Hektor really is the most affectionate dog and he shares his warmness equally among Barbara, her mother and me but often for specifics - Barbara's mother, the hand that feeds; Barbara, the great provider of tit bits and nursing; me for adventure!

So to concentrate on the latter. Whenever Hektor thinks that it is time for an escapade he comes to find me, which generally means that someone has to let him into the house as he is an outside dog though I have to say in this cold weather and because he is clean and mud free (!) he does tend to spend quite a lot of time indoors. Anyway he will normally find me upstairs in our apartment probably working on the computer. If I do not take much notice of him he will scamper off and reappear, and here, carrying my woollen snow gaiters - just a small hint that we should go out together and have fun!

Having fun to him can be all manner of things, from a walking on the frozen fields and into the forest, climbing high up into the hills or following me as I ski over the frozen wastes. Of course, he has to have his attention diverted to other ventures and one of the best is mousing. This is where he buries his head deep into the snow having heard the sound of a mouse running along its tunnel just below the soil level, deep under the snow and moments later with glee he pulls out the unfortunate creature by the tail.

In the forest he loves to pull on his lead, ears pricked and watch the deer as they majestically leap away from us but being restrained is not his favourite adventure at all. Chasing animals, including those deer who stray out of the forest, is his main delight. However he has competition when it comes to hunting the mice under the snow - the fox. Hektor keeps his eyes open when we are on the open snowfields he can easily outrun a fox but normally the fox can find refuge before Hektor gets too close. Refuge can be a fallen tree where the fox with its open jaw showing its needle teeth can bark and spit at Hektor with the dog keeping its distance. The worst though is when the fox is caught completely in the open, Hektor quickly outruns it and then a fight ensues, they circle one another both barking and snapping.

 Now this is where it is interesting, there are varying species of mice, voles and shrews and not all are to his liking, so having the poor thing hanging in the air suspended from its tail, Hektor has to make a choice. If it is not to his liking the animal is dropped onto the snow and allowed to run away but should the animal be the delicacy he is seeking then ........................I leave the rest to your imagination!

Hektor sees this tasty snack as a supplementary meal between his breakfast and dinner, after all if you are hungry between meal times you go to the fridge or cupboard to find something to satisfy - so why shouldn’t he.

Hektor is distracted and the fox breaks for safety but Hektor is there again. The fight is really only broken up when I arrive on the scene and start yelling at Hektor to give up and let the fox escape. I am never sure who comes off worst from this scrap but certainly Hektor has had a bloody nose from a well positioned fox claw. As you can see by the scar that really has affected his good looks!

Hektor, of course knows where the foxes live and which of the various entrances the fox favours to use at the time and it is here where you can find Hektor standing guard just waiting to get his own back.

So there you have it a few of the adventures that Hektor gets up to with me!

Adventures with Hektor

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To work off his full stomach it is time for a bit of cat baiting, normally it is just a matter of a chase ending with the unfortunate cat shooting up a tree at high speed. But there are the bolder cats who will stand their ground with Hektor especially if there are no tress around and take no nonsense from him, as he circles the arched backed demon there is spitting and swearing whilst Hektor keeps his distance saying nothing. Then with a well placed punch the cat can get him squealing with pain as it lands a well aimed punch to his nose, there was even one occasion when the cats claw broke off to be embedded in his nose!

Close up of Hektor click here