A dog of the water

Dileas was a remarkable swimmer, and could swim for great distances. Once he swam continuously round the edge of Lochan na Lairige, without coming ashore, while we threw sticks, stones etc into the water for him to chase. He must have covered at least 5km, and probably more.

He was very fast and powerful in the water, and knew instinctively how to handle strong currents. We had no worries about him swimming out at sea, or in rivers in spate.

2005 - in the Bull Hole, off south west Mull

2007 Hynish, South Harris

Dileas had very strong views as to what we should be doing when out in the hills. The main thing was to keep moving. Otherwise eating. If not eating, the only thing to keep him occupied was water. Paddling/swimming in water and chasing bubbles woudl kee him occupied for hours. If the water was still, bubbles would be created with his paws. and then snapped with his jaws.

2008 chasing bubbles in river, North Harris

Irrational fears

Despite his stong alpha-male tendencies, Dileas was sometimes prone to irrational fears. Here. Mont, on his 78th birthday, has usurped the alpha dog role, and Dileas has jumped onto Cath's lap for safety. (Dalkeith, February 14th,  2005)

Dileas gerbilized

Dileas had a lifelong intense interest in rodents, and during his life we kept lots   of gerbils, and even, for some years, harvest mice.

He would gaze intently at the rodent in their tanks, watching them for hours, rigid with concentration. Despite the intense interest, he never attempted to attack them, in or out of the cage.

Here a gerbil can be seen exerting its mesmeric force over the dog.

The dog looks at the gerbil

The effect of the gerbil on the dog

Despite being a fast and powerful dog who enjoyed chasing squirrels, and could sometimes catch up with them, Dileas never killed one. or even attempted to bite them . Instead, he would run in front of them, trying to herd them rather than kill them.

Dileas 13th Birthday - 9th September 2009

An old dog, but very keen on wrapped presents, and skilled at opening them...

Hills, mud and a giant dog...

In August 2005, Alec, Dileas and I went up Broad Law, the highest hill in the Southern Uplands. Dileas loved water, and managed to find something a bit like water among the sheep-cropped grassy uplands.

Later, he grew to enormous size.

A Dog's Life

Dileas the wonder dog is no more. 

He was born at Inverarish, Raasay,  on 9th September 1996, and died in Barrhead, near Glasgow on 16th April 2012, aged 15 years 7 months. 

His mother (Juno?) lived at Raasay Outdoor Centre, and his father was the Raasay postman's collie. . Genetically, he was three-quarters collie, an eighth spaniel, and an eighth ridgeback.

1996 - Dileas arrival in Glasgow

I was on a geology field trip to Raasay in September/October 1996, when I spotted  a notice on the Outdoor Centre noticeboard indicating that a litter of pups were looking for homes. Soon afterwards, I was in a house in Inverarish, where he and his tiny brothers and sisters were bumbling around on the floor. Dileas chose me by trying to suck my shoelaces. The pups were not yet weaned,  so Lynne Rowe, the Director of the Raasay Outdoor Centre, brought him down to our house in Glasgow a few weeks later.

Soon dog-walking became one of our main activities. Here we are on one of our first days out in Linn Park in November 1996.