Murder He Barked

Their Sunday afternoons are best spent in front of the television, binge watching Netflix, cuddling and eating crackers. Squeezing in between Tamara and her husband Francesco: Poirot, 12 months old Dachshund. Lazy – always, naughty- sometimes, but always good for a laugh. Here’s why the Southern Italian travel expert cannot remember how life was without their puppy – and why Poirot makes the perfect Netflix companion

Why a dog? Why a Dachshund?
We had thought about it for a long time, done some googling and finally found a breeder in Lecce. We contacted her and she sent us a couple of photos of their newborn puppies. Without hesitation we chose Poirot, the most beautiful boy of the whole bunch! In the eyes of others he may not be extraordinary at all, but he is ours, and we love him unconditionally. We call him our baby, can you imagine. And we hopefully are like Mom and Dad for him!

If Poirot were a person… who would he be?
A comedian, no doubt about that, some Mr. Bean or Benny Hill or, or…

Three reasons why you love him?
Because he is a good laugh even on rainy days, he is sweet and loving and we simply couldn’t live without him. If you think about it: He steals everything, destroys his toys and is often too lazy to even move from the sofa when he needs to do his business. BUT even this is adorable. We are completely lost!

What activities do you enjoy most?
Watching Netflix! The last series we saw was “Fauda”, which Poirot particularly loved. He seems to be into action movies!

Is Poirot part of the family?
150%!! He IS our family. He sleeps in our bed with us, much to the horror of non-dog parents… But this is who we are, this is the love that we share. I actually feel sorry for people who have never had a dog in their family. They are missing out on SO much.

They say Dachshunds are perfect travel companions. Is that true?
Well Poirot has already been around a lot for being just a baby… So far we’e taken him to France, Belgium and, over Christmas, to the UK which to be honest turned out to be an organizational masterpiece. Apparently you cannot fly into the UK with a dog. We managed via Eurotunnel in the end, but it was a mess. Back to Italy we were allowed to take him on the plane, but I don’t want to think about all the documents we needed to prove that he is healthy. Poirot certainly didn’t care about our backoffice work, he loved the adventure and enjoyed the view.

Any advice you’d like to give to people who are not quite decided yet?
Do not think any longer, taking a puppy – your puppy – is a decision you will never regret.  We do regret not having taken one earlier…

PS: Tamara lives in Puglia, working for the UK brand The Thinking Traveller (thethinkingtraveller.com) that rents exclusive holiday homes in Puglia and elsewhere.