Meet Casey

Long, long ago, I drove to a local shopping centre to pick up a prescription for one of the kids, and I came back with two tiny, scruffy abandoned puppies in the boot of the car. We rehomed one, and the other was our little rogue Scamp, who made me smile every single day of the eighteen years she spent with us.

In keeping with family tradition, the LSH went shopping in Manosque a couple of weeks ago and came back with a puppy in the boot of the Fiat 500.

No tiny, cute puppy this time, but a big, nine-month old (approx) lummox of a dog.

We did the usual – got him scanned for a chip; reported to the Gendarmes; posted him on the local lost pets page on Facebook. As the days passed and we feared we were Getting Attached, we were hoping more and more that no owner would turn up. Apparently the legal amount of time before one can assume ownership here is one week. We waited two, just to be certain.

Rosie and Cookie were not sure that they wanted a gigantic baby brother – their furry little noses were quite out of joint for the first few days. Then he and Cookie started to play, cautiously at first, with Madame putting him sharply in his place if he became too rough. Soon all three dogs were spending hours hooning around our little garden like lunatics. The LSH and I weren’t the only ones in danger of Getting Attached.

We were afraid to name him, because it would only increase any potential Attachment that might or might not be happening. But after ten days, we began to try out names. We came up with a few that work equally well in French and English. Luke. Mati. Beau. None of them seemed right. We’re Munster supporters – how about Zebo? We tried it for a day, but neither of us felt natural saying it.

During the course of a sleepless night, I began to run themes for names through my head. Other rugby players. Famous horses. Animals. Birds. Place names. Eventually I hit on fast food joints in Cork. Jumbo? No. Just… No. Lennox the lummox had a certain ring to it… Dino wasn’t bad… but how about KC’s, our favourite chipper in Douglas? KC – Casey? Yes, I liked that one…

In the morning, the LSH agreed. Casey it is.

He’s now chipped and registered in our name. Lummox or not, this dude is going nowhere.