January 22

Three years ago, I had a phone call from a couple in Victoria Falls who wanted to stay for the weekend.  Only when they had booked did they ask if they could bring their dog with them.  Rolo was not even a year old and he was a big handful.  I struggled to control him and John was away.  As much as I tried to assert myself, Rolo did not see me as Leader of the Pack.  I sent them a message to say that they could not bring their dog and received the reply that 'it's too late.  We are on our way.'

Rolo is not aggressive with other dogs; he only ever wants to play and this desire was ten times stronger when he was a puppy and he was the only dog.  He would not let this little dog go and whined constantly, scratching at the cottage door and then howling his little heart out.

It was the year we had very heavy, constant rain so everything was muddy and waterlogged.  I asked this couple not to let the dog on the bed, but the duvet cover was full of little pawprints.  On top of that, they smoked inside the cottage and took it upon themselves to put up a little piece of fencing where there is a gap between the wall and the door.  Altogether, they made themselves too much at home.

This afternoon, I receive a message from the same couple asking if we have a vacancy, which we do.

Them: Great!  See you in a couple of hours.
Me: However, I am afraid you cannot bring your dog.
Them: Then we will have to cancel.
Me: Sorry.

So once again, they were planning to turn up without mentioning the dog.  Surely that is something that you need to tell people about? I doubt we will see them again.