Never pat a strange puppy.
A golden rule that I know and that I ignore and with consequences
like this morning with Priscilla away checking something in the jungle, giving me a chance to slip down the hill unfollowed by her to buy some eggs from the local tienda and, for ease, taking a shortcut passing close to one of the houses in the cluster down the hill where a couple of pups were frolicking.
And I committed the cardinal sin of patting them
so they followed me down to the big road and waited for me till I returned from the tienda
and one of them decided to walk with me to my house where the resident mutts took umbrage
and I had to rescue the wayward pup and carry it back to its house, from where it tried to follow me home again, braving the coterie of frenzied females.
It finally gave up and I told myself again
never pat a strange puppy