I should know better

I suppose I should be well used to Marcus by now. He is, to say the least of it, single minded...

At one of the summer shows we were redirected into somewhat cramped indoor accommodation. Marcus and the other Usual Suspects were placed in their crate at the ringside. I left them to look for someone, and when I got back, their crate had been joined by a much bigger one containing two Dogues de Bordeaux.

Merlin took one look at those two huge red mastiffs and dived under the bedding. Marcus, on the other hand, sussed out that they were girls. The little detail that their heads were bigger than his whole body was totally irrelevant. By the time I returned he was strutting his stuff for them. They were studying him with interest. Was he lunch? If so, why was the meal dancing?

Marcus gave me a knowing look. "I`m well in there mum. Did you bring a ladder?" He was most offended to be removed.

At the last show, I was well aware that Truly was still...well, quite interesting. But they would be separate. Separate crates, separate rings. And she was almost out. Shouldn`t be a problem.....

Oh dear. Marcus doesn`t do "almost". And when frustrated he screams. I spent a lot of time just shutting him up.....and then their classes coincided.

A kind friend took Marcus in for me. And I watched from the other ring as he behaved disgracefully, heaving and pulling to get a glimpse of his beloved at the far side of the hall. And then he spotted an alternative. A little dog of the same breeding as Truly, who looks very like her... Unfortunately, a male dog......

Gentle reader, I will draw a veil over the very unambiguous and very public advances he made to this unfortunate and unsuspecting dog. I can only put them down to desperation and hope the victim is not permanently emotionally scarred .

I gave him a sharp lecture on how he had ruined his reputation. He smirked at me. He was already planning how to get at her on the long journey home...

Alas, not even Marcus can chew through metal.