I
am Ramsey, Lindsay's pet Yorkshire Terrier.
I am a very selective Lady's dog (an original
son
of a bitch in fact) and would not be seen walked by any Tom, Dick or
Harry.
My personal information:
It is my main ambition to grow up and be a large sheepdog or an aggressive alsatian / german shepherd. Unfortunately, this ambition is unlikely to be fulfilled. However I have fulfilled another ambition, namely to have my very own WWW Home Page. I am one of the earliest dogs in cyberspace, having had this page since about 1997. When the home computer is otherwise idle I lie by it as it searches for extra-terrestrial intelligence.
On a part time basis I act as a watch dog at the Agius
household.
I am not very good at biting postmen's fingers since I can't
reach
the letterbox. However in the garden when I was younger, I used to
chase birds of all descriptions
from small birds such as sparrows and tits to big birds such as crows,
magpies and jays. When I was younger I used to chase the odd
pussy
cat in the garden but even then the feline beast would usually climb up
some vantage position such as a shed or a fence and taunt me from on
high. Now I content myself with occasionally playing with inanimate
objects such as later rubber toy 'bones'. Children like to play with me since I
look cute and cuddly, but I'm really quite selfish and will abuse a
child's friendship by trying to bite it if I feel annoyed by their
attention.
As I get older I am less active and tend to watch the world go by, and you can see me doing just that in the following image, alongside another Yorkie called Bovril by his owner. I am the good looking one on the left of the image. When hungry I am apt to beg by staring at humans with my round eyes, or else I lick or paw the foot corresponding to the hand that I hope will feed me.
I enjoy being taken for walks though sometimes I need to be
gently
pulled back with my leather lead as I have a bad habit of smelling and
sniffing disgusting deposits such as other dogs' business cards.
However, I do not usually have dog fleas.
In the picture above, I am sharing a basket with my
housemate. He is called Foxi and belongs to my mistress' daughter - so
in an
anthropo-canine social sort of sense he is my adoptive nephew.
Even though he is much larger and fitter than me, I am still 'top-dog'
and I can easily muscle in to stick my face in any tasty meal and edge
him out. The cute white fluffy bitch is a temporary occasional
house
guest.
I had the hots for her once but unfortunately she did not
reciprocate. She is a rather posh Bijon Frise, named after
the queen (what an insult). Now that I am older and have had THE
operation (
see below for more details ) she does not quite turn me on in the same
way.
I am a 'pedigree' dog with a certificate to prove it. My
first name
'Ramsey' derives from the name of the village in Essex where I was
conceived,
born and bred. My full kennel name is 'Reach-Far Laird of Ramsey'.
Sounds
distinguished -doesn't it? ... but if you read on you will see that I
cannot
reach very far at all. In fact 'roach-far' would have been a more apt
name.
For those of you who don't know - a pedigree dog is one which does not
have the opportunity to choose its parents properly. Mongrels on the
other
hand are luckier in that they have a wider degree of diversity in their
genome, with less genetic defects.
When
I am in a conceited mood I like to believe that I'm
very important. Indeed a Royal Navy vessel was named after me.
HMS Ramsey
was the tenth of the Sandown Class of Single Role Minehunters to enter
service (in the year 2000).
Like me the Ramsey was not really built of
the strongest materials - she was essentially made of plastic!
Like me her name is NOT spelt 'Ramsay'. I am not persuaded
that the vessel was named after some
place on some island somewhere. I'm sure she must have been named
after
me ... must have ...
One of the many unfortunate consequences of my 'pedigree'
was
Perthe's
disease in both my hips. In fact I probably have all but one of the
reported
diseases of Yorkies arising from inbreeding. For example I have
tracheomalacia, and had patellar
subluxation, and retention of milk teeth (removed under general
anaesthetic). I have a roach back and cataracts, and in some
circumstances have great difficulty seeing things. Only one of my
gonads
i.e. testes has ever descended and it developed a huge tumour which was
excised in 2004, when my scrotum was just about scraping the ground.
I have
a number of
smaller tumours in my skin.
I have atrial fibrillation. My hearing is getting progressively worse,
and I am almost stone deaf.
Luckily I do not have von Willebrand's
disease (probably the only significant congenital disease of Yorkie's
that I did not inherit - or at least have not shown signs of -
yet)!. I walk thanks to the excellent orthopaedic surgical skills
of
the small animal clinic of the Royal
(Dick) School of Veterinary Studies in Edinburgh at which centre of
excellence both the heads of my femurs were excised and chucked in the
bin. However it is just possible that they were submitted to 'organ
retention'
for teaching / research purposes, without my consent. A number
of vets have probably had good holidays at my (owner's) expense. She is
a nurse and looks after me well. From
time
to time I get threatened with a one way ticket to the vet, but my
watery
pleading eyes and a few licks of my tongue soon earn me yet another
reprieve.
Post script:
On the 30th of November 2005, Reach-far Laird of Ramsey shuffled off his mortal collar, peacefully while at rest.
He had given and received fourteen and a half years of loyal affection, and will be sorely missed.
It has been decided to retain this page in his memory.
Ramsey's last journey - an elegy.
Not a hum was heard, not a funeral note,
As his corpse o'er the flagstones we carried;
Not a child discharged a farewell cry
O'er the grave where our doggie we buried.
We buried him darkly at eight of
night,
The sods with our shovel turning,
By the struggling moonless misty light
of the torches dimly shining.
No useless coffin enclosed his breast,
Not in shroud but bean bag we zipped him;
and he lay like a Yorkie taking his rest
With his food bowl beside him.
Few and short were the prayers we said,
And we spoke not a word of sorrow;
But we steadfastly gazed on the pet that was dead,
And we thought of the vacant morrow.
We thought, as we crafted his narrow bed
And smooth'd down his lonely pillow,
That the friend, and stranger would tread o'er his head
beneath the slab that lay on the hollow.
Fondly they'll talk of the spirit that's gone,
or over his cold ashes jest of him—
But little he'll care, if they let him sleep on
In the grave where a human has laid him.
Slowly and sadly we lowered him down,
in the garden of his home and family;
We carved not a line, but laid a dragon stone,
and we left him alone - our Ramsey.
( Adapted with posthumourous
apologies from Charles Wolfe's poem entitled 'The Burial
of Sir John Moore at Corunna '.)
'Top Dog'
Topdog is dead.
Foxi now ipso facto occupies
the position of 'top dog'.