Pets, Poodles and a Cinder-Eating Wonderdog
In the Port Tennant of my 1960s childhood, pets were less pampered companions and more resilient, sometimes bizarre, members of the household.
We always had pets — dogs, cats, poodles with personality issues. Some came and went, others stuck around long enough to be remembered fondly or feared slightly. They were part of the household, just like the coal fire and the outside toilet.
And while some of the names may raise eyebrows today, they were a product of their time.
The Cat with the Unrepeatable Name
My Nan had a black cat named Nigger, a name that, rightly, would never be used today. But back then, it was unfortunately quite common to call black pets that, without malice, just ignorance. (Even Guy Gibson’s dog, a black Labrador of The Dam Busters had the same name.) Nan certainly wasn’t trying to make a statement — she just liked the cat.
Trixie, Cindy and the Poodle With Issues
We had a mongrel terrier-cross named Trixie and her daughter, Cindy, more about her in a later. Grandpa Davies had a poodle called Debbie, given to him as a sort of reward after Trixie had played wet-nurse to Debbie and her litter mates.
Debbie was small, black, curly, and snappy as hell. She rarely left Grandpa’s lap and would snarl at anyone who dared get within swiping range. I always thought she looked like a cushion with teeth.
Cindy: The Cinder-Eating Champion
Cindy was different. A terrier-border collie cross, she had the build of a collie but short legs and the appetite of a goat. She got her name because, as a pup, she used to eat cinders from the fireplace, presumably thinking they were some kind of exotic biscuit.
She nearly died young. At just a few months old, she came down with distemper, a disease that was usually fatal back then. One of the symptoms was that she couldn’t keep food down.
Mam, never one to give up easily, decided to try feeding her egg whites, “to line her stomach.” It worked. Cindy pulled through, though the rest of us spent a few weeks living off scrambled egg yolks.
Even while she was ill, she would drag herself down the garden to do her business, an act of dignity that many fully grown adults struggle with. Later in life, she took it a step further and began sneaking into other people’s gardens to do it, which was far less appreciated, by the neighbours that is.