Liebling: An adventurous life

By Jenny Mansell-Black

People will say that I was no ordinary German Shorthaired Pointer. Although born of pedigreed parents, I was not considered good enough for competition. But that didn't stop me from leading an adventurous life with my human mother, Jenny. I became a part of Jenny's tennis and business life, and acquainted myself with the neighbours and the gas workers. When I became a mother, oh the dramas! I did have a tendency to wander and my daughter assisted by digging the escape hole, while my sooky son refused to leave and would howl the alarm. We moved to a quaint little village where I fell in love with the family down the road, attended parties in the village and raised a Persian Chinchilla (cat, for the uninitiated). Moving to the Gold Coast meant more trouble. I frequented the casino and the local shopping complex and was kidnapped. I spent my retirement in sunny Manly snatching ice creams from unsuspecting small children at the local fair and seizing sausages meant for family barbecues. This is my life and a true Australian story.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Jenny Mansell-Black
• Release date: Nov 13, 2012
• ISBN: 9780987366122

Jenny Mansell-Black

Jenny Mansell-Black was a Fundraising Consultant in Brisbane, Australia. She has been published twice in Australian newspapers for her stories on “The Cat” and her pet magpie “Gimpy”.

Book preview

An adventurous life

Jenny Mansell-Black

PO Box 5207 Manly Qld 4179 Australia

Mobile: [phone]

Fax: [phone]

Email: [e-mail]

This book and other Liebling products are available at:

http://www.liebling.com.au

Sketches by Krista Brennan http://www.wovenlines.com

Copyright 2012 Jenny Mansell-Black

ISBN 978-0-9873661-2-2

Smashwords Edition, License Notes

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CONTENTS

1. Our first home

2. Off to work ...

3. Tennis was our other life

4. Being a mother ...

5. Morning tea with the gas workers

6. Bo’s little mistakes

7. The love affair

8. Parties in the village

9. Raising Pandora

10. Life on Capri

11. Pacific Fair adventure

12. Kidnapped!

13. Retirement at Manly

14. Our final sunset

This is Liebling’s story as seen through her eyes.

We all loved her and we miss her.

To my dearest friends – Gordon, Sue, Vanessa and Hilary.

They were the most loving and understanding friends a dog could have.

People will say that I was no ordinary German Shorthaired Pointer. Although born of pedigreed parents, I was not considered good enough for competition. But that didn't stop me from leading an adventurous life with my human mother, Jenny. I became a part of Jenny's tennis and business life, and acquainted myself with the neighbours and the gas workers. When I became a mother, oh the dramas! I did have a tendency to wander and my daughter assisted by digging the escape hole, while my sooky son refused to leave and would howl the alarm. We moved to a quaint little village where I fell in love with the family down the road, attended parties in the village and raised a Persian Chinchilla (cat, for the uninitiated). Moving to the Gold Coast meant more trouble. I frequented the casino and the local shopping complex and was kidnapped. I spent my retirement in sunny Manly snatching ice creams from unsuspecting small children at the local fair and seizing sausages meant for family barbecues. This is my life and a true Australian story.

CHAPTER 1

Our first home

The first time I saw Jenny she was standing at the back door of the house talking to the breeder in a very excited tone. She was tall with red hair and freckles, dressed in white tennis skirt and top, and she literally bounced down the winding path towards our kennel with the breeder finding it difficult to keep up.

Velvet still hasn’t been found, I heard Jenny say, as she came closer. She has been missing for over a month now and I don’t think she will ever return.

They came into the kennel looking us all over and I waddled towards her and decided to chew on her sandshoe laces. What a cutie! she said. The breeder explained that there were only two puppies left and let her pick each of us up in turn.

She cuddled me into her large, warm breast and I gave her a big sloppy lick. That cinched it. I’ll take this one, she said quickly, mind made up, no hesitation in her voice. That was the beginning of my life with Jenny – my human mother and friend for the rest of my life; a life of love and adventure, happiness and sadness, anguish and tender moments, but nevertheless a very exciting and fruitful life. I was to leave my birth mother and enter a human world, one in which I would leave my mark on many people.

Having received my official birth papers and paid the breeder, Jenny tucked me under her arm and we left quickly. I was placed on the back seat of her brown sedan car and we drove off at a maddening pace. This was my first time in a car. I was unsure of myself with all the activity and noise, as I sat there swaying with the movement of the car while staring at my new mother.

The reason for all the panic soon became apparent with our arrival at the tennis club. Jenny jumped out of the car and took me over to a shaded area beneath some pine trees, where she set me up on a rug and tied my lead.

Come on Jen, you’re first on, shouted one of her friends. This was competition tennis and, as I learnt later, you must start on time or forfeit the first set.

Sitting high above the six tennis courts enabled me to see everything that was going on. But after a short while I grew bored. The lead was too short, I was missing my birth mother and I’m sure it must have been feed time. I screamed, howled and cried. The tennis continued on, with people coming to see what was causing all the commotion and cuddling me while exclaiming How cute! In between sets Jenny came up to see that I was OK.

As the sun started to slide in the sky, I was taken inside the clubhouse and given the first of many years of afternoon teas – scones and pikelets with jam and cream, chocolate cakes and biscuits with raspberry coating. Savouries with cheese are passable, but you can keep the tomato and lettuce!

People fussed over me. What are you going to call her? someone asked.

I haven’t decided yet, replied Jenny, I was hoping that Velvet would have been found by now. I hadn’t really thought what to call this one.

Well, she’s a German Shorthaired Pointer, isn’t she? inquired the tennis player. So she should have a German name.

Yes, she is a bit of a darling, replied Jen thoughtfully, obviously tossing the idea around in her head. I’ll give her the German name for darling – Liebling.

And so that’s how I was named. Greatly different from my official breeder’s name of Kirschwasser Miatai, but certainly a lovable name.

It wasn’t until the sun had set which forced the tennis players to finish their playing, before they all settled in for a beer of celebration or commiseration. By this time I was feeling tired and miserable and desperately wanted the warmth of my birth mother.

My cries drew attention from Jenny who told everyone that dinner was waiting and so she scooped me up, placed me on the front seat of the car and we drove off, this time at a slower pace.

Home was a cute little white, turn-of-the-century cottage with a white picket fence that was falling down. I was allowed the run of the house and the large back yard, in the middle of which was a disused tin-roofed toilet shed. At the back door stood an enormous, old loquat tree laden with fruit. Plenty of places for a GSP to investigate.

Our first home

Next door lived a stuffy old English sheepdog called Jim. Sometimes I could get through the rotting fence and play with him, but he wasn’t much fun at all. Too big and hot with all that fur and definitely no sense of adventure. He would look down at me with disdain and just stand there when I pulled at the fur on his neck.

Jim would just stand there while I tugged at him.

Christmas had passed and Velvet had not returned. She was my step-sister; we had the same mother but a different father and Velvet was of the solid red colouring while I was what they called liver and