would take advantage. Sadly, Miss Castelaine had no understanding of what she had purchased and had lived in blissful ignorance, secure in the mistaken belief that her safety was guaranteed by her guard dogs, who were no more dependable for safety than a couple of pet Chihuahuas. In fact, a pair of Chihuahuas would probably have been more reliable.

Having spent some time explaining what had occurred I discovered that the lady wasn’t quite as insufferable as in the past. The episode had shaken her to the core, however, I was impressed by her stoicism and desire to put it behind her and move on. The obvious problem was what to do about Maxime and Louis and her security.

A long discussion took place that revealed that the presence of the two dogs had not been observed by the police, as the “not so deadly duo” had been hiding. So their reputation was not sullied in any way. Miss Castelaine had become very fond of her guard dogs and was reluctant to part with them, so it was agreed that she would continue as before because, as I pointed out, her real security came from their reputation. As for the inebriated intruder, who it transpired had been drinking an illicit home brew, he was unlikely to remember what had happened. Having conceived a more reliable system for ensuring the gate was closed, I departed.

Epilogue

Shortly after this incident I returned to the UK but kept in touch with friends on the island.

Miss Castelaine continued to reside in St Lucia for many years with Maxime and Louis without incident. With the eventual demise of her two canine companions she left St Lucia and returned to Martinique.

And the moral to the story? Don’t assume that your dog will protect you unless you use a reliable professional trainer, have been involved in their training at an early stage and know how to reinforce that training in the future.