I have a daughter called Freya, aged seven, who sometimes makes suggestions for this column but complains that I never take any notice of them. In particular, she is cross with me for never mentioning her dog Lena, a large mongrel that looks a bit like a black curly-haired Alsatian but has on the other hand the sweetest of temperaments. Given this is Christmas, I thought I would please Freya by finally doing so. But I should add that this is not the only reason, for Lena is a dog worth celebrating.
Lena comes originally from Umbria in Italy, where Freya once used to spend holidays with her mother in a rented farmhouse. She appeared at the house one day, starving, emaciated and about to give birth to a litter of puppies. So she was taken in, fed and cared for until the puppies were born and found homes. One might expect an ill-treated and abandoned dog to be surly and suspicious of human beings, but Lena was quite the contrary — trusting, grateful and affectionate. Maybe she wasn’t deliberately abandoned, but was the victim of some mishap. Maybe her Italian owners had been kind to her and missed her. Or maybe even cruelty could not dent her good nature.
In any event, she endeared herself so much to Freya and her mother that they could not bear to leave her behind in Italy when they returned to London and so arranged to have her join them there. So now Lena lives in London, where she seems thoroughly at home. And sometimes she comes up to visit me here in the Northamptonshire countryside, where she has lots of space to run around in and lots of rabbits to chase.
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