Hamish the Westie, January 2010
Nice Nobby, October 2022
The background story:
Gail's first ever dog, Hamish the Westie, was aged fourteen when Gail decided he needed a new raincoat as his existing one was ragged and distinctly porous. Hamish's furs had all the properties of a sponge and as a result he definitely preferred wearing a waterproof jacket in wet weather. Gail saw this fine item of dogwear on the Land's End website and, in an uncharacteristic burst of extravagance and sentimentality, decided to pay an additional sum of money to have Hamish's name embroidered across the back.
Sadly, Hamish only lived for a couple of months after the smart red raincoat arrived, and the nearly new garment was folded up neatly and consigned to the back of the 'dog things' cupboard.
It wasn't until Bouncing Bertie was about one year old that Gail decided to see if Hamish's raincoat would do for him too. Although fox terrier Bertie was quite a different shape from Hamish, this flexible coat fitted perfectly and indeed looked very handsome on him. Unfortunately there was a problem, as young Bertie did not react well to the noise of the velcro fastenings being pulled apart, and Gail eventually found him an alternative, a blue coat with a silent plastic clip. In time Bertie did get used to the velcro sound, and occasionally wore the red jacket, but his glossy furs were intrinsically quite water repellent so he had less need for an extra layer in wet weather. (He did wear home-knitted sweaters in the snow and frost, but that's another story.)
So although the 'Hamish' raincoat is twelve years old, it is still almost as good as new. I, Nice Nobby, am now nearly fully grown. We have had some very wet weather this week, and my furs are not as thick and glossy as Bertie's were, and so Gail decided I should wear the jacket for my early morning walk a couple of days ago. At first I thought she had given me an exciting new item to chew, but it turned out that was not the idea, and pretty soon I reconciled myself to the novel experience of wearing clothing and trotted happily round the park feeling quite suave.
I have noticed that what looks like the very same jacket is still available on the Lands' End website. Who thinks Gail should order me a brand new one - perhaps for a Christmas present this year - and have it customised with my name embroidered across the back? 'Nobby' or 'Nice Nobby'? What do you think?
