The Adventures of Raffa The Cavapoo
I've got a large number of aunts. Aunts tend to be people my parents know well, who go all gooey when they see me.
We're talking dog people. When I see them, I recognise this and I get so super-duper excited I could just burst. I jump up, kiss them up and love them up. My mum tries to get me to calm down, and "sit!", but when my aunts are around it's impossible to keep my joyous personality under wraps. It's just the way I am.
However my exuberant behaviour is not so easily tolerated by everyone. (I'm thinking about the lady vet I met recently). She wanted me to see a dog psychiatrist. My mum smiled politely, wrote the name of the dog psychiatrist down, and got us the hell out of Dodge.
In the car later she said, "you know Raffa, it's not you they want to send to the dog psychiatrist. It's me".
Let's talk about Aunt Sabine. Aunt Sabine is SO good to me! She lives next door and has human children and an enormous dog child called Stanley. When Stanley was born it was the year of the L for dog names. But Stanley's family wanted to call him Stanley and not a name beginning with L.
For those of you that don't know it, in France you are supposed to name your dog with a name beginning with a certain letter, depending on what year it is. A bit like car number plates in the UK.
The vet they registered Stanley with was insistent that he would only record a name beginning with L, so Sabine's son said "OK - his name is Ley, Stan-ley". As in Bond, James Bond. Sabine's human son is really very smart.
Fortunately for me, I was born in 2020, the year of the R. Since 1991, my mum has named all her dog family with names beginning with R. So in 2020, timing-wise, my name just worked out. In the past my predecessors where, Rio, Rocco, Roma and Reina.
The birth name on my documentation is Raphael - but I am called Raffa for short.
Aunt Sarah also lives next door and she looked after me a couple of days ago when I got off my lead and caused havoc. Then there is Aunt Susie and Aunt Wendy who live at the other end of the road. I miss my glamourous Aunt Marie-Claude who recently moved away to the Dordogne.
Here is a photo of me when I was a little puppy, sitting next to Aunt Marie-Claude's painted toenails outside a restaurant. That was just before all the restaurants were closed last year during the great big human pandemic.
My Aunt Judith lives a long, long way away but sometimes I go to visit her in the car. My mum makes me stay in my cage though as she is worried I will wreck explore Aunt Judith's house.
My Aunt Céline lives miles away too. Aunt Céline and I have a lot in common. We are both French and like me, she speaks perfect English.
I don't know about the letter system for dogs' names. He's a very clever dog x
Oh thank you Auntie Judith. Does this mean I can explore your house now?
Hi Raffa, we have never met but I am a distant aunt that lives in Jamaica. I have 3 dogs and 1 just had 8 puppies who entered this world on March 9. Would love to meet you in person?
I am going to write a blog post about my intercontinental aunties and you will be in it. When I meet you Aunty Denise, I will kiss you up and love you up and dance around you, (I can dance you know) because there is nothing better in the world, than an Aunty who appreciates a small dog like me, all way from the other side of the big Atlantic ocean.
😂😂😂 I hope you can dance to reggae music... Practice practice practice...we are gonna have a ball!!! 💃💃💃💃
Hi Raffa, I'm another intercontinental aunt. I met 2 of your siblings when I visited the UK years ago. You have a feline cousin. Her name is Moonlight, we call her Moonie. Do you like cats? I hope to come to France and meet you when life gets back to normal. I studied French for 5 years but it was my worst subject, so you'll have to help me out.
Dear Aunty Dalu
I have only met one cat who is called Leon, but he didn't want to play with me. Leon lives with my Auntie Celine. I am sure I will get on with Moonlight, because my mum says I am in touch with my feline side. Moonlight sounds very deep and mysterious. Maybe we can become paw pals. I must be the luckiest Cavapoo in the world; I have so many gorgeous Aunties here AND on the other side of the big wide world.
Bonjour Raffa
Moi je suis française comme toi mais je vis en Australie; c’est très loin! Mais mon fils habite à Paris et il crée une association locale « Doggy Day Care ». Can you imagine dogs who can’t play in the snow, nor do big mountain walks and who have to live in little flats? They love when Uncle Laurie takes them to play in a big park and a big lake.
Françoise
Je suis heureux de faire votre connaissance! J'ai lu un article sur l'Australie et j'ai peur d'y aller. Il y a de grands animaux en Australie avec des poches intégrées qui sautent! Peut-être ils veulent voler les petits Cavapoos et les mettre dans leurs poches ... je ne sais pas! Vous etes très courageuse - êtes-vous une exploratrice?
Your son Laurie is very, very good. I worry about little dogs who are not as lucky as I am.
I hope you publish this one day Raffa and become the first canine author. By the way are you bilingual ?
Auntie Janet - I am fluent in French and English, but my mum says I am also good at using my body and my facial expressions to communicate. It's a dog thing.