Beard envy?

Until this week, I had always taken my beard for granted.

I'm sure you have noticed that I am blessed with a luxuriant abundance of facial hair. Gail does trim it quite often - who knows how long the furs would grow without interference.

So anyway, I was walking in the park on Saturday morning when a Welsh terrier called Taffy and his owner stopped for a chat. The lady commented admiringly on my fine fuzzy fizzog and, no doubt to the embarrassment of poor Taffy, noted how thin and feeble his beard seemed in comparison.

At least Gail spared Taffy's blushes and did not take a photo of him. But I have to say, I do believe I detected a touch of envy in his eyes as he glanced at my bushy schnozzle and then contemplated his own wispy affair.

Do you have a beard and is it a source of pride too?

PS Gail tells me that this is not a polite question to ask a human lady of a certain age. Or in fact any age. Can that be true...?

Tail envy?

Really, there are few situations in life which are not improved by having a tail.

Now Gail is questioning whether my readers (with the obvious exception of esteemed Mayoress Madi), will bear yet another post on the topic of my rear-end appendage.

Do you think she could possibly be suffering from Tail Envy?

It must be so limiting, to have to use just your facial muscles to express joy, anticipation, delight, friendliness, uncertainty, vigilance, anger and fear, do you not agree?

I am thinking that all those not-so-young actresses with faces immobilised by botox might get hired again, if only they were able to access a nicely flexible tail to help convey emotion.

And did you know that us wire-haired fox terriers really are very special and unique in this area of anatomy?

It's not only that we don't mind a bit if you tug at our tail, quite hard, in a way which would cause offence to most pups. According to Gail's vet friend Kirsty, when (heaven forbid) WFT's are put under anaesthetic, our tails twitch in a manner unique to our breed*. Isn't that something else?

Some folk, e.g. dog show judges, would claim I am over-endowed, tail-wise.

Clearly, that is a ridiculous concept.

*Gail was intrigued by this snippet of terrier lore, and later asked Kirsty if the trait had been documented anywhere, but was disappointed to learn the evidence is merely "anecdotal".