Dordogne with Lola and Fizz

Sue Palmer
May 3, 2013
2 min read

May of 2013 found us in the Dordogne region of France, looking after two gorgeous girls, Lola and Fizz (a couple of large woolly standard poodles). For those who don't know this breed these are big strong girls. Believe me I know!

Our dog walking started out with the dogs trying to drag us around and see who would be the first to remove an arm from the handler’s socket. Some intensive training was required! The Tom and Sue School of Dog Handling came into force (along with a LOT of treats!) Fortunately the “girls” were both intelligent dogs and soon realize that by walking to heel and sitting on request equated to getting goodies, it was a no brainer and they would readily oblige.

We also had responsibility for 6 goldfish - one pregnant (various names, all female except for George....pretty sure he's the daddy!) in a pond with a leak. Never did find the leak!

To add to the mix Lola was on heat and soon attracted the attention of a very ambitious King Charles Spaniel (think he would have needed a step ladder to get any where with this lady). Still his hormones obviously got the better of him. He camped outside the house (unbeknown to us), in the pouring rain, overnight. The following morning we discover one rather soggy doggie. However, the rain had not dampen his spirits and he was still clearly very much in lust for the lovely Lola despite her being 3 times his size!

The house was a beautiful stone farmhouse with 4 bedrooms and a gite attached. There was a kidney shaped pool in the garden for us to maintain and use. Unfortunately not heated it was just too cold to enjoy.

We cleaned and maintained the pool on a regular basis and the removal of the snake was completed without too much hassle. Fortunately, only a baby one but we did wonder were the mum might be hiding in the undergrowth.

We really enjoyed our time in the Dordogne. We were close to several Bastides ( Small Frenh Towns) all with local markets, on different days. Tom, still very much into sampling the French cheeses whilst I nosed around the girly stalls. A fun house/pet sit and an area we would love to return to one day.