My "Accessory" Dog

This morning I was doing a Zoom author chat with  LetsTalkRomanceBooks.com
and I was talking about my dog, Chloe, who was a kelpie (ie an Australian working dog, bred for herding cattle and sheep) but who was also an accessory dog, which I admit, took me by surprise at the time. She was a Dog of Strong Opinions. This, for instance is how she took to wearing a lead.

For a few days it was like taking a loaf of bread for a walk!

The accessories came later. It happened like this: we used to go down to dog park every day around the same time, and so all the dogs and people got to know each other and became friends over time. One year, just before Christmas, Jane, who had two dogs, arrived with about 50 Christmas bandanas she had made for the dogs. Of course we put them on all the dogs, and some immediately shook them off, but most of them stayed. Chloe’s stayed.

When Chloe and I got back into the car, I took her bandana  off and left it there. The next time she was in the car, she kept nudging the bandana, and when I put it on her she sat up, proudly, so happy to be wearing it. But I still hadn’t quite got the message, that she liked accessories.

Some time later I decided to take a photo of her with a red feather boa I had. I wrapped it around her neck, and instead of pulling it off, as I expected — I mean, feathers! — she immediately posed like mad. As you can see.

And that’s the story of Chloe and her accessories. She was a wonderful dog and I still miss her.