Saffie the superstar
On a recent holiday in Cornwall, we were fortunate enough to choose a very comfortable mobile home on a very quiet site.
The holiday had gone quite well, but alas the beaches were few and far between and those we did find were 'no dog' areas. We therefore missed those long beachcombing walks which our two borders love so much.
Having decided to cut the holiday short by a couple of days, we had packed most of our gear away ready for an early start the following morning.
At 1.50 a.m. we were woken by one growling, barking Saffie.
After a couple of seconds trying to wake up, it was apparent that she was barking at a strange sound outside, almost like the sound of rapid gunfire.
I went to the door to look outside while my wife opened the curtains to peer into what she thought would be darkness.
She let out a gasp - FIRE.
A large barn some 80 yards away had flames starting to lick out of its roof, and the asbestos roofing was exploding in the intense heat.
I immediately threw on some clothes and ran to a nearby phone box and rang the emergency services, who arrived remarkably quickly considering the narrow roads of Cornwall.
We had several hours of excitement watching the display, and Saffie..........well she'd done her bit and was now curled in a little ball fast asleep, oblivious to all the noise outside.
Some hours later, with the fire still roaring (bales of hay take a long time to burn), and with the first signs of dawn, I decided to take Saffie and Bonnie for a short walk.
As we walked down the narrow dark lane a figure appeared out of the gloom wearing big boots and fluorescent strips round his jacket . . . a fireman.
This encounter resulted in a lot of 'telling off' by both dogs, so anyone who had not been woken by the sound of the fire or the fire tenders would certainly have been woken by two irate terriers.
And so ended the holiday, with Saffie proving the effectiveness of a border terrier as a 'house' dog, with the ability to warn us of strange noises.
