It's a dog's life or...unexpected consequences

A few weeks ago I returned to Georgia from somewhere, luckily and unusually during the day time, to find my balcony door open and a huge Alsatian dog on the balcony. We both screamed - well, the dog barked at me and I shouted at it. Whereupon it skedaddled into the furthest corner of the balcony.

Turns out that my landlord, who lives downstairs, has fallen heir to this dog, though not, apparently, to everyone's delight. Now that I was back, my balcony was no longer available, and the dog went downstairs, into the landlord's garden. But what's this? There is already the resident dog! The dog who is always tied up - and here is the Alsatian, pre-owned by an American, but not used to being tied up. What to do next?

There was much debate, including a not very serious idea to get rid of the previous dog, not a pedigree. Meantime the Alsatian was also tied up, in various parts of the yard - and this time of year the main part with shade was used by dog No 1. The Alsatian, a big soul, and quite a bit of a fearty, took well to being tied up, apart from howling for the odd night or two. But after a while she was just let loose, and she was ok - she's not as lively as some dogs we know.

Now, a few weeks later, dog No 1 is also off the lead much of the time, and loves to do a great impression of a cat, climbing onto the outside toilet roof and keeping an eye on everyone coming in. So, thank you, Alsatian!