I put this picture on Twitter and Facebook recently, but I’m so in love with it I’ve decided to put it up on here too. Taken by my friend Jan-Erik Posth (a nice German man married to a Swedish lady. He and I spend a good deal of time arguing about his belief in the imminent collapse of Western Civilisation), it shows me and my Malamute Magnus leaping over a puddle after yet another round of surface flooding a few weeks back. We’ve had rain floods all year in the UK. Magnus and I come home caked in mud every damn day, and the poor hound has to put up with the indignity of a good hosing before he can come into the house.
Looking at this image made me realise what a pleasure it is to have such a fine dog. Sure, he’s a massive pain sometimes, but the picture made me reflect on how much he’s changed these last two years, and how much more growing he has to do before he’s fully mature. Mentally, I add, at 48 kilos he’s as big as he’ll get physically, being neither particularly large nor particularly small for a British-born Mal.
The daily walk I have with Magnus is invaluable. It gets me my exercise and gets me out of the house for an hour, where I tend to meet other human beings. Without him I’d be home alone for six hours, and with little adult company all day. He also does a fine job of pulling things along, including me on my bike, which is very exciting. So here’s to Doctor Magnus, without him I’d be a sight crazier.
